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The development of excellence in team sports such as rugby union is not yet fully understood and to date, the understanding of factors predicting progression in rugby is unknown. This thesis builds on the existing research exploring the multidisciplinary factors which underpin the development of excellence in sport (Doherty et al., 2018; Gulbin et al., 2013; Güllich et al., 2019; Lovell et al., 2017; Tribolet et al., 2018). In it we take a multidisciplinary approach to exploring the psychosocial factors important to the development of excellence in some of the best rugby union players in the world, the multidisciplinary factors which influence progression through the RFU's development pathway and the influence of personal factors on the efficacy of constraints-led training. The thesis consists of a general introduction (Chapter 1), four empirical studies (Chapters 2, 3 and 4), and a general discussion (Chapter 5). More specifically, Chapter 2 (Study 1) presents an in-depth qualitative investigation of the psychosocial factors underpinning success and development in rugby union. We conducted in-depth retrospective interviews (lasting 32 hours in total and producing over 300,000 words of text) with former world's best International male rugby union players (N = 5) and their nominated coaches (N = 5). Interviews covered early critical developmental experiences, personality, relationships, and training behaviours. Abductive thematic analysis revealed commonalities, which are discussed under three main headings: 1) Formative Experiences, 2) Personality, and 3) Training Behaviours. The findings from Study 1 suggest early negative experiences, particularly disruptions to parental relationships, and the realisation of insecure attachment, coupled with a positive sport related event, may underpin the drive and development of the necessary personality traits and behaviours to achieve excellence in rugby. Chapter 3 presents two longitudinal studies (Studies 2 and 3) which examined the factors predicting progression in rugby. We employed a multidisciplinary approach and using pattern recognition analysis we aimed to identify the psychosocial, demographic, and practice and training factors which differentiated between players who progressed, and players who failed to progress, at two key stages along the pathway, from U18's to U20's (Study 2) and from age grade rugby to the premiership (Study 3). Findings in these studies indicated that a variety of psychosocial, demographic, and practice and training factors were able to differentiate between groups who were and were not progressing. In particular, results indicated that players who progress at both stages undertook fewer hours of constraints-led practice suggesting there may currently be too much challenge and not enough support within practice at present. Further, in Study 2, those players progressing appeared to demonstrate a number of highly desirable psychosocial characteristics (e.g., mastery orientation, commitment to training), yet those progressing in Study 3 had a psychosocial profile that was potentially more challenging for coaches and managers to work with. In addition, findings suggest that the RFU may be using current performance as an indicator of future potential, which could present a risk to coaches and the RFU in the loss of talented players early in the pathway. Chapter 4 presents a study (Study 4) which explored the influence of avoidant attachment styles (dismissive and fearful) and ASD traits (systemising and empathy) on the effects of CL practice on progression through the RFU Development pathway. We re-used some of the data collected in Studies 2 and 3 but subjected these data to a different and comprehensive set of analyses to explore the research question. Findings revealed that increases in the percentage of CL practice were associated with greater decreases in the likelihood of progression when dismissive avoidant attachment was high than when it was low. Conversely, increases in CL practice predicted a greater increase in the likelihood of progression when fearful avoidant attachment was high, as opposed to when it was low. No interaction was found between systemising and CL practice in relation to progression. Finally, analyses revealed that lower levels of CL practice were associated with an increase in the likelihood of progression when empathy was high. These findings provide initial support for the suggestion that not all individuals will benefit from CL practice to the same extent and provide support to the notion that individual differences may influence the effects of certain training protocols on performance. A summary of the empirical findings from these four studies are then discussed in Chapter 5, along with the theoretical and applied implications of this research. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are also discussed.

Background: Bariatric surgery is considered an effective obesity management intervention for people with a BMI greater than 40 or 35 with comorbidities. However, studies show that weight regain is observed from 18-months post-operative, and pre-existing psychological problems persist post-operatively. There is a paucity of studies exploring post-operative psychosocial interventions for bariatric surgery patients exceeding 2-years. A recent systematic review suggests that an interdisciplinary post-operative approach is warranted. This exploratory qualitative study aimed to explore what psychosocial support bariatric surgery patients felt they needed from 18-months post-operative for sustaining long-term weight loss and psychological well-being. Methods: Fifteen bariatric surgery patients from 18-months to 12-years post-operative participated in recorded semi-structured interviews lasting 60-90 minutes, conducted online using ZoomTM, then transcribed verbatim and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: Three themes and six sub-themes were generated. Theme 1, Journey to surgery, has two sub-themes, Deep roots and Breaking point. Theme 2, The precipice of change, has two sub-themes, Continuity of care and Can't cut the problem out. Theme 3, Bridging the gap, has two sub-themes, Doing it together and Taking back the reigns. Findings suggest that participants had not considered psychological support for weight loss to address earlier trauma or eating behaviour before undergoing bariatric surgery. The inconsistencies they experienced in their pre-operative-and-post-operative care led to dissonance, and they felt unprepared for the demands of life post-operatively. However, over time, participants understood surgery was not a 'quick-fix' and change was a long-term process that required their commitment. Participants also shared their insights and preferences regarding what they envisioned as the ideal support package for bariatric surgery patients to facilitate long-term weight loss and psychological well-being. Conclusion: Bariatric surgery is a catalyst for physical change; however, surgery alone was insufficient to ensure sustained change for participants. This study suggests that surgical and psychosocial interventions are interdependent rather than mutually exclusive. Participants favoured an integrative, personalised, stepped-care approach pre-and-post-operatively, with active patient participation fostering autonomy, including online and social support, and access to ongoing support extending beyond 2-years, including payable services. In this context, psychosocial support involves collaborative partnerships between patients, their families, communities and healthcare providers. Overall, participants aspired for independence and readiness for life beyond services. Future studies are needed to systematically explore participants' preferences for support while revisiting the potential of pre-operative interventions and investigating the gaps identified in this study.

This thesis describes the author's journey as a researcher, a practicing pharmacist, and a leader and how they have delivered on the principles of medicines optimisation (MO). The first two chapters of the thesis provide a background on the author's career, areas of research interest, introduction to the literature and an overview of the research methodologies utilised. The thesis then proceeds to focus on the author's three key research themes of improving the quality of medicines reconciliation (MR) at hospital admission and at transfer of care, ensuring the safe and effective use of medicines in patients with mental health and learning disabilities and embedding the principles of MO through a multidisciplinary team (MDT) approach. On the theme of MR, the author undertook one of the largest studies of its kind that provided an in depth understanding of the quality of medicines related information provided at discharge from hospital and how this information was acted upon in primary care. The author also developed a best practice resource and toolkit for MR that was endorsed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) which has been widely used nationally to improve the quality of MR at hospital admission. On the theme of mental health and learning disabilities, the author has developed and evaluated new innovative roles for pharmacists that have been cited as exemplar models for other organisations to follow, scoped opportunities for pharmacists and other health professionals to improve the physical health of people with a severe mental illness (SMI) and promoted the role of pharmacy in mental health practice. On the theme of embedding the principles of MO through a MDT approach, the author's collaborative leadership style is described throughout the thesis and is reflected in the breadth of professional journals that the author has published in. The scope of this theme was to empower collaborative working between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to optimise MO and therefore patients' health outcomes. In conclusion, the thesis demonstrates the author's contribution to the MO agenda at a local, regional, and national level and how they translated strategic policy decisions into operational deliverables through a collaborative leadership style. It clearly outlines the importance of research and collaborative working to develop practical solutions and tools for wider implementation of MO and MR across care pathways to enhance medication safety.

This thesis expands on the current expertise development literature building upon previous research in the field (Güllich et al., 2019; Jones et al., 2019). It aims to highlight problems associated with identification in talent systems and looks to undertake multidisciplinary and prospective research to gather insight into sport specific nuances in talent development. It is the first research of its kind to longitudinally and prospectively examine all multidisciplinary factors relevant to talent development within individual sports. This thesis contains six chapters, four of which are empirical studies. Chapter 1 critically reviews the relevant literature relevant to talent identification and development (TID) specifically: the underpinnings of "talent"; the problem with talent identification; talent development models and approaches; and influential factors in athlete TID. This chapter addresses the empirical limitations of previous TID research providing rationale for this thesis. These discussions are centred around the lack of longitudinal, multidisciplinary, and prospective research that examines sports as individual entities providing us with a framework for our research. Chapter 2 explores the relative age effect in gymnastics and takes a novel approach emphasised by Jones et al. (2018) by further examining the prevalence of intra-sport differences. Poisson regression analysis indicated no relative age effect in the full sample of elite, international, women's artistic gymnasts but an effect that manifested when analysing apparatus independently. Our results identified that relatively younger gymnasts were 27% and 21% more likely to make major international beam and vault finals respectively. Our findings can be attributed to the influence of self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton, 1948) upon coach and gymnast expectations, as well as the technical mechanisms underpinning skill development involved in the underdog hypothesis (Gibbs et al., 2012). This chapter adds to the limited research base surrounding the influence of the RAE in gymnastics, whilst also being the first study to our knowledge to examine the differences of apparatus specialism. Chapter 3 presents three studies that seek to develop the Athlete Psychosocial Survey (APS), a brief profiling tool gauging athletes' scores on psycho-social factors influencing elite performance. The first two studies consisted of item generation and instrument construction, with initial analysis confirming the preliminary concurrent and convergent validity of the measure. The third study utilised a novel analytical strategy and provided evidence for the predictive validity of the APS with the ability to discriminate between two samples of high- and low- level hockey players with 87% accuracy. The practicality of our measure means that coaches and practitioners can gauge many psychosocial constructs pertinent to athlete development and readily incorporate them into their talent development programmes. This in turn aids the progression of talent development systems by enabling the integration of multiple perspectives alongside greater athlete insight for coaches and practitioners than what is currently available. Chapter 4 takes a longitudinal, prospective, and multidisciplinary approach to talent development within canoe sprint. Data was collected over a period of 18 months and analysed using state of the art machine learning analysis. Following this an 11-feature model was identified consisting of multidisciplinary variables that could discriminate between high- and low- potential athletes with 79% accuracy. Specifically, this chapter highlighted the interactive influence of an athlete's early developmental experiences, the microstructure of practice, and their ability to cope with challenge on their development. The results of this chapter were discussed with a working group of British Canoeing managers, coaches, and support staff to enhance the interpretation of the findings and provide recommendations going forward. Chapter 5 followed on from a quantitative, multidisciplinary investigation of factors relevant to the development of canoe slalom athletes and qualitatively examined the psychosocial factors and experiences that underpinned an athlete's developmental journey. Taking a critical realist approach, we built upon Hardy et al.'s (2017) findings and undertook semi-structured interviews with four pathway level athletes. Seven themes from our data emerged as influential to athlete progression specifically: (a) early developmental experiences, (b) relationship with sport, (c) personality, (d) ongoing developmental experiences, (e) athlete behaviors, (f) support networks, and (g) pressure zone and emotion regulation. Our findings add to the broader knowledge base surrounding the psychosocial processes underpinning the development of elite athletes whilst also providing important implications for applied practice. Chapter 6 is a general discussion and compiles of the main findings from this thesis. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications that emerge from this research and propose future research directions to advance this research further. Finally, Chapter 7 presents examples of the dissemination and impact work completed alongside this thesis.

