Automatic uncovering of patient primary concerns in portal messages using a fusion framework of pretrained language models.

OBJECTIVES: The surge in patient portal messages (PPMs) with increasing needs and workloads for efficient PPM triage in healthcare settings has spurred the exploration of AI-driven solutions to streamline the healthcare workflow processes, ensuring timely responses to patients to satisfy their healthcare needs. However, there has been less focus on isolating and understanding patient primary concerns in PPMs-a practice which holds the potential to yield more nuanced insights and enhances the quality of healthcare delivery and patient-centered care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We propose a fusion framework to leverage pretrained language models (LMs) with different language advantages via a Convolution Neural Network for precise identification of patient primary concerns via multi-class classification. We examined 3 traditional machine learning models, 9 BERT-based language models, 6 fusion models, and 2 ensemble models. RESULTS: The outcomes of our experimentation underscore the superior performance achieved by BERT-based models in comparison to traditional machine learning models. Remarkably, our fusion model emerges as the top-performing solution, delivering a notably improved accuracy score of 77.67 ± 2.74% and an F1 score of 74.37 ± 3.70% in macro-average. DISCUSSION: This study highlights the feasibility and effectiveness of multi-class classification for patient primary concern detection and the proposed fusion framework for enhancing primary concern detection. CONCLUSIONS: The use of multi-class classification enhanced by a fusion of multiple pretrained LMs not only improves the accuracy and efficiency of patient primary concern identification in PPMs but also aids in managing the rising volume of PPMs in healthcare, ensuring critical patient communications are addressed promptly and accurately.

Enabling Quasi-Zero-Strain Behavior of Layered Oxide Cathodes via Multiple-cations Induced Order-to-Disorder Transition.

The chemically pre-intercalated lattice engineering is widely applied to elevate the electronic conductivity, expand the interlayer spacing, and improve the structural stability of layered oxide cathodes. However, the mainstream unitary metal ion pre-intercalation generally produces the cation/vacancy ordered superstructure, which astricts the further improvement of lattice respiration and charge-carrier ion storage and diffusion. Herein, a multiple metal ions pre-intercalation lattice engineering is proposed to break the cation/vacancy ordered superstructure. Taking the bilayer V2O5 as an example, Ni, Co, and Zn ternary ions are simultaneously pre-intercalated into its interlayer space (NiCoZnVO). It is revealed that the Ni─Co neighboring characteristic caused by Ni(3d)-O(2p)-Co(3d) orbital coupling and the Co-Zn/Ni-Zn repulsion effect due to chemical bond incompatibility, endow the NiCoZnVO sample with the cation/vacancy disordered structure. This not only reduces the Li+ diffusion barrier, but also increases the diffusion dimension of Li+ (from one-dimension to two-dimension). Particularly, Ni, Co, and Zn ions co-pre-intercalation causes a prestress, which realizes a quasi-zero-strain structure at high-voltage window upon charging/discharging process. The functions of Ni ion stabilizing the lattice structure and Co or Zn ions activating more Li+ reversible storage reaction of V5+/V4+ are further revealed. The cation/vacancy disordered structure significantly enhances Li+ storage properties of NiCoZnVO cathode.

Sensing Based on Plasmon-Induced Transparency in H-Shaped Graphene-Based Metamaterials.

Graphene can support surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) in the terahertz band, and graphene SPP sensors are widely used in the field of terahertz micro- and nano-optical devices. In this paper, we propose an H-shaped graphene metasurface and investigate the plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) phenomenon in the proposed structure using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. Our results show that the Fermi energy levels, as well as certain shape parameters, can effectively modulate the PIT phenomenon in the proposed structure. Interestingly, changing some of these shape parameters can excite two dips into three. In terms of sensing performance, the maximum values of sensitivity and figure of merit (FOM) are 1.4028 THz/RIU and 17.97, respectively. These results offer valuable guidance for the use of terahertz optical graphene SPP sensors.

High-Entropy Alloy Activating Laves-Phase Network for Multi-Component Metallic Coatings with High Hardness.

