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Anisometric DNA nanoparticles with precisely tailored size and shape are prepared by three-dimensional folding of DNA – DNA origami – marked with a fluorescent intercalating dye (YOYO-1), stabilised with silica, and dispersed in a lyotropic chromonic liquid crystal (an aqueous solution of disodium cromoglycate). Observations by total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy indicate that the luminescent nanoparticles are stable in the liquid crystal dispersion and accumulate at the positions of point defects in the liquid crystal director field. The observations indicate that silica-stabilisation of the nanoparticles prevents the dye from leaking into the liquid crystal host and that the luminescent particles assemble at disclinations.

The first prototype of an adapter to enable left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation solely via the left ventricular (LV) apex and without requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) was tested in healthy and acutely failing pig hearts. The adapter consists of a fixation, blood guiding, and connecting module fitting to a HeartMate 3 (HM3; Abbott, Chicago, IL) pump. Implantation was performed via a left thoracotomy in five pigs (96 ± 18 kg). Invasive blood pressure was measured before (CTRL), 30 minutes after HM3 initiation (HM3_CTRL), during acute heart failure (HF) induced by rapid pacing (CTRL_HF), and 5 minutes after initiating HM3 support (HM3_HF). To further estimate the LVAD performance, blood pressure amplitudes were calculated in the healthy heart without (CTRL) and with HM3 support (HM3_CTRL) as: systolic-diastolic blood pressure. Our adapter implantation and connection to the HM3 pump succeeded in all animals. Compared to the normal beating healthy heart, blood pressure amplitudes were significantly smaller during HM3 support (CTRL: 41 ± 5 mm Hg vs. HM3_CTRL: 20 ± 4 mm Hg; p0.05). Under HF conditions, mean blood pressure returned to normal values after pump initiation (CTRL_HF: 29 ± 6 mm Hg, HM3_HF: 83 ± 24 mm Hg). The adapter prototype allowed safe, straightforward, and less-invasive LVAD implantation solely via the LV apex without using CPB and support of the LV during acute HF in the pig heart.

This study examines the influence of organizational psychological capital on the performance of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) during crises. We argue that SMEs use their intangible resources to cope with difficult situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we investigate how organizational psychological capital impacts performance and creative innovation through such intangible resources, namely, organizational citizenship behavior, solidarity, and cooperation. Methodologically, we combine structural equation modelling and regression analysis on a dataset of 379 SMEs. Our results support the notion that organizational psychological capital positively influences creative innovation of SMEs and thus performance during crises. Our research contributes to the organizational behavior literature by showing that psychological resources of SMEs can strengthen performance in times of crisis and help to prepare for future ones., Plain English Summary The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our economic system tremendously and continues to be a threat, especially for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). Our research shows that a shared positive thinking, namely, Organizational Psychological Capital, can be used by SMEs to counteract the negative effects of exogenous crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a dataset of 379 SMEs, we highlight that organizational psychological capital positively affects creative innovations of SMEs and leads to better performance. Thus, the principal implication of our study is the fact that SMEs should place a stronger emphasizes on their organizational psychological capital and try to stay positive, as it will help them to come up with innovative ideas coping with the effects of the crisis, ultimately increasing their performance and survival rate.

Einleitung: Patienten mit Fremdkörpern im Urogenitaltrakt – wie zum Beispiel Dauerkatheter oder Katheter zur Ableitung im oberen Harntrakt – stellen eine zunehmende Herausforderung in der Behandlung von Harnwegsinfekten dar. Ziel der Arbeit war es, anhand von Patientinnen und Patienten [zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]

Einleitung: Verbunden mit dem demographischen Wandel ist eine erhöhte Lebenserwartung. Daher hat die Prostatastanzbiopsie bei älteren Patienten in jüngerer Zeit als therapieentscheidende Diagnostik im Rahmen der Behandlung von Prostatakarzinomen an Relevanz gewonnen. Die vorliegende Studie [zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]

Einführung: Rezidivierende Harnwegsinfekte – insbesondere bei Frauen – stellen eine alltägliche Herausforderung der infektiologischen Urologie dar. Die betroffenen Patientinnen sind häufig stark belastet. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war eine Evaluation dieses Kollektivs [zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]

This study examines the influence of individual owner-manager values on the different dimensions of socioemotional wealth in family firms. We argue that values of owner-managers in family firms are one of the underlying motivators for socioemotional wealth behavior and used structural equation modeling to test the assumed connection. The results of our data set with 1,003 cases show, in accordance with Schwartz’s value dimensions, that social- and person-oriented values influence different dimensions of the FIBER scale. Our findings help understand the importance of individual values, advance socioemotional wealth research, and contribute to the understanding of family firm behavior.

