Visual Analysis of Time‐Series Similarities for Anomaly Detection in Sensor Networks

We present a system to analyze time‐series data in sensor networks. Our approach supports exploratory tasks for the comparison of univariate, geo‐referenced sensor data, in particular for anomaly detection. We split the recordings into fixed‐length patterns and show them in order to compare them over time and space using two linked views. Apart from geo‐based comparison across sensors we also support different temporal patterns to discover seasonal effects, anomalies and periodicities. The methods we use are best practices in the information visualization domain. They cover the daily, the weekly and seasonal and patterns of the data. Daily patterns can be analyzed in a clustering‐based view, weekly patterns in a calendar‐based view and seasonal patters in a projection‐based view. The connectivity of the sensors can be analyzed through a dedicated topological network view. We assist the domain expert with interaction techniques to make the results understandable. As a result, the user can identify and analyze erroneous and suspicious measurements in the network. A case study with a domain expert verified the usefulness of our approach.     

群组协作社交网络关系的分析及可视化

社交网络的研究应用领域广泛,大多数的研究主要关注于社交网络结构中节点和链接的变化,研究角度较为单一.而群组协作关系在社交网络中较为普遍,为更好地探索群组协作过程中群组级别网络结构的演变,首先将组级任务添加到用于图可视化的任务分类中,针对协作关系网络的特性,设置一个适用于群组协作关系分析的任务分类法,根据此任务分类法设置探究群组协作需完成的任务;然后设计相关可视化视图,以更直观的方式展示群组之间以及群组内部协作关系的特征以及随时间推进的演变模式;最后在学术协作文献数据集上进行具体案例分析,通过用户评估实验,采用李克特量表对调查问卷进行分析,验证了设计可视化视图的有效性和实用性,可为社交网络关系分析人员提供群组协作的可视化分析方法,更便于对群组协作网络关系的进一步探究和应用.     

社交网络取证初探

社交网络是人类借用计算技术和信息技术进行信息交流、建立人际交互关系等社会活动的一种新型工具,已成为社会计算中研究社会软件的核心课题之一。社交网页取证旨在对用户信息进行证据获取、固定、分析和展示,提供直接、有效、客观、公正的第三方依据。在互联网飞速发展的背景下,社交网页取证面临着用户信息多样、内容动态(实时)变化、海量、交互和图片内容是否可信的挑战,已成为社交网络和社会计算中舆情分析、情感计算、社交网络关系的内容分析以及个人、群体和社会性行为分析的一个重要难题。针对社交网页取证问题,以新浪微博为例,设计了一套取证解决方案,对用户发表的信息、人脸图片、位置信息进行固定,依靠网页取证方法来认证信息的可信性。同时,利用信息可视化展示手段和辅助分析来应对在海量社交网页数据背景下的计算机取证工作。     

On analyzing user preference dynamics with temporal social networks

The preferences adopted by individuals are constantly modified as these are driven by new experiences, natural life evolution and, mainly, influence from friends. Studying these temporal dynamics of user preferences has become increasingly important for personalization tasks in information retrieval and recommendation systems domains. However, existing models are too constrained for capturing the complexity of the underlying phenomenon. Online social networks contain rich information about social interactions and relations. Thus, these become an essential source of knowledge for the understanding of user preferences evolution. In this work, we investigate the interplay between user preferences and social networks over time. First, we propose a temporal preference model able to detect preference change events of a given user. Following this, we use temporal networks concepts to analyze the evolution of social relationships and propose strategies to detect changes in the network structure based on node centrality. Finally, we look for a correlation between preference change events and node centrality change events over Twitter and Jam social music datasets. Our findings show that there is a strong correlation between both change events, specially when modeling social interactions by means of a temporal network.     

