Attack structural vulnerability of power grids: A hybrid approach based on complex networks

Power grids have been studied as a typical example of real-world complex networks. Different from previous methods, this paper proposes a hybrid approach for structural vulnerability analysis of power transmission networks, in which a DC power flow model with hidden failures is embedded into the traditional error and attack tolerance methodology to form a new scheme for power grids vulnerability assessment and modeling. The new approach embodies some important characteristics of power transmission networks. Furthermore, the simulation on the standard IEEE 118 bus system demonstrates that a critical region might exist and when the power grid operates in the region, it is vulnerable to both random and intentional attacks. Finally, a brief theoretical analysis is presented to explain the new phenomena.     

Preparation and water relaxation properties of proteins labeled with paramagnetic metal chelates

The proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA) and bovine immunoglobulin (IgG) have been labeled with paramagnetic gadolinium (III) and manganese (II) complexes using the bifunctional chelate approach. Diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were attached to several free amino groups on the proteins using cyclic anhydride forms of these ligands. The incorporation of the metal ions Gd+3 and Mn+2 into the chelating groups yielded highly paramagnetic proteins. The water relaxation ability (or relaxivity) of the protein-bound chelates at 20 MHz was found to be superior to that of the free metal complexes. Differences in relaxivity between the DTPA and EDTA conjugates could largely be accounted for by differences in the metal ion exposure to water. This labeling technique can be used in the preparation of intravascular NMR contrast agents (like paramagnetically-labeled human serum albumin) or target-specific agents (labeled monoclonal antibodies or fibrinogen).     

Enhancing synchronizability by rewiring networks

<正>According to different forms of synchronized region,complex networks are divided into typeⅠ(unbounded synchronization region) and typeⅡ(bounded synchronization region) networks.This paper presents a rewiring algorithm to enhance the synchronizability of typeⅠand typeⅡnetworks.By utilizing the algorithm for an unweighted and undirected network,a better synchronizability of network with the same number of nodes and edges can be obtained. Numerical simulations on several different network models are used to support the proposed procedure.The relationship between different topological properties of the networks and the number of rewirings are shown.It finds that the final optimized network is independent of the initial network,and becomes homogeneous.In addition the optimized networks have similar structural properties in the sense of degree,and node and edge betweenness centralities.However,they do not have similar cluster coefficients for typeⅡnetworks.The research may be useful for designing more synchronizable networks and understanding the synchronization behaviour of networks.     

Percolation on bipartite scale-free networks

Recent studies introduced biased (degree-dependent) edge percolation as a model for failures in real-life systems. In this work, such process is applied to networks consisting of two types of nodes with edges running only between nodes of unlike type. Such bipartite graphs appear in many social networks, for instance in affiliation networks and in sexual-contact networks in which both types of nodes show the scale-free characteristic for the degree distribution. During the depreciation process, an edge between nodes with degrees k and q is retained with a probability proportional to (kq)^−α, where α is positive so that links between hubs are more prone to failure. The removal process is studied analytically by introducing a generating functions theory. We deduce exact self-consistent equations describing the system at a macroscopic level and discuss the percolation transition. Critical exponents are obtained by exploiting the Fortuin-Kasteleyn construction which provides a link between our model and a limit of the Potts model.     

Semantic networks based on titles of scientific papers

In this paper we study the topological structure of semantic networks based on titles of papers published in scientific journals. It discusses its properties and presents some reflections on how the use of social and complex network models can contribute to the diffusion of knowledge. The proposed method presented here is applied to scientific journals where the titles of papers are in English or in Portuguese. We show that the topology of studied semantic networks are small-world and scale-free.     

Evolving model of weighted networks inspired by scientific collaboration networks

Inspired by scientific collaboration networks (SCN), especially our empirical analysis of econophysicists network, an evolutionary model for weighted networks is proposed. Besides a new vertex added in at every time step, old vertices can also attempt to build up new links, or to reconnect the existing links. The number of connections repeated between two nodes is converted into the weight of the link. This provides a natural way for the evolution of link weight. The path-dependent preferential attachment mechanism with local information is also introduced. It increases the clustering coefficient of the network significantly. The model shows the scale-free phenomena in degree and vertex weight distribution. It also gives well qualitatively consistent behavior with the empirical results.     

Geographical networks: geographical effects on network properties

Complex networks describe a wide range of systems in nature and society. Since most real systems exist in certain physical space and the distance between the nodes has influence on the connections, it is helpful to study geographical complex networks and to investigate how the geographical constrains on the connections affect the network properties. In this paper, we briefly review our recent progress on geographical complex networks with respect of statistics, modelling, robustness, and synchronizability. It has been shown that the geographical constrains tend to make the network less robust and less synchronizable. Synchronization on random networks and clustered networks is also studied.      

