4,451 research outputs found
Theories for influencer identification in complex networks
In social and biological systems, the structural heterogeneity of interaction
networks gives rise to the emergence of a small set of influential nodes, or
influencers, in a series of dynamical processes. Although much smaller than the
entire network, these influencers were observed to be able to shape the
collective dynamics of large populations in different contexts. As such, the
successful identification of influencers should have profound implications in
various real-world spreading dynamics such as viral marketing, epidemic
outbreaks and cascading failure. In this chapter, we first summarize the
centrality-based approach in finding single influencers in complex networks,
and then discuss the more complicated problem of locating multiple influencers
from a collective point of view. Progress rooted in collective influence
theory, belief-propagation and computer science will be presented. Finally, we
present some applications of influencer identification in diverse real-world
systems, including online social platforms, scientific publication, brain
networks and socioeconomic systems.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
Locating Two Transfer Points on a Network with a Trip Covering Criterion and Mixed Distances
In this paper we consider a set of origin-destination pairs in a mixed model in which a
network embedded in the plane represents an alternative high-speed transportation system,
and study a trip covering problem which consists on locating two points in the network
which maximize the number of covered pairs, that is, the number of pairs which use the
network by acceding and exiting through such points. To deal with the absence of convexity
of this mixed distance function we propose a decomposition method based on formulating
a collection of subproblems and solving each of them via discretization of the solution set.Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia e Innovación MTM2009-14243Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MTM2012-37048Junta de Andalucía P09-TEP-5022Junta de Andalucía P10-FQM-584
Efficient Dynamic Approximate Distance Oracles for Vertex-Labeled Planar Graphs
Let be a graph where each vertex is associated with a label. A
Vertex-Labeled Approximate Distance Oracle is a data structure that, given a
vertex and a label , returns a -approximation of
the distance from to the closest vertex with label in . Such
an oracle is dynamic if it also supports label changes. In this paper we
present three different dynamic approximate vertex-labeled distance oracles for
planar graphs, all with polylogarithmic query and update times, and nearly
linear space requirements
Ambulance Emergency Response Optimization in Developing Countries
The lack of emergency medical transportation is viewed as the main barrier to
the access of emergency medical care in low and middle-income countries
(LMICs). In this paper, we present a robust optimization approach to optimize
both the location and routing of emergency response vehicles, accounting for
uncertainty in travel times and spatial demand characteristic of LMICs. We
traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh, the sixth largest and third most densely
populated city in the world, to conduct field research resulting in the
collection of two unique datasets that inform our approach. This data is
leveraged to develop machine learning methodologies to estimate demand for
emergency medical services in a LMIC setting and to predict the travel time
between any two locations in the road network for different times of day and
days of the week. We combine our robust optimization and machine learning
frameworks with real data to provide an in-depth investigation into three
policy-related questions. First, we demonstrate that outpost locations
optimized for weekday rush hour lead to good performance for all times of day
and days of the week. Second, we find that significant improvements in
emergency response times can be achieved by re-locating a small number of
outposts and that the performance of the current system could be replicated
using only 30% of the resources. Lastly, we show that a fleet of small
motorcycle-based ambulances has the potential to significantly outperform
traditional ambulance vans. In particular, they are able to capture three times
more demand while reducing the median response time by 42% due to increased
routing flexibility offered by nimble vehicles on a larger road network. Our
results provide practical insights for emergency response optimization that can
be leveraged by hospital-based and private ambulance providers in Dhaka and
other urban centers in LMICs
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