Sorption Behavior of Bisphenol A and Triclosan by Graphene: Comparison with Activated Carbon

The sorption behavior of bisphenol A (BPA) and triclosan (TCS) on graphene was investigated and compared with that on activated carbon. The kinetic studies showed that BPA sorption on graphene or activated carbon reached equilibrium within 240 min, whereas TCS sorption on these two materials achieved equilibrium in 60 and 120 min. The maximum sorption capacity (<i>q</i>_m) of BPA on graphene or activated carbon reached approximately 2.0 × 10³ μg/g, which indicated that graphene was not superior to traditional activated carbon for BPA removal. By contrast, the strong partitioning ability of TCS on graphene suggested the potential use of graphene materials to remove TCS from wastewater. Although the pH change from 4.0 to 7.0 did not greatly affect BPA or TCS sorption, the sorption decreased dramatically when the pH was increased from 7.0 to 9.0. This phenomenon should be attributed to the establishment of electrostatic repulsion between anionic BPA (or TCS) molecules and the graphene (or activated carbon) surface under higher pH conditions. The increase of ion (NaCl and CaCl₂) concentrations may lead to substantial increase of BPA sorption on graphene or activated carbon due to the salting-out effect. By contrast, ion concentrations had no significant effect on TCS sorption because of the dominant hydrophobic interaction

microsatellite data of red pandas

microsatellite data of red panda

Activation of Persulfates Using Siderite as a Source of Ferrous Ions: Sulfate Radical Production, Stoichiometric Efficiency, and Implications

Ferrous ions (Fe²⁺) rapidly activate persulfates to produce sulfate radicals. However, the high reactivity of Fe²⁺ toward sulfate radicals means that they are easily scavenged, which reduces the stoichiometric efficiency of persulfates. To improve the stoichiometric efficiency, siderite was used to activate peroxydisulfate (PDS) and peroxymonosulfate (PMS), with phenol as a model contaminant. Near-100% degradation of phenol was achieved by siderite-activated PDS or PMS. In contrast, only 34% and 25% of the phenol was degraded by Fe²⁺- and nanoscale-magnetite-activated persulfates, respectively. The stoichiometric efficiencies of PMS and PDS activated by siderite were more than 4.4 and 3.6 times higher, respectively, than those activated by Fe²⁺. Electron paramagnetic resonance recorded both sulfate radicals and hydroxyl radicals. The effects of pH, iron dissolution, and scavenging were characterized, and the results indicated that siderite mainly activated persulfates by acting as a source of Fe²⁺ and that sulfate radicals were the major active species. The release of Fe²⁺ and the production of sulfate radicals were controllable via the pH of the solution. No deactivation occurred when the siderite was reused, because the acidic environment partially dissolved the surface. These findings may facilitate the application of iron-bearing materials for sulfate radical production

Supplementary Information from Seasonal variation in nutrient utilization shapes gut microbiome structure and function in wild giant pandas

Wild giant pandas use different parts of bamboo (shoots, leaves and stems) and different bamboo species at different times of the year. Their usage of bamboo can be classified temporally into a distinct leaf stage, shoot stage and transition stage. An association between this usage pattern and variation in the giant panda gut microbiome remains unknown. Here, we found associations using a gut metagenomic approach and nutritional analyses whereby diversity of the gut microbial community in the leaf and shoot stages was significantly different. Functional metagenomic analysis showed that in the leaf stage, bacteria species over-represented genes involved in raw fibre utilization and cell cycle control. Thus, raw fibre utilization by the gut microbiome was guaranteed during the nutrient-deficient leaf stage by reinforcing gut microbiome robustness. During the protein-abundant shoot stage, the functional capacity of the gut microbiome expanded to include prokaryotic secretion and signal transduction activity, suggesting active interactions between the gut microbiome and host. These results illustrate that seasonal nutrient variation in wild giant pandas substantially influences gut microbiome composition and function. Nutritional interactions between gut microbiomes and hosts appear to be complex and further work is needed

Microsatellite data of giant pandas in Arlequin format

This file includes the microsatellite genotypes of 153 giant panda individuals, in Arlequin format

QL178Arlequin

The microsatellite data of 178 giant pandas from the Qinling Mountains, in Arlequin format

FINAL_VICUNA_and_GUANACO_msa

Excel file with the vicuña and guanaco microsatellite MSA input files

Appendix A. Tables showing haplotype distribution of giant pandas for mtDNA CR and Cyt b, information for historical and modern samples, bottleneck analysis, modern and historical effective population sizes, and time since population change in the Minshan and Qionglai populations using Storz and Beaumont’s method and habitat area available, and traditional and re-estimated population sizes of giant pandas during different periods.

Tables showing haplotype distribution of giant pandas for mtDNA CR and Cyt b, information for historical and modern samples, bottleneck analysis, modern and historical effective population sizes, and time since population change in the Minshan and Qionglai populations using Storz and Beaumont’s method and habitat area available, and traditional and re-estimated population sizes of giant pandas during different periods