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ABSTRACT: Restricting milk or milk replacer (MR) fed to dairy calves to 10% of body weight at 12.5% total solids (TS) concentration is a common feeding strategy that promotes early weaning and lowers total feed costs for raising young calves. However, this strategy has been associated with inferior performance and compromised welfare. Because a restricted liquid nutrition plan limits calf growth due to limited supply of nutrients, research on increased supply of nutrients from liquid has shown improved growth, health, and welfare of calves. Nutrient supply may be increased by feeding larger amounts of milk or MR averaging 12.5% TS, or by increasing TS above the usual 12.5% TS by increasing MR TS concentration alone (TS+), or by increasing TS concentration and volume simultaneously (TSV+). The objective of this review is to discuss liquid nutrition plans with greater TS concentration in MR or in milk diets, considering the effects of such strategies on performance and digestive tract development before weaning and the future performance of dairy calves. This review will focus on liquid nutrition plans that are based on increased TS concentration (i.e., TS+ or TSV+); therefore, enhanced liquid nutrition plans based only on increased volumes will not be the discussed. Improved growth rates have been observed in calves fed TSV+ programs. However, reduced starter intake preweaning can also have negative effects on dry matter intake, average daily gain, and digestibility postweaning. Feeding a TS+ program may reduce impairment of starter intake and therefore have positive effects on performance, nutrient digestibility, and health. When considering an accelerated nutrition plan with TS+ or TSV+, it is important to consider osmolality of the liquid diet. Further studies are necessary to confirm this hypothesis and the cost-benefit of alternative liquid nutrition plans, as well as the optimal TS concentration of milk or MR fed to dairy calves.

Restricting milk or milk replacer (MR) fed to dairy calves to 10% of body weight at 12.5% total solids (TS) concentration is a common feeding strategy that promotes early weaning and lowers total feed costs for raising young calves. However, this strategy has been associated with inferior performance and compromised welfare. Because a restricted liquid nutrition plan limits calf growth due to limited supply of nutrients, research on increased supply of nutrients from liquid has shown improved growth, health, and welfare of calves. Nutrient supply may be increased by feeding larger amounts of milk or MR averaging 12.5% TS, or by increasing TS above the usual 12.5% TS by increasing MR TS concentration alone (TS+), or by increasing TS concentration and volume simultaneously (TSV+). The objective of this review is to discuss liquid nutrition plans with greater TS concentration in MR or in milk diets, considering the effects of such strategies on performance and digestive tract development before weaning and the future performance of dairy calves. This review will focus on liquid nutrition plans that are based on increased TS concentration (i.e., TS+ or TSV+); therefore, enhanced liquid nutrition plans based only on increased volumes will not be the discussed. Improved growth rates have been observed in calves fed TSV+ programs. However, reduced starter intake preweaning can also have negative effects on dry matter intake, average daily gain, and digestibility postweaning. Feeding a TS+ program may reduce impairment of starter intake and therefore have positive effects on performance, nutrient digestibility, and health. When considering an accelerated nutrition plan with TS+ or TSV+, it is important to consider osmolality of the liquid diet. Further studies are necessary to confirm this hypothesis and the cost-benefit of alternative liquid nutrition plans, as well as the optimal TS concentration of milk or MR fed to dairy calves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to: (1) assess the intensification of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and phosphate (PO4-P) removal; and (2) generate a set of rate constants of COD degradation (kCOD) and phosphate (kPO4-P) removal for the treatment of industrial wastewater (WW) using intensified adsorption beds. Two horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands (HSSFCWs) filled with coal ash and alum sludge and two conventional HSSFCWs packed with gravels were operated with different loadings of COD and PO4-P at a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 24 hrs at water depth of 0.40 m. The bed performance was analysed for COD and PO4-P removal efficiency. The intensified HSSFCWs outperformed the control beds by a mean COD and PO4-P removal efficiency of 43 and 49%, respectively. The progression of COD and PO4-P removal along the system was fitted into the first-order plug flow model (K-C model). In this study the kCOD values ranged from 0.36 to 0.65 m/d with a mean of 0.46 ± 0.08 m/d (n = 30). The kPO4-P values ranged from 0.74 to 1.76 m/d and averaged to 1.23 ± 0.37 m/d (n = 30), irrespective of the condition applied. Hence, these data can be used for future projects using HSSFCWs to treat industrial wastewater. HIGHLIGHTS Industrial wastewaters are strong organic sources of pollution.; Industrial effluents are not commonly treated using conventional HSSFCW.; Addition of an adsorption mechanism using coal ash and alum sludge in the system intensifies bed performance.; Such intensified HSSFCWs are a sustainable and low-cost treatment system.; Rate constants are important design parameters to determine the size of a HSSFCW.;

