Conflicts between Amur (Siberian) tigers and humans in the Russian Far East

In 1999, the Russian Federation created a Tiger Response Team (TRT) to investigate and intervene in human–tiger conflicts. We examined data collected on human-Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) conflicts from January 2000 through February 2009 to: (1) summarize and characterize human–tiger conflicts in the area, (2) examine causes of human–tiger conflicts, and (3) attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the TRT. The team investigated 202 conflicts. Both attacks on humans and depredations were greatest in winter (X² = 9, df = 3, P = 0.03 and X² = 64, df = 3, P < 0.001, respectively). Tiger depredation on domestic animals was the most common type of conflict reported (57%), followed by tigers near human habitations (22%), miscellaneous conflicts (12%), and attacks on humans (9%). Dogs were killed more commonly than other domestic animals (63% of 254 animals), likely because livestock were well managed. Nineteen attacks on humans were recorded resulting in 11 injuries and 2 deaths. Nearly four tigers per year (n = 32 tigers) died, were killed, or were removed from the wild, and all but 1 of 20 tigers killed or removed from the wild by the TRT were considered unfit to survive in the wild. Attacks on humans (n = 19) were most often (77%) by wounded tigers (80% of injuries were human-caused) and commonly provoked (47% of attacks). The effectiveness of interventions focused on reducing depredation on domestic animals was unclear, but data suggested that removal of injured and other unhealthy tigers from the wild by the Tiger Response Team resulted in fewer human deaths. Our recommendations include that the TRT continues to work to reduce conflict by rapidly removing debilitated tigers from the wild, explores different methods and technologies for reducing depredation on domestic animals, and increases their efforts to maintain tigers in the wild through telemetry monitoring, translocation, and rehabilitation of orphaned cubs. Further, standardized data should be collected to evaluate all interventions, with information from evaluation guiding an adaptive management component of their human–tiger conflict mitigation activities. This process should occur across tiger landscapes in Asia to allow rapid assessment of interventions.     

A possible relativistic jetted outburst from a massive black hole fed by a tidally disrupted star

Gas accretion onto some massive black holes (MBHs) at the centers of galaxies actively powers luminous emission, but most MBHs are considered dormant. Occasionally, a star passing too near an MBH is torn apart by gravitational forces, leading to a bright tidal disruption flare (TDF). Although the high-energy transient Sw 1644+57 initially displayed none of the theoretically anticipated (nor previously observed) TDF characteristics, we show that observations suggest a sudden accretion event onto a central MBH of mass about 10(6) to 10(7) solar masses. There is evidence for a mildly relativistic outflow, jet collimation, and a spectrum characterized by synchrotron and inverse Compton processes; this leads to a natural analogy of Sw 1644+57 to a temporary smaller-scale blazar.     

Growth and reproduction in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus sibirica</Emphasis> ecotypes from Western Siberia in a common garden experiment

Experimental studies of forest trees’ intraspecies variations in reproduction and reproductive allocation are scarce. Such studies are relevant for the Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) because of the high value of its seeds and wood. To reveal growth and reproductive variations among Siberian stone pine ecotypes in relation to the climate of the provenances, we examined their growth height, crown diameter, stem volume, number of female cones, and male shoots, at different ages, in the clonal common garden experiment established in 1996 in Russia. Scions were obtained from 11 to 19 randomly selected 100–170-year old trees in each of four natural stands located on the latitudinal transect on the West Siberian plain. They were grafted onto local 4 year old Siberian stone pine seedlings and grown in a common garden experiment comprising nine plots near the southern margin of the species’ natural range. Growth traits were affected by climatic conditions in the provenances: generally, a warmer climate was associated with more rapid growth. Variation among the ecotypes at the graft age of 12 years was not large; however, it significantly increased by the age of 19. The relationship was ambiguous between reproductive traits and the climate of the provenances. The proportion of female, male and bisexual clones varied among years in all ecotypes. Most of the clones had only female cones; male clones were less common. The southern ecotype showed rapid growth and formed the lowest number of male shoots and female cones. The northern ecotype showed the weakest growth and moderate cone bearing, along with abundant male flowering. The intermediate ecotypes had a moderate growth and the highest numbers of cones, along with moderate numbers of male shoots. These results demonstrate the fundamental differences in the patterns and nature of variation in growth and reproductive traits.     

The basis for the safening of clomazone by phorate insecticide in cotton and inhibitors of cytochrome P450s

Clomazone may be safely used in cotton to manage weeds when applied following treatments of the organophosphate insecticides phorate or disulfoton. The loss of chlorophyll and carotenoids with 6 days of 100 nM clomazone treatment of cotton seedlings was partially prevented with phorate in hydroponic solution in a rate-dependent manner. In a study to examine the timing of safening from a one-day clomazone (100 nM) treatment, maximum safening was achieved when phorate (50 μM) was applied the same day as clomazone. Phorate decreased metabolism of ¹⁴C-clomazone to polar metabolites in excised cotton shoots and shoots of intact cotton plants. Microsomal studies of corn shoots showed an NADPH-dependent/cytochrome P450 reaction was inhibited by phorate. Additional studies with corn microsomes, corn seedlings and cotton seedlings supported the basis of clomazone safening is the inhibition of toxic clomazone metabolism by P450 inhibitors.     

The phenylurea cytokinin 4PU-30 protects maize plants against glyphosate action

The effects of the phenylurea cytokinin 4PU-30 and the herbicide glyphosate, applied alone and in combination on young maize plants were investigated. The influence of the compounds on the changes of growth, chlorophyll content, levels of hydrogen peroxide, and some stress markers, the activities of peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione-S-transferase, as well as glutathione amount were measured 3, 6, and 10 days after the treatment. The application of glyphosate increased the levels of lipid peroxidation, glutathione, and free proline content, ion fluxes, and the activity of catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, and glutathione-S-transferase, i.e., along with the inhibition of its target enzyme the herbicide induced also an oxidative stress. We found that the phenylurea cytokinin 4PU-30 alleviated in some extent the detrimental effects due to the glyphosate action. Moreover, we speculated that the cytokinin renders its protective action by induction of “hardiness” in the antioxidant defense systems in maize plants similarly to the effects observed after the application of some herbicide safeners.     

Seismic evidence for olivine phase changes at the 410- and 660-kilometer discontinuities

The view that the seismic discontinuities bounding the mantle transition zone at 410- and 660-kilometer depths are caused by isochemical phase transformations of the olivine structure is debated. Combining converted-wave measurements in East Asia and Australia with seismic velocities from regional tomography studies, we observe a correlation of the thickness of, and wavespeed variations within, the transition zone that is consistent with olivine structural transformations. Moreover, the seismologically inferred Clapeyron slopes are in agreement with the mineralogical Clapeyron slopes of the (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 spinel and postspinel transformations.     

Oxygen doping modifies near-infrared band gaps in fluorescent single-walled carbon nanotubes

Controlled chemical modifications of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) that tune their useful properties have been sought for multiple applications. We found that beneficial optical changes in SWCNTs resulted from introducing low concentrations of oxygen atoms. Stable covalently oxygen-doped nanotubes were prepared by exposure to ozone and then light. Treated samples showed distinct, structure-specific near-infrared fluorescence at wavelengths 10 to 15% longer than displayed by pristine semiconducting SWCNTs. Dopant sites harvest light energy absorbed in undoped nanotube regions by trapping mobile excitons. The oxygen-doped SWCNTs are much easier to detect and image than pristine SWCNTs because they give stronger near-infrared emission and do not absorb at the shifted emission wavelength.