We describe an approach to building a hybrid multi-scale model, using a Petri net model for the top layer, and object-oriented models at the lower layers, with a rigorous definition of how the layers compose. We apply this approach to building a model of prostate cell division and differentiation, with each model layer describing the processes at a suitable level of abstraction. This provides a systematic modular approach to modelling and to model validation, allowing use of diverse modelling techniques in developing multi-scale models with no loss of rigour or validity. We use this prostate model to develop a prototype simulation, and demonstrate that it is capable of simulating biologically-relevant numbers of cells.
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@inproceedings(SS-CoSMoS11-pmodel, author = "Alastair Droop and Philip Garnett and Fiona A. C. Polack and Susan Stepney", title = "Multiple model simulation: modelling cell division and differentiation in the prostate", pages = {79-111}, crossref = "CoSMoS11" ) @proceedings(CoSMoS11, editor = "Susan Stepney and Peter Welch and Paul S. Andrews and Carl G. Ritson", title = "Proceedings of the 2011 Workshop on Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation, Paris, France, August 2011", booktitle = "Proceedings of the 2011 Workshop on Complex Systems Modelling and Simulation, Paris, France, August 2011", publisher = "Luniver Press", year = 2011 )