The influence of superstitions and emotions on villagers' attitudes towards striped hyena in southwestern Iran.

The intensity of human-carnivore conflict in socio-ecological systems may primarily be determined by people's attitudes and perceptions of carnivore-related threats. Direct or indirect threats posed by large carnivores to human interests may eventually lead to negative attitudes that can trigger retaliatory bahaviour against them. We studied local people's attitudes towards striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), the nature and extent of the human-hyena conflict, and the socio-cultural drivers of the conflicts in 19 rural communities in southwestern Iran. We employed structural equation modelling to assess socio-cultural factors affecting attitudes towards striped hyenas. The findings of 300 interviews showed significant differences in local people's superstitious attitudes regarding gender, age, and education. More than 40% of the participants had encountered hyenas, and on average, each respondent lost 0.44 livestock in the past five years due to hyena attacks. However, livestock depredation by the hyena was low (13.3%) compared to the damage inflicted by all carnivores (73%). While the respondents indicated some degrees of fear, hatred to hyena was relatively low and they generally showed positive attitudes towards the species. Women and older people expressed the highest and respondents with higher education the least superstitious beliefs. Attitude score of respondents toward hyenas was correlated negatively with hatred for hyenas and positively with knowledge about them, but socio-demographics effects on attitudes towards hyenas were not statistically significant. Self-reported livestock loss was a relatively good predictor of hatred and fear. Herders who had not protected their livestock reported carnivore attacks at least once. We conclude that superstitions can potentially negatively affect hyena persistence, but can be reduced by improving the educational level of local people.

Ecological niche models reveal divergent habitat use of Pallas's cat in the Eurasian cold steppes.

Identifying the association between the patterns of niche occupation and phylogenetic relationships among sister clades and assisting conservation planning implications are of the most important applications of species distribution models (SDMs). However, most studies have been carried out regardless of within taxon genetic differentiation and the potential of local adaptation occurring within the species level. The Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul) is a less-studied species with unknown biogeography and phylogenetic structure across a widespread yet isolated range from the Caucasus to eastern China. In the current study, by considering a previously proposed genetic structure and based on a cluster analysis on climatic variables, we supposed three clades for this species, including O. m. manul, O. m. ferrugineus, and O. m. nigripectus. We developed SDM for each clade separately and compared it with a general distribution model of the species to determine whether the hypothesized taxonomic resolution affects the predicted ecological niche of the within-species structures. We assessed the effect of climate change on the future distribution of the species to detect the most sensitive clades to global warming scenarios. Our results showed that for all clades' models, the AUC and TSS were greater than the general model. Access to the preferred prey of the Pallas's cat, that is, pika, had a significant effect on the distribution of O. m. manul and O. m. ferrugineus, whereas the most influential variable affecting O. m. nigripectus habitat suitability was terrain slope. Based on our future projections, we found that future climate change likely threatens the clades O. m. ferrugineus and O. m. nigripectus more than O. m. manul, findings that were hidden in the general model. Our results highlight the proficiency of SDMs in recognizing within-taxon habitat use of widespread species and the necessity of this procedure for implementing effective conservation planning of these species.

Negative Charging of Au Nanoparticles during Methanol Synthesis from CO2 /H2 on a Au/ZnO Catalyst: Insights from Operando IR and Near-Ambient-Pressure XPS and XAS Measurements.

The electronic and structural properties of Au/ZnO under industrial and idealized methanol synthesis conditions have been investigated. This was achieved by kinetic measurements in combination with time-resolved operando infrared (DRIFTS) as well as in situ near-ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) and X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) measurements at the O K-edge together with high-resolution electron microscopy. The adsorption of CO during the reaction revealed the presence of negatively charged Au nanoparticles/Au sites during the initial phase of the reaction. Near-ambient-pressure XPS and XANES demonstrate the build-up of O vacancies during the reaction, which goes along with a substantial increase in the rate of methanol formation. The results are discussed in comparison with previous findings for Cu/ZnO and Au/ZnO catalysts.

Characterization and evaluation of the novel agarose-nickel composite matrix for possible use in expanded bed adsorption of bio-products.

Agarose-nickel (Ag-Ni) composite matrix was evaluated for its use in expanded bed adsorption (EBA). Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and lysozyme were used as model proteins in batch and column adsorption studies. Accordingly, Reactive Green 19 (RG19) dye-ligand was covalently immobilized onto the support matrix to prepare affinity adsorbent for protein adsorption. Results were then compared with data obtained from Streamline commercial matrix. In batch experiments RG19 derivatives of Ag-Ni (RG19-Ag-Ni) exhibited high adsorption rate; and also a higher binding capacity of BSA (31.4mg/ml adsorbent) was observed for Ag-Ni compared to the commercial adsorbent. More than 70% of the adsorption capacity was achieved within 30min which is a reasonable contact time for EBA operations. The equilibrium adsorption data well agreed with Langmuir isotherm model. The expanded bed adsorption studies showed a reasonable breakthrough behavior at high flow rates and a higher dynamic binding capacity (DBC) was obtained for novel matrix in compare to streamline at the same fluid velocity. DBC at 10% breakthrough reached 66% of the saturated adsorption capacity at the high flow velocity of 450cm/h which indicates the favorable column efficiency. Additionally, two different Ag-Ni size fractions (75-150 and 150-300µm) were examined to investigate the expanded bed performance dependency on the adsorbent particle size with respect to the hydrodynamic stability and adsorption properties using lysozyme as model protein. Interestingly, the small ones showed less axial dispersion coefficient (<1.0×10(-5)m(2)/s) which resulted in higher bed stability in high fluid viscosities. Overall, the adsorption experiments results demonstrated that small size fraction of Ag-Ni matrices acts more effectively for expanded bed adsorption of bio-molecules.