For decades man has been interested in selection and hybridization of crop plants, but it has not been until in comparatively recent years that anything of importance has been done toward the improvement of perennial forage grasses. Replies to questionnaries on grass breeding submitted to various agricultural institutions in 1936 revealed the fact that selection for improvement was then under way with a large number of grasses. Limited activities in this field have been in progress for 16 years or more, but organized and intensive grass breeding activities, for the most part, have been inaugurated only within the last ten years. Many improved strains of grasses have been developed by selective breeding in foreign countries but very few of these have shown outstanding value in the United States. In fact, they are generally inferior. There is a great deal of interest at the present time in this country in the field of grass breeding, but the smallness of the floral parts of some grasses makes the work of controlled hybridization tedious and slow. A simple, inexpensive, accurate method for bulk hybridization would be useful and would speed up the work. The study herein reported was designed to throw further light on the possibility of bulk hybridization. The technic involves immersion of inflorescences in water heated to specific temperatures to effect enactivation of pollen. As a necessary corollary, the desired pollen is then applied by any of several methods. Several investigators, mentioned below, have shown that controlled heat treatments applied to inflorescences near the time of anthesis are effective in seriously reducing the viability of pollen without having a similar effect on the female gametophyte. However, none has demonstrated good female fertility following complete male sterilization. It has become apparent that influences of the plants' environment other than the heat of the emasculation treatment must be taken into consideration. In the present study, which was conducted on three important forage grasses, smooth bromegrass (Bromus intermis), crested wheatgrass (Agrpyron cristatum), and bluestem wheatgrass (Agropyron smithii), the general findings of earlier investigators are substantiated and in addition evidence is presented to show (1) the sterilizing effect of the isolation bag and (2) the existence of a daily cycle in the efficiency of emasculation of treatments at critical temperatures.

This study examined the reciprocal relationship between the age of first sexual intercourse and academic goals and achievement. It was hypothesized that lower educational goals and achievement were likely to be associated with an adolescent who initiated sexual intercourse at a younger age than those with higher educational goals and achievement. It was also hypothesized that initiating sexual activity early would be associated with a decrease in subsequent academic achievement and goals. Possible explanations are that the costs of engaging in sexual intercourse (pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases) may deter adolescents from initiating intercourse. Weak attachment to parents and future goals may increase the influence of negative peer associations as well. It is also possible that adolescents who engage in sexual intercourse experience a change in mind set against community standards, one being high academic achievement and goals. This project analyzed data from the National Survey of Children (NSC), which is a national longitudinal sample of children aged 7 to 11 beginning in 1976, with additional data collection points in 1981 and 1987. A regression analysis examined the correlation of selected educational variables with the age of first sexual intercourse. The sample was then divided into two groups: those who had experienced voluntary sexual intercourse prior to the time of a data collection point and those who had not. I tests were performed examine the difference in educational variables for virgins and nonvirgins in 1981 and 1987. To examine the change in educational goals and achievement that could have resulted due to the onset of sexual activity, an analysis of covariance was performed on educational variables that were measured at two points in time. The results of this research confirm that reciprocal relationships exist between adolescent sexual activity and educational achievement and goals. Lower educational achievement and goals, measured at an earlier point in time, were related to a younger age of first sexual intercourse. Also, engaging in sexual intercourse was related to a decrease in subsequent educational goals and achievement. The relationship between lower academic achievement and goals and the age of first sex varied by race and gender. Black females showed the strongest association with educational variables and black males the least association. White females and white males both showed significant relationships between education and sexual activity. Sexual activity had the most impact on subsequent academic achievement, followed by educational goals.

No description available.

The proto-histories of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand previously have been considered in isolation, and have been written predominantly by European researchers. This thesis shows that the history of the Hindu religions, adopted by at least the ruling classes in Southeast Asian countries, had been developed far earlier than previous researchers had acknowledged. By taking a regional view, by considering the religion upon which the ‘Indianisation’ process rested, by using Geographic Information Systems and by not pre-judging possible outcomes, this thesis shows that the ‘Brahmanic’ temples of Southeast Asia were originally established to a pattern which represented the Brahmanic priests’ views of their place in both space and time, which in turn related to the greater astronomical cosmos as well as to their inner cosmos. This thesis demonstrates a need for the re-consideration of the proto-history of Southeast Asia, in particular that of Viet Nam, to better reflect the basis on which the ‘Indianisation’ process was adopted by the indigenous peoples and to better collate the data from the various parts of the central to south Vietnamese coast before providing an alternative meta-narrative to that which has been accepted for over 100 years by much of the archaeological community. / Doctor of Philosophhy (PhD)

