Providing supplemental feed is a popular management practice for quail (northern bobwhite Colinus virginianus and scaled quail Callipepla squamata ) in Texas. It is common knowledge that non-target species, e.g., raccoons (Procyon lotor), are frequent visitors at feeding stations intended for quail. However, empirical data are scarce on seasonal visitation rates at such feeders, either by quail or by non-target species. The ecological efficacy and economic efficiency of a feeding program for quail depends on several variables; perhaps the most important of these is how much of the feed is consumed by quail versus various non-target species. I monitored species visitation seasonally at free-choice quail feeders with motion-sensing cameras at 4 sites in West Texas (Coke, Fisher and Stonewall counties). Quail feeders were monitored using active-infrared sensing camera systems and passive-infrared video systems, to compare data obtained via these 2 surveillance techniques. I tested 2 research hypotheses: 1) that quail feeders are visited by a wide range of non-target species; and 2) active-infrared surveillance will yield a more precise estimate of species visitation than estimates derived from passive video surveillance. Major findings included documentation of approximately 14 mammalian and 18 avian species that were recorded in a total of 6,558 events. Data analysis yielded a chronology of feeding behavior by all visiting species. I found that species visitation at quail feeders varied according to season, with the greatest number of events occurring during the fall and the fewest during the winter. Feeder visitation also varied according to lunar phase, with the fewest events occurring during the new moon phase. I recorded the duration of each event monitored on videotape, a total of 29,235 minutes, and determined that feeder visitation by raccoons comprised 43.2% of all time spent at quail feeders across all species. Visitation by bobwhite and scaled quail comprised only 5.4% of time spent at quail feeders by all visiting species. This study confirmed the need for strategy implementation that minimizes non-target consumption of feed intended for quail.

Extant research suggests that some of the potential harms to social bonds during the incarceration experience may be mitigated by visitation. In particular, previous studies have found visitation from family and friends to be significantly related to decreased recidivism rates among adult prisoners. Little is known about the impact of visitation on recidivism among juvenile populations, which this study sought to address. Utilizing data from the Pathways to Desistance study, a series of negative binomial regressions were carried out to observe the potential relationship between maternal and paternal caregiver visitation and post-release self-reported offending among serious juvenile offenders. No significant relationship was found between caregiver visitation and recidivism, contrary to expected results. This held true for both maternal and paternal caregiver visitation as well as both dichotomous and visit count measures. Further research is needed to determine why visitation studies among adult populations do not appear to generalize to juveniles. Visitation quality and nature of the relationship with caregivers should be observed in future studies.

This study encapsulates a theological-ethical study of church visitation. It was focussed on the GKSA and wants to make a contribution towards an ethical implementation of church visitation in the GKSA and elsewhere. Church visitation within the GKSA can be described as a regular, precautionary shepherding visit to all churches in the jurisdiction of the classis, by two experienced visitators to take cognisance of the service, order and teaching; as well as to show the concern of God for His church and every member of the congregation in order to admonish, comfort and strengthen them. The aim is to promote harmony (not chaos), to uplift so as to stimulate (not demolish) and to expand the Kingdom of God (not to subdue it). Throughout history the church visitation was contantly engaged in a struggle as to how church visitation should take place so that the Word and Confessions and during the Sinod of Dortrecht (Netherlands) in 1618/1619 an order was formulated. A part of this Order is Church Order Article 44 which provides for the opportunity of church visitation ecclesiastically, as well as the instructions as to how (includes ethically) it should be done. In the GKSA this Dordt Church Order was accepted in 1862. Although church visitation is organised according to Church Order, it is an action that is ethically grounded arising from the love and care of believers for each other and for God and His Church. This care and concern appears intermittently in the Word, as for example: Acts 15:36 (the locus classicus of church visitation): "a while later Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go and see how it is going with the believers in all the cities where we have proclaimed the Word of God." Church visitation can be termed a caring strategy wherein visitations look with compassion as to how it is going in the churches. It is a pastoral visit where love is exhorted, comforted in faith and strengthened in hope. In Revelation 2 and 3 it is found that Jesus Christ as the real Visitator moves between His churches. He comforts, admonishes and strengthens seven of His congregations. The congregations are eventually representative of all churches over all the