A retrospective investigation of Thoroughbred racehorses euthanazed as result of catastrophic musculoskeletal injury (CMI) at four racetracks in Gauteng, South Africa during the period of 1998-2004 was performed. Fifty-five cases of CMI from 103 603 starts were evaluated. The incidence of CMI per 1000 starts was 0.53, similar to the incidence reported worldwide. The affected limb of 32 of 55 horses with a CMI was evaluated radiographically, ultrasonographically and dissected. CMI occurred unilaterally and predominantly in the forelimbs, the left forelimb (LF) being most commonly affected. The suspensory apparatus, particularly the proximal sesamoid bones (PSB) was predominantly affected, mostly in the LF. Sixty-nine percent of the PSB fractures occurred biaxially, the medial PSB most commonly affected. PSB fractures were often associated with extensive damage to the flexor tendons and ligaments of the metacarpophalangeal joint. Lateral condylar fractures were more common than medial, and the right forelimb predominantly affected. Significant risk factors for CMI in this study were gender, racing interval, and weight carried. Gender relative to the number of starts had the highest statistical significance (intact males P<0.001 and geldings P=0.010). Intact males were 14.8 times more at risk than females and 5.3 times moreso than geldings. Horses carrying more than 59kg were 3.3 times more at risk of breakdown than horses carrying 54-59kg of weight (P=0.006). Horses with a racing interval of less than one week were approximately three times more at risk than those with longer intervals (P=0.025 and P=0.029 respectively). Statistically insignificant risk factors were racing year, going, distance, racetrack, age, size of field and draw. It is of paramount importance that CMI is strictly monitored and risk factors identified to implement preventative measures to circumvent occurrence of CMI, which may have a negative impact on this important spectator sport. This study provides benchmarks for the racing industry to monitor racetrack fatalities in Gauteng and to evaluate intervention strategies. Copyright / Dissertation (MMedVet)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Companion Animal Clinical Studies / unrestricted

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多項式回歸模型可用來模擬賽馬過程。不同研究者對模型中馬匹的效用的分佈採取不同的假設，包括指數分佈，它與Harville 模型（Harville, 1973）相同，伽馬分佈（Stern, 1990）和正態分佈（Henery, 1981）。Harville 模型無法模擬賽馬過程中競爭第二位和第三位等非冠軍位置時增加的隨機性（Benter, 1994）。Stern 模型假設效用服從形狀參數大於一的伽馬分佈，Henery 模型假設效用服從正態分佈。Bacon-Shone，Lo 和 Busche（1992），Lo 和 Bacon-Shone（1994）和 Lo（1994）研究證明了相較於Harville 模型，這兩個模型能更好地模擬賽馬過程。本文利用賽馬歷史數據，採用貝葉斯方法對賽馬結果中馬匹勝出的概率進行預測。本文假設效用服從伽馬分佈。本文針對多項式回歸模型，提出一個在Metropolis-Hastings 抽樣方法中選擇提議分佈的簡便方法。此方法由Scott（2008）首次提出。我們在似然函數中加入服從伽馬分佈的效用作為潛變量。通過將服從伽馬分佈的效用變換成一個服從Mihram（1975）所描述的廣義極值分佈的隨機變量，我們得到一個線性回歸模型。由此線性模型我們可得到最小二乘估計，本文亦討論最小二乘估計的漸進抽樣分佈。我們利用此估計的方差得到Metropolis-Hastings 抽樣方法中的提議分佈。最後，我們可以得到回歸參數的後驗分佈樣本。本文用香港賽馬數據做模擬賽馬投資以檢驗本文提出的估計方法。 / In multinomial regression of racetrack betting, dierent distributions of utilities have been proposed: exponential distribution which is equivalent to Harville’s model (Harville, 1973), gamma distribution (Stern, 1990) and normal distribution (Henery, 1981). Harville’s model has the drawback that it ignores the increasing randomness of the competitions for the second and third place (Benter, 1994). The Stern’s model using gamma utilities with shape parameter greater than 1 and the Henery’s model using normal utilities have been shown to produce a better t (Bacon-Shone, Lo and Busche, 1992; Lo and Bacon-Shone, 1994; Lo, 1994). In this thesis, we use the Bayesian methodology to provide prediction on the winning probabilities of horses with the historical observed data. The gamma utility is adopted throughout the thesis. In this thesis, a convenient method of selecting Metropolis-Hastings proposal distributions for multinomial models is developed. A similar method is rst exploited by Scott (2008). We augment the gamma distributed utilities in the likelihood as latent variables. The gamma utility is transformed to a variable that follows generalized extreme value distribution described by Mihram (1975) through which we get a linear regression model. Least squares estimate of the parameters is easily obtained from this linear model. The asymptotic sampling distribution of the least squares estimate is discussed. The Metropolis-Hastings proposal distribution is generated conditioning on the variance of the estimator. Finally, samples from the posterior distribution of regression parameters are obtained. The proposed method is tested through betting simulations using data from Hong Kong horse racing market. / Detailed summary in vernacular field only. / Xu, Wenjun. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-48). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese. / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Hong Kong Horse Racing Market and Models in Horse Racing --- p.4 / Chapter 2.1 --- Hong Kong Horse Racing Market --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2 --- Models in Horse Racing --- p.6 / Chapter 3 --- Metropolis-Hastings Algorithm in Multinomial Regression with Gamma Utilities --- p.10 / Chapter 3.1 --- Notations and Posterior Distribution --- p.10 / Chapter 3.2 --- Metropolis-Hastings Algorithm --- p.11 / Chapter 4 --- Application --- p.15 / Chapter 4.1 --- Variables --- p.16 / Chapter 4.2 --- Markov Chain Simulation --- p.17 / Chapter 4.3 --- Model Selection --- p.27 / Chapter 4.4 --- Estimation Result --- p.31 / Chapter 4.5 --- Betting Strategies and Comparisons --- p.33 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.41 / Appendix A --- p.43 / Appendix B --- p.44 / Bibliography --- p.46

