Centrifugal isolation of SARS-CoV-2: numerical simulation for purification of hospitals' air

Elucidating the role of environmental management of forests, air quality, solid waste and wastewater on the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2

The increasing frequency of zoonotic diseases is amongst several catastrophic repercussions of inadequate environmental management. Emergence, prevalence, and lethality of zoonotic diseases is intrinsically linked to environmental management which are currently at a destructive level globally. The effects of these links are complicated and interdependent, creating an urgent need of elucidating the role of environmental mismanagement to improve our resilience to future pandemics. This review focused on the pertinent role of forests, outdoor air, indoor air, solid waste and wastewater management in COVID-19 dissemination to analyze the opportunities prevailing to control infectious diseases considering relevant data from previous disease outbreaks. Global forest management is currently detrimental and hotspots of forest fragmentation have demonstrated to result in zoonotic disease emergences. Deforestation is reported to increase susceptibility to COVID-19 due to wildfire induced pollution and loss of forest ecosystem services. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 like viruses in multiple animal species also point to the impacts of biodiversity loss and forest fragmentation in relation to COVID-19. Available literature on air quality and COVID-19 have provided insights into the potential of air pollutants acting as plausible virus carrier and aggravating immune responses and expression of ACE2 receptors. SARS-CoV-2 is detected in outdoor air, indoor air, solid waste, wastewater and shown to prevail on solid surfaces and aerosols for prolonged hours. Furthermore, lack of protection measures and safe disposal options in waste management are evoking concerns especially in underdeveloped countries due to high infectivity of SARS-CoV-2. Inadequate legal framework and non-adherence to environmental regulations were observed to aggravate the postulated risks and vulnerability to future waves of pandemics. Our understanding underlines the urgent need to reinforce the fragile status of global environmental management systems through the development of strict legislative frameworks and enforcement by providing institutional, financial and technical supports.

Separation of motile human sperms in a T-shaped sealed microchannel

Microfluidic methods act as an effective motile sperm separation technique used in infertility treatments. This work presents a standalone microfluidic device to separate motile sperm cells from non-motile sperm cells and debris. The separation mechanism is based on the centrifugal force acting on sperms and the ability of progressive motile sperms to swim upstream. The separation of motile sperm is carried out using a simple T-shaped microchannel which constitutes three reservoirs: one inlet and two outlets. Herein, one of the outlets is kept sealed. The sealed channel leads to a high-velocity gradient and a rheotaxis zone at the T junction resulting in the separation of motile sperms. Separated sperms are isolated in a sealed channel with a low Reynolds number flow so that sperms cannot have a net displacement, which ensures that the sperms do not re-enter the fluid flow. CFD simulation is conducted to study the flow fields inside the channel and experimental investigation is carried to observe the separation behaviour of sperms. The reported device provides 100% sperm separation efficiency and ensures the entrapment of sperm cells for a longer period. A modified colorimetric nitroblue tetrazolium test conducted on separated sperm cells shows that there is only a marginal increase in superoxide (O₂ ^-) production, proving normal sperm integrity. This device offers an effective and safe alternative to conventional sperm sorting methods.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13534-022-00229-9.

Heat and mass transfer in the hyperthermia cancer treatment by magnetic nanoparticles

In this study, a more precise and cost-effective method is used for studying the drug delivery and distribution of magnetic nanoparticles in fluid hyperthermia cancer treatment, and numerical methods are employed to determine the effect of blood circulation on heat transfer and estimate the success of cancer treatment. A combination of numerical, analytical, and experimental researches is being conducted, which illustrates the essential role of numerical methods in medical and biomedical science. Magnetic NanoParticles' distribution and effects of infusion rate on the treatment are also discussed by considering the real distribution of MNPs. To increase accuracy and reduce costs in the in-vitro section, direct cutting and image processing methods are used instead of MRI. Based on the results of this section, with a tenfold increase in the infusion rate (4 μl/min to 40 μl/min), the penetration depth increases by 1 mm, which represents a nearly 17 percent increase. Concentrations of MNPs also decrease significantly at higher infusion rates. The simulations of heat transfer reveal that maximum temperatures occur at the lowest infusion rate (1.25 μl/min), and blood flow also has a significant effect on heat transfer. With an increase in the infusion rate, necrosis tissue recedes from the tumor center and approaches the border between the tumor and healthy tissue. Results also show that, in lower MNPs' concentrations, higher infusion rates result in better treatment even though minimum infusion rates are suggested to be the best rates to facilitate distribution and treatment.