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Liquefaction is one of the major causes of ground failures during an earthquake. Recent evidence shows that the existing variants of the "simplified" liquefaction evaluation procedure lead to inaccurate results for megathrust earthquakes in subduction interfaces. To overcome this drawback and to achieve better prediction of liquefaction cases in subduction zones, this research intends to develop new empirical models that could be used for the prediction of liquefaction triggering in subduction zones. Towards this goal, new models for number of equivalent cycles (n_eq) and stress-reduction factor (r_d) have been proposed. The models are developed by regressing site response data obtained from 254 pairs of subduction ground motions and 77 representative soil profiles. To account for tectonic differences and magnitude scaling, separate models are developed for interface and intraslab earthquakes. The uncertainties involved in the proposed models are quantified through standard deviations of regression coefficients, event, site, and residual terms. The resulting models differ from other published models, especially the model for number of equivalent cycles. It was found that n_eq is greatly influenced by the fundamental site period. The model for r_d predicts higher values at shallow depths and lower values at deeper layers than other published models. Comparing the factors of safety against liquefaction with those from other existing models revealed that the use of models proposed in this research is more likely to reduce the "false positives" in liquefaction predictions, especially when design ground motion acceleration is high. / Master of Science / During earthquake shaking, loose saturated sands may lose strength and behave more like a liquid than a solid. This phenomenon is referred to liquefaction. Liquefaction has been responsible for infrastructure failure during past earthquakes, thus leading to major economic losses. This prompts the prediction and mitigation of potential liquefaction effects in a building site. However, the current state-of-the-practice for predicting liquefaction is inaccurate for large magnitude earthquakes in subduction zones. This provided the impetus for this research which focusses on developing new liquefaction evaluation models for large magnitude earthquakes. New models for number of equivalent cycles and stress reduction factor are developed by analyzing the representative ground motions and soil strata. These empirical parameters are central to the prediction of liquefaction triggering. Comparing the new models with the existing models revealed that the factor of safety against liquefaction estimated using new models are greater than those obtained using existing models for large magnitude earthquake scenario when the ground acceleration is high. This implies that using the existing models for predicting liquefaction in a site subjected to high values of ground acceleration from a subduction earthquake will lead to "false positives." Developed using a comprehensive dataset and robust regression techniques, the models developed in this research will lead to better predictions of liquefaction due to large subduction events.

no / The number of people visiting their local parks and countryside is increasing according to a recent survey published by Natural England [1]. An important reason given for visiting green spaces was to “relax and unwind” and these areas can be considered restorative or tranquil environments giving relief from cognitive overload and reduction of stress. Our green spaces can be a refuge from the din of city life and the green environment can provide shelter for wildlife and bird song can be heard. But are they suffi- ciently tranquil and what guidance do we have for improving such spaces if they are not?

Landscape architects design healing gardens at healthcare facilities to support patients, visitors, caregivers, and staff. Many acknowledge that medical staff regularly visit healing gardens to escape work-related stress (Marcus and Sachs, 2014). Rarely, however, are healing gardens on medical campuses designed specifically to support physicians' well-being. There is a void in healing garden design theory. Reports on the prevalence of physician burnout, warn of a widespread crisis and dismal reality within the medical community (T. D. Shanafelt et al., 2015). Researchers pronounce an urgent need for evidence-based interventions, which address individual contributing factors to burnout (Christina Maslach, Jackson, and Leiter, 1986). By investigating the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, an evidence-based therapy, clinically proven to cultivate emotional healing, for physicians suffering burnout, this research reveals how a therapeutic garden could meld mindfulness-based practices with environmental theory; healing garden design precedents; and healthcare design typologies. Finally, mindfulness-based landscape design guidelines describe how a private, restorative, healing garden could help maintain physicians' well-being and rehabilitate physicians experiencing burnout due to emotional exhaustion within the workplace. / Master of Landscape Architecture