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This doctoral thesis is called “Marriages, Microscopes and Missions: Three Women in Postwar Australia.” It takes the form of three stories and a research essay. The stories examine the lives of three Australian women in the decades following the Second World War, while the research essay discusses those lives and the influences that guided and informed the creative writing process. The stories are set in times that encompassed the White Australia Policy, fear of Communism, the Vietnam War, the feminist movement, the sexual revolution and the recent Northern Territory “Intervention.” After the war, women were expected to fit back into the roles prescribed for them before the war. “Populate or Perish” was the catchcry. A single woman was expected, because of her biology, to marry and start a family at a time when marriage often meant losing her job. But the war had changed women. Those who had had wartime jobs or joined the armed forces remembered the freedom, the pay packet and the realisation that they could do the job as well as a man. The old stereotype of women as handmaidens to men seemed out of step with the way women now saw themselves. But with men still in charge there was bound to be conflict ahead. The first story, “The Doctor’s Wife,” looks at a married woman in coastal New South Wales living the prescribed “dream.” The second, “The Drug Analyst,” shows a Sydney-based career woman attempting to live on her own terms. The third, “The Minister’s Maid,” explores the changing role of an Aboriginal woman in a remote semitraditional Northern Territory community. As each story unfolds within its own culture, physical landscape and carrying its history of conflict, the pressures placed on each woman to conform to her society’s expectations, become apparent. In one way or another, the women in these stories are part of my family. While they sometimes find their identities and self esteem under threat, each is sustained by her strong connection to family and community. At this time in our history, finding a sense of belonging is sometimes a difficult task for young people, both white and black Australians. Perhaps that is why family stories are important. They establish our identity and give us a place in history, a sense of belonging to an ongoing, unfolding narrative.

This thesis is concerned with the use of some optimization methods in harness racing. In the first part of the thesis, both critical path method and critical chain method of the project management are applied to horse racing projects. Then a comparison is made in order to choose a suitable method under various conditions. As a result, we can suggest improvements in horse racing organization. In order to determine optimal number of racing days, races and other aspects within a season, an optimization model is created in the second part of the thesis. Minimization of cost or maximization of number of starts can be chosen as an objective function. Various constraints are considered.

Strategy is generally considered as one of the most important factors of organizations´ success. However, it can be supposed that this theory is applicable for all sectors. The diploma thesis focused on the perception of strategy, strategic planning cycle and its impact on the particular sports industry. This industry is Thoroughbred horse racing. The field of research was application of management theory in the particular horse racing club, its use and the impact on the clubs´ performance, which could lead to potential implementation of necessary changes. The research was conducted using qualitative approaches. Research was based on two pillar, in-depth interviews and participant observation. This approach increased the validity of the statements thanks the triangulation of sources. The findings discuss that the strategy seems to be unimportant for clubs´ managers, although they significantly work on some parts of the strategic planning cycle. However, this fact do not negatively affect the clubs´ performance. It is therefore desirable but not necessary, to make changes and create the strategy.

