Assessing the Exceptionality of Coloured Motifs in Networks
2009

Assessing the Exceptionality of Coloured Motifs in Networks

Sample size: 10000 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Schbath Sophie, Lacroix Vincent, Sagot Marie-France

Primary Institution: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)

Hypothesis

Can we assess the exceptionality of coloured motifs in networks without simulations?

Conclusion

The study provides a new analytical method to assess the exceptionality of coloured motifs in networks, eliminating the need for simulations.

Supporting Evidence

  • The study introduces a new method for assessing motif exceptionality without simulations.
  • Analytical formulae for mean and variance of motif counts were established.
  • The Pólya-Aeppli distribution was found to better approximate motif count distributions than Gaussian or Poisson distributions.

Takeaway

This study helps scientists understand how to find important patterns in biological networks without running lots of computer simulations.

Methodology

The authors established analytical formulae for the mean and variance of coloured motif counts in Erdös-Rényi random graphs and compared distributions using simulations.

Limitations

The study does not address long motifs and relies on a simple random graph model, which may not fully represent biological networks.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1687-4153-2009-616234

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