Infectious Disease Containment Based on a Wireless Sensor System

A Talk-Listen-Ack Beaconing Strategy for Neighbor Discovery Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

Neighbor discovery is a fundamental function for sensor networking. Sensor nodes discover each other by sending and receiving beacons. Although many time-slotted neighbor discovery protocols (NDPs) have been proposed, the theoretical discovery latency is measured by the number of time slots rather than the unit of time. Generally, the actual discovery latency of a NDP is proportional to its theoretical discovery latency and slot length, and inversely proportional to the discovery probability. Therefore, it is desired to increase discovery probability while reducing slot length. This task, however, is challenging because the slot length and the discovery probability are two conflicting factors, and they mainly depend on the beaconing strategy used. In this paper, we propose a new beaconing strategy, called talk-listen-ack beaconing (TLA). We analyze the discovery probability of TLA by using a fine-grained slot model. Further, we also analyze the discovery probability of TLA that uses random backoff mechanism to avoid persistent collisions. Simulation and experimental results show that, compared with the 2-Beacon approach that has been widely used in time-slotted NDPs, TLA can achieve a high discovery probability even in a short time slot. TLA is a generic beaconing strategy that can be applied to different slotted NDPs to reduce their discovery latency.

Fast Containment of Infectious Diseases With E-Healthcare Mobile Social Internet of Things

The infectious disease presents great hazards to public health, due to their high infectivities and potential lethalities. One of the effective methods to hinder the spread of infectious disease is vaccination. However, due to the limitation of resource and the medical budget, vaccinating all people is not feasible in practice. Besides, the vaccinating effects are difficult to be timely observed through traditional ways, such as outpatient services. To tackle the above problems, we propose an e-healthcare mobile social Internet of Things (MSIoTs)-based targeted vaccination scheme to fast contain the spread of the infectious disease. Specifically, we first develop an e-healthcare MSIoT architecture by integrating the e-healthcare system and MSIoTs, whereby the spread status of the infectious disease is timely collected. Furthermore, a graph coloring and spreading centrality-based optional candidate searching algorithm is devised to hunt for the candidates that are powerfully capable of preventing infectious disease. Especially, in order to reduce the vaccination cost, we design an optimal vaccinated target selection algorithm to choose a minimum number of targets whose locations are differentially distributed. Extensive simulations demonstrate that the proposed scheme can effectively prevent infectious disease as compared to conventional schemes.

A two-step vaccination technique to limit COVID-19 spread using mobile data

Vaccination is one of the most effective methods to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, but due to limitations in vaccines' availability, especially when faced with a new disease such as COVID-19, not all individuals in the community can be vaccinated. A limited number of candidates should be selected when the supply of vaccines is limited. In this paper, a method is introduced to prioritize the individuals for vaccination in order to achieve the best results in preventing the spread of COVID-19. We divide this problem into two steps: vaccine allocation and targeted vaccination. In vaccine allocation, vaccines are allocated among different population. An algorithm is proposed by defining the maximization of the total immunity among populations as an optimization problem. The aim of the targeted vaccination step is to select the individuals in each population that when vaccinated, create the greatest reduction in the transmission paths of the disease. The contact tracing data for this step is obtained from wireless communication networks and is modeled using graph theory. A metric is presented for selection of the candidates, based on centrality metrics. Simulations indicate that a 30% drop in infection rate could be achieved compared to random vaccination.

A Comprehensive Survey of Enabling and Emerging Technologies for Social Distancing-Part II: Emerging Technologies and Open Issues

This two-part paper aims to provide a comprehensive survey on how emerging technologies, e.g., wireless and networking, artificial intelligence (AI) can enable, encourage, and even enforce social distancing practice. In Part I, an extensive background of social distancing is provided, and enabling wireless technologies are thoroughly surveyed. In this Part II, emerging technologies such as machine learning, computer vision, thermal, ultrasound, etc., are introduced. These technologies open many new solutions and directions to deal with problems in social distancing, e.g., symptom prediction, detection and monitoring quarantined people, and contact tracing. Finally, we discuss open issues and challenges (e.g., privacy-preserving, scheduling, and incentive mechanisms) in implementing social distancing in practice. As an example, instead of reacting with ad-hoc responses to COVID-19-like pandemics in the future, smart infrastructures (e.g., next-generation wireless systems like 6G, smart home/building, smart city, intelligent transportation systems) should incorporate a pandemic mode in their standard architectures/designs.

Network Analysis of MERS Coronavirus within Households, Communities, and Hospitals to Identify Most Centralized and Super-Spreading in the Arabian Peninsula, 2012 to 2016

Contact history is crucial during an infectious disease outbreak and vital when seeking to understand and predict the spread of infectious diseases in human populations. The transmission connectivity networks of people infected with highly contagious Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia were assessed to identify super-spreading events among the infected patients between 2012 and 2016. Of the 1379 MERS cases recorded during the study period, 321 (23.3%) cases were linked to hospital infection, out of which 203 (14.7%) cases occurred among healthcare workers. There were 1113 isolated cases while the number of recorded contacts per MERS patient is between 1 (n=210) and 17 (n=1), with a mean of 0.27 (SD = 0.76). Five super-important nodes were identified based on their high number of connected contacts worthy of prioritization (at least degree of 5). The number of secondary cases in each SSE varies (range, 5–17). The eigenvector centrality was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with place of exposure, with hospitals having on average significantly higher eigenvector centrality than other places of exposure. Results suggested that being a healthcare worker has a higher eigenvector centrality score on average than being nonhealthcare workers. Pathogenic droplets are easily transmitted within a confined area of hospitals; therefore, control measures should be put in place to curtail the number of hospital visitors and movements of nonessential staff within the healthcare facility with MERS cases.