A phenomenological approach to the simulation of metabolism and proliferation dynamics of large tumour cell populations

A major goal of modern computational biology is to simulate the collective behaviour of large cell populations starting from the intricate web of molecular interactions occurring at the microscopic level. In this paper we describe a simplified model of cell metabolism, growth and proliferation, suitable for inclusion in a multicell simulator, now under development (Chignola R and Milotti E 2004 Physica A 338 261-6). Nutrients regulate the proliferation dynamics of tumor cells which adapt their behaviour to respond to changes in the biochemical composition of the environment. This modeling of nutrient metabolism and cell cycle at a mesoscopic scale level leads to a continuous flow of information between the two disparate spatiotemporal scales of molecular and cellular dynamics that can be simulated with modern computers and tested experimentally.Comment: 58 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, pdf onl

Social Participation Network: Linking things, services and people to support participatory processes

International audienceDigital technologies have impacted almost every aspect of our society, including how people participate in activities that matter to them. Indeed, digital participation allows people to be involved in different societal activities at an unprecedented scale through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Still, enabling participation at scale requires making it seamless for people to: interact with a variety of software platforms, get information from connected physical objects and software services, and communicate and collaborate with their peers. Toward this objective, this paper introduces and formalizes the concept of Social Participation Network, which captures the diverse participation relationships-between people, digital services and connected things-supporting participatory processes. The paper further presents the design of an associated online service to support the creation and management of Social Participation Networks. The design advocates the instantiation of Social Participation Networks within distinct participation contexts-spanning, e.g., private institutions, neighbor communities, and governmental institutions-so that the participants' information and contributions to participation remain isolated and private within the given context