Title: Effects of resources and costs on diffusion dynamics

Authors: Yu-Shiuan Tsai, Chung-Yuan Huang

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, National Chiao Tung University, 1001 Ta Hsueh Road, Hsinchu 300, Taiwan, Republic of China. ' Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Research Center for Emerging Viral Infections, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen Hwa 1st Road, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan, Republic of China

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.

Keywords: 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.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIDS.2010.031760

International Journal of Intelligent Information and Database Systems, 2010 Vol.4 No.1, pp.19 - 42

Received: 13 Sep 2008
Accepted: 18 Feb 2009
Published online: 23 Feb 2010 *

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