Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2000. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 86 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-86).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-129).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-122). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains x, 80 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-80).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-53). Also available on the World Wide Web.

There is increasing interest in protective factors for violence risk and it has been proposed that consideration of protective factors in addition to risk factors may lead to more balanced and accurate violence risk assessments. Part 1: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to explore the predictive and incremental validity of protective factors assessed using structured professional judgment (SPJ) violence risk assessment tools. Eighteen studies were identified which reported the predictive validity of protective factors for violent behaviour in adolescent and adult males using five different SPJ risk assessment tools. Overall, most studies found that protective factors were associated with the absence of violence. The evidence to support the incremental validity of protective factors (in addition to risk factors) was however less robust and most studies were identified as having a risk of bias which impacted on the potential accuracy and generalisability of the findings. Part 2: Using a pseudo-prospective design, the predictive and incremental validity of protective factors was explored using the Structured Assessment of Protective Factors (SAPROF) and Historical Clinical Risk Management-20 (HCR-20V3) guidelines in a sample of 75 male patients in a high secure forensic mental health inpatient setting. The SAPROF was associated with the absence of different types of violence within the hospital setting (with AUC values for the total SAPROF score ranging from .69 to .74). The SAPROF did not appear to significantly add to the predictive validity of the dynamic risk factors in the HCR-20V3. The Integrative Final Risk Judgment however demonstrated strong predictive validity (with AUC values for different types of violence ranging from .74 to .81) and incremental validity in the prediction of violent behaviour.

Abstract In this study, we examined potential protective factors against depression in the LGBTQ+ community by determining whether outness, self-esteem, perceived social support, life meaning, courage to challenge or resilience/hardiness, life satisfaction, and hope were correlated with less depression. There were 149 participants in the study, 38 of whom identified as members of the LGBTQ+ community, and 107 of whom identified as heterosexual. Participants completed an online survey that took approximately 30 minutes. It was predicted that protective factors would be negatively related to depression. Results of both correlation and regression analyses revealed no significant relations between protective factors and depression. In a post-hoc analysis, the correlations between these factors in the heterosexual participants were statistically significant. Protective factors may be less prevalent or less directly helpful in the LGBTQ+ minority community than they are in the heterosexual majority. In addition, LGBTQ+ participants reported significantly higher levels of depression than the heterosexual participants. Thus, these findings indicate that there are significantly less protective factors present in the lives of LGBTQ+ persons than there are in their heterosexual counterparts.

No description available.

Bacillus anthracis is a facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen that can cause cutaneous, gastrointestinal or respiratory disease in many vertebrates, including humans. Commercially available anthrax vaccines for immunization of humans are of limited duration and do not protect against the respiratory form of the disease. Brucella abortus is a facultative intracellular bacterium that causes chronic infection in animals and humans. As with other intracellular pathogens, cell mediated immune responses (CMI) are crucial in affording protection against brucellosis. B. abortus strain RB51 has been shown to be useful in eliciting protective cell mediated immunity and humoral responses against Brucella in cattle and other animal species. Since the protective antigen (PA) of B. anthracis is known to induce protective antibodies, it was decided that the objective of this research was to test whether the gene encoding PA could be expressed in Brucella producing a bivalent vaccine to protect against both brucellosis and anthrax. The pag gene was transcriptionally fused to promoters of genes encoding superoxide dismutase or heat shock protein groE, subcloned into a broad host range plasmid (pBBR1MCS) and shown to express in E. coli by immunoblotting using antiserum specific for PA. The immunoblot results revealed that E. coli produced a PA protein of the expected size. In addition, the culture medium was shown to contain the same PA protein using immunoblotting. These results show that E. coli is capable of expressing B. anthracis PA in both the cellular and extracellular forms. The pBB/PA plasmid was used to transform B. abortus RB51 and CmR clones screened for the expression of PA by immunoblotting. Twenty clones of strain RB51/pBBSOD were show to express a 30kDa PA protein. Three clones of strain RB51/pBBGroE-PA were shown to express a 63-83kDa protein as detected by antiserum specific for PA. Using the A/J mouse, an immunocompromised vertebrate model, immunization and challenge studies were performed. Preliminary results demonstrate that the bivalent vaccine is capable of producing protection against a live challenge with B. abortus and some protection against live non-disease producing spores of B. anthracis. / Master of Science