It is presented a method useful to form ordinary differential equations from nonlinear regression models of the type , a power series allowing to directly retrieving the differential model from raw data after fitting, to be differential equation itself. compared with the differential model expected for the biological system which is studied. In particular for any possible value of n, the highest power at which the independent variable is raised, the paper gives the method to get the differential equation having the polynomial as solution. The use of power series allows some practical advantages when dealing with differential equations, and one of these - in some

Since the last decades, scientists have tried to answer where human beings originated and how spread all over the world. In this way, ancient human remains can play a fundamental role to answer these questions. Tappeh Hesar is a prehistoric site located in the Damghan city (northeastern Iran). This place history dates back to more than 4 000 years. Due to the city’s key position in trade and communications, it has always been an attractive site for archaeologists. In this study ancient DNA was extracted from one human skeletal remains by considering all precautions. All mitochondrial hypervariable segments (HVS-I, HVS-II and HVSIII) were analyzed using sequencing. After comparison HVS sequences with revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS), the consensus sequences showed three transitions in HVS-II. Haplogroup H32 was determined for this sample. Haplogroup H is a Eurasian haplogroup which likely originated in Southwest Asia ∼25–30 thousand years ago (kya) and entered Europe ∼23–28 kya. Nearly half of Europeans have this haplogroup and there is a considerable frequency of haplogroup H in Middle East. Evidences indicate long-term presence of this haplogroup at western Asia.

T he purpose of the present letter is to determine the marginal level of high protein diet which modulates oxidative damage. The author hopes that the determination of the marginal level of high protein diet which modulates oxidative damage could contribute to the research for oxidative damage, apoptosis, obesity, cell proliferation, differentiation or cancer. Consumption of a high protein diet is of interest in terms of one of dietary interventions for weight loss. Camiletti-Moirón et al. [1] reported that a high protein diet induces oxidative damage to the brain in rats by means of lipid peroxidation or protein oxidation. In the paper, however, the diet contained 45% dietary protein for the high protein group compared to the basal protein group. If the diet contains more than the content (e.g., 60-80% dietary protein) in the experimental or clinical study, it is my opinion that an “excessive dietary protein” may be the suitable terminology for the level of dietary protein rather than a “high protein diet”.

Dengue infection is a zoonotic disease caused by Dengue virus, a single-strand RNA flavivirus. It is transmitted to humans through primarily Aedes aegypti (mosquito) bites. The disease prevalence is higher in tropical zones where there are high humidity and temperature as well as unplanned urbanization. According to the WHO, more than 100 tropical countries are afflicted by Dengue infection, leading to severe economic impact. Brazil is currently a major hotspot of Dengue infection. The number of infected people with dengue virus increased 240% in the first trimester of 2015 compared to the same period last year, surpassing the WHO estimative. In an attempt to stop the infection from spreading, the Brazilian Health Ministry has increased the budget to nearly $50 million to combat the vector. However, the bureaucracy of the Brazilian government has led to slow release of the allocated money to the affected cities and the results have been catastrophic. To make the situation worse, the slow diagnosis and the subsequent delay in starting the treatment has led to increased mortality rates. Currently, the only treatment available for Dengue infection is supportive, which is not very efficient against the most severe cases such as Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS).

The interruption of centuries of decline in case rates of Tuberculosis (TB) occurred, in most cases, in the late 1980s and involved industrialized countries due to increased poverty in urban settings and the immigration from TB high-burden countries. Thus, no sustainable control of TB epidemics can be reached in any setting without properly addressing the global epidemic.

A considerable rate of deaths from TB has been attributed to co-infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (TB-HIV). Immune deficient patients with HIV are at increased risk of latent M. tuberculosis infections (LTBI) progressing to active disease and being transmitted to others represents a considerable reservoir of bacilli. In addition, more than a half of the new TB cases are potentially MDR-TB “super strains” in the hot zones, such as the “BRICS” countries (Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa). MDR-TB strains, an airborne bacterium that is spread just as easily as drug-sensitive TB, are resistant to at least three of the four main drugs used to treat TB. Likewise, it has been reported the emergence of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB cases, defined as cases in persons with TB whose isolates are resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin (MDR-TB) as well as resistant to any one of the fluoroquinolone drugs and to at least one of the three injectable second-line drugs, Amikacin, Kanamycin or Capreomycin. XDR-TB is widespread raising the prospect of virtually incurable TB worldwide, such as the novel Total Drug-Resistant (TDR) TB strains found in India, Italy and Iran. The factors that most influence the emergence of drug-resistant strains include inappropriate treatment regimens, and patient noncompliance in completing the prescribed courses of therapy due to the lengthy standard “short-course” treatment or when the side effects become unbearable.

PSA is one of the most important biomarkers for detecting prostate cancer and guiding decisions to biopsies of the prostate. Despite its adequate sensitivity, the use of PSA testing is limited by a significant lack of specificity, which can result in unnecessary biopsies. Recent findings emphasize the limitation of these PSA threshold values to discriminate between prostate cancer and benign disease in asymptomatic men [1-3]. Therefore clinicians tried to improve a new diagnostic biomarker for clinically significant PCa. One of the most promising marker is PSA derivates such as free PSA and its ratio to total PSA (%f/t PSA).

