No description available.

This thesis aims to examine the Tea Party movement from the context of Richard Hofstadter's writings on the paranoid style in American politics. The findings in this study suggest that the Tea Party is something of a paranoid movement, and it suggests that factors for individual paranoid political behavior within this movement are a result of Evangelical fundamentalism, the uses of social media and algorithmic targeting, anxiety towards outgroups, and the machinations of the modern media. An exploration of the origins of the Tea Party and its impacts on the American political system is conducted in order to define and observe the movement as a modern political phenomenon. This grassroots movement is to a large degree responsible for the Republican Party's continued move towards the far right, and it has caused infighting amongst Congressional Tea Partiers and moderate Republicans for influence within the party. These findings reinforce observations of Republican retrenchment and further leanings to the far right of the American political spectrum. This theory is of value since it offers an understanding of the political phenomena occurring within the Republican Party in the form of the Tea Party and allows the field of Political Science to examine and apply the effects of new forms of communication. Social media and the algorithms applied to individual online activity has grave impacts with regards to predicting political behavior and factors that contribute to the formation of an individual's political beliefs. Concluding theoretical assumptions depict the new forms of mass media as one key factor responsible for altering the way individuals consume and process information thus resulting in the continued rise of far right conservative ideology within the Tea Party. / Master of Arts

Bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.) is a herbal beverage and medicinal plant indigenous to South Africa. A trial was conducted to determine the effect of micronutrients on the plant growth and quality of bush tea. The trial was laid out in a completely randomized block design with five replicates. Treatments consisted of single applications of Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Boron (Bo), Iron (Fe) and Magnesium (Mg) at three levels (50ml/l, 100ml/l and 150ml/l) and a combination of all micronutrients. A control treatment with no spray was also included. Leaf analysis was conducted using Varian Liberty series II instrument. Total polyphenols were determined using the Folin Ciocalteau method and tannins were determined using Vanillin HCl method. Bush tea samples (one leaf per sample) were analysed using head space solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography (HS-SPME-GC-MS). Results of this study demonstrated that application of micronutrients increased the total polyphenols, tannins and total flavonoids in bush tea, with most of the increase in total polyphenols (77.5-93.7 mg/g) occurring in combination B + Zn + Fe + Cu + Mg treatment, increase in tannins (87.3-99.5 mg/g) occurring in copper treatment and increase in total flavonoids (164.6-176.6 mg/g) occurring in mixture (B + Zn + Fe + Cu + Mg) treatment. Results also show a significant increase in the quality and plant growth of bush tea. Five major compounds were identified (>80% identification probability) namely alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, myrcene, beta-caryophyllene and caryophyllene oxide. Linear relationship between percentage leaf tissues and treatments levels of micronutrients in bush tea was also observed. Boron and copper treatments showed strong linear correlation with a positive relationship between treatments levels and leaf percentage. Therefore, for improved total polyphenols content in bush tea leaves, a combination of (B + Zn + Fe + Cu + Mg) is recommended. Tannin content in bush tea leaves were significantly increased at Cu50 ml/l, Cu100 ml/l and Cu150 ml/l. For improved total flavonoids content in bush tea leaves, a combination of foliar spray of (B + Zn + Fe + Cu + Mg) is recommended. The LC-MS observations from the study showed no significant qualitative difference between control and micronutrient treatments with these treatments showing similar number of peaks. There was a significant quantitative difference between control and where magnesium peaks applied at adequate rates at (50 ml/l and 100 ml/l) and combination of (B + Zn + Fe + Cu + Mg) applied at (10 ml/l and 20 ml/l) / Agriculture, Animal Health and Human Ecology / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

This thesis offers an analysis of labour relations and social space in the tea gardens of north-east India. Existing literature provides us with an understanding of how the plantations operate as economic spaces, but in so doing they treat workers as undifferentiated economic beings defined only by their class identity. Space, however, has to be animated to be meaningful. Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews I explore the plantations as actual lived spaces where people are bound by and resist constraints. Multiple intersecting identities play out within these social spaces making them ethnic, religious, and caste spaces in addition to being gendered. Focusing on these intersectional identities, I demonstrate how region, ethnicity, party affiliation, caste, religion are played out and how they are invoked at certain points by the women workers. The articulations of identity not only determine a sense of belonging or non-belonging to a space but also how one belongs. Within the physical sites of the plantation, I examine how the women perceive these spaces and how, in moving between ideas of home/world, public/private, these very binaries are negated. The strict sexual division of labour primarily in the workplace but also in the household and villages inscribe the physical sites with certain gendered meanings and performances. The women negotiate these in their everyday lives and shape these spaces even as they are shaped by them. Conditioned by gender norms and the resultant hierarchy their narratives can be read as stories of deprivation and misery, but looking deeper their agency can also be uncovered. The lives of my research participants show how the social spaces within which they operate are not static; in spite of spatial controls there are the many minute acts of resistance through which the women work the existing restraints to their least disadvantage. Focussing on the minute acts of insubordination, deceit and even confrontation I elucidate how the women made use of the relations of subordination to pave spaces of resistance and sometimes even of autonomy. Furthermore, not all acts of agency are minute or unspectacular. I map instances of highly visible, volatile and aggressive protests apparently challenging the accepted social codes within which they function. In expressing themselves, the women use the available political repertories of protest in forms of strikes, blockades, street plays, etc. Through these instances of activism they appropriate and become visible in the public realm and challenge the accepted ways in which social spaces and norms play out. Despite their articulate nature, these protests usually seek to address immediate demands and do not escalate into social movements. Also while volatile in action, the protests seek legitimacy within the accepted gender codes that operate in their everyday life in the plantation.

