Modelling and Evaluation of the Potential for Cable Car System in Idanre Hill: A Road Map to Tourism Revival in Ondo State, South-western, Nigeria

The recent decline in oil price as the major source of revenue in Nigeria has posed significant negative impact on the national economy intensifying problems of unemployment, food insecurity and poverty. In a bid to seek alternative source of revenue, maximise the exploitation of available resources in wealth creation and provide possible solution through tourism sector, this paper argues the need to promote tourism in Idanre.  It therefore modelled the potential for modern ropeway (cable car) system, amusement park and resort in Idanre Hill. The study made used of secondary and primary data. Secondary data were published information, Google Earth (software) images and Geographic Information System (GIS). These were used for spatial modelling of the landscape. Primary data involved site direct field observation and reconnaissance survey to investigate the feasibility of ropeway system on the landscape. Modern cable car system (ropeway), amusement park and resort were thus identified as viable source of centripetal (pull) force that can be accommodated in the study area and capable to draw tourists across the world. Keywords: Resort; landscape; amusement park; tourism; economic; cable car syste

Phylogenetic evidence of HIV-1 sequence evolution in subjects with persistent low-level viremia

Persistent low-level viremia (LLV) during the treatment of antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with emergent drug resistance mutation (DRM); however insight into its driver is limited. The objectives were to study HIV-1 pol sequence evolution in subjects with persistent LLV and evaluate factors associated with sequence changes

The Design of Single-Arm Clinical Trials of Combination Antiretroviral Regimens for Treatment-Naive HIV-Infected Patients

Single-arm clinical trials are useful to evaluate antiretroviral regimens in certain populations of HIV-infected treatment-naive patients for whom a randomized controlled trial is not feasible or desirable. They can also be useful to establish initial estimates of efficacy and safety/tolerability of novel regimens to inform the design of large phase III trials. In this article, we discuss key design considerations for such single-arm studies

Women have enhanced bone loss associated with phosphaturia and CD4+ cell restoration during initial antiretroviral therapy

OBJECTIVE: We compared bone mineral density (BMD) changes and their correlates, between men and women participating in two randomized trials of initial [antiretroviral therapy (ART)] regimens, with or without tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). METHODS: Covariates in linear regression models of 48-week hip and spine %BMD changes, by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, included baseline and 48-week changes in plasma viral load, CD4 cells, plasma C-terminal telopeptide, procollagen 1 N-terminal propeptide and glomerular filtration rates, and the 48-week area under the curve of fractional excretion of phosphate. RESULTS: Despite overall hip and spine BMD declines of 2.8 and 2.9%, respectively, plasma viral load suppression to less than 50 vs. at least 50 copies/ml was associated 1.0% (P = 0.02) and 0.8% (P = 0.01) less BMD decline. Women had lower baseline spine (P = 0.04; n = 59 women, 418 men) and hip BMD (P = 0.01) in adjusted models, with 1.7% more hip decline on ART than men (P = 0.001). Serum phosphate was positively associated with baseline spine BMD in women (P = 0.03) but not men, and area under the curve of fractional excretion of phosphate was negatively associated with spine BMD changes, particularly in women randomized to TDF regimens (P = 0.03 and 0.054 for interactions by sex, and randomization to TDF vs. non-TDF regimens, respectively; n = 44 women, 326 men). Women also had 0.6% (P = 0.004) more hip BMD decline than men associated with each 100 CD4 cells/μl increase on ART (P = 0.02; n = 49 women, 379 men). CONCLUSION: Women randomized to TDF-containing ART had accentuated spine loss associated with phosphaturia, and accentuated hip loss associated with CD4 restoration, regardless of TDF exposure. Viral load suppression reduced bone loss

Antiretroviral Drug Resistance in HIV-1–Infected Patients Experiencing Persistent Low-Level Viremia During First-Line Therapy

