Class of 2016 Abstract / Objectives: To identify which types of mid-level practitioners have prescribing authority in each state in the United States (US), compare the types of prescriptive authority for scheduled medications for mid-level practitioners, and delineate differences between state and federal requirements for electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) for mid-level practitioners in each state. Methods: A data extraction tool was developed and utilized to collect e-prescribing requirements and mid-level practitioner prescriptive authority from publically accessible state and federal websites. Dependent variables were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. A comparison of regional mid-level practitioner prescriptive authority patterns was conducted. Results: Mid-level practitioner prescriptive authority and e-prescribing requirements were collected from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). For e-prescribing requirements, 19 (37%) states listed federal law requirements, 28 (55%) states listed requirements in addition to federal law, and 4 states (8%) did not specify requirements. Overall, over half of the US had more stringent e-prescribing requirements than federal law. States varied in which mid-level practitioners had authority to prescribe controlled substances: 98% of states allow nurse practitioners to prescribe; 96% allow physician assistants; 84% allow optometrists; 14% allow naturopathic doctors; 12% allow registered pharmacists; 8% allow certified nurse midwives, 4% allow homeopathic physicians, medical psychologists, and nursing homes; and 2% allow doctors of oriental medicine, certified chiropractors, clinical nurse specialists and/or advanced practice registered nurses. Conclusions: There are differences in e-prescribing requirements and varying levels of prescriptive authority for mid-level practitioners between US states.

The end of cold war indicates the collapse of the bipolar system built by US and Soviet Union together. The international system at post-cold war era also has changed obviously following the trend of globalization, and international relation keeps varying and adjusting. First, global economy has accelerated towards globalization after releasing from the yokes of cold war. As a result, the interdependence of countries become closer and closer, the overall development and diversified trend of the word become more and more obvious. All these bring a strong influence on leading powers such as China, US and E. U, and consequently a significant adjustment on their strategies and relation. Based on geopolitics, these three parties own enormous economic, military and politic influence globally and also regionally, at the same time, China, US and E. U. all take a significant strategic role in America, Asia, and Europe respectively. Therefore, their interaction is an important foundation for observation of leading powers¡¦ relation under globalization background at post-cold war era. Therefore, the discussion on factors that affect relation of three parties, features and their development trend has quite significant meaning theoretically. It is also an innovative attempt in terms of study on the overall nature, especially at the post-cold war era and under the influence of globalization. For the cold war era, Lowell Dittmer¡¦s Strategy Triangle Theory was most frequently used to discuss the strategic relation of three parties in the international system. This study, on the other hand, tires to analyze the relation of these leading powers at post-cold war era under globalization background. From their interaction, it tries to understand how one party coordinates its strategic interests with the other two parties as they are all the most important bodies in international society. It benefits the understanding of internal drives and external pressure under globalization, and also the influence of leading powers¡¦ interaction on international system. This study starts from the ¡§corners¡¨, that is, to analyze three parties¡¦ positioning in the international system and based on one party¡¦s strategy view to the other two parties and strategy planning, to understand these three parties¡¦ strategy logistics and international behavior mode. Following that, it examines the structure of the ¡§sides¡¨ from the bilateral relation of three parties. Finally, it tries to understand the ¡§overall nature¡¨ of three parties based on an examination on the interaction of China, US and E.U. on significant international topics during the 21st century. Topics including events that have significant influence and special meaning on international strategies and national interests of three parties, such as the 911 event, US attack of Iraq, deregulation on shipping weapons to China, to find out the importance and influence of ¡§terrorism¡¨, ¡§regional conflict¡¨, ¡§weapon expansion¡¨, ¡§bilateral relation¡¨ etc. factors on interaction of three-party strategy. All in all, the purpose of this study is to make out the leading powers¡¦ political logistics and model under the globalization background at post-cold war era as well as its international influence.

