The Dynamics of Closeness and Betweenness

Although both betweenness and closeness centrality are claimed to be important for the effectiveness of someone's network position, it has not been comprehensively studied which networks emerge if actors strive to optimize their centrality in the network in terms of betweenness and closeness. We study each of these centrality measures separately, but we also analyze what happens if actors value betweenness and closeness simultaneously. Network dynamics differ considerably in a scenario with either betweenness or closeness incentives compared with a scenario in which closeness and betweenness incentives are combined. There are not only more stable networks if actors’ betweenness and closeness are combined, but also these stable networks are less stylized.     

The economic effect of interlocking directorates in Italy: new evidence using centrality measures

We use measures of vertex centrality to examine interlocking directorates and their economic effects in Italy. We employ centrality measures like degree, eigenvector centrality, betweenness, and flow betweenness, along with the clustering coefficient. We document the existence of a negative relationship between both degree and eigenvector centrality and firm value. Betweenness and flow betweenness, on the other hand, are not associated with lower firm valuations. We argue that these differences derive from the different properties of these measures: while degree and eigenvector centrality measures the influence and the power of the connections, betweenness and flow betweenness are proxies for the volume of information that passes between the nodes. This result is robust with respect to the use of both stock market and operating performance measures, as well as several controlling variables.     

国内外黄金现货价格联动波动复杂网络拓扑性质

为了研究国内外黄金现货价格联动性波动特征,选取2003年1月1日至2013年9月6日上海黄金交易所Au9999黄金现货收盘价与伦敦标准黄金现货的下午定盘价分别作为国内与国外黄金现货价格的样本数据.依据粗粒化方法,将Au9999与伦敦标准金价格的联动波动转化为由5个{P,O,M}三个字符构成的字符串,每一个字符串代表每5天的黄金现货价格联动波动模态,共产生106个模态.将模态作为节点,模态之间的转化为边,构建国内外黄金现货价格联动性波动复杂网络.对联动性复杂网络的点强度与强度分布、聚集系数、平均路径长度、中介中心性及凝集子群特征进行研究分析.结果表明:点强度值较大的前32个节点累积强度分布达到了92.05%,点强度与度分布、点强度与其等级均呈幂律分布;加权集聚系数与点强度之间并没有表现出良好的相关性,网络中存在14个小群簇;网络平均最短路径长度为7.668;节点中介性差异不太明显,前40个节点对整个网络的中介中心性贡献率为62.29%;8个节点的凝集子群有2个,8个节点以上的子群不存在.从网络结构拓扑性质角度验证了国内外黄金现货价格变化的复杂特征,这些对于掌握国内外黄金价格波动的内在规律和了解价格变化信息有一定指导意义,能够为我国黄金价格制定、风险投资和规避经济风险提供决策参考.     

Betweenness in time dependent networks

The concept of betweenness has given rise to a very useful class of network centrality measures. Loosely, betweenness quantifies the level of importance of a node in terms of its propensity to act as an intermediary when messages are passed around the network. In this work we generalize a walk-based betweenness measure to the case of time-dependent networks, such as those arising in telecommunications and on-line social media. We also introduce a new kind of betweenness measure, temporal betweenness, which quantifies the importance of a time-point. We illustrate the effectiveness of these new measures on synthetic examples, and also give results on real data sets involving voice call, email and Twitter.     

Application of modal analysis in assessing attack vulnerability of complex networks

In this paper we propose an alternative way to study robustness and vulnerability of complex networks, applying a modal analysis. The modal weights of the network nodes are considered as a measure for their busyness, which is further used for preferential removal of nodes and attack simulation. Analyses of the attack vulnerability are carried out for several generic graphs, generated according to ER and BA algorithms, as well as for some examples of manmade networks. It was found that a modal weight based attack causes significant disintegration of manmade networks by removing a small fraction of the busiest nodes, comparable to the one based on the node degree and betweenness centrality.     

