Footwear Design Crowdsourcing Platform Model For Strengthening Of the Competitiveness Of The Footwear Industry

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

Multidisciplinary approach for hepatocellular carcinoma arising from cirrhotic liver with Budd-Chiari syndrome: a case report

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is defined by the obstruction of the hepatic venous outflow between the small hepatic veins and the junction of the inferior vena cava (IVC) with the right atrium. BCS with IVC obstruction occasionally progresses to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we report the case of a patient with HCC arising from a cirrhotic liver with BCS, in whom the hepatic portion of the IVC was obstructed, and who had a favorable outcome with a multidisciplinary approach and IVC balloon angioplasty

Annular Leukocytoclastic Vasculitis in a Patient with Ulcerative Colitis

Leukocytoclastic vasculitis (LV) is characterized by neutrophilic invasion and fibrinoid necrosis along with endothelial enlargement in postcapillary venules. Annular appearance of LV (ALV) is rare, but it can be accompanied by several systemic diseases. One of these systemic diseases is ulcerative colitis (UC), a subgroup of inflammatory bowel disease. Only one case was previously reported in which ALV was associated with UC, and herein we present one more case. A 66-year-old woman presented with painful polycyclic erythema on both palms, which had been present for 4 days. She had suffered from UC for 5 years. The patient had no fever or other systemic symptoms, and histological examination demonstrated typical LV. 200 mg of oral dapsone was taken daily to rapidly reduce her symptoms and signs, and after 1 week all lesions resolved completely without any adverse events. ALV is not a distinct condition and it can appear in a broad range of small vessel vasculitides. Although ALV in patients with UC is a very rare combination, clinicians need to be aware of this possible association

Successful Treatment of a Ruptured Aortic Arch Aneurysm Using a Hybrid Procedure

Aortic rupture has a high mortality rate and can be considered a medical emergency. The standard treatment for aortic rupture is surgical repair. An aortic stent graft for a ruptured descending aorta is considered an effective alternative treatment. However, an aortic stent graft is difficult when the aortic aneurysm is in the aortic arch due to supra-aortic vessels. We report on a patient with a ruptured aortic arch aneurysm treated with a hybrid procedure, which involved a carotid to carotid bypass operation and an aortic stent graft. A 71-year-old male patient visited our cardiovascular center suffering from hemoptysis. The chest CT and aortography showed a 9 cm sized aortic arch aneurysm 0.5 cm distal to the left subclavian artery and a hemothorax in the left lung. The patient refused to undergo a full open operation. We performed a carotid to carotid bypass in advance, and two pieces of aortic stent grafts were placed across the left carotid artery and left subclavian artery. The follow up CT showed the aortic stent grafts, no endoleaks and no thrombus in the aortic arch aneurysm. The patient was discharged from the hospital without complication

Characteristics of Patients Who Visit the Emergency Department with Self-Inflicted Injury

During visits to emergency medical facilities, the primary care of and risk identification for individuals who have attempted suicide is considered an important element in suicide prevention. With the ultimate goal of helping to prevent suicide, the aim of the present study was to determine the characteristics of patients with self-inflicted injuries who presented in the emergency department. Patients with self-inflicted injuries who visited 1 of 3 sentinel emergency medical centers from 2007 through 2009 were included in the study. The characteristics, methods, and reasons for suicide attempts were evaluated. Moreover, predictors of severe outcomes were evaluated. A total of 2,996 patients with self-inflicted injuries visited the three centers during a period of 3 yr. The male-to-female suicide ratio was 1:1.38 (P < 0.001). The mean age was 41 yr. Poisoning was the most common method of self-inflicted injury (68.7%) among all age groups. Medication was the primary means of injury in the < 50 age group, and the use of agricultural chemicals was the primary means in the ≥ 50 age group. The reasons for attempting suicide varied among the age groups. The predictors of severe outcome are male gender, older age, and not having consumed alcohol

Functional role of aspartic proteinase cathepsin D in insect metamorphosis

BACKGROUND: Metamorphosis is a complex, highly conserved and strictly regulated development process that involves the programmed cell death of obsolete larval organs. Here we show a novel functional role for the aspartic proteinase cathepsin D during insect metamorphosis. RESULTS: Cathepsin D of the silkworm Bombyx mori (BmCatD) was ecdysone-induced, differentially and spatially expressed in the larval fat body of the final instar and in the larval gut of pupal stage, and its expression led to programmed cell death. Furthermore, BmCatD was highly induced in the fat body of baculovirus-infected B. mori larvae, suggesting that this gene is involved in the induction of metamorphosis of host insects infected with baculovirus. RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated BmCatD knock-down inhibited programmed cell death of the larval fat body, resulting in the arrest of larval-pupal transformation. BmCatD RNAi also inhibited the programmed cell death of larval gut during pupal stage. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, we concluded that BmCatD is critically involved in the programmed cell death of the larval fat body and larval gut in silkworm metamorphosis

Round-robin test on thermal conductivity measurement of ZnO nanofluids and comparison of experimental results with theoretical bounds

Ethylene glycol (EG)-based zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofluids containing no surfactant have been manufactured by one-step pulsed wire evaporation (PWE) method. Round-robin tests on thermal conductivity measurements of three samples of EG-based ZnO nanofluids have been conducted by five participating labs, four using accurate measurement apparatuses developed in house and one using a commercial device. The results have been compared with several theoretical bounds on the effective thermal conductivity of heterogeneous systems. This study convincingly demonstrates that the large enhancements in the thermal conductivities of EG-based ZnO nanofluids tested are beyond the lower and upper bounds calculated using the models of the Maxwell and Nan et al. with and without the interfacial thermal resistance