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From Crypto Wild West to Regulated Frontier: Unleashing the Potential of Blockchain Technology
Get PDFThe emergence of blockchain technology has transformed the financial landscape in many ways. From creating new cryptocurrencies to facilitating decentralized exchanges and smart contracts, blockchain has the potential to disrupt traditional financial institutions and reshape the way we conduct business. However, the adoption of blockchain technology has also raised concerns about its potential risks and challenges, such as its susceptibility to fraud, market manipulation, and money laundering. These concerns have led to calls for regulating blockchain technology to mitigate these risks and ensure the integrity and stability of financial markets. Recent collapses in the crypto market caused by the bankruptcy of one of the largest crypto exchanges, FTX, and the failure of a stablecoin, Luna, have intensified the need for regulations in this space.
Establishing clear regulations and guidelines for blockchain-based transactions can help prevent such activities and ensure a level playing field for all participants in the market, as well as increase stakeholders’ confidence in the security and reliability of these transactions. In addition, regulating blockchain technology can also promote innovation and competition in the market. By establishing clear rules and guidelines, new entrants can enter the market with greater ease, encouraging competition and innovation. Increased competition leads to greater efficiency and lower costs for consumers, as well as new financial products and services.
Regulating blockchain technology is not without its challenges. The decentralized nature of blockchain technology makes it difficult to regulate, and the global nature of cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based transactions makes it difficult to establish consistent regulations across different jurisdictions. Moreover, regulating blockchain technology too stringently could stifle innovation and harm the growth of the industry. Further, deregulation can help promote financial inclusion by making it easier for individuals and businesses to access crypto assets and participate in the digital economy.
Therefore, policymakers and regulators must strike a balance between regulating blockchain technology to mitigate risks and promote stability, while also allowing for innovation and growth in the industry. This balance requires a deep understanding of the technology and its potential risks and benefits, as well as a commitment to establishing clear and consistent regulations across different jurisdictions.
This Article fills an important gap in the literature by summarizing and comparing how different countries and regions approach blockchain regulation. I also identify best practices and highlight areas where regulation can be improved to better support innovation and growth. I contribute to the literature by providing a comparative analysis to deepen our understanding of the different approaches to blockchain regulation and how each approach impacts the development of the technology. By highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of different approaches to blockchain regulation, this research can help regulators make informed decisions that balance the need for innovation with the need to protect consumers and maintain market stability. Further, I highlight the need for collaboration between different countries and regions to promote innovation and ensure a level playing field for businesses and individuals operating in the blockchain space. Finally, I present the lessons that can be learned from the recent “systemic” failures of stablecoins, crypto exchanges, and crypto banks
Abuse in West Virginia Schools: What Can We Do To Better Protect Our Special Needs Children?
Get PDFChildren are some of the most vulnerable members of our society that need and deserve the utmost protection. Children with special needs are even more vulnerable, and their protection should be of vital importance. Parents of special needs children send their kids to school every day trusting that they will be safe from harm and will receive a quality education from trained professionals. Sadly, this is not always the case in West Virginia schools. Special needs children, particularly nonverbal children with autism, have frequently been subjected to physical, verbal, and emotional abuse while at school. This abuse is coming from teachers and aides who are entrusted to care for these children. In the case of nonverbal students, they cannot voice to their parents what happens during the school day. This unfortunate circumstance causes abuse to go undetected for lengthy periods of time. This Note discusses the abuse that special needs children have suffered in West Virginia schools and proposes potential solutions to combat this problem. This abuse of special needs children is ongoing and there is more West Virginia can do to ensure that some of our most treasured and vulnerable members of society receive the proper protection they deserve in their place of learning. This Note will first examine some of the stories of abuse that West Virginia special needs children have experienced and the current background of the situation including relevant West Virginia legislation on video cameras in special education classrooms, legal challenges to video cameras in classrooms, qualification requirements to be a teacher or substitute in West Virginia, the teacher shortage, teacher compensation, and how other states have combatted this problem. Finally, this Note proposes many potential solutions to this issue emphasizing the need for implementation of preventative measures and the need for increased discussion about the abuse that special needs children face at school
An Inquiry into the Accessibility of Campus Recreation for College Students with Disabilities
No full textUniversity recreation centers are identified as the main sources of physical activity for college students. However, an estimated 68% of college students with disabilities (SWD) use their campus recreational facilities less than five times per year (Yoh et al., 2008). Structural and programmatic accessibility barriers may account for low facility use and corresponding low physical activity levels among college SWD. An accessibility assessment of facilities and programming is warranted to identify priority areas for barrier removal. This collective case study evaluates the accessibility of three campus recreation facilities at 4-year public universities in the southeast U.S. Adopting a mixed-method approach, quantitative data from the Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments (AIMFREE) assessment was triangulated with qualitative interview data from campus recreation directors and staff.