Modeling centrality measures in social network analysis using bi-criteria network flow optimization problems

Centrality measures play an important role in the field of network analysis. In the particular case of social networks, the flow represents the way in which information passes through the network nodes. Freeman et al. (1991) were the first authors to relate centrality measures to network flow optimization problems in terms of betweenness, closeness, and the influence of one node over another one. Such measures are single dimensional and, in general, they amalgamate several heterogeneous dimensions into a single one, which is not suitable for dealing with most real-world problems. In this paper we extend the betweenness centrality measure (or concept) to take into account explicitly several dimensions (criteria). A new closeness centrality measure is defined to deal not only with the maximum flow between every ordered pair of nodes, but also with the cost associated with communications. We shall show how the classical measures can be enhanced when the problem is modeled as a bi-criteria network flow optimization problem.     

Analysis of complex network performance and heuristic node removal strategies

Removing important nodes from complex networks is a great challenge in fighting against criminal organizations and preventing disease outbreaks. Six network performance metrics, including four new metrics, are applied to quantify networks’ diffusion speed, diffusion scale, homogeneity, and diameter. In order to efficiently identify nodes whose removal maximally destroys a network, i.e., minimizes network performance, ten structured heuristic node removal strategies are designed using different node centrality metrics including degree, betweenness, reciprocal closeness, complement-derived closeness, and eigenvector centrality. These strategies are applied to remove nodes from the September 11, 2001 hijackers’ network, and their performance are compared to that of a random strategy, which removes randomly selected nodes, and the locally optimal solution (LOS), which removes nodes to minimize network performance at each step. The computational complexity of the 11 strategies and LOS is also analyzed. Results show that the node removal strategies using degree and betweenness centralities are more efficient than other strategies.     

Vulnerability of complex networks

We consider normalized average edge betweenness of a network as a metric of network vulnerability. We suggest that normalized average edge betweenness together with is relative difference when certain number of nodes and/or edges are removed from the network is a measure of network vulnerability, called vulnerability index. Vulnerability index is calculated for four synthetic networks: Erdős–Rényi (ER) random networks, Barabási–Albert (BA) model of scale-free networks, Watts–Strogatz (WS) model of small-world networks, and geometric random networks. Real-world networks for which vulnerability index is calculated include: two human brain networks, three urban networks, one collaboration network, and two power grid networks. We find that WS model of small-world networks and biological networks (human brain networks) are the most robust networks among all networks studied in the paper.     

“21世纪海上丝绸之路”沿线港口地位综合评价

本文基于复杂网络节点重要性分析方法,从海运网络分析的视角对“21世纪海上丝绸之路”沿线港口参与“一带一路”建设的地位进行评价。在收集海上丝绸之路沿线102个港口实际数据的基础上,构建海上丝绸之路海运网络拓扑结构图。通过对网络中港口节点的度中心性、接近中心性、中介中心性、特征向量中心性指标进行计算,结合熵权TOPSIS法综合得到港口地位的排序。结果表明新加坡港、上海港、巴生港在网络中具有很高的地位,且现有的复杂网络节点重要性排序方法存在局限,基于熵权TOPSIS法的综合评价得到的港口排序更符合实际发展需求。最后运用节点删除法对排序结果进一步分析,为中国港口参与“一带一路”建设提供参考与建议。     

基于Erdos1合著网络和论文引用网络的复杂网络节点特征研究

首先,研究了Erdos1合著网络的特征属性,一方面使用节点的度、介数、接近中心性来描述Erdos1合著网络节点重要性,另一方面使用特征向量中心性和本文提出的高阶度参数来描述Erdos1合著网络节点影响力;然后,分别用逼近理想解的排序算法（TOPSIS算法）和主成份分析（PCA）对节点重要性和影响力排序;最后,利用修改的网页排名算法（PageRank算法）讨论了网络科学原创性论文中最具影响力的论文。     

On betweenness-uniform graphs

The betweenness centrality of a vertex of a graph is the fraction of shortest paths between all pairs of vertices passing through that vertex. In this paper, we study properties and constructions of graphs whose vertices have the same value of betweenness centrality (betweenness-uniform graphs); we show that this property holds for distanceregular graphs (which include strongly regular graphs) and various graphs obtained by graph cloning and local join operation. In addition, we show that, for sufficiently large n, there are superpolynomially many betweenness-uniform graphs on n vertices, and explore the structure of betweenness-uniform graphs having a universal or sub-universal vertex.     

