Immunology

=Math Matters: The Math behind.......Immunology=

Definition im·mu·nol·o·gy [ [|ìmmyə nólləjee]  ]
 * immunology **

NOUN study of the immune system: the scientific study of the way the immune system works in the body, including allergies, resistance to disease, and acceptance or rejection of foreign tissue

//Content above provided by // //Encarta® World English Dictionary[North American Edition] © & (P) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. // Scientists use **differential equations** to model the dynamics (relationships) within an immune system, namely the virus-infected cells and the effector (defender) cells. Let's start with a definition of a differential equation. A differential equation is an equation that defines a relationship between a function and one or more derivatives of that function. Let //y// be some function of the independent variable //t//.[1]. In [|calculus], a branch of [|mathematics], the **derivative** is a measure of how a [|function] changes as its input changes. Loosely speaking, a derivative can be thought of as how much one quantity is changing in response to changes in some other quantity. [2]

So what does this all have to do with your immune system? When your immune system detects a foreign substance, it goes to work producing effector cells. The effector cells are the defenders, sent to kill the invaders. It's a lot like the predator-prey relationships we see in nature. Hopefully as the number of effector cells increase, the number of target cells (the invaders) decrease. The presence of one affects the presence or survival of the other. Scientists use differential equations as models to predict how effective the cells or treatments are in stopping or destroying virus-infected cells.

Interesting Fact: A nasal spray flu vaccine reduces the infected rate in children by 55 percent compared to those who receive the traditional flu shot in the arm. The two vaccination methods stimulate different types of immune responses. While the flu shot stimulates antibodies in the blood, the nasal spray vaccine stimulates antibodies both in the bloodstream and in the nose, which is where the flu virus usually enters the body [3].

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