[ in vitro evaluation of the accuracy of two electronic apex locators Foramatron V and Ipex in determining working length]

Accurate determination of working length in root canal therapy is very important for success of the process. Different methods such as electronic apex locators have been introduced for determination of working length. The aim of this in vitro study was comparison of the accuracy of two electronic apex locators, Foramatron V and Ipex, in determination of working length in human single root teeth. In this in vitro study, 100 human single root, single canal maxillary incisors with developed apex without curve were used. The teeth were cleaned after extraction and stored in normal salin. After preparing access cavity, the actual length of each canal was determined by an anatomic method placing a k-file into the canal so that the file tip touched the apical foramen. After preparing the experimental environment, the teeth were placed in the model at the level of CEJ and the length of the teeth were determind with Ipex and Formatron V according to their code. The acceptable limitation was +/- 0.5 millimeter to the actual working length. After collection of data, Mac Nemar and Paired t-test were used for statistical analysis. According to the results of this study, the accuracy of length determination was 64% and 63% for Foramatron V and ipex, respectively in the range of canal length +/- 0.5 mm. There was no significant statistical difference between these two devices. There was no significant difference between Ipex and Foramatron V. Therefore, Foramatron V may be used for working length determination

Multiplex reverse transcriptase-PCR assay for typing and subtyping of influenza a [H5 and H9] virus in Iran

Avian influenza virus [AIV] infection is a major cause of bird or human mortality and morbidity, therefore the rapid identification of the virus is of important clinical and epidemiological implication. A multiplex Reverse Transcriptase PCR [RT-PCR] was optimized for the detection of influenza A virus and the H5 and H9 subtypes. The influenza type A specific primers were directed to the region of the influenza A matrix gene that is conserved among most type A influenza viruses. The H5 and H9 primers were directed to H5 and H9 hemagglutinin [HA] gene regions that are conserved among H5 and H9 subtypes. The selected primer sets were used in the RT-PCR for simultaneous detection of matrix, H5 and H9 responding specific sequences in a multiplex format. Three reaction conditions were optimized which include: i] RT-PCR typing using matrix gene primers for five subtypes of flu A [H1, H3, H5, H7 and H9], ii] RT-PCR subtyping for H5 and H9 subtypes, and iii] multiplex subtyping of H5 and H9. In this study, the multiplex RT-PCR was applied to 147 cloacal and tracheal swabs of clinical poultry cases with similar influenza symptoms. These results suggest that multiplex RT-PCR assay can be a useful test for rapid detection and subtyping of AIV in clinical samples