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Rodent coat color genes have been studied as a bioresource to understand developmental and cellular processes. The Downunder rat is a fancy variety with a marking on its belly that runs from the neck to the breech and appears to mirror the dorsal hooded marking. Here, we established a congenic strain carrying the Downunder (Du) gene in an F344 genetic background. In addition to the ventral marking, Du/+ rats exhibit anophthalmia or microphthalmia with incomplete penetrance. Du/Du embryos die in the early stages of organogenesis. Genetic linkage analysis mapped the Du gene to rat chromosome 3 and haplotype mapping with congenic rats localized the Du locus to a 3.9-Mb region. The Du locus includes two functional genes, glycosyltransferase-like domain-containing 1 (Gtdc1) and zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 2 (Zeb2). Although we found no functional variation within any of Zeb2's exons or intron-exon boundaries, Zeb2 mRNA levels were significantly lower in Du/+ rats compared with wild-type rats. It is known that melanocyte-specific Zeb2 deletion results in the congenital loss of hair pigmentation in mice. Taken together, our results indicate that the Du mutation exerts pleiotropic effects on hair pigmentation, eye morphology, and development. Moreover, the Zeb2 gene is a strong candidate for the Du mutation.

While feathers are still commonly regarded in many places as waste, in many developed countries it has been considered a valuable by-product of the poultry industry. The poultry industry of Vietnam has achieved encouraging achievements in the past 10 years. The total flock of poultry from 100 million to now has reached nearly 467 million. Though light as a feather, with the vast quantities of chickens produced annually, the number of feathers produced is considerable. Research has shown that the feathers have hydrophobic properties and can therefore be used to make products that absorb oil. However, the use of large amounts of toxic detergents to clean chicken feathers in reported studies has reduced the environmental significance of agricultural waste reuse. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of replacing toxic cleaning agents with eco-friendly natural cleaners in the handling of chicken feathers. Water-based extracts of soapnuts and bo-ket fruits have been selected for our study due to their high saponin content - an effective cleaning agent, and have been used as a dishwashing liquid or shampoo for a long-time by local housewives. Our study showed that natural detergents derived from soapnuts have been shown the ability to remove lards on the plastic surface, and to clean chicken feathers, thereby increasing their capacity to absorb various oils including cooking oil, used cooking oil, and lubricant oil. We have also created an oil-absorbing pillow containing soapnut extract-treated chicken feathers with a maximum efficiency of 16.8 g/g in absorbing lubricant oil. Our research opens new avenues for the use and treatment of poultry feathers, contributing to the reduction of solid waste from the poultry industry by methods which is friendlier to the environment. The greenness of the created absorber is guaranteed.

Sir, Porokeratosis is a group of cutaneous diseases presented by epidermal keratinization [1]. Herein, we report the case of a patient with porokeratosis who responded well to carbon dioxide (CO2) laser therapy. A 22-year-old Vietnamese male visited our department with an asymptomatic plaque on the penis present for three months. He denied a family history of similar lesions. A cutaneous examination of the penis revealed an annular, well-circumscribed plaque with slightly raised borders with scales (Fig. 1a). Other mucocutaneous lesions were absent. Fungal microscopy, a rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test, and a Treponema pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) test were negative. Histological findings revealed a hyperkeratotic lesion with a discrete parakeratotic column. There was the presence of a cornoid lamella, which was a parakeratotic column overlying a small vertical zone of dyskeratotic and vacuolated cells within the epidermis (Fig. 2a). There was also a focal loss of the granular layer. A mild lymphocytic infiltrate could be seen around an increased number of capillaries in the underlying dermis (Fig. 2b). CO2 laser removal was performed. There was no recurrence after a twelve-month follow-up (Fig. 1b). However, a hypopigmented scar was seen. Porokeratosis is an uncommon disorder of keratinization with clinical variants, such as classical porokeratosis of Mibelli, disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis, linear porokeratosis, and porokeratosis palmaris et plantaris disseminata [2]. Porokeratosis involving the genital areas and other adjacent sites is rare [2]. Genital porokeratosis was first described by Helfman in 1985 [3]. More than 69 cases have been reported in the literature [1]. The pathophysiology of genital porokeratosis remains unknown. It has been supposed that porokeratosis is linked to repeated minor frictional trauma. A benign lesion may transform into squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma [4]. However, no malignant transformation of genital porokeratosis has been noted in the literature. Genital porokeratosis manifests itself clinically as classic or plaque-type porokeratosis of Mibelli [2]. Histological findings revealed a cornoid lamella with the absence of a granular layer and dyskeratotic cells in the upper spinous zone [2]. Our case may mimic some annular lesions, such as secondary syphilis, fungal infection, and annular lichen planus. Because a fungal examination and syphilis serology were negative, we could exclude fungal infection and annular secondary syphilis. The distinctive histology of porokeratosis such as a cornoid lamella with a decreased granular layer may help to differentiate between porokeratosis and annular lichen planus [4]. Numerous therapeutic methods of treatment exist, including surgical excision, CO2 laser, cryotherapy, topical retinoids, 5% 5-fluorouracil, vitamin D3 analogs, imiquimod cream, and 3% diclofenac gel [2,5].

