No abstract

Asubstantive body of theory and research on the role of culture in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) suggests that cultural differences can create major obstacles to achieving integration benefits. However, the opposite view—that differences in culture between merging firms can be a source of value creation and learning—has also been advanced and empirically supported. In an attempt to reconcile these conflicting perspectives and findings, we present a model that synthesizes our current understanding of the role of culture in M&A, and we develop a set of hypotheses regarding mechanisms through which cultural differences affect M&A performance. The results of a meta-analysis of 46 studies, with a combined sample size of 10,710 M&A, suggest that cultural differences affect sociocultural integration, synergy realization, and shareholder value in different, and sometimes opposing, ways. Moderator analyses reveal that the effects of cultural differences vary depending on the degree of relatedness and the dimensions of cultural differences separating the merging firms, as well as on research design and sample characteristics. The implications for M&A research and practice are discussed.

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) are commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but their fast phagocytosis makes them less than ideal for this application. To circumvent the lymphocyte-macrophage system, we encapsulated SPIONs into red blood cells (RBCs). For loading, the RBC's membrane was opened by swelling under hypoosmotic conditions and subsequently resealed. In this work, we demonstrate that SPIONs can be loaded into RBCs in a concentration sufficient to obtain strong contrast enhancement in MRI.

In the present contribution, results concerning the role of small amounts of water in the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4)-in-cyclohexane ionic liquid (IL) reverse microemulsions are reported. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed that the size of microemulsion droplets decreased remarkably with increasing water content although water is often used as a polar component to swell reverse microemulsions. It was thus deduced that the number of microemulsion droplets was increased which was confirmed by conductivity measurements. The states of dissolved water were investigated by Fourier transform IR (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis showing that water molecules mainly act as bound water. 1H NMR along with two-dimensional rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) experiments (ROESY) further revealed that water molecules were mainly located in the periphery of the polar core of the microemulsion droplets and behave like a chock being inserted in the palisade layer of the droplet. This increased the curvature of the surfactant film at the IL/cyclohexane interface and thus led to the decrease of the microemulsion droplet size. The order of surfactant molecules arranged in the interface film was increased and thus induced a loss of entropy. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) indicated that an enthalpy increase compensates for the loss of entropy during the process of microstructural transition.