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Analysis of institutional authors

Mateos Caballero, AlfonsoCorresponding AuthorJimenez-Martin, AntonioAuthor

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December 10, 2025
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Age-dependent patterns of cardiac complexity unveiled by topological data analysis of pediatric heart rate variability

Publicated to: PLOS ONE. 20 (12): e0337620- - 2025-12-02 20(12), DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0337620

Authors:

Dominguez-Monterroza, Andy; Mateos Caballero, Alfonso; Jimenez-Martin, Antonio
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Affiliations

Univ Politecn Madrid, Dept Artificial Intelligence, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a well-established marker of autonomic regulation and undergoes profound maturation during early human development. In this study, topological data analysis (TDA) is applied to investigate the evolving geometric complexity of HRV across pediatric developmental stages. Using persistent homology in homological dimension 1, we extracted topological descriptors from time-delay embedded RR interval series of 127 individuals aged 1 month to 17 years. We identified statistically significant, age-dependent transformations in the topological structure of HRV signals. Neonates and infants exhibited a greater number and strength of persistent features, reflecting highly heterogeneous cardiac control dynamics during early autonomic maturation. In contrast, adolescents displayed reduced topological complexity and increased entropy, suggesting a shift toward more uniform and structured physiological control. Topological measures correlated with conventional HRV indices, confirming their physiological relevance. Furthermore, pairwise distances between persistence landscapes revealed an inverse relationship between intra-group topological variability and classical HRV measures. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that persistent homology provides a powerful, multiscale-aware framework to capture developmental trajectories in cardiac autonomic regulation, with potential applications in pediatric monitoring, developmental physiology, and early detection of dysautonomia.
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Keywords

AdolescentAge factorsAutonomic nervous systemChildChild, preschoolData analysisElectrocardiographyFemaleHeartHeart rateHumansInfantInfant, newbornMale

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal PLOS ONE due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-25:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 1.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 1 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/92511/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 48
  • Downloads: 25
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Dominguez-Monterroza, Andy) and Last Author (JIMENEZ MARTIN, ANTONIO).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been MATEOS CABALLERO, ALFONSO.

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Project objectives

Esta aportación persigue los siguientes objetivos: analizar la complejidad geométrica de la variabilidad de la frecuencia cardíaca (HRV) en etapas pediátricas mediante análisis topológico de datos (TDA); extraer descriptores topológicos utilizando homología persistente en series temporales de intervalos RR de 127 individuos de 1 mes a 17 años; identificar transformaciones dependientes de la edad en la estructura topológica de las señales de HRV; caracterizar las diferencias en la complejidad cardíaca entre neonatos, infantes y adolescentes; correlacionar las medidas topológicas con índices convencionales de HRV para validar su relevancia fisiológica; y evaluar la variabilidad intra-grupo mediante distancias entre paisajes persistentes para comprender la maduración del control autonómico cardíaco.
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Most relevant results

El estudio aplicó análisis topológico de datos para caracterizar la complejidad cardíaca en 127 individuos pediátricos de 1 mes a 17 años. Se identificaron transformaciones significativas dependientes de la edad en la estructura topológica de la variabilidad del ritmo cardíaco (HRV). Neonatos e infantes mostraron un mayor número y fuerza de características persistentes, indicando una dinámica cardíaca heterogénea durante la maduración autonómica temprana. En adolescentes, se observó una reducción de la complejidad topológica y un aumento de la entropía, reflejando un control fisiológico más uniforme. Las medidas topológicas correlacionaron con índices convencionales de HRV, validando su relevancia fisiológica. Además, se evidenció una relación inversa entre la variabilidad topológica intra-grupo y los indicadores clásicos de HRV.
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Awards linked to the item

This paper was supported by the grants PID2021-122209OB-C31, RED2022-134540-T and PID2024-155179NB-C22 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033.
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