Brad Greening

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Brad GreeningRutgers University Duration of
Infectivity and Disease in Dynamic
Networks Bobby ZandstraFlorida Gulf Coast
University Long- vs. Short-term Friendships and
the Spread of Disease Mentor Prof. Nina
Fefferman Presentation Date June 17, 2008
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Overview

• Previous Research Performed
• Goals of Projects
• Questions and Pathways to Successful Projects
• Conclusion

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Key Terms

• Social Network

• SEIS Model

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Previous Research Performed

• Model disease spread within dynamic networks
  where associations shift based on three different
  measures of network centrality.
• Metrics
• Betweenness
• Closeness
• Degree
• Results
• New Directions to Take?

• Fefferman, N.H. and K.L Ng. 2007. The role of
  individual choice in the evolution of social
  complexity. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 4458-69.
• Fefferman, N.H. and K.L Ng. 2007. How disease
  models in static networks can fail to approximate
  disease in dynamic networks. Phys. Rev. E 76,
  031919

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Questions to Address

• Duration of infectivity and disease in dynamic
  networks

• Long- vs. Short-term friendships and the spread
  of disease

• What happens if we make the following adjustments
  to the dynamic workings of the network
• If we include a fixed structure such as a
  family?
• If individuals make smart decisions concerning
  what friends they pick up?
• If individuals arent social once they become
  sick?

• By keeping long term friendships and minimizing
  short-term contacts, are you less prone to
  getting a disease?
• Varying the percentages of long- vs. short-term
  social contacts on patterns of disease spread in
  a population over time.
• Varying the percentage of each duration of
  friendship among social contacts over time will
  affect disease dynamics.

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Pathways to Successful Projects

• Duration of infectivity and disease in dynamic
  networks

• Long- vs. Short-term friendships and the spread
  of disease

• Assign a family structure to certain nodes in the
  network
• Implement smart decision making to the friend
  pick-up stage.
• Implement a fixed structure once an individual
  becomes sick

• Determine the length of a long and short term
  friendship
• Vary duration of long and short term friendships.
• Vary percentage of long and short term
  friendships.
• Randomly place disease in network.

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Goals of Project

• Duration of infectivity and disease in dynamic
  networks

• Long- vs. Short-term friendships and the spread
  of disease

• Determine how relative durations of social and
  disease processes interact to shape epidemics
  search for variations in disease incidence (or
  rate of occurrence), duration, and spread caused
  by these different dynamics in the social
  network.

• By keeping long term friendships and varying the
  percentage of short and long term contacts, we
  will show close knit networks of individuals
  contribute to the evolution of the role of a
  family structure in society.

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Questions?