Threats of Changes in Land-Use and Drivers on Owabi and Barekese Watershed Forests in Ghana

This study analyzes the patterns of land-use and land-cover changes for the last three decades (1986–2017) and its drivers for Owabi and Barekese watersheds in the moist semi-deciduous forest of Ghana. The study used Landsat satellite imageries of 1986, 1998, 2007, and 2017 and population data to analyze land cover and use changes of the two watersheds. A decline in natural vegetation cover by 57% and 71.3% has occurred for Owabi and Barekese watersheds respectively. Cropland increased by 77.1% and 105.2% while settlement has increased by 1,018% and 4%, respectively, for Owabi and Barekese watersheds. Cropland is the main form of land-use change for Barekese watershed while settlement is the main land-use change in the Owabi watershed. Annual expansion of settlement within the Owabi site was 38.1%, and cropland was 5.2% for the Barekese site. Population trends had a significant negative relationship with forest cover and a positive relationship with settlement and cropland. Catchment degradation was also influenced by the management model used.

Regression to the mean correction for Collision Modification Factors

Collision Modification Factors (CMFs) are a simple method of representing the effectiveness of road safety treatments. With the release of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and the recent launching of a CMF Clearinghouse website, CMFs are likely to become more widely used for estimating the effects of potential road safety treatments. The presence of regression to the mean (RTM) bias has long been shown to affect the accuracy of CMFs that did not account for the RTM in their development. The purpose of this research was to study how the RTM depends on the number of years of data used for selecting high collision sites for treatment and on the relative number of sites selected. From this analysis, a function based on the number of years, percentage of high collision sites selected, and the mean and standard deviation of the site population from which the treated sites are drawn was developed to more accurately estimate the magnitude of the RTM effect. This function can be used to adjust CMFs that do not account for RTM, complementing the procedure developed and used to correct CMFs included in the HSM.

Regression to the mean correction for Collision Modification Factors

Collision Modification Factors (CMFs) are a simple method of representing the effectiveness of road safety treatments. With the release of the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) and the recent launching of a CMF Clearinghouse website, CMFs are likely to become more widely used for estimating the effects of potential road safety treatments. The presence of regression to the mean (RTM) bias has long been shown to affect the accuracy of CMFs that did not account for the RTM in their development. The purpose of this research was to study how the RTM depends on the number of years of data used for selecting high collision sites for treatment and on the relative number of sites selected. From this analysis, a function based on the number of years, percentage of high collision sites selected, and the mean and standard deviation of the site population from which the treated sites are drawn was developed to more accurately estimate the magnitude of the RTM effect. This function can be used to adjust CMFs that do not account for RTM, complementing the procedure developed and used to correct CMFs included in the HSM.

A Single Site Population Study to Investigate CYP2D6 Phenotype of Patients with Persistent Non-Malignant Pain

Background and Objectives: Codeine requires biotransformation by the CYP2D6 enzyme, encoded by the polymorphic CYP2D6 gene, to morphine for therapeutic efficacy. CYP2D6 phenotypes of poor, intermediate, and ultra-rapid metabolisers are at risk of codeine non-response and adverse drug reactions due to altered CYP2D6 function. The aim of this study was to determine whether genotype, inferred phenotype, and urinary and oral fluid codeine O-demethylation metabolites could predict codeine non-response following a short course of codeine. Materials and Methods: There were 131 Caucasians with persistent pain enrolled. Baseline assessments were recorded, prohibited medications ceased, and DNA sampling completed before commencing codeine 30 mg QDS for 5 days. Day 4 urine samples were collected 1–2 h post morning dose for codeine O-demethylation metabolites analysis. Final pain assessments were conducted on day 5. Results: None of the poor, intermediate, ultra-rapid metabolisers and only 24.5% of normal metabolisers responded to codeine. A simple scoring system to predict analgesic response from day 4 urinary metabolites was devised with overall prediction success of 79% (sensitivity 0.8, specificity 0.78) for morphine and 79% (sensitivity 0.76, specificity 0.83) for morphine:creatinine ratio. Conclusions: In conclusion, this study provides tentative evidence that day 4 urinary codeine O-demethylation metabolites could predict non-response following a short course of codeine and could be utilised in the clinical assessment of codeine response at the point of care to improve analgesic efficacy and safety in codeine therapy. We offer a scoring system to predict codeine response from urinary morphine and urinary morphine:creatinine ratio collected on the morning of day 4 of codeine 30 mg QDS, but this requires validation before it could be considered for use to assess codeine response in clinical practice.