centuries. Ethically, attention is paid to motive, aim (objective), mean (Word) and consequence. On the basis on which the Lord of the Old and the New Testament focuses upon when He visits His Church, as was understood by the Church throughout the centuries, it is ethical guidelines and a model for church visitation in the GKSA and its broader disposal. / PhD (Ethics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This study encapsulates a theological-ethical study of church visitation. It was focussed on the GKSA and wants to make a contribution towards an ethical implementation of church visitation in the GKSA and elsewhere. Church visitation within the GKSA can be described as a regular, precautionary shepherding visit to all churches in the jurisdiction of the classis, by two experienced visitators to take cognisance of the service, order and teaching; as well as to show the concern of God for His church and every member of the congregation in order to admonish, comfort and strengthen them. The aim is to promote harmony (not chaos), to uplift so as to stimulate (not demolish) and to expand the Kingdom of God (not to subdue it). Throughout history the church visitation was contantly engaged in a struggle as to how church visitation should take place so that the Word and Confessions and during the Sinod of Dortrecht (Netherlands) in 1618/1619 an order was formulated. A part of this Order is Church Order Article 44 which provides for the opportunity of church visitation ecclesiastically, as well as the instructions as to how (includes ethically) it should be done. In the GKSA this Dordt Church Order was accepted in 1862. Although church visitation is organised according to Church Order, it is an action that is ethically grounded arising from the love and care of believers for each other and for God and His Church. This care and concern appears intermittently in the Word, as for example: Acts 15:36 (the locus classicus of church visitation): "a while later Paul said to Barnabas: "Let us go and see how it is going with the believers in all the cities where we have proclaimed the Word of God." Church visitation can be termed a caring strategy wherein visitations look with compassion as to how it is going in the churches. It is a pastoral visit where love is exhorted, comforted in faith and strengthened in hope. In Revelation 2 and 3 it is found that Jesus Christ as the real Visitator moves between His churches. He comforts, admonishes and strengthens seven of His congregations. The congregations are eventually representative of all churches over all the centuries. Ethically, attention is paid to motive, aim (objective), mean (Word) and consequence. On the basis on which the Lord of the Old and the New Testament focuses upon when He visits His Church, as was understood by the Church throughout the centuries, it is ethical guidelines and a model for church visitation in the GKSA and its broader disposal. / PhD (Ethics), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Nathan P. Hendricks / Public parks can provide considerable value to the population that visit them, for the community around them and the local economy. A well designed public park can attract growth in tourism, stimulate a habitat for wildlife, contribute to personal health and wellness, improve the aesthetics of an area and stimulate economic growth. Managing and operating a public park entails many complex issues such as designing an attractive green space, implementing and maintaining the park, attracting and managing visitors and obtaining financial support. Public parks need to identify factors that influence park visitation in order to more effectively manage park visitorship.. This thesis examines park visitation analyzing data of park users of The High Line in New York City to develop a model to more accurately predict visitation. The thesis focuses on the critical social and climatic variables that attract visitors to spend time in the High Line park. Understanding these factors will allow park management the ability to create a strategic plan for managing a public space that best serves its visitors and the community. More specifically, a strategic plan helps to determine who the visitors are and what activities they enjoy in the park. In conceptualizing a solution, High Line can put into practice what its visitors want to see offered in the park and which of its programming needs improvement to attract more visitors. Meeting the needs of park visitors will create a better experience for the customers and a better management strategy for operations. A multivariate regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between High Line visitation and the climatic and social variables. The climatic variables of daily average temperature and precipitation. The social variables of day of the week and season of the year were added to the structural model as dummies. A time trend variable characterized as time in years was added to the model to show any yearly change in visitation to the park. This method has been widely applied to a number of studies testing the relationship of climatic and social variables to park visitation (Micah, Scotter and Fenech 2016). The results of this regression analysis show that the social variables of day of the week and season and the climatic variables of average temperature and precipitation had a significant affect on park visitation. The model developed can be used to forecast park visitation, quantifying the many variables that influence park visitation.

