Young, open and international: the impact of search strategies on the internationalization of new ventures

Young firms with the ability to internationalize early and decisively have received much attention in recent academic discussion. However, relatively little is known about the underlying processes that enable them to skip several stages of the internationalization process. We contribute to this research stream by establishing theoretical links with the emerging open innovation paradigm of firms optimizing their R&D activities by interconnecting them with external partners such as leading customers, universities or specialized suppliers. Based on a sample of more than 2,500 firms in Germany we contrast young and mature firms with regard to the effect of open innovation strategies on internationalization performance. Our results show that both the breadth and depth of search strategies for external knowledge help young firms to enter international markets. Once they have entered these markets, though, the drivers for success seem to shift from general knowledge sourcing to targeted and specific ones. --New ventures,internationalization,innovation,search strategies,entrepreneurship

Inflation Forecasting with Inflation Sentiment Indicators

In this paper we argue that future inflation in an economy depends on the way people perceive current inflation, their inflation sentiment.We construct some simple measures of inflation sentiment which capture whether price acceleration is shared by many components of the CPI basket. In a comparative analysis of the forecasting power of the different inflation indicators for the US and Germany, we demonstrate that our inflation sentiment indicators improve forecast accuracy in comparison to a standard Phillips curve approach. Because the forecast performance is particularly good for longer horizons, we also compare our indicators to traditional measures of core inflation.Here, the sentiment indicators outperform the weighted median and show a similar forecasting power as a trimmed mean. Thus, they offer a convincing alternative to traditional core inflation measures.Inflation forecasting, monetary policy

Formulation and characterization of siRNA embedded nanoparticles for pulmonary delivery

Advancing existing or developing novel nanoparticle carrier systems is a crucial part of successful nucleic acid delivery for therapeutic purposes. The overall aim of nanoparticle formulations is to deliver their cargo to the site of action. During this procedure, nanoparticles need to show qualities to be internalized into the cell and release their cargo. Dependent on the application route and prior to cell uptake, nanoparticles can be transferred into a form of administration that improves conformation and leads to long-term storage stability. The aim of this thesis is to identify various small interfering RNA (siRNA)-nanoparticle formulations as drug delivery systems with potential to target the lungs (Chapter I + II). Nanoparticles carrier systems comprised of polymers, lipids or a hybrid combination encapsulating nucleic acids and were formed using the concept of microfluidic mixing. The thesis can be separated into two main parts. The first part addresses the common dilemma of the endosomal escape problem by improving existing polymers through chemical modification (Chapter III), synthesizing a novel amphiphilic polymer (Chapter IV) and forming hybrid lipid polyplex nanoparticles (Chapter V). The second section focuses on the development of a spray-drying approach (Chapter VI) and the long-term storage under various conditions (Chapter VI) for siRNA-lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) based on an adapted Onpattro® formulation. The endosomal release problem of polymeric nanoparticles was tackled looking at physicochemical nanoparticle characterization and in vitro performance assessment. Throughout Chapters III - V, sizes of 100 – 200 nm were reached, the zeta potential was kept neutral to positive, and the encapsulation efficiency of siRNA showed values > 90% resulting in an improved in vitro knockdown performance (> 50%) in comparison to polyethylene imine (PEI) polyplexes or triblock copolymer polyplexes cores. The establishment of a spray drying platform for LNPs (Chapter VI) and subsequent drying for storage stability (Chapter VII) resulted in spray dried powders that maintained LNP integrity and stability by loosing up to 15% of siRNA and lipid content. The aerodynamic properties showed ideal characteristics for pulmonary delivery with sizes of 3 μm. The in vitro performance reached knockdown levels of > 95% and a house keeping gene silencing of > 50% was established ex vivo in human precision cut lung slices. In conclusion, this thesis should give an overview of several non-viral siRNA nanoparticles as nucleic acid delivery systems that on the one hand improve the endosomal escape problem of polymeric nanoparticles, and on the other hand are established for pulmonary delivery through a spray drying method

Young, open and international : the impact of search strategies on the internationalization of new ventures

Young firms with the ability to internationalize early and decisively have received much attention in recent academic discussion. However, relatively little is known about the underlying processes that enable them to skip several stages of the internationalization process. We contribute to this research stream by establishing theoretical links with the emerging open innovation paradigm of firms optimizing their R&D activities by interconnecting them with external partners such as leading customers, universities or specialized suppliers. Based on a sample of more than 2,500 firms in Germany we contrast young and mature firms with regard to the effect of open innovation strategies on internationalization performance. Our results show that both the breadth and depth of search strategies for external knowledge help young firms to enter international markets. Once they have entered these markets, though, the drivers for success seem to shift from general knowledge sourcing to targeted and specific ones