Visual Exploration of Dynamic Multichannel EEG Coherence Networks

Electroencephalography (EEG) coherence networks represent functional brain connectivity, and are constructed by calculating the coherence between pairs of electrode signals as a function of frequency. Visualization of such networks can provide insight into unexpected patterns of cognitive processing and help neuroscientists to understand brain mechanisms. However, visualizing dynamic EEG coherence networks is a challenge for the analysis of brain connectivity, especially when the spatial structure of the network needs to be taken into account. In this paper, we present a design and implementation of a visualization framework for such dynamic networks. First, requirements for supporting typical tasks in the context of dynamic functional connectivity network analysis were collected from neuroscience researchers. In our design, we consider groups of network nodes and their corresponding spatial location for visualizing the evolution of the dynamic coherence network. We introduce an augmented timeline‐based representation to provide an overview of the evolution of functional units (FUs) and their spatial location over time. This representation can help the viewer to identify relations between functional connectivity and brain regions, as well as to identify persistent or transient functional connectivity patterns across the whole time window. In addition, we introduce the time‐annotated FU map representation to facilitate comparison of the behaviour of nodes between consecutive FU maps. A colour coding is designed that helps to distinguish distinct dynamic FUs. Our implementation also supports interactive exploration. The usefulness of our visualization design was evaluated by an informal user study. The feedback we received shows that our design supports exploratory analysis tasks well. The method can serve as a first step before a complete analysis of dynamic EEG coherence networks.     

基于生成对抗模型的序列推荐算法

针对传统序列推荐算法时间信息和项目内容信息运用不充分的问题,该文提出基于生成对抗模型的序列推荐算法。通过生成对抗模型将序列建模与时间、内容信息建模分离,充分挖掘用户项目交互的序列信息和项目内容信息。运用卷积神经网络作为生成对抗模型的生成器,捕获用户项目交互的序列模式。运用注意力机制作为生成对抗模型的判别器,捕获交互序列的时间信息和项目内容信息。针对传统序列推荐算法时间信息建模不充分的问题,提出一种改进的时间嵌入方式,充分建模用户项目交互关于时间的周期性模式。利用生成对抗模型同时建模用户的稳定偏好和动态偏好,提升推荐系统的用户体验,并在公开数据集MovieLens-1M和Amazon-Beauty上与现有的优秀算法做比较。实验证明,该文所提出的算法在评价指标HR@N和NDCG@N上较基线方法均有一定提升。     

In situ exploration of large dynamic networks

The analysis of large dynamic networks poses a challenge in many fields, ranging from large bot-nets to social networks. As dynamic networks exhibit different characteristics, e.g., being of sparse or dense structure, or having a continuous or discrete time line, a variety of visualization techniques have been specifically designed to handle these different aspects of network structure and time. This wide range of existing techniques is well justified, as rarely a single visualization is suitable to cover the entire visual analysis. Instead, visual representations are often switched in the course of the exploration of dynamic graphs as the focus of analysis shifts between the temporal and the structural aspects of the data. To support such a switching in a seamless and intuitive manner, we introduce the concept of in situ visualization--a novel strategy that tightly integrates existing visualization techniques for dynamic networks. It does so by allowing the user to interactively select in a base visualization a region for which a different visualization technique is then applied and embedded in the selection made. This permits to change the way a locally selected group of data items, such as nodes or time points, are shown--right in the place where they are positioned, thus supporting the user's overall mental map. Using this approach, a user can switch seamlessly between different visual representations to adapt a region of a base visualization to the specifics of the data within it or to the current analysis focus. This paper presents and discusses the in situ visualization strategy and its implications for dynamic graph visualization. Furthermore, it illustrates its usefulness by employing it for the visual exploration of dynamic networks from two different fields: model versioning and wireless mesh networks.     

Sketch-Based Spatial Queries for Retrieving Human Locomotion Patterns From Continuously Archived GPS Data

We propose a system for retrieving human locomotion patterns from tracking data captured within a large geographical area, over a long period of time. A GPS receiver continuously captures data regarding the location of the person carrying it. A constrained agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm segments these data according to the person's navigational behavior. Sketches made on a map displayed on a computer screen are used for specifying queries regarding locomotion patterns. Two basic sketch primitives, selected based on a user study, are combined to form five different types of queries. We implement algorithms to analyze a sketch made by a user, identify the query, and retrieve results from the collection of data. A graphical user interface combines the user interaction strategy and algorithms, and allows hierarchical querying and visualization of intermediate results. We evaluate the system using a collection of data captured during nine months. The constrained hierarchical clustering algorithm is able to segment GPS data at an overall accuracy of 94% despite the presence of location-dependent noise. A user study was conducted to evaluate the proposed user interaction strategy and the usability of the overall system. The results of this study demonstrate that the proposed user interaction strategy facilitates fast querying, and efficient and accurate retrieval, in an intuitive manner.     

基于最短时间距离的校园无线网络用户关联性度量

在校园网络中,存在着大量的信息系统,记录着用户的日常行为信息。通过对大量用户的日常轨迹信息分析,可以发现用户之间的行为关联性,度量用户之间的社会关系强度。基于上海某校的校园网络数据特点,提出了一种改进的基于用户时间序列模型,用最短时间距离进行社会关系度量的方法。该方法首先依据用户的行为数据生成用户行为时间序列,并在此基础上进行行为关联性的度量,以反映用户在真实世界中的社会关系强度,并利用地点访问热度修正社会关系强度的分析结果。实验中使用该方法对上海某校的校园网数据进行分析,度量用户关联性强度,验证了该方法的有效性。     

Demographics and Behavior of the Chilean Internet Population

When a computer network connects people or organizations, it is a social network. Yet the study of such computer-supported social networks has not received as much attention as studies of human-computer interaction, online person-to-person interaction, and computer-supported communication within small groups. We argue the usefulness of a social network approach for the study of computer-mediated communication. We review some basic concepts of social network analysis, describe how to collect and analyze social network data, and demonstrate where social network data can be, and have been, used to study computer-mediated communication. Throughout, we show the utility of the social network approach for studying computer-mediated communication, be it in computer-supported cooperative work, in virtual community, or in more diffuse interactions over less bounded systems such as the Internet.     

Already up? using mobile phones to track & share sleep behavior

Users share a lot of personal information with friends, family members, and colleagues via social networks. Surprisingly, some users choose to share their sleeping patterns, perhaps both for awareness as well as a sense of connection to others. Indeed, sharing basic sleep data, whether a person has gone to bed or waking up, informs others about not just one's sleeping routines but also indicates physical state, and reflects a sense of wellness. We present Somnometer, a social alarm clock for mobile phones that helps users to capture and share their sleep patterns. While the sleep rating is obtained from explicit user input, the sleep duration is estimated based on monitoring a user's interactions with the app. Observing that many individuals currently utilize their mobile phone as an alarm clock revealed behavioral patterns that we were able to leverage when designing the app. We assess whether it is possible to reliably monitor one's sleep duration using such apps. We further investigate whether providing users with the ability to track their sleep behavior over a long time period can empower them to engage in healthier sleep habits. We hypothesize that sharing sleep information with social networks impacts awareness and connectedness among friends. The result from a controlled study reveals that it is feasible to monitor a user's sleep duration based just on her interactions with an alarm clock app on the mobile phone. The results from both an in-the-wild study and a controlled experiment suggest that providing a way for users to track their sleep behaviors increased user awareness of sleep patterns and induced healthier habits. However, we also found that, given the current broadcast nature of existing social networks, users were concerned with sharing their sleep patterns indiscriminately.     

