The growth of over-the-top (OTT) Internet and mobile video streaming services is a major development in the distribution, transmission and consumption of global media sport. Heavily capitalised services such as Tencent Video, DAZN and Amazon Prime Video are intervening in coverage rights markets and changing how live sport is experienced and shared across television, computer, game console, tablet and smartphone screens. This article identifies and analyses six defining characteristics of OTT live sport streaming, and outlines three services (Tencent Video, DAZN and Amazon Prime Video) that operate across Asia, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Its argument is that, first, live sport streaming is a key means by which television content and practices are escaping the boundaries of broadcast media, while also continuing to perpetuate the logics of television coverage and viewing practices. Second, drawing on Amanda D. Lotz’s conceptualisation of portals, it is proposed that these services are establishing new norms concerning how media sport is accessed and curated and, as such, their arrival signals a historic shift in the global marketplace for sport coverage rights and the media systems through which live content circulates.

No abstract

It is very attractive yet underexplored to synthesize heterocyclic moieties pertaining to biologically active molecules from biomass-based starting compounds. Herein, we report an electrocatalytic Achmatowicz reaction for the synthesis of hydropyranones from furfuryl alcohols, which can be readily produced from biomass-derived and industrially available furfural. Taking advantage of photo-induced polymerization of a bipyridyl ligand, we demonstrate the facile preparation of a heterogenized nickel electrocatalyst, which effectively drives the Achmatowicz reaction electrochemically. A suite of characterization techniques and density functional theory computations were performed to aid the understanding of the reaction mechanism. It is rationalized that the unsaturated coordination sphere of nickel sites in our electrocatalyst plays an important role at low applied potential, not only allowing the intimate interaction between the nickel center and furfuryl alcohol but also enabling the transfer of hydroxide from nickel to the bound furfuryl alcohol.

No abstract

Dry reforming of methane (DRM) integrates resourceful utilization of unwanted CO2 using cheap methane and storage of renewable energy. High temperature favors the highly endothermic process, while catalyst thermal deterioration is a major obstacle. Here we report a robust Ru/MgAl2O4 catalyst prepared via physical vapor deposition method that exhibits 1 or 2 orders of magnitude higher activity than conventional ruthenium or nickel catalysts. Importantly, instead of deactivation or coke deposition, the catalyst demonstrates a surprising activity increase by 1.5 times after reaction at 850 °C for 600 h. Ru initially was dispersed as isolated atoms on MgAl2O4, then condensed into unfaceted clusters (1.1 nm), and finally retained as faceted nanoparticles (NPs, 2.7 nm) upon testing, becoming more and more active by decreasing the barrier of breaking the C–H bond of methane. The low Ru content (0.15 wt %) and high space-time yield make it cost-competitive to regeneration-required nickel catalysts, paving a way to develop affordable commercial precious metal catalyst.

No abstract

In this work, a ternary TiO2/Graphene oxide/Polyaniline (TiO2/GO/PANI) nanocomposite was synthesized by in situ oxidation and use as a filler on epoxy resin (TiO2/GO/PANI/EP), a bifunctional in situ protective coating has been developed and reinforced the Q235 carbon steel protection against corrosion. The structure and optical properties of the obtained composites are characterized by XRD, FTIR, and UV–vis. Compared to bare TiO2 and bare Q235, the TiO2/GO/PANI/EP coating exhibited prominent photoelectrochemical properties, such as the photocurrent density increased 0.06 A/cm2 and the corrosion potential shifted from −651 mV to −851 mV, respectively. The results show that the TiO2/GO/PANI nanocomposite has an extended light absorption range and the effective separation of electron-hole pairs improves the photoelectrochemical performance, and also provides cathodic protection to Q235 steel under dark conditions. The TiO2/GO/PANI/EP coating can isolate the Q235 steel from the external corrosive environment, and may generally be regarded a useful protective barrier coating to metallic materials. When the TiO2/GO/PANI composite is dispersed in the EP, the compactness of the coating is improved and the protective barrier effect is enhanced.

No abstract