COSINT ANALYSIS - A PROCEDURE FOR ESTIMATING BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS AS INTEGRAL-FUNCTIONS BY MEASURING THE AREA UNDER THEIR BEST-FITTING WAVE-FORM PROFILE

Presently, the chronobiometric procedures are eminently descriptive estimating the biological rhythms in their parameters without computing the integral measure of their periodic oscillation. The evaluation of the rhythm as a global function is fundamental in biomedical science as its integral estimate allows the correlation with biological events whose expression depends on the effects of time. In order to provide an integration method for biological rhythms, it has been developed a periodic integration analysis, called Cosint method. Its mathematical basis is explained. The integral estimate is represented by the parameter AESOR, acronym of Area Estimating Statistic Of Rhythm, which corresponds to the area under the curve provided by the analytical fits of a cosine function to the time data series. The AESOR can be computed on the waveform profiles resulting from the fit of mono- or multiple-component models of harmonic analysis. The AESOR may estimate the biological rhythms in their entire period (TOTAL AESOR), or in a limited fraction of their periodic pattern (PARTIAL AESOR). Examples are provided far demonstrating that the AESOR is a parameter more suitable than the discrete measure of the area under the curve (AUC). Its concrete estimate is given for several biological rhythms.