Open AccessKinetic logic: a tool for describing the dynamics of infectious disease behavior
Author(s) -
MartinetEdelist Claire
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/j.1582-4934.2004.tb00283.x
Subject(s) - computer science , statistical physics , infectious disease (medical specialty) , simple (philosophy) , field (mathematics) , dynamics (music) , physics , disease , mathematics , epistemology , medicine , philosophy , pathology , acoustics , pure mathematics
Most of the infectious diseases imply biological regulations controlled by several feedback loops or circuits. Kinetic logic, which is a method easily accessible to biologists or physicians, and which takes time and thresholds of activity into account, seems a convenient method for building simplified models related to this field. This implies usually qualitative predictions concerning the dynamics of such biological systems, leading to a movement back and forth between experimentation or observation and logical description. Here, we illustrate this simple modelling method in building elementary models concerning prion infection to demonstrate how to proceed. We also discuss and summarize how this method has been used for studying several viral diseases. As an example, we show how predictions related to the rhabdovirus cycle, were experimentally verified.