Stand age-driven tree size variation and stand type regulate aboveground biomass in alpine-subalpine forests, South Korea.

Alpine and subalpine forests in mountains worldwide are ecologically significant because of their unique biodiversity and increased vulnerability to climate change. This study was conducted to explore the possibilities and ways to preserve the ecological diversity of alpine-subalpine forests and their function as important carbon sinks. In this study, data from 664 plots (400 m2) were collected in the alpine-subalpine zones above 1000 m elevation in South Korea, we divided 664 plots into four stand types: conifer, conifer-dominant mixed, broadleaved-dominant mixed, and broadleaved stands. Abiotic drivers and forest successional stage-related factor including topographic, climatic drivers and stand age class were used. Biotic drivers including taxonomic, phylogenetic, functional, stand structural diversity, and community-weighted mean of functional traits were used to find independent variables controlling aboveground biomass (AGB) for each stand type. We employed multi-model averaging approach as well as piecewise structural equation modeling (pSEM) for the identification of the most influential variables affecting AGB in each stand type of alpine-subalpine forests and to quantify their interrelationships and strengths. The main results showed that tree size variation (i.e., DBH STD) induced by stand age had direct effects on AGB, with varying degrees of significance (ß) ranging from 0.146 to 0.241 across all stand types in alpine-subalpine forests. Following these results, as forest succession progresses, tree species adapted to the specific environmental conditions, such as topography and climate, become dominant by creating their own niche, which increases AGB in each stand type. Additionally, climatic and topographic conditions played an important role in controlling biotic drivers depending on the stand type. In this study, we suggest that AGB should be managed and conserved depending on forest stand types according to forest succession. Furthermore, increasing size variation among tree individuals through proper forest treatments is important for increasing AGB in alpine-subalpine forests.

Validation and Inter-rater Reliability of the Modified Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (mVDS) in Dysphagic Patients with Multiple Etiologies.

BACKGROUND: the Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (VDS) is used to interpret and predict the long-term prognosis of patients with dysphagia. However, the inter-rater agreement of the VDS was shown to be lower in a previous study. To overcome the mentioned limitation of the VDS, a modified version (mVDS) was created and applied clinically. We aimed to validate its usefulness in determining the appropriate feeding method and predicting the prognosis of dysphagia. METHODS: the videofluroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) data of 50 patients with dysphagia were collected retrospectively. The VFSS data were evaluated using the mVDS, and the inter-rater reliability was calculated. We also evaluated the association between the mVDS and type of feeding method selected, and between the mVDS and presence of aspiration pneumonia in patients with dysphagia. RESULTS: among the different parameters of mVDS, "aspiration" showed the highest reliability (k = 0.767), followed by "mastication" and "lip closure" (k = 0.648 and k = 0.634, respectively). Conversely, "triggering pharyngeal swallow" and "pyriformis residue" demonstrated the lowest reliabilities (k = 0.312 and k = 0.324, respectively). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which is used as a measure of the reliability of the total mVDS score, was 0.876. In all patients with dysphagia, the mVDS score correlated significantly with the type of feeding method selected (p < 0.05), and the presence of aspiration pneumonia (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: the ICC of the total mVDS score was 0.876. Therefore, the mVDS could be a useful tool for quantifying the severity of dysphagia. It could be helpful in the analysis of the VFSS findings among patients with dysphagia in clinical settings and research.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Motion Tracking-Based Online Fitness Program for Office Workers.

The development of technology-based home fitness has emerged from the booming digital healthcare market and recent demands for at-home fitness and health equipment due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Digital healthcare company Alyce Healthcare recently developed Weelo, which is a web-based online fitness program. Weelo recommends an exercise protocol through machine-learning-enabled recognition of the user's motion and provides visual and auditory feedback. We evaluated whether Weelo improves physical and mental well-being to assess its capabilities and effectiveness. Thirty-two participants performed a total of 20 exercise sessions following the Weelo guide on a laptop. The participants were evaluated using a before and after exercise program, body composition, handgrip strength, six-minute walk test, modified star excursion balance test, short form 36, fatigue severity scale, Beck depression index, and a satisfaction survey. Overall, there was a significant improvement in muscle strength, endurance, and balance ability, as well as an improved quality of life and significant reduction in fatigue and depression. Participants showed high motivation to continue following the Weelo exercise program. In conclusion, utilizing Weelo improved physical and mental well-being and is considered to be an individual-use indoor exercise program that serves as an alternative to traditional face-to-face exercise.

