BACKGROUND Ancient microbiota information represents an important resource to evaluate bacterial evolution and to explore the biological spread of infectious diseases in history. The soft tissue of frozen mummified humans, such as the Tyrolean Iceman, has been shown to contain bacterial DNA that is suitable for population profiling of the prehistoric bacteria that colonized such ancient human h...

Sub-Saharan Africa has continued leading in prevalence and incidence of major infectious disease killers such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. Epidemiological triad of infectious diseases includes susceptible host, pathogen, and environment. It is imperative that all aspects of vertices of the infectious disease triad are analysed to better understand why this is so. Studies done to addr...

Cupping (Hijama in Arabic) is an ancient, holistic method for the treatment of a variety of diseases. Though the exact origin of cupping therapy is a matter of controversy, its use has been documented in early Egyptian and Chinese medical practices. Diverse human civilizations have contributed to the historical development and continuation of cupping therapy. This narrative review describes the...

THE chemotherapy of bacterial diseases is a medical innovation of the last four years only. In the case of the protozoal infections, on the other hand, this form of treatment is comparatively ancient. The discovery of the effect of quinine in malaria dates from the seventeenth century, and mercury was used in syphilis in very early times. In I9IO Ehrlich and Hata published the discovery of the ...

Different aspects of medicine and/or healing in several societies are presented. In the ancient times as well as today medicine has been closely related to magic, science and religion. Various ancient societies and cultures had developed different views of medicine. It was believed that a human being has two bodies: a visible body that belongs to the earth and an invisible body of heaven. In th...

Ancient (proto-) Bulgarians have long been thought of as a Turkic population. However, evidence found in the past three decades shows that this is not the case. Until now, this evidence has not included ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. To fill this void, we collected human remains from the 8th to the 10th century AD located in three necropolises in Bulgaria: Nojarevo (Silistra region...

The terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene, a period from 15 000 to 18 000 Before Present (BP), was critical in establishing the current Holarctic fauna, with temperate-climate species largely replacing cold-adapted ones at mid-latitudes. However, the timing and nature of this process remain unclear for many taxa, a point that impacts on current and future management strategies. Here, we use a...

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is a frequently used method for ranking alternatives. The alternatives to be ranked are modeled based on a set of criteria. The ranking computed by AHP is trusted on faith notwithstanding the fact that a model is an approximation and liable to failure. We present a model to estimate the trust in the AHP ranking. The model helps in determining if it is prudent to...

Post-modernism and recent critical theory has sought to deconstruct the role of particular ‘Great Traditions’ and ‘Grand Narratives’ as privileged accounts of world affairs, contemporary and historical. In spite of this, such narratives, even if poorly understood, remain at the heart of much public debate and continue to shape national and global policies. These traditions, linked to elements o...

The colonization of the human environment by plants, and the consequent evolution of domesticated forms is increasingly being viewed as a co-evolutionary plant-human process that occurred over a long time period, with evidence for the co-evolutionary relationship between plants and humans reaching ever deeper into the hominin past. This developing view is characterized by a change in emphasis o...