The aim of this research is to investigate the tendency of native speakers of Turkish when intensifying adjectives in Turkish and examine whether there is a rule that governs which of the consonants (m, p, r, or s) are used in intensifying adjectives. The participants of the study were 190 native speakers of Turkish whose ages ranged from 18 to 56. A list containing 21 adjectives was used to collect data. The data were analyzed in terms of the frequencies of usage. The results showed that in intensifying the 21 adjectives in the list, ‘p’ was the most frequently used consonant, and ‘r’ was the least frequently used consonant. Another significant finding of the study was that most of the adjectives seemed to have more than one intensified form.

Introduction: Meningitis is the most severe manifestation of tuberculosis, resulting in death or disability in over 50% of those affected, with even higher morbidity and mortality among patients with HIV or drug resistance. Antimicrobial treatment of Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is similar to treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, although some drugs show poor central nervous system penetration. Therefore, intensification of antibiotic treatment may improve TBM treatment outcomes. Areas covered: In this review, we address three main areas: available data for old and new anti-tuberculous agents; intensified treatment in specific patient groups like HIV co-infection, drug-resistance, and children; and optimal research strategies. Expert commentary: There is good evidence from preclinical, clinical, and modeling studies to support the use of high-dose rifampicin in TBM, likely to be at least 30 mg/kg. Higher dose isoniazid could be beneficial, especially in rapid acetylators. The role of other first and second line drugs is unclear, but observational data suggest that linezolid, which has good brain penetration, may be beneficial. We advocate the use of molecular pharmacological approaches, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic studies to define optimal regimens to be tested in clinical trials. Exciting data from recent studies hold promise for improved regimens and better clinical outcomes in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consolidation in myeloma patients with high-dose melphalan chemotherapy (Mel HDCT) and autologous transplantation (ASCT) is standard of care since more than 2 decades. However, definite cure remains exceptional despite intensive treatment, and improving effectiveness of HDCT remains an unmet clinical need. Combining intensified bendamustine with melphalan may represent an option. We analyzed safety and efficacy of combining dose-intensified bendamustine (200 mg/m2 on days -4/-3) with high-dose melphalan (100 mg/m2 on days -2/-1) before a second (tandem) ASCT in adverse risk myeloma patients after Mel HDCT/ASCT1. Twelve patients received BenMel conditioning before ASCT2 because of high-risk cytogenetics and/or failure to achieve complete remission (CR) after Mel HDCT/ASCT1. Comparing Mel HDCT/ASCT1 and BenMel HDCT/ASCT2, we observed no differences in hematologic recovery and tolerance. Acute renal injury after BenMel conditioning occurred in 3 (25%) patients, but was reversible in all patients, and there were no treatment related deaths. Complete remission rates were increasing from 42% after Mel/ASCT1 to 75% after BenMel/ASCT2. PFS 1 year after ASCT2 was 67%, and OS was 83%. These data suggest that dose-intensified bendamustine with melphalan conditioning is safe and warrants a prospective randomized comparison to standard melphalan HDCT in myeloma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Immunization has been observed one of the major and cost-effective public-health initiatives to reduce child morbidity and mortality. On an average three million children die each year due to a vaccine-preventable disease. According to recent study, approximately 34 million children are not immunized, out of them 98% of them are from developing countries. All of these deaths are considered preventable with proper vaccination coverage. The current study was conducted so as to assess the status of immunization and to mitigate the various factors responsible for the suboptimal coverage of immunization among admitted patients in our institution. Material and method: This 3 months study was conducted in the paediatric department of our medical college and hospital, which was