The three cases scored below-average accessibility
Application of High-Resolution Fiber Optic Data to Enhance Completion Design
Get PDFMS Dissertation Defense
By
Christian Pacheco
Title: Application of High-Resolution Fiber Optic Data to Enhance Completion Design Major: Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Date: Thursday, April 18, 2024 Time: 4:00 PM Place: 141 Engineering Science Building
Abstract
Well stimulation is a technique that has been used in the industry for decades, and with the ability to drill wells horizontally the practice has become more valuable and effective than ever before. Its use is consistently being optimized and completions design plays a crucial role in the recovery of hydrocarbons. Several different downhole tools and measurements have been used to optimize these designs and with the continued advancement of technology available, more data has become available to better understand the events occurring beneath the surface. Logging tools provide a vast amount of information about a well and the formations it encounters. Properties and characteristics of the formations can be determined, and several parameters can be analyzed for efficient design. Using the image logging tools, acoustic or electrical, fractures can be identified based on observation of dips in the well log. These dips can represent a fracture and the depth, angle, and azimuth can be key to determining fracture properties and creating an optimal completions design. Fiber optics are also one of the tools being explored to understand and optimize the completion designs. This fiber optic data is recording events that transpire during a frack job with measurements that include temperature and acoustic data. Using well log data along with the fiber optic data can lead to a better understanding of the events occurring downhole. The Marcellus Shale Energy and Environmental Laboratory (MSEEL) research group provided an analysis using this fiber optic and well log data over two projects, MSEEL 1 & MSEEL 2. MSEEL 1 is already completed, and the conclusions drawn from MSEEL 1 were used and applied to MSEEL 2 which is the current project. The goal was to increase productivity while lowering costs by analyzing the vast amounts of data available from well logs and fiber optic data. This data will be analyzed, and completion and production data will be used to illustrate how this material can lead to an optimal completions design. Research Advisor: Dr. Ebrahim Fathi Committee Chair: Dr. Ebrahim Fathi Committee Members: Dr. Ebrahim Fathi , Dr. Kashy Aminian, Professor Samuel Amer
Community Resource Programs Impact on Marginalized Communities Access to Health Care Services: A Program Development Project
Get PDFCaring for children and meeting their needs comes with a variety of considerations regarding temperament, developmental progress, and socioeconomic impact. For children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN), those considerations become more complex. Community resource programs are designed to help families of CSHCN get access to the resources they need regarding general and healthcare services. A program was developed in collaboration with Parents Place of Maryland (PPMD) to create materials effective in educating parents of CSHCN on desired topics of interest, create a virtual environment where parents felt safe asking questions regarding specific topics of interest, and determine the most effective recruitment method for this type of service delivery. The topics that were chosen were based on themes that emerged from the literature review along with prevalence of diagnosis data for the state of Maryland. The topics chosen for the educational materials were developmental milestones, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), sensory processing and sensory processing disorder (SPD), and low-budget sensory solutions. These topics were the subject of created webinars, which were disseminated to parents of CSHCN, along with infographics created from webinar topics. To measure the effectiveness of the webinars in terms of perceived knowledge gained, a pre-and post-survey was developed and administered to ensure all objectives of the program were being met. The plan for analyzing data collected from the pre-and post-surveys from the four webinars was a quantitative approach using descriptive and inferential statistics. Overall, no statistically significant results were found, but an increase in mean differences indicated an increase in perceived knowledge gained by participants following the webinars. In terms of comfortability, participants felt comfortable asking questions following the webinars; the largest number of questions were asked following webinars two and four. A greater number of questions asked by participants indicated increased comfort for these topics. The most effective recruitment method for the program was through an email listserv. This program added information regarding the most effective way to recruit participants for community resource programs and further supported the use of webinars for educational purposes. This program also brought attention to the role of occupational therapists in this non-traditional setting to contribute to informational materials regarding diagnoses through the lens of occupational therapy
