An Engineering Alternative to Lockdown During COVID-19 and Other Airborne Infectious Disease Pandemics: Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND: Now and in the future, airborne diseases such as COVID-19 could become uncontrollable and lead the world into lockdowns. Finding alternatives to lockdowns, which limit individual freedoms and cause enormous economic losses, is critical. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility of achieving a society or a nation that does not require lockdown during a pandemic due to airborne infectious diseases through the mass production and distribution of high-performance, low-cost, and comfortable powered air purifying respirators (PAPRs). METHODS: The feasibility of a social system using PAPR as an alternative to lockdown was examined from the following perspectives: first, what PAPRs can do as an alternative to lockdown; second, how to operate a social system utilizing PAPR; third, directions of improvement of PAPR as an alternative to lockdown; and finally, balancing between efficiency of infection control and personal freedom through the use of Internet of Things (IoT). RESULTS: PAPR was shown to be a possible alternative to lockdown through the reduction of airborne and droplet transmissions and through a temporary reduction of infection probability per contact. A social system in which individual constraints imposed by lockdown are replaced by PAPRs was proposed, and an example of its operation is presented in this paper. For example, the government determines the type and intensity of the lockdown and activates it. At that time, the government will also indicate how PAPR can be substituted for the different activity and movement restrictions imposed during a lockdown, for example, a curfew order may be replaced with the permission to go outside if wearing a PAPR. The following 7 points were raised as directions for improvement of PAPR as an alternative method to lockdown: flow optimization, precise differential pressure control, design improvement, maintenance method, variation development such as booth type, information terminal function, and performance evaluation method. In order to achieve the effectiveness and efficiency in controlling the spread of infection and the individual freedom at a high level in a social system that uses PAPRs as an alternative to lockdown, it was considered effective to develop a PAPR wearing rate network management system utilizing IoT. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that using PAPR with infection control ability and with less economic and social damage as an alternative to nationwide lockdown is possible during a pandemic due to airborne infectious diseases. Further, the efficiency of the government's infection control and each citizen's freedom can be balanced by using the PAPR wearing rate network management system utilizing an IoT system.

Fluorescence polarization measurement system using a liquid crystal layer and an image sensor.

The detection system which enables simultaneous fluorescence polarization (FP) measurement of multiple samples was proposed and proven by a proof-of-concept experiment on the viscosity dependence of FP of fluorescein sample in water-ethylene glycol solution and another experiment on the FP immunoassay of prostaglandin E2 sample. The measurement principle of FP is based on the synchronization between the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules and the sampling frequency of a CCD. This report is the first description of the simultaneous FP measurement of multiple samples. This system has a great potential for equipment miniaturization and price reduction as well as providing simultaneous FP measurement of multiple samples.

Software for correcting the dynamic error of force transducers.

Software which corrects the dynamic error of force transducers in impact force measurements using their own output signal has been developed. The software corrects the output waveform of the transducers using the output waveform itself, estimates its uncertainty and displays the results. In the experiment, the dynamic error of three transducers of the same model are evaluated using the Levitation Mass Method (LMM), in which the impact forces applied to the transducers are accurately determined as the inertial force of the moving part of the aerostatic linear bearing. The parameters for correcting the dynamic error are determined from the results of one set of impact measurements of one transducer. Then, the validity of the obtained parameters is evaluated using the results of the other sets of measurements of all the three transducers. The uncertainties in the uncorrected force and those in the corrected force are also estimated. If manufacturers determine the correction parameters for each model using the proposed method, and provide the software with the parameters corresponding to each model, then users can obtain the waveform corrected against dynamic error and its uncertainty. The present status and the future prospects of the developed software are discussed in this paper.

Multi-point differential laser doppler velocimeter using arrayed waveguide gratings with small wavelength sensitivity.

A multi-point laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) using the arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) with small wavelength sensitivity (less than 1/10 of that for a conventional LDV without the AWGs) is proposed, in which velocities at different points in the depth direction can be simultaneously measured with compact optical systems. The design and characteristics of the proposed LDV are investigated with the model using the grating equation of the AWGs. From our simulation results, the wavelength sensitivity for multiple measured points can be reduced to less than 1/10 of that for a conventional LDV without an AWG.

A method for direct measurement of the first-order mass moments of human body segments.

We propose a simple and direct method for measuring the first-order mass moment of a human body segment. With the proposed method, the first-order mass moment of the body segment can be directly measured by using only one precision scale and one digital camera. In the dummy mass experiment, the relative standard uncertainty of a single set of measurements of the first-order mass moment is estimated to be 1.7%. The measured value will be useful as a reference for evaluating the uncertainty of the body segment inertial parameters (BSPs) estimated using an indirect method.

A method for evaluating dynamical friction in linear ball bearings.

A method is proposed for evaluating the dynamical friction of linear bearings, whose motion is not perfectly linear due to some play in its internal mechanism. In this method, the moving part of a linear bearing is made to move freely, and the force acting on the moving part is measured as the inertial force given by the product of its mass and the acceleration of its centre of gravity. To evaluate the acceleration of its centre of gravity, the acceleration of two different points on it is measured using a dual-axis optical interferometer.

Reduction of chromatic dispersion due to coupling for synchronized-router-based flat-passband filter using multiple-input arrayed waveguide grating.

An approach to reducing the chromatic dispersion due to coupling between input waveguides before the input slab for a synchronized-router-based flat-passband filter using a multiple-input arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) is proposed. The proposed method uses phase compensation at the waveguide array of the AWG by correction of waveguide lengths. The characteristics of the flat-passband filter that consists of a multiple-input AWG combined with cascaded Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs) are simulated using a theoretical model of the multiple-input AWG based on Fourier optics and the coupled-mode theory. The simulation result reveals that the chromatic dispersion within the passband can be significantly reduced by using phase compensation and additional dummy waveguides at the input just before the slab.

Wavelength-insensitive laser Doppler velocimeter using beam position shift induced by Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

A novel wavelength-insensitive differential laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) without a grating has been proposed. The proposed LDV utilizes a position shift of the beam at the input plane according to wavelength change induced by Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZIs). The gradual shift in the incident angle of the beam to the object is brought about with the combination of MZIs, lenses and apertures. The characteristics of the proposed structure are simulated using paraxial approximation of a lens system with an aperture. The simulation results indicate that almost wavelength-insensitive operation can be obtained by using the proposed structure without any grating element.

Mass measuring instrument for use under microgravity conditions.

A prototype instrument for measuring astronaut body mass under microgravity conditions has been developed and its performance was evaluated by parabolic flight tests. The instrument, which is the space scale, is applied as follows. Connect the subject astronaut to the space scale with a rubber cord. Use a force transducer to measure the force acting on the subject and an optical interferometer to measure the velocity of the subject. The subject's mass is calculated as the impulse divided by the velocity change, i.e., M=integral Fdt/delta v. Parabolic flight by using a jet aircraft produces a zero-gravity condition lasting approximately 20 s. The performance of the prototype space scale was evaluated during such a flight by measuring the mass of a sample object.

Method of generating and measuring static small force using down-slope component of gravity.

A method of generating and measuring static small forces at the micro-Newton level is proposed. In the method, the down-slope component of gravity acting on a mass on an inclined plane is used as a static force. To realize a linear motion of the mass with a small friction, an aerostatic linear bearing is used. The forces acting on the mass, such as the down-slope component of gravity and the dynamic frictional force, are determined by the levitation mass method. In an experiment, a static small force of approximately 183 microN is generated and measured with a standard uncertainty of approximately 2 microN.