approved by the ethics committee headed by the director of the institution. The study was conducted only on those patients who were stable and surpassed the acute phase of the illness. A total of 356 patients were selected for the analysis as study sample, within the age group of 1 year-12 years. Out of the 356 patients 112 were females and 244 were males. Result: On analysing the collected data from the study samples; out of the 356 patients, 244 were males and 112 were females. Here, 204 families were from below poverty line strata and rest 152 belonged to above poverty line strata. For 356 children 313 mothers (88%) were available as the respondent and in 35 cases (10%) it was only the father who was present as the respondent and merely 7 cases (2%) a family member was present to confirm the vaccine-immunization status of the patient. Interestingly only 199 out of the 356 children (56%) had any record of receiving BCG and three consecutive doses of DPT, Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and measles vaccine which were scheduled in the first year of life. Conclusion: Intensified efforts which focus on the least educated, and most deprived of any health facility should increase. By taking a more family centred and socially acceptable approach it should be made a priority that myths regarding immunisation should be removed and more participation in vaccination programs should be increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The BRCA1-like profile identifies tumors with a defect in homologous recombination due to inactivation of BRCA1. This profile has been shown to predict which stage III breast cancer patients benefit from myeloablative, DNA double-strand-break-inducing chemotherapy. We tested the predictive potential of the BRCA1-like profile for adjuvant non-myeloablative, intensified dose-dense chemotherapy in the GAIN trial. Methods: Lymph node positive breast cancer patients were randomized to 3 × 3 dose-dense cycles of intensified epirubicin, paclitaxel, and cyclophosphamide (ETC) or 4 cycles concurrent epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by 10 cycles of weekly paclitaxel combined with 4 cycles capecitabine (EC-TX). Only triple negative breast cancer patients (TNBC) for whom tissue was available were included in these planned analyses. BRCA1-like or non- BRCA1-like copy number profiles were derived from low coverage sequencing data. Results: 119 out of 163 TNBC patients (73%) had a BRCA1-like profile. After median follow-up of 83 months, disease free survival (DFS) was not significantly different between BRCA1-like and non- BRCA1-like patients [adjusted hazard ratio (adj.HR) 1.02; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.55-1.86], neither was overall survival (OS; adj.HR 1.26; 95% CI 0.58-2.71). When split by BRCA1-like status, DFS and OS were not significantly different between treatments. However, EC-TX seemed to result in a trend to an improvement in DFS in patients with a BRCA1-like tumor, while the reverse accounted for ETC treatment in patients with a non- BRCA1-like tumor ( p for interaction = 0.094). Conclusions: The BRCA1-like profile is not associated with survival benefit for a non-myeloablative, intensified regimen in this study population. Considering the limited cohort size, capecitabine might have additional benefit for TNBC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many languages show an interesting but hitherto virtually undiscussed phenomenon, namely augmentation of the predicate by means of an applicative marker. In most cases this involves reinterpretation of a locative applicative marker as an intensifier, and, ultimately, an iterative marker, but other types exist as well. Focussing on Indonesian applicatives, this paper attempts to account for these constructions through cognitive-functional principles. In doing so, it argues that applicatives are not mere morphological alternatives to analytic adpositional constructions. More specifically, it argues that applicative constructions show various high-transitivity traits in the semantic domain such as Actor dominance, Undergoer affectedness and volitionality, most likely as a result of the proto-typical Actor-Undergoer structure of the clause. It argues that, depending on the semantics of the applied verb, it is this high transitivity in combination with the Locative nature of the Undergoer that leads to interpretations of increased intensity and repetitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intensified case finding (ICF) and earlier antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation are strategies to reduce burden of HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB). We describe incidence of and associated factors for TB among HIV-positive individuals with CD4 counts > 350 cells/μl in South Africa.Methods: Prospective cohort study of individuals recruited for a TB vaccine trial. Eligible individuals without prevalent TB were followed up at 6 and 12 months after enrolment. