Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Consumer Acceptance And Willingness To Pay For Genetically Modified Rice In China: A Double Bounded Dichotomous Choic Contingent Valuation Survey Calibrated By Cheap Talk, Jing Jin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considering population growth, limitations on land and water resources, and contamination to the ecosystem due to agricultural activities, current rice production in China is facing pressure to fulfill national demand. Self-sufficiency of rice has been a long-held political objective of the Chinese government and it is national goal to maintain the equilibrium between the national production and consumption or even achieve a supply surplus in rice. With the developing bio-technology of genetic modification (GM), scientists believe that using genetically modified cultivars may ease the pressure mentioned above. However, both the government and the people are very cautious about large-scale cultivation …

Price Discovery And Futures Spreads For U.S. And Chinese Rice Futures Market, Wei Yang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice, the primary staple food for more than half the world's population, is the second world's most consumed food grain. In recent years, world rice price has increased and become more volatile especially in the period 2007-2010. Rice price volatility has a huge impact on Asian countries, especially countries in Southeast Asia where rice is a staple food for millions of households. Private market tools to manage price risk and discover price such as futures markets have been analyzed and assessed as possible solutions to coping with rice price volatility issue. Two primary functions of agricultural commodities futures markets are …

Use Of Remote Imagery And Object-Based Image Methods To Count Plants In An Open-Field Container Nursery, Josue Nahun Leiva

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In general, the nursery industry lacks an automated inventory control system. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) software and aerial images could be used to count plants in nurseries. The objectives of this research were: 1) to evaluate the effect of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight altitude and plant canopy separation of container-grown plants on count accuracy using aerial images and 2) to evaluate the effect of plant canopy shape, presence of flowers, and plant status (living and dead) on counting accuracy of container-grown plants using remote sensing images. Images were analyzed using Feature Analyst® (FA) and an algorithm trained using …

Applications Of A New Geodata Crawler For Landscape Ecology: From Mapping Natural Stream Hydrology To Monitoring Endangered Beetles, Douglas Ryan Leasure

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An investigation of endangered American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) ecology led to development of a Geodata Crawler with applications in eco-hydrology. Geodata Crawler includes a national GIS (geospatial information systems) database with layers that quantify climate, land cover, soils, human development, and other attributes of the biosphere. For user-locations in the continental United States, Geodata Crawler can rapidly tabulate site-specific statistics within automatically delineated sample areas: points, site radii, watersheds, and riparian zones, among others. Geodata Crawler supported a multi-scale analysis of N. americanus habitat at a military installation in western Arkansas to produce a Landsat-based monitoring tool. Royle's N-mixture …

Cross-Cultural Comparison In The Emotional Responses Elicited By Wine Odors, Aimee Hasenbeck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To remain competitive in the wine market, wine companies must strive for a deeper understanding of the factors that influence consumers at an emotional level in order to sustain consumer satisfaction. Evaluating the wine odor-induced emotional response, in addition to hedonic response and descriptive analysis, may provide valuable information into the perspective of the consumer and potentially insight to repeat purchases. The objectives of this research were to measure the emotional responses elicited by odor attributes in wine samples and determine whether these emotional responses vary as function of cultural and experiential backgrounds, as well as sensory characteristics of wine …

Acanthamoeba Spp. As Reservoirs For Transmission Of Norovirus, Tun-Yun Hsueh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human noroviruses (HuNoV) are the most common cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States and the most common food commodities implicated in HuNoV outbreaks are leafy greens; however, the vehicle of transmission and point of contamination are often unknown. Here, we hypothesize that common free-living amoebae (FLA) ubiquitous in the environment may act as reservoirs of HuNoV and facilitate the transmission of these pathogens to fresh produce. The objective of this research was to first evaluate the interaction/association between HuNoV surrogates and Acanthamoeba by incubating them together and analyzing virus titer associated with amoeba through an 8 day …

Evaluation Of Low-Tannin Grain Sorghum In Broiler Chicken Diets, Samantha Aniecia Shelton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of dietary grain sorghum on broiler live performance, carcass yield and shank (leg) and breast skin coloring. Iso-caloric diets were formulated where sorghum replaced corn at rates of 0% (control), 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100% for a total of 6 diets. For each of the two trials, 1500 Cobb 500 male broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 60 pens with 25 birds per pen (10 pens/diet) and grown to 46 days for the first research trial and 41 days for the second. There were no differences (P>.05) …

