220 research outputs found
Distributed Graph Clustering using Modularity and Map Equation
We study large-scale, distributed graph clustering. Given an undirected
graph, our objective is to partition the nodes into disjoint sets called
clusters. A cluster should contain many internal edges while being sparsely
connected to other clusters. In the context of a social network, a cluster
could be a group of friends. Modularity and map equation are established
formalizations of this internally-dense-externally-sparse principle. We present
two versions of a simple distributed algorithm to optimize both measures. They
are based on Thrill, a distributed big data processing framework that
implements an extended MapReduce model. The algorithms for the two measures,
DSLM-Mod and DSLM-Map, differ only slightly. Adapting them for similar quality
measures is straight-forward. We conduct an extensive experimental study on
real-world graphs and on synthetic benchmark graphs with up to 68 billion
edges. Our algorithms are fast while detecting clusterings similar to those
detected by other sequential, parallel and distributed clustering algorithms.
Compared to the distributed GossipMap algorithm, DSLM-Map needs less memory, is
up to an order of magnitude faster and achieves better quality.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures; v3: Camera ready for Euro-Par 2018, more
details, more results; v2: extended experiments to include comparison with
competing algorithms, shortened for submission to Euro-Par 201
Considerations about multistep community detection
The problem and implications of community detection in networks have raised a
huge attention, for its important applications in both natural and social
sciences. A number of algorithms has been developed to solve this problem,
addressing either speed optimization or the quality of the partitions
calculated. In this paper we propose a multi-step procedure bridging the
fastest, but less accurate algorithms (coarse clustering), with the slowest,
most effective ones (refinement). By adopting heuristic ranking of the nodes,
and classifying a fraction of them as `critical', a refinement step can be
restricted to this subset of the network, thus saving computational time.
Preliminary numerical results are discussed, showing improvement of the final
partition.Comment: 12 page
Consensus clustering in complex networks
The community structure of complex networks reveals both their organization
and hidden relationships among their constituents. Most community detection
methods currently available are not deterministic, and their results typically
depend on the specific random seeds, initial conditions and tie-break rules
adopted for their execution. Consensus clustering is used in data analysis to
generate stable results out of a set of partitions delivered by stochastic
methods. Here we show that consensus clustering can be combined with any
existing method in a self-consistent way, enhancing considerably both the
stability and the accuracy of the resulting partitions. This framework is also
particularly suitable to monitor the evolution of community structure in
temporal networks. An application of consensus clustering to a large citation
network of physics papers demonstrates its capability to keep track of the
birth, death and diversification of topics.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures. Published in Scientific Report
A randomised controlled study shows supplementation of overweight and obese adults with lactobacilli and bifidobacteria reduces bodyweight and improves well-being
In an exploratory, block-randomised, parallel, double-blind, single-centre, placebo-controlled superiority study (ISRCTN12562026, funded by Cultech Ltd), 220 Bulgarian participants (30 to 65 years old) with BMI 25–34.9 kg/m2 received Lab4P probiotic (50 billion/day) or a matched placebo for 6 months. Participants maintained their normal diet and lifestyle. Primary outcomes were changes in body weight, BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WtHR), blood pressure and plasma lipids. Secondary outcomes were changes in plasma C-reactive protein (CRP), the diversity of the faecal microbiota, quality of life (QoL) assessments and the incidence of upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Significant between group decreases in body weight (1.3 kg, p < 0.0001), BMI (0.045 kg/m2, p < 0.0001), WC (0.94 cm, p < 0.0001) and WtHR (0.006, p < 0.0001) were in favour of the probiotic. Stratification identified greater body weight reductions in overweight subjects (1.88%, p < 0.0001) and in females (1.62%, p = 0.0005). Greatest weight losses were among probiotic hypercholesterolaemic participants (−2.5%, p < 0.0001) alongside a significant between group reduction in small dense LDL-cholesterol (0.2 mmol/L, p = 0.0241). Improvements in QoL and the incidence rate ratio of URTI (0.60, p < 0.0001) were recorded for the probiotic group. No adverse events were recorded. Six months supplementation with Lab4P probiotic resulted in significant weight reduction and improved small dense low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (sdLDL-C) profiles, QoL and URTI incidence outcomes in overweight/obese individuals
Mechanisms underlying fatigue: a voxel-based morphometric study of chronic fatigue syndrome
BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a crucial sensation that triggers rest, yet its underlying neuronal mechanisms remain unclear. Intense long-term fatigue is a symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome, which is used as a model to study the mechanisms underlying fatigue. METHODS: Using magnetic resonance imaging, we conducted voxel-based morphometry of 16 patients and 49 age-matched healthy control subjects. RESULTS: We found that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome had reduced gray-matter volume in the bilateral prefrontal cortex. Within these areas, the volume reduction in the right prefrontal cortex paralleled the severity of the fatigue of the subjects. CONCLUSION: These results are consistent with previous reports of an abnormal distribution of acetyl-L-carnitine uptake, which is one of the biochemical markers of chronic fatigue syndrome, in the prefrontal cortex. Thus, the prefrontal cortex might be an important element of the neural system that regulates sensations of fatigue
Robust Detection of Hierarchical Communities from Escherichia coli Gene Expression Data
Determining the functional structure of biological networks is a central goal
of systems biology. One approach is to analyze gene expression data to infer a
network of gene interactions on the basis of their correlated responses to
environmental and genetic perturbations. The inferred network can then be
analyzed to identify functional communities. However, commonly used algorithms
can yield unreliable results due to experimental noise, algorithmic
stochasticity, and the influence of arbitrarily chosen parameter values.
Furthermore, the results obtained typically provide only a simplistic view of
the network partitioned into disjoint communities and provide no information of
the relationship between communities. Here, we present methods to robustly
detect coregulated and functionally enriched gene communities and demonstrate
their application and validity for Escherichia coli gene expression data.
Applying a recently developed community detection algorithm to the network of
interactions identified with the context likelihood of relatedness (CLR)
method, we show that a hierarchy of network communities can be identified.
These communities significantly enrich for gene ontology (GO) terms, consistent
with them representing biologically meaningful groups. Further, analysis of the
most significantly enriched communities identified several candidate new
regulatory interactions. The robustness of our methods is demonstrated by
showing that a core set of functional communities is reliably found when
artificial noise, modeling experimental noise, is added to the data. We find
that noise mainly acts conservatively, increasing the relatedness required for
a network link to be reliably assigned and decreasing the size of the core
communities, rather than causing association of genes into new communities.Comment: Due to appear in PLoS Computational Biology. Supplementary Figure S1
was not uploaded but is available by contacting the author. 27 pages, 5
figures, 15 supplementary file
Knotty-Centrality: Finding the Connective Core of a Complex Network
A network measure called knotty-centrality is defined that quantifies the extent to which a given subset of a graph’s nodes constitutes a densely intra-connected topologically central connective core. Using this measure, the knotty centre of a network is defined as a sub-graph with maximal knotty-centrality. A heuristic algorithm for finding subsets of a network with high knotty-centrality is presented, and this is applied to previously published brain structural connectivity data for the cat and the human, as well as to a number of other networks. The cognitive implications of possessing a connective core with high knotty-centrality are briefly discussed
Symbolic meanings and e-learning in the workplace: The case of an intranet-based training tool
This article contributes to the debate on work-based e-learning, by unpacking the notion of ‘the learning context’ in a case where the mediating tool for training also supports everyday work. Users’ engagement with the information and communication technology tool is shown to reflect dynamic interactions among the individual, peer group, organizational and institutional levels. Also influential are professionals’ values and identity work, alongside their interpretations of espoused and emerging symbolic meanings. Discussion draws on pedagogically informed studies of e-learning and the wider organizational learning literature. More centrally, this article highlights the instrumentality of symbolic interactionism for e-learning research and explores some of the framework’s conceptual resources as applied to organizational analysis and e-learning design. </jats:p
Ensemble approach for generalized network dismantling
Finding a set of nodes in a network, whose removal fragments the network
below some target size at minimal cost is called network dismantling problem
and it belongs to the NP-hard computational class. In this paper, we explore
the (generalized) network dismantling problem by exploring the spectral
approximation with the variant of the power-iteration method. In particular, we
explore the network dismantling solution landscape by creating the ensemble of
possible solutions from different initial conditions and a different number of
iterations of the spectral approximation.Comment: 11 Pages, 4 Figures, 4 Table
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