尾部风险网络视角下的金融机构系统性风险贡献研究

金融机构的尾部风险关联模式及结构在金融系统性风险的形成演化中发挥重要作用。利用CoVaR指标及分位数回归方法,衡量金融机构之间的尾部风险传染强度,进而建立金融机构尾部风险动态网络。分析全连接网络及阈值法下过滤网络的全局和局部拓扑结构特征及其动态演化规律。建立面板数据回归模型,研究网络拓扑结构特征对金融机构系统性风险贡献的影响。实证研究发现,全连接网络的节点强度,能有效地衡量金融机构尾部风险传染强度及承受强度,并揭示其动态变化规律;各机构的尾部风险传染强度及承受强度排序匹配性存在差异;随着时间推进,各金融机构间的平均尾部风险传染路径缩短、系统性风险更易迅速累积和爆发;滞后一期的节点出度、节点入度及聚集系数越大,相应金融机构的系统性风险贡献越小;滞后一期的节点介数和节点接近中心度越大,相应金融机构的系统性风险贡献越大。研究结果对于金融机构的宏观审慎监管及系统性风险管理,提供了一个全新的基于金融机构尾部风险网络的视角。     

eNelator: A simulation system for large-scale vulnerability analysis of species-, disease- and process-specific protein networks

The identification of vulnerabilities in protein networks is a promising approach to predicting potential therapeutic targets. Different methods have been applied to domain-specific applications, with an emphasis on single-node deletions. There is a need to further assess significant associations between vulnerability, functional essentiality and topological features across species, processes and diseases. This requires the development of open, user-friendly systems to generate and test existing hypotheses about the vulnerability of networks in the face of dysfunctional components. We implemented methodologies to estimate the vulnerability of different networks to the dysfunction of different combinations of components, under random and directed attack scenarios. To demonstrate the relevance of our approaches and software, published protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli and Homo sapiens were analyzed. A PPI network implicated in the development of human heart failure, and signaling networks relevant to Caspase3 and P53 regulation were also investigated. Known essential proteins (individually or in groups) have no detectable effects on network stability. Some of the most vulnerable proteins are neither essential nor hubs. Known diagnostic biomarkers have little effect on the communication efficiency of the disease network. Predictions made on the signaling networks are consistent with recent experimental evidence. Our system, which integrates other quantitative measures, can assist in the identification of potential drug targets and systems-level properties. The system for large-scale analysis of random and directed attacks is freely available, as a Cytoscape plugin, on request from the authors.     

More on betweenness-uniform graphs

We study graphs whose vertices possess the same value of betweenness centrality (which is defined as the sum of relative numbers of shortest paths passing through a given vertex). Extending previously known results of S. Gago, J. Hurajová, T. Madaras (2013), we show that, apart of cycles, such graphs cannot contain 2-valent vertices and, moreover, are 3-connected if their diameter is 2. In addition, we prove that the betweenness uniformity is satisfied in a wide graph family of semi-symmetric graphs, which enables us to construct a variety of nontrivial cubic betweenness-uniform graphs.     

股指极端波动下中国股市复杂网络结构及中心性分析

基于复杂网络理论,以2015年、2008年国内两次股灾为背景,分别构建股灾发生前、中、后的中国股市网络,通过度、度分布、平均路径长度等基本拓扑指标,分析中国股市网络特性及网络结构的变化,综合利用度中心性、介数中心性及接近度中心性,筛选出各时期网络中的核心股票、核心行业并分析其变化情况,基于网络特征向量中心性分析股市的系统性风险及变化情况,通过仿真实验分析股市网络的鲁棒性。研究表明:两次股灾背景下的中国股市复杂网络均具有小世界性和无标度性;与2008年国际金融危机相比,2015年国内股灾对中国股市的影响强度更大,且2015年中国股市对金融风险的弹性更大;股灾期间各行业版块具有明显的风险传染性,指出各行业板块对稳定股市、修复股指的作用;股指极端波动时,股灾的外生冲击会使股市的系统性风险加大,与2015年国内股灾时期相比,2008年国际金融危机时期的股市系统性风险更大;中国股市网络对随机攻击具有一定鲁棒性,但对蓄意攻击具有脆弱性,股灾的外生冲击会降低中国股市网络的鲁棒性。研究为把握股市极端波动风险下的市场结构特征、股市风险管理提供了参考。     