abstract: The purpose of this project is to better understand the factors associated with, and effects of, prison visitation for children during maternal and paternal incarceration. As gatekeepers, caregivers play a pivotal role in the facilitation of parent-child prison visitation. Yet, some caregivers may be more likely to take children to visit than others. Additionally, among those children who do visit, visitation may be positive in some ways and negative in others. To advance prior work, this study (1) assesses the relationship between caregiver type and parent-child prison visitation and (2) investigates the emotional and behavioral responses of children who visit. The current research uses mixed-methods and is carried out in two phases. For Phase 1, quantitative data on 984 children collected from structured interviews with incarcerated parents (N=279 mothers; N=143 fathers) in the Arizona Department of Corrections are used to examine the relationship between caregiver type and the likelihood of parent-child prison visitation. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses are conducted separately for maternal and paternal incarceration. Phase 2 draws on caregivers' accounts of 40 children who visit their parent in prison to assess children's emotional and behavioral reactions to visitation. Data are coded to identify positive and negative responses, "visitation paradox" indicators, prior life circumstances and child age. Thematic content analyses are conducted to capture major themes. Analyses from Phase 1 confirm a significant relationship between caregiver type and mother-child and father-child visitation. Other factors that affected the likelihood of parental visitation included child situational factors, parent stressors, institutional barriers and child demographics, although these effects differed depending upon which parent was in prison. Results from Phase 2 revealed overwhelmingly negative responses among children to parental prison visitation. Key themes that accounted for child reactions included institutional context and parental attachment. This research adds to the collateral consequences of incarceration literature by providing greater insight into the imprisonment experience for vulnerable families. Further, these results have direct implications for correctional policy and practice pertaining to the manner and regulation of prison visits and also inform reentry efforts through a family-centric approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014

This study will describe relationships between characteristics of the retarded child and the amount and types of parental visitation.

When placed in foster care, according to the Swedish social service act, children are entitled to preserve a standing relationship with their birth parents. The aim of this study was to examine which aspects according to social workers are vital in the making of social plans between children in the age of 0-3 placed in foster care and their birth parents. The study also examines how social workers make children between 0-3 participate in the making of their social plans. Nine qualitative semi-structured interviews with social workers have been analyzed based on Laura Lundys model of participation and the model of Maria Eriksson and Elisabet Näsman about social workers focus in working with children. The results show that the planning of social plans is based on what will benefit the child and what will not. The social workers analyze the abilities of the birth parent and to the best of their abilities they take in information about children reaction to make an assessment of what is best for the child. The main conclusion is that the work surrounding social plans is heavily based on the purpose of the placement in foster care. Whether the child has a chance to return to its birth parents or not has a big impact on the making of social plans.

No description available.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Invasive alien plants threaten natural and agricultural pollination systems as they integrate into and disrupt flower visitation networks. Mango (Mangifera indica) production on commercial mango farms in Hoedspruit, South Africa, is an important part of the local economy. Mangoes require pollination for fruiting success, and depend on the native insect community, facilitated by managed bee colonies (Apis mellifera), to pollinate flowers. Managed honeybees and wild insect flower visitors to mango have previously been observed visiting other flowering plants in surrounding natural vegetation, including the alien invasive plant Lantana camara. Lantana camara and mango share similar floral characteristics and co-occur in close proximity, so they may share pollinators/flower visitors. Here, I determined L. camara’s influence on mango flower visitation networks, specifically whether it facilitates visitation, through greater abundance and diversity of insect flower visitors (facilitation), or competes for flower visitors (competition), and whether it supports mango flower visitors when mango trees are not in flower. This study was conducted on the margins of