Amplitude chimeras and bump states with and without frequency entanglement: a toy model

When chaotic oscillators are coupled in complex networks a number of interesting synchronization phenomena emerge. Notable examples are the frequency and amplitude chimeras, chimera death states, solitary states as well as combinations of these. In a previous study [Journal of Physics: Complexity, 2020, 1(2), 025006], a toy model was introduced addressing possible mechanisms behind the formation of frequency chimera states. In the present study a variation of the toy model is proposed to address the formation of amplitude chimeras. The proposed oscillatory model is now equipped with an additional 3rd order equation modulating the amplitude of the network oscillators. This way, the single oscillators are constructed as bistable in amplitude and depending on the initial conditions their amplitude may result in one of the two stable fixed points. Numerical simulations demonstrate that when these oscillators are nonlocally coupled in networks, they organize in domains with alternating amplitudes (related to the two fixed points), naturally forming amplitude chimeras. A second extension of this model incorporates nonlinear terms merging amplitude together with frequency, and this extension allows for the spontaneous production of composite amplitude-and-frequency chimeras occurring simultaneously in the network. Moreover the extended model allows to understand the emergence of bump states via the continuous passage from chimera states, when both fixed point amplitudes are positive, to bump states when one of the two fixed points vanishes. The proposed mechanisms of creating domains with variable amplitudes and/or frequencies provide a generic scenario for understanding the formation of the complex synchronization phenomena observed in networks of coupled nonlinear and chaotic oscillators.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures: Fig.1 (4 panels); Fig.2 (3 panels); Fig.3 (3 panels); Fig.4 (3 panels); Fig.5 (3 panels); Fig.6 (1 panel); Fig.7 (2 panels); Fig.8 (3 panels); Fig.9 (3 panels); Fig.10 (1 panel); Fig.11 (3 panels); Fig.12 (3 panels

Fractal and multifractal analysis of PET-CT images of metastatic melanoma before and after treatment with ipilimumab

PET/CT with F-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) images of patients suffering from metastatic melanoma have been analysed using fractal and multifractal analysis to assess the impact of monoclonal antibody ipilimumab treatment with respect to therapy outcome. Our analysis shows that the fractal dimensions which describe the tracer dispersion in the body decrease consistently with the deterioration of the patient therapeutic outcome condition. In 20 out-of 24 cases the fractal analysis results match those of the medical records, while 7 cases are considered as special cases because the patients have non-tumour related medical conditions or side effects which affect the results. The decrease in the fractal dimensions with the deterioration of the patient conditions (in terms of disease progression) are attributed to the hierarchical localisation of the tracer which accumulates in the affected lesions and does not spread homogeneously throughout the body. Fractality emerges as a result of the migration patterns which the malignant cells follow for propagating within the body (circulatory system, lymphatic system). Analysis of the multifractal spectrum complements and supports the results of the fractal analysis. In the kinetic Monte Carlo modelling of the metastatic process a small number of malignant cells diffuse throughout a fractal medium representing the blood circulatory network. Along their way the malignant cells engender random metastases (colonies) with a small probability and, as a result, fractal spatial distributions of the metastases are formed similar to the ones observed in the PET/CT images. In conclusion, we propose that fractal and multifractal analysis has potential application in the quantification of the evaluation of PET/CT images to monitor the disease evolution as well as the response to different medical treatments.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figure

Coupled Intermittent Maps Modelling the Statistics of Genomic Sequences: A Network Approach

The dynamics of coupled intermittent maps is used to model the correlated structure of genomic sequences. The use of intermittent maps, as opposed to other simple chaotic maps, is particularly suited for the production of long range correlation features which are observed in the genomic sequences of higher eucaryotes. A weighted network approach to symbolic sequences is introduced and it is shown that coupled intermittent polynomial maps produce degree and link size distributions with power law exponents similar to the ones observed in real genomes. The proposed network approach to symbolic sequences is generic and can be applied to any symbol sequence (artificial or natural)

Ecological Complex Systems

Main aim of this topical issue is to report recent advances in noisy nonequilibrium processes useful to describe the dynamics of ecological systems and to address the mechanisms of spatio-temporal pattern formation in ecology both from the experimental and theoretical points of view. This is in order to understand the dynamical behaviour of ecological complex systems through the interplay between nonlinearity, noise, random and periodic environmental interactions. Discovering the microscopic rules and the local interactions which lead to the emergence of specific global patterns or global dynamical behaviour and the noises role in the nonlinear dynamics is an important, key aspect to understand and then to model ecological complex systems.Comment: 13 pages, Editorial of a topical issue on Ecological Complex System to appear in EPJ B, Vol. 65 (2008