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CSS/Italy

Italian Chapter of Complex Systems Society

complex networks

April 23, 2019 research

The multiplex network of human diseases

Arda Halu, Manlio De Domenico, Alex Arenas and Amitabh Sharma
npj Systems Biology and Applications 5, 15 (2019)
DOI: 10.1038/s41540-019-0092-5

Untangling the complex interplay between phenotype and genotype is crucial to the effective characterization and subtyping of diseases. Here we build and analyze the multiplex network of 779 human diseases, which consists of a genotype-based layer and a phenotype-based layer. We show that diseases with common genetic constituents tend to share symptoms, and uncover how phenotype information helps boost genotype information. Moreover, we offer a flexible classification of diseases that considers their molecular underpinnings alongside their clinical manifestations. We detect cohesive groups of diseases that have high intra-group similarity at both the molecular and the phenotypic level. Inspecting these disease communities, we demonstrate the underlying pathways that connect diseases mechanistically. We observe monogenic disorders grouped together with complex diseases for which they increase the risk factor. We propose potentially new disease associations that arise as a unique feature of the information flow within and across the two layers.

January 10, 2019 research

The fragility of decentralised trustless socio-technical systems

Manlio De Domenico and Andrea Baronchelli
EPJ Data Science 8, 2 (2019)
DOI: 10.1140/epjds/s13688-018-0180-6

The blockchain technology promises to transform finance, money and even governments. However, analyses of blockchain applicability and robustness typically focus on isolated systems whose actors contribute mainly by running the consensus algorithm. Here, we highlight the importance of considering trustless platforms within the broader ecosystem that includes social and communication networks. As an example, we analyse the flash-crash observed on 21st June 2017 in the Ethereum platform and show that a major phenomenon of social coordination led to a catastrophic cascade of events across several interconnected systems. We propose the concept of “emergent centralisation” to describe situations where a single system becomes critically important for the functioning of the whole ecosystem, and argue that such situations are likely to become more and more frequent in interconnected socio-technical systems. We anticipate that the systemic approach we propose will have implications for future assessments of trustless systems and call for the attention of policy-makers on the fragility of our interconnected and rapidly changing world.

January 8, 2019 research

Bots increase exposure to negative and inflammatory content in online social systems

Massimo Stella, Emilio Ferrara, and Manlio De Domenico
PNAS 115, 12435 (2018)
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1803470115

Societies are complex systems, which tend to polarize into subgroups of individuals with dramatically opposite perspectives. This phenomenon is reflected—and often amplified—in online social networks, where, however, humans are no longer the only players and coexist alongside with social bots—that is, software-controlled accounts. Analyzing large-scale social data collected during the Catalan referendum for independence on October 1, 2017, consisting of nearly 4 millions Twitter posts generated by almost 1 million users, we identify the two polarized groups of Independentists and Constitutionalists and quantify the structural and emotional roles played by social bots. We show that bots act from peripheral areas of the social system to target influential humans of both groups, bombarding Independentists with violent contents, increasing their exposure to negative and inflammatory narratives, and exacerbating social conflict online. Our findings stress the importance of developing countermeasures to unmask these forms of automated social manipulation.

 

November 12, 2018 research

Optimal positioning of storage systems in microgrids based on complex networks centrality measures

By Saman Korjani, Angelo Facchini, Mario Mureddu, Guido Caldarelli, Alfonso Damiano

Published in Scientific Reports (2018) 8:16658

 

We propose a criterion based on complex networks centrality metrics to identify the optimal position of Energy Storage Systems in power networks. To this aim we study the relation between centrality metrics and voltage fluctuations in power grids in presence of high penetration of renewable energy sources and storage systems. For testing purposes we consider two prototypical IEEE networks and we compute the correlation between node centrality (namely Eigenvector, Closeness, Pagerank, Betweenness) and voltage fluctuations in presence of intermittent renewable energy generators and intermittent loads measured from domestic users. We show that the topological characteristics of the power networks are able to identify the optimal positioning of active and reactive power compensators (such as energy storage systems) used to reduce voltage fluctuations according to the common quality of service standards. Results show that, among the different metrics, eigenvector centrality shows a statistically significant exponential correlation with the reduction of voltage fluctuations. This finding confirms the technical know-how for which storage systems are heuristically positioned far from supply reactive nodes. This also represents an advantage both in terms of computational time, and in terms of planning of wide resilient networks, where a careful positioning of storage systems is needed, especially in a scenario of interconnected microgrids where intermittent distributed energy sources (such as wind or solar) are fully deployed.

