University of Houston

About: University of Houston is a education organization based out in Houston, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 23074 authors who have published 53903 publications receiving 1641968 citations.

Genomic analyses identify distinct patterns of selection in domesticated pigs and Tibetan wild boars

Abstract: We report the sequencing at 131× coverage, de novo assembly and analyses of the genome of a female Tibetan wild boar. We also resequenced the whole genomes of 30 Tibetan wild boars from six major distributed locations and 18 geographically related pigs in China. We characterized genetic diversity, population structure and patterns of evolution. We searched for genomic regions under selection, which includes genes that are involved in hypoxia, olfaction, energy metabolism and drug response. Comparing the genome of Tibetan wild boar with those of neighboring Chinese domestic pigs further showed the impact of thousands of years of artificial selection and different signatures of selection in wild boar and domestic pig. We also report genetic adaptations in Tibetan wild boar that are associated with high altitudes and characterize the genetic basis of increased salivation in domestic pig.

Combining second-order Jahn-Teller distorted cations to create highly efficient SHG materials: synthesis, characterization, and NLO properties of BaTeM2O9 (M = Mo6+ or W6+).

Abstract: Two new oxides, BaTeMo2O9 and BaTeW2O9, have been synthesized, by standard solid-state techniques, that have strong SHG intensities of approximately 600 x SiO2, on the order of LiNbO3. Both materials contain cations susceptible to second-order Jahn-Teller (SOJT) distortions, resulting in asymmetric coordination environments. The SOJT distortion polarizes the M6+-O and Te4+-O bonds. Equally importantly, these polarizations constructively add, resulting in the large SHG responses. Powder SHG measurements on BaTeM2O9 (M = Mo6+ or W6+) indicated that both materials are phase-matchable and have a deffexp of 28 and 22 pm/V, respectively. Using bond hyperpolarizability values (beta's) of 130 x 10-40 and 305 x 10-40 m4/V for Te4+-O and Mo6+-O respectively, we calculate a deffcalc of 20pm/V for BaTeMo2O9. In addition, through the powder SHG measurements, we are able to give a more reasonable value for beta(W6+-O), 230 x 10-40 m4/V. This value is consistent with the smaller polarizability and magnitude of the intra-octahedral distortion of W6+ compared with Mo6+.