Project FORESIGHT Annual Report, 2022-2023
Get PDFProject FORESIGHT is a business-guided self-evaluation of forensic science laboratories across the globe. The participating laboratories represent local, regional, state, and national agencies. Economics, accounting, finance, and forensic faculty provide assistance, guidance, and analysis. Laboratories participating in Project FORESIGHT have developed standardized definitions for metrics to evaluate work processes, linking financial information to work tasks, and functions. Laboratory managers can then assess resource allocations, efficiencies, and value of services—the mission of Project FORESIGHT is to measure, preserve what works, and change what does not.
The benchmark data for the 2022-2023 performance period includes laboratory submissions for a variety of fiscal year definitions. However, all submissions have December 31, 2022 as part of their fiscal year accounting. The majority of submissions follow a July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 convention. Others follow a year that begins as early as January 1, 2022 (ending December 31, 2022) while the other extreme includes laboratories with a fiscal year originating October 1, 2022 and ending September 30, 2023
Effects of dietary supplementation of a blend of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, multiple live probiotic bacteria, and their fermentation products on performance, health, and rumen bacterial community of newly weaned beef steers during a 56-d receiving period
Get PDFWe examined the effects of a blend of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, multiple live probiotic bacteria and their fermentation products on performance, health, and the ruminal bacterial community of newly weaned beef steers during a 56-day receiving period. Forty newly weaned Angus crossbred steers (221 ± 25.6 kg BW; 180 ± 17 d of age) were stratified by body weight into four pens (10 steers per pen) such that each pen had a similar average body weight at the beginning of the experiment. The pens were randomly assigned to receive a corn silage basal diet (CON; n = 20) or the basal diet supplemented with 9 g/steer/d of PRO feed additive (PRO; n = 20). The PRO additive is a blend of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus subtilis, Lactobacillus animalis, Propionibacterium freudenreichii. The DMI and water consumed were monitored using the GrowSafe intake nodes and custom flow meters, respectively. Body weights (BW) were recorded weekly to calculate average daily gain (ADG). Before morning feeding, 10 mL of blood was taken from each steer on days 0-7, and thereafter weekly for analyses of immune cells, plasma glucose and NEFAs. On day 56, rumen fluid samples (200 mL each) were collected from all the steers for microbiome analysis. Over the 56-day receiving period, the supplemental PRO had no effects on DMI, water intake, or ADG. However, compared to CON, beef steers fed supplemental PRO tended to have greater ADG (P = 0.08) and BW (P = 0.07) during the first 14 days of the study. There was a treatment × day interaction (P ≤ 0.05) for WBC, neutrophils and monocytes over the 56 days such that beef steers fed supplemental PRO had lower blood concentrations on certain days during the first 7 days after weaning, indicating reduced inflammation or stress response. The results of the rumen microbiome analysis revealed that the relative abundance of complex fiber degrading or obligate proton-reducing bacterial genera such as Bacteroides, Ruminococcus gauvreauii group, Desulfovibrio, Syntrophococcus, and Acetitomaculum were greater (P ≤ 0.05) in beef steers fed supplemental PRO compared to CON. This study demonstrated that dietary supplementation of PRO improved the growth performance, reduced stress or inflammatory response during the initial days after weaning and altered the ruminal bacterial community towards increased relative abundance of bacterial genera associated with improved rumen function