Vulnerability of network of networks

Our dependence on networks – be they infrastructure, economic, social or others – leaves us prone to crises caused by the vulnerabilities of these networks. There is a great need to develop new methods to protect infrastructure networks and prevent cascade of failures (especially in cases of coupled networks). Terrorist attacks on transportation networks have traumatized modern societies. With a single blast, it has become possible to paralyze airline traffic, electric power supply, ground transportation or Internet communication. How, and at which cost can one restructure the network such that it will become more robust against malicious attacks? The gradual increase in attacks on the networks society depends on – Internet, mobile phone, transportation, air travel, banking, etc. – emphasize the need to develop new strategies to protect and defend these crucial networks of communication and infrastructure networks. One example is the threat of liquid explosives a few years ago, which completely shut down air travel for days, and has created extreme changes in regulations. Such threats and dangers warrant the need for new tools and strategies to defend critical infrastructure. In this paper we review recent advances in the theoretical understanding of the vulnerabilities of interdependent networks with and without spatial embedding, attack strategies and their affect on such networks of networks as well as recently developed strategies to optimize and repair failures caused by such attacks.     

Vulnerability analysis of interdependent infrastructure systems: A methodological framework

Infrastructure systems such as power and water supplies make up the cornerstone of modern society which is essential for the functioning of a society and its economy. They become more and more interconnected and interdependent with the development of scientific technology and social economy. Risk and vulnerability analysis of interdependent infrastructures for security considerations has become an important subject, and some achievements have been made in this area. Since different infrastructure systems have different structural and functional properties, there is no universal all-encompassing ‘silver bullet solution’ to the problem of analyzing the vulnerability associated with interdependent infrastructure systems. So a framework of analysis is required. This paper takes the power and water systems of a major city in China as an example and develops a framework for the analysis of the vulnerability of interdependent infrastructure systems. Four interface design strategies based on distance, betweenness, degree, and clustering coefficient are constructed. Then two types of vulnerability (long-term vulnerability and focused vulnerability) are illustrated and analyzed. Finally, a method for ranking critical components in interdependent infrastructures is given for protection purposes. It is concluded that the framework proposed here is useful for vulnerability analysis of interdependent systems and it will be helpful for the system owners to make better decisions on infrastructure design and protection.     

动态复杂网络中节点影响力的研究进展

节点影响力的识别和预测具有重要的理论意义和应用价值,是复杂网络的热点研究领域.目前大多数研究方法都是针对静态网络或动态网络某一时刻的快照进行的,然而在实际应用场景中,社会、生物、信息、技术等复杂网络都是动态演化的.因此在动态复杂网络中评估节点影响力以及预测节点未来影响力,特别是在网络结构变化之前的预测更具意义.本文系统地总结了动态复杂网络中节点影响力算法面临的三类挑战,即在增长网络中,节点影响力算法的计算复杂性和时间偏见;网络实时动态演化时,节点影响力算法的适应性;网络结构微扰或突变时,节点影响力算法的鲁棒性,以及利用网络结构演变阐释经济复杂性涌现的问题.最后总结了这一研究方向几个待解决的问题并指出未来可能的发展方向.     

The emergence of leadership in social networks

We study a networked version of the minority game in which agents can choose to follow the choices made by a neighbouring agent in a social network. We show that for a wide variety of networks a leadership structure always emerges, with most agents following the choice made by a few agents. We find a suitable parameterisation which highlights the universal aspects of the behaviour and which also indicates where results depend on the type of social network.     

Complex scale-free networks with tunable power-law exponent and clustering

We introduce a network evolution process motivated by the network of citations in the scientific literature. In each iteration of the process a node is born and directed links are created from the new node to a set of target nodes already in the network. This set includes m$m$ “ambassador” nodes and l$l$ of each ambassador’s descendants where m$m$ and l$l$ are random variables selected from any choice of distributions _pl$p_l$ and _qm$q_m$. The process mimics the tendency of authors to cite varying numbers of papers included in the bibliographies of the other papers they cite. We show that the degree distributions of the networks generated after a large number of iterations are scale-free and derive an expression for the power-law exponent. In a particular case of the model where the number of ambassadors is always the constant m$m$ and the number of selected descendants from each ambassador is the constant l$l$, the power-law exponent is (2l+1)/l$(2l+1)/l$. For this example we derive expressions for the degree distribution and clustering coefficient in terms of l$l$ and m$m$. We conclude that the proposed model can be tuned to have the same power law exponent and clustering coefficient of a broad range of the scale-free distributions that have been studied empirically.     

Synchronization in complex clustered networks

Synchronization in complex networks has been an active area of research in recent years. While much effort has been devoted to networks with the small-world and scale-free topology, structurally they are often assumed to have a single, densely connected component. Recently it has also become apparent that many networks in social, biological, and technological systems are clustered, as characterized by a number (or a hierarchy) of sparsely linked clusters, each with dense and complex internal connections. Synchronization is fundamental to the dynamics and functions of complex clustered networks, but this problem has just begun to be addressed. This paper reviews some progress in this direction by focusing on the interplay between the clustered topology and network synchronizability. In particular, there are two parameters characterizing a clustered network: the intra-cluster and the inter-cluster link density. Our goal is to clarify the roles of these parameters in shaping network synchronizability. By using theoretical analysis and direct numerical simulations of oscillator networks, it is demonstrated that clustered networks with random inter-cluster links are more synchronizable, and synchronization can be optimized when inter-cluster and intra-cluster links match. The latter result has one counterintuitive implication: more links, if placed improperly, can actually lead to destruction of synchronization, even though such links tend to decrease the average network distance. It is hoped that this review will help attract attention to the fundamental problem of clustered structures/synchronization in network science.      

