Exploring dental students' knowledge of HIV and attitudes towards saliva screening for HIV.

Introduction: Early detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) allows antiretroviral therapy to commence, improving patient outcomes. Screening for HIV with saliva can be undertaken by dental practitioners. Research has found the procedure to be better accepted by patients than traditional blood testing.

Confounding neurodegenerative effects of manganese for in vivo MR imaging in rat models of brain insults.

Purpose: To examine the long-term consequences of manganese exposure due to the use of manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI) in a model of closed head injury, the fluid-percussion injury (FPI) model.

Materials And Methods: Two groups of adult male Wistar rats (n = 72) were studied with either MEMRI, whereby rats receive MnCl(2) (100 mg/kg intraperitoneally) 24 hours prior to scanning, or standard MRI (sMRI) with no contrast agent. Rats from both groups underwent FPI or sham injury and were longitudinally assessed for 6 months for neurological toxicity using behavioral tests, EEG recording, and MRI scanning.