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine factors associated with risk of incident TB.Results: Six hundred thirty-four individuals were included in the analysis [80.9 % female, 57.9 % on ART, median CD4 count 562 cells/μl (IQR 466-694 cells/μl)]. TB incidence was 2.7 per 100 person-years (pyrs) (95 % CI 1.6-4.4 per 100 pyrs) and did not differ significantly between those on ART and those not on ART [HR 0.65 (95 % CI 0.24-1.81)]. Low body mass index (BMI <18.5 kg/m(2)) was associated with incident TB [HR 3.87 (95 % CI 1.09-13.73)]. Half of the cases occurred in the first 6 months of follow up and may have been prevalent or incubating cases at enrolment.Conclusions: TB incidence was high and associated with low BMI. Intensified case finding for TB should be strengthened for all HIV positive individuals regardless of their CD4 count or ART status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine and specialty chemical industry caters to several key applications required for maintaining and enhancing quality of life. Most of these fine and specialty chemicals are still manufactured in stirred tank reactors operated in batch or semi-batch modes. A paradigm shift is necessary to transform these into new age, efficient and continuous processes and plants. In this paper, recent attempts of our group on developing MAGIC (modular, agile, intensified and continuous) devices, processes and plants for fine and specialty chemicals industry are discussed. The focus is on key chemical reaction engineering aspects of developing MAGIC processes. An attempt is made to evolve guidelines for designing MAGIC devices and reactors. The discussion will be useful to researchers as well as to industry practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms are central to the biogeochemical processes in constructed treatment wetlands. In this study we explored the spatial dynamics of microbial community metabolic function in several different constructed treatment wetland designs at the pilot-scale constructed wetlands of the UFZ Ecotechnology Research Facility in Langenreichenbach, Germany. The constructed wetland designs differed in terms of flow direction, degree of saturation, depth, and intensification. Internal sampling was conducted in April 2013 at different locations along the flow path of each system. The microbial community metabolic function was characterized via community level physiological profiling (CLPP). Microbial community activity (substrate utilization rate) and metabolic richness (number of carbon sources utilize) decreased dramatically with increasing distance along the flow path for most systems. Variation in the metabolic function of microbial communities was observed based on carbon source utilization patterns (CSUPs) and was found to be strongly influenced by system design and sample location within the wetland but not by the presence of plants or depth of media. Analysis of specific carbon source guilds highlighted increased utilization of polymers and carbohydrates in the early stages of all systems, pointing to the establishment of microbial communities optimized to best utilize more easily degradable compounds close to the inlet. Correlations between measures of microbial functionality (activity, richness, and diversity) and turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN) were observed in horizontal-flow systems but less so in vertical-flow systems. The results presented provide useful insight into the spatial dynamics of microbial community function in constructed wetlands. Potential opportunities for system optimization, based on the results of this study, are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a great deal of interest in bovine colostrum within sports nutrition over the last 25 years. Studies have investigated the effects on body composition, physical performance, recovery, gut damage and permeability, immune function, and illness risk. This narrative review considers available evidence in each of these areas. Although some studies have shown protection against performance decrements caused by periods of intensified training, there is limited evidence for effects on body composition and physical performance. There is stronger evidence for benefit on gut permeability and damage markers and on immune function and illness risk, especially during periods of intensified training. The balance of available evidence for gut permeability and illness risk is positive, but further research is required to fully determine all mechanisms responsible for these effects. Early suggestions that supplementation with bovine colostrum products could increase systemic IGF-1 levels are not supported by the balance of available evidence examining a range of doses over both short- and long-term periods. Nevertheless, dose–response studies would be valuable for determining the minimum efficacious dose, although this is complicated by variability in bioactivity between products, making any dose–response findings applicable only to the specific products used in such studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]