This thesis takes an approach that combines discursive psychology, conversation analysis and ethnography to explore how collaboration works in practice. Clinical guidance refers to collaboration as the chosen form of teamwork for multidisciplinary teams (MDT). Professionals in intellectual (learning) disability (I(L)D) services are advised by NHS England to collaborate in MDTs to address the multiple and complex needs of clients. However, clinical guidance for healthcare professionals uses the term collaboration without explaining what collaboration might look like. Previous research on collaboration focuses on the barriers and facilitators to collaboration, again treating collaboration as a concept that does not need explanation or exploration. The aim of this thesis was to explore collaboration, walking the line between producing high quality conversation analysis whilst making meaningful findings that are needed by healthcare professionals. The findings were framed by their clinical, relational and organisational domain, as these areas have previously been highlighted as important to healthcare professionals (Smart et al., 2018). Three I(L)D teams participated in the research. The researcher spent a one-week observation period, and ran three interviews with professionals from each team (a total of nine), to get a background on the day to day lives of the teams. 12.5 hours of team meetings were recorded for analysis. Analysis of the I(L)D teams' interactions focused on three collaboration practices, arranged using the framework of clinical, relational and organisational domains. In the clinical domain, potential risk issues were found to be raised as concerns by healthcare professionals. If healthcare professionals raised the concern as their own opinion, early in a discussion, team members gave space in the meeting to hear the issue and provided advice. In the relational domain, laughter was observed to be used by team members to demonstrate orientation to playframe and to soften trouble in interaction. Embedded laughter that occurred did not divert the focus of the meeting and was explored for its relational role. In the organisational domain, orientation to professional identity was used to negotiate tasks, particularly when resisting proposed task allocation. Using professional identity to successfully claim deontic authority allowed the delicate management of conflict in task negotiations. All together these practices begin to uncover how healthcare professionals do collaboration. They demonstrate how power and authority is managed between professionals in MDTs to get work done, how they can use the limited moments in meetings to feel part of a team, and how the team can be used to share responsibility when making risk decisions. All these practices address key issues that are specific for I(L)D MDTs. Although they have been situated in a framework that splits clinical, relational and organisational domains, the individual practices are not limited to a single domain. However, the framework can help healthcare professionals understand and apply the findings to their own practice, both as a reflective tool and as strategies that they could implement.

Background: Older people with mental health needs are at risk of not having their needs met in acute care settings. An ageing society with rising numbers of older people will present challenges to care provision in the Emergency Medical Services to this vulnerable group of people particularly when staff are trying to provide person-centred care. Aim: The aim of the study was to describe and analyse attendance trends and explore the care experience of older people with mental health needs in pre-hospital and in-hospital Emergency Medical Services settings. Method: This study has used a sequential mixed methods design. Stage one was a quantitative retrospective exploration of National Health Service data on emergency department attendances in Northern Ireland. This online chart data was analysed using descriptive, correlational and inferential statistics. Stage two utilised an interpretive qualitative approach incorporating in-depth, individual interviews to gather information on the experience of the EMS staff, the older person with mental health needs and carers/partners. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's (2006) thematic analysis. Results: 74,766 attendances were examined in stage one and significant differences were found in the experiences of the total sample of all older people and the sub-sample of older people with mental health needs. Interviews were completed with Emergency Medical Services staff (n=21), older people with mental health needs (n=10) and with carers/partners (n=5). Themes surrounding support, time, the environment, prioritisation of care needs, perceptions and experiences of older people with mental health needs and planning for the future were illuminated. Conclusions: The results suggest that older people with mental health needs experience an inequality of care provision in the Emergency Medical Services setting. They wait longer than the older person without mental health needs, rely heavily on the ambulance service and experience loneliness and isolation. Stigma still exists for the older person and they remain reluctant to discuss or disclose their diagnosis in the Emergency Medical Services setting. Health and social care systems and services need to undergo transformations to ensure that all people who access services are treated fairly and effectively.

The UK has committed to deep, long-term reductions in national greenhouse gas emissions as part of a global effort to address climate change. Material efficiency, reducing the material inputs per service output, has long been identified as a globally underexplored mitigation strategy. Previous studies show unrealised technical potential to improve the efficiency of steel use, a large contributor of industry emissions, in the UK. This thesis explores why these opportunities may be unrealised along the steel supply chain.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has long been promoted as a means of reducing reliance on pesticide inputs as compared to conventional farming systems. Reduced pesticide application could be beneficial due to the links between intensive pesticide use and negative impacts upon biodiversity and human health as well as the development of pesticide resistance. Work assessing the potential of IPM in cereal production is currently limited, however, and previous findings have generally covered the subject from the perspective of either field trial data or social science studies of farmer behaviour. This thesis attempts to help to address this knowledge gap by providing a more holistic assessment of IPM in Scottish spring barley production (selected because of its dominance in Scotland’s arable production systems), in relation to three of its most damaging fungal pathogens: Rhynchosporium commune, Blumeria graminis f.sp. hordei, and Ramularia collo-cygni. Several IPM techniques of potential relevance to the sector were identified, and the prospects of three in particular – crop rotation, varietal disease resistance, and forecasting disease pressure – were assessed in several ways. Preliminary analysis of experimental field trial data collected from 2011 – 2014 across Scotland found that the majority of spring barley trials in this period (65%) did not show a statistically significant impact of fungicide treatment on yield, with the average yield increase due to fungicide application being 0.62 t/ha. This initial analysis was expanded upon using stepwise regressions of long-term (1996 – 2014) field trial data from the same dataset. Here, the difference between treated and untreated yields could be explained by disease resistance, average seasonal rainfall (whereby wetter seasons saw an increased impact of fungicide use on yield), and high combined disease severity. Stakeholder surveying provided information about current practice and attitudes towards the selected IPM techniques amongst a group of 43 Scottish spring barley farmers and 36 agronomists. Stakeholders were broadly open to taking up IPM measures on farm; sowing of disease resistant varieties was most frequently selected as the best technique in terms of both practicality and cost, though individual preference varied. However, a disparity was seen between farmer perception of their uptake of IPM and actual, self-reported uptake for both varietal disease resistance and rotation. Farmers and agronomists also overestimated the impact of fungicide use as compared with the field trials results – the majority of stakeholders believed fungicide treatment to increase yields by 1 - 2 t/ha, while the majority of 2011 – 2014 field trials had a yield difference of under 1 t/ha. The reasons behind these differences between perception and practice are not currently known. Finally, an annual survey of commercial crops, gathered from 552 farms across Scotland (from 2009 – 2015), highlighted two gaps where IPM practice could be improved upon. Firstly, relatively few of the varieties listed in the commercial crops database were highly resistant to the three diseases – 26.1% were highly resistant to Ramularia, 14.2% to Rhynchosporium, and 58.1% to mildew. Secondly, 71% of the farms included in the database had planted barley in at least two consecutive seasons, indicating that crop rotation practices could be improved. The overarching finding of this project is that there is scope for IPM uptake to be improved upon and fungicide use to be reduced while maintaining high levels of yield in Scottish spring barley production. Incorporating experimental field data, stakeholder surveying, and commercial practice data offered a unique view into the potential for IPM in this sector, and provided insights which could not have been gained through the lens of a single discipline.

Ocean acidification and warming have been shown to affect a wide range of marine organisms and impact assemblages and ecosystems. Many of the species experiencing negative biological effects provide valuable ecosystem services, yet it is unclear how these biological effects will affect ecosystem services provision. This thesis aimed to appraise the consequences of ocean acidification and warming on important shellfish species, from physiology to provision of ecosystem services, using a multidisciplinary approach. The responses to ocean acidification and warming of two ecologically and commercially important species of oysters – the native European Flat oyster Ostrea edulis, and the non-native Pacific oyster Magallana gigas – were assessed in laboratory mesocosms following long-term exposures to a range of scenarios predicted for 2050 and 2100. Oysters provide numerous ecosystem services, including improvement of water quality, reef formation, and food provision, but are at risks from ocean acidification and other stressors due to negative impacts occurring at multiple life-stages and threatening reef maintenance and functioning (Chapter 1). The physiology of adult oysters appeared susceptible to ocean acidification and warming, with evident sub-lethal effects (Chapter 2). Magallana gigas experienced a greater degree of stress than O. edulis, displaying increased Standard Metabolic Rate, reduced Clearance Rate, and poorer Condition Indices. Reductions in Clearance Rates of M. gigas are especially concerning and may have important ecological impacts by limiting their ability to improve water quality in the future. The physiological changes experienced by individual oysters held important implications for the functioning of the reefs through changes in predation resistance. Again, M. gigas appeared to undergo more pronounced changes than O. edulis, displaying increased muscle strength but weakened shell strength. These changes are expected to alter its susceptibility to predators and influence community level interactions. Both O. edulis and M. gigas also underwent important changes to their biochemical composition with trends for impoverished nutritional quality, which holds direct implications on the provision of sea food. In particular, M. gigas contained lower lipid, carbohydrate, and protein levels, but higher contaminant concentration (copper); this change holds concerns for both future food security and future food safety. It was apparent that the physiological stress experienced (Chapter 2), led to significant energy reallocation from somatic growth to metabolism by depleting energetic reserves (Chapter 4), at the detriment of its nutritional quality. No negative effects on the eating quality of M. gigas (appearance, aroma, texture, taste, and overall acceptability) were recorded following a short-term exposure to ocean acidification and warming (Chapter 5), which was considered positive for the aquaculture sector. In order to secure future food provision and economic revenue, the UK aquaculture industry might need to reconsider its management strategy in the future, and encourage the production and consumption of O. edulis, in addition to the already popular M. gigas. It is clear that the impacts of ocean acidification and warming on oysters are multifaceted and occurring at multiple scales and levels of organisation. The risks to oysters and oyster reefs appear species-specific; in the UK, introduced M. gigas may be more vulnerable than native O. edulis. To secure benefits and minimise costs related to the management of introduced species, these findings could be integrated into the current management and conservation measures in place for these species and the reefs they can form.

