Crossover from Endogenous to Exogenous Activity in Open-Source Software Development

We have investigated the origin of fluctuations in the aggregated behaviour of an open-source software community. In a recent series of papers, de Menezes and co-workers have shown how to separate internal dynamics from external fluctuations by capturing the simultaneous activity of many system's components. In spite of software development being a planned activity, the analysis of fluctuations reveals how external driving forces can be only observed at weekly and higher time scales. Hourly and higher change frequencies mostly relate to internal maintenance activities. There is a crossover from endogenous to exogenous activity depending on the average number of file changes. This new evidence suggests that software development is a non-homogeneous design activity where stronger efforts focus in a few project files. The crossover can be explained with a Langevin equation associated to the cascading process, where changes to any file trigger additional changes to its neighbours in the software network. In addition, analysis of fluctuations enables us to detect whether a software system can be decomposed in several subsystems with different development dynamics.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter

Logarithmic growth dynamics in software networks

In a recent paper, Krapivsky and Redner (Phys. Rev. E, 71 (2005) 036118) proposed a new growing network model with new nodes being attached to a randomly selected node, as well to all ancestors of the target node. The model leads to a sparse graph with an average degree growing logarithmically with the system size. Here we present compeling evidence for software networks being the result of a similar class of growing dynamics. The predicted pattern of network growth, as well as the stationary in- and out-degree distributions are consistent with the model. Our results confirm the view of large-scale software topology being generated through duplication-rewiring mechanisms. Implications of these findings are outlined.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, published in Europhysics Letters (2005

Lending relationships and credit rationing: the impact of securitization

Do lending relationships mitigate credit rationing? Does securitization influence the impact of lending relationships on credit rationing? If so, is its impact differently in normal periods versus crisis periods? This paper combines several unique data sets to address these questions. Employing a disequilibrium model to identify credit rationing, we find that more intense lending relationships, measured through their length and lower number, considerable improve credit supply and reduce the degree of credit rationing. In general, we find that a relationship with a bank that is more involved in securitization activities relaxes credit constraints in normal periods; however, it also increases credit rationing during crisis periods. Finally, we study the impact of different types of securitization – covered bonds and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) – on credit rationing. While both types of securitization reduce credit rationing in normal periods, the issuance of MBS by a firm’s main bank aggravates these firm’s credit rationing in crisis periods.lending relationships;financial crisis;securitization

Sustainable growth in complex networks

Based on the empirical analysis of the dependency network in 18 Java projects, we develop a novel model of network growth which considers both: an attachment mechanism and the addition of new nodes with a heterogeneous distribution of their initial degree, $k_0$. Empirically we find that the cumulative degree distributions of initial degrees and of the final network, follow power-law behaviors: $P(k_{0}) \propto k_{0}^{1-\alpha}$, and $P(k)\propto k^{1-\gamma}$, respectively. For the total number of links as a function of the network size, we find empirically $K(N)\propto N^{\beta}$, where $\beta$ is (at the beginning of the network evolution) between 1.25 and 2, while converging to $\sim 1$ for large $N$. This indicates a transition from a growth regime with increasing network density towards a sustainable regime, which revents a collapse because of ever increasing dependencies. Our theoretical framework is able to predict relations between the exponents $\alpha$, $\beta$, $\gamma$, which also link issues of software engineering and developer activity. These relations are verified by means of computer simulations and empirical investigations. They indicate that the growth of real Open Source Software networks occurs on the edge between two regimes, which are either dominated by the initial degree distribution of added nodes, or by the preferential attachment mechanism. Hence, the heterogeneous degree distribution of newly added nodes, found empirically, is essential to describe the laws of sustainable growth in networks.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Activity ageing in growing networks

We present a model for growing information networks where the ageing of a node depends on the time at which it entered the network and on the last time it was cited. The model is shown to undergo a transition from a small-world to large-world network. The degree distribution may exhibit very different shapes depending on the model parameters, e.g. delta-peaked, exponential or power-law tailed distributions.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Sema as Zikr: The Language of the Whirling Dance

This paper explores the parallels found in the dance of the whirling dervishes and Rumi’s poetry. The dance, or sema, is a remembrance of God, zikr, which Rumi beautifully describes in his poetry. It is an honoring and mirroring of the revolutions, cycles, circles, centers, and turnings of life. This poetry in motion, done in the silence of the dervish, brings us to the sema, as a pronounced capacity topresence, because it is both poetry and thing. As poetry, it affords us to undergo an experience with language and the silence that bring us nearer to our center. There is much that is said in the sema even if nothing is spoken. What is said is heard in the silence cultivated by sema. The dance of the whirling dervishes is zikr, a remembrance of God.

Two dimensional XXZ-Ising model on square-hexagon lattice

We study a two dimensional XXZ-Ising on square-hexagon (4-6) lattice with spin-1/2. The phase diagram of the ground state energy is discussed, shown two different ferrimagnetic states and two type of antiferromagnetic states, beside of a ferromagnetic state. To solve this model, it could be mapped into the eight-vertex model with union jack interaction term. Imposing exact solution condition we find the region where the XXZ-Ising model on 4-6 lattice have exact solutions with one free parameter, for symmetric eight-vertex model condition. In this sense we explore the properties of the system and analyze the competition of the interaction parameters providing the region where it has an exact solution. However the present model does not satisfy the \textit{free fermion} condition, unless for a trivial situation. Even so we are able to discuss their critical points region, when the exactly solvable condition is ignored.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Micro-eukaryotic diversity in hypolithons from Miers Valley, Antarctica

The discovery of extensive and complex hypolithic communities in both cold and hot deserts has raised many questions regarding their ecology, biodiversity and relevance in terms of regional productivity. However, most hypolithic research has focused on the bacterial elements of the community. This study represents the first investigation of micro-eukaryotic communities in all three hypolith types. Here we show that Antarctic hypoliths support extensive populations of novel uncharacterized bryophyta, fungi and protists and suggest that well known producer-decomposer-predator interactions may create the necessary conditions for hypolithic productivity in Antarctic deserts