by Fok Ho Yin. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-120). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / 槪論 --- p.v / List of Abbreviations --- p.vi / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Toxicological studies on the effect of Ilex latifolia extract and its saponin-enriched Fraction --- p.19 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Hypoglycemic effect of Ilex latifolia extract and its saponin-enriched fraction --- p.51 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Hypolipidemic effect of Ilex latifolia extract and its saponin-enriched fraction --- p.78 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.109 / References --- p.114

Background: Green tea is rich in catechin, a polyphenolic antioxidant. Consumption of green tea or extract from green tea has been shown to result in weight loss, increased fat oxidation, and elevated energy expenditure in mice and humans. Green tea consumption has also been shown to result in increased exercise endurance in mice and improved maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) in humans. It is not clearly known whether green tea consumption would increase exercise endurance in humans. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine if the daily consumption of decaffeinated green tea extract for 4-5 weeks, would improve exercise endurance in humans, as measured by running 2.5 miles on an indoor track. Subjects, Design, and Methods: This study was based on a randomized, double-blind design. Fourteen, normal, healthy individuals volunteered for participation and completed the study. They were divided into two groups (n= 7 for each group). All participants completed 2 endurance trials, 1 at the baseline and 1 at the conclusion of the study. Each trial consisted of a 2.5 mile run around the GSU Recreation Center indoor track. One group consumed green tea extract pill containing 900 mg catechins and the other group consumed a placebo for 4-5 weeks between run trials. Results: Green tea and placebo groups improved their running times, however, there was no significant difference between these two groups in mean end time (P = 0.74). Under one statistical analysis, the green tea group significantly improved their running time compared to baseline (P = 0.019), while the placebo group did not. However, under another statistical analysis (removing one participant due to possible skewing effect), both groups significantly improved their running time over baseline (P< 0.05). Conclusions: This study was not able conclusively ascertain whether or not the daily consumption of green tea improved endurance performance as measured by 2.5 mile run times. Results of this study should be used with caution due to small sample size. Future studies are warranted on the impact of green tea consumption on exercise endurance, using a longer duration and a larger sample size than has been studied.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-356).

There are many challenges facing business, industry and its operations, the associated service provision and the supply chain management in the global market today. Simon and Sohal (1995, p.14) acknowledge the dramatic and irreversible changes that the South African business environment has undergone over the past five years, from 1990 to 1995. Such changes are mainly shift of focus from inward-looking import substitution with substantial protection to a globally-oriented open economy. Businesses are faced with a challenge to optimise their operations to compete in the new economy. Many organisations have not survived the competition, as they lacked the necessary competitive edge. Challenges faced by these organisations varied from unavailability of suitably qualified management through to challenges with local legislation and the impacts of low-cost production imports, which led to closure of some businesses. From a community standpoint, closure of businesses poses a challenge to the socioeconomy of the inhabitants of the country. This research seeks to establish if the closure of businesses and subsequent impacts on the socio-economic status of communities was as a result of the changes during the globalisation era. Research methodology To address the objectives of the study, a population of tea "experts" was inferred from data received from DTI (2004). This inference was done through use of a ratio of 1 :60 (Manager: Labourers) due to the fact that the industry is labour-intensive. A total of 48 "experts" were identified as an adequate, representative sample for the analysis. These "experts" were from both the private tea industry and the govenunent regulatory departments involved with agricultural activities. A total of 96 questionnaires were sent to the "experts", with a return rate of 50% of these, which equated to the required sample size (of 48 completed questionnaires). Data analysis was carried out through using an Excel spreadsheet and converting frequency of responses to percentages. Objectives The objectives of the study included: • To identify issues and strategic challenges facing the global tea industry in the literature and applying them to the South African tea industry; • Analyse the tea estates in South Africa with specific reference to Magwa Tea Estate in the Eastern Cape, the old Transkei; • Identify appropriate strategies that may enhance the performance of the South African tea industry; • Assess the incentives provided by global governments to tea estates and compare them to the South African conditions; and • Examine the potential of applying some of the global success strategies into the South African tea estate industry. Conclusions While one cannot discount the phenomenon of globalisation, it has been shown that some areas in which business was devoid included capable management teams, flexibility on strategies, strengthening of the Rand and Land Claims against land occupied by the tea estates. The result was a collapse in the tea industry. The recommendations below suggest means by which the tea industry may be revived to carry its original mandate of providing jobs to the rural communities. However, the industry requires the development of sustainable competitive strategies. Recommendations • The organisation should continue to adopt a philosophy m which entrepreneurship is promoted and encouraged; • Ensure employment of a well-trained management team to develop and lead the strategy; • Encourage efficiency of operations; • Encourage government subsidies (especially in the form of regulations on imports to prevent dumping); • Employ appropriate competitive advantage strategies; • Root out corruption and mismanagement of the institution; Development of an interrelationship between the growers and retailers such that the growing of tea is sustainable; • They need to have strong communication skills which must encompass strong negotiation skills. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rutgers University, 2007. / "Graduate Program in Food Science." Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-79).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.