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In this work, computational homogenization methods for nonlinear materials with elasto-plastic and elasto-visco-plastic phases are developed, with application to the computation of heterogeneous structures made of these nonlinear materials under cyclic loading. The proposed techniques are based on incremental approaches. In a first part, we develop a methodology to determine the size of an RVE in the nonlinear case for the types of nonlinear behavior mentioned above. For this purpose, a convergence study of the parameters of a semi-analytical incremental constitutive law is carried out. This method allows reducing computational times related to the identification of these parameters and provides a better approximation of the effective constitutive relationship, which can then be used in a structure calculation once identified. In a second part, we propose an incremental computatioal homogenization method in which the originality is to compute directly the effective tangent tensor by superposition of numerical solutions computed by finite elements on an RVE, by taking advantage of the linearization of the problem at each increment. An alternative scheme to classical multilevel finite element techniques (FE2) is then developed, with the advantage of a reduced number of computations to perform on the RVE. The technique is applied to the computation of heterogeneous, nonlinear structures, for anisotropic microstructures or with complex morphologies and for phase with elastoplastic behavior with isotropic and kinematic hardening; Ce travail porte sur le développement de méthodes d'homogénéisation numériques pour les matériaux non linéaires élastoplastiques et élasto-visco plastiques avec pour finalité le calcul de structures hétérogènes faite de ces matériaux sous chargements cycliques. Les techniques proposées se basent sur des approches incrémentales. Dans une première partie, nous développons une méthodologie pour déterminer la taille du VER dans le cas non linéaire pour les types de comportements cités précédemment. Pour cela, une étude de la convergence statistique de paramètres d'une loi semi-analytique incrémentale est menée. Cette méthode permet de diminuer les temps de calcul pour l'identification des paramètres et ainsi qu'une meilleure approximation de la loi de comportement effective, qui peut ensuite être utilisée dans un calcul de structure. Dans une deuxième partie, nous proposons une méthode d'homogénéisation numérique incrémentale dans laquelle l'originalité est de calculer le module tangent effectif par superposition de solutions numériques calculées par éléments finis sur le VER, en exploitant la linéarisation du problème à caque incrément. Un schéma alternatif aux techniques telles que la méthode Eléments finis multi niveaux (FE2) est ainsi développé, avec pour avantage un nombre réduit de calculs éléments finis à effectuer sur le VER. La technique est appliquée au calcul de structures hétérogènes non linéaires élastoplastiques, pour des microstructures anisotropes ou de morphologies complexes, et pour des lois de comportement locales élastoplastiques avec écrouissage isotrope et cinématique

ICT is currently responsible for 4% of the EU's carbon emission. In this industry, data centers are growing quickly to supply the escalating services and application demands. The design of high performance and energy-efficient data center networks is an important issue while still being confronted with many challenges such as scalability, reliability, etc. On the other hand, the network devices' difference in power consumption as well as property make the researching process more difficult to construct a routing algorithm that effectively works with various devices. This paper presents a novel energy-saving scheme that can flexibly control and route traffic relying on the difference of network devices' energy-profile. By using Open Flow mechanism and Net-FPGA cards based on Software Defined Networks, we successfully deploy energy-aware data center network, and its experimental results show that the novel scheme improves the power saving level and energy-efficiently works based on the switches' energy-profile.