Across the western United States, most populations of Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus canadensis) are managed through hunter harvest (Sandrey 1983). In hunted populations, human harvest is the leading source of mortality (Ballard 2000). With the exception of elk in national parks, populations are primarily managed through hunter harvest. Other sources of mortality include disease, automobile collisions, and predation from mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, and black bears (Childress 2003, Hornocker 1970). As a species of management concern and high economic value (Pickton 2008), hunted populations of elk are carefully managed to target population sizes to guarantee a sustainable supply and ensure available harvest in the future. Estimates of survival, an understanding of cause-specific mortality, and knowledge of high-risk harvest areas are essential to effective management strategies (Stussy 1994). In the first chapter, I examined habitat use of elk during the hunting season and determined habitat characteristics that best predicted vulnerability to harvest. In the second chapter, I calculated annual survival and determined cause-specific mortality of elk.

Using data collected in 2007 for Addis Ababa Mortality Surveillance, the paper examines the effect of cause of death/type of illness on choice of health care in adults 12 years and above. The multinomial logit model using bootstrapped standard errors is used to investigate the relationship between dominant type of treatment and the covariates: cause of death, gender, age, education, occupation, ethnicity and religion. Availability of water, television and telephone in the household are used as a proxy for economic status. After controlling for duration of illness (exposure), type of illness, gender and marital status are significant. Those who die of HIV/TB and cancer behave similar in way they seek help, and have high likelihood of using traditional healers as the first point for help compared to those who died as a result of other illnesses. Thus the study concludes that cause of death; gender and marital status affect choice of health service.

This exploratory research study has provided the theorisation of the key drivers of why South African companies invest in sport-based Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. The objectives of this research were addressed through a case study using unstructured qualitative interviews conducted with five (5) managers from companies that are funders and trustees of The Sports Trust. This research identified key drivers of companies’ investment in sport-based CSR as: social integration and economic development; assisting companies in implementing their strategies; improving the companies’ performances through attracting and increasing their client base; bringing immediate gratification and other intangible benefits; fulfilling regulatory requirements for public and other regulatory bodies; and being seen as good corporate citizens. Companies are now closely integrating CSR investment with sponsorship issues which seek to promote brand awareness, consumer loyalty and profitability of their products. Companies are also combining their CSR initiatives with their cause-related marketing campaigns as well as in the creation and innovation of new products. From the qualitative data analysis, it was possible to conclude that although funders of The Sports Trust’s views of CSR tend to highlight different aspects, they fit the legitimacy theory which can be considered a mix of economic and ethical theories described by Goddard (2005). Moreover they could be considered as being complementary. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Between 1920 and 1940, South Carolina saw major changes in its education system both in response to low literacy rates in the state and as part of a national trend in education reform. The period also saw the emergence of one history textbook as the dominant history text for middle school students across the state. William Gilmore Simms and his granddaughter, Mary C. Simms Oliphant, the authors of this history text, had influence over middle school-aged children’s history education for over a century with their books being used in South Carolina schools in some capacity from around 1840 until 1985. These books exhibit strong influence from the Lost Cause Movement, as well as reconciliationist and white supremacist ideology, to present a more pro-southern point of view of the Civil War. Through heroification—the remaking of historical figures into heroes despite their flaws—revision/omission, and both implicit and explicit racism, Simms and Simms-Oliphant weaved narratives that twisted the facts of the Civil War era. These narratives implanted in the seventh and eighth grade students’ minds who typically read the textbooks’ false ideas about the events and people involved in the war. While research on history textbooks generally is widespread, there have been no in-depth studies of the influence of Simms and Simms-Oliphant on South Carolina’s education system. In the 1920s and 1930s, when students across the country on average completed eight to nine years of school, Simms’ and Simms-Oliphant’s books would have been the last history book many of those students would have read before ending their schooling. This gave these two authors immense power to influence public opinion in South Carolina. Ultimately, it appears that education is the primary tool through which South Carolina, and other southern states, have institutionalized Lost Cause, reconciliationist, and white supremacist narratives of the Civil War era that continue to influence public opinion in South Carolina and across the South.

In 2018 Nike collaborated with controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick on their 30th anniversary of their "Just Do It" campaign. Released on multiple platforms, the "Dream Crazy" campaign as it was labeled featured Kaepernick as well as other prominent athletes that broke all odds to become some of the biggest athletes in their sport. A prominent figure in the fight against racial injustice, Kaepernick triggered outrage when he started kneeling during the playing of the national anthem of the United States of America. Drawing from theories of Corporate Social Responsibility and Cause-Related Marketing, this thesis analyses media coverage of the "Dream Crazy" marketing campaign to understand why Nike would collaborate with Kaepernick. Employing qualitative thematic analysis, this thesis examined newspaper articles published around the release of the campaign. Research findings show that Nike received positive coverage as well as over forty-three million dollars in free media exposure. While some individuals burned their apparel in protest, Nike saw sales increase as consumers sought to demonstrate their support for Kaepernick and racial justice. Simultaneously, the campaign made the fight for racial justice a front-page topic as well as exposing Kaepernick's own struggle with being blackballed by the NFL for his public protests.

