Joseph H. Callaghan

Borrelidin Induces the Unfolded Protein Response in Oral Cancer Cells and Chop-Dependent Apoptosis

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common cancer affecting the oral cavity, and US clinics will register about 30,000 new patients in 2015. Current treatment modalities include chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy, which often result in astonishing disfigurement. Cancers of the head and neck display enhanced levels of glucose-regulated proteins and translation initiation factors associated with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and the unfolded protein response (UPR). Previous work demonstrated that chemically enforced UPR could overwhelm these adaptive features and selectively kill malignant cells. The threonyl-tRNA synthetase (ThRS) inhibitor borrelidin and two congeners were discovered in a cell-based chemical genomic screen. Borrelidin increased XBP1 splicing and led to accumulation of phosphorylated eIF2α and UPR-associated genes, prior to death in panel of OSCC cells. Murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) null for GCN2 and PERK were less able to accumulate UPR markers and were resistant to borrelidin. This study demonstrates that UPR induction is a feature of ThRS inhibition and adds to a growing body of literature suggesting ThRS inhibitors might selectively target cancer cells.

Accounting for the Development Costs of Internal‐Use Software

In this paper, we evaluate accounting practices for internal‐use software expenditures. Statement of Position No. 98‐1 (SOP No. 98‐1) requires expensing certain costs and capitalizing others. We argue that current accounting practice does not allow enough capitalization, since costs incurred during the systems analysis stage of model‐based systems development are expensed regardless of whether they create future benefits. The quest for uniformity in accounting treatment in the form of a single rule for multiple economic phenomena (i.e., treating all systems acquisition and development methods the same) results in reduced ability to reflect economic differences between systems acquisition and development methods. To illustrate, we provide an example of the differential effects of adopting SOP No. 98‐1 for firms using different development approaches. Under the SOP, “Analysis” costs are expensed. Under model‐based approaches, especially those with downstream effects, these Analysis costs are assets, since t...

Augmenting XBRL Using UML: Improving Financial Analysis

eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), a financial accounting application of XML, provides a taxonomy for facilitating the analysis of financial statement information. This taxonomy promises to enhance the financial analyst’s ability to process financial information both crosssectionally and temporally. However, limitations exist in the taxonomy that inhibit the analyst, intelligent agent or application to process information in the most effective way. In particular, financial statement element analysis can only be properly conducted when the additional semantics provided by additional disclosures are incorporated into the process. UML provides a conceptual framework to capture more meaningful semantics, particularly among related, collaborating objects. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework that will couple the strengths of both technologies in order to develop better systems for financial statement analysis.

RETHINKING AIS: AN INNOVATIVE FINANCIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS CURRICULUM

ABSTRACT This paper describes a new Financial Information Systems curriculum that integrates information technology and financial information in the development of business information systems, and discusses the problems we experienced in establishing the new program. Our intention is to provide accounting graduates with the knowledge they need to leverage the latest information technologies to support the use of financial information in management decision-making, and to integrate financial information and internal controls into business information systems. Our cross-disciplinary approach expands the horizons of our students, from one of viewing accounting as a stand-alone, untimely, inflexible information system, capturing only “accounting transactions” and their limited characteristics, to one of a more realistic real-time, enterprise-wide, activity-driven information system, used by a variety of users with a variety of needs. We also shift the focus from implementing costly controls to that of embedding controls within information systems during systems development, and of continuous systems monitoring.

Financial Information Systems: Teaching REA semantics within an Information Engineering framework

The purpose of this paper is to describe how the accounting REA model can be incorporated into the Information Engineering set of methodologies in the Accounting or Financial Information Systems classroom. We contrast the traditional Information Engineering approach with one that includes REA modeling. We argue that the REA model is an interaction model, and that its use enables accounting students to develop business information systems that more adequately depict business phenomena. We also advocate a hands-on approach to systems development by supplementing conceptual model building with actual systems building through the use of a systems development toolset that automatically generates both application and database programming code from the logical models developed by the students. Consequently, students can see how their abstractions have real-world consequences. A prior version of this paper was awarded first prize in the 1999 Sterling Software University Program IT Research Contest, and was the topic of the keynote address at the 5th Annual Sterling Software University Program Conference (1999) in Dallas, Texas. Revised versions of the paper were presented at the 2000 AIS Educator Conference in Denver, Colorado and the 2002 American Accounting Association Information Systems Mid-Year Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Modelling business applications with XBRL and UML

This paper focuses on object modelling business applications using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) data and Unified Modelling Language (UML) diagrams. An overview of these technologies and the benefits associated with their integration is explored. The potential offered by reverse-engineered XBRL financial reporting (FR) and global ledger (GL) taxonomies, schemas and instances into UML diagrams is demonstrated. The class attributes and implied relationships reflecting XBRL elements and relationships is exploited in the development of the methods necessary to implement a management appraisal application using balanced scorecard concepts. In so doing, both hierarchical and process-oriented structures implied by XBRL are utilised by developing appropriate methods of the business application objects. The usefulness of this methodology is demonstrated in using financial, customer, internal process and learning aspects of the balanced scorecard system.

A re-balanced scorecard: a strategic approach to enhance managerial performance in complex environments

This paper is a proposal to develop conceptual and practical frameworks for evolving corporations seeking to improve their managerial performance in complex environments with actionable strategies for dealing with social, environmental and corporate governance issues. These frameworks are coalesced by social contract theory that extends the traditional view of the firm as a nexus of contracts to a broader view of the firm as a nexus of social contracts. A re-balanced scorecard is proposed to induce and evaluate management performance that captures important dimensions and aspects of the frameworks established for firms strategically choosing to change their long term objectives to include those related to meeting their social contract obligations.

Shorting Down Value: The Toxic Effect of Insufficient Internal Liquidity

This paper demonstrates analytically how short sellers can put non-transitory downward pressure on the stock market prices and intrinsic values of companies that need to raise external capital because of insufficient internal liquidity. The model helps explain anomalous empirical findings in the extant literature on negative returns to stocks subjected to heavy shorting activity. The implications of the model also supply normative justification for the sizable cash reserves held by corporations and their reluctance to raise external capital. The equity pricing effects implied by the model are illustrated for a large empirical sample of companies negatively impacted by heavy short sales. Empirical tests are also conducted in this research that provide evidence consistent with the theory.

Clinical utility of transcutaneous bilirubinometer (TcB) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.

Abstract Objective: This is a comprehensive study designed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of transcutaneous bilirubinometry (TcB) in very low birth weight (VLBW) newborns of African American (AA) descent. Methods: TcB was conducted at the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS), temporal region and sternum within 2 h of total serum bilirubin (TSB) measurements in newborns born at ≤32 weeks’ gestation prospectively. Average (AVG) TcB levels were also calculated. The relationships between TSB and TcB levels were analyzed using non-parametric Spearman bivariate correlations, a Bland-Altman plot procedure and a decision tree (DT) analysis. Results: One hundred newborns and 555 TSB data points were available. Eighty-nine percent of the newborns were AA. A significant correlation (P<0.0001) was observed between TSB and TcB values obtained at the ASIS (r=0.73), sternum (0.73), temporal region (0.61) and AVG (0.77). The Bland-Altman plot revealed a good agreement between AVG TcB values and TSB values. A DT analysis indicated that AVG TcB was also found to be the most significant predictor of TSB values in both the no phototherapy (PT) and biliblanket subgroups. Conclusion: TcB can be used reliably in VLBW AA newborns in the absence of overhead PT. The use of TcB in monitoring jaundice in VLBW newborns would help decrease the number of blood draws and cost of care.