Emotionally Focused Therapy has been shown to produce statistically significant and sustainable change in couples (Wiebe, Johnson, Lafontaine, Burgess Moser, Dalgleish, & Tasca, 2017). This change has also been shown to extend to the family system through the use of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (Stavrianopoulos, Faller, & Furrow, 2014). The methodology focuses on developing resilience through the co-regulation of the family system by developing secure attachment bonds (Wiebe & Johnson, 2017). EFFT strives to develop a high level of security within families that promotes more fluid communication patterns and more flexible problem solving strategies (Johnson & Lee, 2005). One of the most important steps in developing this security is by clarifying the current interactional cycles taking place, which typically leave the attachment needs of the family unmet (Johnson & Brubacher, 2016). Clinicians who help clients track their interactional cycles lay the foundation for effective change.

Utilizing survey data collected in four communities in the State of Utah, this study examined the extent to which rural resident perceptions and attitudes toward local community circumstances influence their own expectations and attitudes subjectively toward future community development alternatives. Understanding perceptions of community and community development, as well as the patterns of localized community development, is crucial and needs to consider residents' opinions and attitudes toward unique rural economic, environmental, and social conditions in order to help preserve the unique characteristics of the way of life while continuing economic improvement and social betterment in rural areas. Three conceptual frameworks of development (economic, environmental, and social) are applied in this study to explore the relationship between local residents' general attitudes toward the current conditions in their community and their attitudes toward development alternatives. I examine how these three development frameworks guide rural scholars to understand whether the pattern of community development is consistent across the region or localized from community to community. Four different types of rural communities were selected in a Utah-wide community survey in the summer of 2008. These communities are facing four different change patterns: an increasing senior community, an energy-development community, a recreational community, and a constant community that has remained stable over the last five decades. Each type of community has its unique economy, lifestyle, culture, and environment, in which local residents have developed a way of life in response to these changes in social and economic structures. Research findings indicate that the local residents' self-perceptions of community economic situation are not significant indictors to support the arguments of the economic development framework. However, indexes of environmental and social development frameworks are found to have strong associations with locals' environmental and social development alternatives. Also, different types of rural community show different demands for community development strategies, implying that a single development framework would not be sufficient to explain the complex of local residents' perceptions and attitudes toward community development unless the researchers integrate other perspectives into the model.

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This is a longitudinal multilevel analysis using third party coded data of 15 couples therapy sessions to identify which therapist Emotion Focused Therapy interventions (Management of Couple's Interaction, Working with Primary Emotion, Managing Defensive Responses, Reframing the Problem in Terms of the Cycle, and Placing Emerging Emotions into the Cycle) influenced husband-to-wife and wife-to-husband exchanges of Positive Behaviors (warmth, prosocial behaviors, communication, assertiveness, and listening). A mixed effects model was used to examine within- and between-individual variability. Men and women were modeled separately. A series of two-level multilevel models of change were examined, where Time is Level 1 and Individual is Level 2. Results indicated no significant relationship between Management of the Couple's Interaction, Managing Defensive Responses, and Reframing the Problem in Terms of the Cycle with both wife-to-husband and husband-to-wife positive behavior. Findings demonstrated that 44.5% of the variance in wife-to-husband positive behaviors and 66.5% of the variance in husband-to-wife positive behaviors was accounted for by the therapist Working with Primary Emotion and Placing Emerging Emotions in the Cycle. Specifically, these therapist interventions were significantly and negatively related to wife-to-husband and husband-to-wife positive behaviors over time in therapy. Clinical implications and directions for future research will be discussed.