This thesis presents an observation of the designed development process of a train cab front cleaning robot that was demonstrated by building a scaled prototype which was presented during the robotics and autonomous systems dissemination event held by RRUKA. The design process consisted of the systems, mechanical, and software designs which were completed in a multidisciplinary engineering project. Self-reflective observation was conducted to identify problems in decision making, lack of expertise which led to delays, cost increase of the project. The challenges of a multidisciplinary academic design project were addressed during the integration phase when all the system came together in order to build the robot. The problems faced during the project were categorised into external, managerial, logistical, and design issues, which were in turn analysed through.

Background: Effective communication is key to team working in healthcare. It can be negatively impacted upon by existing cultures, logistical challenges, role confusion, and a lack of collaborative approaches to practice. Clinical guidelines recommend using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to aid communication within stroke teams. Yet no empirical evidence exists on the process or outcomes of such implementation. Aims: This project aimed to explore ways the ICF could be used with an acute stroke service and identify key learning from the implementation process. Methods: Using an action research framework, iterative cycles were used within exploratory, innovatory and reflective phases. Content analysis was used to map patient notes’ entries to ICF categories. Thematic analysis was undertaken, using a model of immersion and crystallisation, on data generated via interview and focus group, e-mail communications, minutes from meetings, field notes and a reflective diary. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative questionnaire data. Data from all sources were combined to determine key findings. Findings: Participants chose to develop an ICF-based team transfer of care report with an ICF glossary to aid completion. Five overall themes were determined; the need to: (1) adopt the ICF in ways that met local service needs; and (2) adapt the ICF language and format. Once implemented, the ICF: (3) fostered communication within and beyond the stroke team; (4) promoted holistic thinking; and (5) helped to clarify team roles. Conclusions: These are the first empirical findings within stroke services that demonstrate how to make the ICF a clinical reality. Participants needed to adapt and own the ICF to adopt it. When implemented, it enabled specific team communication challenges to be overcome. The use of action research to implement the ICF has facilitated sustained change and improvements to communication, thus benefiting patient care.

Today, the air transport industry has become an essential element of global society by its great contributions to the wide exchanges of cultures/people and to the rapid growth in the world economy. However, on the other hand, the adverse impacts on the environment caused by air transport, such as air pollution, noise and climate change, are drawing, increasingly, growing public concern. In order to address the steady growth in air-travel demand in the next decades through an environmentally-friendly way and realise the ACARE 2020 environmental goals, The Clean Sky programme has been launched by European Union over the period 2008 – 2013. The project research, described in this thesis and sponsored by the Clean Sky programme, aims at evaluating the feasibility of reducing the environmental impact of commercial aviation through the introduction of changes in the aircraft operational rules and procedures, as well as the application of the new-generation propfan (open rotor) engine, based on flight trajectory multidisciplinary optimisation and analysis of commercial aircraft. In order to accomplish the above research objectives, a complete methodology to achieve and realise optimum flight trajectories has been initially proposed. Then, 12 component-level models which function as simulating different disciplines, such as aircraft performance, engine performance, engine gaseous emission, and flight noise, have been developed or selected/adopted. Further, nine system-level integration and optimisation models were built. These system-level models simulate flights from Amsterdam Schiphol airport in the Netherlands to Munich airport in Germany flown by different types of aircraft through different flight phases with different optimisation objectives. Finally, detailed investigations into the flight trajectory optimisations were performed, extensive optimisation results were achieved and corresponding description, analysis and comparisons were provided. The main contributions of this work to knowledge broadly comprise the following: 1) the further development regarding the methodology of flight trajectory multidisciplinary optimisation; 2) previous work on aircraft trajectory optimisation has often considered fixed objectives over the complete flight trajectory. This research focused on representative flight phases of a flight mission with different optimisation objectives, namely, noise impact and fuel burn during the departure phase; fuel burn and flight time during en route phase; and noise impact and NOx emission during the arrival phase; 3) this research has extended the current flight trajectory optimisations to turboprop and propfan equipped aircraft. As a result, a relative complete 2D flight trajectory multidisciplinary optimisation spectrum, spanned by primary commercial aircraft types, primary flight phases and primary optimisation objectives of interest, has been built. Although encouraging progress have been achieved, this project research, as with any other research activity, is also only ‘on the way’ rather than coming to the ‘end’ point. There are still many aspects which can be improved further and there is still much new research and exploration which can be investigated further. All these have also been suggested in this thesis.

This research addressed change management and learning in a multidisciplinary addictions chronic care environment in order to prepare for shared care planning within an electronic health record. It used a Developmental Work Research approach and was able to use insights from Bernstein’s theory of knowledge structures, Bakhtin’s work on social language and a Critical Realism approach to address weaknesses in the base Activity Theory approach. In these ways problems concerning fragmented, demarcated silo working across clinical and non-clinical addictions services could be examined. The objective of the study was to identify tensions and contradictions in working environments and to engage multidisciplinary workers in a collaborative change laboratory environment via the use of co-configuration and expansive learning. The working group examined past and current practice and were able to formulate new forms of practice, based on the use of a shared care plan tool, to address identified problems and national policy aims. It was able to use the aforementioned theoretical insights to illuminate the multiple utility of the shared care plan tool as a pedagogic device. This enabled the production of new practice possibilities, paradigms and planning to be undertaken, and the consideration of these within the context of ‘real time’ multidisciplinary activity within a forthcoming national IT system. This research has explored, identified and formulated new practice to improve multidisciplinary working between clinical and non-clinical workers across diverse sectors. This will have significant health and cost benefit gains for clients, workers and organisations as well as translating policy aims into effective practice. The next stage will be to manage the roll-out of the forthcoming IT system using the theoretical and methodological developments crafted in this research endeavour.

This thesis seeks to demonstrate that the new facilities of Web of Science (WoS) online can be used in new ways to enhance understanding of scholarly communication. It investigates four aspects of scholarly communication: characteristics of highly cited articles, citation levels of collaborative articles, citation levels of multi-disciplinary articles, and patterns of annual citation of highly cited articles. For the first two topics it investigates the WoS category of ‘Information Science & Library Science’ (IS&LS), whereas for the other topics it compares diverse WoS categories in science and social science. Although its main data source is WoS, its investigation of disciplinarity also uses Scopus. The thesis finds: (a) Highly cited IS&LS articles tend to be multidisciplinary and cited late, but are not necessarily first-authored by influential IS&LS researchers, (b) Amongst un-cite IS&LS articles the proportion of collaborative articles has remained almost constant over the past three decades whereas for higher cited articles it has grown steadily with time, (C) In social science subjects the level of citation of multi-disciplinary research are generally similar to that of mono-disciplinary research, whereas in science the citations levels for multi-disciplinary research are substantially lower than that of mono-disciplinary research, and (d) In both science and social science many very highly cited articles continue to be heavily cited more than twenty years after publication. This thesis also introduces and uses an indicator for measuring the extent of collaboration called ‘average partner scores’ and indicates a way in which the subject categories of WoS can be investigated without requiring a licence for the WoS database. Finally, it identifies and addresses some of the technical problems of using WoS online to investigate scholarly communication.

The rights and obligations of States concerning their shared transboundary groundwates are not fully understood. The primary reasons for this are the complex characteristics and behaviours of groundwater, and the lack of full understanding of its interconnection with the surrounding environment. Consequently, States appear to be reluctant in concluding legally binding arrangements that specifically address this topic. This complexity is further intensified under difficult political situations, whereby the Parties sharing groundwater are unable to foresee the benefits of cooperation concerning this resource. This thesis represents an inquiry into the rules and principles governing the utilization of shared transboundary groundwater, and how cooperative frameworks can be initiated implemented, in the complex political context of the Mountain Aquifer shared between Israel and Palestine. The main objective of this thesis is to achieve an integrative mutually beneficial arrangement in the case of the Mountain Aquifer, based on lessons learnt from international law. The proposal for approaching the problem within the Palestinian-Israeli context is to progressively establish a solid basis for long-term sustainable arrangements. The progressive approach starts with a non-binding flexible arrangement that can serve the short-term need, which gradually builds up into a final legally binding arrangement based on international law.

My thesis titled, The Spaces in Between, is a series of essays and multidisciplinary works that center around connection through the process of writing from the body and explore places of liminality in the human experience, particularly of a female identifying human. The works within this collection highlight personal reflections and stories of connection to other people, identities, place, nature, body, time, and space through nonlinear journeys of discovery.