The low hardness and poor wear resistance of laser-cladding 316L stainless steel impose significant constraints on its practical applications. In this study, a strategy for strengthening laser-cladding 316L stainless steel with WMoTaNb refractory high-entropy alloy as a reinforcement material is proposed. The results confirm that the coating primarily comprises a body-centered cubic (BCC) Fe-based solid solution, a network-distributed hexagonal Fe2X (X = W, Mo, Ta, and Nb) Laves phase, and a diffusely distributed face-centered cubic (FCC) (Ta, Nb)C phase. The Fe-based solid solution distributes along columnar and fine dendrites, while the Laves phase and (Ta, Nb)C phase are in the inter-dendrites. The presence of a significant number of network Laves phases exhibiting high strength and hardness is the primary factor contributing to the enhancement of coating microhardness. The hardness of the composite coating is increased by nearly twice compared to that of the 316L coating, resulting in an improved wear resistance. The present work can shed light on designing and fabricating 316L stainless steel coating with enhanced hardness and wear resistance.

Towards Stabilized Few-Shot Object Detection with Less Forgetting via Sample Normalization.

Few-shot object detection is a challenging task aimed at recognizing novel classes and localizing with limited labeled data. Although substantial achievements have been obtained, existing methods mostly struggle with forgetting and lack stability across various few-shot training samples. In this paper, we reveal two gaps affecting meta-knowledge transfer, leading to unstable performance and forgetting in meta-learning-based frameworks. To this end, we propose sample normalization, a simple yet effective method that enhances performance stability and decreases forgetting. Additionally, we apply Z-score normalization to mitigate the hubness problem in high-dimensional feature space. Experimental results on the PASCAL VOC data set demonstrate that our approach outperforms existing methods in both accuracy and stability, achieving up to +4.4 mAP@0.5 and +5.3 mAR in a single run, with +4.8 mAP@0.5 and +5.1 mAR over 10 random experiments on average. Furthermore, our method alleviates the drop in performance of base classes. The code will be released to facilitate future research.

Advances of Nanomaterials for High-Efficiency Zn Metal Anodes in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as one of the most promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices due to their outstanding safety, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. However, the practical application of zinc metal anodes (ZMAs) faces significant challenges, such as dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution reaction, corrosion, and passivation. Fortunately, the rapid rise of nanomaterials has inspired solutions for addressing these issues associated with ZMAs. Nanomaterials with unique structural features and multifunctionality can be employed to modify ZMAs, effectively enhancing their interfacial stability and cycling reversibility. Herein, an overview of the failure mechanisms of ZMAs is presented, and the latest research progress of nanomaterials in protecting ZMAs is comprehensively summarized, including electrode structures, interfacial layers, electrolytes, and separators. Finally, a brief summary and optimistic perspective are given on the development of nanomaterials for ZMAs. This review provides a valuable reference for the rational design of efficient ZMAs and the promotion of large-scale application of AZIBs.

Strong-Yet-Ductile Eutectic Alloys Employing Cocoon-Like Nanometer-Sized Dislocation Cells.

Eutectic alloys (EAs) with superior fluidity are known to be the easiest to cast into high-quality ingots, making them the alloys of choice for making large-sized structural parts. However, conventional EAs (CEAs) have never reached strength-ductility combinations on par with the best in other alloy categories. Via thermomechanical processing of cast Ni-32.88wt%Fe-9.53wt%Al CEAs, a cocoon-like nano-meshed (as fine as 26 nm) network of dislocations (CNN-D) is produced via recovery annealing, through the rearrangement of cold-work-accumulated dislocations anchored by dense pre-existing nanoprecipitates. In lieu of traditional plasticity mechanisms, such as TWIP and TRIP, the CNN-D is particularly effective in eutectic lamellae with alternating phases, as it instigates nanometer-spaced planar slip bands that not only dynamically refine the microstructure but also transmit from the FCC (face-centered-cubic) layers into the otherwise brittle B2 layers. These additional mechanisms for strengthening and strain hardening sustain stable tensile flow, resulting in a striking elevation of both strength and ductility to outrank not only all previous CEAs, but also the state of the art-additively manufactured eutectic high-entropy alloys. The CNN-D thus adds a novel microstructural strategy for performance enhancement, especially for compositionally complex alloys that increasingly make use of nanoprecipitates or local chemical order.

