Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) have traditionally been evaluated using indirect fluorescence assays (IFA) with HEp-2 cells. Quantitative immunoassays (EIA) have replaced the use of HEp-2 cells in some laboratories. Here, we evaluated ANA in 400 consecutive and unselected routinely referred patients using IFA and automated EIA techniques. The IFA results generated by two independent laboratories ...

B. anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax. Pathogenesis is primarily mediated through the exotoxins lethal factor and edema factor, which bind protective antigen (PA) to gain entry into the host cell. The current anthrax vaccine (AVA, Biothrax) consists of aluminum-adsorbed cell-free filtrates of unencapsulated B. anthracis, wherein PA is thought to be the principle target of neutralizatio...

OBJECTIVES To assess impact of daily and intermittent iron-folate (IFA) supplementation on cognition of underprivileged primary schoolgirls in Vadodara. DESIGN Experimental-control longitudinal study. SETTING Municipal primary schools. PARTICIPANTS Schoolgirls (n=161) in the age group of 9 - 13 years. INTERVENTION Participants at three randomly selected schools were given IFA tablets (1...

Conventional assays for determination of growth hormone (GH) in serum measure immunoreactive molecules of a blood sample. The immunofunctional assay (IFA), on the other hand, is able to determine biologically active molecules. In our study, we evaluated GH determination in children with IFA to compare these data with clinical reliable data of conventional assay systems, since there is only insu...

background cryptosporidium spp. is a widespread protozoan parasite involving humans and animals. objectives this study was carried out to evaluate the immunofluorescence assay (ifa) and pcr results for more accurate diagnosis of faecal specimens. patients and methods forty six faecal human specimens of cryptosporidium oocysts were examined by pcr and ifa in calgary, canada. in statistical analy...

A commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (ProSpect Rapid Assay), a direct immunofluorescence antibody (IFA) test for stool testing (MERIFLUOR Cryptosporidium/Giardia), and an indirect IFA test for environmental testing (Hydrofluor-Combo Cryptosporidium/Giardia) were evaluated for detection of low public health risk Cryptosporidium oocyst isolates, and for C. parvum oocyst isolates from human and b...

AND PRINCIPLES Autoimmune disorders can be Non-organ Specific, Tissue or Organ Specific or Overlapping assiciated with both organ specific and non organ specific antibodies. The five most common autoimmune antibodies include: 1. Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) 2. Antimitochondrial antibody (MA) 3. Antismooth muscle antibodies (SMA) 4. Antiparietal cell antibodies (PCA) 5. Antireticulin antibody (RA)

Encephalitozoon cuniculi has been associated with natural cases of abortion and stillbirth in horses. However, little is known about the prevalence of this parasite in horses. We examined sera from 559 horses from Brazil for antibodies to E. cuniculi using the indirect immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) test and the direct agglutination test (DAT). We found that 79 (14.1%) were positive in the IF...

We present a new technique for time series analysis based on dynamic probabilistic networks. In this approach, the observed data are modeled in terms of unobserved, mutually independent factors, as in the recently introduced technique of Independent Factor Analysis (IFA). However, unlike in IFA, the factors are not i.i.d.; each factor has its own temporal statistical characteristics. We derive ...