University of Oklahoma

About: University of Oklahoma is a education organization based out in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Radar. The organization has 25269 authors who have published 52609 publications receiving 1821706 citations. The organization is also known as: OU & Oklahoma University.

Spatial scaling of functional gene diversity across various microbial taxa.

Abstract: Understanding the spatial patterns of organisms and the underlying mechanisms shaping biotic communities is a central goal in community ecology. One of the most well documented spatial patterns in plant and animal communities is the positive-power law relationship between species (or taxa) richness and area. Such taxa–area relationships (TARs) are one of the principal generalizations in ecology, and are fundamental to our understanding of the distribution of global biodiversity. However, TARs remain elusive in microbial communities, especially in soil habitats, because of inadequate sampling methodologies. Here, we describe TARs as gene–area relationships (GARs), at a whole-community level, across various microbial functional and phylogenetic groups in a forest soil, using a comprehensive functional gene array with >24,000 probes. Our analysis indicated that the forest soil microbial community exhibited a relatively flat gene–area relationship (slope z = 0.0624), but the z values varied considerably across different functional and phylogenetic groups (z = 0.0475–0.0959). However, the z values are several times lower than those commonly observed in plants and animals. These results suggest that the turnover in space of microorganisms may be, in general, lower than that of plants and animals.

IT capabilities: theoretical perspectives and empirical operationalization

Abstract: With increased emphasis on the strategic role of IT in contemporary organizations, it is imperative to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that govern a firm’s IT capability. Yet, there exists very little understanding as to what constitutes a firm’s IT capability and how it could be measured. Drawing from theoretical perspectives and a systematic multi-stage research framework based on Delphi panels and focus groups, we conceptualize an enterprise-wide IT capability as a second order factor model. Using structural equation modeling techniques, the IT capability construct is empirically verified. Our study results provide a useful tool for benchmarking IT capability and serves as a foundation for operationalizing a key dependent variable in ITbusiness value research.

Employee Turnover and Organizational Performance: Testing a Hypothesis from Classical Public Administration

Abstract: Empirical studies of public employee turnover, particularly using turnover as an independent variable, are rare; and most of the literature assumes turnover to have a negative impact on organizations. This study examines a provocative but little supported hypothesis that has recently emerged in the private sector literature that turnover may provide positive benefits to the organization, at least up to a point. Using data from several hundred public organizations over a nine-year period, we test the proposition that moderate levels of turnover may positively affect organizational performance. We find that while turnover is indeed negatively related to performance for the organization's primary goal, it does have the hypothesized nonlinear relationship for a secondary output that is characterized by greater task difficulty.

Introns and Splicing Elements of Five Diverse Fungi

Abstract: Genomic sequences and expressed sequence tag data for a diverse group of fungi (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Aspergillus nidulans, Neurospora crassa, and Cryptococcus neoformans) provided the opportunity to accurately characterize conserved intronic elements. An examination of large intron data sets revealed that fungal introns in general are short, that 98% or more of them belong to the canonical splice site (ss) class (5GU ... AG3), and that they have polypyrimidine tracts predominantly in the region between the 5 ss and the branch point. Information content is high in the 5 ss, branch site, and 3 ss regions of the introns but low in the exon regions adjacent to the introns in the fungi examined. The two yeasts have broader intron length ranges and correspondingly higher intron information content than the other fungi. Generally, as intron length increases in the fungi, so does intron information content. Homologs of U2AF spliceosomal proteins were found in all species except for S. cerevisiae, suggesting a nonconventional role for U2AF in the absence of canonical polypyrimidine tracts in the majority of introns. Our observations imply that splicing in fungi may be different from that in vertebrates and may require additional proteins that interact with polypyrimidine tracts upstream of the branch point. Theoretical protein homologs for Nam8p and TIA-1, two proteins that require U-rich regions upstream of the branch point to function, were found. There appear to be sufficient differences between S. cerevisiae and S. pombe introns and the introns of two filamentous members of the Ascomycota and one member of the Basidiomycota to warrant the development of new model organisms for studying the splicing mechanisms of fungi.

Trial of Early Aggressive Therapy in Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Abstract: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) encompasses a group of diseases of unknown etiology, defined by the International League of Associations for Rheumatology as having in common arthritis in one or more joints that persists for at least 6 weeks and beginning before 16 years of age with other conditions excluded (1). With a prevalence of approximately one per thousand children in the US, JIA is the most common pediatric rheumatic illness and cause of acquired childhood disability (2, 3). During the last 20 years the advent of a host of immune response modifiers (biologics) that directly inhibit the action of pro-inflammatory mediators has revolutionized the treatment and expected outcome of JIA (4-7) such that extended periods of clinically quiescent disease may now be induced. Newly published guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) provide some guidance for the initiation and safety monitoring of drugs commonly used in JIA, including biologics (8). However, it remains unclear as to exactly when in the course of the disease and in what combination these treatments should be started to produce optimal outcomes. At present, it cannot be predicted with confidence which children with JIA have a less favorable outcome, although some risk factors have been identified (8-10). The polyarticular (both rheumatoid factor positive and negative) categories comprise approximately 30% of all patients with JIA, and the majority of these children remain on combinations of multiple medications for many years (11, 12); disease free periods off medication greater than 1 year are uncommon (13). Investigations in adult rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have demonstrated improved outcomes, including less radiographic progression of joint damage, when aggressive treatment is started early in the disease course (14-17). Thus, many rheumatologists now believe there is a “window of opportunity” early in the disease during which aggressive therapy has a profound long term effect (17-19). To date, there have not been any double-blind, randomized placebo controlled trials of biological agents in children with recent onset JIA in which the primary endpoint is clinical inactive disease (CID) (20). The trial described here was designed to determine if two aggressive treatment regimens started early in the course of polyarticular JIA results in CID within 6 months of initiation. An exploratory phase investigated the potential of the treatments to induce clinical remission on medication (CRM: 6 continuous months of CID while on treatment) within 12 months of initiation.