July 5, 2018 jobs

PhD and Postdoc positions at CoMuNe Lab

The Complex Multilayer Networks (CoMuNe) Lab is the Research Unit of Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), placed in Povo (Trento, Italy), for modeling and analysis of complex and interconnected systems. Multilayer modeling often provides more insights than more traditional approaches, because they allow to naturally integrate available structural/relational/dynamical information. We use Network and Data Science to study structure, dynamics and resilience of real-world natural and artificial systems, from the human brain to society, at the edge of statistical physics, applied math and computer science.

We have 4 openings for fully funded PhD scholarships and 1 postdoctoral fellowship in Network Science (please, visit https://comunelab.fbk.eu/jobs.php for additional information):

– PhD #1
Deadline: Wed 22 Aug 2018 16:00 (Italian time)
Duration: 3 years
Where: FBK and Dept. of Mathematics
Title: Network models for digital humanities: A multilayer approach
Apply: Reserved Scholarship D, PhD Programme in Mathematics 34th cycle – Second Call 2018

– PhD #2
Deadline: Wed 22 Aug 2018 16:00 (Italian time)
Duration: 3 years
Where: FBK and Dept. of Mathematics
Title: Network science of human mobility: Modelling and prediction
Apply: Reserved Scholarship E, PhD Programme in Mathematics 34th cycle – Second Call 2018

– PhD #3
Deadline: Wed 30 Aug 2018 16:00 (Italian time)
Duration: 3 years
Where: FBK and Dept. of Physics
Title: Statistical Physics of complex multilayer networks
Apply: Reserved Scholarship M, PhD Programme in Physics 34th cycle

– PhD #4
Deadline: TBD (likely by the end of August)
Duration: 3 years
Where: FBK and Dept. of Information Engineering and Computer Science
Title: Computational and Network Neuroscience
Apply: TBD, send an email to Manlio De Domenico (mdedomenico@fbk.eu) and Stefano Merler (merler@fbk.eu) for more information

IMPORTANT: Please, be careful to apply explicitly for the corresponding reserved scholarship and that you satisfy the eligibility requirements. Reserved scholarships can only be assigned to those candidates who apply for and obtain the specific eligibility.
The PhD positions will start from 1st November 2018.

– Postdoc #1
Deadline: 31 July 2018 16:00 (Italian time)
Duration: 2 years
Where: FBK
Title: Network modeling of human mobility
Apply: Here

NOTE: Women and other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply to any available positions.

# Additional information

## About CoMuNe Lab

Natural and artificial networked systems exhibit a high level of complexity, such as simultaneous relationships or interactions, temporal variations, interdependency.

The Complex Multilayer Networks (CoMuNe) Lab (https://comunelab.fbk.eu/) is an interdisciplinary group at the Bruno Kessler Foundation (https://www.fbk.eu/en/) develops mathematical models to account for this high level of complexity of networked systems, using higher-order tensors to encode available information and to represent these integrated systems, called multilayer networks. Our areas of interest include

* Collective dynamics in complex socio-technical systems
* Human brain networks in neuro-degenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders
* Integration of multi-level/multilayer molecular networks in human diseases
* Social-ecological systems’ response to climate change
* Interplay between human mobility, information awareness and epidemics spreading
* Robustness and resilience of empirical complex systems

More information about the CoMuNe Lab is available at https://comunelab.fbk.eu/

Contact: Manlio De Domenico (mdedomenico@fbk.eu)

## About Bruno Kessler Foundation (FBK)

Top Research institute in Italy, ranked at the 1st place for scientific excellence within 3 different subject areas (ICT, History and Sociology) and for the economic and social impact according to the quality of research ANVUR evaluation for the period 2010-2014.

Fondazione Bruno Kessler is a research non-profit public interest entity.

