Application of PLGA nano/microparticle delivery systems for immunomodulation and prevention of allotransplant rejection

Introduction: Allograft transplantation is an effective end-point therapy to replace the function of an impaired organ. The main problem associated with allotransplantation is the induction of immune responses that results in acute and chronic graft rejection. To modulate the response of the immune system, transplant recipients generally take high dose immunosuppressant drugs for life. These drugs are associated with serious side effects such as infection with opportunistic pathogens and the development of neoplasia. Areas covered: We reviewed the obstacles to successful transplantation and PLGA-based strategies to reduce immune-mediated allograft rejection. Expert opinion: Biomaterial-based approaches using micro- and nanoparticles such as poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) can be used to achieve controlled release of drugs. This approach decreases the required effective dose of drugs and enables local delivery of these agents to specific tissues and cells, whilst decreasing systemic effects

Towards an interoperable framework for mixed real-time simulations of industrial embedded systems

Simulations are often used to improve the development and test time of industrial embedded systems in different domains, such as healthcare, railway, automobile and aerospace. This paper introduces a general framework capable of simulating real components simultaneously with simulated ones, in real-time, and with a low impact on the performance of the overall system. Our framework is loosely dependent on the application and the domain where the application is developed in. More importantly, it enhances interoperability and reuse, because it paves the way to reuse existing simulating tools and models and to integrate separately developed models from earlier stages in the design into a single coherent simulation