In the pre-genome era, traditional molecular biology provides very informative knowledge on how individual bio-molecule, i.e. DNA, RNA and protein, perform biological functions. Networks of interactions among bio-molecules are fundamental to all biological processes; for example, the Gene Regulatory Network (GRN) can be described as a complex network of genes regulated by protein binding. Cellular processes are controlled by various types of biochemical networks; such as (i) metabolic networks, (ii) Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) networks, (iii) GRN, and (iv) signal transduction networks. Biochemical networks are complex in nature; they consist of a large number of bio-molecules, interacting with each other give rise to biological responses and stabilities. In the post-genome era, it is more productive to investigate how bio-molecules regulate or cooperate on a system level. The graph theory approach is a powerful tool for investigating the underlying topological structures of different molecular networks. A great diversity of graph theoretical notions is discussed to characterize biological networks. T he theory of complex networks plays an important role, ranging from computer science, sociology, engineering and physics, to bioinformatics etc. Within the fields of bioinformatics, potential applications of network analysis include drug target identification, determining bio molecules’ pathways and function, and designing effective strategies for treating various diseases. Molecular networks are the basis of biological processes. Such networks can be decomposed into smaller modules, also known as network motifs. These motifs show interesting dynamical behaviors, in which co-operatively effects between the motif components play a critical role in human diseases. Some of the network motifs are interconnected which can be merged together and form more complex structures, the so-called Coupled Motif Structures (CMS). These structures exhibit mixed dynamical behavior, which may lead biological organisms to perform specific functions.

Both HIV/AIDS and malnutrition are common problems in Sub-Saharan Africa particularly in Ethiopia. HIV/AIDS and malnutrition effects are interconnected and worsen one another in a vicious cycle. However, there is limited studies regarding on effects of HIV/AIDS on malnutrition particularly micronutrients.

Recently, I attended the Modern Vaccines Adjuvants and Delivery Systems conference held in Leiden, The Netherlands (May 18-20, 2015); which highlighted some of the major challenges in the development of efficacious vaccines and their effective delivery for both (re) emerging infectious diseases and endemic Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). These infections include not only the “big three” of Malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, but also Leishmaniasis, Ebola, MERSCOV, helminths and others. Notably, for the “big three” attempts to develop such vaccines have been largely disappointing. Some of the challenges lie with the extreme genetic variability of the pathogens. Most successful vaccines have been against slowly evolving pathogens with a limited number of antigenically different strains that induce immune responses dependent on neutralizing antibodies; a mechanism that is well understood. Also, for most vaccine preventable diseases, natural infections with their pathogens leave the host (temporarily, partially) immune to reinfection or disease with the same (strain of) pathogen. The danger of these pathogens is that they often win the race between their own rapid rate of multiplication and the host response which depends on immune recognition and activation and proliferation of immune cells, specifically-B cells. Once the host mounted an immune response and survived the fight he has won the race. Most of the infections above, however, do not conform to that pattern. In TB, cellular mechanisms are essential for controlling the infection, but do not eliminate it. The pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), reproduce very slowly and disease occurs, if at all (in a minority of infections), months or years after infection. Disease, once cured, does not offer protection against reinfection or disease from reinfection. Speed of immune recognition seems to play no role, as most individuals who develop TB have detectable (by IGRA or TST) immune responses to the pathogens. Rather, it seems, a failure of the cellular effector mechanisms is at fault, and if so the prospects for an effective vaccine that protect against disease are slim. As neutralizing antibodies play no role in protection, also the prospects of conferring protection against (re) infection seem equally poor. Immune mechanisms against malaria and HIV are also complex and poorly understood, and attempts to develop an HIV vaccine have been graphically called “shots in the dark” [1]. The more I learn about vaccines and vaccination, the more I become perplexed, less optimistic, but also fascinated. Despite the stunning recent advances in immunology and medical research why do we still fail, and what are the missing scientific links? Are vaccines for some infections simply impossible, or are we simply not aiming our efforts correctly? Progress seems increasingly difficult, but the rewards of success, therefore so huge. The English physician Edward Jenner developed (or rather discovered) that cowpox offered a relatively safe alternative to the risky practice of variation in 1796 and in 1977 smallpox was eradicated worldwide. On May 8, 1980, the World Health Assembly announced that the world was free of smallpox and recommended that all countries cease vaccination: “The world and all its people have won freedom from smallpox, which was the most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest times, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake” [2]. Jenner just observed, but knew nothing about viruses, let alone immunology.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States of America, including melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer. Malignant melanoma, being ranked as the fifth most common cancer within the US shows a yearly incidence of 73,870 cases and remains the most aggressive form of all skin cancers with a mortality rate of 2.7 per 100,000 [1,2]. Fortunately, over the last decade melanoma treatment options have tremendously improved. Progress in areas such as immunotherapy and targeted therapies has lead to increased melanoma survival rates, rising from 82% (1975-1977) to 93% (2004-2010) [3]. In consequence, the cost of skin cancer treatments, specifically for melanoma treatments increased from an average annual total cost of $864 million in 2002 to $3349 million in 2011 [4].