University of Konstanz

About: University of Konstanz is a education organization based out in Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Membrane. The organization has 12115 authors who have published 27401 publications receiving 951162 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Constance & Universität Konstanz.

A Nation-Wide Laboratory: Examining Trust and Trustworthiness by Integrating Behavioral Experiments into Representative Surveys

Abstract: Die experimentelle Okonomie fuhrt typischerweise Labor-Untersuchungen durch, die mit homogenen und selektiven Versuchspersonen arbeiten. Reprasentative Surveys leiden hingegen unter Mesfehlern und der Frage, ob hypothetisches Verhalten, das erhoben wird, mit tatsachlichem Verhalten korrespondiert. Deswegen prasentieren wir eine Methode, mit der man die Schwachen beider Ansatze uberwindet, indem man Survey-Daten mit Experimenten kombiniert. Die von uns entwickelte Methode hat den Vorzug, dass sie es auf preiswerte Art und Weise erlaubt, Experimente, die die Interaktion zweier Personen erfordern, mit Standard-Surveys zu kombinieren, die auf der Unabhangigkeit der befragten Personen beruhen. Wir illustrieren die Moglichkeiten unserer Methodik mit einer Untersuchung uber Vertrauen und Vertrauenswurdigkeit in Deutschland, bei der eine reprasentative Umfrage mit einem Experiment uber eine Dilemma-Situation verbunden wurde. Unsere Resultate zeigen zum einen, dass nicht alle Survey-Fragen uber Vertrauen mit den Ergebnissen des Experiments korrelieren. Zum zweiten zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass altere Menschen (65 Jahre und alter), Hochqualifizierte und Personen, die in grosseren Haushalten leben, im Experiment unterdurchschnittlich Vertrauen offenbaren. Fur Auslander, Katholiken und die Anhanger der grosen Volksparteien finden wir uberdurchschnittliches Vertrauen. Vertrauenswurdigkeit bzw. Altruismus zeigen im Experiment Altere und Befragte mit gutem Gesundheitszustand. Unterdurchschnittliche Vertrauenswudigkeit bzw. Altruismus zeigen jungere Befragte (bis zu 35 Jahren), arbeitslos Gemeldete und Befragte ohne eine Parteineigung.

Interstitial dendritic cell guidance by haptotactic chemokine gradients.

Abstract: Directional guidance of cells via gradients of chemokines is considered crucial for embryonic development, cancer dissemination, and immune responses. Nevertheless, the concept still lacks direct experimental confirmation in vivo. Here, we identify endogenous gradients of the chemokine CCL21 within mouse skin and show that they guide dendritic cells toward lymphatic vessels. Quantitative imaging reveals depots of CCL21 within lymphatic endothelial cells and steeply decaying gradients within the perilymphatic interstitium. These gradients match the migratory patterns of the dendritic cells, which directionally approach vessels from a distance of up to 90-micrometers. Interstitial CCL21 is immobilized to heparan sulfates, and its experimental delocalization or swamping the endogenous gradients abolishes directed migration. These findings functionally establish the concept of haptotaxis, directed migration along immobilized gradients, in tissues.

Coherent ultrafast charge transfer in an organic photovoltaic blend

Abstract: Combining high-time resolution pump-probe spectroscopy and time-dependent density functional theory calculations, we show that coherent vibronic coupling is of key importance in triggering charge transfer in a technologically relevant organic photovoltaic blend.

Structure-function relationship of cytokine induction by lipoteichoic acid from Staphylococcus aureus.

Abstract: Lipoteichoic acids (LTAs) have been proposed as putative Gram-positive immunostimulatory counterparts to Gram-negative lipopolysaccharides. However, LTA from Staphylococcus aureus, the clinically most frequent Gram-positive pathogen, was inactive after purification. Here, a novel isolation procedure to prepare pure (>99%) biologically active LTA, allowing the first structural analysis by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry, is described. A comparison with LTA purified by standard techniques revealed that alanine substituents are lost during standard purification, resulting in attenuated cytokine induction activity. In line with this finding, hydrolysis of alanine substituents of active LTA decimated cytokine induction. LTA represents a major immunostimulatory component of S. aureus.

What really is alliance management capability and how does it impact alliance outcomes and success

Abstract: Strategy scholars have asserted that a firm's alliance capability provides competitive advantage. As interest in alliance capability has grown, we see two streams of research emerge that address different, but equally important, issues related to this subject: one stream that focuses on how alliance capability develops in firms, and a second stream that investigates what elements specifically constitute a firm's alliance capability. In recent literature, the question of how firms develop alliance capability has received greater attention than the question of what elements actually comprise it; therefore, in this study we address the latter issue in great depth. We do this by building on prior research and on our fieldwork, to conceptualize alliance management capability as a multidimensional construct that comprises three distinct but related aspects or skills to address the following aspects in managing a given individual alliance after it is up and running: coordination, communication, and bonding. We then test our conceptualization in a framework that also links this capability to relevant outcomes at the alliance and firm level. We use survey and secondary data from a large sample of interfirm relationships between software service providers and three major global software vendors. We find general empirical support for our conceptualization of alliance management capability and for its predictive validity in impacting certain alliance outcomes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.