Cob Property Analysis

The goal of this project was to research the material properties of the green building material COB in order to better understand how to apply COB in real world applications. The research portion included soil analysis, compression, modulus of rupture and elasticity tests, hydrometer analysis, and atterberg limits tests. Additionally, through a partnership with the professionals of the COB Research Institute team and another COB-centric senior design group, this team was able to produce the first full-scale wall tests for COB. Four 7-foot walls were constructed and in-plane lateral cyclic loading was applied to create the effects of a COB structure under lateral loading. The results of the full-scale tests are in the process of being incorporated in the entry for COB into the California Residential Code, with a recommendation given for the reinforcing design that performed the best, through allowable load and deflection calculations. Finally, the team used a sample footprint for a simple house to develop structural house components for a COB structure that could benefit COB application in the real world. The simulated application of COB is helping the COB Research Institute formulate their submittal and ultimately provide a jumping off point for further research of this nature. The ultimate goal was to spread awareness of sustainable building practices and make them more accessible to the general public

Importance of Baseline Prognostic Factors With Increasing Time Since Initiation of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: Collaborative Analysis of Cohorts of HIV-1-Infected Patients

Background: The extent to which the prognosis for AIDS and death of patients initiating highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) continues to be affected by their characteristics at the time of initiation (baseline) is unclear. Methods: We analyzed data on 20,379 treatment-naive HIV-1- infected adults who started HAART in 1 of 12 cohort studies in Europe and North America (61,798 person-years of follow-up, 1844 AIDS events, and 1005 deaths). Results: Although baseline CD4 cell count became less prognostic with time, individuals with a baseline CD4 count 350 cells/μL (hazard ratio for AIDS = 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0 to 2.3; mortality hazard ratio = 2.5, 95% CI: 1.2 to 5.5, 4 to 6 years after starting HAART). Rates of AIDS were persistently higher in individuals who had experienced an AIDS event before starting HAART. Individuals with presumed transmission by means of injection drug use experienced substantially higher rates of AIDS and death than other individuals throughout follow-up (AIDS hazard ratio = 1.6, 95% CI: 0.8 to 3.0; mortality hazard ratio = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.2 to 5.5, 4 to 6 years after starting HAART). Conclusions: Compared with other patient groups, injection drug users and patients with advanced immunodeficiency at baseline experience substantially increased rates of AIDS and death up to 6 years after starting HAART