Second, the governing board of directors was established with representatives from all affected constituencies: consumers, providers, employers, regulators, and industry experts. URAC is one of the fastest growing health care accreditation agencies in the world. It will continue to develop new standards for the health care system and revise existing ones to promote national standards and to ensure that all stakeholders, including consumers and providers, are protected.
pollen-the fine spores that contain male gametes and that are borne by an anther in a flowering plant. microspore-smaller of the two types of spore produced in heterosporous plants; develops in the pollen sac into a male gametophyte.
A reproductive cell or group of cells, produced by some plants, that is capable of developing into an adult plant without combining with another reproductive cell. Plants also produce sperm cells. The spores of nonflowering plants are analogous to the seeds of flowering plants. (See asexual reproduction; compare sexual reproduction.) Fungi and algae typically reproduce by means of spores that are carried by the wind or some other agency to a new location for growth.