Reinfection and multiple viral strains are among the latest challenges in the current COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, epidemic models often consider a single strain and perennial immunity. To bridge this gap, we present a new epidemic model that simultaneously considers multiple viral strains and reinfection due to waning immunity. The model is general, applies to any viral disease and includes an optimal control formulation to seek a trade-off between the societal and economic costs of mitigation. We validate the model, with and without mitigation, in the light of the COVID-19 epidemic in England and in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. The model can derive optimal mitigation strategies for any number of viral strains, whilst also evaluating the effect of distinct mitigation costs on the infection levels. The results show that relaxations in the mitigation measures cause a rapid increase in the number of cases, and therefore demand more restrictive measures in the future.

In this work, a physically reasonable metric potential g rr and a specific choice of the anisotropy has been utilized to obtain closed-form solutions of the Einstein field equation for a spherically symmetric anisotropic matter distribution. This class of solution has been used to develop viable models for observed pulsars. Smooth matching of interior spacetime metric with the exterior Schwarzschild metric and utilizing the condition that radial pressure is zero across the boundary leads us to determine the model parameters. A particular pulsar 4U 1820 − 30 having current estimated mass and radius (mass = 1.58M and radius = 9.1 km) has been allowed for testing the physical acceptability of the developed model. The gross physical nature of the observed pulsar has been analyzed graphically. The stability of the model is also discussed given causality conditions, adiabatic index and generalized Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov (TOV) equation under the forces acting on the system. To show that this model is compatible with observational data, few more pulsars have been considered, and all the requirements of a realistic star are highlighted. Additionally, the mass-radius (M-R) relationship of compact stellar objects analyzed for this model. The maximum mass for the presented model is ≈ 4M which is compared with the realization of Rhoades and Ruffini (Phys Rev Lett 32:324, 1974).

We present an algorithm to generalize a plethora of well-known solutions to Einstein field equations describing spherically symmetric relativistic fluid spheres by relaxing the pressure isotropy condition on the system. By suitably fixing the model parameters in our formulation, we generate closed-form solutions which may be treated as an anisotropic generalization of a large class of solutions describing isotropic fluid spheres. From the resultant solutions, a particular solution is taken up to show its physical acceptability. Making use of the current estimate of mass and radius of a known pulsar, the effects of anisotropic stress on the gross physical behaviour of a relativistic compact star is also highlighted.

We obtain a new class of solutions by revisiting the Vaidya-Tikekar stellar model in the linear regime. Making use of the Vaidya and Tikekar metric ansatz [J. Astrophys. Astron. 3 (1982) 325] describing the spacetime of static spherically symmetric relativistic star composed of an anisotropic matter distribution admitting a linear EOS, we solve the Einstein field equations and subsequently analyze physical viability of the solution. We probe the impact of the curvature parameter K of the Vaidya-Tikekar model, which characterizes a departure from homogeneous spherical distribution, on the mass-radius relationship of the star.In the context of density-dependent MIT Bag models, we show a correlation between the curvature parameter, the bag constant and total mass and radius of some of the well-known pulsars viz., 4U 1820-30, RX J1856-37, SAXJ 1808.4and Her X-1. We explore the possibility of fine-tuning these parameters based on current observational data.

BackgroundThe global incidences of dengue virus have increased the interest in studying and understanding the mosquito population dynamics. It is predominantly spread by Aedes aegypti in the tropical and sub-tropical countries in the world. Understanding these dynamics is important for public health in countries where climatic and environmental conditions are favorable for the propagation of these diseases. For this reason, a new model has been proposed to investigate the population dynamics of mosquitoes in a city.MethodsThe present paper discusses the numerical modeling of population dynamics of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes in an urban neighborhood of a city using the finite volume method. The model describes how populations spread through the city assisted by the wind. This model allows incorporating external factors (wind and chemical insecticides) and topography data (streets, building blocks, parks, forests and beach). The proposed model has been successfully tested in examples involving two Brazilian cities (City center, Juiz de Fora and Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro).ResultsInvasion phenomena of Ae. aegypti mosquitoes have been observed in each of the simulations. It was observed that, inside the blocks, the growth of the population for both winged and aquatic phase causes an infestation of Ae. aegypti in a short time. Within the blocks the mosquito population was concentrated and diffused slowly. In the streets, there was a long-distance spread, which was influenced by wind and diffusion with a low concentration of mosquito population. The model was also tested taking into account chemical insecticides spread in two different configurations. It has been observed that the insecticides have a significant effect on the mosquito population for both winged and aquatic phases when the chemical insecticides spread more uniformly along all the streets in a neighborhood of a city.ConclusionsThe presented methodology can be employed to evaluate and to understand the epidemic risks in a specific region of the city. Moreover the model allows an increase in efficiency of the existing mosquito population control techniques and to theoretically test new methods before involving the human population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2829-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.