three mango farms and bordering natural vegetation. Firstly, L. camara’s effect on mango flower visitation was investigated by comparing flower visitation to mango in plots with and without L. camara nearby. The presence of L. camara was associated with greater mango flower visitation, with increases in both flower visitor species abundance and richness. Secondly, the composition of flower visitor communities of mango orchard boundaries and bordering natural vegetation were evaluated. Although some flower visitors were shared between mango and naturally occurring plants, flower visitor community assemblages were significantly different between natural vegetation and mango orchard boundaries. In natural vegetation, flies, butterflies, wasps, wild bees and ants played a primary role in the visitation networks, whereas honeybees, wild bees and flies were the main visitors in mango orchards. The presence of L. camara significantly influenced community structure in both natural vegetation and orchards. Natural vegetation with L. camara had a more diverse flower visitor community than natural vegetation without L. camara. Lantana camara seems to facilitate mango flower visitation during mango flowering, attracting a larger visitor abundance and species richness where it occurs in bordering natural vegetation and nearby mango orchard boundaries. However, L. camara was seen to be visited by few species known to visit mango outside of mango flowering, suggesting that L. camara may benefit more from facilitation than mango. Given its extreme invasive nature and threat to local plants which sustain native pollinators, L. camara should be removed from mango orchards and bordering natural vegetation. Furthermore, farm managers are encouraged to plant and maintain indigenous flowering plants, especially plants with a facilitative value to mango, in land surrounding mango orchards to sustain native wild pollinators beneficial to mango pollination. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Indringerplante bedreig natuurlike- en landboubestuiwingsisteme deur blombesoekingsnetwerke binne te dring en te ontwrig. Mango (Mangifera indica) produksie op kommersiële plase in Hoedspruit, Suid-Afrika, speel 'n belangrike rol in die plaaslike ekonomie. Suksesvolle mangovrugproduksie is afhanklik van bestuiwing deur inheemse insekte, gefasiliteer deur bestuurde heuningbykolonies (Apis mellifera). Dit is vantevore waargeneem dat hierdie heuningbye en inheemse insekblombesoekers ook ander blomme besoek in die omliggende natuurlike plantegroei, veral Lantana camara wat in hierdie areas ook voorkom. Lantana camara en mango deel soortgelyke blomeienskappe en groei baie na aan mekaar op die buitenste rande van mango boorde. In hierdie studie bepaal ek L. camara se invloed op mangoblominsekbesoekers, en kyk spesifiek of dit mangoblombesoeking fasiliteer, deur om die aantal blombesoekers en blombesoekerspesies te verhoog (fasilitering), of mee kompeteer vir blombesoekers (kompetisie), en of dit mangoblombesoekers onderhou wanneer mango bome nie blom nie. Hierdie studie is uitgevoer op die grensgebied tussen die mangoboorde en natuurlike plantegroei van drie mangoplase. Eerstens is L. camara se effek op mango ondersoek deur mangoblombesoeking te vergelyk tussen plotte met en sonder L. camara. Daar is gevind dat L. camara mangoblombesoeking fasiliteer deur om die aantal blombesoekers en besoekerspesies te verhoog. Tweedens is die gemeenskapsamestelling van blombesoekers in mangoboordrande en aangrensende plantegroei geëvalueer. Alhoewel sommige blombesoekers by mango én ander plante gevind word, is hul gemeenskapsamestelling aansienlik verskillend tussen die mangoboordrande en aangrensende plantegroei. Vlieë, skoenlappers, wespe, bye en miere speel 'n primêre rol in die blombesoekingsnetwerke van natuurlike plantegroei, waar hierdie rol in mangoboord-besoekingsnetwerke vervul word deur heuningbye, wilde bye en vlieë. Die teenwoordigheid van L. camara het die gemeenskapstruktuur in beide gebiede beduidend beïnvloed. Die aangrensende natuurlike plantegroei, waar L. camara voorkom, het ‘n meer diverse blombesoekersgemeenskap as dié sonder L. camara. Mangoboorde wat grens aan plantegroei, wat L. camara insluit, het soortgelyk 'n groter blombesoekerspesierykheid en aantal blombesoekers gehad. Dit blyk dat, waar hierdie plant voorkom, Lantana camara mangoblombesoeking fasiliteer tydens mangoblomtyd sowel as om 'n groter aantal blombesoekersinsekte met ‘n groter spesierykheid te lok in beide die mangoboorde en aangrensende natuurlike plantegroei. Daar is egter geen bewyse gevind wat voorstel dat L. camara mangoblombesoekers ondersteun buite mangoblomtyd nie, wat aandui dat L. camara voordeel trek uit die fasiliterende verband met mango. Gegewe L. camara se uiterse indringende geaardheid en bedreiging aan die plaaslike inheemse plantgemeenskap wat inheemse bestuiwers onderhou, word L. camara se verwydering vanuit die aangrensende plantegroei aanbeveel. Dit word aanbeveel om L. camara se fasiliterende rol te vervang deur inheemse blomplante in dié areas aan te plant en natuurlike blomplantegroei te bewaar en te onderhou.