High-Energy Earth-Abundant Cathodes with Enhanced Cationic/Anionic Redox for Sustainable and Long-Lasting Na-Ion Batteries.

Layered iron/manganese-based oxides are a class of promising cathode materials for sustainable batteries due to their high energy densities and earth abundance. However, the stabilization of cationic and anionic redox reactions in these cathodes during cycling at high voltage remain elusive. Here, an electrochemically/thermally stable P2-Na0.67Fe0.3Mn0.5Mg0.1Ti0.1O2 cathode material with zero critical elements is designed for sodium-ion batteries (NIBs) to realize a highly reversible capacity of ≈210 mAh g-1 at 20 mA g-1 and good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 74% after 300 cycles at 200 mA g-1, even when operated with a high charge cut-off voltage of 4.5 V versus sodium metal. Combining a suite of cutting-edge characterizations and computational modeling, it is shown that Mg/Ti co-doping leads to stabilized surface/bulk structure at high voltage and high temperature, and more importantly, enhances cationic/anionic redox reaction reversibility over extended cycles with the suppression of other undesired oxygen activities. This work fundamentally deepens the failure mechanism of Fe/Mn-based layered cathodes and highlights the importance of dopant engineering to achieve high-energy and earth-abundant cathode material for sustainable and long-lasting NIBs.

The mutation of Japanese encephalitis virus envelope protein residue 389 attenuates viral neuroinvasiveness.

The envelope (E) protein of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a key protein for virus infection and adsorption of host cells, which determines the virulence of the virus and regulates the intensity of inflammatory response. The mutation of multiple aa residues in the E protein plays a critical role in the attenuated strain of JEV. This study demonstrated that the Asp to Gly, Ser, and His mutation of the E389 site, respectively, the replication ability of the viruses in cells was significantly reduced, and the viral neuroinvasiveness was attenuated to different degrees. Among them, the mutation at E389 site enhanced the E protein flexibility contributed to the attenuation of neuroinvasiveness. In contrast, less flexibility of E protein enhanced the neuroinvasiveness of the strain. Our results indicate that the mechanism of attenuation of E389 aa mutation attenuates neuroinvasiveness is related to increased flexibility of the E protein. In addition, the increased flexibility of E protein enhanced the viral sensitivity to heparin inhibition in vitro, which may lead to a decrease in the viral load entering brain. These results suggest that E389 residue is a potential site affecting JEV virulence, and the flexibility of the E protein of aa at this site plays an important role in the determination of neuroinvasiveness.

Decoding Active Sites for Highly Efficient Semihydrogenation of Acetylene in Palladium-Copper Nanoalloys.

Accurately decoding the three-dimensional atomic structure of surface active sites is essential yet challenging for a rational catalyst design. Here, we used comprehensive techniques combining the pair distribution function and reverse Monte Carlo simulation to reveal the surficial distribution of Pd active sites and adjacent coordination environment in palladium-copper nanoalloys. After the fine-tuning of the atomic arrangement, excellent catalytic performance with 98% ethylene selectivity at complete acetylene conversion was obtained in the Pd34Cu66 nanocatalysts, outperforming most of the reported advanced catalysts. The quantitative deciphering shows a large number of active sites with a Pd-Pd coordination number of 3 distributed on the surface of Pd34Cu66 nanoalloys, which play a decisive role in highly efficient semihydrogenation. This finding not only opens the way for guiding the precise design of bimetal nanocatalysts from atomic-level insight but also provides a method to resolve the spatial structure of active sites.

Turning Ultra-Low Coercivity and Ultra-High Temperature Stability Within 897 K via Continuous Crystal Ordering Fluctuations.

