The use of Mass Customization in the sport shoe market : a comparison between Nike and Adidas

In recent days the individualization of lifestyle has led to an increasing demand for products that can satisfy the individual needs of customers. While mass production often can not deal with this new forms of demand, recent research has highlighted the capability of mass customization to deal with this problem. The production of individualized goods on a mass production scale has already spread across many markets. Especially the clothes and shoe market has implemented the concept of mass customization. This leads to the question how companies set up this new form of production. Hence the aim of this thesis is to analyze how Nike and Adidas implement mass customization. Therefore the modular systems NIKEiD and adidasmi will be analyzed extensively. After that the advantages and disadvantages for both companies and customers will be examined

Cytoprotective function of sAPPa in human keratinocytes

AKT; Amyloid precursor protein; Apoptosis; Cell adhesion; Cytoprotection; Staurosporine; UV-B sAPPa, the soluble form of the b-amyloid precursor protein, has been shown to act as a potent epidermal growth factor by stimulating keratinocyte proliferation and migration. In this report we provide evidence for a cytoprotective role of sAPPa. As a model we used HaCaT cells and normal human keratinocytes (NHK) cultured in the absence of fetal calf serum and bovine pituitary extract. Under these conditions keratinocytes began to undergo apoptosis at increasing rates after 96 h of culture. Surprisingly, keratinocytes were protected from apoptosis by the addition of 50 nM recombinant sAPPa. Subsequent experiments were performed to elucidate the regulatory basis of the cytoprotective role of sAPPa. We found that recombinant sAPPa facilitated the substrate adhesion of keratinocytes in the first 30 minutes after seeding. The basis for this adhesion-promoting function was shown by the ability of recombinant sAPPa to continuously coat the culture dish thereby promoting the ability to bind keratinocytes. A second mechanism explaining the cytoprotective role was found in the significant inhibition of apoptosis by recombinant sAPPa. In HaCaT cells moderate UV-B irradiation was sufficient to induce apoptosis. In contrast, induction of apoptosis in NHK required additionally the depletion of endogenous sAPPa suggesting that sAPPa mediates protection against UV-B irradiation. Staurosporine-induced apoptosis rates were significantly reduced by about 59% after addition of recombinant sAPPa. These results show that sAPPa exerts a pronounced cytoprotective effect and that this effect is mediated by facilitated cell adhesion and by the antiapoptotic function of sAPPa. Abbreviations. APP Amyloid precursor protein ± NHK Normal human keratinocytes ± PKC Protein kinase C ± sAPPa Soluble form of AP

Nrf Transcription Factors in Keratinocytes Are Essential for Skin Tumor Prevention but Not for Wound Healing

The Nrf2 transcription factor is a key player in the cellular stress response through its regulation of cytoprotective genes. In this study we determined the role of Nrf2-mediated gene expression in keratinocytes for skin development, wound repair, and skin carcinogenesis. To overcome compensation by the related Nrf1 and Nrf3 proteins, we expressed a dominant-negative Nrf2 mutant (dnNrf2) in the epidermis of transgenic mice. The functionality of the transgene product was verified in vivo using mice doubly transgenic for dnNrf2 and an Nrf2-responsive reporter gene. Surprisingly, no abnormalities of the epidermis were observed in dnNrf2-transgenic mice, and even full-thickness skin wounds healed normally. However, the onset, incidence, and multiplicity of chemically induced skin papillomas were strikingly enhanced, whereas the progression to squamous cell carcinomas was unaltered. We provide evidence that the enhanced tumorigenesis results from reduced basal expression of cytoprotective Nrf target genes, leading to accumulation of oxidative damage and reduced carcinogen detoxification. Our results reveal a crucial role of Nrf-mediated gene expression in keratinocytes in the prevention of skin tumors and suggest that activation of Nrf2 in keratinocytes is a promising strategy to prevent carcinogenesis of this highly exposed organ