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The volumes of global footwear production and consumption have been steadily increasing. In particular, the income increases of China and Southeast Asian countries have led to the rapid growth of footwear production and consumption in Asia. However, while advanced countries still include footwear business as one of their growth engines, Korea regard it as stagnant or diminishing. However, beyond the category of simple manufacturing, footwear industry involves the integration of highly functional products, parts manufacturing, and marketing business, and includes expertise in the fields of design, materials, and epidemiology. The strengthening of the shoe industry is an important potential driver of the overall economy. The strengthened competiveness of the footwear industry will play an important role in the overall economic growth. Crowdsourcing is an approach that encourages the participation of specific communities or unspecified masses in a company’s production, service, or problem-solving processes to increase efficiency. To this end, this paper suggests the crowdsourcing platform model built through the integration of footwear design and IT for the ultimate enhancement of the competitiveness of the Korean footwear industry. Following this paper, a study about the practical development, application, and active use of such platform needs to be conducted. One limitation of this study is that the platform is yet to be developed or applied. Future research should focus on developing an actual platform and further studies in its application and vitalization.

The volumes of global footwear production and consumption have been steadily increasing. In particular, the income increases of China and Southeast Asian countries have led to the rapid growth of footwear production and consumption in Asia. However, while advanced countries still include footwear business as one of their growth engines, Korea regard it as stagnant or diminishing. However, beyond the category of simple manufacturing, footwear industry involves the integration of highly functional products, parts manufacturing, and marketing business, and includes expertise in the fields of design, materials, and epidemiology. The strengthening of the shoe industry is an important potential driver of the overall economy. The strengthened competiveness of the footwear industry will play an important role in the overall economic growth. Crowdsourcing is an approach that encourages the participation of specific communities or unspecified masses in a company’s production, service, or problem-solving processes to increase efficiency. To this end, this paper suggests the crowdsourcing platform model built through the integration of footwear design and IT for the ultimate enhancement of the competitiveness of the Korean footwear industry. Following this paper, a study about the practical development, application, and active use of such platform needs to be conducted. One limitation of this study is that the platform is yet to be developed or applied. Future research should focus on developing an actual platform and further studies in its application and vitalization.

The precursors for the formation of thermoelectric skutterudite CoSb3 nanoparticles are predicted by thermodynamic modeling of the complex chemical species. Based on the results, equimolar mixture of CoC2O4 center dot 2H(2)O and Sb(C2O4) OH are successively co-precipitated under controlled conditions of pH = 2.7 and concentration of reactants. The as synthesized powder was decomposed at 350 degrees C to remove the organic molecules and further reduced to CoSb3 phase by heating at 530 degrees C under hydrogen flow. The obtained powder was consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS). CoSb3 prepared by controlled chemical co-precipitation has p-type behavior with a positive sign of the Seebeck coefficient. TE transport properties were measured, which revealed that the Seebeck coefficient increased 2.5 times with increasing the temperature and it is lower than the ball milled CoSb3. Thermal conductivity of sintered CoSb3 at 773 K starts from 0.06 W/cm K at room temperature and decreases to 0.04 W/cm K at 700 K, which is lower than the bulk counterpart. The ZT of coprecipitated CoSb3 and SPS consolidated at 773 K shows 2 times higher than the ball milled one. (C) 2016 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved., QC 20160509

Introduction Sjögren's syndrome (SS) involves a chronic, progressive inflammation primarily of the salivary and lacrimal glands leading to decreased levels of saliva and tears resulting in dry mouth and dry eye diseases. Seminal findings regarding TH17 cell populations that secrete predominantly interleukin (IL)-17A have been shown to play an important role in an increasing number of autoimmune diseases, including SS. In the present study, we investigated the function of IL-17A on the development and onset of SS. Methods Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vectors expressing either IL-17A or LacZ were infused via retrograde cannulation into the salivary glands of C57BL/6J mice between 6 and 8 weeks of age or between 15 and 17 weeks of age. The mice were characterized for SS phenotypes. Results Disease profiling indicated that SS-non-susceptible C57BL/6J mice whose salivary glands received the Ad5-IL17A vector developed a SS-like disease profile, including the appearance of lymphocytic foci, increased cytokine levels, changes in antinuclear antibody profiles, and temporal loss of saliva flow. Conclusions Induction of SS pathology by IL-17A in SS-non-susceptible mice strongly suggests that IL-17A is an important inflammatory cytokine in salivary gland dysfunction. Thus, localized anti-IL17 therapy may be effective in preventing glandular dysfunction., National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (U.S.) (PHS Grants K99DE018958), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (R21AI081952), Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation, University of Florida. Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (U.S.) (Intramural research grant), National Institutes of Health (U.S.)

Introduction Sjögren's syndrome (SS) involves a chronic, progressive inflammation primarily of the salivary and lacrimal glands leading to decreased levels of saliva and tears resulting in dry mouth and dry eye diseases. Seminal findings regarding TH17 cell populations that secrete predominantly interleukin (IL)-17A have been shown to play an important role in an increasing number of autoimmune diseases, including SS. In the present study, we investigated the function of IL-17A on the development and onset of SS. Methods Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) vectors expressing either IL-17A or LacZ were infused via retrograde cannulation into the salivary glands of C57BL/6J mice between 6 and 8 weeks of age or between 15 and 17 weeks of age. The mice were characterized for SS phenotypes. Results Disease profiling indicated that SS-non-susceptible C57BL/6J mice whose salivary glands received the Ad5-IL17A vector developed a SS-like disease profile, including the appearance of lymphocytic foci, increased cytokine levels, changes in antinuclear antibody profiles, and temporal loss of saliva flow. Conclusions Induction of SS pathology by IL-17A in SS-non-susceptible mice strongly suggests that IL-17A is an important inflammatory cytokine in salivary gland dysfunction. Thus, localized anti-IL17 therapy may be effective in preventing glandular dysfunction., National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (U.S.) (PHS Grants K99DE018958), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U.S.) (R21AI081952), Sjogren's Syndrome Foundation, University of Florida. Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (U.S.) (Intramural research grant), National Institutes of Health (U.S.)

Sjögren's syndrome (SjS) is a complex chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology which primarily targets the exocrine glands, resulting in eventual loss of secretory function. The disease can present as either primary SjS or secondary SjS, the latter of which occurs concomitantly with another autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, or primary biliary cirrhosis. Current advancements in therapeutic prevention and treatment for SjS are impeded by lack of understanding in the pathophysiological and clinical progression of the disease. Development of appropriate mouse models for both primary and secondary SjS is needed in order to advance knowledge of this disease. This paper details important features, advantages, and pitfalls of current animal models of SjS, including spontaneous, transgenic, knockout, immunization, and transplantation chimera mouse models, and emphasizes the need for a better model in representing the human SjS phenotype., National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (PHS Grant K99DE018958), National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (PHS Grant R21AI081952), University of Florida. Center for Orphaned Autoimmune Disorders, Sjögren’s Syndrome Foundation