title: System times and time horizons for biospheric near-matches of primarily non-photic environmental cycles.
abstract: System time is defined as the duration (T) and sampling density (deltat) of a given study. A time horizon is obtained by combining analytical results on endpoints of time structures (chronomes), usually on control groups, from accumulating diverse studies carried out with drastically different values of T and deltat. These two design considerations depend upon and are limited by resources. The desideratum of a small At e.g., for studies of chaotic endpoints, limits T, e.g., has thus far precluded a continuous mapping of decadal cycles in endpoints such as the approximate entropy or the correlation dimension. Time horizons are being documented for an increasing number of variables that undergo cycles with infra-annual frequencies - with one cycle in about one, two and/or five decades - in the biosphere as in the environment. These infra-annuals, in and around us, modulate ultra-annuals, including circadians, as well as about 7-day (circaseptan) and about half-yearly (circasemiannual) cycles, all prominent, e.g., in geophysical and biospheric specta. Neglect of infra-annual chronomics can lead to blunders. A statistically highly significant decrease in the excretion of steroidal metabolites (or in heart rate variability) may be misinterpreted as premature aging if it lasts for several years, and may be unnecessarily acted upon, e.g., by drugs. The decrease, however, may only be transient, occurring only during a given stage of a circadecadal cycle, and it may be followed for the next several years by an also spurious "rejuvenation", possibly misinterpreted as a drug effect. When recognized as the alternating stages of decadal cycles and assessed with an affordable deltat, infra-annuals of variables involved in major problems of our day, including homicides and wars, may lead us to manipulable internal or external mechanisms, and thus, eventually, possibly to countermeasures to crime and terror as well as to the optimization of aims such as spirituality.
authors.affiliation: University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. halbe001@tc.umn.edu
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Halberg
authors.forename: Germaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cornélissen
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Katinas
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Appenzeller
authors.forename: Kuniaki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Sothern
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tarquini
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perfetto
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maggioni
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Wilfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: Othild
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schwartzkopff
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: Zhengrong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burioka
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Earl
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bakken
mesh_terms: D002940:Circadian Rhythm / Q000502:physiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018534:Earth, Planet; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D010507:Periodicity; D019445:Solar Activity; D013598:Systems Theory; D013997:Time Factors; D014857:Warfare