Studies to Combat COVID-19 using Science and Engineering

✍ Scribed by Dana Barry (editor), Hideyuki Kanematsu (editor)

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 189
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This unique book provides excellent examples of ongoing, leading-edge research related to viruses, especially COVID-19. It is written from the viewpoint of various scientific fields including materials science. It introduces and describes viruses (submicroscopic infectious agents that replicate inside the living cells of an organism), various infections caused by viruses (human to human, human to other organisms to humans, humans to materials to humans, etc.), not only from the viewpoint of medical research but also from other scientific disciplines. A major focus of the book is the COVID-19 virus. Highlighted topics include the evolution of COVID-19, transmission of virus particles through the air, virus spread through various materials, detection of the virus by testing wastewater, the development and testing of vaccines and therapeutic drugs, and the preparation for future viruses and pandemics. This includes reform in funeral services to properly and safely accommodate very large numbers of bodies in a pandemic, like those seen in New York City when it was the epicenter for the virus in the United States. This book serves as an excellent and very informative guide (practical book) for engineers and researchers of various backgrounds and as a great academic textbook.

✦ Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Editors
Part I Viruses and Infections
1 General Information About Viruses
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Examples of Viral Infections
1.2.1 Shingles
1.2.2 Rabies
1.3 Conclusions
References
2 Infection
2.1 Introduction
2.2 What Is Infection?
2.3 What Happens in Our Body When Pathogens Enter It?
2.4 Thoughts for the Future
References
Part II Infection Spread Through Materials
3 Infection and Materials: The Role of Materials' Surfaces as Interfaces Between Materials and theMicrobial/Virus Environments
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Meaning of Infection on Materials
3.3 Factors Affecting the Viral Activities on Materials
3.4 Biofilms and Viruses
3.5 Possible Countermeasures to Control Viruses on Materials' Surfaces
3.6 For the Future
References
4 Viral Behaviors on Materials and the International Standard Between Materials and Microbial/Viral Environments
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Meaning of Antiviral Materials (Products)
4.3 General Evaluation for Viral Activity
4.4 International Standard for Viral Activity on Materials (Products)
4.5 For the Future
References
Part III Approaches for Studying Viruses and COVID-19 from Various Disciplines
5 The Evolution of SARS-CoV-2
5.1 Evolution in Viruses
5.2 Evolutionary History of SARS-CoV-2 Within the Coronavirus Group
5.3 Evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in Human Hosts
5.4 SARS-CoV-2 Whole Genome Sequence Data
5.5 Natural Selection Begins to Drive Adaptive Evolution
5.6 Evidence of Selection from Models and Experimental Tests of Protein Function
5.7 Evidence of Selection from Phylogenetic and Epidemiological Data
5.8 Adaptively Evolved Variants of Human Health Concern
5.8.1 The First Clearly Identified Adaptively Evolved Variant: Alpha
5.8.2 Other Adaptively Evolved Variants Identified: Beta, Gamma, and Delta
5.8.3 Emerging Variants of Concern: Omicron
5.8.4 Evolved Impacts on Immunity and Vaccine Effectiveness
5.9 Immunocompromised Patients as Hotspots for SARS-CoV-2 Adaptive Evolution
5.10 Potential Impacts of Cross-Species Spillback on Adaptive Evolution
5.11 Future Evolution of SARS-CoV-2
References
6 Computational Modeling of Aerosol Transmission of COVID-19
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Computational Modeling of Airflow Dynamics and Droplet Transport and Dispersion
6.3 Respiratory Droplet Size Distributions
6.4 Simplified Airborne Transmission Models
6.5 Respiratory Air Flows
6.6 Cough Droplet Distribution in a Classroom
6.7 Dispersion of Respiratory Droplets in a Small Ventilated Room During Speaking
6.8 Dispersion of Cough Droplets in a Subway Train
6.9 Airflow and Dispersion of Respiratory Droplets in a two-Person Office
6.10 Airflow and Dispersion of Respiratory Droplets in a Nine-Person Office
6.11 Respiratory Face Masks
6.12 Simple Model for Exposure to Respiratory Puff
6.13 Conclusions
References
7 Respiratory Virus Deposition and Resuspension from Indoor Surfaces
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Indoor Aerosols and Bioaerosols
7.3 Material Balance Approach for Modeling Indoor Air Concentrations of Aerosols
7.4 Respiratory Aerosol Emissions
7.5 Particle Deposition in a Room
7.6 Particle Resuspension from Human Activity
7.7 Conclusions
References
8 Surveillance of Wastewater for COVID-19
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Sewage (Domestic Wastewater) Treatment
8.3 Detection, Identification, and Disinfection of COVID-19 in Wastewater
8.4 Conclusions
References
9 Distributed Consensus-Based COVID-19 Hotspot Density Estimation
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Background
9.3 Algorithms
9.3.1 Wall Detection Algorithm
9.3.2 DBSCAN Clustering
9.3.3 Distributed Average Consensus for Node Counting
9.3.4 Distributed Network Size Estimation
9.4 Methodology
9.5 Simulation Results
9.5.1 GUI Demonstration
9.6 Conclusions
References
10 Antiviral Drugs, Antibodies, and Vaccines for COVID-19
10.1 Introduction
10.2 The Immune System
10.3 Testing Methods for COVID-19
10.4 Antiviral Drug Treatments for COVID-19
10.5 Antibody Treatments for COVID-19
10.6 Vaccines for COVID-19
10.6.1 Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 Vaccine
10.6.2 Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine
10.6.3 Johnson & Johnson's (J&J's) COVID-19 Vaccine
10.7 Conclusions
References
Part IV The Future
11 Controlling COVID-19 and Preparing for Future Pandemics
11.1 Introduction
11.2 General Plan to Control a Pandemic
11.2.1 General Steps to Control a Pandemic
11.3 Using Sharks' Proteins to Combat Future Coronaviruses
11.4 One Health: A Plan to Prepare for Future Pandemics
11.5 Prepare for Future Pandemics Using Serological Testing
11.6 Prepare for Future Pandemics Using Metagenomic Sequencing
11.7 Conclusions
References
12 Pandemic and Reform in Funeral Services
References