Research is emerging relating sleep hygiene to disease pathogenesis including Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and increased cardiovascular risk. The application of circadian science as it relates to human wellness has intensified as a result. The quality of sleep significantly impacts the wellness of residents living in long term care, however sleep hygiene research is lacking in assisted living (AL) communities. The thesis question inquires; How can operation and design teams collaborate to optimize sleep health for residents in assisted living communities? The research methodology utilized a two-phase process. Phase I identified three AL communities as test sites, providing case studies and cross-analysis of each site’s circadian related design and operation procedures. Phase II surveyed both teams of each community to gauge each discipline’s understanding of sleep hygiene and interventions to promote optimal circadian entrainment. LED lighting systems that mimic the solar cycle are in use by design teams in AL settings, as a therapeutic modality. The research results reveal a higher level of training in circadian science recorded by the design teams, yet the collaboration between the teams occurred primarily during the Program Phase of the project with little involvement of front-line operation teams. As buildings became operational, design teams exited the project decreasing collaborative opportunity. The operation teams’ response revealed poor sleep contributing to undesirable behavior, but they were less aware of circadian interventions. Of the four circadian lighting interventions (spectrum, timing, duration, photic history), design professionals have more control over the spectrum and timing categories, based on the specification and location of lighting, but the operation team impacts resident exposure to light and dark, and the 24-hour photic history of the residents. This dual responsibility for geriatric sleep health necessitates the two teams’ collaboration. Enhancing sleep hygiene awareness has the potential to better resident quality of life leading to longer stays, fewer hospital transfers, and reduced stress on the care providers. Advisors: Lindsey Bahe and Christopher M. Kelly

Despite the evidence that supports the benefits of a holistic, collaborative approach to autism intervention, but there is little training to teach those skills to professionals. Behavior analysts working in applied settings will often partner with different individuals from very different backgrounds and disciplines. Skilled Dialogue has been recommended as an approach to conversations that values everyone's contributions in fostering compassionate, collaborative, and culturally responsive care to benefit the children served. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training workshop to teach the concept and strategies of skilled dialogue to behavior analysts in training. The participants were taught and practiced using the six strategies of Skilled Dialogue: welcoming, allowing, sense-making, appreciating, joining, and harmonizing through use of instructions, rationales, activities, simulations, and feedback. The success of the training was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across training components. Audio and video responses to role-play scenarios were recorded, transcribed, and scored to measure the results of the training workshop on communication skills. The results suggested that the training workshop was an effective method to teaching future behavior analysts how to engage in the strategies and components of skilled dialogue, increasingly the likelihood of collaborative, and children centered communication and care.

Experiential Graphic Design (EGD) is a multidisciplinary design field that is rarely found in post-secondary design education. Entry-level Experiential Graphic Designers typically face a steep learning curve when they enter the EGD field because they need specific skills, knowledge, and personal attributes to design for the built environment. The entry-level position is open to multidisciplinary backgrounds, but an interdisciplinary mindset is necessary for success. Implementing the EGD discipline into post-secondary design education would better prepare entry-level designers to meet today’s design challenges and provide students with greater awareness of skills and attributes needed for a career in the EGD field.This case study uses a mixed method convergent design approach to gather qualitative and quantitative data from a questionnaire to fully understand the entry-level Experiential Graphic Design position. Ten industry professionals are recruited through convenience sampling and purposive sampling for the participant’s experience level. From the qualitative and quantitative data gathering, data analysis is conducted using data screening, the structural coding method, and the Designers’ Professional Identity framework. An interdisciplinary Experiential Design (EXD) certificate program is designed for post-secondary education, at the University of Cincinnati, with four components — the Society of Experiential Graphic Design’s (SEGD) Core Competencies, mentorship, reflective practices, and the Designers’ Professional Identity (DPI) framework. These components are the foundation of the EXD program and are used to create the five courses and one co-operative (co-op) experience that meets the needs of the entry-level experiential graphic design position. This EXD certificate program can educate students on leveraging relationships, interactions, and the interconnection of people, places, and artifacts that comprise an experiential graphic designer’s practice.

Ethnic Studies (ES) is the study of history, practices, and contributions of people of color and their descendants. Ethnic Studies has emerged as an academic discipline resulting from social activist groups of the late 1950s, and, subsequent student activism of the 1960s. In ways that were planned and improvised, Black scholar activists along with the Third World Liberation Front (TWLF) fashioned the need for the development of curricula that provided an alternative to the traditional Eurocentric focus in many academic fields. An inquiry into the origin of Ethnic Studies at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) qualifies in general some African Americans’ responses to education in the U.S. and specifically at the first school to have ES in the state of Ohio. Alliances between activist student groups and individuals of diverse backgrounds led to the formation and development of a new academic discipline, Ethnic Studies at BGSU beginning in May 1970. The development of Ethnic Studies programming and curricula at BGSU emerged from a coalition of student activists advocating for Black Studies. BGSU’s department is among the oldest in the nation focusing on interdisciplinary studies of race. African Americans organizing and sustaining Ethnic Studies at BGSU brought academic and artistic value and distinction to them and to the institution.

Designers are increasingly using their unique skills and tools to find innovative solutions to the wicked social problems our day. Through design processes, we aim to make much-needed systemic changes by engaging the very communities that have experienced harm. While we want to make positive social change, but design education and continuing education must teach designers to address the social and emotional needs of design research participants and collaborators. The emerging conversation around trauma-informed design aims to give designers more tools to support a nonextractive approach to co-design in social impact settings. Social designers are already laying a strong foundation for trauma-informed de- sign practices as they inform other practitioners about how trauma impacts design work and how to become a more informed and inclusive designer. However, there are few case studies to reference when designers begin the process of becoming trauma-informed. Through collaborative work with Convergence Design Lab in Chicago, IL this work aims to fill this gap. During an eight-month process, I workede closely with these social designers to explore the use of new tools that combined strategies from design and social work. After three research phases that included observation, collaborative trauma-informed interviewing, and three design workshops, I observed the potential of trauma-informed approaches to de- sign practice. While this case study shows that trauma-informed design has strong potential to inform and improve upon the practices of social designers, it also displays the challenges of this multidisciplinary effort and offers recommendations for future work.

A novel approach to parameterize and solve for optimal satellite attitude state trajectories is presented. The optimal trajectories are parameterized using fuzzy inference systems (FISs), and the FISs are optimized using a genetic algorithm. Eight different constrained optimization problems are solved. The objective of each optimization problem is either battery charge maximization, link margin (equivalent to antenna gain) maximization, or experiment temperature minimization. All optimization problems consider reaction wheel angular velocity and reaction wheel angular acceleration constraints, and five of the optimization problems consider either battery charge constraints, antenna gain constraints, or both battery charge and antenna gain constraints. Reaction wheel constraints are satisfied using an attitude state filter at the output of the FISs and an optimal magnetic torque / reaction wheel desaturation algorithm, the design of both of which is presented herein. Optimal attitude state trajectory, or attitude profile, FISs are compared with a nominal attitude profile. It is shown that, while the nominal attitude profile offers good performance with respect to both battery charge and link margin, the optimal attitude profile FISs are able to outperform the nominal profile with respect to all objectives, and a minimum temperature attitude profile FIS is able to achieve average experiment temperatures 30–40 K lower than the nominal attitude profile. The attitude state trajectory optimization solutions presented in this work are motivated by the needs and constraints of the CryoCube-1 mission. Because this work is integral to the functionality of the CryoCube-1 satellite system, the effort taken to successfully build, test, deliver, launch, and deploy this CubeSat is detailed. The intent of providing this systems view is to provide the context necessary to understand exactly how the attitude state trajectory optimization results were used within the satellite system.

This research focuses on the development and testing of a geometrically-parameterized, multi-fidelity, multidisciplinary model of the efficient supersonic air vehicle (ESAV), for multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization (MDAO) purposes. Multidisciplinary features include coupled rigid aerodynamics, flap controls, aero-structural, and therefore aeroelastic capabilities. The model has been verified through grid convergence studies, flow condition sweeps, and various design space studies. The rigid aerodynamics of the model have been validated with subsonic wind tunnel data. The low-fidelity rigid aerodynamics and flap controls are modeled with panel-methods in ASTROS, and the high-fidelity rigid aerodynamics and flap controls are modeled with inviscid Euler analysis using FUN3D. The low-fidelity aero-structural analysis is performed with ASTROS, and the high-fidelity aero-structural analysis uses modal analysis in ASTROS and the resulting modes and displacements are transferred to FUN3D for an inviscid aeroelastic analysis. The rigid aerodynamic and flap controls models have been set up to be connected to a multi-fidelity gradient-based optimizer and results of optimization studies are presented.

Trauma care across the globe has evolved greatly over the years. However, trauma remains a major contributor to morbidity and mortality as the third leading cause of death in the United States. It also accounts for a considerable portion of healthcare costs. In light of this, and in order to reduce its adverse impacts, appropriate and effective management is necessary. Emergency Medicine, Trauma Surgery, Interventional Radiology and many other specialties contribute to the acute care of patients in the setting of trauma. Other areas of medicine have shown that a clearly outlined multidisciplinary approach to management can lead to better outcomes and shorter hospital stays, specifically where it pertains to rapid response situations. Interventional Radiology has been found to be effective in managing trauma patients presenting with abdominopelvic injury but a clear approach to when they should be involved has yet to be developed. In fact, studies have shown that precise decision making regarding surgical versus non-operative management of trauma patients is essential to providing appropriate care and improving patient outcomes. In order to accomplish this, Interventional Radiology and Trauma Surgery need to have a prompt, active and collaborative dialogue when patients present with such injuries. A description and analysis of the current approach to management of patients with abdominopelvic trauma and subsequent outcomes at a Level 1 Trauma Center will provide valuable insight into how to establish a protocol that could lead to better selection of minimally invasive interventions and in turn improved patient outcomes.

This paper presents a user-centered methodology to co-design and co-evaluate wearables that has been developed following a research-through design methodology. It has been based on the principles of human–computer interaction and on an empirical case entitled “Design and Development of a Low-Cost Wearable Glove to Track Forces Exerted by Workers in Car Assembly Lines” published in Sensors. Insights from both studies have been used to develop the wearable co-design domino presented in this study. The methodology consists of different design stages composed of an ideation stage, digital service development and test stages, hardware development and test stage, and a final test stage. The main conclusions state that it is necessary to maintain a close relationship between human factors and technical factors when designing wearable. Additionally, through the several studies, it has been concluded that there is need of different field experts that should co-design and co-evaluate wearable iteratively and involving users from the beginning of the process.

