Key Nodes In Network Research Articles

Keystone species and food webs.

Different species are of different importance in maintaining ecosystem functions in natural communities. Quantitative approaches are needed to identify unusually important or influential, 'keystone' species particularly for conservation purposes. Since the importance of some species may largely be the consequence of their rich interaction structure, one possible quantitative approach to identify the most influential species is to study their position in the network of interspecific interactions. In this paper, I discuss the role of network analysis (and centrality indices in particular) in this process and present a new and simple approach to characterizing the interaction structures of each species in a complex network. Understanding the linkage between structure and dynamics is a condition to test the results of topological studies, I briefly overview our current knowledge on this issue. The study of key nodes in networks has become an increasingly general interest in several disciplines: I will discuss some parallels. Finally, I will argue that conservation biology needs to devote more attention to identify and conserve keystone species and relatively less attention to rarity.

A Wired World: The Evolving Geography of Submarine Cables and the Shift to Asia

Submarine cables for telecommunications were an early catalyst of globalization and of transnational corporate production networks and they continue to facilitate global economic activity. This article describes increasing demand from Internet and mobile phones as well as new uses for cables, such as oil exploration and high-energy physics. We trace the history of submarine cables and their geography from their early days to the Internet era, and analyze a global data set of cables at four intervals since 1979. Although the traditional triad locations (Western Europe, North America, and East Asia) are among the best connected, new networks in new places—notably Asia—are poised to become key network nodes in the twenty-first century. Based on cable capacity, the future submarine cable network looks very different from the old, suggesting new economic geographies and new world cities for a new world economy.

Balancing the power consumption speed in flat and hierarchical WSN

A combination of a cluster tree routing protocol and an Ad hoc on demand vector (AODV) routing protocol is used in the latest ZigBee standard wireless sensor networks (WSNs) technology. However, the AODV routing protocol has no means by which to take into consideration the power consumption of the nodes during the routing process. Therefore, a new approach is proposed in this paper to balance the power consumption speed and to distribute the responsibilities of routing among flat wireless sensor nodes and the three levels of hierarchical wireless sensor nodes. These three levels are based on the three types of devices, which are used in the ZigBee standard: the coordinator, the routers, and the end devices. In this paper, we have compared the original AODV routing protocol with our extension approach for the distribution of power consumption. Based on the simulation results, our new approach has achieved better performance in terms of increasing the lifetime of the flat wireless sensor network, the personal area network (PAN) coordinator, the routers, and the whole network of the hierarchical wireless sensor network. Additionally, it has better performance in terms of distributing the power consumption among the key nodes of the wireless sensor network.

Role of network branching in eliciting differential short-term signaling responses in the hypersensitive epidermal growth factor receptor mutants implicated in lung cancer.

We study the effects of EGFR inhibition in wild-type and mutant cell lines upon tyrosine kinase inhibitor TKI treatment through a systems level deterministic and spatially homogeneous model to help characterize the hypersensitive response of the cancer cell lines harboring constitutively active mutant kinases to inhibitor treatment. By introducing a molecularly resolved branched network systems model (the molecular resolution is introduced for EGFR reactions and interactions in order to distinguish differences in activation between wild-type and mutants), we are able to quantify differences in (1) short-term signaling in downstream ERK and Akt activation, (2) the changes in the cellular inhibition EC50 associated with receptor phosphorylation (i.e., 50% inhibition of receptor phosphorylation in the cellular context), and (3) EC50 for the inhibition of activated downstream markers ERK-(p) and Akt-(p), where (p) denotes phosphorylated, upon treatment with the inhibitors in cell lines carrying both wild-type and mutant forms of the receptor. Using the branched signaling model, we illustrate a possible mechanism for preferential Akt activation in the cell lines harboring the oncogenic mutants of EGFR implicated in non-small-cell lung cancer and the enhanced efficacy of the inhibitor erlotinib especially in ablating the cellular Akt-(p) response. Using a simple phenomenological model to describe the effect of Akt activation on cellular decisions, we discuss how this preferential Akt activation is conducive to cellular oncogene addiction and how its disruption can lead to dramatic apoptotic response and hence remarkable inhibitor efficacies. We also identify key network nodes of our branched signaling model through sensitivity analysis as those rendering the network hypersensitive to enhanced ERK-(p) and Akt-(p); intriguingly, the identified nodes have a strong correlation with species implicated in oncogenic transformations in human cancers as well as in drug resistance mechanisms identified for the inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer therapy.

A Profile of 648 Signaling Network Events Identifies Cell Subsets with Diverse, Abnormal Responses to Lymphocyte Stimuli within Follicular Lymphoma Tumors.

