Showing papers by "Wilkes University published in 2009"

Organic anion transporters: discovery, pharmacology, regulation and roles in pathophysiology.

Abstract: Our understanding of the mechanisms behind inter- and intra-patient variability in drug response is inadequate. Advances in the cytochrome P450 drug metabolizing enzyme field have been remarkable, but those in the drug transporter field have trailed behind. Currently, however, interest in carrier-mediated disposition of pharmacotherapeutics is on a substantial uprise. This is exemplified by the 2006 FDA guidance statement directed to the pharmaceutical industry. The guidance recommended that industry ascertain whether novel drug entities interact with transporters. This suggestion likely stems from the observation that several novel cloned transporters contribute significantly to the disposition of various approved drugs. Many drugs bear anionic functional groups, and thus interact with organic anion transporters (OATs). Collectively, these transporters are nearly ubiquitously expressed in barrier epithelia. Moreover, several reports indicate that OATs are subject to diverse forms of regulation, much like drug metabolizing enzymes and receptors. Thus, critical to furthering our understanding of patient- and condition-specific responses to pharmacotherapy is the complete characterization of OAT interactions with drugs and regulatory factors. This review provides the reader with a comprehensive account of the function and substrate profile of cloned OATs. In addition, a major focus of this review is on the regulation of OATs including the impact of transcriptional and epigenetic factors, phosphorylation, hormones and gender. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Choosing topical corticosteroids.

Abstract: Topical corticosteroids are one of the oldest and most useful treatments for dermatologic conditions. There are many topical steroids available, and they differ in potency and formulation. Successful treatment depends on an accurate diagnosis and consideration of the steroid's delivery vehicle, potency, frequency of application, duration of treatment, and side effects. Although use of topical steroids is common, evidence of effectiveness exists only for select conditions, such as psoriasis, vitiligo, eczema, atopic dermatitis, phimosis, acute radiation dermatitis, and lichen sclerosus. Evidence is limited for use in melasma, chronic idiopathic urticaria, and alopecia areata.

The investigation of Chinese consumer values, consumption values, life satisfaction, and consumption behaviors

Abstract: The primary objective of this study was to investigate how the changing value systems of modern Chinese consumers affect their consumption behaviors and life satisfaction through the mediating variables of consumption values. The results of the multivariate data analysis show that three out of four types of consumer values (i.e., functional, emotional, and social) were positively related to foreign brand purchasing. Among all accepted relationships, the one between collectivism and functional value was the highest, whereas the collectivism and epistemic value relationship was the lowest. Individualism and collectivism were both found to be positively related to foreign brand purchasing and life satisfaction. Compared to collectivists, individualists were less satisfied with their current lives, but they held a more favorable attitude toward foreign brands. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Natural disturbance and human land use as determinants of tropical forest dynamics: results from a forest simulator

Abstract: Forests are often subject to multiple, compounded disturbances, representing both natural and human-induced processes. Predicting forest dynamics requires that we consider how these disturbances interact to affect species demography. Here we present results of an individual-based, spatially explicit forest simulator that we developed to analyze the compounded effects of hurricane disturbance and land use legacies on the dynamics of a subtropical forest. We used data from the 16-ha Luquillo Forest Dynamics Plot in Puerto Rico, together with a reconstruction of historical wind damage, to parameterize the simulator. We used the model to ask two questions. (1) What are the implications of variation in hurricane frequency and severity for the long-term dynamics of forest composition, diversity, and structure? Both storm severity and frequency had striking effects on forest dynamics, composition, and structure. The periodicity of disturbance also played an important role, with periods of high hurricane activity fostering the establishment of species that may become rare in the absence of severe storms and quiescent periods allowing these species to reach reproductive size. Species responses to hurricane disturbance could not be predicted from their life history attributes. However, species perceived to be primary forest species exhibited low temporal variation in abundance through the simulations. (2) How do hurricanes and legacies from human land use interact to determine community structure and composition? Our results suggest that, over time, regardless of the storm regime, land use legacies will become less apparent but will lead to a forest community that contains a mixture of secondary and primary forest species formerly dominant in areas of different land use. In the long term, hurricane disturbance generated two communities with slightly greater similarity than those not subject to storms. Thus, the inclusion of hurricane disturbance does not alter the prediction that land use legacies in this tropical forest will diminish over time. Our simulations also highlight the contingent effects of human legacies on subsequent community dynamics, including the response to hurricane disturbance, therefore supporting the notion that compounded disturbances can interact in ways that cannot be predicted by the study of single disturbances. The widespread importance of land use as a large-scale disturbance makes it imperative that it be addressed as a fundamental ecological process.

