Identifying sets of key players in a social network

A procedure is described for finding sets of key players in a social network. A key assumption is that the optimal selection of key players depends on what they are needed for. Accordingly, two generic goals are articulated, called KPP-POS and KPP-NEG. KPP-POS is defined as the identification of key players for the purpose of optimally diffusing something through the network by using the key players as seeds. KPP-NEG is defined as the identification of key players for the purpose of disrupting or fragmenting the network by removing the key nodes. It is found that off-the-shelf centrality measures are not optimal for solving either generic problem, and therefore new measures are presented. Stephen P. Borgatti is Professor of Organization Studies at the Carroll School of Management, Boston College. His research is focused on social networks, social cognition and knowledge management. He is also interested in the application of social network analysis to the solution of managerial problems.     

Growth of pentacene on Ag(1 1 1) surface: A NEXAFS study

Thin films of pentacene (C₂₂H₁₄) have become widely used in the field of organic electronics. Here films of C₂₂H₁₄ of thickness ranging from submonolayer to multilayer were thermally deposited on Ag(1 1 1) surface. The determination of molecular geometry in pentacene films on Ag(1 1 1) studied by X-ray absorption at different stages of growth up to one monolayer is presented.XAS spectra at the C K-edge were collected as a function of the direction of the electric field at the surface. The different features of the spectra were assigned to resonances related to the various molecular unoccupied states by the comparison with the absorption coefficient of the pentacene gas phase. The transitions involving antibonding π states show a pronounced angular dependence for all the measured coverages, from submonolayer to multilayer. The spectra analysis indicates a nearly planar chemisorption of the first pentacene layer with a tilt angle of 10°.     

Peptides adsorption on TiO2 and Au: Molecular organization investigated by NEXAFS, XPS and IR

We present a spectroscopic study of the structure of two peptides deposited on Au and TiO₂:

- PeptA, (EAK16-RGD) bringing the adhesive RGD sequence linked to EAK16;

- PeptB, having RGD linked to a “scrambled” sequence of the EAK16 peptide.

Previously reported NEXAFS investigations on thin films of the self-assembling peptide EAK16 deposited on Au and TiO₂, revealed molecular order and orientation for both substrates.IR spectra show a β-sheet conformation for PeptA and a random structure for PeptB. Angular-dependent NEXAFS measurements reveal an ordered structure with preferential molecular orientation only for PeptA. XPS analysis indicates that PeptA is adsorbed on TiO₂ in a larger amount than PeptB.     

Bergamot (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Citrus bergamia</Emphasis> Risso) fruit extracts and identified components alter expression of interleukin 8 gene in cystic fibrosis bronchial epithelial cell lines

Background  

Cystic fibrosis (CF) airway pathology is a fatal, autosomal, recessive genetic disease characterized by extensive lung inflammation. After induction by TNF-α, elevated concentrations of several pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e. IL-6, IL-1β) and chemokines (i.e. IL-8) are released from airway epithelial cells. In order to reduce the excessive inflammatory response in the airways of CF patients, new therapies have been developed and in this respect, medicinal plant extracts have been studied. In this article we have investigated the possible use of bergamot extracts (Citrus bergamia Risso) and their identified components to alter the expression of IL-8 associated with the cystic fibrosis airway pathology.     

Ego‐centered and local roles: A graph theoretic approach

Structural equivalence (Lorrain and White, 1971) and automorphic equivalence (Everett, 1985) are generalized to define neighborhood‐ and ego‐centered equivalences. It is shown that local versions of these equivalences can then be formulated quite naturally. In addition to these natural localizations, a generalized procedure capable of localizing any model of role equivalence is presented. From a theoretical point of view, local roles are recommended by the notion that network influences on ego diminish with distance. From a practical point of view, local roles help find structure in graphs where global equivalences find no two actors equivalent.     

