bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Well-Being Coaching Inventory (WCI): Questionnaire Development and Validation
Authors: Harenberg Sebastian , Sforzo Gary , Hunter Rosie , Jackson Erika , Moore Margaret 
Published: February 2025

Objective The aim of the present study was to psychometrically test and validate the Well-being Coaching Inventory (WCI), a proposed measure of interconnected, whole-person well-being in the context of health and wellness coaching (HWC). Methods Initially 49 items, the WCI was conceived with 4 dimensions: Mind, Body, Work, and Life. The inventory was evaluated in 3 sequential studies to test: (a) face validity, (b) convergent validity, and (c) predictive validity. Expert judgment, correlational analyses, and factor analyses were techniques applied to collected WCI data. Results After statistical evaluation (n = 261) of fit to each dimension, the WCI was shortened to 20 items that demonstrated convergent validity. Further use of confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory structural equation model in a large sample study (n = 531) provided additional support for the inventory’s convergent validity. Through correlation analyses to theoretically related concepts predictive validity was established. Conclusions The WCI is a valid, applicable, and reliable scale for use in HWC research and practice. It is an instrument that will aid HWC practitioners and researchers as a central outcome measure for their practice.
End-of-life care for patients with pancreatic cancer in France: a nationwide population-based cohort study
Authors: Marchese Ugo , Pauly Vanessa , Pellat Anna , Richa Yasmina , Fond Guillaume , Tzedakis Stylianos , Gaillard Martin , Fuchs Basile , Orleans Veronica , Fuks David , El Amrani Mehdi , Boyer Laurent 
Published: February 2025

Background: Pancreatic cancer, a frequently fatal disease with severe symptoms, can require high-intensity end-of-life (HI-EOL) care, posing challenges to patients’ well-being. The examination of HI-EOL care to develop tailored interventions in the management of pancreatic cancer is a critical, yet underexplored area. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the factors that influence the intensity of end-of-life (EOL) care in France. Design: A retrospective study of patients registered in the French Nationwide database who were hospitalized in France for pancreatic adenocarcinoma from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019, and subsequently died during the follow-up period. Methods: Data on patient demographics, clinical characteristics, hospitalization details, and palliative care were collected. The primary outcome measure was the evaluation of HI-EOL care, defined by indicators such as death in an intensive care unit (ICU), multiple hospitalizations, and chemotherapy administration within the last 30 days of life. Secondary outcomes included indicators of most-intensive EOL (MI-EOL) care and invasive procedures (IP). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with each outcome measure. Results: A total of 42,696 patients who died from pancreatic adenocarcinoma were included. Among them, 41.1% experienced HI-EOL, with the most common indicators being multiple hospitalizations and death in an ICU, emergency room, or acute care unit. A smaller proportion (2.8%) received MI-EOL care, while 28.1% underwent IPs in the last 30 days of life. The multivariate analysis revealed that male gender and follow-up in non-cancer specialized care facilities were associated with a higher risk of HI-EOL. Conversely, palliative care involvement and older age at death were identified as protective factors. Male gender, older age at death, and palliative care involvement were associated with lower rates of MI-EOL care and IPs. Conclusion: These results underscore the importance of palliative care integration and individualized approaches in improving the EOL quality of care and patient outcomes for individuals with advanced pancreatic cancer.
Effect of Pulsed Laser Welding Process on Microstructure, Crystallization, and Mechanical Properties of Zr57Nb5Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10 Bulk Metallic Glass
Authors: Wang Chengyong , Yan Yufu , Ding Feng , Tang Zimin , Chen Weizhuan , Zhu Xuguang 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
Avoiding crystallization while maintaining the original microstructure and mechanical properties of the material are long-term goals of laser welding of Zr-based bulk metallic glass (BMG). In this paper, the effect of pulsed laser welding parameters on the microstructure, crystallization degree, and mechanical properties of Zr57Nb5Cu15.4Ni12.6Al10 BMG is investigated. Non-crystallized welding forming of a zirconium-based amorphous alloy is achieved by optimizing the process parameters of pulsed laser welding. The crystallization degree of Zr-based BMG is mainly determined by the welding speed and power. The welding depth and crystallization area fraction increase with an increase in the effective peak power density. The optimized welding process can effectively reduce the heat accumulation of the weld, thus avoiding crystallization. The flexural strength of the weld can be maintained at 96.5% of the matrix.
(DA-U)2Net: double attention U2Net for retinal vessel segmentation
Authors: Chu Bing , Zhao Jinsong , Zheng Wenqiang , Xu Zhengyuan 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Morphological changes in the retina are crucial and serve as valuable references in the clinical diagnosis of ophthalmic and cardiovascular diseases. However, the retinal vascular structure is complex, making manual segmentation time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Methods
This paper proposes a retinal segmentation network that integrates feature channel attention and the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) attention within the U
2
Net model. First, a feature channel attention module is introduced into the RSU (Residual Spatial Unit) block of U
2
Net, forming an Attention-RSU block, which focuses more on significant areas during feature extraction and suppresses the influence of noise; Second, a Spatial Attention Module (SAM) is introduced into the high-resolution module of Attention-RSU to enrich feature extraction from both spatial and channel dimensions, and a Channel Attention Module (CAM) is integrated into the lowresolution module of Attention-RSU, which uses dual channel attention to reduce detail loss.Finally, dilated convolution is applied during the upscaling and downscaling processes to expand the receptive field in low-resolution states, allowing the model to better integrate contextual information.