High-performance soft magnetic materials are important for energy conservation and emission reduction. One challenge is achieving a combination of reliable temperature stability, high resistivity, high Curie temperature, and high saturation magnetization in a single material, which often comes at the expense of intrinsic coercivity-a typical trade-off in the family of soft magnetic materials with homogeneous microstructures. Herein, a nanostructured FeCoNiSiAl complex concentrated alloy is developed through a hierarchical structure strategy. This alloy exhibits superior soft magnetic properties up to 897 K, maintaining an ultra-low intrinsic coercivity (13.6 A m-1 at 297 K) over a wide temperature range, a high resistivity (138.08 µΩ cm-1 at 297 K) and the saturation magnetization with only a 16.7% attenuation at 897 K. These unusual property combinations are attributed to the dual-magnetic-state nature with exchange softening due to continuous crystal ordering fluctuations at the atomic scale. By deliberately controlling the microstructure, the comprehensive performance of the alloy can be tuned and controlled. The research provides valuable guidance for the development of soft magnetic materials for high-temperature applications and expands the potential applications of related functional materials in the field of sustainable energy.

Regulating the Electron Distribution of Metal-Oxygen for Enhanced Oxygen Stability in Li-rich Layered Cathodes.

Li-rich Mn-based layered oxides (LLO) hold great promise as cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their unique oxygen redox (OR) chemistry, which enables additional capacity. However, the LLOs face challenges related to the instability of their OR process due to the weak transition metal (TM)-oxygen bond, leading to oxygen loss and irreversible phase transition that results in severe capacity and voltage decay. Herein, a synergistic electronic regulation strategy of surface and interior structures to enhance oxygen stability is proposed. In the interior of the materials, the local electrons around TM and O atoms may be delocalized by surrounding Mo atoms, facilitating the formation of stronger TM─O bonds at high voltages. Besides, on the surface, the highly reactive O atoms with lone pairs of electrons are passivated by additional TM atoms, which provides a more stable TM─O framework. Hence, this strategy stabilizes the oxygen and hinders TM migration, which enhances the reversibility in structural evolution, leading to increased capacity and voltage retention. This work presents an efficient approach to enhance the performance of LLOs through surface-to-interior electronic structure modulation, while also contributing to a deeper understanding of their redox reaction.

Harnessing instability for work hardening in multi-principal element alloys.

The strength-ductility trade-off has long been a Gordian knot in conventional metallic structural materials and it is no exception in multi-principal element alloys. In particular, at ultrahigh yield strengths, plastic instability, that is, necking, happens prematurely, because of which ductility almost entirely disappears. This is due to the growing difficulty in the production and accumulation of dislocations from the very beginning of tensile deformation that renders the conventional dislocation hardening insufficient. Here we propose that premature necking can be harnessed for work hardening in a VCoNi multi-principal element alloy. Lüders banding as an initial tensile response induces the ongoing localized necking at the band front to produce both triaxial stress and strain gradient, which enables the rapid multiplication of dislocations. This leads to forest dislocation hardening, plus extra work hardening due to the interaction of dislocations with the local-chemical-order regions. The dual work hardening combines to restrain and stabilize the premature necking in reverse as well as to facilitate uniform deformation. Consequently, a superior strength-and-ductility synergy is achieved with a ductility of ~20% and yield strength of 2 GPa during room-temperature and cryogenic deformation. These findings offer an instability-control paradigm for synergistic work hardening to conquer the strength-ductility paradox at ultrahigh yield strengths.

The impact of environmental regulation on green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises in China-based on a three-stage exogenous variable model.

