1,720,981 research outputs found
Testing different methodologies for Granger causality estimation: A simulation study
No full textGranger causality (GC) is a method for determining whether and how two time series exert causal influences one over the other. As it is easy to implement through vector autoregressive (VAR) models and can be generalized to the multivariate case, GC has spread in many different areas of research such as neuroscience and network physiology. In its basic formulation, the computation of GC involves two different regressions, taking respectively into account the whole past history of the investigated multivariate time series (full model) and the past of all time series except the putatively causal time series (restricted model). However, the restricted model cannot be represented through a finite order VAR process and, when few data samples are available or the number of time series is very high, the estimation of GC exhibits a strong reduction in accuracy. To mitigate these problems, improved estimation strategies have been recently implemented, including state space (SS) models and partial conditioning (PC) approaches. In this work, we propose a new method to compute GC which combines SS and PC and tests it together with other four commonly used estimation approaches. In simulated networks of linearly interacting time series, we show the possibility to reconstruct the network structure even in challenging conditions of data samples available
Assessment of Cardiorespiratory Interactions During Spontaneous and Controlled Breathing: Linear Parametric Analysis
Full text linkIn this work, we perform a linear parametric analysis of cardiorespiratory interactions in bivariate time series of heart period (HP) and respiration (RESP) measured in 19 healthy subjects during spontaneous breathing and controlled breathing at varying breathing frequency. The analysis is carried out computing measures of the total and causal interaction between HP and RESP variability in both time and frequency domains (low- and high-frequency, LF and HF). Results highlight strong cardiorespiratory interactions in the time domain and within the HF band that are not affected by the paced breathing condition. Interactions in the LF band are weaker and prevalent along the direction from HP to RESP, but result more influenced by the shift from spontaneous to controlled respiration
Local Granger causality
Full text linkGranger causality (GC) is a statistical notion of causal influence based on prediction via linear vector autoregression. For Gaussian variables it is equivalent to transfer entropy, an information-theoretic measure of time-directed information transfer between jointly dependent processes. We exploit such equivalence and calculate exactly the local Granger causality, i.e., the profile of the information transferred from the driver to the target process at each discrete time point; in this frame, GC is the average of its local version. We show that the variability of the local GC around its mean relates to the interplay between driver and innovation (autoregressive noise) processes, and it may reveal transient instances of information transfer not detectable from its average values. Our approach offers a robust and computationally fast method to follow the information transfer along the time history of linear stochastic processes, as well as of nonlinear complex systems studied in the Gaussian approximation
Estimation of brain connectivity through Artificial Neural Networks
No full textAmong different methods available for estimating brain connectivity from electroencephalographic signals (EEG), those based on MVAR models have proved to be flexible and accurate. They rely on the solution of linear equations that can be pursued through artificial neural networks (ANNs) used as MVAR model. However, when few data samples are available, there is a lack of accuracy in estimating MVAR parameters due to the collinearity between regressors. Moreover, the assessment procedure is also affected by the lack of data points. The mathematical solution to these problems is represented by penalized regression methods based on l1 norm, that can reduce collinearity by means of variable selection process. However, the direct application of l1 norm during the training of an ANN does not result in an efficient learning process. With the introduction of the stochastic gradient descent-L1 (SGD-L1) it is possible to apply l1 norm directly on the estimated weights in an efficient way. Even if ANNs has been used as MVAR model for brain connectivity estimation, the use of SGD-L1 algorithm has never been tested to this purpose when few data samples are available. In this work, we tested an approach based on ANNs and SGD-L1 on both surrogate and real EEG data. Our results show that ANNs can provide accurate brain connectivity estimation if trained with SGD-L1 algorithm even when few data samples are available
Frequency Domain Information Decomposition: Application to Plateau Waves of Intracranial Pressure
No full textThe sustainment and/or resurgence of Plateau Waves (PWs) reveals a borderline cerebral situation of the pressure-volume relationship and is related to increased mortality. The intense systemic stress caused by PWs can be evidenced by the study of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which is an indicator of the activity of the autonomic nervous system, namely the sympathetic and parasympathetic imbalance. In this work, heart and brain crosstalk interactions will be analyzed using a spectral decomposition of multivariate information measures, which provides frequency-specific quantification of the information shared between a target and two source time series. The spectral measures of information herein analyzed, integrated within specific frequency bands of physiological interest reflect the mechanisms of the cardiovascular/cerebrovascular regulation on this episodes of pathological stress
Single-trial Connectivity Estimation through the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator
No full textMethods based on the use of multivariate autoregressive models (MVAR) have proved to be an accurate tool for the estimation of functional links between the activity originated in different brain regions. A well-established method for the parameters estimation is the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) approach, followed by an assessment procedure that can be performed by means of Asymptotic Statistic (AS). However, the performances of both procedures are strongly influenced by the number of data samples available, thus limiting the conditions in which brain connectivity can be estimated. The aim of this paper is to introduce and test a regression method based on Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) to broaden the estimation of brain connectivity to those conditions in which current methods fail due to the limited data points available. We tested the performances of the LASSO regression in a simulation study under different levels of data points available, in comparison with a classical approach based on OLS and AS. Then, the two methods were applied to real electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, recorded during a motor imagery task. The simulation study and the application to real EEG data both indicated that LASSO regression provides better performances than the currently used methodologies for the estimation of brain connectivity when few data points are available. This work paves the way to the estimation and assessment of connectivity patterns with limited data amount and in on-line settings
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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