Results
The evaluation across multiple clinical datasets demonstrated excellent performance on various metrics, with an accuracy (ACC) of 98.71%.

Conclusion
The proposed Network is general enough and we believe it can be easily extended to other medical image segmentation tasks where large scale variation and complicated features are the main challenges.
Surgical vs. non-surgical management of cervical spine fractures associated with ankylosing spinal disorders: a matched retrospective comparison assessing mortality
Authors: Åkerstedt Josefin , Buwaider Ali , El-Hajj Victor Gabriel , Wänman Johan , Frisk Henrik , Blixt Simon , MacDowall Anna , Edström Erik , Elmi-Terander Adrian , Charalampidis Anastasios 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Ankylosing spinal disorders (ASD) increase the risk of unstable cervical spine fractures, posing a significant mortality risk. Surgery is recommended for patients with neurological deficits, but the effectiveness of non-surgical treatment in those without deficits remains unclear. This study aimed to compare survival rates between surgical and non-surgical treatments of ASD-related cervical fractures in a matched cohort.

Methods
The study analyzed data from the Swedish Fracture Registry (SFR) on adult patients treated for ASD-related cervical spine fractures between January 2015 and December 2021. Preoperative variables included age, sex, trauma type, neurological function, fracture morphology, and treatment method. Propensity score matching was conducted to compare outcomes between treatment groups, ensuring balanced comparison groups regarding age, sex, type of trauma, time from injury to admission, fracture type, level of injury, and neurological function.

Results
In total, 357 adult patients with ASD-related cervical spine fractures were analyzed. Among them, 186 were treated surgically and 171 non-surgically. Treatment failure and conversion so surgical treatment was seen in 3.4% of the non-surgically treated patients. Most patients were male (80%), with a median age of 75 years. Fractures were mainly caused by low-energy trauma (69%). Most patients (92%) were ambulatory (Frankel grade D or E). In the unmatched analysis, surgically treated patients had significantly lower 1-year mortality rates (13% vs. 22%; p < 0.001), but after matching, there were no longer any difference between the two groups (16% vs. 22%; p = 0.44). These findings were also validated on Kaplan–Meier analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified high age as the only predictor for 30-day mortality (OR 1.14 [95% CI 1.09—1.22], p < 0.001).

Conclusion
Following propensity score matching, surgical and conservative management result in similar mortality outcomes for neurologically intact patients with ASD fractures. Age, rather than treatment approach, emerged as a stronger predictor of overall mortality. Nonetheless, treatment decisions should also consider other clinical outcomes beyond mortality, emphasizing the need for an individualized approach until more robust evidence is available.
Association of glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists with cardiovascular and kidney outcomes in type 2 diabetic kidney transplant recipients
Authors: Lin Li-Chun , Chen Jui-Yi , Huang Thomas Tao-Min , Wu Vin-Cent 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of post-transplant mortality in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), especially those with diabetes. Although glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have demonstrated cardiovascular and kidney benefits in the general population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), evidence regarding their effects in diabetic KTRs is limited.

Methods
This retrospective cohort study utilized data from the Global Collaborative Network in TriNetX, spanning January 1, 2006, to June 1, 2023. Propensity score matching (PSM) with 1:1 ratio was employed to create balanced cohorts. Adult KTRs with T2DM who received GLP-1 RAs within 3 months post-transplant were compared to a matched cohort of KTRs who did not. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality, with secondary outcomes including major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) and major adverse kidney events (MAKEs).

Results
A total of 35,488 adult KTRs with T2DM (mean [SD] age, 57.7 [12.2] years; 57.7% men) were identified and 9.8% patients used GLP-1 RAs among 3 months post-transplant. Following PSM, 3564 GLP-1 RAs users were matched with an equal number of nonusers. After a median follow-up of 2.5 years, GLP-1 RAs users had lower risks of mortality (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 0.39; 95% CI 0.31–0.50), MACEs (aHR 0.66; 95% CI 0.56–0.79), and MAKEs (aHR 0.66; 95% CI 0.58–0.75). Adverse effects included higher risks of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, while risks of suicide, hypoglycemia, retinopathy, and pancreatitis were not increased.