Due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events and the implementation of the China's dual-carbon target, thermal power companies have been under pressure to construct green infrastructure and to actively pursue low-carbon transformation in response to stricter environmental regulations. This research thus selects 30 listed thermal power enterprises in China as study objects and assesses their green investment efficiency in the low-carbon transition process using three-stage DEA evaluation model with environmental regulation as an exogenous variable. Based on this, a benchmark regression model is used to corroborate the relationship between environmental regulation and green investment. Simultaneously, we carry out analysis to compare the correlation between thermal power firms' green investment efficiency and their focus on green investments. The results show in terms of total efficiency that environmental regulation significantly improves the total efficiency of 80% of thermal power enterprises compared to the absence of this exogenous variable. With the addition of environmental regulation, firms' total efficiency declines gradually in general from 2018 to 2022, with the mean value of efficiency falling by 0.068. In terms of stage-specific efficiency, the efficiency of the green investment stage of the majority of firms is between 0.3 and 0.6, which is much lower than that of the operational stage and the market performance stage. In terms of sub-indicator efficiency, both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency among thermal power enterprises show obvious polarization, with 30% of them having an efficiency of 1 and 30% less than 0.1. In terms of green investment focus, thermal power unit renovation has a more obvious role in boosting the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises than do wind power and photovoltaic projects. Therefore, both governmental departments and thermal power enterprises need to take active measures in order to achieve green transformation from the perspective of green investment efficiency. Through the segmentation of important projects of green investment, this paper provides a reasonable investment direction reference for the sustainable transformation of China's thermal power industry. It also provides a rich and novel theoretical basis for the Chinese government to further improve the relevant environmental protection laws and regulations of thermal power industry.

Flash healing of laser-induced graphene.

The advancement of laser-induced graphene (LIG) technology has streamlined the fabrications of flexible graphene devices. However, the ultrafast kinetics triggered by laser irradiation generates intrinsic amorphous characteristics, leading to high resistivity and compromised performance in electronic devices. Healing graphene defects in specific patterns is technologically challenging by conventional methods. Herein, we report the rapid rectification of LIG's topological defects by flash Joule heating in milliseconds (referred to as F-LIG), whilst preserving its overall structure and porosity. The F-LIG exhibits a decreased ID/IG ratio from 0.84 - 0.33 and increased crystalline domain from Raman analysis, coupled with a 5-fold surge in conductivity. Pair distribution function and atomic-resolution imaging delineate a broader-range order of F-LIG with a shorter C-C bond of 1.425 Å. The improved crystallinity and conductivity of F-LIG with excellent flexibility enables its utilization in high-performance soft electronics and low-voltage disinfections. Notably, our F-LIG/polydimethylsiloxane strain sensor exhibits a gauge factor of 129.3 within 10% strain, which outperforms pristine LIG by 800%, showcasing significant potential for human-machine interfaces.

Interlayer Entropy Engineering Inducing the Symmetry-Broken Layered Oxide Cathodes to Activate Reversible High-Voltage Redox Reaction.

The as-reported doping entropy engineering of electrode materials that are usually realized by the sharing of multiple metal elements with the metal element from the lattice body, potentially has three shortages of stringent synthesis conditions, large active element loss, and serious lattice distortion. Herein, an interlayer entropy engineering of layered oxide cathodes is proposed, where the multiple metal ions are simultaneously intercalated into the same interlayer sites, thus avoiding the three shortages. Concretely, a novel interlayer medium-entropy V2O5 ((MnCoNiMgZn)0.26V2O5∙0.84H2O) is successfully constructed by a one-step hydrothermal method. The interlayer medium-entropy effect is revealed to be that five metal ions pre-intercalation induces the local symmetry-broken [VO6] octahedra in bilayer V2O5, thus activating the reversible high-voltage redox reaction, inhibiting the layer slip and following phase transformation by its pinning effect, and enhancing the charge transfer kinetics. As a result, the medium-entropy cathode realizes the trade-off between specific capacity and structural stability with a discharge capacity of 152 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 after 100 cycles, and a capacity retention rate of 98.7% at 0.5 A g-1 after 150 cycles for Li+ storage. This engineering provides a new guideline for the rational design of high-performance layered oxide cathodes.

Preparation of an Inorganic All-Solid-State Electrochromic Device with Excellent Open-Circuit Memory.

