24,915 research outputs found
Embedding Graphs under Centrality Constraints for Network Visualization
Visual rendering of graphs is a key task in the mapping of complex network
data. Although most graph drawing algorithms emphasize aesthetic appeal,
certain applications such as travel-time maps place more importance on
visualization of structural network properties. The present paper advocates two
graph embedding approaches with centrality considerations to comply with node
hierarchy. The problem is formulated first as one of constrained
multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), and it is solved via block coordinate descent
iterations with successive approximations and guaranteed convergence to a KKT
point. In addition, a regularization term enforcing graph smoothness is
incorporated with the goal of reducing edge crossings. A second approach
leverages the locally-linear embedding (LLE) algorithm which assumes that the
graph encodes data sampled from a low-dimensional manifold. Closed-form
solutions to the resulting centrality-constrained optimization problems are
determined yielding meaningful embeddings. Experimental results demonstrate the
efficacy of both approaches, especially for visualizing large networks on the
order of thousands of nodes.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphic
Network depth: identifying median and contours in complex networks
Centrality descriptors are widely used to rank nodes according to specific
concept(s) of importance. Despite the large number of centrality measures
available nowadays, it is still poorly understood how to identify the node
which can be considered as the `centre' of a complex network. In fact, this
problem corresponds to finding the median of a complex network. The median is a
non-parametric and robust estimator of the location parameter of a probability
distribution. In this work, we present the most natural generalisation of the
concept of median to the realm of complex networks, discussing its advantages
for defining the centre of the system and percentiles around that centre. To
this aim, we introduce a new statistical data depth and we apply it to networks
embedded in a geometric space induced by different metrics. The application of
our framework to empirical networks allows us to identify median nodes which
are socially or biologically relevant
Navigation of brain networks
Understanding the mechanisms of neural communication in large-scale brain
networks remains a major goal in neuroscience. We investigated whether
navigation is a parsimonious routing model for connectomics. Navigating a
network involves progressing to the next node that is closest in distance to a
desired destination. We developed a measure to quantify navigation efficiency
and found that connectomes in a range of mammalian species (human, mouse and
macaque) can be successfully navigated with near-optimal efficiency (>80% of
optimal efficiency for typical connection densities). Rewiring network topology
or repositioning network nodes resulted in 45%-60% reductions in navigation
performance. Specifically, we found that brain networks cannot be progressively
rewired (randomized or clusterized) to result in topologies with significantly
improved navigation performance. Navigation was also found to: i) promote a
resource-efficient distribution of the information traffic load, potentially
relieving communication bottlenecks; and, ii) explain significant variation in
functional connectivity. Unlike prevalently studied communication strategies in
connectomics, navigation does not mandate biologically unrealistic assumptions
about global knowledge of network topology. We conclude that the wiring and
spatial embedding of brain networks is conducive to effective decentralized
communication. Graph-theoretic studies of the connectome should consider
measures of network efficiency and centrality that are consistent with
decentralized models of neural communication
Multitask Learning on Graph Neural Networks: Learning Multiple Graph Centrality Measures with a Unified Network
The application of deep learning to symbolic domains remains an active
research endeavour. Graph neural networks (GNN), consisting of trained neural
modules which can be arranged in different topologies at run time, are sound
alternatives to tackle relational problems which lend themselves to graph
representations. In this paper, we show that GNNs are capable of multitask
learning, which can be naturally enforced by training the model to refine a
single set of multidimensional embeddings and decode them
into multiple outputs by connecting MLPs at the end of the pipeline. We
demonstrate the multitask learning capability of the model in the relevant
relational problem of estimating network centrality measures, focusing
primarily on producing rankings based on these measures, i.e. is vertex
more central than vertex given centrality ?. We then show that a GNN
can be trained to develop a \emph{lingua franca} of vertex embeddings from
which all relevant information about any of the trained centrality measures can
be decoded. The proposed model achieves accuracy on a test dataset of
random instances with up to 128 vertices and is shown to generalise to larger
problem sizes. The model is also shown to obtain reasonable accuracy on a
dataset of real world instances with up to 4k vertices, vastly surpassing the
sizes of the largest instances with which the model was trained ().
Finally, we believe that our contributions attest to the potential of GNNs in
symbolic domains in general and in relational learning in particular.Comment: Published at ICANN2019. 10 pages, 3 Figure
- …