Conclusions
In KTRs with T2DM, GLP-1 RAs use was associated with substantial reductions in all-cause mortality, MAKEs, and MACEs compared to nonuse without increasing complications. However, the underutilization of GLP-1 RAs represents a significant opportunity to improve post-transplant outcomes in this high-risk population.

Graphical abstract
Gait stability in virtual reality: effects of VR display modality in the presence of visual perturbations
Authors: Wilson Elizabeth B. , Bergquist J. Stephen , Wright W. Geoffrey , Jacobs Daniel A. 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Purpose
Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a pivotal tool for studying balance and postural control mechanisms, leveraging unpredictable visual disturbances that dynamically challenge visuomotor processing. However, the quantity and quality of information available in the visual field may differ between VR systems, potentially introducing conflict with the intended perturbation inputs. Consequently, the extent to which a VR system used in a visual perturbation paradigm influences its ability to elicit compensatory gait behaviors remains unclear. Here we investigate the impact of (1) VR display modality and (2) the direction of visual perturbations on spatiotemporal gait parameters and measures of stability in VR.

Methods
Participants were tasked with maintaining steady-state walking on a self-paced treadmill while viewing a VR scene presented in either a rear-projection curved screen immersive room (IR) or a head-mounted display (HMD). During trials with augmented visual perturbations, pseudorandom oscillations were combined with forward walking speed either in the anterior-posterior (AP), or medio-lateral (ML) direction. Linear mixed-effects models were used to analyze the impact of VR display type and visual perturbations on spatiotemporal gait parameters, stability measures, and joint kinematics.

Results
For self-paced walking in matched VR optic flow, we found that the HMD increased the variability of several parameters related to walking speed control, but did not significantly impact any gait parameter average values. Superimposing visual perturbations along the ML axis increased gait variability and decreased walking stability in both VR systems, but the perturbations had stronger effects if presented in the HMD.

Conclusion
Together, these findings suggest that portable light-weight HMD systems can provide affordable, reliable tools for studying and training balance control and locomotion.
Clinical symptoms and molecular epidemiologic characteristics of varicella patients among children and adults in Ganzhou, China
Authors: Zeng Ting , Lian Chao-Xian , Zhang Xiao-Yi , Liu Ping-Qing , Ao Jian , Zhou Gang-Feng , Chen Xiao-Dong , Huang Dan-Dan , Hu Dian-Gui , Chen Xin 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is highly transmissible; however, there are limited studies in China.

Methods
The clinical symptoms, disease progression, and laboratory test results of varicella patients among children and adults diagnosed at Ganzhou Fifth People’s Hospital from August 2021 to December 2022 were analysed retrospectively. Genetic polymorphisms in the open reading frame (ORF) 22 and ORF62 fragments of VZV isolates were analysed using molecular epidemiological methods.

Results
Thirty-nine varicella patients were included in this study, 26 of them were children and 13 of them were adults. The incidence of discomfort and complications was significantly greater in adults than in children (P < 0.05). Four adults developed severe disease, one of whom died, with no cases of severe disease or death among children. The 32 VZV clinical isolates were all Clade 2 wild-type strains. Four variant isolates from children had eight base mutations, five of which were missense; two variant isolates from adults had four base mutations, all of which were missense.

Conclusions
The risk of developing severe disease or even death after VZV infection in adults was greater than that in children. There is an urgent need for more studies focusing on the differences in the pathogenicity of VZV in different age groups.
Mechanisms of astrocyte aging in reactivity and disease
Authors: Gildea Holly K. , Liddelow Shane A. 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
Normal aging alters brain functions and phenotypes. However, it is not well understood how astrocytes are impacted by aging, nor how they contribute to neuronal dysfunction and disease risk as organisms age. Here, we examine the transcriptional, cell biology, and functional differences in astrocytes across normal aging. Astrocytes at baseline are heterogenous, responsive to their environments, and critical regulators of brain microenvironments and neuronal function. With increasing age, astrocytes adopt different immune-related and senescence-associated states, which relate to organelle dysfunction and loss of homeostasis maintenance, both cell autonomously and non-cell autonomously. These perturbed states are increasingly associated with age-related dysfunction and the onset of neurodegeneration, suggesting that astrocyte aging is a compelling target for future manipulation in the prevention of disease.
Genomic signals of ecogeographic adaptation in a wild relative are associated with improved wheat performance under drought stress
Authors: Nyine Moses , Davidson Dwight , Adhikari Elina , Clinesmith Marshall , Wang Huan , Akhunova Alina , Fritz Allan , Akhunov Eduard 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background

Prioritizing wild relative diversity for improving crop adaptation to emerging drought-prone environments is challenging. Here, we combine the genome-wide environmental scans (GWES) in wheat diploid ancestor Aegilops tauschii (Ae. tauschii) with allele testing in the genetic backgrounds of adapted cultivars to identify diversity for improving wheat adaptation to water-limiting conditions.

