Subtle Impacts of Temperature and Rainfall Patterns on Land Cover Change Overtime and Future Projections in the Mara River Basin, Kenya

The interactive and cumulative effect of temperature and rainfall on land cover change is a priority at global, regional and local scale. This study examined changes in six land cover categories (forestland, grasslands, shrub land, bare land, built-up areas and agricultural lands) in four sub-catchments (Amala, Nyangores, Talek and Sand River), of the Mara River basin over a 30-year period (1987-2017) and made predictions of future land cover change patterns. Landsat Imageries of 90 m resolution were retrieved and analyzed using ArcGIS 10.0 software. Relationship between NDVI, temperature and precipitation was determined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, while Markov chains analyses were performed on different land cover categories to project future trends. Results showed low to moderate (R2 = 0.002 to 0.6) trends of change in NDVI of different land cover categories across all sub-catchments. The greatest change (R2 0.34 to 0.5) was recorded in bare land in three of the four sub-catchments studied. Precipitation showed a strong positive correlation with built-up areas, forestlands, croplands, bare land, grasslands and shrub lands, while temperature correlated strongly but negatively with the same land cover categories. The change detection matrix projected significant but varying changes in land cover categories across the four sub-catchments by 2027. This study underscores the impact of changing climatic factors on various land cover categories in the Mara River basin sub-catchments, with different land cover categories exhibiting strong positive sensitivity to high precipitation and low temperature and vice-versa.

Simple pain measures reveal psycho-social pathology in patients with Crohn's disease

AIM To determine whether pain has psycho-social associations in adult Crohn's disease(CD) patients.METHODS Patients completed demographics, disease status, Patient Harvey-Bradshaw Index (P-HBI), Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), Short Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (SIBDQ), and five sociopsychological questionnaires: Brief Symptom Inventory, Brief COPE Inventory, Family Assessment Device, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire. Pain sub-scales in P-HBI, SF-36 and SIBDQ measures were recoded into 4 identical scores for univariate and multinomial logistic regression analysis of associations with psycho-social variables.RESULTS The cohort comprised 594 patients, mean age 38.6±14.8 years, women 52.5%, P-HBI 5.76±5.15. P-HBI, SF-36 and SIBDQ broadly agreed in their assessment of pain intensity. More severe pain was significantly associated with female gender, low socioeconomic status, unemployment, Israeli birth and smoking. Higher pain scores correlated positively with psychological stress, dysfunctional coping strategies, poor family relationships, absenteeism, presenteeism, productivity loss and activity impairment and all WPAI sub-scores. Patients exhibiting greater satisfaction with life had less pain. The regression showed increasing odds ratios for psychological stress (lowest 2.26, highest 12.17) and female gender (highest 3.19) with increasing pain. Internet-recruited patients were sicker and differed from hardcopy questionnaire patients in their associations with pain.CONCLUSION Pain measures in P-HBI, SF-36 and SIBDQ correlate with psycho-social pathology in CD. Physicians should be aware also of these relationships in approaching CD patients with pain.

Anterior segment parameters associated with extramuscular manifestations in polymyositis and dermatomyositis

AIM:To evaluate detailed anterior segment parameters of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies(IIM),including polymyositis(PM),and dermatomyositis(DM),and to clarify the associations between these data and clinical variables of IIM.METHODS:Totally 57 PM,41 DM patients and 62 controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional,observational,case-control study.All study participants underwent Pentacam evaluation.Laboratory investigations consisted of different antibody assays,while extramuscular clinical assessments included Raynaud’s phenomenon,dysphagia,interstitial lung disease,arthritis/arthralgia,and weight loss.Objective signs and subjective symptoms of dry eye disease(DED)were also evaluated.RESULTS:All pachymetric parameters[center,apex,thinnest and maximal keratometry(Kmax)]and corneal volume(CV)of both sides of PM patients proved to be significantly lower.Some pachymetric data were also noticed as significantly decreased compared to those of controls.Several significant differences were traced between anterior segment values and extramuscular manifestations of myositis,largely in case of arthritis/arthralgia and weight loss,whereas associations between anterior segment parameters and antibodies were weak.Objective clinical tests of DED were also significantly decreased in IIM patients.CONCLUSION:The results suggest that all IIM patients have thinner corneas compared with those of controls,and decreased corneal parameters are significantly associated with the occurrence of some extramuscular manifestations.In addition,IIM patients tend to develop objective signs of DED.

Nurses’ Job Satisfaction and Motivation: Patients’ and Nurses’ Perceptions

Background: High quality care is the main concern of healthcare administrators and it was found to be related to nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Purpose: The study aimed to compare patients’ and nurses’ perceptions of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Method: In this cross-sectional study the participants were 315 released patients and 329 nurses from eight hospitals in northern Israel. The participants completed three questionnaires: demographics, nursing job satisfaction, and nursing job motivation. Results: Nurses perceived both job satisfaction and motivation higher than the patients. Duration of hospitalization and being accompanied by family, were positively correlated to patients’ perceptions of these variables. Conclusion/Implications for Practice: To optimize care quality, it is important to assess both patients’ and nurses’ perceptions of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation. Such an assessment may shed light on the nursing experience and on the way that it is reflected in the patients’ experience. A system-wide process is needed to set a national standard for service quality while emphasizing strategies that promote recognition of nurses’ work, for example, compliments and acknowledgment. This could enhance nurses’ sense of work engagement, which, in turn, may increase the patients’ perception of nurses’ job satisfaction and motivation.