The vortex particle method (VPM) is a mesh-free approach to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solving the Navier-Stokes equations in their velocity-vorticity form. The VPM uses a Lagrangian scheme, which not only avoids the hurdles of mesh generation, but it also conserves vortical structures over long distances with minimal numerical dissipation while being orders of magnitude faster than conventional mesh-based CFD. However, VPM is known to be numerically unstable when vortical structures break down close to the turbulent regime. In this study, we reformulate the VPM as a large eddy simulation (LES) in a scheme that is numerically stable, without increasing its computational cost. A new set of VPM governing equations are derived from the LES-filtered Navier-Stokes equations. The new equations reinforce conservation of mass and angular momentum by reshaping the vortex elements subject to vortex stretching. In addition to the VPM reformulation, a new anisotropic dynamic model of subfilter-scale (SFS) vortex stretching is developed. This SFS model is well suited for turbulent flows with coherent vortical structures where the predominant cascade mechanism is vortex stretching. Extensive validation is presented, asserting the scheme comprised of the reformulated VPM and SFS model as a meshless LES that accurately resolves large-scale features of turbulent flow. Advection, viscous diffusion, and vortex stretching are validated through simulation of isolated and leapfrogging vortex rings. Mean and fluctuating components of turbulent flow are validated through simulation of a turbulent round jet, in which Reynolds stresses are resolved directly and compared to experimental measurements. Finally, the computational efficiency of the scheme is showcased in the simulation of an aircraft rotor in hover, showing our meshless LES to be 100x faster than a mesh-based LES with similar fidelity. The ability to accurately and rapidly assess unsteady interactional aerodynamics is a shortcoming and bottleneck in the design of various next-generation aerospace systems: from electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to airborne wind energy and wind farms. For instance, current models used in preliminary design fail to predict and assess configurations that may lead to the wake of a rotor impinging on another rotor or a wing during an eVTOL transition maneuver. In the second part of this dissertation, we address this shortcoming as we present a variable-fidelity CFD framework based on the reformulated VPM for simulating complex interactional aerodynamics. We further develop our meshless LES scheme to include rotors and wings in the computational domain through actuator models. A novel, vorticity-based, actuator surface model (ASM) is developed for wings, which is suitable for rotor-wing interactions when a wake impinges on the surface of a wing. This ASM imposes the no-flow-through condition at the airfoil centerline by calculating the circulation that meets this condition and by immersing the associated vorticity following a pressure-like distribution. Extensive validation of rotor-rotor and rotor-wing interactions predicted with our LES is presented, simulating two side-by-side rotors in hover, a tailplane with tip-mounted propellers, and a wing with propellers mounted mid-span. To conclude, the capabilities of the framework are showcased through the simulation of a multirotor tiltwing vehicle. The vehicle is simulated mid maneuver as it transitions from powered lift to wing-borne flight, featuring rotors with variable RPM and variable pitch, tilting of wings and rotors, and significant rotor-rotor and rotor-wing interactions from hover to cruise. Thus, the reformulated VPM provides aircraft designers with a high-fidelity LES tool that is orders of magnitude faster than mesh-based CFD, while also featuring variable-fidelity capabilities.

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The aim of this research is to speculate on the opportunity to create deeper human interactions for which technological means supporting the expression and the understanding of group emotions are explored. I tried to do this by connecting the Affective Interactional Approach (Höök, 2013) to studies about group emotions. The theoretical framework of this research is presented together with a brief account of the evolution of design for affect. The methodology used in the design process and in the evaluation used for the outcomes are delineated and tailored for this specific research, in which a central focus is given to users and their opinions. Following, the research process is divided into three stages/experiments: I first produced some Cultural Probes, then distributed them in a office and carried out an interview; after this I developed a prototype for collective emotional awareness and I tested it through a workshop attended by Interaction Design students. The last experiment consisted of a second prototype for collective emotional awareness which gave me the opportunity to explore what kind of technology is best suited for collecting and representing group emotions. This last prototype (Processing + Kinect based) was tested in a student collective and the results of a following interview were used to evaluate it. I conclude my dissertation proposing future scenarios for the explored designs and then with a presentation of the knowledge contributions produced.

