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The reactor neutrino and gallium anomalies can be tested with a 3-4 PBq(75-100 kCi scale) 144Ce-144Pr antineutrino beta-source deployed at the centeror next to a large low-background liquid scintillator detector. Theantineutrino generator will be produced by the Russian reprocessing plant PAMayak as early as 2014, transported to Japan, and deployed in the KamiokaLiquid Scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND) as early as 2015.KamLAND's 13 m diameter target volume provides a suitable environment tomeasure the energy and position dependence of the detected neutrino flux. Acharacteristic oscillation pattern would be visible for a baseline of about 10m or less, providing a very clean signal of neutrino disappearance into ayet-unknown, sterile neutrino state. This will provide a comprehensive test ofthe electron dissaperance neutrino anomalies and could lead to the discovery ofa 4th neutrino state for Delta_m^2 > 0.1 eV^2 and sin^2(2theta) > 0.05.

We propose to test for short baseline neutrino oscillations, implied by therecent reevaluation of the reactor antineutrino flux and by anomalous resultsfrom the gallium solar neutrino detectors. The test will consist of producing a75 kCi 144Ce - 144Pr antineutrino source to be deployed in the Kamioka LiquidScintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND). KamLAND's 13m diameter targetvolume provides a suitable environment to measure energy and positiondependence of the detected neutrino flux. A characteristic oscillation patternwould be visible for a baseline of about 10 m or less, providing a very cleansignal of neutrino disappearance into a yet-unknown, "sterile" state. Such ameasurement will be free of any reactor-related uncertainties. After 1.5 yearsof data taking the Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly parameter space will be testedat > 95% C.L.

Yutaka Kuroda, Toshiyuki Kawai, Koji Goto, Shuichi Matsuda Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan Abstract: Corticosteroids have been widely used for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases because they provide an acute response of immunosuppression. Numerous side effects of corticosteroids have also been known, with varying degrees of severity. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is a rare and serious complication that directly inhibits walking because of femoral head collapse. However, sometimes, clinicians who consider that corticosteroids are required for primary disease do not recognize steroid-induced ONFH. The final stage of ONFH is severe osteoarthritis, requiring total hip arthroplasty. We describe a 23-year-old woman with bilateral ONFH after corticosteroid treatment for alopecia areata (AA). She was administered several intralesional corticosteroid injections to the scalp and repeated systemic corticosteroid therapy for extensive AA. While undergoing therapy, she lost her balance and complained of right groin pain when standing. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with bilateral ONFH. She recovered from AA, but she complained of persistent right hip pain, which subsequently required total hip arthroplasty. We would like to emphasize that patients on corticosteroid therapy for any common disease should be considered as having a potential risk for ONFH. An early stage detection of ONFH is crucial for its treatment. MRI evaluation warrants a higher level of accuracy in early diagnosis of ONFH for the opportunity to undergo joint-preservation surgery in patients with ONFH. Keywords: osteonecrosis, femoral head, alopecia areata, avascular necrosis, steroid, case report

Patients with chronic lung disease, obesity, and other co-morbid conditions are at increased risk of severe illness and death when infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Hypercapnia, the elevation of CO2 in blood and tissue, commonly occurs in patients with severe acute and chronic lung disease, including those with pulmonary infections, and is also associated with high mortality risk. We previously reported that hypercapnia increases viral replication and mortality of influenza A virus infection in mice. We have also shown that culture in elevated CO2 upregulates expression of cholesterol synthesis genes in primary human bronchial epithelial cells. Interestingly, factors that increase the cholesterol content of lipid rafts and lipid droplets, platforms for viral entry and assembly, enhance SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the current study, we investigated the effects of hypercapnia on ACE2 expression and entry of SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus (p-SARS-CoV-2) into airway epithelial cells. We found that hypercapnia increased ACE2 expression and p-SARS-CoV-2 uptake by airway epithelium in mice, and in cultured VERO and human bronchial epithelial cells. Hypercapnia also increased total cellular and lipid raft-associated cholesterol in epithelial cells. Moreover, reducing cholesterol synthesis with inhibitors of sterol regulatory element binding protein 2 (SREBP2) or statins, and depletion of cellular cholesterol, each blocked the hypercapnia-induced increases in ACE2 expression and p-SARSCoV-2 entry into epithelial cells. Cigarette smoke extract (CSE) also increased ACE2 expression, p-SARS-CoV-2 entry and cholesterol accumulation in epithelial cells, an effect not additive to that of hypercapnia, but also inhibited by statins. These findings reveal a mechanism that may account, in part, for poor clinical outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patients with advanced lung disease and hypercapnia, and in those who smoke cigarettes. Further, our results suggest the possibility that cholesterol-lowering therapies may be of particular benefit in patients with hypercapnia when exposed to or infected with SARS-CoV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Author(s): S. Kasahara (corresponding author) [1]; Y. Miyoshi [2]; S. Yokota [3]; T. Mitani [4]; Y. Kasahara [5]; S. Matsuda [2]; A. Kumamoto [6]; A. Matsuoka [4]; Y. Kazama [7]; [...]

This letter discusses the structural and morphological characteristics of planar, nonpolar (11 (2) over bar0) a-plane GaN films grown on (1 (1) over bar 02) r-plane sapphire by hydride vapor phase epitaxy. Specular films with thicknesses over 50 mum were grown, eliminating the severely faceted surfaces that have previously been observed for hydride vapor phase epitaxy-grown a-plane films. Internal cracks and crack healing, similar to that in c-plane GaN films, were observed. Atomic force microscopy revealed nanometer-scale pitting and steps on the film surfaces, with rms roughness of similar to2 nm. X-ray diffraction confirmed the films are solely a-plane oriented with on-axis (11 (2) over bar0) and 30degrees off-axis (10 (1) over bar0) rocking curve peak widths of 1040 and 3000 arcsec, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy revealed a typical basal plane stacking fault density of 4x10(5) cm(-1). The dislocation content of the films consisted of predominately edge component (b(edge)=+/-[0001]) threading dislocations with a density of 2x10(10) cm(-2), and mixed-character Shockley partial dislocations (b=1/3(1) over bar 00>) with a density of 7x10(9) cm(-2). (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

This letter reports on the reduction in extended-defect densities in a-plane (11 (2) over bar0) GaN films achieved via lateral epitaxial overgrowth (LEO) by hydride vapor phase-epitaxy. A variety of dielectric mask patterns was used to produce 8-125-mum-thick, fully coalesced nonpolar GaN films. The nanometer-scale pit densities in the overgrown regions were less than 3x10(6) cm(-2) compared to similar to10(10) cm(-2) in the direct-growth a-plane GaN. Cathodoluminescence revealed a fourfold increase in luminous intensity in the overgrown material compared to the window material. X-ray rocking curves indicate the films were free of wing tilt within the sensitivity of the measurements. Whereas non-LEO a-plane GaN exhibits basal plane stacking fault and threading dislocation densities of 10(5) cm(-1) and 10(9) cm(-2), respectively, the overgrown LEO material was essentially free of extended defects. The basal plane stacking fault and threading dislocation densities in the wing regions were below the detection limits of similar to5x10(6) cm(-2) and 3x10(3) cm(-1), respectively. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.