Utilizing published and unpublished sources and working with interviews of a number of participants this thesis examines the evolution of the political influences that stimulated the Australian federal government's policy decisions on public broadcasting. The background to the federal government's original involvement in broadcasting in the early years of the twentieth century is investigated to put later developments into a broader perspective. Comparisons are also drawn with progress in other comparable Western countries to highlight the unique nature of the Australian model. Since broadcasting was never an issue, like health and education, which could capture votes from the electorate as a whole, government policy was driven by pressure from particular special interest groups as their influence waxed and waned and calls from individual electorates, when the interest was strong and the seat was marginal. The government decisions that resulted from this situation were ad hoc and expedient and no really coherent policy was ever implemented. This thesis examines the forces that led to the restriction in the expansion of broadcasting services after World War 2 and to the change in the influence of pressure groups in the 1960s which led to the establishment of FM and public broadcasting in the 1970s. A detailed exploration of particular interests, such as the Public Broadcasting Association of Australia, educational broadcasters and ethnic broadcasters shows how the influence of different groups changed over time. Once public broadcasting was established the main concern of both broadcasters and government was to keep the sector economically viable. A detailed analysis is provided of how the funding arrangements altered as the sector grew. There were always some idealists who saw public broadcasting as a vehicle for putting forward their own point of view. But, this thesis concludes that, by the early 1990s, apart from its role as regulator, which was the same for commercial broadcasting, government policy on public broadcasting was largely driven by the fact that minimal funding for the sector enabled government to ensure that essential non-commercially viable broadcasting services that would be far more expensive for the government to provide itself, were able to continue. / PhD Doctorate

This research investigates the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the Royal Thai Air Force Academy (RTAFA). In the study, a Mixed Methods design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research design features, was employed within a Case Study approach. Questionnaires and interviews were used as research techniques to examine and identify what constitute the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA and the factors that affect the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates. The quantitative methods included a pilot questionnaire for cadets (N = 35), questionnaires for every Year level of cadets in training (N = 517) and questionnaires for the English instructors (N = 9). The Quest software program (Adams & Khoo, 1993) was applied to analyse the questionnaires and group means and standard deviations were used to calculate effect sizes between students of different Year levels. In relation to the student questionnaire, some category items were also examined and analysed separately. In relation to the qualitative analysis, semistructured interviews with a small number of the RTAFA cadets in all five years of training (N = 25), the English instructors (N = 9) and the senior administrators of the RTAFA (N = 4) were conducted to complement and triangulate the data gathered from the questionnaires. The results from the questionnaires and interviews suggest that the English curriculum influenced the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA, followed by issues in relation to cadets' attitudes and motivations for studying English and cadets' English educational background. Factors that affected the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates were a lack of realization by the cadets of the importance of English, the very structure of the English curriculum and the content of the English syllabus, the perceived low status of English as evidenced by the lack of academic credits given to the subject, the poor facilities of the language laboratories, the perceived lack of current teaching methods and techniques of the instructors, the varying experiences of the cadets' background knowledge of English, the rigid military system and the need for more native speaking English instructors to develop the oral language skills of cadets. Based on the findings of all the data, suggested recommendations for improving the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA include a revision of the English curriculum, an improvement of the content of English with an emphasis on listening, speaking and conversation skills, an update of the English language laboratories, smaller English classes and a constant professional development for instructors in relation to techniques in English teaching and learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Bibliograpahy: leaves 175-187.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-64). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Understanding one’s own personal journey provides for effective learning, growth, and development of self (Madsen, 2010). Reflection on the influences and experiences of successful women leaders is essential to understanding the factors that have enabled them to obtain and sustain leadership positions in nontraditional career fields. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the lives of women deans in agriculture in an attempt to conceptualize the leadership styles they have developed as a result of their positions as deans in a predominantly male field, as well as their upbringing and life experiences. Six women deans of agriculture were interviewed and observed in an attempt to recognize the impact their personal journeys have had in developing their leadership styles and sustaining their leadership role. Reflection on the influences and experiences of the women deans produced five overall conclusions: 1) the women deans were essentially all first-born children; 2) encouragement from parents and mentors as well as spousal support were crucial factors in obtaining and sustaining their role as deans of agriculture; 3) challenges imposed by gender discrimination motivated these ambitious women to achieve their leadership goals; 4) each of the women deans exhibited traits of The Big Five Personality Trait Model such as surgency, conscientiousness, agreeableness, adjustment, and intellectance which correspond to specific characteristics found relevant for leadership emergence, advancement, or effectiveness; and 5) participants lead with a transformational leadership style, an asset which has been valuable to their success as deans.