Usefulness of the Modified Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale in Choosing the Feeding Method for Stroke Patients with Dysphagia.

INTRODUCTION: The Videofluoroscopic Dysphagia Scale (VDS) is used to predict the long-term prognosis of dysphagia in patients with strokes. However, the inter-rater reliability of the VDS was low in a previous study. To overcome the mentioned limitations of the VDS, the modified version of the VDS (mVDS) was created and clinically applied to evaluate its usefulness in choosing the feeding method for stroke patients with dysphagia. METHODS: The videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) data of 56 stroke patients with dysphagia were collected retrospectively. We investigated the presence of aspiration pneumonia and the selected feeding method. We also evaluated the correlations between the mVDS and the selected feeding method, and between the mVDS and the presence of aspiration pneumonia after stroke. Univariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses were used in the data analysis. RESULTS: The inter-rater reliability (Cronbach α value) of the total score of the mVDS was 0.886, which was consistent with very good inter-rater reliability. In all patients with dysphagia, the supratentorial stroke subgroup, and the infratentorial stroke subgroup, the mVDS scores were statistically correlated with the feeding method selected (p < 0.05) and the presence of aspiration pneumonia (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The mVDS can be a useful scale for quantifying the severity of dysphagia, and it can be a useful tool in the clinical setting and in studies for interpreting the VFSS findings in stroke patients with dysphagia. Further studies with a greater number of patients and various stroke etiologies are required for more generalized applications of the mVDS.

Elevation-related climatic factors dominate soil free-living nematode communities and their co-occurrence patterns on Mt. Halla, South Korea.

Nematodes play vital roles in soil ecosystems. To understand how their communities and coexistence patterns change along the elevation as well as to determine the best explanatory factors underlying these changes, we investigated free-living soil nematodes on Mt. Halla, South Korea, using an amplicon sequencing approach targeting the 18S rRNA gene. Our results showed that there was significant variation in the community diversity and composition of soil nematodes in relation to elevation. The network interactions between soil nematodes were more intensive at the lower elevations. Climatic variables were responsible explaining the elevational variation in community composition and co-occurrence pattern of the nematode community. Our study indicated that climatic factors served as the critical environmental filter that influenced not only the community structure but also the potential associations of soil nematodes in the mountain ecosystem of Mt. Halla. These findings enhance the understanding of the community structure and co-occurrence network patterns and mechanisms of soil nematode along elevation, and the response of soil nematodes to climate change on the vertical scale of mountain ecosystems.

Severity, Progress, and Related Factors of Mood Disorders in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: A Retrospective Study.

Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, which, in turn, are risk factors for CAD. The Beck depression inventory (BDI) and Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) were applied for mood evaluation during hospitalization and again 3 months after discharge in 118 patients with CAD, and cardiopulmonary exercise tests were conducted in the outpatient department. Of the patients diagnosed with CAD, 40 (33.9%) had depressive moods, and 51 (43.2%) had anxious moods. A family history of CAD, low Korean activity scale index (KASI), and use of beta-blockers were independent factors causing depressive mood, while lower left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and low KASI score were independent factors causing anxious mood. A considerable number of patients (35.7% with depressive mood and 25.0% with anxious mood) still had emotional problems after 3 months of discharge. The change values of BDI were associated with lower LVEF and longer hospital stay, while those of BAI was associated with a longer hospital stay. Since some patients had depressive and anxious moods after three months of discharge, evaluating and treating them are essential.

Topography and forest diversity facets regulate overstory and understory aboveground biomass in a temperate forest of South Korea.

