University of Houston

About: University of Houston is a education organization based out in Houston, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 23074 authors who have published 53903 publications receiving 1641968 citations.

Transaction cost-enhanced entry mode choices and firm performance.

Abstract: According to transaction cost theory, firms select the international mode of entry that provides the most efficient form of governance. However, previous scholarship largely neglects the impact of transaction cost variables on entry mode choice and firm performance. In this study, we add transaction cost variables to a set of variables previously used to predict firm mode choice and performance. We theorize and find that firms selecting these ‘transaction cost-enhanced international entry modes’ perform better than firms using other modes of entry. Based on our results, we conclude that ‘enhanced’ transaction cost theory appears to be normative as well as descriptive with respect to international entry mode decisions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A leaky-wave analysis of the high-gain printed antenna configuration

Abstract: A leaky-wave analysis is used to explain the narrow-beam resonance-gain phenomenon in which narrow beams may be produced from a printed antenna element in a substrate-superstrate geometry. It is demonstrated that the phenomenon is attributable to the presence of both transverse electric and transverse magnetic-mode leaky waves, that are excited on the structure. Asymptotic formulas for the leaky wave are compared with the exact patterns to demonstrate the dominant role of the leaky waves in determining the pattern. Results are presented as a function of frequency, the scan angle, and the permittivity of the superstrate. >

T2 Magnetic Resonance Assay for the Rapid Diagnosis of Candidemia in Whole Blood: A Clinical Trial

Abstract: BACKGROUND Microbiologic cultures, the current gold standard diagnostic method for invasive Candida infections, have low specificity and take up to 2-5 days to grow. We present the results of the first extensive multicenter clinical trial of a new nanodiagnostic approach, T2 magnetic resonance (T2MR), for diagnosis of candidemia. METHODS Blood specimens were collected from 1801 hospitalized patients who had a blood culture ordered for routine standard of care; 250 of them were manually supplemented with concentrations from <1 to 100 colony-forming units (CFUs)/mL for 5 different Candida species. RESULTS T2MR demonstrated an overall specificity per assay of 99.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 99.1%-99.6%) with a mean time to negative result of 4.2 ± 0.9 hours. Subanalysis yielded a specificity of 98.9% (95% CI, 98.3%-99.4%) for Candida albicans/Candida tropicalis, 99.3% (95% CI, 98.7%-99.6%) for Candida parapsilosis, and 99.9% (95% CI, 99.7%-100.0%) for Candida krusei/Candida glabrata. The overall sensitivity was found to be 91.1% (95% CI, 86.9%-94.2%) with a mean time of 4.4 ± 1.0 hours for detection and species identification. The subgroup analysis showed a sensitivity of 92.3% (95% CI, 85.4%-96.6%) for C. albicans/C. tropicalis, 94.2% (95% CI, 84.1%-98.8%) for C. parapsilosis, and 88.1% (95% CI, 80.2%-93.7%) for C. krusei/C. glabrata. The limit of detection was 1 CFU/mL for C. tropicalis and C. krusei, 2 CFU/mL for C. albicans and C. glabrata, and 3 CFU/mL for C. parapsilosis. The negative predictive value was estimated to range from 99.5% to 99.0% in a study population with 5% and 10% prevalence of candidemia, respectively. CONCLUSIONS T2MR is the first fully automated technology that directly analyzes whole blood specimens to identify species without the need for prior isolation of Candida species, and represents a breakthrough shift into a new era of molecular diagnostics. CLINICAL TRIALS REGISTRATION NCT01752166.