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economics --- econometrics --- theoretical modeling --- social sciences --- statistics

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Organ transplantation is a life-saving surgical procedure through which the functionality of a failing organ system can be restored. However, without the life-long administration of immunosuppressive drugs, the recipient’s immune system will launch a massive immune attack that will ultimately destroy the graft. Although successful at protecting the graft from an immune attack, long-term use of immunosuppressive drugs leads to serious complications (e.g., increased risk of infection, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer). Moreover, recipients suffer from limited long-term graft survival rates due to the inability of current treatments to establish tolerance to the transplanted tissues. Thus, there is a great medical need to understand the complex network of immune system interactions that lead to transplant rejection so that new strategies of intervention can be determined that will redirect the system toward transplant acceptance while preserving immune competence against offending agents. In the past 20 years, the discovery and growing understanding of the positive and negative regulators of the activation of the immune system have fostered new interventional procedures targeting one or the other. While pre-clinical results proved the validity of these strategies, their clinical implementation has been troublesome. These results underscore the need for additional methods to determine the most effective interventions to prevent long-term transplant rejection. New tools of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics are being implemented in powerful analyses that promise the development of better, safer personalized treatments. In parallel, theoretical modeling has emerged as a tool that transcends investigations of individual mechanistic processes and instead unravels the relevant mechanisms of complex systems such as the immune response triggered by a transplant. In this way, theoretical models can be used to identify important behavior that arises from complex systems and thereby delineate emergent properties of biological systems that could not be identified studying single components. Employing this approach, interdisciplinary collaborations among immunologists, mathematicians, and system biologists will yield novel perspectives in the development of more effective strategies of intervention. The aim of this Research Topic is to demonstrate how new insight and methods from theoretical and experimental studies of the immune response can aid in identifying new research directions in transplant immunology. First, techniques from various theoretical and experimental studies with applications to the immune response will be reviewed to determine how they can be adapted to explore the complexity of transplant rejection. Second, recent advances in the acquisition and mining of large data sets related to transplant genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics will be discussed in the context of their predictive power and potential for optimizing and personalizing patient treatment. Last, new perspectives will be offered on the integration of computational immune modeling with transplant and omics data to establish more effective strategies of intervention that promote transplant tolerance.

systems biology --- theoretical modeling --- transplant immunology --- biomarkers --- big data and bioinformatics --- transplant rejection --- transplant tolerance --- mechanistic models

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Cellular solids and porous metals have become some of the most promising lightweight multifunctional materials due to their superior combination of advanced properties mainly derived from their base material and cellular structure. They are used in a wide range of commercial, biomedical, industrial, and military applications. In contrast to other cellular materials, cellular metals are non-flammable, recyclable, extremely tough, and chemically stable and are excellent energy absorbers. The manuscripts of this Special Issue provide a representative insight into the recent developments in this field, covering topics related to manufacturing, characterization, properties, specific challenges in transportation, and the description of structural features. For example, a presented strategy for the strengthening of Al-alloy foams is the addition of alloying elements (e.g., magnesium) into the metal bulk matrix to promote the formation of intermetallics (e.g., precipitation hardening). The incorporation of micro-sized and nano-sized reinforcement elements (e.g., carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide) into the metal bulk matrix to enhance the performance of the ductile metal is presented. New bioinspired cellular materials, such as nanocomposite foams, lattice materials, and hybrid foams and structures are also discussed (e.g., filled hollow structures, metal-polymer hybrid cellular structures).