Assessing Food Policy Options In Asia To Reduce Price Volatility Of Rice Market, Ranjitsinh Mane

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice is a staple food in Asia and its prices at national and international levels are largely influenced by different policy actions of trading countries. The consequence of the 2008 food crisis was food riots and rationing of rice in many nations. The ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries have adopted an institutional framework called ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserves (APTERR) to address food security concerns of ASEAN countries that may arise due to climate change, supply chain disruptions or price speculation in the regional rice market. The RICEFLOW model is used to study the effectiveness of the strategic grain …

Balance And Power In Older Adults With And Without A History Of Falls, Stephanie Michelle Gray

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to observe the differences between power and balance in older adults over the age of 65 with and without falls. A total of 62 community dwelling older adults between the ages of 65 and 92 participated in the study. Two groups consisted of 25 fallers and 37 non-fallers. No statistical differences were found between groups on age, height, weight, or BMI. Testing included the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) to test balance, the Tendo Weightlifting Analyzer (TWA) during a sit-to-stand to test lower body power, and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) to …

Essays On Smallholder Farmers In Jamaica: Context-Specific Evidence For Food Security Policymaking, Deborah Evadne Brown

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three essays that examined the experiences and welfare of traditional food crop farmers in Western Jamaica. It systematically analyses the interplay between smallholder farmers and often overlooked variables in society. The study used qualitative interviewing, field observations and discourse analysis techniques to generate context-specific evidence for food security policymaking.

The first essay examined smallholder farmers' motives for farming. This formed the basis for a farmer typology that provides a portrait of the participants, and was used to inform findings in subsequent essays in this dissertation. The theory of planned behavior provided the conceptual grounding and …

Academic Clustering Of Student-Athletes: A Case Study Of Football And Basketball Programs, Matthew Brett Rowland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the topic of academic clustering within the football and men's and women's basketball teams at the University of Arkansas. Given the prominence of collegiate sport in America, this paper examines a relatively understudied topic regarding student-athletes and education. Using a mixed methods approach, the topic of academic clustering is analyzed statistically, as well as through in-depth interviews with student-athletes and academic advisors in the athletic department. Statistical analysis shows significant over- and under-representation of student-athletes in certain University colleges (e.g., Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, Walton College of Business, and College of Engineering), the presence of …

Millennial Alumni Perceptions Of Communications Media Utilized By The Dale Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences, Amanda Nicole Anthony

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alumni relationship cultivation serves as the foundation of higher education and must be maintained to keep graduates and alma maters connected. To evaluate the success of communications media in reaching recent graduates, classified as Millennials, this study sought to determine Millennial alumni perceptions of media distributed by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences (Bumpers College) from 2012 through 2014. Assessed communications media included The Graduate and AR Culture magazines, The Graduate e-newsletter, tailgate and mocktail party invitations, College website, and social media presences. Active and inactive Millennial alumni (N = 20) responses were gathered through …

A Mixed Methods Approach Of Communication Campaign Development And Assessment: Identifying The Needs Of An Audience And Determining The Value In Evaluation, Tara Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles presented in this thesis used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine two distinct stages of communication campaigns: research and evaluation. In the quantitative study, students (n = 440) at the University of Arkansas were surveyed to determine their perceptions of the Arkansas Water Resources Center (AWRC), water resources, and water issues. A questionnaire was developed from an existing instrument, reviewed by a panel of experts, pilot tested, and revised. The researchers found participants were most aware (M = 3.23, SD = 1.14), concerned (M = 4.07, SD = 0.86), and interested (M = 4.10, SD …

Knowledge, Perceptions, And Outcomes Of Agricultural Communications Curriculum In Arkansas Secondary Agricultural Classrooms, Carley Payne Calico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to assess the effectiveness of agricultural communications curriculum developed and incorporated into a semester-long agricultural leadership and communications course for secondary agricultural education programs in Arkansas. This study was comprised of three parts including a pilot test, teacher training assessment, and a descriptive field test over a two-year period. For the pilot test portion of the study, students (N = 297) participated in newly developed instructional modules (careers, writing, design, and multimedia) predetermined by a committee of agricultural education and communications faculty at the University of Arkansas. The pilot test indicated students' …