Self-Employment, Work–Family Fit and Mental Health Among Female Workers

Abstract: We used the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce to investigate the effects of work type on women’s lives. Specifically, we hypothesized that self-employed women have better work–family fit than organizationally employed women. We also hypothesized that as a result of better work–family fit, self-employed women would report better mental health than organizationally employed women. The analysis shows limited support for the hypotheses. Of the different dimensions of work–family fit, self-employment directly influenced only job to home facilitation. Work type had no direct influence on mental health. It appears that work type may indirectly influence work–family fit and mental health through higher job satisfaction and increased autonomy.

The high-field drift velocity in degenerately-doped silicon nanowires

Abstract: The charge transport in nanowires suitable for high-speed applications depends on charge carrier's mobility and saturation velocity in the conducting channel. It is shown that the high mobility does not always lead to higher carrier drift velocity. The ultimate drift velocity (the intrinsic velocity) due to the high-electric-field streaming is based on the asymmetrical distribution function that converts randomness in zero-field to a streamlined one in a very high electric field. The saturation velocity limited to the intrinsic velocity is an appropriate thermal velocity for a non-degenerately doped nanowire, increasing with the temperature, but independent of carrier concentration. However, this saturation velocity is the appropriate Fermi velocity for a degenerately doped silicon nanowire, increasing with carrier concentration but independent of temperature. The results obtained are applied to the modelling of a silicon nanowire transistor.

‘Keeping the Faith’: How Incarcerated African American Mothers Use Religion and Spirituality to Cope with Imprisonment

Abstract: Previous studies investigate whether religion aids in rehabilitation and acclimation to the prison structure among the incarcerated However, few studies investigate whether and how religion and spirituality can assist incarcerated persons as they attempt to cope with the strains of fulfilling family roles while behind bars Neither does previous prison research adequately investigate the intersections of race, gender, religion, spirituality and mothering The present study is based on focus groups with fifteen African American mothers in a Midwestern maximum-security prison Findings give voice to this marginalized group and illustrate the ways in which these mothers utilize religion and spirituality to make sense of their incarceration and cope with the role strain associated with being an imprisoned mother Implications for prison policy and future research are discussed

Incorporating an immunization certificate program into the pharmacy curriculum.

Abstract: Objective. To describe the method of incorporating an immunization certificate training program, such as the American Pharmacists Association's (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery into a pharmacy curriculum. Design. The program was delivered over 3 weeks in the spring semester of the third professional year (P3) as part of a required Pharmacy Care Lab sequence. Assessment. Student response surveys and faculty input were used to evaluate the placement of the program in the curriculum. Conclusion. Optional comments yielded more than 44% of students providing positive open-ended feedback regarding the course while almost 10% felt the course should not be mandated in the curriculum.

Rankings of Academic Journals in Accounting, Finance, and Information System Perception from the College Chairpersons

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is report the importance of research publications for the tenure promotion and for faculty in accounting, finance, and information system (IS) areas, developing valid criteria for the assessment of quality in related journals is necessary.Design/methodology/approach – Existing rankings are usually based on a survey among faculty members, while ignoring the chairs’ critical role in tenure evaluation. This paper uses department chairs’ responses to a survey asking to assess relative journal quality, and hence provides quantitative standards to measure research productivity. The rankings are primarily obtained by the familiarity-rank position index method. Different sets of rankings for the decision-makers in universities, with various requirements for research are provide.Findings – It is found that the rankings in accounting and finance areas are consistent with the prior research, but the rankings in the IS have changed significantly. This difference to the rapid growth in the field of IS is attributed. The robustness check also corroborates the ranking lists.Originality/value – In addition, this paper reports not only a comprehensive ranking list including most journals in accounting, finance, and IS areas, but also separate rankings in each field.

