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Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Order patterns networks (orpan) - A method to estimate time-evolving functional connectivity from multivariate time series
    (Lausanne : Frontiers Research Foundation, 2012) Schinkel, S.; Zamora-López, G.; Dimigen, O.; Sommer, W.; Kurths, J.
    Complex networks provide an excellent framework for studying the function of the human brain activity. Yet estimating functional networks from measured signals is not trivial, especially if the data is non-stationary and noisy as it is often the case with physiological recordings. In this article we propose a method that uses the local rank structure of the data to define functional links in terms of identical rank structures. The method yields temporal sequences of networks which permits to trace the evolution of the functional connectivity during the time course of the observation. We demonstrate the potentials of this approach with model data as well as with experimental data from an electrophysiological study on language processing.
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    Abrupt transitions in time series with uncertainties
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2018) Goswami, B.; Boers, N.; Rheinwalt, A.; Marwan, N.; Heitzig, J.; Breitenbach, S.F.M.; Kurths, J.
    Identifying abrupt transitions is a key question in various disciplines. Existing transition detection methods, however, do not rigorously account for time series uncertainties, often neglecting them altogether or assuming them to be independent and qualitatively similar. Here, we introduce a novel approach suited to handle uncertainties by representing the time series as a time-ordered sequence of probability density functions. We show how to detect abrupt transitions in such a sequence using the community structure of networks representing probabilities of recurrence. Using our approach, we detect transitions in global stock indices related to well-known periods of politico-economic volatility. We further uncover transitions in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation which coincide with periods of phase locking with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Finally, we provide for the first time an 'uncertainty-aware' framework which validates the hypothesis that ice-rafting events in the North Atlantic during the Holocene were synchronous with a weakened Asian summer monsoon.
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    Sleep apnea-hypopnea quantification by cardiovascular data analysis
    (San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2014) Camargo, S.; Riedl, M.; Anteneodo, C.; Kurths, J.; Penzel, T.; Wessel, N.
    Sleep disorders are a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Sleep apnea is the most common sleep disturbance and its detection relies on a polysomnography, i.e., a combination of several medical examinations performed during a monitored sleep night. In order to detect occurrences of sleep apnea without the need of combined recordings, we focus our efforts on extracting a quantifier related to the events of sleep apnea from a cardiovascular time series, namely systolic blood pressure (SBP). Physiologic time series are generally highly nonstationary and entrap the application of conventional tools that require a stationary condition. In our study, data nonstationarities are uncovered by a segmentation procedure which splits the signal into stationary patches, providing local quantities such as mean and variance of the SBP signal in each stationary patch, as well as its duration L. We analysed the data of 26 apneic diagnosed individuals, divided into hypertensive and normotensive groups, and compared the results with those of a control group. From the segmentation procedure, we identified that the average duration 〈L〉, as well as the average variance 〈σ2〉, are correlated to the apnea-hypoapnea index (AHI), previously obtained by polysomnographic exams. Moreover, our results unveil an oscillatory pattern in apneic subjects, whose amplitude S∗ is also correlated with AHI. All these quantities allow to separate apneic individuals, with an accuracy of at least 79%. Therefore, they provide alternative criteria to detect sleep apnea based on a single time series, the systolic blood pressure.