Application of linear discriminant analysis in performance evaluation of extractable nuclear antigen immunoassay systems in the screening and diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

This study applied a linear discriminant analysis model to evaluate the performance of 2 types of commercially available extractable nuclear antigen (ENA) immunoassays for the screening and diagnosis of systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs) in a large tertiary hospital reference laboratory: (1) an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and (2) a multiplex bead-based immunoassay (MPBI). The results of the study showed both ENA immunoassays had comparable sensitivity for the detection of SARDs compared with the antinuclear antigen immunofluorescence (ANA-IF) method (ANA-IF: 85.6%, ENA-ELISA: 91.

Brief communication: state of preservation of tissues from ancient human remains found in a glacier in Canada.

Ancient remains preserved in glaciers present a unique opportunity for us to advance our knowledge of human origins, diversity, and health, a central focus of anthropological studies. Cellular components of hard and soft tissue from frozen human remains dated between 1670 to 1850 cal AD recovered from a glacier in Canada were studied. Despite the expected ice crystal damage in some samples, regions of recognizable structure and ultrastructure were observed.