Socio-psychological research agrees that values are one of the most influential factors shaping our behavior and decision-making. Thus, values have been used in multiple different disciplines to explain the behavior of individual humans, communities, and societies. Furthermore, they have been used to determine the character of organizations, their culture, and outcomes. Values have also found their way into the family business research stream. Due to the unique, and well-known connection between family and business, especially values of the founder, and consecutively the owner-managers of family firms are deemed to be of severe importance. They were named to influence resources, choices, goals, build the foundation, and in general shape the behavior of the firm. Specifically, research has deemed them for the corporate culture, longevity, social responsibility, and socioemotional wealth behavior. However, even though the importance of values has been named and assumed to be of relevance, a sound empirical underpinning about how they manifest themselves, how and to what extent they shape behavior and if they influence firm-level outcomes is severely lacking. This is especially surprising as values help to overcome crises and are crucial to the longevity of businesses, which is especially relevant in family firms. Thus, goal of this research is to highlight the importance of individual values of the owner-manager, their impact on family firm behavior and outcomes. As owner-managers normally lead a business over very long time periods exert they exert an enormous amount of influence on the firm imprinting their values on the firm itself. Based upon value theory and in accordance with the upper echelon theory, where it is argued that characteristics of the human being ultimately influence the performance of a firm through strategic decisions, we argue, that the basic human values of owner-managers, consciously and unconsciously influence the behavior of the firm, impacting the performance and motivation of non-family employees. Therefore, four consecutive studies have been planned and executed. The first study qualitatively investigates the assumed connection between individual values and III socioemotional wealth behavior of owner-managers. Results show that the assumed connection between values and socioemotional wealth exists, that values and socioemotional wealth can change over time, and that social-oriented and personoriented values influence different areas of socioemotional wealth behavior. The second study quantitatively tests this identified connection. Measuring values with the portrait-value questionnaire of Schwartz and connecting them to socioemotional wealth, measured by the FIBER scale. The results of the structural equation model show, that openness to change and self-enhancement values influence the F and I dimension of the FIBER scale while self-transcendence and conservation values mostly influence dimensions B, E, and R. Thus, our initial assumption that different values influence different areas of socioemotional wealth behavior was supported. Our third study investigates the connection of individual values, socioemotional wealth as an aggregated construct, and firm performance. Based on upper echelon theory, we suggested, that SEW mediates the effect between values and firm-level performance. Results of our sample support this notion, showing that performance is indeed influenced by individual values. While person-focused values have a positive direct impact on performance, social-focused values influence performance not directly, but mediated by socioemotional wealth in a positive way. The last study investigates how the family and their values, influence their non-family employees. While research has shown that the workforce of family firms tends to be more motivated when it comes to innovative ideas than their non-family firm counterparts, why this is the fact has not been investigated. Thus, we qualitatively investigated why non-family employees tend to be intrapreneurially active in family firms, and which role the family plays within this context. Results show that the influence of the family, their values, and care strengthens identification with the workforce, leading to a sense of belonging, intrinsically motivating them to contribute to innovative activities. First and foremost, this research highlights the importance of individual actors, their values, and their influence on the behavior, decisions, and performance of a firm. It adds to the research stream, investigating the heterogeneity and ambivalent behavior of family firms, by adding a value perspective. It generates new insights about socioemotional wealth, its origin, and its influence on firm-level variables. IV Values are internalized at an early age, however, influence our behavior consciously and unconsciously for the rest of our lives. Being aware of this fact, knowing which value hierarchy is inherent in oneself and how they impact behavior can thus help to understand and change decision-making, goal setting, and in general the direction of a firm. This work sheds light on details of the underlying mechanisms, identifying values of owner-managers and investigating their influence on behavior and performance as well as non-family employees while revealing the necessity to further deepen our knowledge about values, not only within the family business research domain, but business research in general.

\(\bf Purpose:\) The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is disrupting urology health-care worldwide. Reduced emergency room visits resulting in adverse outcomes have most recently been reported in pediatrics and cardiology. We aimed to compare patients with emergency room visits for pyelonephritis in 2019 (pre-COVID-19 era) and within the first wave of pandemic in 2020 (COVID-19 era) with regard to the number of visits and severe adverse disease outcomes. \(\bf Methods:\) We performed a retrospective multicentre study comparing characteristics and outcomes of patients with pyelonephritis, excluding patients with hydronephrosis due to stone disease, in 10 urology departments in Germany during a 1-month time frame in March and April in each 2019 and 2020. \(\bf Results:\) The number of emergency room visits for pyelonephritis in the COVID-19 era was lower (44 patients, 37.0%) than in the pre-COVID-19 era (76 patients, 63.0%), reduction rate: 42.1% (\(\it p\) = 0.003). Severe adverse disease outcome was more frequent in the COVID-19 era (9/44 patients, 20.5%) than in the pre-COVID-19 era (5/76 patients, 6.6%, \(\it p\) = 0.046). In detail, 7 versus 3 patients needed monitoring (15.9 vs. 3.9%), 2 versus no patients needed intensive-care treatment (4.5 vs. 0%), 2 versus no patients needed drain placement (4.5 vs. 0%), 2 versus no patients had a nephrectomy (4.5 vs. 0%), and 2 versus 1 patient died (4.5 vs. 1.3%). \(\bf Conclusion:\) This report of collateral damage during CO­VID-19 showed that emergency room visits were decreased, and severe adverse disease outcomes were increased for patients with pyelonephritis in the COVID-19 era. Health authorities should set up information campaign programs actively encouraging patients to utilize emergency room services in case of severe symptoms specifically during the actual second wave of pandemic.