Stochastic graph as a model for social networks

Social networks are usually modeled and represented as deterministic graphs with a set of nodes as users and edges as connection between users of networks. Due to the uncertain and dynamic nature of user behavior and human activities in social networks, their structural and behavioral parameters are time varying parameters and for this reason using deterministic graphs for modeling and analysis of behavior of users may not be appropriate. In this paper, we propose that stochastic graphs, in which weights associated with edges are random variables, may be a better candidate as a graph model for social network analysis. Thus, we first propose generalization of some network measures for stochastic graphs and then propose six learning automata based algorithms for calculating these measures under the situation that the probability distribution functions of the edge weights of the graph are unknown. Simulations on different synthetic stochastic graphs for calculating the network measures using the proposed algorithms show that in order to obtain good estimates for the network measures, the required number of samples taken from edges of the graph is significantly lower than that of standard sampling method aims to analysis of human behavior in online social networks.     

TreeNetViz: revealing patterns of networks over tree structures

Network data often contain important attributes from various dimensions such as social affiliations and areas of expertise in a social network. If such attributes exhibit a tree structure, visualizing a compound graph consisting of tree and network structures becomes complicated. How to visually reveal patterns of a network over a tree has not been fully studied. In this paper, we propose a compound graph model, TreeNet, to support visualization and analysis of a network at multiple levels of aggregation over a tree. We also present a visualization design, TreeNetViz, to offer the multiscale and cross-scale exploration and interaction of a TreeNet graph. TreeNetViz uses a Radial, Space-Filling (RSF) visualization to represent the tree structure, a circle layout with novel optimization to show aggregated networks derived from TreeNet, and an edge bundling technique to reduce visual complexity. Our circular layout algorithm reduces both total edge-crossings and edge length and also considers hierarchical structure constraints and edge weight in a TreeNet graph. These experiments illustrate that the algorithm can reduce visual cluttering in TreeNet graphs. Our case study also shows that TreeNetViz has the potential to support the analysis of a compound graph by revealing multiscale and cross-scale network patterns.     

融合社交网络用户自身属性的信息传播数学建模与舆情演化分析

针对传统的社交网络信息传播模型极少将用户属性和信息特征这两个因素纳入到信息传播模型研究中的不足,该文提出了一种基于用户自身属性的信息传播模型。首先该文抽取用户影响力、用户态度、用户年龄、信息能量、信息价值等特征并构建交互规则;其次,根据这些特征建立信息传播的数学模型,模拟社交网络舆情演化过程;最后,为验证模型的有效性,开展了与真实事件的实证分析对比实验。实验结果表明: 仿真结构与真实数据的相似度大于0.97,因而该模型符合社交网络舆情信息传播的特性,能够较为准确地描述社交网络中的舆情传播过程。     

融合注意力LSTM的神经张量分解推荐模型

针对结合深度学习模型的协同过滤算法未考虑关联数据的多维交互随时间动态变化的问题,该文提出一种融合时间交互学习和注意力长短期记忆网络的张量分解推荐模型(LA-NTF)。通过采用基于注意力机制的长短期记忆网络从项目文本信息中提取项目的潜在向量,然后使用融合注意力机制的长短期记忆网络来表征用户—项目关系数据在时间上的多维交互,最后将用户—项目—时间三维张量嵌入多层感知器中,学习不同潜在因子之间的非线性结构特征,从而预测用户对项目的评分。在两个真实数据集上的大量实验表明,与其他传统方法和基于神经网络的矩阵分解模型相比,方根误差(RMSE)和平均绝对误差(MAE)指标均有明显提升,说明LA-NTF模型可显著改善各种动态关系数据的评级预测任务。     

Visual reasoning about social networks using centrality sensitivity

In this paper, we study the sensitivity of centrality metrics as a key metric of social networks to support visual reasoning. As centrality represents the prestige or importance of a node in a network, its sensitivity represents the importance of the relationship between this and all other nodes in the network. We have derived an analytical solution that extracts the sensitivity as the derivative of centrality with respect to degree for two centrality metrics based on feedback and random walks. We show that these sensitivities are good indicators of the distribution of centrality in the network, and how changes are expected to be propagated if we introduce changes to the network. These metrics also help us simplify a complex network in a way that retains the main structural properties and that results in trustworthy, readable diagrams. Sensitivity is also a key concept for uncertainty analysis of social networks, and we show how our approach may help analysts gain insight on the robustness of key network metrics. Through a number of examples, we illustrate the need for measuring sensitivity, and the impact it has on the visualization of and interaction with social and other scale-free networks.     