Patients with non-arthritic hip pain (NAHP) may not be appropriately prepared to make informed treatment decisions. Patients with NAHP who present to a hip preservation clinic have already seen a handful of providers and experienced prolonged pain lasting an average of three years. Common treatments include physical therapy and surgery, with only three published comparative trials. Evaluation and decisional support from each discipline for these treatments may improve the decision-making process for patients by reducing decisional conflict and increasing patient satisfaction. Ultimately, more informed treatment planning may assist patients to achieve optimal outcomes. The overall objective of this project was to assess the feasibility of an interdisciplinary shared decision-making process for patients, physicians, and physical therapists to select treatment for NAHP.Aim 1 identified barriers and facilitators to implement an interdisciplinary shared decision-making model in a hip preservation clinic. The results of this aim indicated that patients were interested in participation to support research efforts, but were also interested in multiple-provider care, specifically including a physical therapist. Patients reported time as a participation barrier, but time was not a barrier for clinicians to conduct the interdisciplinary evaluation. All participants assigned to the interdisciplinary group completed their evaluations, despite increased time. Interdisciplinary evaluation by physical therapists and orthopaedic surgeons may not always be feasible in-person as part of a hip preservation clinic. Remote, coordinated collaboration may be of interest (and benefit) to patients with NAHP.Aim 2 evaluated the extent to which an interdisciplinary evaluation between a physical therapist and surgeon influenced treatment decisions of persons presenting to a hip preservation clinic for NAHP. The decision to include physical therapy in the final treatment plan did not differ between participants who received an interdisciplinary evaluation compared to those who received a standard evaluation. Interdisciplinary evaluation appeared to have the largest effect on physical therapy treatment decisions for patients who were not initially interested in physical therapy. Consultation with a physical therapist may increase knowledge and understanding of potential physical therapy benefits for patients with NAHP. The addition of a physical therapist to the evaluation did not further reduce or increase decisional conflict of patients, which significantly reduced for both groups. Providers should consider if, and why, a patient may be conflicted and consider his or her treatment preferences in the joint decision-making process.Aim 3 investigated factors that contributed to treatment pathway for persons with NAHP after evaluation in a hip preservation clinic. Participant experience with physical therapy was the only category that significantly predicted inclusion of physical therapy in the final treatment plan. Significant predictors included interest in physical therapy prior to evaluation, interdisciplinary evaluation that included a physical therapist, and lack of previous physical therapy. Physical therapists clearly impact treatment plans of patients with NAHP presenting to a surgical clinic and should be included in treatment planning for patients who may benefit from physical therapy treatment.Overall, interdisciplinary evaluation with a physical therapist and orthopaedic surgeon is feasible, and impactful for patients with NAHP considering physical therapy treatment.

The strategies for thermal regulation and environmental control found in nature are countless. In this article, a parallelism between animals and building energy systems is defined in order to identify and emphasize the immediate opportunities that biomimicry offers for future research. The motivation was the need to find alternative solutions to tackle problems mainly in the efficiency of heating, ventilation and cooling systems. Due to the wide range of possibilities offered by animals, this study is largely limited to the strategies that cold-blooded animals have developed through evolutionary adaptation to the environment. The method used for the analysis is based on a solution-based approach. Firstly, different animal thermoregulation strategies are defined (biological domain). Then the strategy is analyzed and classified into three categories. This classification is essential in order to formulate the parallelism with building systems (transfer phase). The final step is to identify the potential implementation (technological domain). This approach has been seen to be useful in creating new research opportunities based on biomimicry. In addition, suitable solutions arising from multidisciplinary team research are presented as promising answers to the challenges that building energy systems face nowadays.

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a “learn first, practice second” intervention on the nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of multidisciplinary health professionals in West Virginia, specifically highlighting the Mediterranean Diet. Data was captured via online surveys at four time points (Baseline, Post-education, Post-immersion, Follow Up). All information was self-reported. This approach consisted of 16 weeks of online education, 2 weeks of cultural immersion in Tuscany, Italy, and a 7 month return to practice period. Data were analyzed using JMP Version Pro 12.2 and SAS Version 9.3 for Windows. Repeated measures ANOVA with irregular spacing was performed, followed by Dunnett’s or Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel testing for variables lacking normality. The level of significance was set at 0.05. The intervention utilized in the present study significantly improved nutrition knowledge (nonzero correlation p=0.0136, means score p=0.0075) and self-efficacy (T0-T1 p

Background: Multidisciplinary clinics have become the standard of care for several chronic diseases. Due to the increased uptake of clinical genetic testing for these disorders, the genetic counselor (GC) has emerged as a new key member of multidisciplinary teams. Prior research has demonstrated the importance of role clarification when new subspecialties are introduced to multidisciplinary teams given that differences in team member expectations may hinder the development of newly introduced professions. This study aims to provide insight into the duties of a GC in a multidisciplinary clinic by highlighting the services that a specific patient population value and the roles that the comprehensive care team members expect of a GC. Methods: Multidisciplinary team members working in four pediatric hematology/oncology clinics were recruited to complete a 48-question survey assessing their perception of a GC’s role in clinic. Patients over age 18 or their guardians seen in the same clinics were recruited to complete a similar 49-question survey. Demographic, clinical experience and perception data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis tests and chi-squared tests. Results: Providers perceived most GC roles as shared between GCs and other team members (54.0%) and fewer roles as primarily a GC’s responsibility (37.2%). Providers perceived roles related to genetic expertise and coordination of care to be primarily the role of a GC significantly more often than roles related to psychosocial skills (p < 0.0001). Conversely, roles related to psychosocial skills were significantly more likely to be perceived as another provider’s role than roles related to genetics and coordination of care (p = 0.0002, p < 0.0001). Traditionally psychosocial providers were more likely to perceive psychosocial roles as the role of another provider and more likely to perceive genetic roles as the role of a GC than traditionally medical providers (p > 0.05). Although most providers indicated they were very confident in their understanding of a GC’s training (68.0%), there was discordance between provider perceptions of certain roles and the division of responsibilities reported by GCs in clinic. For example, no providers indicated that collecting pregnancy, developmental, medical, social or psychosocial histories are primarily roles of a GC (n = 0, 0.0%). Patients or their caregivers found genetic counseling roles to be overall very important (84.2% of responses) – however, they perceived genetic-centric roles as significantly more important than roles related to coordination of care (p = 0.0326) and psychosocial skills (p < 0.0001).Conclusions: These results indicate that GCs in a multidisciplinary setting may maximize their potential in clinic by functioning as a genetic expert that assumes critical care coordination responsibilities related to genetic testing while allowing other team members to undertake psychosocial responsibilities. However, further communication between providers and GCs may be required to clarify expectations and amend differences in provider perceptions and the current GC-reported division of responsibilities in clinic. This study can serve as a basis for future research to further optimize a GC’s role in this setting.

"Rubber Meets Road" is a 60-minute play collaboratively written, directed, and produced by Kent State University senior English major and Writing minor Kelly Gallagher and KSU English and Political Science double major Gabrielle Seed. It sheds light on emotional abuse in heterosexual romantic relationships and what happens if and when it remains invisible to the people directly and indirectly involved. It suggests that sometimes relationships that appear most loving and stable are the ones that contain the most turmoil and dependence. It explores the complexities of female friendships and how abusive romantic relationships negatively affect them. It examines the impact of poor mental health on both abusers and the abused. Finally, Rubber Meets Road considers abusive relationships and affected relationships (such as, in this case, friendship) from several perspectives, challenging the audience to determine who is “right” and who is “wrong” and to pay attention and again be challenged when those roles may actually begin to switch.This thesis—the play itself as well as the descriptive and analytical account of itscreation—is the result of roughly three semesters’ work. We spent Summer 2017researching, planning, and otherwise preparing to draft the play. We spent Fall 2017actually writing the play. And we spent Spring of 2018 finding a performance space,casting the characters, building a production team, producing the play itself, and writing the present account.The following details the planning and thought that went into the final script andproduction of Rubber Meets Road and how both were influenced and guided by reading, research, specific classes, workshops, and the analysis of other productions. It concludes with a discussion of the most important lessons this process taught us.

Crochet is an old craft with a rich history that spans many regions and cultures. Although historically it has been the work of men and women in the form of fishnets, clothing, and accessories, it is now largely associated with the feminine arts. Its historical applications were a means for women to gain an independent income and be productive in the home, and because of this association, it has been practiced in the domestic sphere to create forms appropriate to that context: lace, edgings, clothing, and towels for example. However, by engaging in the theory of craft, in particular with the idea that invention can come through experimentation and play, and by employing algorithmic assistance, crocheters can break out of making the same items for the same applications and begin to find new forms and applications for the craft. In the last two decades, a diverse range of disciplines, such as fine arts, architecture, and mathematics, have demonstrated radical new approaches and applications for crochet. Free-form crocheters use the organic nature of crocheted pieces to create intricate pieces of art and to present elaborate organic sculptures of natural scenes. Architects and mathematicians use crochet as analog models for larger structures or theoretical forms to better understand how they can be constructed or how they perform. The precedent set by these applications begs the question of how else crochet can be applied, specifically for use in the realm of the product design world. Furthermore, how might we discover these new applications, and how might we encourage people, within the craft community and beyond, to use crochet or craft to augment their established practices and open the door to invention? In order to explore these questions, I have designed an algorithm that randomizes typically formulaic crochet patterns and that encourages crocheters to make new, unconventional forms unlike existing patterns. By engaging in this “uninhibited play”, my hope is that crocheters can use this algorithm to spur inventive crochet applications from furniture to lighting to structures. I am also in the process of building an interdisciplinary crochet community engaged in using this algorithm to experiment with crocheted form and to make and display the pieces in an online gallery. In this way, the iterative nature of the process can reach beyond the algorithm, prompting a culture of remixing generated crochet patterns and forms. The principles behind this platform can even reach beyond crochet by encouraging those of other disciplines to use the idea of craft and play for innovation.