组织特异性蛋白质复合体的识别

本文研究了组织特异性蛋白质复合体的识别问题.利用蛋白质相互作用网络数据以及组织特异性基因表达数据构建组织特异性蛋白网络,利用多种代表性聚类算法对该网络进行聚类,并利用非负矩阵分解对聚类结果进行合并聚类,得到了组织特异性蛋白质复合体.结果表明,聚类效果得到明显提升,并且能识别出组织特异性蛋白质复合体.     

SYNCHRONIZATION STABILITY OF COMPLEX CONNECTED NETWORKS WITH DELAYS

Recently, much work has been devoted to the study of a large-scale complex system described by a network or a graph with complex topology, whose nodes are the elements of the system and whose edges represent the interactions among them. On the other hand, realistic modelling of many large networks with nonlocal interaction inevitably requires connection delays to be taken into account, since they naturally arise as a consequence of finite information transmission and processing speeds among the units. This paper gives the sufficient conditions guaranteeing the local and global synchronization stability of the complex connected networks by using Lyapunov functional.     

Snapshot Centrality Indices in Dynamic FIFO Networks

The article introduces the concept of snapshot dynamic indices as centrality measures to analyse how the importance of nodes changes over time in dynamic networks. In particular, the dynamic stress-snapshot and dynamic betweenness snapshot are investigated. We present theoretical results on dynamic shortest paths in first-in first-out dynamic networks, and then introduce some algorithms for computing these indices in the discrete-time case. Finally, we present some experimental results exploring the algorithms’ efficiency and illustrating the variation of the dynamic betweenness snapshot index for some sample dynamic networks.     

Correlating temporal communication patterns of the Eclipse open source community with performance and creativity

This paper studies the temporal communication patterns of online communities of developers and users of the open source Eclipse Java development environment. It measures the productivity of each community and seeks to identify correlations that exist between group communication characteristics and productivity attributes. The study uses the TeCFlow (Temporal Communication Flow) visualizer to create movie maps of the knowledge flow by analyzing the publicly accessible Eclipse developer mailing lists as an approximation of the social networks of developers and users. Thirty-three different Eclipse communities discussing development and use of components of Eclipse such as the Java Development Tools, the different platform components, the C/C++ Development Tools and the AspectJ extension have been analyzed over a period of six months. The temporal evolution of social network variables such as betweenness centrality, density, contribution index, and degree have been computed and plotted. Productivity of each development group is measured in terms of two indices, namely performance and creativity. Performance of a group is defined as the ratio of new bugs submitted compared with bugs fixed within the same period of time. Creativity is calculated as a function of new features proposed and implemented. Preliminary results indicate that there is a correlation between attributes of social networks such as density and betweenness centrality and group productivity measures in an open source development community. We also find a positive correlation between changes over time in betweenness centrality and creativity, and a negative correlation between changes in betweenness centrality and performance.This paper was tied for Best Paper, NAACSOS (North American Association for Computational Social and Organizational Science) Annual Conference 2005, June 26–28, Notre Dame. Yared H. Kidane obtained a B.Sc. from Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia in Statistics and a M.Sc. in Information Technology specializing in engineering and management of information systems with honors from Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, Sweden in June 2005. Yared completed his master’s thesis as an exchange student at MIT. He is currently working for Verizon Wireless as an analyst in the reporting and analysis section. Peter A. Gloor is a research fellow both at the MIT Center for Coordination Science and the Center for Digital Strategies at Tuck at Dartmouth and chief scientist at iQuest Analytics. Previously, he was a partner with Deloitte and PwC. He obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Zurich in 1989, and was a Post-Doc at the MIT Lab for Computer Science.