Being the result of a history that is more than half a century old, through 2 scientific hubs, 7 research centers; 410 researchers; 100 PhD students from 25 countries; 220 between thesis-writing students, doctorate and post-doctorate students and visitng professors; 2 specialized libraries; 7 laboratories; FBK aims to results of excellence in science and technology with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches and to the applicative dimension.

For more informaton, please visit: https://www.fbk.eu/en/ and https://www.fbk.eu/en/about-fbk/

June 10, 2018 jobs

Open Ph.D positions in Computational Neuroscience in the Padova Neuroscience Center @University of Padova

Dear colleague,

call are open for Ph.D. position in Computational Neuroscience @ the Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova (http://pnc.unipd.it/phd-neuroscience/).

In particular we propose three different projects:

– The Critical Brain in Action (http://pnc.unipd.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/P19_Suweis.pdf)

– Controllability and Observability of Rat Brain Activity (http://pnc.unipd.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/P17_Vassanelli.pdf)

– Intrinsic brain activity and sensory coding in the rodent whisker somatosensory system (http://pnc.unipd.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/P18_Vassanelli.pdf)

The deadline for the application is 26 June 2018. 

Interested candidate can contact me: suweis@pd.infn.it

Please forward this message to potential interested collaborators and students.

Thanks

May 8, 2018 events

Spring School “Complex networks: theory, methods, and applications (4th edition)”

Villa del Grumello, Como, Italy, 14-18 May 2018

ntmd.lakecomoschool.org

Many real systems can be modeled as networks, where the elements of the system are nodes and interactions between elements are edges. An even larger set of systems can be modeled using dynamical processes on networks, which are in turn affected by the dynamics. Networks thus represent the backbone of many complex systems, and their theoretical and computational analysis makes it possible to gain insights into numerous applications. Networks permeate almost every conceivable discipline —including sociology, transportation, economics and finance, biology, and myriad others — and the study of “network science” has thus become a crucial component of modern scientific education.

The school “Complex Networks: Theory, Methods, and Applications” offers a succinct education in network science. It is open to all aspiring scholars in any area of science or engineering who wish to study networks of any kind (whether theoretical or applied), and it is especially addressed to doctoral students and young postdoctoral scholars. The aim of the school is to deepen into both theoretical developments and applications in targeted fields.

Lecturers:

  • Albert-László Barabási
  • Stefano Battiston
  • Ulrik Brandes
  • Vittoria Colizza
  • Puck Rombach
  • Alessandro Vespignani

April 24, 2018 events

International School on Informatics and Dynamics in Complex Networks

The International School on Informatics and Dynamics in Complex Networks is organized at the University of Catania, Italy, by the Department of Electrical Electronics and Computer Science and the Cometa Consortium. It will be held from 15  to 19 October 2018 at the “Cittadella” campus where most of the technical faculties are hosted and consist of a series of lectures given by leading scientists in the field, aiming at providing a comprehensive treatment from background material to advanced results . The school is specially directed to PhD students and young researchers interested to the diverse aspects of the theory and applications of complex networks in science and engineering. Slots for presentations by the participants are also scheduled with an award to the best presentation. The school aims at encouraging cross-disciplinary discussions between participants and speakers and start new joint researches.

Topics: structure of networks, multilayer networks, brain networks, dynamics of networks, financial networks, applications.

Speakers:

Mauricio Barahona, Imperial College London

Mario Chavez, CNRS Paris

Manlio De Domenico, FBK Trento

Ernesto Estrada, Univ. of Strathclyde Glasgow

Vito Latora, Queen Mary University of London

Rosario N. Mantegna, Univ. of Palermo

 

Additional information at: http://isidcn.dieei.unict.it

April 14, 2018 research

Explorability and the origin of network sparsity in living systems

Daniel M Busiello, Samir Suweis, Jorge Hidalgo, Amos Maritan

Scientific Reports 7: 12323(2017)

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-12521-1

Sparsity of interactions in living systems. From Busiello et al., Scientific Report 2017

 

 

April 5, 2018 research

Multiplex model of mental lexicon reveals explosive learning in humans

Massimo Stella, Nicole M. Beckage, Markus Brede and Manlio De Domenico
Scientific Reports 8, 2259 (2018)
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20730-5

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