Signal transduction plays a key role in cell survival, and changes to signaling are frequently implicated in tumor initiation and progression. We sought to identify abnormal variation in signaling network activity within primary tumor samples obtained prior to treatment from patients with follicular lymphoma (FL). We previously showed that altered B cell receptor (BCR) signaling distinguishes tumor B cells from the non-malignant host B cells in FL tumors. Here we extend this approach and use flow cytometry to measure 648 signaling events in live lymphoid cells from more than 25 lymphoma specimens and healthy controls. We combined 9 previously identified BCR stimulation conditions with inputs from CD40, interleukin 4, interferons (IFNs), and more than 10 other environmental cues that govern the development and activity of lymphocytes. Fluorescent cell barcoding allowed simultaneous staining and analysis of phospho-protein activation under all 27 stimulation conditions within a single tube. The activation of key phospho-protein nodes throughout lymphocyte signaling networks, including Syk, Erk1/2, Btk, Src family kinases, cCbl, p38, NFkB, Akt, Stat1, Stat3, Stat6, and Stat5, was measured under each of the 27 stimulation conditions. Measurements of phospho-protein responses to stimulation were combined with detection of the Bcl-2 oncogene, B and T cell lineage markers in each cell. This panel allowed us to characterize signaling in the heterogeneous cell subsets found within each patient's tumor sample. Tumor B cells, host tumor infiltrating T cells, non-malignant B cells were all distinguished by contrasting signaling profiles. In some cases, subsets of tumor B cells with differences in signaling network topology were observed within the tumor B cell population. This result suggests that signaling can distinguish between tumor sub-clones and could be used to measure tumor heterogeneity. As previously reported, little variation in signaling was observed among healthy peripheral blood B and T cell samples from different individuals. Abnormally low host T cell signaling was commonly observed within the tumor infiltrating T cells infiltrating FL tumors. Further analysis of tumor T cell subsets indicated that a high proportion of infiltrating T cells expressed CD4 and FoxP3. Taken together, these results support the hypothesis that FL tumor B cells promote suppressed signaling in the T cells of the patient and may modulate the immune response against the tumor. In FL tumor B cells, BCR and IFN signaling frequently triggered Stat5 phosphorylation, but not Stat1 phosphorylation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that Stat5 initiates genetic programs that support cancer cell survival and proliferation, whereas Stat1 promotes immunogenicity and cooperates with the p53 tumor suppressor protein. In contrast with healthy B cells, loss of the response to CD40L, altered PKC signaling, and variable responses to BCR crosslinking were all seen in FL tumor B cells. The patterns of abnormal signaling we observed in tumor B cells and tumor infiltrating T cells suggest that measuring the activity of key signaling network nodes can identify targets for therapeutic attention in FL.

Optical signal processing using integrated multi-element SOA–MZI switch arrays for packet switching

The use of discrete but interconnected SOA - MZI switches for performing logical and highly functional processing tasks, demonstrating the multi-functional potential of the photonic switching elements is discussed. An all-optical 3R burst-mode receiver consisting of four SOA - MZI switches and operating error-free with 40 Gb/s optical bursts, proving that interconnection of multiple switching units can lead to the realisation of key network node functionalities offering increased intelligence at the physical layer is presented. In order to allow for easier interconnectiv- ity between the SOA - MZI switches and to provide compactness and cost effectiveness to the developed subsystems, the integration of multiple switches into the same platform is proposed. To this end, the implementation of the first integrated quadruple SOA - MZI switch array is reported, increasing the integration density level and reducing packaging and pigtailing costs. Finally, possible applications of integrated multiple switch arrays are discussed, indicating their suitability for producing compact circuits performing common processing tasks in a multi- wavelength environment, as well as their potential to lead to the development of an all-optical high- speed packet switched node by implementing critical packet switching functionalities in a compact and efficient way.

MODELING THE DYNAMICS OF DISASTER SPREADING FROM KEY NODES IN COMPLEX NETWORKS

In this paper, we present the dynamics of disaster spreading from key nodes in complex networks. The key nodes have maximum and minimum out-degree nodes, which show important in spreading disaster. This paper considers directed Erdös–Rényi, scale-free and small-world networks. Using the model considering the common characteristics of infrastructure and lifeline networks, i.e., self-healing function and disaster spreading mechanism, we carry out simulations for the effects of the recovery time parameter and the time delay on the recovery rate and the number of damaged nodes. Simulation results show some typical disaster spreading characteristics, e.g., a non-equilibrium phase transition in the parameter space, disturbance from the maximum out-degree nodes resulting in more damaged effect, etc.

Construction of gene interaction and regulatory networks in bovine skeletal muscle from expression data

We propose a data-driven reverse engineering approach to isolate the components of a gene interaction and regulatory network. We apply this method to the construction of a network for bovine skeletal muscle. Key nodes in the network include muscle-specific genes and transcription factors. muscle-specific genes are identified from data mining the USA National Cancer Institute, Cancer Genome Anatomy Project database, while transcription factors are predicted by accurate function annotation. A total of 5 microarray studies spanning 78 hybridisations and 23 different experimental conditions provided raw expression data. A recently-reported analytical method based on multivariate mixed-model equations is used to compute gene co-expression measures across 624 genes. The resulting network included 102 genes (of which 40 were muscle-specific genes and 7 were transcription factors) that clustered in 7 distinct modules with clear biological interpretation.

All-optical wavelength conversion: technologies and applications in DWDM networks

Dense WDM technologies make effective use of the vast fiber bandwidth and offer an added dimension to all-optical networks. Wavelength conversion at key network nodes is emerging as a fundamental functionality that can allow transparent interoperability, contention resolution, wavelength routing, and, in general, better utilization of the network resources under dynamic traffic patterns. We offer an overview of the enabling technologies and extend the treatment to the network application of these converters. Attention is given to semiconductor optical amplifiers and their use in wavelength converters. Converters based on four-wave mixing as well as those based on nonlinear optical loop mirrors are evaluated, paying special attention to signal integrity and architectural as well as performance issues. The use of wavelength converters in wavelength routing networks is explored together with the application of these devices in contention resolution and in the routing wavelength assignment problem. Future directions are outlined at the system as well as network levels.