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Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Looking for a needle in a haystack : how to search for bottom‐up social innovations that solve complex humanitarian problems(Wiley-Blackwell, 2019-08-28); ; ; The worldwide increase in societal challenges is putting pressure on humanitarian organizations to develop sophisticated approaches to leverage social innovations in the humanitarian sector. Since humanitarian problems are complex problems, with the relevant knowledge being hidden, organizational search theory advocates the application of bottom‐up and theory‐guided search processes to identify the social innovations that solve these. Unfortunately, there has been no theoretical attention to understanding which approaches apply in this context. Further, established theory‐guided bottom‐up search processes, such as the lead user method, are unsuitable to the humanitarian sector, and we lack practice examples of adequate search processes. To start addressing this gap in theory and practice, procedural action research was done with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to develop a theory‐guided bottom‐up innovation search process for the real‐life humanitarian problem of recurring floods in Indonesia. It revealed that an innovation search process for this context must differ significantly concerning its objectives and the steps to be taken from the lead user method, which was used as a starting point. Further, a comparison of the technical quality and the social impacts of the identified social innovations with social innovations identified through a non‐theory‐guided bottom‐up search process (i.e., an innovation contest) suggests the superiority of this theory‐guided search process. With this conclusion and the insights derived throughout the development of the search process, this study makes important contributions to theory development in the social and open innovation literatures and delivers important recommendations for social innovation practice in the humanitarian sector.Publicationtype: Journal ArticleScopus© Citations 14 349 468 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: with files , Biodegradable poly (lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) scaffolds as carriers for geneticallymodified fibroblasts(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2017-04-05); ; ; ; Recent advances in gene delivery into cells allow improved therapeutic effects in gene therapy trials. To increase the bioavailability of applied cells, it is of great interest that transfected cells remain at the application site and systemic spread is minimized. In this study, we tested clinically used biodegradable poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds (Vicryl & Ethisorb) as transient carriers for genetically modified cells. To this aim, we used human fibroblasts and examined attachment and proliferation of untransfected cells on the scaffolds in vitro, as well as the mechanical properties of the scaffolds at four time points (1, 3, 6 and 9 days) of cultivation. Furthermore, the adherence of cells transfected with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF165) and also VEGF165 protein secretion were investigated. Our results show that human fibroblasts adhere on both types of PLGA scaffolds. However, proliferation and transgene expression capacity were higher on Ethisorb scaffolds most probably due to a different architecture of the scaffold. Additionally, cultivation of the cells on the scaffolds did not alter their biomechanical properties. The results of this investigation could be potentially exploited in therapeutic regiments with areal delivery of transiently transfected cells and may open the way for a variety of applications of cell-based gene therapy, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.Publicationtype: Journal ArticleScopus© Citations 8 358 308 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Access status: without files , The emergence of care robotics - A patent and publication analysis(2015-03-01); ; Care robots are a means to support elderly people affected by physical or mental handicaps to remain as autonomous as possible or regain already lost autonomy (e.g. running stairs). They also support care-takers when working with handicapped. We review the emergence of care robotics technology and particularly offer answers to two research questions: Which organizations and individuals in which countries have been and are active in research and development? How has research and development emerged with regard to activity focus, intensity levels and cooperation?The analysis rests on the PATSTAT patent and ISI Web of Science publication data. Bibliographic and network analyses are conducted on country, organization (i.e. universities and firms) and individual levels. We find that care robotics research and development activities constantly increased since the late 1970s. Today Japanese universities and firms are the most active players, while in early stages US and European organizations pioneered care robotics research. Starting from six disjunctive small networks, several highly interconnected care robotics research networks evolved. However, most cooperation clusters are still found within the same country. Only few international hubs emerged. Among them two arose around Japanese organizations (ATR, AIST) and Carnegie Mellon University, US.Publicationtype: Journal Article129