Social power and opinion formation in complex networks

In this paper we investigate the effects of social power on the evolution of opinions in model networks as well as in a number of real social networks. A continuous opinion formation model is considered and the analysis is performed through numerical simulation. Social power is given to a proportion of agents selected either randomly or based on their degrees. As artificial network structures, we consider scale-free networks constructed through preferential attachment and Watts–Strogatz networks. Numerical simulations show that scale-free networks with degree-based social power on the hub nodes have an optimal case where the largest number of the nodes reaches a consensus. However, given power to a random selection of nodes could not improve consensus properties. Introducing social power in Watts–Strogatz networks could not significantly change the consensus profile.     

Detecting and describing the modular structures of weighted networks

In the functional properties of complex networks, modules play a central role. In this paper, we propose a new method to detect and describe the modular structures of weighted networks. In order to test the proposed method, as an example, we use our method to analyse the structural properties of the Chinese railway network. Here, the stations are regarded as the nodes and the track sections are regarded as the links. Rigorous analysis of the existing data shows that using the proposed algorithm, the nodes of network can be classified naturally. Moreover, there are several core nodes in each module. Remarkably, we introduce the correlation function $G_{rs}$, and use it to distinguish the different modules in weighted networks.     

基于移动社交网络的谣言传播动力学研究

本文在CSR传播模型的基础上提出基于移动社交网络的CSR的谣言传播模型. 改进了CSR模型的传播规则和传播动力学方程, 使得更符合移动SNS上用户的使用习惯. 在CSR模型中的接受概率数学模型基础上, 考虑个人接受阈值对接受概率的影响, 更符合人类接受谣言的心理学特点. 本文对该传播模型进行了理论分析. 并在仿真实验中, 利用多agent仿真平台对新模型和CSR模型以及SIR模型 在匀质网络和异质网络中的传播效果进行了对比研究, 从实验的结果来看, 新的谣言传播模型在匀质网络中传播范围更广, 传播速度更快. 新模型具有初值敏感性的特点. 关键词： 复杂网络 移动社交网络 谣言传播     

An effective method to improve the robustness of small-world networks under attack

In this study, the robustness of small-world networks to three types of attack is investigated. Global efficiency is introduced as the network coefficient to measure the robustness of a small-world network. The simulation results prove that an increase in rewiring probability or average degree can enhance the robustness of the small-world network under all three types of attack. The effectiveness of simultaneously increasing both rewiring probability and average degree is also studied, and the combined increase is found to significantly improve the robustness of the small-world network.Furthermore, the combined effect of rewiring probability and average degree on network robustness is shown to be several times greater than that of rewiring probability or average degree individually. This means that small-world networks with a relatively high rewiring probability and average degree have advantages both in network communications and in good robustness to attacks. Therefore, simultaneously increasing rewiring probability and average degree is an effective method of constructing realistic networks. Consequently, the proposed method is useful to construct efficient and robust networks in a realistic scenario.     

复杂网络中节点重要性排序的研究进展

如何用定量分析的方法识别超大规模网络中哪些节点最重要, 或者评价某个节点相对于其他一个或多个节点的重要程度, 这是复杂网络研究中亟待解决的重要问题之一. 本文分别从网络结构和传播动力学的角度, 对现有的复杂网络中节点重要性排序方法进行了系统的回顾,总结了节点重要性排序方法的最新研究进展, 并对不同的节点重要性排序指标的优缺点以及适用环境进行了分析, 最后指出了这一领域中几个有待解决的问题及可能的发展方向. 关键词： 复杂网络 节点重要性 网络结构 传播动力学     

Empirical topological investigation of practical supply chains based on complex networks

The industrial supply chain networks basically capture the circulation of social resource, dominating the stability and efficiency of the industrial system. In this paper, we provide an empirical study of the topology of smartphone supply chain network. The supply chain network is constructed using open online data. Our experimental results show that the smartphone supply chain network has small-world feature with scale-free degree distribution, in which a few high degree nodes play a key role in the function and can effectively reduce the communication cost. We also detect the community structure to find the basic functional unit. It shows that information communication between nodes is crucial to improve the resource utilization. We should pay attention to the global resource configuration for such electronic production management.     

Epidemic spreading on weighted complex networks

Nowadays, the emergence of online services provides various multi-relation information to support the comprehensive understanding of the epidemic spreading process. In this Letter, we consider the edge weights to represent such multi-role relations. In addition, we perform detailed analysis of two representative metrics, outbreak threshold and epidemic prevalence, on SIS and SIR models. Both theoretical and simulation results find good agreements with each other. Furthermore, experiments show that, on fully mixed networks, the weight distribution on edges would not affect the epidemic results once the average weight of whole network is fixed. This work may shed some light on the in-depth understanding of epidemic spreading on multi-relation and weighted networks.