Structure,morphology, and growth dynamics of perfluoro‐pentacene thin films

We report high structural order in thin films of the organic semiconductor perfluoro‐pentacene (PFP), which is a candidate material for n‐type applications, deposited by vacuum sublimation on oxidized silicon wafers. Bragg reflections up to high order in both specular and grazing incidence geometries and a mosaicity of less than 0.01° demonstrate the well defined structure. The thin film entirely consists of crystallites with a structure close to the bulk phase without any contamination with a second phase. Real‐time X‐ray measurements show that PFP grows in a Stranski–Krastanov growth mode with the first monolayer wetting the substrate before 3d‐growth sets in during growth of the second monolayer. Implications for its use are discussed. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Surface X-ray diffraction analysis of Fe nanostructured films grown on c(2 × 2)-N/Cu(100)

We report the results of a Surface X-Ray Diffraction (SXRD) study of Fe nanostructured films deposited on c(2 × 2)-N/Cu(100) at room temperature (RT), with Fe coverage Θ_Fe = 0.5 ML and Θ_Fe = 1 ML. The c(2 × 2)-N/Cu(100) surface is an example of self-organised system, that can be used for growth of arrays of metal nano-islands and organic molecules assemblies. We chose two different values of N coverage, Θ_N = 0.3 ML and Θ_N = 0.5 ML, the second value corresponding to N saturation. We monitored the presence of surface diffraction peaks in hk scans and we performed Crystal Truncation Rods (CTR) analysis with ROD fitting programme. In the case of Θ_N = 0.5 ML, i.e. at saturation coverage, the CTR could be fitted with one surface domain with p4gm(2 × 2) symmetry. In the surface cell adopted, N atoms occupy four-fold hollow sites, with Fe (intermixed with Cu) giving rise to a “clock” reconstruction previously observed on iron nitride films obtained by co-deposition and annealing. This result is an indirect confirmation of N surface segregation on top of the Fe films, occurring during the growth at RT. When subsaturation N coverage (Θ_N = 0.3 ML) is used as a substrate for Fe deposition, the best results could be obtained with a model where two surface domains are present: the first one corresponds to a surface cell with Fe sitting in four-fold hollow sites on bare Cu areas, with possible interdiffusion in the second lattice. The second domain is assigned to growth of Fe on the N-covered square islands occurring once the bare Cu areas are fully covered. The SXRD analysis on N-covered surface domains shows that the mechanism of reconstruction and of N segregation on top layer is already active at RT for all N-coverage values.     

Furocoumarins photolysis products induce differentiation of human erythroid cells

Psoralens, also known as furocoumarins, are a well-known class of photosensitizers largely used in the therapy of various skin disease. In this study we have evaluated the effects of crude pre-irradiated solutions of furocoumarins derivatives on (a) erythroid differentiation and apoptosis of human leukemic K562 cells and (b) hemoglobin synthesis in cultures of human erythroid progenitors derived from the peripheral blood. To prove the activity of a mixture of photoproducts generated by UVA irradiation of the three psoralen derivatives 5-methoxypsoralen (5-MOP) 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), and angelicin (ANG), we employed the human leukemic K562 cell line and the two-phase liquid culture procedure for growing erythroid progenitors. The results obtained demonstrate that pre-irradiated solutions of psoralen derivatives significantly induce erythroid differentiation of K562 cells irrespective of the type of derivative used, suggesting that the active photoproduct(s) share a common structure. Interestingly, solutions of psoralens irradiated in anaerobic conditions do not exhibits erythroid inducing ability, indicating that the effect is mostly due to photooxidized psoralen products. In erythroid precursor cells, psoralens photolysis products stimulates at low concentrations an increase of hemoglobin A and hemoglobin F. Altogether, these data suggest that photoproducts of psoralen warrant further evaluation as potential therapeutic drugs in beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia.     

Magnetic circular dichroism in soft X-ray resonant inelastic scattering

We discuss the application of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to the study of magnetic systems in the soft X-ray range. To this end we distinguish two broad areas. In the first the layout of the experiment is such that the absorption magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) is not zero. In the second the magnetisation is perpendicular to the incident helical beam so that the absorption MCD is zero. In the first area we summarise published results on Fe-Co alloys and we present new data on Mn impurities in Ni together with calculations. In the second area we summarise published results on Ni in Ni-ferrite with final 3s shell excitation and we present new results on Co-metal and Co in Co-ferrite measured with a new approach. This is based on the incident energy dependence of the integral of the Raman spectrum in inner shell excitation (integrated resonant Raman scattering). The potentialities and the limitations of the above methods are critically presented. Received: 23 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 July 2001 / Published online: 5 October 2001