PhysarumSpreader: A New Bio-Inspired Methodology for Identifying Influential Spreaders in Complex Networks.

Autor: Hongping Wang, Yajuan Zhang, Zili Zhang, Sankaran Mahadevan, Yong Deng
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: PLoS ONE, Vol 10, Iss 12, p e0145028 (2015)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145028
Popis: Identifying influential spreaders in networks, which contributes to optimizing the use of available resources and efficient spreading of information, is of great theoretical significance and practical value. A random-walk-based algorithm LeaderRank has been shown as an effective and efficient method in recognizing leaders in social network, which even outperforms the well-known PageRank method. As LeaderRank is initially developed for binary directed networks, further extensions should be studied in weighted networks. In this paper, a generalized algorithm PhysarumSpreader is proposed by combining LeaderRank with a positive feedback mechanism inspired from an amoeboid organism called Physarum Polycephalum. By taking edge weights into consideration and adding the positive feedback mechanism, PhysarumSpreader is applicable in both directed and undirected networks with weights. By taking two real networks for examples, the effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by comparing with other standard centrality measures.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals