Impact of Clustering on Diffusions and Contagions in Random Networks

International audienceMotivated by the analysis of social networks, we study a model of network that has both a tunable degree distribution and a tunable clustering coefficient. We compute the asymptotic (as the size of the population tends to infinity) for the number of acquaintances and the clustering for this model. We analyze a contagion model with threshold effects and obtain conditions for the existence of a large cascade. We also analyze a diffusion process with a given probability of contagion. In both cases, we characterize conditions under which a global cascade is possible

Contagions in Random Networks with Overlapping Communities

We consider a threshold epidemic model on a clustered random graph with overlapping communities. In other words, our epidemic model is such that an individual becomes infected as soon as the proportion of her infected neighbors exceeds the threshold q of the epidemic. In our random graph model, each individual can belong to several communities. The distributions for the community sizes and the number of communities an individual belongs to are arbitrary. We consider the case where the epidemic starts from a single individual, and we prove a phase transition (when the parameter q of the model varies) for the appearance of a cascade, i.e. when the epidemic can be propagated to an infinite part of the population. More precisely, we show that our epidemic is entirely described by a multi-type (and alternating) branching process, and then we apply Sevastyanov's theorem about the phase transition of multi-type Galton-Watson branching processes. In addition, we compute the entries of the matrix whose largest eigenvalue gives the phase transition.Comment: Minor modifications for the second version: added comments (end of Section 3.2, beginning of Section 5.3); moved remark (end of Section 3.1, beginning of Section 4.1); corrected typos; changed titl

Overcoming vaccine hesitancy by multiplex social network targeting: An analysis of targeting algorithms and implications

Incorporating social factors into disease prevention and control efforts is an important undertaking of behavioral epidemiology. The interplay between disease transmission and human health behaviors, such as vaccine uptake, results in complex dynamics of biological and social contagions. Maximizing intervention adoptions via network-based targeting algorithms by harnessing the power of social contagion for behavior and attitude changes largely remains a challenge. Here we address this issue by considering a multiplex network setting. Individuals are situated on two layers of networks: the disease transmission network layer and the peer influence network layer. The disease spreads through direct close contacts while vaccine views and uptake behaviors spread interpersonally within a potentially virtual network. The results of our comprehensive simulations show that network-based targeting with pro-vaccine supporters as initial seeds significantly influences vaccine adoption rates and reduces the extent of an epidemic outbreak. Network targeting interventions are much more effective by selecting individuals with a central position in the opinion network as compared to those grouped in a community or connected professionally. Our findings provide insight into network-based interventions to increase vaccine confidence and demand during an ongoing epidemic.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures. Comments are welcom

Topological data analysis of contagion maps for examining spreading processes on networks

Social and biological contagions are influenced by the spatial embeddedness of networks. Historically, many epidemics spread as a wave across part of the Earth's surface; however, in modern contagions long-range edges -- for example, due to airline transportation or communication media -- allow clusters of a contagion to appear in distant locations. Here we study the spread of contagions on networks through a methodology grounded in topological data analysis and nonlinear dimension reduction. We construct "contagion maps" that use multiple contagions on a network to map the nodes as a point cloud. By analyzing the topology, geometry, and dimensionality of manifold structure in such point clouds, we reveal insights to aid in the modeling, forecast, and control of spreading processes. Our approach highlights contagion maps also as a viable tool for inferring low-dimensional structure in networks.Comment: Main Text and Supplementary Informatio