A general method to prepare monodentate phosphane ligands with mixed substituents

Abstract: Treatment of (2,2′-biphenylylene)- phosphorchloridite ester [(C12H8O2)PCl] (1) with C2F5Li yields (C12H8O2)PC2F52; treatment of 1 with Grignard reagents yields compounds of the type (C12H8O2)PR (R = iPr, 5; Et 6). In both cases, the 1,3-dioxepine ring formed when 2,2′-biphenol reacts with PCl3 to form 1 serves as a protecting group at the phosphorus atom; the ring allows the stepwise introduction of one substituent and prevents undesirable product mixtures associated with multiple substitutions at the phosphorus. Additional treatment of compounds 2, 5, and 6 with Grignard, alkyl-, or aryllithium reagents results in the formation of unsymmetrically substituted phosphanes. The use of (2,2′-biphenylylene)phosphorchloridite ester as a starting material for the preparation of electroneutral phosphanes of the type (Rf)PR2 and electron-poor phosphanes of the type (Rf)2PR is described. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 20:393–397, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.20563

Accruals' persistence, accruals mispricing and operating cycle: evidence from the US

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of operating cycle on the differential persistence of accruals and cash flow, and the market reaction to the different components of earnings across firms with various operating cycles.Design/methodology/approach – By examining the US public firms' earnings and the capital market reaction to different components of earnings, from 1964 to 1993, it is found that the longer the operating cycle, the lesser will be the persistent of accruals.Findings – This result is consistent with Sloan's theory that the differential persistence of accruals is attributable to estimation errors in accruals. Moreover, the market efficiency test shows that the mispricing of accruals is greater for firms with longer operating cycle, indicating that investors fixate on earnings, while ignoring the persistence of accruals among firms with different earnings quality.Originality/value – This paper adds to the growing literature that has begun to examine the factors aff...

Research and Solutions: Effects of Climate and Institution Size on Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Colleges and Universities in the United States

Abstract: Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated with buildings may constitute as much as 40 percent of total emissions by the United States. Data on GHG emissions for 238 institutions, including doctorate-granting universities, master's institutions, and baccalaureate colleges, were acquired from the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). A regression model that included gross building area, July mean temperature, and January mean low temperature was used to predict GHG emissions (R2 = 0.911). A similar model was developed for emissions as a function of full-time equivalent (FTE) students, but the fit was poorer (R2 = 0.693). The percentage of coal in the energy source for electric power generation was also a factor, with higher percentages resulting in higher emissions. Institutions with high percentages of coal as their electricity source also experienced low January temperatures, making it difficult to distinguish the effects of energy source from winter climate. For doct...

Engineering the soul of management in the nano era

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propagate a goal‐driven engineering process – an engine of invention, innovation, and growth – to be the soul of management for organizations to recover from the malaise that arose from illusions of creating capital wealth through deceptive paradigms where individual gains took precedence over the needs of a healthy human enterprise.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a result of ideas generated from author's world travels. Moving around in the world exposing oneself to organisms, to danger, one discovers serendipity and learns as much from other cultures as one can. Although some of life's lessons are learned in the carpe diem (e.g. not putting hands in the fire), others become apparent only after the fact (after the fire is put out!). Mind travel is as important as physical travel. Mind travel allows us to pay for an experience once and then have it again and again at no additional charge, learning new lessons with each repetition of physical or mental tr...

