The Future Of The Agricultural Industry – Is Blockchain A New Beginning?

As we advance into a digital era, we begin to depend on technological innovations to rapidly help develop and update processes and methods within different industries. Blockchain technology—popularized by cryptocurrency—is slowly making its debut in the agricultural supply chain. Implementing a blockchain requirement for suppliers would be beneficial because it would allow agricultural suppliers and distributors to track their products in a more efficient manner. However, there are four potential legal issues that are foreseeable: (1) preemption, (2) overlapping regulatory authority, (3) applying current legal rules to new technology, and (4) contracting. This Note will specifically focus on issues of preemption, overlapping regulatory authority, and applying current legal rules to new technology, and will address why a blockchain requirement should be implemented into the agricultural supply chain. Part I of this Comment addresses the primary problems with the current state of the agricultural supply chain. Part II discusses legal regulatory issues with blockchain and how the implementation of a federal act aimed to improve traceability and transparency has affected the prescription drug industry and supply chain. Part III addresses the intended benefits of a proposed solution regarding the complete implementation of blockchain into the agricultural supply chain, the use of companies piloting blockchain technology to track and trace cattle, and a possible regulatory approach called “soft law.

A Study of the Work of the Pastor in the Field of Christian Education in the Oregon Conference of the Free Methodist Church

The problem presented to this study was as follows: To what extent do the pastors of the churches in the Oregon Conference of the Free Methodist Church practice the principles of Christian education in the local church

Knowledge, Sources Used and Factors Considered in the Surgical Treatment Decisions of Women With Breast Cancer

The purpose of this replication study was to examine how women with breast cancer reached their decision for surgical treatment (Ward, Heidrich and Wolberg 1989). Twenty-one women who met the surgical criteria, i.e. option for Breast Conserving surgery or Modified Radical Mastectomy, completed four surveys 1 to 7 days post operatively. The women were divided into two groups, 13 who had Breast Conserving surgery and 8 who had Modified Radical Mastectomy. The surveys assessed demographic characteristics of the groups, the level of knowledge regarding breast cancer, factors considered important in reaching the decision for surgery and the sources of information used during the decision-making process.; The results of this study were limited due to the small sample size, however several trends were identified. The Breast Conserving group chose that surgery because there was no difference between the two surgeries and felt that the inconvenience of daily radiation treatment was not an important factor in making their decision. The Modified Radical Mastectomy group considered daily radiation treatments to be very inconvenient and the fact that there was no difference between the surgeries to be unimportant. The test of knowledge revealed that both groups had inadequate knowledge and were not significantly different (t = 2.04, df = 8.26, p {dollar}\u3e{dollar}.05). The subjects overwhelmingly listed the physician as the most important source of information they used to make their surgical treatment decisions. Further study of how women make their decision for surgical treatment of their early stage breast cancer is needed in order for nurses to apply appropriate interventions as they counsel such women

THE (DIS)ORGANIZING PROPERTY OF COMMUNICATION: ERROR AND INEFFICIENCY IN COORDINATED ACTION

This dissertation theoretically characterized and empirically tested the theory that organization arises from within communication. Each chapter is interconnected but written as an independent research report. Organizational discourse research is mature in the sense that much research on talk in the workplace is increasingly similar in its view of the structure-agency debate. Duality arguments are now a common perspective taken by organizational discourse researchers to avoid the problematic dualism of necessarily prioritizing structure or agency. Despite this considerable philosophical maturity, not all duality approaches are created equal. In fact, duality research can be thought of as having developed into two schools--structured in action or acted in structure. Chapter one outlines the characteristics of each kind of research and then discusses methodological and theoretical recommendations as well as implications in light of a growing dualism in duality research. The essence of the philosophical disagreement specified in chapter one is empirically challenged in chapter two. The investigation tested current organizational communication theory, which posits that organization emerges in talk. Three experiments employing a total of 510 participants giving and receiving instructions demonstrated that some features of talk interfered with dyads' and individuals' ability to complete a conjunctive referential communication task accurately and efficiently. The resulting interference created by some features of talk in the accomplishment of a task provided an important revision to the premise that organization emerges in talk--namely, organization may simultaneously dissipate in talk. Testing the emergence of error and inefficiency in organizational talk takes the organization-communication equivalency argument seriously enough to presume that when communication fails, so too does organizing. Furthermore, five recommendations are provided for improving the essential organizational discursive practice of giving and receiving instructions. Chapter 3 concludes the volume by proposing new methodological applications for the collected data. Additionally, new theoretical horizons for organizational discourse theory are described

Comprehensive practice of school psychology within a multi-tiered model to promote learning among culturally diverse elementary school communities with ranging needs

This body of work demonstrates competency in skills and services in the ten domains of best practice put forth by the National Association of School Psychologists and is made up of representative professional products from the applied practice of school psychology. These portfolio products include documentation of and reflection upon data-based decision-making and thoughtful provision of individualized services for a population of elementary school students in two culturally distinctive communities. While this portfolio documents evidence of competency across all ten domains of practice, themes of diversity, mental health and collaboration will be presented throughout, as areas of particular personal interest in the applied professional practice of school psychology. Applied practices explored include psychoeducational assessment, planning and provision of positive behavior intervention and supports, mental health counseling services for students who would benefit from help developing social and emotional skills, and collaborative contribution to the field of school psychology in the form of shared research and advocacy efforts with the professional community. Conclusions from my training experience value the importance of practice of school psychology that comprehensively cover all areas of practice, beyond a typical "test and place" model; the diversification of academic and social-emotional services into multiple tiers to ensure meeting all students' needs; and a positive behavioral approach to discipline and support, especially with populations impacted by historical and ongoing trauma, such as Native American youth.Project (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Psychology: School Psychology, 201

Golgi Cisternal Unstacking Stimulates COPI Vesicle Budding and Protein Transport

The Golgi apparatus in mammalian cells is composed of flattened cisternae that are densely packed to form stacks. We have used the Golgi stacking protein GRASP65 as a tool to modify the stacking state of Golgi cisternae. We established an assay to measure protein transport to the cell surface in post-mitotic cells in which the Golgi was unstacked. Cells with an unstacked Golgi showed a higher transport rate compared to cells with stacked Golgi membranes. Vesicle budding from unstacked cisternae in vitro was significantly increased compared to stacked membranes. These results suggest that Golgi cisternal stacking can directly regulate vesicle formation and thus the rate of protein transport through the Golgi. The results further suggest that at the onset of mitosis, unstacking of cisternae allows extensive and rapid vesiculation of the Golgi in preparation for its subsequent partitioning

How Communication and Control Processes Improve Quality

In order to achieve excellence, an organization should use two key instruments—quality and an effi cient and effective communication process amongst all employees—so it can attain quality management. This chapter aims to examine whether organizational communication and quality are interrelated, in order to answer the following question: Is it necessary to improve communication within an organization so that quality management can be effi ciently and effectively pursued? For this purpose, data were collected through the administration of a questionnaire to the staff of a Portuguese public organization. The fi ndings showed that, in this organization, communication among employees of various sectors is satisfactory and that there is mutual help between them in order to improve the organizational performance