The concept of standing in public interest litigation has not received much attention and analysis post South Africa’s Constitutional era. This dissertation begins with a discussion of the jurisprudence of the South African courts in relation to locus standi since the early 1900s up until the year 1993. The purpose of the discussion is to illustrate the profound transformation the concept of standing in public interest litigation has undergone after the promulgation of the Constitution. A comparison is then made with the legal position on this question with the United States of America, a country that has been dubbed as the most democratic and liberal in the world which has a Bill of Rights dating back some 200 years. The case law of the US Supreme Court is dealt with, followed by the most important trends of academic criticism of this case law. This forms the basis of an informed comparison in relation to the question of locus standi between the two jurisdictions. It is argued towards the end that the locus standi dispensation in public interest litigation that has emerged in South Africa is the better of the two. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Public Law / unrestricted

Magister Artium - MA / This study, in contrast to contemporary held views relating to the US policy premises, aimed to look at the inherent disabilities and inconsistencies of the policies of successive Washington administrations. More so, it investigated the US interventionist strategies to perceived threats from communist regimes and their allies, especially in Southern Africa. To be able to embark on such an investigation, Namibia and the Soviet-Cuban involvement in Southern Africa were selected as a special focus of this study. / South Africa

Trade of South Africa with the rest of the world has changed substantially since the mid-1990s. The United States (US), which used to be the main trading partner of South Africa, is now only the third largest trading partner of the country. South African trade with Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom (UK) are also lower. The key reason is the emergence of China in the world economy. South Africa did not trade with China before 1993, but from 2009 China became the main trading partner of the country. Globalisation and China’s emergence have influenced the trade linkages of many other countries in the world. To incorporate the changes in global trade linkages, the foreign variables of all the models in the study are compiled with trade-weighted three-year moving average data. The foremost objective of the thesis is to determine how the changes in trade linkages affect the transmission of economic shocks originating in the rest of the world on South Africa. The global vector autoregression (GVAR) approach is used since one of its advantages is the incorporation of global trade linkages, which facilitates the analysis of the transmission of shocks from one country to another. As a GVAR model combines many individual country models, the study first estimates such a country-specific model for South Africa to determine whether it displays the expected impact of domestic shocks on the economy. This type of model is known as a vector error correction model (VECM) with domestic variables and weakly exogenous (X) foreign (*) variables, denoted by VECX*. The results from the VECX* for South Africa are in line with expectations, showing the effective transmission of monetary policy. The study then examines the impact of international shocks on the South African economy with a GVAR model. The GVAR, which incorporates country-specific VECX* models for 33 countries, is solved for all 33 countries using global trade weight matrices at different dates. The results indicate that over time South Africa is much more vulnerable to GDP shocks to the Chinese economy, and less vulnerable to GDP shocks to the US economy. These trends are however not confined to South Africa, and as such highlights the increased risk to the South African economy and many other economies, should China experience slower GDP growth. Finally, the thesis determines whether the forecasting performance of GVAR models is superior to that of a country-specific VECX* model. The study compares the out-of-sample forecasts of two key South African variables (real GDP and inflation) for five types of models: a VECX*, a customised small GVAR for South Africa, the more general 33-country GVAR, simple autoregressive models and random walk models. Better forecasts of both the GVAR models compared to the VECX* model at forecast horizons of more than four quarters show that, despite the complicated nature of the GVAR model with the inclusion of many countries and global trade linkages, the additional information is useful for forecasting domestic variables / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Economics / unrestricted