The geological heterogeneity of sedimentary strata needs to be better understood to improve understanding of groundwater systems and groundwater flow models. This can be done by considering changes in strata compressibility which is particularly important in areas of longwall mining disturbance. The improvement in compressibility and specific storage estimate in the constrained zone above longwall mines has significant implications for groundwater behaviour. However, due to its complexity, the heterogeneity of geological strata has generally been neglected in existing conceptual and numerical models. The 500 m-thick sedimentary sequence studied in this research is located in the Southern Coalfields of the Sydney Basin, Australia. Within this area, a number of operating longwall mines extract coal from around 300–500 m depth. Southern Coalfields stratigraphy includes the Illawarra Coal measures which comprise coal interlayered with shale and claystone. The coal measures are overlain by the Narrabeen Group including a series of claystone, siltstone and sandstone bands of differing thicknesses (several cms to 20 m). The uppermost unit is the Hawkesbury Sandstone which is represented by massive and thickly bedded sandstone interlayered with siltstone and claystone. The thickest unit in the Narrabeen Group is Bald Hill Claystone, which is commonly considered to impede downwards flow to underlying hydrostratigraphic units and therefore, protects overlying hydrostratigraphic units from mining impacts. Sedimentary strata were therefore investigated by developing a multidisciplinary approach that aimed to assess the influence of heterogeneity on groundwater behaviour. The study focused on the constrained zone subject to mining-induced stresses. Two hypotheses are proposed in this research. First, that the deformation of rock strata impacts the specific storage and flow of groundwater. Secondly, that heterogeneity controls the groundwater system response to strain within the constrained zone. To test these hypotheses, a multidisciplinary approach was designed that included the application of geochemistry, mineralogy, rock mechanics and numerical modelling. Firstly, the analysis of pressure transducer data described the development of strains and pore pressure changes within the constrained zone. Based on multiple lines of evidence, specific storage was found to have increased as a result of mechanical stresses and induced strain. The pressure propagation from mine workings to upper Hawkesbury Sandstone was evident in pore pressure response. Furthermore, coarse and fine-grained materials were found to respond differently to mechanical stresses, with their porosity decreasing and increasing, respectively. ii Secondly, two novel approaches were proposed. One approach used stable isotope vapour analysis of pore water obtained from sedimentary rock core samples. This was combined with detailed core imaging to understand groundwater flow processes throughout the sequence. The other approach was to record temporal changes in strata compressibility before and during mining to understand changes in specific storage and responses to developing strains. An advantage of the first approach is that it represents a continuous vertical profile to 300 m depth at a single location, without the need to install numerous monitoring points. An advantage of the second approach is that it provides, for the first time, an evaluation of temporal changes in specific storage due to mechanical disturbances within an aquifer overlying mining excavation. Furthermore, a conceptual groundwater model was compared to analytical geochemical mixing model. The analysis found that lateral and vertical advective flow was dominant within multiple, thin, upper sandstone units. However, deeper, low-permeability strata were characterised by diffusive flux. The analytical model provided a velocity and time values for groundwater mass transport and mixing ratio, which fit the range of observed data. Finally, the parametric analysis was undertaken to investigate the sensitivity of pore pressure to induced mechanical stress, and how it varies according to geological heterogeneity. This was undertaken with software-based coupled hydro-mechanical modelling (FLAC 2D). The simulations predicted significant hydraulic head declines for the case of an interlayered sequence of alternating siltstone/sandstone layers with a thickness of over 20 m. This scenario was compared to a case where both Hawkesbury Sandstone and Bulgo Sandstone were represented as a single homogeneous hydrostratigraphic unit. Therefore, it is not the Bald Hill Claystone unit that acts as a low-permeability barrier to groundwater flow; it is a combination of alternating lowand high-permeability layers. The new findings achieved by this multidisciplinary approach highlight the influence of geological heterogeneity on groundwater responses to mining stresses and can be applied to other sedimentary basins around the world. These findings improve the understanding of the control of strata deformation on changes in specific storage. They also improve knowledge of the impact of strata deformation on groundwater flow, and the control of heterogeneity on groundwater system responses to strain.

Collaboration, especially in theater, is essential to the creative process and crucial to the development of interesting art. Different types of collaboration exist in different settings each of which produces a unique result. When collaboration exists among a variety of disciplines, the process becomes cross-disciplinary and gives rise to different collaborative methodologies: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. For each approach, I provide a detailed definition and describe the role it played in my experiences in the UC San Diego Theater and Dance department.

Surveillance for wildlife diseases is critical to our understanding of the emergence, transmission, persistence and control of infectious diseases at the interface of humans, domestic animals, and wildlife populations. Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite capable of infecting a wide range of canid and ungulate species. The importance of the disease relates to economic losses, mainly derived from endemic or epidemic abortions in cattle. In the United States, coyotes and dogs are believed to be the main definitive hosts and white-tailed deer and cows are the main intermediate hosts. Our overall aim was to better understand the wildlife-livestock interface of N. caninum in natural settings. First, we estimated the true prevalence of N. caninum in three ruminant species by using Bayesian inference. We identified and discussed differences between apparent and true prevalence (TP). Differences in TP for some species suggest differences in the epidemiology of N. caninum for these co-located populations. Second, we evaluated the environmental phase of N. caninum shed in wild canid scats. Results suggested that the role of this environmental phase in the transmission to ruminants is likely minor. Finally, we evaluated the role of host species heterogeneity in the epidemiology of N. caninum circulating in a community. We identified differences in the patterns of immunity, age structure, and maternal and/or fetal antibody duration in three intermediate (ruminant) host species. Also, we estimated the species-specific contributions to the persistence of this pathogen in a community. This research was approached from the One Health perspective and provided a better understanding of N. caninum dynamics at the wildlife-livestock interface in an ecosystem.

Wine grape production has historically been restricted to temperate latitudes – largely between 30 and 50 degrees above and below the equator. Recently, though, wine has started to be made in countries within tropical regions. This paper explores the development and features of the Thai wine industry, the largest of the SE Asian wine producers. Linking in to arguments concerning economic and cultural globalisation, the paper explores the motivations and origins of the Thai producers, the environmental constraints and local adaptations to these, the regulatory and cultural constraints to the development of the industry, its global connections and prospects for the industry. Our argument is that despite its small size, the Thai wine industry neatly encapsulates many of the complexities around globalisation, demonstrating the fusion of global cultural trends, nationalistic economic growth, the increasingly global character of wine industry participants, and the continuing constraints on all these global processes of domestic political and regulatory regimes.

Many older people who fall require ambulance attendance, however around 25% are not subsequently transported to emergency departments (ED). This population is at high risk of future falls and unplanned health care use, and non-transported fallers have poorer health outcomes than their transported counterparts, potentially due to a lack of appropriate referral pathways and follow-up care. This randomised controlled trial investigated the effect of a multidisciplinary, individualised fall prevention program offered to older non-transported fallers. It aimed to reduce subsequent falls and health service use by addressing identified risk factors, linking participants into existing services and providing proactive assistance to implement physiotherapy, occupational therapy, geriatric assessment, optometry review and/ or medication management as appropriate. The control group received written fall prevention advice. Uptake and adherence, as well as benefits beyond fall prevention, were also assessed. Intention-to-treat analysis showed no significant difference between groups in regard to subsequent falls and health service use after 12 months’ follow-up. Within-group analysis revealed that control group participants had significantly worse depressive symptomatology, lower quality of life and increased fear of falling six months post index fall, while this deterioration was not evident within the intervention group. Adherence data revealed around half of intervention group participants did not complete the recommendations as intended. Analysis based on adherence to treatment protocol showed that there was a significant difference in fall rates and health service use, in favour of the “adherers” at 12 months compared to those who did not adhere to recommendations. Baseline attitudes towards falls-prevention interventions were predictive of adherence rates recorded during the reassessment. This study found that the multidisciplinary intervention did not prevent falls in older people who have received ambulance care. However, this model of care may have the potential to significantly reduce falls and fall-related health service use. When targeted at individuals intending to adhere to the tailored recommendations, there is significant benefit for participants, regardless of their medical history and fall risk factors.

In classrooms and textbooks the “Director's Vision” is often identified as the unifying concept for the production, and my goal in returning to graduate school was to explore my own vision as a director. In my own practice as a director, I tend to “hear” the play in my head before visualizing it. From my interpretation of the text, to the staging of the performers, to my collaboration with design team, my approach to the production of theatre stems from a place of musicality. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice explores my creative journey as multi-disciplinary theatre artist through a series of case studies detailing my practice as a Director/ Sound Designer. It examines my evolving process, which often utilizes audio collage to shape the dramatic arc of a piece or scene, experiments with using music to inform character, emotion, and movement, and values the impulses of the cast and creative team as important collaborative resources. By detailing my process on three productions (as Director/ Sound Designer of the University of Central Florida's Theatre for Young Audience's Tour, Emily Freeman's And Then Came Tango, as the Assistant Director/ Dramaturg/ Sound Designer for UCF's production of Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz, and as the Director/ Sound Designer of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable, for Titusville Playhouse, Inc.), my process as director/designer is critically analyzed and reflected upon. Through my analysis, I explore the benefits and challenges of being a Director-who-Designs and a Designer-who-Directs, utilizing aural dramaturgy, collaboration, rhythm and emotion as essential tools in practicing theatre production. Seeking a Vision, Finding a Voice reflects on my practice through the lens of David Roesner's Musicality as a Paradigm for the Theatre: A Kind of Manifesto, analyzing the ways in which the 'notion of musicality' was exemplified in the preparation, performance, and perception of my work. This thesis examines the benefits and challenges of multidisciplinary artistry, pondering the merits and pitfalls of taking on multiple roles in each of my processes. It further explores the impact applying musicality to theatre practice can have on both actors and audiences and cherishes sound design as a valuable tool capable of enriching theatrical storytelling.

Abstract Chronic pain is a highly prevalent health problem in the U.S. and poses a large economic and temporal cost to the medical system (Institute of Medicine, 2011; Marcus, 2003). Patients with chronic pain typically report a decrease in emotional, social, and economic functioning (Bair et. al, 2009; Breen, 2002; Kang, Backstrand, & Parker, 2013). This study investigated the efficacy of a 6-week evidence-based group psychoeducation course for the self-management of chronic pain. Pre- and post-test measures were utilized to assess results of the course. Data were analyzed using a paired sample t-test in order to explore the relationship and degree of effect preand post-intervention, as well as comparing the treatment and control group results. Due to the small sample size, many of the results were not statistically significant. However, there was significant improvement in reported wellbeing within the treatment group. Moreover, there were observable changes in the control group- specifically an increased sense of pain disability and decreased sense of wellbeing- but these results were not statistically significant. Through the implementation of this study, several limitations and barriers to intervention were discovered. These discoveries provide valuable information for future applications of chronic pain management groups. If developers of these groups consider the insights gained in this study, the programs would prove to be a highly valuable resource to the medical and psychological community, in turn reducing the burden on primary care providers and improving patient wellbeing.