基于桥梁用户的多社交网络影响最大化

单社交网络影响最大化问题已经得到了学术界的广泛关注与研究,然而如今多社交网络之间呈现信息互通的趋势.多社交网络中存在的桥梁用户（Bridge User,BU）（即同时拥有多个社交网络账户的用户）,可将信息从一个社交网络分享至另外一个社交网络,信息传播不再局限于单个网络.本文针对多社交网络信息影响最大化进行了相关研究,分析了桥梁用户在多社交网络信息传播中的作用,提出了基于桥梁用户的多社交网络聚合算法,并在得到的聚合图上对多社交网络影响最大化问题进行求解.仿真实验对多社交网络影响最大化问题进行了求解,并证实了桥梁用户在多社交网络信息传播时的作用.     

融合超图注意力机制与图卷积网络的信息扩散预测

针对传统的信息预测缺乏对用户全局性依赖挖掘进行研究,提出了一种融合超图注意力机制与图卷积网络的信息扩散预测模型(HGACN)。首先构建用户社交关系子图,采样获得子级联序列,输入图卷积神经网络学习用户社交关系结构特征;其次,综合考虑用户间和级联间的全局依赖,采用超图注意机制(HGAT)学习用户不同时间间隔的交互特征;最后,将学习到的用户表示捕获到嵌入模块,利用门控机制将其融合获得更具表现力的用户表示,利用带掩码的多头注意力机制进行信息预测。在Twitter等五个数据集上的实验结果表明,提出的HGACN模型在hits@N提高了4.4%,map@N提高了2.2%,都显著优于已有的MS-HGAT等扩散预测模型,证明HGACN模型是合理、有效的。这对谣言监测以及恶意账户的检测有非常重大的意义。     

Absorptive and disseminative capacity: Knowledge transfer in intra-organization networks

Firms need to develop knowledge to gain competitive advantage. However, merely possession of knowledge does not guarantee an edge in competition. In this paper, we operationalize the concept of disseminative capacity, analyze differences in disseminative capacity of network members and simulate dynamic behavioral patterns of intra-organization networks in knowledge transfer process. Theoretical analysis and simulation results convince us that absorptive capacity and disseminative capacity either interactively or separately determine how knowledge flows or is transferred effectively and efficiently between members of intra-organization networks. Results showed that knowledge equilibrium of networks over time depends on the size of network, knowledge transfer speed, and disseminative capabilities and absorptive capabilities of the individuals in the network. Moreover, the results showed that the more powerful is a dominant knowledge holder in the network, the quicker the network will converge to a specified knowledge state.     

Urban area characterization based on crowd behavioral lifelogs over Twitter

Recent location-based social networking sites are attractively providing us with a novel capability of monitoring massive crowd lifelogs in the real-world space. In particular, they make it easier to collect publicly shared crowd lifelogs in a large scale of geographic area reflecting the crowd’s daily lives and even more characterizing urban space through what they have in minds and how they behave in the space. In this paper, we challenge to analyze urban characteristics in terms of crowd behavior by utilizing crowd lifelogs in urban area over the social networking sites. In order to collect crowd behavioral data, we exploit the most famous microblogging site, Twitter, where a great deal of geo-tagged micro lifelogs emitted by massive crowds can be easily acquired. We first present a model to deal with crowds’ behavioral logs on the social network sites as a representing feature of urban space’s characteristics, which will be used to conduct crowd-based urban characterization. Based on this crowd behavioral feature, we will extract significant crowd behavioral patterns in a period of time. In the experiment, we conducted the urban characterization by extracting the crowd behavioral patterns and examined the relation between the regions of common crowd activity patterns and the major categories of local facilities.