Explaining Reviewing Effort: Existing Reviews as Potential Driver

Online review systems try to motivate reviewers to invest effort in writing reviews, as their success crucially depends on the helpfulness of such reviews. Underlying cognitive mechanisms, however, might influence future reviewing effort. Accordingly, in this study, we analyze whether existing reviews matter for future textual reviews. From analyzing a dataset from Google Maps covering 40 sights across Europe with over 37,000 reviews, we find that textual reviewing effort, as measured by the propensity to write an optional textual review and (textual) review length, is negatively related to the number of existing reviews. However, and against our expectations, reviewers do not increase textual reviewing effort if there is a large discrepancy between the existing rating valence and their own rating. We validate our findings using additional review data from Yelp. This work provides important implications for online platforms with review systems, as the presentation of review metrics matters for future textual reviewing effort

The dependence of reduced mobility, ion-neutral collisional cross sections, and alpha values on reduced electric field strengths in ion mobility

As ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) is used with mass spectrometry in more applications, increased emphasis is placed on the ion-neutral collisional cross sections (CCS) to identify unknown analytes in complex matrices. While CCS values can provide useful information about relative analyte size, several critical assumptions are inherent in the most common method of calculating CCS values, the Mason-Schamp equation. The largest source of error in the Mason-Schamp equation originates from not accounting for higher reduced electric field strengths, which are present in low-pressure instruments that require calibration. Previous corrections based on field strength have been proposed in literature, but their data used atomic ions in atomic gases, whereas most applications examine molecules measured in nitrogen. Here, we use a series of halogenated anilines measured in air and nitrogen between 6-120 Td on a first principles ion mobility instrument (HiKE-IMS). With this series of measurements, the average velocity of the ion packet is known allowing for direct calculation of reduced mobilities (K0), alpha functions, and finally, a detailed examination of CCS as a function of E/N. In the worst-case scenario, there is over a 55% difference in CCS values for molecular ions measured at high fields depending on the method used. When comparing CCS values to those in a database for unknown identification, this difference can lead to misidentification. To immediately alleviate some of the error in calibration procedures, we propose an alternative method using K0 and alpha functions that simulate first principles mobilities at higher fields

Optical emission spectroscopy for rate and composition control of plasma-assisted EBPVD processes

Currently, EB-PVD of YSZ layers is the standard process for TBC on turbine components. Due to the similar vapor pressures of yttria and zirconia, processing is relatively uncomplicated, and the good performance of this material in various aspects is not easy to beat. However, the increasing need for enhanced turbine efficiency and reduced emissions requires new approaches and developments. This calls for improved TBC systems or ceramic-based turbine components coated with EBC systems, which go hand in hand with the use of new admixed materials and more complex coating compositions. Consequently, the corresponding PVD processes become more challenging as well and should be aided by enhanced monitoring and control means therefore. Plasma activation of various PVD processes has been shown to be key to success in order to combine high-rate film growth with the requested film properties. The vapor and the reactive gas species are excited, ionized, and dissociated. The energy of charged particles impinging the substrate surface can be tuned resulting in layers with desired density, composition, hardness, or microstructure. The effect of plasma activation by using a hollow cathode arc discharge onto the morphology of YSZ layers [1,2] and its potential for coating of dense EBC’s [3] have been discussed previously. In this paper, another aspect of utilizing a plasma discharge in the vapor cloud will be discussed. Due to excitation of neutrals and ions, element-specific light emission occurs which can be analyzed by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The spectrum can be used to monitor and control the PVD process. As an example, YSZ has been evaporated by EB-PVD, and an emission line of excited zirconium neutrals has been used to maintain a constant deposition rate. Moreover, metallic zirconium and yttrium have been co-evaporated in oxygen atmosphere by spotless arc-assisted EB-PVD [4], and the vapor species have been monitored by OES. In another project, co-evaporation of several metallic ingots has been performed by the jumping beam method, and an OES-based control loop is being developed to automatically control the EB power input and feeding speed of the individual ingots. This plasma-based OES control method has a considerable potential for the development of reliable, well-defined deposition processes. In addition, the co-evaporation approach may be of increased interest to deposit new complex TBC and EBC systems. [1] G. Mattausch et al.: 55th SVC Annual Technical Conference Proceedings, 179-185 (2012) [2] B. Zimmermann et al.: Poster presentation at ECI Thermal Barrier Coatings IV, Irsee, Germany (2014) [3] B. Zimmermann et al.: Poster presentation at ECI Advanced Ceramic Matrix Composites, Santa Fe, USA (2017) [4] B. Scheffel et al.: Surface & Coatings Technology 316, 155–161 (2017