An indirect immunofluorescent antibody procedure (IFA) for the detection and typing of herpes simplex virus (HSV) and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) procedure were compared with conventional viral culture. Specimens for culture and ELISA were inoculated into serum free viral transport medium (VTM) and, for IFA, onto slides provided in the kit. Tissue cultures (MRC-5 and primary ra...

BACKGROUND The indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) is considered a reference test for scrub typhus. Recently, the Scrub Typhus Infection Criteria (STIC; a combination of culture, PCR assays and IFA IgM) were proposed as a reference standard for evaluating alternative diagnostic tests. Here, we use Bayesian latent class models (LCMs) to estimate the true accuracy of each diagnostic test, and...

An indirect fluorescence assay (IFA) with monoclonal antibodies developed for the detection of Cryptosporidium oocysts in fecal smears (Meridian Diagnostics, Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio) was compared with the Zeihl-Neelsen-modified acid-fast stain (MAFS) in 119 human fecal specimens collected between 1984 and 1987. The sensitivity of the IFA was 100%; all 56 specimens positive by MAFS exhibited fluo...

Iterated Finite Automaton (IFA) is invented by Wolfram for studying the conventional Finite State Automata(FSA) by means of A New Kind of Science (NKS) methodology. An IFA is a composition of a finite state automaton and a tape with limited cells. The complexity of behaviors generated by various FSA operating on different tapes can be visualized by two dimensional patterns. Through enumerating ...

Iron and zinc may interact in micronutrient supplements and thereby decrease efficacy. We investigated interactive effects of combined zinc and iron supplementation in a randomized controlled trial conducted in 459 Guatemalan women. Four groups were supplemented for 12 weeks: (1) weekly iron and folic acid (IFA); (2) weekly IFA and 30 mg zinc; (3) daily IFA; (4) daily IFA and 15 mg zinc. Effect...

BACKGROUND Isoferulic acid (IFA) is a main active ingredient of the rhizoma of Cimicifuga beracleifolia, which is used frequently in Japanese traditional medicine as an anti-inflammatory drug. It has been revealed that IFA inhibits the production of macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2), which is a murine counterpart of the chemokine family that may contribute to the pathogenesis of inflamm...

Performance of indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assays and rapid influenza diagnostic tests (RIDT) during the 2009 H1N1 pandemic was evaluated, along with the relative effects of age and illness severity on test accuracy. Clinicians and laboratories submitted specimens on patients with respiratory illness to public health from April to mid October 2009 for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tes...

The indirect fluorescent-antibody (IFA) method for diagnosis of toxoplasmosis is widely used and is considered to be as specific as the Sabin-Feldman dye test. After observing a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who had a positive toxoplasma IFA test but a negative dye test, we studied sera with high titers of antinuclear antibodies from 16 SLE patients and from 2 with rheumatoid ...