The blade geometry design process is integral to the development and advancement of compressors andturbines in gas generators or aeroengines. A new airfoil section design capability has been added to an opensource parametric 3D blade design tool. Curvature of the meanline is controlled using B-splines to createthe airfoils. The curvature is analytically integrated to derive the angles and the meanline is obtained byintegrating the angles. A smooth thickness distribution is then added to the airfoil to guarantee a smoothshape while maintaining a prescribed thickness distribution. A leading edge B-spline definition has alsobeen implemented to achieve customized airfoil leading edges which guarantees smoothness with parametriceccentricity and droop.An automated turbomachinery design and optimization system has been created. An existing splitteredtransonic fan is used as a test and reference case. This design was more general than a conventional designto have access to the other design methodology. The whole mechanical and aerodynamic design loopsare automated for the optimization process. The flow path and the geometrical properties of the rotor areinitially created using the axi-symmetric design and analysis code (T-AXI). The main and splitter bladesare parametrically designed with the created geometry builder (3DBGB) using the new added features (curvature technique).The solid model creation of the rotor sector with a periodic boundaries combining themain blade and splitter is done using MATLAB code directly connected to SolidWorks including the hub,fillets and tip clearance. A mechanical optimization is performed with DAKOTA (developed by DOE) toreduce the mass of the blades while keeping maximum stress as a constraint with a safety factor. A Geneticalgorithm followed by Numerical Gradient optimization strategies are used in the mechanical optimization.The splittered transonic fan blades mass is reduced by 2.6% while constraining the maximum stress below50% material yield strength using 2D sections thickness and chord multipliers.Once the initial design was mechanically optimized, a CFD optimization was performed to maximizeefficiency and/or stall margin. The CFD grid generator (AUTOGRID) reads 3DBGB output and accountsfor hub fillets and tip gaps. Single and Multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (SOGA, MOGA) optimizationhave been used with the CFD analysis system. In SOGA optimization, efficiency was increased by 3.525%from 78.364% to 81.889% while only changing 4 design parameters. For MOGA optimization with higherweighting efficiency than stall margin, the efficiency was increased by 2.651% from 78.364% to 81.015%while the static pressure recovery factor was increased from 0.37407 to 0.4812286 that consequently increases the stall margin.The design process starts with a hot shape design, and then a hot to cold transformation process is explainedonce the optimization process ends which smoothly subtracts the mechanical deflections from thehot shape. This transformation ensures an accurate tip clearance.The optimization modules can be customized by the user as one full optimization or multiple small ones.This allows the designer not to be eliminated from the design loop which helps in taking the right choice ofparameters for the optimization and the final feasible design.

Research suggests that parents are more likely to carry out positioning recommendations from a health care professional than any other source. Occupational therapy practitioners can play an important role in educating parents, caregivers, and healthcare providers about the importance of providing tummy time and limiting infant time spent in baby gear.

Young generations, such as the Millennials are growing up in a dynamic, yet complicated era, exposed to continuously accelerating advancements in technology and mobility, making the world seemingly smaller every day. Simultaneously, higher education is at crossroads, desperately trying to reinvent itself in this new age of ever continuing developments, slowly pushing itself towards integrating corporate models, and making way for a globalized talent and knowledge economy. High youth unemployment throughout the world reveals the large gap between the academic and corporate atmosphere.This `tripologies' thesis proposes to blur the boundaries between three segments of life that are universally experienced segregated and isolated into one interactive environment, saturated with creativity, talent and knowledge capital. The combination and hybridization of residential life, work environment and hospitality will each contribute to an incubator where young urban professionals and graduate studentscan pursue and develop their dreams, materialize innovations, and expand their starting professional network to make them happen. The key focus of this future development revolves around the synergy that emerges from the collaboration of talented individuals and the interaction of their ideas. This tripologies thesis will propose a much needed framework; one which can provide for when these creative minds collide, socialize and inspire each other. Currently, precedents are omnipresent that show incredible results through collaborations between various fields and expertises.The project site has been chosen in the United Kingdom, more specifically at King's Cross, which is rooted along a key transportation hub in London. This is an ideal location to experiment with the ideas of the tripologies concept. The goal is to create an intercultural and multidisciplinary springboard for young academics and professionals to launch their (global) careers, forming a figurative bridge between the academic and the business world.

As competition for fossil fuels accelerates, alternative sources of chemicals, fuels, and energy production become more appealing to researchers and the layman. Among the candidates to fill this growing niche is lignocellulosic biomass. Many researchers have examined supply chain design and optimization for biofuel and bioenergy production throughout the years. However, these models often fail to capture the variability and uncertainty inherent to the biomass supply chain. Multiple factors with high degrees of stochasticity can have major impacts on the performance of a biorefinery: weather, biomass quality, feedstock availability, and market demand for products are just a few. To begin to address this issue, a discrete event simulation model has been developed to examine the economic performance of a region specific, multifeedstock biorefinery supply chain. Probability distributions developed for product demand and feedstock supply begin to address the random nature of the supply chain. Model development is discussed in the context of a multidisciplinary framework for biorefinery supply chain design. A case study, sensitivity analysis, and scenario analysis, are utilized to examine the capabilities of the model.

First year death rates remain unacceptable high for the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population. New effective methods are vital to improve first year morbidity and mortality outcomes for the population transitioning from Stage 4 chronic kidney disease (CKD) to ESRD)/Stage 5 CKD. Based on current methods, evidence-based recommendations made by nephrology providers are frequently not heeded by patients in Stage 4 CKD. Low levels of patient knowledge, self-efficacy, and a poor ability to self-manage CKD negatively influence a patient’s ability to follow provider recommendations. The group visit (GV) intervention has demonstrated improvements in disease-related outcomes through increased levels of patient knowledge, self-efficacy, and disease self-management for other chronic diseasses such as diabetes and congestive heart failure (CHF). No data are available for the use of GVs in CKD The purpose of the study was to develop and test a nurse practitioner-facilitated chronic CKD GV model versus usual nephrology care for Stage 4 CKD patients (knowledge, selfefficacy/self-management, physiological data, and satisfaction). As classified by the National Kidney Foundation’s (NKF) staging system, Stage 4 CKD is considered severe kidney disease, with a decrease in the functional capacity of the kidney as determined by a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 15-30 ml/min. It is common for patients with Stage 4 CKD to progress to Stage 5 CKD/end-stage renal disease (ESRD), requiring dialysis or transplantation to survive. Preliminary instrumentation and feasibility studies were conducted prior to a pilot study of a CKD GV model. The development and validation of the Stage 4 CKD Knowledge Instrument was completed with 59 Stage 4 patients. Findings supported reliability (KuderRichardson-20 [KR] = .89) and content validity (I-CVI = .97, S-CVI= 1.0) Feasibility of the CKD GV model was assessed with a single group, pretest-posttest design using a convenience iv sample of eight Stage 4 patients. Results demonstrated an improvement in knowledge of CKD from a median of 69% to 86% (p =.012). No improvements were noted in self-efficacy scores (p = .230). GV satisfaction ranged from very good to excellent. Feasibility was supported by a high retention rate (100%). No barriers to participant recruitment or GV implementation were encountered. The pilot study used a two-group, repeated measures experimental design, with a sample of 30 Stage 4 CKD patients from two office locations of an outpatient nephrology practice. Patients were randomized to the GV intervention or to usual nephrology care. CKD-knowledge, self-efficacy, and self-management scores were collected at baseline, six months, and nine months. Physiological data were measured at baseline, six months, and nine months. GV satisfaction was obtained after the completion of GVs (six months). Nephrology practice satisfaction was obtained from by both groups at nine months. MANOVA for repeated measures was calculated for data collected at the three time points. Twenty-six of 30 patients completed the study, with four patients ineligible to complete the study due to progression to ESRD and dialysis initiation. GV attendance was 92%. CKD knowledge was statistically improved for both groups (F(1.498, 34.446) = 6.363, P = .008). While not statistically significant, a favorable upward trend in the mean scores for the subscales of self-management (communication, partnership in care, and self-care) was demonstrated in the GV patients, with a lack of improvement found in the usual care group for these subscales. Selfefficacy scores revealed a non-significant improvement in mean scores for the GV patients during the GVs, not seen with usual care patients. GV satisfaction was again high with the vast majority of patients requesting use of GVs in their future nephrology care. v Current methods of intervention in the Stage 4 CKD population have made little impact on reducing first-year ESRD mortality and morbidity rates. Opportunities to intervene in the poor outcomes begin in the predialysis care of Stage 4 patients. Based on the documented success of multidisciplinary approaches in predialysis care, of GVs in other chronic diseases, and of chronic illness care based on the CCM, a high probability for success exists with the application of GVs in CKD. Although limited by a small sample size, promising improvements in the subscales of disease self-management, self-efficacy, CKD knowledge, and high satisfaction with the GV model for GV participants were revealed in this study. Further research is warranted for the CKD GV model on a larger randomized sample in other locations. Much needed data would be provided on which to base decisions for use of the CKD GV intervention in the predialysis care of Stage 4 patients.