The most recent research trend within the field of organizational justice is the study of interactional justice (Tyler & Bies, 1990; Greenberg, 1990). Most of the work conducted in this area focuses on the explanations leaders give to followers about decisions made or actions taken that frequently lead to adverse consequences or loss. These explanations are called "social accounts". While research indicates that social accounts are effective at mitigating negative reactions to adverse decisions, and improving perceptions of justice, the underlying causes remain largely unknown. This study used the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) as a theoretical base to explore what factors make an account "acceptable", and the impact that an acceptable account has on a number of organizationally relevant outcomes. Specifically, this study used an experimental design in a pay-for-performance context to assess the impact of message specificity (high vs. low) and source expertise (expert vs. non-expert), under varying conditions of outcome involvement (higher vs. lower) on the acceptability of a justification for a change in a distributive criterion that resulted in a loss. Other dependent variables investigated included perceptions of justice (procedural, interactional, and distributive fairness), attitudes (satisfaction with the trainer and the task), and behaviors (commitment to the trainer and the task, and complaints). The results indicated that justifications delivered by the expert trainer were more acceptable than non-experts under conditions of lower involvement (except when a non-expert delivered a specific justification). This effect reversed itself, however, under higher involvement. There was a main effect of specificity such that specific justifications were more acceptable than vague justifications regardless of the level of involvement. Acceptability was positively related to all dependent measures with the exception of complaints, which had a negative relationship. Furthermore, acceptability fully mediated the impact of message specificity on trainer commitment, and partially on procedural fairness, distributive fairness (assessment), and task commitment. Acceptability fully mediated the negative impact of expertise under high involvement on procedural and distributive fairness (assessment), and interactional fairness. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this dissertation research is to examine how local context in four natural resource dependent Appalachian settings shape the formal Basic Engagement Plan (BEP). In 2002, the federal Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) formed a partnership with AmeriCorps VISTA and local environmental improvement organizations to restore Appalachian locales suffering from pre-regulatory environmental damage. To stimulate diverse local institutional engagement, the partnership developed the BEP. It is a formal process of institutional interaction to initiate working relationships where none exist between participating organizations and public administrators, legislators, and nonprofit organizations. To explore the research question, I use a multiple-case study design and comparative analysis. Because the partners work to restore local environments through sustainable community development, the research is grounded in sustainable community development literature. I continue the trend that juxtaposes its considerations of environmental protection, economic development, and social justice with the interactional perspective of community, a sociological model of community grounded in social interaction. Sustainable community development literature is dominated by an authoritative intervention paradigm. The juxtaposed model at the heart of this research does not deny the important contributions of authoritative intervention. Rather, it complements this conventional arrangement by discussing the important role of horizontal institutions in the process. Key findings show local contexts are multi-faceted and dynamic. In this regard, the variation in impact of local contexts on the formal BEP process shows that a one-size-fits-all approach is problematic for sustainable community development in natural resource dependent settings. The dissertation concludes with a set of comparative findings across the four cases and discussion of four important ways in which the research contributes to theory and practice. / PHD / This dissertation research provides a comparative case study of a hybrid, theory-based model of community development in rural settings. The model marries an interactive perspective of community and a type of community development that emphasizes sustainable practices. These practices seek to balance environmental protection, economic development, and social justice in the community development process. Its union is an excellent fit to organize the complexities of stakeholder relationships witnessed in selected natural resource dependent settings. In this regard, the research advances understanding of the model as a tool to organize multi-faceted working relationships. Secondly, the research advances the notion that inclusion of diverse stakeholders is important to restoring environmental damage and alleviating economic insecurities. It examines how diverse stakeholders break down communication barriers in natural resource dependent communities to find common goals to encourage sustained working relationships. The unpleasant implications of natural resource dependence create a setting where government is often the vital stakeholder to community development. In these settings, common goals and shared understanding of a public issue occur as government priorities allow. As priorities change so do the abilities of other key stakeholders to participate in the community development process. This research compliments understanding of the conventional government arrangement by highlighting the perspective of diverse stakeholders. Local practitioners can lessen the impact of changing government priorities by advancing their own organizational abilities to participate in community development. The dissertation concludes with a set of comparative findings across selected cases and discussion of important ways local practitioners can sustain the social change they seek to make in their communities.