Lipid profile changes associated with changing available formulary statins: removing higher potency agents.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To review the fasting lipid panel changes that occurred after removing higher potency statins from a prescription formulary. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. METHODS: Researchers compiled data for patients in a medical clinic receiving pharmacy benefits from a particular managed care plan. Patients enrolled in the benefits program at least between June 2006 and June 2007 were evaluated for atorvastatin use before January 1, 2007. After January 1, patients on atorvastatin were prescribed new statins according to the program's preferred drug list. Patients treated with atorvastatin were reviewed for fasting lipid panel results while on atorvastatin; these results then were compared with fasting lipid panels after the formulary change took place. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride values were examined for changes. Appropriateness of the replacement statin also was evaluated using statin equivalency charts. RESULTS: Values for total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides were not significantly different from baseline to follow-up. High-density lipoprotein values did significantly increase over the study period. Only 34% of statin prescriptions were considered appropriately converted to equipotent or higher potency doses. The mean time to documentation of statin conversion was 2.9 months. CONCLUSIONS: Removing higher potency statins from the formulary did not ignificantly change a population's fasting lipid panel except for a significant increase in high-density lipoprotein. Although multiple factors may have contributed to this effect, the results of this investigation suggest that changing formulary statins will not alter the surrogate lipoprotein markers associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes.

Effect of Coolant Temperature on the Condensation Heat Transfer in Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Applications

Abstract: This article directly investigates the effect of a cooling medium's coolant temperature on the condensation of the refrigerant R-134a. The study presents an experimental investigation into condensation heat transfer, vapor quality, and pressure drop of R-134a flowing through a commercial annular helicoidal pipe under the severe climatic conditions of a Kuwait summer. The quality of the refrigerant is calculated using the temperature and pressure obtained from the experiment. Measurements were performed for refrigerant mass fluxes ranging from 50 to 650 kg/m2s, with a cooling water flow Reynolds number range of 950 to 15,000 at a fixed gas saturation temperature of 42°C and cooling wall temperatures of 5°C, 10°C, and 20°C. The data shows that with an increase of refrigerant mass flux, the overall condensation heat transfer coefficients of R-134a increased, and the pressure drops also increased. However, with the increase of mass flux of cooling water, the refrigerant-side heat transfer coefficients decreas...

Ballistic mobility degradation in scaled-down channel of a MOSFET

Abstract: The ballistic mobility data by Luskawoski et. al [1] is interpreted by using recently published formalism [2]. The mobility is shown to be ballistic when the ballistic mean free path in a nanoscale transistor exceeds the channel length. This ballistic mobility affects the critical voltage V c that can be as low as the thermal voltage 2 V t (0.0518 V at room temperature) for a quasi-2-domensional (Q2D) nanostructure at the onset of nonlinearity in current-voltage relationship. The applied voltage V=0.08 V is higher than the thermal voltage triggering decline of mobility at low channel lengths due to high fields present. The general formalism is in excellent agreement with the experimental data.

Scattering-limited and ballistic transport in nanoelectronic devices

Abstract: The fundamental processes on nanoscale that may influence the design of nanoelectronic chips, sensors, and systems is presented. The focus is on the breakdown of Ohm's law in nanoscale devices extensively being used to assess the performance of a “system-on-a-chip,” may it be for bio, chemical, physical or engineering applications. Novel insights on theories of three sources of transformation of Ohm's Law are enumerated: quantum confinement in low-dimensional nanostructures, ballistic transport when conducting channel length is smaller than the mean free path, and high-field initiated carrier asymmetric distribution. The saturation velocity arising from the high-field initiated mobility degradation is shown to be the intrinsic velocity that depends on the nanostructure dimensionality, its carrier concentration, and the ambient temperature, in direct contrast to single number that is quoted in the literature. The ballistic intrinsic velocity is the ultimate saturation velocity that can be lowered by the onset of a quantum emission that may be an optical phonon or photon quantum emitted from an excited quantized level to the ground state. The results presented will have profound impact in the interpretation of data on a variety of nanoelectronic devices and systems that may exist with varying low dimensionality, i. e., classical (analogue energy spectrum) in one or more of the three cartesian directions while other directions go quantum (digitized energy spectrum).

The role of ballistic mobility and saturation velocity in performance evaluation of a nano-CMOS circuit

Abstract: The mobility and saturation velocity are the two important parameters that control the charge transport in a channel. The mobility is ballistic as channel length is scaled down to length smaller than the mean free path of carriers in the channel. It is found that the ballistic saturation velocity does not sensitively depend upon low-field mobility or scattering interactions. In an infinite electric field and in the absence of quantum emission, the saturation velocity is limited to the thermal velocity in the nondegenerate realm and Fermi velocity in the degenerate realm. It may be lowered by the emission of a quantum. However, the drain electric field is always finite and hence the drain velocity is always smaller than the saturation velocity at the onset of quasi current saturation. Expressions for voltage VDsat and current IDsat at the onset of current saturation transform dramatically in a nanoscale circuit. The modeling applied to 80-nm and 45-nm CMOS processes give exceedingly good comparison to the experimental data.