Technology: general issues --- semi-solid --- aluminum foam --- primary crystals --- SIMA process --- slope casting --- pore morphology --- aluminium alloy foam --- recycling --- beverage cans --- direct foaming method --- A-242 alloy --- cellular materials --- composites --- friction welding --- foam --- recycle --- compression test --- precipitation phase --- age hardening --- aluminum alloy foams --- powder metallurgy --- continuous production --- mechanical properties --- gradient compressed porous metal --- sound absorption performance --- optimal parameters --- theoretical modeling --- cuckoo search algorithm --- finite element simulation --- experimental validation --- enclosed gas --- anisotropy --- elasticity --- plasticity --- multiaxial yielding --- open-cell aluminum foam --- epoxy resin --- graphene oxide --- hybrid structures --- mechanical --- thermal and acoustic properties --- metal foam --- aluminum alloys --- grain refinement --- modification --- microstructure --- mechanics of materials --- metallurgy --- melt treatment --- CALPHAD --- liquid fraction, X-ray diffraction --- X-ray radioscopy --- X-ray tomography --- X-ray tomoscopy --- porous metal --- drainage --- clogging --- lattice material --- topology optimisation --- crystal inspiration --- energy absorption --- cellular metals --- X-ray computed tomography --- infrared thermography --- mechanical characterization --- thermal characterization --- acoustic characterization --- open-cell foam --- polyurethane foam --- graphene-based materials --- nanocomposites --- unidirectional cellular structure --- porosity --- fabrication --- explosive compaction --- metallography --- computational simulation --- experimental tests --- aluminum matrix foam composite (AMFC) --- MWCNT --- chemical oxidation --- electroless deposition nickel --- expansion --- semi-solid --- aluminum foam --- primary crystals --- SIMA process --- slope casting --- pore morphology --- aluminium alloy foam --- recycling --- beverage cans --- direct foaming method --- A-242 alloy --- cellular materials --- composites --- friction welding --- foam --- recycle --- compression test --- precipitation phase --- age hardening --- aluminum alloy foams --- powder metallurgy --- continuous production --- mechanical properties --- gradient compressed porous metal --- sound absorption performance --- optimal parameters --- theoretical modeling --- cuckoo search algorithm --- finite element simulation --- experimental validation --- enclosed gas --- anisotropy --- elasticity --- plasticity --- multiaxial yielding --- open-cell aluminum foam --- epoxy resin --- graphene oxide --- hybrid structures --- mechanical --- thermal and acoustic properties --- metal foam --- aluminum alloys --- grain refinement --- modification --- microstructure --- mechanics of materials --- metallurgy --- melt treatment --- CALPHAD --- liquid fraction, X-ray diffraction --- X-ray radioscopy --- X-ray tomography --- X-ray tomoscopy --- porous metal --- drainage --- clogging --- lattice material --- topology optimisation --- crystal inspiration --- energy absorption --- cellular metals --- X-ray computed tomography --- infrared thermography --- mechanical characterization --- thermal characterization --- acoustic characterization --- open-cell foam --- polyurethane foam --- graphene-based materials --- nanocomposites --- unidirectional cellular structure --- porosity --- fabrication --- explosive compaction --- metallography --- computational simulation --- experimental tests --- aluminum matrix foam composite (AMFC) --- MWCNT --- chemical oxidation --- electroless deposition nickel --- expansion

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Cellular solids and porous metals have become some of the most promising lightweight multifunctional materials due to their superior combination of advanced properties mainly derived from their base material and cellular structure. They are used in a wide range of commercial, biomedical, industrial, and military applications. In contrast to other cellular materials, cellular metals are non-flammable, recyclable, extremely tough, and chemically stable and are excellent energy absorbers. The manuscripts of this Special Issue provide a representative insight into the recent developments in this field, covering topics related to manufacturing, characterization, properties, specific challenges in transportation, and the description of structural features. For example, a presented strategy for the strengthening of Al-alloy foams is the addition of alloying elements (e.g., magnesium) into the metal bulk matrix to promote the formation of intermetallics (e.g., precipitation hardening). The incorporation of micro-sized and nano-sized reinforcement elements (e.g., carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide) into the metal bulk matrix to enhance the performance of the ductile metal is presented. New bioinspired cellular materials, such as nanocomposite foams, lattice materials, and hybrid foams and structures are also discussed (e.g., filled hollow structures, metal-polymer hybrid cellular structures).

semi-solid --- aluminum foam --- primary crystals --- SIMA process --- slope casting --- pore morphology --- aluminium alloy foam --- recycling --- beverage cans --- direct foaming method --- A-242 alloy --- cellular materials --- composites --- friction welding --- foam --- recycle --- compression test --- precipitation phase --- age hardening --- aluminum alloy foams --- powder metallurgy --- continuous production --- mechanical properties --- gradient compressed porous metal --- sound absorption performance --- optimal parameters --- theoretical modeling --- cuckoo search algorithm --- finite element simulation --- experimental validation --- enclosed gas --- anisotropy --- elasticity --- plasticity --- multiaxial yielding --- open-cell aluminum foam --- epoxy resin --- graphene oxide --- hybrid structures --- mechanical --- thermal and acoustic properties --- metal foam --- aluminum alloys --- grain refinement --- modification --- microstructure --- mechanics of materials --- metallurgy --- melt treatment --- CALPHAD --- liquid fraction, X-ray diffraction --- X-ray radioscopy --- X-ray tomography --- X-ray tomoscopy --- porous metal --- drainage --- clogging --- lattice material --- topology optimisation --- crystal inspiration --- energy absorption --- cellular metals --- X-ray computed tomography --- infrared thermography --- mechanical characterization --- thermal characterization --- acoustic characterization --- open-cell foam --- polyurethane foam --- graphene-based materials --- nanocomposites --- unidirectional cellular structure --- porosity --- fabrication --- explosive compaction --- metallography --- computational simulation --- experimental tests --- aluminum matrix foam composite (AMFC) --- MWCNT --- chemical oxidation --- electroless deposition nickel --- expansion --- n/a