Strengthening the National Organic Program with StateOrganic Programs

With an increasing amount of organic imports and steady growth in the organic sector, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) needs additional enforcement resources to oversee a growing and evolving organic marketplace. California has the most efficient, robust organic enforcement in the U.S. because it has a state-administered organic enforcement program, the California State Organic Program (SOP). Based on the costs and benefits of the SOP, additional state organic programs are a viable means to increasing NOP enforcement resources when they are established in states where additional enforcement adds value to the state’s organic sector, organic stakeholders are highly engaged, and the state department of agriculture does not have a conflict of interest. Moreover, state organic programs should be structured to ensure high accountability, streamlined paperwork, and fair funding sources. By increasing enforcement resources through state organic programs, NOP and organic stakeholders will protect consumer confidence in the integrity of the organic seal

EXAMINING THE MODERATING ROLE OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING ON FLOODING AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is highly prevalent, so much so that it has been described as a global public health crisis. Therefore, it is important to elucidate what conditions increase risk for IPV to better understand its etiology. Research emphasizing dyadic and self-regulatory processes may shed light on what differentiates those who perpetrate IPV. Specifically, both emotional flooding and executive functioning (EF) deficits have been implicated with IPV, but it is unclear how these variables may interact in predicting dating aggression. The current study explored how emotional flooding may differentially amplify risk for IPV under varying levels of executive functioning (comprised of inhibition, cognitive flexibility, and working memory). A total of 105 participants completed task measures of EF and self-report questionnaires on flooding, physical, and psychological aggression. Results found that flooding was significantly associated with psychological, but not physical aggression. EF was not associated with physical or psychological aggression. Moderation analyses were nonsignificant, and implications of null findings are discussed

Identifying and Overcoming Barriers to Resident Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Introduction: Emergency medicine residency programs have rigorous point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curricula. However, this training does not always readily translate to routine use in clinical decision-making. This study sought to identify and overcome barriers that could prevent resident physicians from performing POCUS during clinical shifts.Methods: This was a two-step process improvement study. First, a survey was deployed to all residents of a three-year academic residency program to identify barriers to clinical use of POCUS. This survey identified the perceived lack of a uniform documenting protocol as the most important barrier to performing POCUS on shift. Second, as an intervention to overcome this barrier, a streamlined documentation protocol was developed and presented to residents. The primary outcome was the number of patients who had POCUS used in medical decision-making one year before and after intervention. Secondary outcomes were the level of training of residents performing exams and whether faculty overseeing exams were trained through an ultrasound fellowship program.Results: POCUS use by residents increased from 82 to 223 patients before and after the intervention, respectively. Per resident, this translates to an absolute increase from 2.2 (95% confidence intervall [CI], 1.4, 3) to 5.8 (95% CI, 4, 7.6) or 3.6 (95% CI, 1.8, 5.4) exams/resident over the study period. We observed no significant difference in the proportions of scans attributable to the resident level of training (χ2 = 0.5, p = 0.47). The proportion of exams by non-ultrasound fellowship trained faculty increased significantly more compared to fellowship trained faculty (χ2 = 19, p<0.0001); however, both ultrasound fellowship trained and non-ultrasound fellowship trained faculty increased the absolute number of exams performed.Conclusion: A key perceived barrier to resident-performed POCUS is unfamiliarity with documenting ultrasounds for medical decision-making. Educating residents in person about a POCUS documentation protocol may help overcome this barrier. Incorporating resident input and motivation into POCUS incentivization may increase utilization. Future studies in optimizing POCUS on shift will need to focus on streamlining documentation, addressing time constraints, and faculty support for resident-performed POCUS

Changing Lives: How Leaders of Philanthropic Organizations Understand Their Mission

The purpose of this study is to better understand what leaders of local organizations mean by the phrase “changing people’s lives.” Three major themes emerged from the data, collected from interviews and organizational information, suggesting that people do make transformative changes in their lives and engagement with a philanthropic organization seems to facilitate the change process. Our research question was “How do staff members of local philanthropic organizations make meaning of the phrase in their mission statements ‘changing people’s lives.’

Discussants\u27 response no. 1 to Illegal acts: What is the auditor\u27s responsibility?

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/dl_proceedings/1076/thumbnail.jp

Memory and Spin Injection Devices Involving Half Metals

We suggest memory and spin injection devices fabricated with half-metallic materials and based on the anomalous Hall effect. Schematic diagrams of the memory chips, in thin film and bulk crystal form, are presented. Spin injection devices made in thin film form are also suggested. These devices do not need any external magnetic field but make use of their own magnetization. Only a gate voltage is needed. The carriers are 100% spin polarized. Memory devices may potentially be smaller, faster, and less volatile than existing ones, and the injection devices may be much smaller and more efficient than existing spin injection devices