The research will compare the alignment of the remuneration between United States and South African banks with respect to the Economic Value Added, a measure of a firm's economic profit that adjusts profit by subtracting the cost of capital.South African banks have been widely recognised for their high standard of corporate governance and stability during the financial crisis. Executive remuneration based on short-term equity has been recognised by both academic literature as well as bank regulators as one of the causes of the financial crisis. The research seeks to understand the differences in remuneration alignment between the failed and surviving banks.Misaligned incentives within the United States banks are accepted by both academics and regulators as one of the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn. This research puts this theory to the test by comparing the alignment of executive remuneration between South African banks that were internationally recognised for successfully navigating the financial crisis, and the largest United States banks, of which three failed catastrophically over the same time period.The remuneration for the largest United States and South African banks is tested for correlation against Economic Value Added (EVA®), share price and return on equity. Correlation between executive remuneration and the constructs is tested between the two countries before as well as after the financial crisis.South African bank executive remuneration correlated strongly with EVA® and this correlation strengthened after the financial crisis. In comparison, the United States sample banks exhibited strong correlation between share price and remuneration before the financial crisis. The failed United States banks had no correlations between executive remuneration any of the constructs, a pattern that has been repeated in the United States Banks that have survived the financial crisis.Practically, the research demonstrated the vast differences in executive remuneration alignment between the United States and South Africa. In South African banks, executive remuneration is far more closely aligned to EVA®, whereas the United States banks only correlated with share price before the financial crisis, raising the question of whether managers are able to exert excessive power. The research demonstrates the magnitude of the gap between the recommendations of regulators and remuneration policies, with South African banks far more closely aligned than their United States counterparts.The research findings concur with theory presented in literature that misaligned incentives based on equity contributed towards the financial crisis. Of particular concern is the change in remuneration correlation after the financial crisis, where South African banks increased correlation with EVA® while United States banks no longer correlated with EVA®, ROE or share price. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This case study examines how Wal-Mart's global public relations activities have improved and are successful. Quantitative and qualitative triangulation methodology was used to create greater balance in the results. The case study illustrates Wal-Mart's success in both the use of advertising as a public relations tool, and its strong, improved media relationship building. Additionally, through the qualitative research, a list of suggested attitude and character traits was conceived. This study illuminates how the media, government and Wal-Mart are each able to control information and how each set and respond to the agenda in California. Study findings relate the use of advertising, law of least denomination, a "fair share" of product, and accessibility. Wal-Mart was unsuccessful with getting its message out through traditional media outlets, so it used advertising to enhance public relations efforts. The law of least denomination works! Wal-Mart challenges the capacity of all retailers to organize their own economic life. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Please read the summary in the front pages of the file named 00dissertation / Dissertation (LLM (Procedural Law))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Procedural Law / unrestricted

In a world that is now a global village, enterprising individuals, especially from Third World countries, who make it to greener pastures do not leave their children behind. But with a long list of barriers to academic achievement associated with immigrant and minority students in American high schools, an understanding of the experiences and barriers to academic achievement of immigrant high school students from Uganda and other countries becomes inevitable if those students are to be helped by their school administrators, teachers, counselors, and parents to graduate from high school. This study utilized a qualitative approach from the perspective of Ogbu's cultural ecological theory about immigrant and minority students. The study took place in Southern California. Each of the ten Ugandan immigrant students (identified by pseudonyms) was interviewed for 30 to 45 minutes. The participants' responses to the 14 interview questions were voice-recorded, transcribed, interpreted, coded, and categorized into themes. Study findings suggested that: Ugandan immigrant students were not without obstacles in their American schools. Ugandan immigrant students struggled with adjusting to a new school system where they were asked to repeat grades. They endured negative peer evaluation, found communicating in English problematic, and were threatened by youth gangs. However, the perceived barriers to the academic achievement of Ugandan immigrant students did not prevent them from doing well in their schools in Southern California. The success of Ugandan immigrant students in spite of their perceived barriers to academic achievement in American schools was attributed to their life and school experiences in Uganda (prior to immigration) that prepared them to face barriers with resilience.

No / This paper utilises computerised textual analysis to explore the extent to which both firm and country characteristics influence mandatory and voluntary risk reporting (MRR and VRR) variations both within and between non-financial firms across Germany, the UK and the US, over the period from 2005 to 2010. We find significant variations in MRR and VRR between firms across the three countries. Further, we find, on average, that German firms tend to disclose significantly higher (lower) levels of risk information mandatorily than UK (US) firms. German firms, on average, tend to reveal considerably higher (lower) levels of VRR than US (UK) firms. Our results document that MRR and VRR variations are significantly influenced by systematic risk, the legal system and cultural values. We also find that country and firm characteristics have higher explanatory power over the observed variations in MRR than over those in VRR.