Effects of resources and costs on diffusion dynamics. (24th February 2010)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tsai, Yu-Shiuan; Huang, Chung-Yuan
• Is Part Of: International journal of intelligent information and database systems. Volume 4:Number 1(2010)
• Page Start: 19
• Page End: 42
• Publication Date: 2010-02-24
• Subjects: tipping points -- resources -- transmission costs -- scale-free networks -- effective spreading rate -- assessment indicators -- epidemic outbreaks -- diffusion dynamics -- epidemics -- infection events -- epidemiological issues -- social networks -- resource limitations -- contagious diseases -- public health policies -- immunisation strategies; Database management -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; Information retrieval -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; Information storage and retrieval systems -- Computer programs -- Periodicals; Artificial intelligence -- Periodicals; Expert systems (Computer science) -- Periodicals; Intelligent agents (Computer software) -- Periodicals; 006.33
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-5858

Abstract

Tipping point is one of the most important assessment indicators of epidemic outbreaks. Due to what we perceive as a too-strong emphasis on ways that the power-law connectivity distribution features of networks affect diffusion dynamics, two important factors have been overlooked: resources and costs. In this paper, we show that at odds with current thinking, a significant tipping point does exist when resources and costs are taken into consideration; and it is possible to control the spread of epidemics in scale-free networks as long as resources are restricted and the costs associated with an infection event are increased.