The growth and development of sport in Co. Tipperary, 1840 to 1880, was promoted and supported by the landed elite and military officer classes. In the instances of cricket, rugby union and association football, the military were the principle agency through which these sports were disseminated among the people of Tipperary. Sporting trends which were fashionable in Great Britain also became evident in Ireland, and by extension, Tipperary. The thesis demonstrates the emergence of these sports at a micro-level in Tipperary and the qualitative research is indicative of the trends by which they became apparent. The degree to which horse racing and hunting to hounds became an integral aspect of the social lives of the elite class is reflected countywide. The associational culture among this class became evident in summer time recreations most notably archery, lawn tennis and cricket. Cricket was the one sport which was quickly diffused throughout the sporting community of Tipperary as it became, in the 1870s, the most prolific team sport in the county and played by all classes. Sport took place without borders and to this end patronage was a key element of this support. There were some notable supporters who gave of their time and money to ensure that the best resources were in place to bring this about. In this respect the 3rd Marquis of Waterford was a leading figure. The thesis clearly shows that sporting diversions continued through the traumatic famine period. As everyday life continued, so too did recreational sport. Hurling remained a part of Tipperary life and the research identifies new sources to demonstrate this. The growth and evolution of sport in Co. Tipperary, 1840-1880, is put into context with comparable studies in Ireland and Great Britain as the Victorian penchant for sport manifested itself in this part of rural Ireland.

In Marked Men: Sport and Masculinity in Victorian Popular Culture, 1866-1904 I examine the representation of the figure of the Victorian sportsman in different areas of nineteenth-century popular culture – newspapers, spectacular melodrama, and series detective fiction – and how these depictions register diverse incarnations of this figure, demonstrating a discomfort with, and anxiety about, the way in which the sporting experience after the Industrial Revolution influenced gender ideology, specifically that related to ideas of manliness. Far from simply celebrating the modern experience of sport as one that works to produce manly men, coverage in the Victorian press of sporting events such as the 1869 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, spectacular melodramas by Dion Boucicault, and series detective fiction by Arthur Conan Doyle and Arthur Morrison, all recognize that the relationship between men and modern sport is a complex, if fraught one; it produces men who are “marked” in a variety of ways by their sporting experience. This recognition is at the heart of our own understandings of this relationship in the twenty-first century. / Thesis (Ph.D, English) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-01 15:16:09.384

The significance of horse in the life and culture of the nomadic societies is a well-known fact. A large part of Mongolian oral traditions and folklore is related to horses. But the horse plays an important role in the oral tradition of sedentary peoples of Europe as well. The diploma thesis is based on field research, written sources and existing sources of folklore of Mongolia and Eastern Slovakia, where the traditional horse breeding still continues to exist. The aim of the thesis is to outline Mongolian perception of the world and the bond between the Mongol and nature through the description of the relationship between man and horse, which is compared with non-nomadic, sedentary culture of the Eastern Slovakia.

Les jeux d’argent sont aujourd’hui au cœur d’un débat de société. L’inquiétude qu’ils suscitent et la dangerosité qu’on leur confère se traduisent par la diffusion croissante dans les médias de discours relatifs à l’addiction. Progressivement reconnue depuis les années 80, celle-ci est significative : elle prouve que le jeu d’argent peut présenter de réelles menaces pour l’individu lorsqu’il est pratiqué avec excès. Cette dénonciation renoue avec les discours relatifs à ces pratiques sous l’Ancien Régime. Cependant, à cette époque, le jeu est essentiellement rejeté pour des raisons sociales et morales : outre de représenter un danger pour les familles, il pousse à négliger le travail et remet en cause l’ordre social établi. Entre cet « Ancien Régime » des jeux et la situation actuelle, un système transitoire a existé. En effet, entre 1836, date à laquelle une loi interdit formellement toutes les loteries, jusqu’en 1954, année de création du Tiercé, l’Etat ne cesse d’intervenir, légiférant en faveur du jeu d’argent. Cette période, qui correspond à une officialisation et à une banalisation des pratiques ludiques, est au cœur de ce travail. Il s’agit d’étudier les mutations réglementaires des jeux d’argent et les motivations qui y sont affiliées, et d’analyser les usages sociaux du temps consacré aux jeux à travers l’étude de leurs pratiques. / Money games are today the center of the attention through a burning public debate. They are usually depicted as the origin of many vices and therefore stimulate a lot of worrying from society, thus the increasing broadcasting in the major medias of their incriminated connection to addiction diseases.Addiction has been growingly associated to gambling since the 1980’s : the money games are indeed more and more denunciated for being a real threat to the individuals who excessively enjoy this special hobby.This point of view is not new and is closely connected to the Old Regime’s widely spread opinions. Nevertheless, at this specific time period, money games were mainly rejected for their social and moral downsides : not only they stood for family issues but they were also incriminated as inviting the players to neglect valuable work and/or the established society rules and habits. There has been an in-between situation between the today’s widely spread gambling activities and the prosecution from the Old Regime. Indeed the government has repeatedly issued regulations to widen the gambling activities from 1836 when there was a law against money games till 1954 when the Tiercé was offcially created. This thesis work focuses on analysing the money games activities between these 2 milestones. The main point is to study the regulations variations about the money games and the reasons behind them. An other important aspect is to analyse the social usages of the time spent on money games through their various shapes and identities.