Population sequencing was performed for persons identified with persistent low-level viremia in 2 clinical trials. Persistent low-level viremia (defined as plasma HIV-1 RNA level >50 and <1000 copies/mL in at least 2 determinations over a 24-week period, after at least 24 weeks of antiretroviral therapy) was observed in 65 (5.6%) of 1158 patients at risk. New resistance mutations were detected during persistent low-level viremia in 37% of the 54 evaluable cases. The most common mutations were M184I/V (14 cases), K103N (9), and M230L (3). Detection of new mutations was associated with higher HIV-1 RNA levels during persistent low-level viremia

High-risk human papilloma virus and cervical abnormalities in HIV-infected women with normal cervical cytology

Background: The prevalence of High-Risk Human papilloma virus (HR-HPV), a necessary cause of invasive cervical cancer (ICC) is relatively high in HIV infected women. Gaps exist in our knowledge of the optimal approaches for managing women who have HR-HPV with normal cervical cytology (NCC) particularly in settings of HIV infection. Methods: Between May 2012 and June 2013 we conducted a colposcopic assessment of HIV-infected women with prior (NCC) and known HR-HPV status to compare cervical abnormalities in women with and without HR-HPV. Colposcopic examinations were done at the Operation Stop Cervical Cancer (OSCC) unit of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Jos, Nigeria. Abnormal colposcopic finding (ACF) was defined as areas of aceto-white epithelium involving the squamo-coulumnar junction, areas of punctation, mosaic pattern or atypical vessels. We compared proportions of ACF as well as histologic grades of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) in women with or without HR-HPV. Statistical analysis was done on STATA. Results: We conducted colposcopic examinations in 78 out of 89 (86.5%) eligible women. The mean age of the cohort was 32.4 years (SD ±4.6) with a median 32 years (IQR 29–36). After a mean follow up time of 20.1 months from the initial cervical pap cytology and HR-HPV testing, we found 12 of 78 (15.4%) women with ACF. The odds for an ACF was statistically higher [OR = 4.0 (95% CI: 1.1-14.7)] in women with HR-HPV compared to those without. Of the twelve women with ACF, subsequent histologic examination of colposcopically directed cervical biopsies confirmed CIN 1 in 4 cases (33.3%), CIN 2 in 1 case (8.3%), CIN 3 in 2 cases (16.7%), carcinoma-in-situ (CIS) in 2 cases (16.7%), and normal cervix in 3 (25.0%). Overall, the proportion of women detected with any grade of CIN was 11.5% (9/78) and 6.4% (5/78) were CIN 2 or greater lesion (CIN2+). Conclusion: HIV-infected women with NCC and HR-HPV had a four-fold higher likelihood for an ACF. The practice of early colposcopic examination of HIV-infected women with prior NCC and HR-HPV may increase early detection of higher grade CIN and CIS cancer stages in our setting

Raltegravir in second-line antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings (SELECT): a randomised, phase 3, non-inferiority study

For second-line antiretroviral therapy, WHO recommends a boosted protease inhibitor plus nucleoside or nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs). However, concerns about toxicity and cross-resistance motivated a search for regimens that do not contain NRTIs. We aimed to assess whether boosted lopinavir plus raltegravir would be non-inferior to boosted lopinavir plus NRTIs for virological suppression in resource-limited settings

Exposure of Dentists to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Ibadan, Nigeria

To determine the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among dental patients and to assess dentists’ risk for exposure, we conducted a study among dental patients at a large tertiary hospital in Nigeria, a country where tuberculosis is endemic. Ten (13%) of 78 sputum samples obtained were positive for M. tuberculosis

Neurocognition with maraviroc compared with tenofovir in HIV

To determine whether maraviroc (MVC) has unique neurocognitive benefits in the context of initial antiretroviral therapy (ART)

Virologic Response, Early HIV-1 Decay, and Maraviroc Pharmacokinetics With the Nucleos(t)ide-Free Regimen of MaravIroc Plus Darunavir/Ritonavir in a Pilot Study

To address the need for nucleos(t)ide reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI)-sparing regimens, we explored the virologic and pharmacokinetic characteristics of maraviroc plus ritonavir-boosted darunavir in a single-arm, open-label, 96-week study