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Highly mesoporous carbon foam (MCF) with a high specific surface area has been successfully synthesized via a facile, cost-effective and template-free Pechini method. The as-prepared MCF exhibits a high specific surface area of 1478.55 m 2 g À1 and a commendable pore size distribution for impregnating sulfur. After sulfur loaded in MCF, the relationship between pore size distribution of mesoporous carbon foam/ sulfur nanocomposite (MCF/S) and the content of loaded sulfur is investigated in detail, which impacts on subtle variation of lithium storage performance. MCF/S (57.22 wt%) delivers an initial discharge of 1285 mA h g À1 and retains 878 mA h g À1 after 50 cycles. Compared with pristine sulfur, MCF/S cathodes display enhanced electrochemical performances, which can be attributed to the cross-linked hierarchical structure of MCF conductive matrix. Based on the advantages of the template-free Pechini method such as low cost, relative simplicity and atomic-scaled mixing, the MCF with hierarchical porous structure can be generalized to other practical applications including electrochemical double-layer capacitors, adsorption, separation, catalyst supports, etc. In addition, we believe that this modified Pechini method is general and can be extended to the fabrication of other types of mesoporous carbon by changing metal salts and organic reagents.

In this work, hierarchically porous NiO/C microspheres were successfully synthesized via a facile biotemplating method using natural porous lotus pollen grains as both the carbon source and the template. The as-prepared hierarchically porous NiO/C microspheres exhibited a large specific surface area and multiple pore size distribution, which could effectively increase the electrochemical reaction area and allow better penetration of the electrolyte. The Raman results also confirmed that the pollen grains have been well carbonized, which could provide good electronic conductivity. The specific capacities of the porous NiO/C microspheres after every 10 cycles at 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3 A g À1 are about 698, 608, 454 and 352 mAh g À1 . As an anode material in a Li ion half-cell, these unique hybrid hierarchically porous NiO/C microspheres exhibited fascinating electrochemical performance.

Background: Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue and correlate with aggressiveness and prognosis of HCC.Methods: Using the GSE14520 microarray expression profile from Gene Expression Omnibus, we compared HSP gene expression between tumour and non-tumour tissues and correlated this with outcomes in HCC patients.Results: We analysed 220 hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC patients and 25 HSPs in this study. With the exception of HSPA4L, HSPA12A and HSPB8, members of the HSP family, including HSPH1, HSPBP1, HSPA1A, HSPA1B, HSPA1L, HSPA2, HSPA4, HSPA5, HSPA8, HSPA9, HSPAA1, HSPAB1, HSPA14, HSPB11, HSPA13, HSP90B1 and HSPBAP1, were all overexpressed in tumour tissues (all P < 0.001). In contrast, HSPB6, HSPB7, HSPA6, HSPB2 and HSPB3 were upregulated in non-tumour tissues (all P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that cirrhosis (HR = 5.282, 95% CI = 1.294-21.555, P = 0.02), Barcelona Clinic liver cancer (BCLC) staging (HR = 2.151, 95% CI = 1.682-2.750, P < 0.001), HSPA12A (HR = 1.042, 95% CI = 1.003-1.082, P = 0.033) and HSP90B1 (HR = 1.001, 95% CI = 1.000-1.001, P = 0.011) were negatively associated with survival of HBV-related HCC patients. Furthermore, advanced BCLC staging (HR = 1.797, 95% CI = 1.439-2.244, P < 0.001) was also associated with earlier recurrence of HCC. The high expression of HSPA4 (HR = 1.002, 95% CI = 1.000-1.004, P = 0.019), HSPA5 (HR = 1.0, 95% CI = 1.0-1.0, P = 0.046) and HSPA6 (HR = 1.008, 95% CI = 1.001-1.015, P = 0.021) was similarly associated with HCC recurrence.Conclusions: The expression of most HSPs was higher in tumour tissues than in non-tumour tissues. High BCLC staging scores, advanced cirrhosis and the overexpression of HSPA12A and HSP90B1 might be associated with poor survival from HCC, whereas high levels of HSPA4, HSPA5 and HSPA6 might be associated with earlier recurrence of HCC.

Highlights Depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms in hospital workers were 30.2%, 20.7%, and 46.2%. 6.5% hospital workers reported suicidal or self-harm ideation. Female, single, and low-level educational background were risk factors of psychological impact. Epidemic-related attitudes and behaviors are associated with stress, support, and SSI. County hospital workers suffered more psychological effects, stress, and SSI.

A solid acid material of high loading of sulfated zirconia on mesoporous silica SBA-15 has been successfully synthesized by a direct-synthesis under strong acidic condition. The materials were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N 2 adsorption-desorption, UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), ICP-mass, and NH 3 temperature-programmed-desorption (TPD). The zirconia content and well-ordered mesostructure of SiO 2 -SZ are controllable by tuning the molar ratios of sulfate to zirconia and silica to zirconia. UV-visible spectra and TEM observations confirm the incorporation of zirconium (IV) onto the mesoporoes framework. Acidity is enhanced in comparison with unsupported sulfated zirconia. Much improved catalytic performance under mild temperature condition in the esterification of lauric acid and palmitic acid with the direct-synthesis SiO 2 -SZ catalyst was observed as compared to un-supported SZ. The good catalytic performance of the sulfated silica-zirconia materials is attributed to a higher dispersion of zirconia to give higher acid site density and also to better tolerance of water. The solid acid catalytic materials have many advantages over liquid acids in its environmentally friendliness and easy separation.