Diversity-biomass studies across (sub-)tropical forest strata have been explored, but our understanding on how multiple facets of forest diversity and abiotic factors regulate aboveground biomass across forest strata in temperate forests remains somehow unclear. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the effects and relative importance of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity, community-weighted mean (CWM) of trait values, coefficient of variation in individual tree diameter at breast height (CV DBH), and soil and topographic factors on aboveground biomass to select the diversity facets that could have the strongest response to abiotic factors across over- and understory and whole community in a temperate forest of South Korea. We used forest inventory, functional traits and environmental factors data from 259 plots to select the most important diversity facets with abiotic factors through multi-model inference tests, and we then used structural equation models. In the overstory, the most important regulators of aboveground biomass were topographic factor, species evenness, functional richness, and CV DBH. In the understory, the significant drivers of aboveground biomass were topographic factor, species evenness, phylogenetic species richness and CWM of height. In addition, diversity facets of overstory such as functional richness and CV DBH also had significant direct and/or indirect effects on understory aboveground biomass. Moreover, the diversity facets influencing aboveground biomass at the whole community were the combination of the multiple facets of forest diversity influencing aboveground biomass at each forest stratum. The role of functional dominance (CWM of height) seems to be negligible in the overstory but significant in the understory, indicating different diversity drivers as shown previously for a subtropical forest. Hence, our study suggests the urgent need of exploring diversity-biomass studies across forest strata in different forest ecosystems and types in order to provide more specific guidelines for the management of a specific natural forest.

Temporal Changes in Species, Phylogenetic, and Functional Diversity of Temperate Tree Communities: Insights From Assembly Patterns.

Species-based approaches to the analysis of changes in successional community assemblages are limited in the ability to reflect long-term evolutionary and functional trait responses of organisms to environment change. Recent advances in concepts and analyses of community phylogenetics and functional traits have improved the interpretation and understanding of community assembly processes. Here, we examined phylogenetic signals of four functional traits such as maximum height, leaf size, seed mass and wood density in woody plant species and temporal changes in species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity among forest strata (i.e., whole, overstory, and understory strata) at four forest long term ecological research sites in South Korea. A census of woody plant species was implemented in a 1-ha permanent plot of each study site every 5 years. We analyzed community structure and compositional turnover using twenty-five 20 × 20 m2 quadrat data converted from 1-ha plot data of each site. We found that phylogenetic signals for four functional traits were low but significant, indicating that phylogenetic diversity may be used as a crude surrogate measure of functional diversity. Temporal changes in alpha and beta components of the three diversity differed among forest strata and four study sites over time. This study also revealed that the temporal changes of phylogenetic and functional diversity for understory strata in a forest, which were consecutively damaged by typhoon, were more extreme and larger than those of understory strata in the other sites. Therefore, our study supports recent studies that plant community structures differ among forest strata and such differences of community structure among sites can be accelerated by disturbance. Although the role and relative importance of niche-based deterministic and neutral processes for the patterns of successional community structure differed among the study sites, we found niche-based deterministic processes are the dominant drivers in structuring plant community assembly regardless of forest age and disturbance in this study. From these results, our study suggests that contemporary forest ecosystems are composed of mosaics of plant communities that are formed by interactions among various processes.

Partitioning the regional and local drivers of phylogenetic and functional diversity along temperate elevational gradients on an East Asian peninsula.

Species-centric approaches to biodiversity in ecological research are limited in their ability to reflect the evolutionary history and functional diversity of community assembly. Recently, the introduction of alternative facets of biodiversity, such as phylogenetic and functional diversity, has shed light on this problem and improved our understanding of the processes underlying biodiversity patterns. Here, we investigated the phylogenetic and functional diversity patterns of α, ß and γ components in woody plant assemblages along regional and local elevational gradients in South Korea. Although the patterns of phylogenetic and functional diversity varied along regional and local elevational transects, the main drivers were partitioned into two categories: regional area or climate for phylogenetic diversity, depending on whether the transect was at a regional or local scale; and habitat heterogeneity for functional diversity, which was derived in elevational bands. Moreover, environmental distance was more important than was geographic distance for phylogenetic and functional ß diversity between paired elevational bands. These results support the hypothesis that niche-based deterministic processes such as environmental filtering and competitive exclusion are fundamental in structuring woody plant assemblages along temperate elevational gradients regardless of scale (regional vs. local) in our study areas.

Disentangling the local-scale drivers of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity in woody plant assemblages along elevational gradients in South Korea.

