Diabetes Mellitus in HIV-Infected Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy

Background. There is little in the literature on HIV and diabetes mellitus (DM) in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective. To assess the characteristics of HIV and DM in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Botswana. Methods. A retrospective case-control study was conducted at 4 sites. Each HIV-infected patient with DM (n=48) was matched with 2 HIV-infected controls (n=108) by age (±2 years) and sex. Primary analysis was conditional logistic regression to estimate univariate odds and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each characteristic. Results. There was no significant association between co-morbid diseases, tuberculosis, hypertension or cancer and risk of diabetes. DM patients were more likely to have higher pre-ART weight (odds ratio (OR) 1.09; 95% CI 1.04 - 1.14). HIV-infected adults \u3e70 kg were significantly more likely to have DM (OR 12.30; 95% CI 1.40 - 107.98). Participants receiving efavirenz (OR 4.58; 95% CI 1.44 - 14.57) or protease inhibitor therapy (OR 20.7; 95% CI 1.79 - 240.02) were more likely to have DM. Neither mean pre-ART CD4 cell count (OR 1.0; 95% CI 0.99 - 1.01) nor pre-ART viral load \u3e100 000 copies/ml (OR 0.71; 95% CI 0.21 - 2.43) were associated with a significant risk of diabetes. Conclusions. These findings suggest a complex interrelation among traditional host factors and treatment-related metabolic changes in the pathogenesis of DM inpatients receiving ART. Notably, pre-ART weight, particularly if \u3e70 kg, is associated with the diagnosis of diabetes in HIV-infected patients in Botswana

Geotechnical investigation of soil properties in Hatsalatladi village, Botswana; Insights from aeromagnetic, laboratory soil tests and Rayleigh wave dispersion datasets

Soil tests and Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) data were conducted in Hatsalatladi village, Botswana, to investigate the occurrence of ground fissures within the village and to identify the likely causes of the fissures and their depth extent. The MASW data were collected to gain insights into the variation of shear wave velocity with depth. The dataset shows that the shear wave velocity ranged from 150 m/s – 500 m/s, with Poisson's ratios ranging from 0.02 to 0.25. A low-velocity zone (LVZ) was observed in the upper 5 m of the subsurface with velocities ranging from 200 m/s to 350 m/s.The soil plasticity was measured through the plastic and liquid Atterberg tests. Atterberg limits measurements obtained from the three survey sites show that the plastic index of the soil samples collected from depths of 1 m fall within the 10–20% range. Specifically, the Filled Crack survey site had a plastic index of 16%, while the Abandoned House and Bridge sites had 18.7% and 13.5%, respectively. Soil samples from Filled Crack and Abandoned House site revealed a linear shrinkage of 6.4%, while the Bridge site soil sample had a linear shrinkage of 2.9%. The sieve analysis test results are also presented

Upper Mantle P and S Wave Velocity Structure of the Kalahari Craton and Surrounding Proterozoic Terranes, Southern Africa

New broadband seismic data from Botswana and South Africa have been combined with existing data from the region to develop improved P and S wave velocity models for investigating the upper mantle structure of southern Africa. Higher craton-like velocities are imaged beneath the Rehoboth Province and parts of the northern Okwa Terrane and the Magondi Belt, indicating that the northern edge of the greater Kalahari Craton lithosphere lies along the northern boundary of these terranes. Lower off-craton velocities are imaged beneath the Damara-Ghanzi-Chobe Belt, and may in part reflect thinning of the lithosphere beneath the incipient Okavango Rift. Lower velocities are also imaged to the north and northwest of the Bushveld Complex beneath parts of the Okwa Terrane, Magondi Belt, and Limpopo Belt, indicating that cratonic upper mantle in some areas beneath these terranes may have been modified by the 2.05-Ga Bushveld and/or 1.1-Ga Umkondo magmatic events

Shear wave velocity structure of the lower crust in southern Africa: evidence for compositional heterogeneity within Archaean and Proterozoic terrains

The nature of the lower crust across the southern African shield has been investigated by jointly inverting receiver functions and Rayleigh wave group velocities for 89 broadband seismic stations located in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe. For large parts of both Archaean and Proterozoic terrains, the velocity models obtained from the inversions show shear wave velocities ≥4.0 km/s below ∼20–30 km depth, indicating a predominantly mafic lower crust. However, for much of the Kimberley terrain and adjacent parts of the Kheis Province and Witwatersrand terrain in South Africa, as well as for the western part of the Tokwe terrain in Zimbabwe, shear wave velocities of ≤3.9 km/s are found below ∼20–30 km depth, indicating an intermediate-to-felsic lower crust. The areas of intermediate-to-felsic lower crust in South Africa coincide with regions where Ventersdorp rocks have been preserved, suggesting that the more evolved composition of the lower crust may have resulted from crustal reworking and extension during the Ventersdorp tectonomagmatic event at c. 2.7 Ga