Rainfall effect on sediment and nutrient fluxes in a small mangrove river, Okinawa, Japan

To understand the effect of rainfall on sediment and nutrient fluxes in a mangrove river ecosystem, field observations were conducted in the Fukido River, Okinawa, Japan. Water currents and water quality parameters (salinity and turbidity) were measured at the river mouth and upstream, and surface water samples were analyzed for nutrient concentrations (NO3-N, NH4-N, PO4-P, SiO2-Si, suspended solids [SS], total nitrogen [TN], and total phosphorus [TP]). Observations were conducted on both clear and rainy days, which revealed the effect of weather. SS flux at the river mouth (outflux to sea) and upstream (influx from land) showed that sediment deposition occurred in the mangrove swamp, and the amount of sediment deposition on a rainy day (324 kg d–1) was approximately 14 times greater than that on a clear day (24 kg d–1). The higher influx from upstream on the rainy day caused levels of TN and TP deposition in the mangrove swamp that were 9.1 and 3.4 times higher, respectively, than levels on a clear day. Our findings highlight the importance of considering local weather conditions in the estimation and management of nutrient budgets, especially in a small mangrove river

Diffuse Sclerosing Variant of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma : A Case Report

We present a rare case of a 26-year old woman with diffuse sclerosing variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The patient was referred to our hospital with diffuse enlargement of the thyroid accompanied with palpable bilateral cervical lymph nodes. Ultrasonography showed a heterogeneous pattern with ill-defined hypoechoic areas in both thyroid lobes. There were multiple small punctate echogenic foci. Fine-needle aspiration cytology revealed typical signs of papillary carcinoma. The patient underwent a total thyroidectomy using a bilateral modified neck dissection. Pathological findings demonstrated diffuse involvement and continuous infiltration of the tumors to both thyroid lobes, lymph nodes and cervical soft tissue. Postoperatively, 100 mCi of 131I was administrated to the small amount of residual thyroid tissue. The patient is free from recurrence one year after the operation

Activation of Aromatase Expression by Retinoic Acid Receptor-related Orphan Receptor (ROR) α in Breast Cancer Cells: IDENTIFICATION OF A NOVEL ROR RESPONSE ELEMENT*

Estrogen is a key regulator of the proliferation and differentiation of breast cancer cells. In addition to the estrogen supply from the ovary, estrogen is produced locally from androgen by aromatase. However, the regulation of aromatase gene expression in breast cancer has not yet been fully clarified. Retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor (ROR) α plays an important role in the differentiation of many organs by regulating the transcription of target genes. Because aromatase and RORα are expressed in breast cancer, the effect of RORα on aromatase gene expression was studied. RORα significantly augmented the expression of aromatase mRNA, particularly those containing exon I.4, in MCF7 cells, and aromatase activities in T47D and MCF7 cells. RORα also stimulated the proliferation of these cells. Transient transfection-based reporter gene assays using the promoter at exon I.4 showed that RORα augmented the transcription. A series of truncated mutation studies revealed that RORα activated the transcription through −147 to +14 bp of the promoter I.4. Furthermore, RORα bound to the fragment containing −119 to −107 bp of the promoter in vitro, indicating that this region may contain a novel ROR response element. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed that RORα bound to the region containing this site of the promoter I.4 in MCF7 cells. Moreover, we examined clinical samples and found a correlation between RORα and aromatase expression. These results suggest that RORα directly activates the aromatase expression to accelerate the local production of estrogen, which results in the proliferation of breast cancer cells