This pilot study sought to describe the patterns of health risk factors and objective physical findings in well rural Appalachian women. A retrospective chart review was conducted of the records of 50 women who received a health history, physical examination, and appropriate laboratory testing as part of a rural community wellness project. The most prevalent risk factors found were past or present smoking, history of lung disease, physical inactivity, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia. Higher numbers of risk factors per person were correlated with lower levels of education. The most prevalent physical findings were systolic blood pressure greater than 140 and diastolic greater than 90, diastolic blood pressure greater than 90 with normal systolic, total cholesterol greater than 240, low-density lipoprotein levels greater than 130, and greater than 20% over ideal weight. This sample reveals a high prevalence of risk factors for the leading causes of mortality in middle-aged women, partially accounted for by low formal education levels, poverty, and limited access to health care.

The principal objective of the research is to diagnose the causes and symptoms of company failure and to investigate whether a pattern of failure could be determined to enable management and other interested parties to identify the risks threatening the survival of the company. The current research divides into three main areas 1. Development of a Data Bank and a study of the age structure of failed companies. 2. An application of reliability management techniques to the analysis of company failure data. 3. Identification of causes and symptoms of company failure based on risk management methodology. Data were collected and analysed for approximately 2000 manufacturing companies which had undergone either compulsory or creditors' voluntary liquidation during the period 1970 to 1977. A Data Bank was established with classified information for 16 different groups of companies making up the manufacturing industry. The classification was based on the Standard Industrial Classification. A study of the age structure of each group was carried out and compared with previous studies. Reliability methodology was applied to the analysis of company failure data for the identification of the failure pattern. Best distributions describing failure behaviour of companies were also determined and the validity and application of various statistical distributions were examined. A detailed examination of the histories of some large companies which failed during the period 1970-1977 was carried out. Risks, weaknesses and possible causes and symptoms of failure were investigated and discussed. A list of the causes of failure emerged from the analysis is drawn and the non-financial symptoms are highlighted in a tabular form. Illustrative models for the appraisal of change and identification of causes and symptoms are developed and critical factors discussed. Finally, general conclusions arising out of the research are-presented, along with recommendations for further research and study.

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The principal objective of the research is to diagnose the causes and symptoms of company failure and to investigate whether a pattern of failure could be determined to enable management and other interested parties to identify the risks threatening the survival of the company. The current research divides into three main areas 1. Development of a Data Bank and a study of the age structure of failed companies. 2. An application of reliability management techniques to the analysis of company failure data. 3. Identification of causes and symptoms of company failure based on risk management methodology. Data were collected and analysed for approximately 2000 manufacturing companies which had undergone either compulsory or creditors' voluntary liquidation during the period 1970 to 1977. A Data Bank was established with classified information for 16 different groups of companies making up the manufacturing industry. The classification was based on the Standard Industrial Classification. A study of the age structure of each group was carried out and compared with previous studies. Reliability methodology was applied to the analysis of company failure data for the identification of the failure pattern. Best distributions describing failure behaviour of companies were also determined and the validity and application of various statistical distributions were examined. A detailed examination of the histories of some large companies which failed during the period 1970-1977 was carried out. Risks, weaknesses and possible causes and symptoms of failure were investigated and discussed. A list of the causes of failure emerged from the analysis is drawn and the non-financial symptoms are highlighted in a tabular form. Illustrative models for the appraisal of change and identification of causes and symptoms are developed and critical factors discussed. Finally, general conclusions arising out of the research are-presented, along with recommendations for further research and study.

Evidence suggests that female victims of sexual abuse are revictimized more often than non-victimized females, placing them at risk for the negative consequences, including increased psychopathology, medical issues and interpersonal difficulties. Research is needed to protect childhood sexual abuse survivors from the risk of further sexual assault. The present study examines if victim status and perception of social costs inhibit heterosexual females’ perception of risk and behavioral response. Results indicate that victim status affects the perception of risk and that sexually abused women in a high social cost condition use less assertive behavioral responses. Implications of these findings for sexual assault prevention and interventions are discussed.

Evidence suggests that female victims of sexual abuse are revictimized more often than non-victimized females, placing them at risk for the negative consequences, including increased psychopathology, medical issues and interpersonal difficulties. Research is needed to protect childhood sexual abuse survivors from the risk of further sexual assault. The present study examines if victim status and perception of social costs inhibit heterosexual females’ perception of risk and behavioral response. Results indicate that victim status affects the perception of risk and that sexually abused women in a high social cost condition use less assertive behavioral responses. Implications of these findings for sexual assault prevention and interventions are discussed.

Fear of crime is an issue that has long been a part of mainstream society through politics and media. However, research on the specific mechanisms of fear and the effects on behavior is sparse. After considering the victim-offender overlap consistently found within the literature, the present study was based on the theory posed within Schreck, Stewart, and Fisher (2006) in which those who are low in self-control may have altered perceptions of fear or risk of crime that might increase the likelihood that the individual will be in risky locations conducive to victimization. The current study also included a novel feature in which fear of crime is measured by two separate constructs, an emotional fear response to crime as well as a cognitive risk perception of crime as suggested in Rountree and Land (1996). This study will utilize data collected from 3,692 seventh-graders in Kentucky as part of the Rural Substance Abuse and Violence Project. It is believed that this study will help to better explain the process behind school victimization in particular, not only for intervention and prevention purposes for offending behavior, but to also prevent victimization.

The issue of environmental risks from the pharmaceutical endocrine disrupter 17 alpha-ethinyl oestradiol (EE2), which is an active ingredient in the contraceptive pill, confronts government responsibilities for citizens' health with potential environmental risks from its presence in aquatic ecosystems. Further to a risk appraisal process conducted under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) between 2006 and 2012, the European Commission recommended the imposition of an environmental quality standard for EE2. In 2013, this recommendation was rejected by politicians. The outcome was both contested and commended. The UK Government was particularly vehement in its opposition and claimed that the risk assessment process for EE2 was not robust. The UK Government also insisted that it had swayed opinion of other EU Member States to convince them that action for EE2 was not proportionate given the extremely elevated costs of risk control options. At the present time, environmental policy for EE2 and other endocrine disrupters remains resolutely ineffective. Despite three distinct policy interventions recommending precautionary action for EE2 during the past twenty years, emissions of this potent, oestrogenic endocrine disrupter continue unabated. This thesis explains why European politicians rejected the European Commission’s risk governance recommendations for EE2 in 2013 under the Water Framework Directive. This comprises its principal empirical contribution. A novel analytical framework which draws on insights from the policy sciences, risk governance and wicked problems literature is developed. This framework is employed to determine whether the policy outcome for EE2, and the decision-making processes that preceded it, were legitimate. The research findings in this respect advance understanding of the implications of specific properties of wicked problems, of which it is argued, EE2 is an example, for the legitimacy of decision-making processes during the risk appraisal and political phases of policy development in Europe. This comprises the principle theoretical contribution of the thesis. Recommendations to promote more effective and legitimate policy development for wicked problems in similar multi-level governance contexts are also made.