Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, 400084, Romania.
Theoretical Division and Center for Nonlinear Studies, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 4;12(1):11229. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-15223-5.
The widely used susceptible-infected-recovered (S-I-R) epidemic model assumes a uniform, well-mixed population, and incorporation of spatial heterogeneities remains a major challenge. Understanding failures of the mixing assumption is important for designing effective disease mitigation approaches. We combine a run-and-tumble self-propelled active matter system with an S-I-R model to capture the effects of spatial disorder. Working in the motility-induced phase separation regime both with and without quenched disorder, we find two epidemic regimes. For low transmissibility, quenched disorder lowers the frequency of epidemics and increases their average duration. For high transmissibility, the epidemic spreads as a front and the epidemic curves are less sensitive to quenched disorder; however, within this regime it is possible for quenched disorder to enhance the contagion by creating regions of higher particle densities. We discuss how this system could be realized using artificial swimmers with mobile optical traps operated on a feedback loop.
广泛使用的易感-感染-恢复（S-I-R）传染病模型假设人群是均匀混合的，而纳入空间异质性仍然是一个主要挑战。了解混合假设的失败对于设计有效的疾病缓解方法很重要。我们将一种跑动和翻滚的自主推进活性物质系统与 S-I-R 模型相结合，以捕捉空间无序的影响。在存在和不存在淬火无序的情况下，我们都在运动诱导的相分离区域中工作，发现了两种传染病模式。对于低传染性，淬火无序会降低传染病的频率并增加其平均持续时间。对于高传染性，传染病呈前沿传播，传染病曲线对淬火无序的敏感性降低；然而，在这个范围内，淬火无序通过创建更高粒子密度的区域来增强传染是有可能的。我们讨论了如何使用带有移动光学陷阱的人工游泳者并在反馈循环上操作来实现这个系统。