Ballistic Saturation Velocity of Quasi‐2D Low‐Dimensional Nanoscale Field Effect Transistor (FET)

Abstract: The saturation velocity is found to be ballistic regardless of the device dimensions The ballistic intrinsic velocity is based on streamlining of the randomly oriented velocity vectors in zero electric field In the degenerate realm, the saturation velocity is shown to be the Fermi velocity that is independent of temperature but strongly dependent on carrier concentration In the non‐degenerate realm, it’s becomes thermal velocity that depends only on the ambient temperature The drain carrier velocity is revealed to be smaller than the saturation velocity due to finite electric field at the drain‐end An excellent agreement is revealed when comparing the model to 80 nm fabricated MOSFET

Physics-Based Modelling of Ballistic Transport in Nanoscale Transistor

Abstract: The ballistic transport of the carriers is predicted when the channel length of the transistor is less than the scattering-limited mean-free path. In this paper, the saturation velocity is found to be ballistic regardless of the device dimensions. This saturation velocity is limited by the intrinsic velocity. Its does not sensitively depend on the ballistic or scattering-limited nature of the mobility. In the degenerate realm, the saturation velocity is shown to be the Fermi velocity that is independent of temperature but strongly dependent on carrier concentration. In the non-degenerate realm, the intrinsic velocity is the thermal velocity that depends only on the ambient temperature. The drain carrier velocity is revealed to be smaller than the saturation velocity due to the presence of a finite electric field. An excellent agreement of the models developed and applied to 80-nm-channel-length MOSFET validates the physics behind ballistic transport.

The impact of the breakdown of Ohm's law on switching delay due to reactive elements connected in series with a micro/nano-resistor

Abstract: The transient effects in a nano/micro-scale channel are severely affected by the resistance blowup due to sublinear current-voltage characteristics leading to velocity and current saturation. This resistance blow-up effect increases the transit-time delay through the device that decreases as length of the conducting channel is decreased, but always larger than that predicted from the application of Ohm's law. RC time constant is shown to enhance dramatically while RL time constant decreases considerably over and above the predictions of Ohm's law. It is argued that the use of copper in place of aluminum for an interconnect and low-k dielectric for the parasitic capacitance may not necessarily lower the timing delay as intrinsic resistance rise is always present making optimization crucial. Also, the frequency response f = 1/ 2πτ will be affected as resistance blows up in a micro/nano-scale resistor. A higher capacitance extracted from RC time constants obtained from cutoff frequency is noted if R = R o (Ohmic) in place of blown-up resistance R is used.

Implications of Contemporary Leadership Models on Sales Management

Abstract: As organizations have discovered that they cannot solely compete on price, product, quality, or technology, organizations have sought the use of optimum leadership models to assist with competition and survival. After examining the evolution of three contemporary leadership models: Spiritual Leadership, Primal Leadership, and Innovative Leadership, it is shown that these models offer sustenance in various ways for organizations and employees. Furthermore, because of the introduction and practice of Spiritual Leadership, Primal Leadership, and Innovative Leadership, specific implications exist for sales management as related to their sales reps and to their customers.

New Glycosyl Thio‐carboamino Peptides as New Tools for Glycobiology

Abstract: New developments in glycobiology require determination of the precise functional domain of the carbohydrate ligand and follow up process for the specific binding affinity to glycoproteins through specific glycopeptide moieties. Small glycopeptide derivatives linked to the carbohydrate moiety via nonhydrolyzable link developed in our laboratory might serve as potential new tools to study this phenomenon. Our synthetic studies utilizing stereoselective Michael addition of reactive thiols to new conjugated enones and converting them into carbopeptides are presented in this short review.