5,272 research outputs found
Complex Networks Unveiling Spatial Patterns in Turbulence
Numerical and experimental turbulence simulations are nowadays reaching the
size of the so-called big data, thus requiring refined investigative tools for
appropriate statistical analyses and data mining. We present a new approach
based on the complex network theory, offering a powerful framework to explore
complex systems with a huge number of interacting elements. Although interest
on complex networks has been increasing in the last years, few recent studies
have been applied to turbulence. We propose an investigation starting from a
two-point correlation for the kinetic energy of a forced isotropic field
numerically solved. Among all the metrics analyzed, the degree centrality is
the most significant, suggesting the formation of spatial patterns which
coherently move with similar vorticity over the large eddy turnover time scale.
Pattern size can be quantified through a newly-introduced parameter (i.e.,
average physical distance) and varies from small to intermediate scales. The
network analysis allows a systematic identification of different spatial
regions, providing new insights into the spatial characterization of turbulent
flows. Based on present findings, the application to highly inhomogeneous flows
seems promising and deserves additional future investigation.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 3 table
Distributions of Human Exposure to Ozone During Commuting Hours in Connecticut using the Cellular Device Network
Epidemiologic studies have established associations between various air
pollutants and adverse health outcomes for adults and children. Due to high
costs of monitoring air pollutant concentrations for subjects enrolled in a
study, statisticians predict exposure concentrations from spatial models that
are developed using concentrations monitored at a few sites. In the absence of
detailed information on when and where subjects move during the study window,
researchers typically assume that the subjects spend their entire day at home,
school or work. This assumption can potentially lead to large exposure
assignment bias. In this study, we aim to determine the distribution of the
exposure assignment bias for an air pollutant (ozone) when subjects are assumed
to be static as compared to accounting for individual mobility. To achieve this
goal, we use cell-phone mobility data on approximately 400,000 users in the
state of Connecticut during a week in July, 2016, in conjunction with an ozone
pollution model, and compare individual ozone exposure assuming static versus
mobile scenarios. Our results show that exposure models not taking mobility
into account often provide poor estimates of individuals commuting into and out
of urban areas: the average 8-hour maximum difference between these estimates
can exceed 80 parts per billion (ppb). However, for most of the population, the
difference in exposure assignment between the two models is small, thereby
validating many current epidemiologic studies focusing on exposure to ozone
Unified functional network and nonlinear time series analysis for complex systems science: The pyunicorn package
We introduce the \texttt{pyunicorn} (Pythonic unified complex network and
recurrence analysis toolbox) open source software package for applying and
combining modern methods of data analysis and modeling from complex network
theory and nonlinear time series analysis. \texttt{pyunicorn} is a fully
object-oriented and easily parallelizable package written in the language
Python. It allows for the construction of functional networks such as climate
networks in climatology or functional brain networks in neuroscience
representing the structure of statistical interrelationships in large data sets
of time series and, subsequently, investigating this structure using advanced
methods of complex network theory such as measures and models for spatial
networks, networks of interacting networks, node-weighted statistics or network
surrogates. Additionally, \texttt{pyunicorn} provides insights into the
nonlinear dynamics of complex systems as recorded in uni- and multivariate time
series from a non-traditional perspective by means of recurrence quantification
analysis (RQA), recurrence networks, visibility graphs and construction of
surrogate time series. The range of possible applications of the library is
outlined, drawing on several examples mainly from the field of climatology.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figure
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