Recently, new alternative matrices of biodiversity such as phylogenetic and functional diversity as a complement to species diversity have provided new insights into the mechanisms of community assembly. In this study, we analyzed the phylogenetic signals of five functional traits and the relative contribution of environmental variables and distance matrices to the alpha and beta components of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity in woody plant assemblages along four local elevational transects on two different mountains. We observed low but significant phylogenetic signals of functional traits, which suggest that phylogenetic dispersion can provide a rough approximation of functional dispersion but not perfect correlations between phylogenetic and functional diversity. Taxonomic alpha diversity showed a monotonic decline with elevation, and climatic variables were the main drivers of this pattern along all studied transects. Furthermore, although the phylogenetic and functional alpha dispersions showed different elevational patterns including increase, decrease and no relationship, the underlying processes driving the patterns of both types of alpha dispersion could be explained by the gradients of climatic and habitat variables as well as biotic interactions such as competition. These results suggest that both alpha dispersion patterns may be significantly controlled by niche-based deterministic processes such as biotic interactions and environmental filtering in our study areas. Moreover, the beta diversity with geographical distances showed distance-decay relationships for all transects. Although the relative importance of the environmental and geographical distances for beta diversity varied across the three facets of diversity and the transects, we generally found that environmental distances were more important for the beta components of the three facets of diversity. However, we cannot discriminate the effects of both distances on the three facets of diversity. Therefore, our study suggests that niche-based deterministic processes, potentially combined with neutral processes such as dispersal limitation and demographic stochasticity, may influence patterns of woody plant assemblage turnover in our study areas.

Specific deterrence, community context, and drunk driving: an event history analysis.

Previous studies about recidivism of offenders have focused primarily on the nature of the sanctions and factors specific to the individual offender. This study addressed both individual and community factors, using a cohort of felony-level, driving while intoxicated (DWI) probationers (N = 370) charged in Harris County, Texas. The study investigated specific deterrent effects of sanctions on success or failure of probationers while controlling for the community contexts to observe how informal social control processes contextualize individual-level predictors. Results of a series of event history analyses tracking probationers for a period of 8 years indicated that severity of punishment, swiftness of punishment, criminal history, and completion of DWI education programs significantly affected the probationer's survival time, whereas no significant influence of community contexts on survival time or success was observed. Reducing the felony charge to a misdemeanor, a shorter period of probation, and past criminal history, combined with an almost immediate guilty plea, were significantly associated with short-term failure on probation.

Incarcerated fathers and parenting: importance of the relationship with their children.

This study examined the relationships of incarcerated fathers (n = 185) with their children while in a maximum security prison. Despite the attention to parental incarceration and at-risk children, the child welfare and corrections literature has focused mostly on imprisoned mothers and children. Demographic, sentence, child-related, and program participation factors were investigated for their influence on father-child relationships. Multiple regression analyses indicated race and sentence contributed to the father's positive perceptions of contacts with their children. Most important, many, though serving lengthy sentences, valued and perceived a positive father-child relationship. Results are discussed in light of implications for future research and social policy.

Low-temperature growth and characterization of single crystalline ZnO nanorod arrays using a catalyst-free inductively coupled plasma-metal organic chemical vapor deposition.

Vertically aligned ZnO nanorod arrays have been synthesized on c-plane sapphires at a low temperature of 400 degrees C using catalyst-free inductively coupled plasma (ICP) metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) technique by varying the ICP powers. Diameters of the ZnO nanorods changed from 200 nm to 400 nm as the ICP power increased from 200 to 400 Watt. TEM and XRD investigations indicated that the ZnO nanorod arrays grown at ICP powers above 200 Watt had a homogeneous in-plane alignment and single crystalline nature. PL study at room temperature (RT) and 6 K confirmed that the ZnO nanorod arrays in the present study are of high optical quality as well as good crystalline quality, showing only exciton-related emission peaks without any trace of defect-related deep level emissions in visible range. The blueshift of exciton emission peak in RTPL spectra was also found as rod diameter decreased and it is deduced that this shift in emission energy may be due to the surface resonance effect resulted from the increased surface-to-volume ratio, based on the observation and behavior of the surface exciton (SX) emission in the high-resolution 6 K PL spectra.