Photocatalytic Conversion of Methane to Ethanol at a Three-Phase Interface with Concentration-Matched Hydroxyl and Methyl Radicals.

The direct oxidation of CH4 to C2H5OH is attractive but challenging owing to the intricate processes involving carbon-chain growth and hydroxylation simultaneously. The inherent difficulty arises from the strong tendency of CH4 to overoxidize in the commonly used pressurized powder suspension systems rich in reactive oxygen radicals (ROR), which are specifically designed for CH4 concentration and activation. Meanwhile, the strong tendency of nucleophilic attack of potent ROR on the C-C bond of the resulting product C2H5OH ultimately leads to a higher selectivity for C1 oxygenates. This study addresses this multifaceted issue by designing a three-phase interface based on a hydrophilic floating Fe(III)-cross-linked macroporous alginate hydrogel film encapsulated with C3N4 [Fe(III)@ACN] to simultaneously enhance the accessibility of H2O and CH4 molecules to the active sites and species within the macroporous channel. The hydrophilic properties of Fe(III)@ACN allow the in situ production of H2O2 from C3N4 through the water oxidation reaction under irradiation. The concurrent photoinduced Fe(II) triggers Fenton reaction with H2O2 to produce •OH. The enhanced mass transfer of CH4 at the three-phase interface ensures the efficient formation of •CH3 by reacting with •OH, ultimately facilitating carbon-chain growth in the conversion pathway from CH4 to CH3OH and finally to C2H5OH with •CH3 and •OH present in comparable concentrations. Thus, the Fe(III)@ACN catalyst exhibits a remarkable 96% selectivity for alcohol, achieving a 90% selectivity for C2H5OH in the alcohol products. The C2H5OH production rate reaches 171.7 µmol g-1 h-1 without the need for precious-metal additive.

Reliable biological and multi-omics research through biometrology.

Metrology is the science of measurement and its applications, whereas biometrology is the science of biological measurement and its applications. Biometrology aims to achieve accuracy and consistency of biological measurements by focusing on the development of metrological traceability, biological reference measurement procedures, and reference materials. Irreproducibility of biological and multi-omics research results from different laboratories, platforms, and analysis methods is hampering the translation of research into clinical uses and can often be attributed to the lack of biologists' attention to the general principles of metrology. In this paper, the progresses of biometrology including metrology on nucleic acid, protein, and cell measurements and its impacts on the improvement of reliability and comparability in biological research are reviewed. Challenges in obtaining more reliable biological and multi-omics measurements due to the lack of primary reference measurement procedures and new standards for biological reference materials faced by biometrology are discussed. In the future, in addition to establishing reliable reference measurement procedures, developing reference materials from single or multiple parameters to multi-omics scale should be emphasized. Thinking in way of biometrology is warranted for facilitating the translation of high-throughput omics research into clinical practices.

The effects of social participation on social integration.

With the fast expansion of urbanization, temporary migrants have become a large demographic in Chinese cities. Therefore, in order to enhance the social integration of the migrant population, scholars and policymakers have an urgency to investigate the influencing factors of the integration progress. Prior studies regarding social integration have neglected to examine this topic from the perspective of social participation. Empirical research is conducted based on the data of 15,997 migrants across eight cities in the 2014 wave of National Migrant Population Dynamic Monitoring Survey (MDMS) in China. Hierarchical linear models were used to test the hypotheses regarding the impacts of formal social participation (FSP) and informal social participation (ISP) on social integration. Community type, neighbor composition, hometown pressure, withdrawal guarantee, and constraints of hukou were examined as moderators. FSP and ISP possess different features such as operating with distinct modes, providing different services. Members within the organizations also entail different rights and responsibilities, providing them with different types of social capital and psychological perceptions. Hence, this study strived to identify the effects of social participation behaviors on social integration from a social capital perspective. The results revealed that social participation is positively linked to social integration. We also distinguished between FSP and ISP of migrants to investigate the boundary effects of different types of social participation on social integration. The findings provide both theoretical and practical implications for scholars as well as policymakers on issues regarding the social integration of migrants.