Background: While death from melanoma of the skin has been gradually decreasing over the past few decades, melanoma continues to be the leading causes of death among skin cancers. Less is known about specific causes of mortality among patients with melanoma and how or whether trends in cause of death among patients diagnosed with melanoma have changed in recent years. Objective: To examine temporal trends in the cause-specific mortality among adult patients diagnosed with melanoma in the US between 2000-2013. Methods: US patients ≥ 45 years when diagnosed with melanoma were identified using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, 18 Registries (SEER-18). Joinpoint regression analysis was used to examine the trends in cause-specific mortality among patients who were diagnosed with melanoma and died from either melanoma or other causes of death. Trends were also examined separately by age, sex, and geographic region. Results: A total of 52,675 patients diagnosed with melanoma who died from either melanoma or other cause of death (median age 74 years, 67% male) were included in the analysis. Overall, 31% of deaths were due to melanoma specifically, whereas 69% died from various other causes. A marked decline in melanoma-specific mortality was observed overall and across strata by age, sex, and region in the US beginning around 2013-2014. Among all causes of death, 55% were due to melanoma within 1 year after diagnosis and declined to 25% over the course of 6 years. A marked decline of at least 2.5% in mortality per year from other causes was observed among females, males, those 65 – 74 years or 75 years and older, and those living in northeastern, midwestern, western, and southern regions of US who were diagnosed with melanoma. Conclusions: Changes in cause-specific mortality rate among patients with melanoma were observed overall and across different subgroups. Our findings show that, among those diagnosed with melanoma, the risk of melanoma-specific death is decreasing within the last two decades, and that the deaths among those with melanoma are more likely to be from other causes such as heart disease, lung cancer, and other conditions. Future studies are needed to assess the trends in melanoma mortality as treatments and diagnostic methods continue to advance.

The influences that crime control, due process factors, and individual demographic characteristics have on the criminal trial outcomes of accused arsonists was unknown. Absent this knowledge, it was not clear if public policy ensures justice for the accused, particularly for the disadvantaged. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to investigate, using Packer's due process and crime control model as the theoretical framework, the relationship between time to trial, number of defense and prosecution witnesses, access to fire origin and cause experts, legal representation type, age, race, education, and gender and criminal arson case outcomes. A sample size of 165 archival court records of those accused of arson from 2011-2015 were analyzed using Packer. According to the results of the logistic regression models, there was a significant relationship (p < .05) between trial outcomes and the use of fact witnesses by the defense and by the prosecution.This relationship moved the pendulum toward crime control for the selected population. The ordered logistic model explained 6.9% of the variation in the criminal case outcomes. Policymakers can use the results of this study to inform criminal justice policy and to prioritize funding to assure fairness and social justice for the accused. Arson defendants and their counsel can use the results to prepare their defense to assure their social justice while prosecutors can use the results to better inform their decisions to assure the legal and factual guilt of the defendant. Future research is needed to provide a clearer understanding of the role that other variables play in the outcome for the population.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Observational studies and clinical trials with time-to-event data frequently involve multiple event types, known as competing risks. The cumulative incidence function (CIF) is a particularly useful parameter as it explicitly quantifies clinical prognosis. Common issues in competing risks data analysis on the CIF include interval censoring, missing event types, and left truncation. Interval censoring occurs when the event time is not observed but is only known to lie between two observation times, such as clinic visits. Left truncation, also known as delayed entry, is the phenomenon where certain participants enter the study after the onset of disease under study. These individuals with an event prior to their potential study entry time are not included in the analysis and this can induce selection bias. In order to address unmet needs in appropriate methods and software for competing risks data analysis, this thesis focuses the following development of application and methods. First, we develop a convenient and exible tool, the R package intccr, that performs semiparametric regression analysis on the CIF for interval-censored competing risks data. Second, we adopt the augmented inverse probability weighting method to deal with both interval censoring and missing event types. We show that the resulting estimates are consistent and double robust. We illustrate this method using data from the East-African International Epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS (IeDEA EA) where a significant portion of the event types is missing. Last, we develop an estimation method for semiparametric analysis on the CIF for competing risks data subject to both interval censoring and left truncation. This method is applied to the Indianapolis-Ibadan Dementia Project to identify prognostic factors of dementia in elder adults. Overall, the methods developed here are incorporated in the R package intccr. / 2021-05-06

The eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallapovo silvestris) was nearly extirpated from the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) from overharvesting and habitat loss in the early 1900s. Habitat restoration with hardwood regeneration has likely improved habitat suitability for turkeys in the MAV. I studied establishment and movement of translocated turkeys to assess feasibility of turkey restoration in the MAV. Turkeys were translocated to 2 study sites in the MAV during winters of 2009 and 2010. I monitored movement, survival, and resource selection of translocated turkeys using radio telemetry (February 2009–April 2011). Movement increased with increasing resource dispersion. Mortalities did not differ among 4 causes. Biweekly survival of translocated turkeys was related inversely to spring precipitation, but related positively to precipitation during other seasons. Mature and regenerating hardwood forests served as nesting and brooding habitat; therefore, increasing hardwood forests will likely improve success of future turkey restoration in the MAV.

En kunskapsöversikt på effekterna av formativ bedömning behövs i alla ämnen inklusive matematik. Syftet med studien är att genom en systematisk litteraturstudie ta reda på vilka bevis det finns som säger att formativ bedömning är eller inte är effektiv när det gäller elevers prestationer samt att analysera orsakerna av dessa effekter. Resultatet visat att formativ bedömning kan ha positiva, negativa och inga effekter på elevers prestationer. Orsakerna är till vilken grad lärarna implementerat formativ bedömning, intresset och motivation från lärarna att använda formativ bedömning samt vilken typ av formativ bedömning som implementeras. / A knowledge overview on the effects of formative assessment is needed in all subjects including mathematics. The purpose of this study is by a systematic review find out what evidence there are that say that formative assessment is or is not effective regarding student performance and also analyze the causes of these effects. The findings show that formative assessment can have positive, negative and no effects on student performance. The causes are the extent to which formative assessment is used, the interest and motivation from the teacher to use formative assessment and also what kind of formative assessment that is implemented.