Mothers of children with autism have a higher rate of stress than mothers of neurotypical children and mothers of children with other disabilities. This impacts their family quality of life. This study aimed to show that by teaching mothers trauma-informed mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques they were able to switch their perspectives and feel that they had increased the relationships with their child with autism and increased the rating they give their family quality of life. The participants were recruited using word of mouth and through distribution of posters to autism communities following approval of the experiment through the institutional review board (IRB). The participants selected were mothers of children with autism. They interacted with the researcher through Zoom. They completed multiple measures to assess their levels of stress, well-being, mindfulness, and family quality of life. Measures included daily stress self-report, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory-14 (FMI-14), Beach Center Family Quality of Life (FQOL), and a semi-structured interview. This was a multiple baseline study. Data analysis included visual analysis and changepoint analysis. Mothers of children with autism who utilized mindfulness, defusion, and trauma-informed problem-solving resulted in consistently decreasing levels of stress throughout the intervention. Family quality of life increased, especially in the areas of financial well-being and parenting. The mothers reported the most benefit in the practice of defusion and the least benefit from trauma-informed problem-solving. The research done in this experiment merits further study, especially in the areas of mindfulness and defusion. A larger sample size should be used to identify the benefits more closely from each phase and to identify the impact of a less homogeneous group of people. It can then be generalized to other parents of children with special needs.

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With the rapid advancements in technology, researchers are seeking new ways to incorporate modern high-tech solutions such as virtual reality into treatment paradigms for stress. The current experiment explores the beneficial effects of immersing an individual into virtual reality after a stressful encounter. I examined the potential restorative effects of three unique immersive virtual reality environments by inducing stress and negative affect in sixty-nine participants and then randomly assigning them to freely explore one of three environments (a virtual nature setting, a virtual urban cityscape, or a neutral environment composed of solid geometric shapes) for ten minutes. Participants who explored the nature environment were found to have significantly improved affect (as measured by a standardized questionnaire), and significantly lower stress levels (as measured by self-report and skin-conductance levels) compared to those who explored the urban and geometric environments. The results suggest that virtual nature has restorative properties similar to real nature, and that simply immersing participants into a virtual nature setting can reduce stress. These results also suggest that the content of the virtual reality experience (i.e., whether it contains nature) is important in promoting restoration, and that in the absence of nature, stress levels remain unchanged.

According to Duxbury and Higgins 57% of full time employees reported high levels of stress. Stress is impacting the productivity, health and well-being of individuals, and the bottom line of employers. A growing body of evidence suggests exposure to nature, nature-based features, and biophilic design may offer a solution to reducing stress in the office workplace. This thesis brings together a comprehensive body of information drawn from the neurosciences and environmental psychology, including attention restoration theory (ART), psycho-evolutionary theory, Kellert’s biophilic design elements, and seven case studies, to propose key nature-based interior design strategies for stress reduction in office knowledge workers. Providing direct and indirect exposure to nature appears to have the strongest impact on mitigating the stress response. The importance of the integrated design process (IDP), post-occupancy evaluation (POE), and barriers to incorporating biophilia centred design practices are addressed and process strategies proposed. / October 2015

With the rapid advancements in technology, researchers are seeking new ways to incorporate modern high-tech solutions such as virtual reality into treatment paradigms for stress. The current experiment explores the beneficial effects of immersing an individual into virtual reality after a stressful encounter. I examined the potential restorative effects of three unique immersive virtual reality environments by inducing stress and negative affect in sixty-nine participants and then randomly assigning them to freely explore one of three environments (a virtual nature setting, a virtual urban cityscape, or a neutral environment composed of solid geometric shapes) for ten minutes. Participants who explored the nature environment were found to have significantly improved affect (as measured by a standardized questionnaire), and significantly lower stress levels (as measured by self-report and skin-conductance levels) compared to those who explored the urban and geometric environments. The results suggest that virtual nature has restorative properties similar to real nature, and that simply immersing participants into a virtual nature setting can reduce stress. These results also suggest that the content of the virtual reality experience (i.e., whether it contains nature) is important in promoting restoration, and that in the absence of nature, stress levels remain unchanged.