Results
We evaluate the adaptive allele effects in Ae. tauschii-wheat introgression lines phenotyped for multiple traits under irrigated and water-limiting conditions using both unmanned aerial system-based imaging and conventional approaches. The GWES show that climatic gradients alone explain more than half of genomic variation in Ae. tauschii, with many alleles associated with climatic factors in Ae. tauschii being linked with improved performance of introgression lines under water-limiting conditions. We find that the most significant GWES signals associated with temperature annual range in the wild relative are linked with reduced canopy temperature in introgression lines and increased yield.

Conclusions
Our results suggest that introgression of climate-adaptive alleles from Ae. tauschii has the potential to improve wheat performance under water-limiting conditions, and that variants controlling physiological processes responsible for maintaining leaf temperature are likely among the targets of adaptive selection in a wild relative. Adaptive variation uncovered by GWES in wild relatives has the potential to improve climate resilience of crop varieties.
Messenger-based assessment of empathic accuracy in couples’ smartphone communication
Authors: Steinebach Philipp , Stein Miriam , Schnell Knut 
Published: February 2025

Abstract

Background
How accurate are empathic judgments of couples in smartphone messenger communication? Are judgments influenced by the level of experience with messengers and communication frequency?.

Objectives
The current preregistered study introduced a novel ecological assessment method and a privacy by design approach to study couples’ empathic accuracy in a messenger context.

Methods
Data from N = 102 participants (51 couples) was used to investigate how accurate judgments of partners’ affect map their partners’ actual affect.

Results
Our results demonstrate tracking accuracy and assumed similarity bias in reciprocal empathic judgments of affective valence and arousal during social messenger texting. A small moderation effect for experience with text messengers was found, indicating that partners with higher experience have a higher bias of assumed similarity when rating their partner’s valence. A small moderation effect for communication frequency confirms that higher messenger communication frequency is associated with more accurate judgments of arousal.

Conclusion
These results point to the reciprocal action of accuracy and bias in couples’ messenger communication and the distinct influences of experience and usage. The feasibility and further application of the ecological messenger-based assessment of couples’ empathic accuracy in interpersonal research are discussed.
Coseismic slip distribution of the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake deduced from dense global navigation satellite system network and interferometric synthetic aperture radar data: effect of assumed dip angle
Authors: Yamada Taisuke , Ohta Yusaku , Nishimura Takuya , Yoshida Keisuke , Hiramatsu Yoshihiro , Kinoshita Yohei 
Published: February 2025

Abstract
The Mw 7.5 Noto Peninsula earthquake, which occurred on January 1, 2024, was considerably hazardous to the peninsula and surrounding regions owing to a strong motion, large-scale crustal deformation, and subsequent tsunami. Significant surface displacement was observed by the dense global navigation satellite system (GNSS) stations, including universities and SoftBank corporation sites, and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). To estimate reliable coseismic slip distribution and its uncertainties for this event, we used the dense GNSS and the line-of-sight displacements from the SAR based on the Bayesian optimization framework. Considering the listric fault structure of this source fault, we validated the fault dip angles using the grid-search approach in the slip estimation. The acquired models indicated reverse fault motion, including a right-lateral slip component, and two slip peaks were estimated in the eastern and western regions of the fault in the central peninsula, independent of the assumed dip angles. These locations correspond to regions of significant uplift and westward displacement. The dip angle assumption affects the horizontal and vertical component of the calculated displacements: a higher dip angle model (≥ 45°) well reproduces vertical components of GNSS and synthetic aperture radar displacements, whereas a lower dip angle model (< 45°) well reproduces horizontal displacements. Overall, a fault dip of 45° is plausible, although it is not consistent with the listric structure suggested by the seismic reflection survey and the aftershock distribution below the central part of the peninsula. To test such a listric fault model, we conducted a coseismic slip estimation assuming a relatively high (60°) and low (25°) dip angles for the shallow and deep sections of the fault, respectively. Even in this case, we acquired a slip model similar to that of a plain fault, which reasonably reproduced each component of the surface displacements as well as the simple plane fault models. These results suggest that listric geometry is also acceptable for the source faults of this event, although the flat geometry similarly explains the observations.

Graphical Abstract