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The use of engineered wood products (EWP) in residential construction has increased in recent years. Most specifications for the installation of these components are found in proprietary manufacturer literature rather than in the building code. Although some home inspections include EWP prescriptive compliance, very little applied and academic literature addresses this practice. This lack of practical information and the lack of standardized inspection methods can result in undetected non-compliant EWP installations that fail to meet the minimum safety provisions of the building code. The goal of this project was to develop a visual inspection methodology, associated knowledge base, and software application for the inspection of EWPs and connector hardware (CH) in new residential construction at the pre-drywall stage. The methodology was based upon subject matter expert (SME) inputs and validation was derived from the use of a modified Delphi method that was able to the gather, collate, refine, and validate the research process and outputs based on the expertise of the subject matter experts. The concept of high face validity was used to establish project validity. Installation problems with EWPs and CH were noted by the SMEs partly because the use and installation instructions for proprietary products are not found in building codes. Building code officials (BCO) and home inspector (HI) SME responses indicated a need for a methodology and software to aid in the inspection process. Although authoritative reference materials for prescriptive installation are available, the scope of material is not consistent between manufacturers, and is presented in different formats for different brands. The developed software application provides ready access to reference materials needed for EWP and CH installations. No widely accepted inspection methodology is available, although the HI SMEs used systematic inspection methods. Inspection methods such as the top-down method and sighting along the patterns of repetitious framing elements can improve the detection of non-compliant installations. BCO and HI SMEs identified both component-specific and zone-specific techniques as a part of the systematic inspection methodology. Definable high risk areas for each EWP and CH were identified and the associated inspection methods may help the inspector reduce the incidence of undetected problem areas. Knowledge of the high-risk areas may also enhance the inspection. The developed software application was found to be a useful inspection tool. BCO and HI SMEs determined that functions of the computer software necessary for use included ease of use, onboard reference materials, specific inspection techniques, prepared comments, and technical illustrations. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the potential regulatory effects of various coping strategies on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It first divided PTSD symptoms and selected coping strategies into cognitive, social/motivational, and emotional types. The study then conceptualized each of the preceding types of coping strategies as being controlled stress responses and the PTSD symptoms as being semiautomatic stress responses. It lastly proposed that coping strategies be further divided into activating controlled stress response and deactivating controlled stress response. Controlled stress responses are coping strategies that are consciously initiated and implemented. Semiautomatic stress responses are PTSD symptoms that spontaneously emerge without conscious intent. Activating controlled stress responses consisted of the following coping strategies: seeking understanding, avoidant actions, and expressing feelings. Deactivating controlled stress responses encompassed: positive cognitive restructuring, emotion-focused support, and physical release of emotions. Semiautomatic stress responses entailed: reexperiencing, numbing, and arousal symptoms. It was proposed that cognitive, social/motivational, and emotional activating controlled stress responses would increase corresponding cognitive, social/motivational, and emotional semiautomatic stress responses. In the same vein, it was expected that cognitive, social/motivational, and emotional deactivating controlled stress responses would decrease respective semiautomatic stress responses. To illustrate, it was predicted that with regard to the cognitive regulatory system, its activating cognitive controlled stress response (seeking understanding) would exacerbate the frequency of associated cognitive semiautomatic stress responses (reexperiencing PTSD symptoms) whereas its deactivating cognitive controlled stress response (positive cognitive restructuring) would ameliorate it. Path analyses were conducted on correlation matrices whose elements represented two coping strategies (e.g., an activating controlled stress response: seeking understanding, and a deactivating controlled stress response: positive cognitive restructuring) and one PTSD symptom cluster of the same nature (e.g., the semiautomatic stress response: reexperiencing). Data were obtained from a sample of sixty-four children and adolescents ages 8-18. The coping strategies were assessed via ratings on items included in the How I Cope Under Pressure (HICUPS) instrument and the PTSD clusters through the use of the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA). Only one hypothesis was partially supported. It was found that the social/motivational activating controlled stress response (avoidant actions) indeed increased social/motivational semiautomatic stress responses (numbing symptoms). / Ph. D.

This study develops a decision-support framework assisting the design of non-residential buildings with natural ventilation. The framework is composed of decision modules with input, analysis algorithms and output of natural ventilation design. The framework covers ventilation with natural driving force and mechanical-assisted ventilation. The framework has two major assessment levels: feasibility assessment and comparison of alternative natural ventilation approaches. The feasibility assessment modules assess the potential of the site with the design proposition for natural ventilation in terms of wind, temperature, humidity, noise and pollution conditions. All of the possible natural ventilation approaches and system designs are assessed by first applying constraints functions to each of the alternatives. Then the comparison of alternative approaches to natural ventilation continues by assessing the critical performance mandates that include energy savings, thermal comfort, acoustic control, indoor air quality and cost. Approaches are finally ranked based on their performance. / Ph. D.