It is estimated that the incidence of pressure ulcers range from 0.4 to 38% in a hospital setting. Overall prevalence in the U.S. was 12.3% in 2009. A CMS analysis reported that pressure ulcers were responsible for over $2.41 billion dollars (Niederhauser et al., 2012). A large body of literature related to pressure ulcer incidence and prevalence reflects that education is not always the principal influencing factor for prevention; social and organizational barriers are just as critical when adapting clinical practice guidelines. To address these barriers, an evidence-based practice (EBP) project was implemented at a large, tertiary hospital in the east. Web of causation, an epidemiological theoretical framework, and Roger’s diffusion of innovation model were utilized to develop the EBP project. Interventions included specific educational programs that created wound care champions who were a first line of defense. Multi-disciplinary training and varied hospital resources were used to compliment the champions. Thirteen wound care champions participated on the intervention unit. Of the 2,114 medical-surgical patients, N=98 with stage III, IV, and unstageable pressure ulcers satisfied the inclusionary criteria (n=42 champion unit, n=56 control unit). Mean age of patients from the champion unit was 74.2; the control unit was 71.6 years. Following implementation, the mean overall ulcer prevalence was significantly lower in 2012 than 2011 in the treatment group (t(8) = -2.51; p = .03). Scores from the Pieper pressure ulcer knowledge test were consistent with the reviewed literature. There were no significant differences in overall performances as a function of the of clinical staff’s professional status; F(3,9) = 2.25; p = 0.15. The wound care champion model resulted in a decreased delay in care and reduction of hospital-acquired pressure ulcer prevalence. This model can lead to reduced patient suffering, increased staff morale, decreased use of resources, increased corresponding financial reimbursement, and cultural change.

We live in a scientific society. Science is all around us. We take scientific principles for granted every time we use technology, such as a car, a computer, or a cell phone. Paradoxically, the scientific literacy of the population is minimal at best. Having a basic knowledge of scientific principles is no longer a luxury but, in today's complex world, a necessity. To increase the scientific literacy of non-science majors, an astrobiology course was developed at the Center for Science and Mathematics Education at The University of Texas at Austin. The course subscribes to an educational philosophy that promotes the significance of teaching science to non-science majors, endorses the importance of multidisciplinary content knowledge, supports the teaching of the nature of science in an implicitly mode, advances the discussion of socio-scientific issues, and includes competent thinking-based teaching strategies using the dynamic discipline of astrobiology. The thesis reviews the problems in scientific literacy, outlines the characteristics of this innovative course, proposes a novel standard - competent thinking - to evaluate scientific literacy and analyzes the results of this course in terms of competent thinking. Data collected provided evidence of an increase of competent thinking skills among the students, especially in terms of self-reflection. Both the first and the second pilot study showed strong evidence that students transitioned from naive to competent thinking arguments. The main study demonstrated that students greatly improve their self-reflecting skills. The final study confirmed improvement in terms of self-reflecting skills, and showed that students gradually improve their arguments based on logic, reason, sophistication, and evidences. Therefore, the results show that this innovative astrobiology course is an effective tool for enhancing competent thinking skills among non-science major students.

In a collaborative project, communication breakdowns can send a proposal or idea spinning wildly out of control. Each of the domain-specific fields represented in a collaborative setting brings differing backgrounds built on various levels of experience and expertise. Integrating these differences, then, requires rigor to overcoming challenges as early in project formation as possible. Gaining a clear, shared vision is needed to approach optimal efficacy. Many ways can be constructed to reach this goal, but this thesis suggests the moderating variable of importance is the formation of a common language, comprehensible to all participating fields. To establish this common language, or lexicon, requires an investment of upfront time, but the expectation is that this effort will improve the team atmosphere and, thus the effectiveness of the design process and output. This thesis identifies general communication errors using examples of recent projects, then suggests a model to reduce these errors. The model is then tied to enhanced team building using a follower-based leadership approach. Finally, an extension to the model is suggested.

Confronted with ecological urgency, many artists are increasingly addressing environmental and place-based issues in their work. Place-based artist residencies can provide support to artists, researchers, and writers whose work engage and negotiate a land stewardship, or performance of ecologicalethics. What, then, is the role of artist residencies in local land stewardship? How do artists challenge the public to reconsider their relationships with places? In this thesis, I address these and other related questions through a case study of the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Otis, Oregon, focusing on the Crowley Creek Collaboration, a multidisciplinary, place-based residency project. This thesis examines the organizational dynamics of an artist residency and considers how a local community engages in a residency-initiated exploration of place.

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary pain management program on five measures of subjective psychosocial factors. Ninety-five participants in the comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment group and the standard medical intervention control group were surveyed about various psychosocial factors using Axis II of the West Haven - Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI), pre- to post-treatment. It was hypothesized that post-treatment levels would be significantly lower than pre-treatment levels for all five psychosocial variables. Additionally, gender and ethnicity variables were examined. Based on preliminary analyses indicating pre-treatment differences between the experimental and control group, five 2 x 2 x 3 analyses of covariances (ANCOVAs) were used to examine the above hypotheses. Results indicated significant differences between the treatment conditions on measures of control, with the comprehensive group feeling more in control than the standard group at post-treatment. No other significant main effects for treatment condition were found on the measures of pain severity, interference with daily activities, negative mood, or social support. However, a significant gender main effect was found for social support at post-treatment, with females reporting more social support than males. A significant gender x ethnicity interaction was also found for post-treatment control, with African-American females exhibiting higher levels of control than the other groups. Finally, a significant gender x treatment condition was found for negative mood, with males in the comprehensive group reporting more affective distress than those in the standard group. In this study, control appeared to be an integral factor in the chronic pain sample and greatly improved with comprehensive multidisciplinary treatment; while other areas of relative efficacy were not confirmed in this population.

This thesis describes a multidisciplinary design optimization approach to containership design. The method employs widely accepted regression equations for computing resistance, weights, building costs and operating costs. The current regulations governing freeboard and the Coast Guard wind heel criterion are included. The measures of merit used are the required freight rate and the return on investment. The system is flexible enough to allow changes in trade routes, shipyard and port parameters, and fuel costs. The weight-displacement balance is maintained by including draft as a design variable and imposing an equality constraint on weight and displacement rather than introducing an internal loop to calculate draft at each iteration. This speeds up the optimization process. The process takes into account the discrete container stowage issue. The carrying capacity (number of containers) is expressed as a continuous function of the principal dimensions by using a linear response surface fit that in turn makes the objective function continuous. Speed is a design variable. The optimum speed takes into account the compromise required between higher speeds that imply higher revenue and lower speeds that imply lower fuel costs. The optimizer used is the Design Optimization Tools (DOT) program from Vanderplaats Research and Development, Inc. Results employing the three different techniques provided in DOT have been obtained and compared. The optimum ship tends to be the largest ship in terms of length and beam. An optimum speed is identified. The three techniques provided in DOT give fairly consistent results, but once a good optimum point is identified in the design space, the sequential linear programming algorithm is found to be the most consistent method to converge to a local optimum. The objective function is found to be flat in the vicinity of the optimum that indicates that the designer is not confined to a severely restricted design space and has some freedom in designing the optimum ship.

Multidisciplinary interactions are expected to play a significant role in the design of future high-performance aircraft (Blended-Wing Body, Truss-Braced wing, High Speed Civil transport, High-Altitude Long Endurance aircraft and future military aircraft). Also, the availability of supercomputers has made it now possible to employ high-fidelity models (Computational Fluid Dynamics for fluids and detailed finite element models for structures) at the preliminary design stage. A necessary step at that stage is to calculate the wing angle-of-attack at which the wing will generate the desired lift for the specific flight maneuver. Determination of this angle, a simple affair when the wing is rigid and the flow regime linear, becomes difficult when the wing is flexible and the flow regime non-linear. To solve this inherently nonlinear problem, a Newton's method type algorithm is developed to simultaneously calculate the deflection and the angle of attack. The present algorithm requires the sensitivity of the aerodynamic pressure with respect to each of the generalized displacement coordinates needed to represent the structural displacement. This sensitivity data is easy to determine analytically when the flow regime is linear. The present algorithm uses a finite difference method to obtain these sensitivities and thus requires only the pressure data and the surface geometry from the aerodynamic model. This makes it ideally suited for nonlinear aerodynamics for which it is difficult to obtain the sensitivity analytically. The present algorithm requires the CFD code to be run for each of the generalized coordinates. Therefore, to reduce the number of generalized coordinates considerably, we employ the modal superposition approach to represent the structural displacements. Results available for the Aeroelastic Research Wing (ARW) are used to evaluate the performance of the modal superposition approach. Calculations are made at a fixed angle of attack and the results are compared to both the experimental results obtained at NASA Langley Research Center, and computational results obtained by the researchers at NASA Ames Research Center. Two CFD codes are used to demonstrate the modular nature of this research. Similarly, two separate Finite Element codes are used to generate the structural data, demonstrating that the algorithm is not dependent on using specific codes. The developed algorithm is tested for a wing, used for in-house aeroelasticity research at Boeing (previously McDonnell Douglas) Long Beach. The trim angle of attack is calculated for a range of desired lift values. In addition to the Newton's method algorithm, a non derivative method (NDM) based on fixed point iteration, typical of fixed angle of attack calculations in aeroelasticity, is employed. The NDM, which has been extended to be able to calculate trim angle of attack, is used for one of the cases. The Newton's method calculation converges in fewer iterations, but requires more CPU time than the NDM method. The NDM, however, results in a slightly different value of the trim angle of attack. It should be noted that NDM will converge in a larger number of iterations as the dynamic pressure increases. For one value of the desired lift, both viscous and inviscid results were generated. The use of the inviscid flow model while not resulting in a markedly different value for the trim angle of attack, does result in a noticeable difference both in the wing deflection and the span loading when compared to the viscous results. A crude (coarse-grain) parallel methodology was used in some of the calculations in this research. Although the codes were not parallelized, the use of modal superposition made it possible to compute the sensitivity terms on different processors of an IBM SP/2. This resulted in a decrease in wall clock time for these calculations. However, even with the parallel methodology, the CPU times involved may be prohibitive (approximately 5 days per Newton iteration) to any practical application of this method for wing analysis and design. Future work must concentrate on reducing these CPU times. Two possibilities: (i) The use of alternative basis vectors to further reduce the number of basis vectors used to represent the structural displacement, and (ii) The use of more efficient methods for obtaining the flow field sensitivities. The former will reduce the number of CFD analyses required the latter the CPU time per CFD analysis. NOTE: (03/2007) An updated copy of this ETD was added after there were patron reports of problems with the file.