Hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate for reduction of aflatoxin in quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

Essiz, Dinc/0000-0002-4759-7858WOS: 000248379700002PubMed: 17724933The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the toxic effects of aflatoxin (AF) on growth performance and various processing parameters of quails and to determine the preventive efficacy of hydrated sodium calcium aluminosilicate (HSCAS). One hundred and eighty 1-d-old quails of both sexes were randomly divided into 4 experimental groups with 5 replicates and 45 birds following weighing.The experimental design consisted of four dietary treatments: 1) control with 0 mg AF/kg of diet and 0 % HSCAS; 2) 0.5 % HSCAS; 3) 2.5 mg AF/kg of diet; 4) 2.5 mg AF/kg of diet plus 0.5 % HSCAS.The chicks were housed in electrically heated battery cages and exposed to light for 24 h from hatching to 3 weeks of age. Quails consumed the diets and water od libitum. Body weight (BW) was significantly (p < 0.001) increased by addition of HSCAS to AF diet. The lowest BW gains in groups received AF alone was observed at all periods. The reduction in BW gain caused by 2.5 mg AF/kg of diet was significantly (p < 0.001) diminished by the addition of 0.5 % HSCAS to the diet. The addition of HSCAS to the AF diet significantly (p < 0.001) protected against decrease of feed intake at all periods with exception of the first period. None of the treatments altered significantly the feed conversion ratio (FCR).The relative weights of the liver, kidney and spleen were increased in the chickens consuming the AF alone diet. However, light microscopic examination demonstrated the addition of HSCAS to quail feed to partially decrease fat deposition caused by the toxin, and besides, electron microscopic examination of indicated a reorganization in the encloplasmic reticulum and increase in the number of ribosomes and polisomes. Furthermore, the decrease in the antibody titre induced by Newcastle vaccine, due to aflatoxins, was relatively prevented. No significant differences were observed for serum total protein, total cholesterol and glucose levels. The results of indicate that HSCAS is effective in preventing the deleterious effects of A

The effect of tin prefiltration on extremity cone-beam CT imaging with a twin robotic X-ray system

Introduction: While tin prefiltration is established in various CT applications, its value in extremity cone beam CT relative to optimized spectra has not been thoroughly assessed thus far. This study aims to investigate the effect of tin filters in extremity cone-beam CT with a twin-robotic X-ray system. Methods: Wrist, elbow and ankle joints of two cadaveric specimens were examined in a laboratory setup with different combinations of prefiltration (copper, tin), tube voltage and current-time product. Image quality was assessed subjectively by five radiologists with Fleiss' kappa being computed to measure interrater agreement. To provide a semiquantitative criterion for image quality, contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were compared for standardized regions of interest. Volume CT dose indices were calculated for a 16 cm polymethylmethacrylate phantom. Results: Radiation dose ranged from 17.4 mGy in the clinical standard protocol without tin filter to as low as 0.7 mGy with tin prefiltration. Image quality ratings and CNR for tin-filtered scans with 100 kV were lower than for 80 kV studies with copper prefiltration despite higher dose (11.2 and 5.6 vs. 4.5 mGy; p < 0.001). No difference was ascertained between 100 kV scans with tin filtration and 60 kV copper filtered scans with 75% dose reduction (subjective: p = 0.101; CNR: p = 0.706). Fleiss' kappa of 0.597 (95% confidence interval 0.567-0.626; p < 0.001) indicated moderate interrater agreement. Conclusion: Considerable dose reduction is feasible with tin prefiltration, however, the twin-robotic Xray system's low-dose potential for extremity 3D imaging is maximized with a dedicated low-kilovolt scan protocol in situations without extensive beam-hardening artifacts. Implications for practice: Low-kilovolt imaging with copper prefiltration provides a superior trade-off between dose reduction and image quality compared to tin-filtered cone-beam CT scan protocols with higher tube voltage. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The College of Radiographers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)