Due to the spontaneous transport of small-sized cations and redox reactions under open circuit conditions, the currently reported coloring electrochromic devices (ECDs) may self-bleach easily. The resulting ECDs exhibit poor open-circuit memory, which limits their applications in static display advertisement. By constructing energy barriers to effectively control small-sized cation transport, the redox reaction could be suppressed, thereby inhibiting the self-bleaching of ECDs. In this study, phosphate glass is used as an electrolyte to construct high-energy barriers. Sodium ions in phosphate glass absorb external heat to cross energy barriers and become conductive charge carriers. In this case, the electrochromism of ECDs is allowed. On the contrary, after the absorbed heat energy is released, sodium ions are immediately trapped by oxygen ions in the PO4 unit, becoming frozen ions. At this point, the electrochromization of ECDs is prohibited. Based on the ionic conductive feature of phosphate glass, ECDs absorb heat and are colored by applying an electric field first. Then, ECDs release the thermal energy and the sodium ions transport in the electrolyte is blocked to cut off the self-bleaching pathway. The prepared inorganic all-solid-state ECDs maintained the colored state for several months using the method mentioned above, which solved the problem of the poor open-circuit memory of ECDs.

Negative enthalpy alloys and local chemical ordering: a concept and route leading to synergy of strength and ductility.

Solid solutions are ubiquitous in metals and alloys. Local chemical ordering (LCO) is a fundamental sub-nano/nanoscale process that occurs in many solid solutions and can be used as a microstructure to optimize strength and ductility. However, the formation of LCO has not been fully elucidated, let alone how to provide efficient routes for designing LCO to achieve synergistic effects on both superb strength and ductility. Herein, we propose the formation and control of LCO in negative enthalpy alloys. With engineering negative enthalpy in solid solutions, genetic LCO components are formed in negative enthalpy refractory high-entropy alloys (RHEAs). In contrast to conventional 'trial-and-error' approaches, the control of LCO by using engineering negative enthalpy in RHEAs is instructive and results in superior strength (1160 MPa) and uniform ductility (24.5%) under tension at ambient temperature, which are among the best reported so far. LCO can promote dislocation cross-slip, enhancing the interaction between dislocations and their accumulation at large tensile strains; sustainable strain hardening can thereby be attained to ensure high ductility of the alloy. This work paves the way for new research fields on negative enthalpy solid solutions and alloys for the synergy of strength and ductility as well as new functions.

Various solitons induced by relative phase in the nonlinear Schrödinger Maxwell-Bloch system.

We study the effect of relative phase on the characteristics of rogue waves and solitons described by rational solutions in the nonlinear Schrödinger Maxwell-Bloch system. We derived the rational rogue wave and soliton solutions with adjustable relative phase and present the parameter range of different types of rogue waves and solitons. Our findings show that the relative phase can alter the distribution of rational solitons and even change the type of rational solitons, leading to a rich array of rational soliton types by adjusting the relative phase. However, the relative phase does not affect the structure of the rogue wave, because the relative phase of the rogue wave changes during evolution. In particular, we confirm that the rational solitons with varying relative phases and the rogue waves at corresponding different evolution positions share the same distribution mode. This relationship holds true for rogue waves or breathers and their stable counterparts solitons or periodic waves in different nonlinear systems. The implications of our study are significant for exploring fundamental excitation elements in nonlinear systems.

Negative mixing enthalpy solid solutions deliver high strength and ductility.

Body-centred cubic refractory multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs), with several refractory metal elements as constituents and featuring a yield strength greater than one gigapascal, are promising materials to meet the demands of aggressive structural applications1-6. Their low-to-no tensile ductility at room temperature, however, limits their processability and scaled-up application7-10. Here we present a HfNbTiVAl10 alloy that shows remarkable tensile ductility (roughly 20%) and ultrahigh yield strength (roughly 1,390 megapascals). Notably, these are among the best synergies compared with other related alloys. Such superb synergies derive from the addition of aluminium to the HfNbTiV alloy, resulting in a negative mixing enthalpy solid solution, which promotes strength and favours the formation of hierarchical chemical fluctuations (HCFs). The HCFs span many length scales, ranging from submicrometre to atomic scale, and create a high density of diffusive boundaries that act as effective barriers for dislocation motion. Consequently, versatile dislocation configurations are sequentially stimulated, enabling the alloy to accommodate plastic deformation while fostering substantial interactions that give rise to two unusual strain-hardening rate upturns. Thus, plastic instability is significantly delayed, which expands the plastic regime as ultralarge tensile ductility. This study provides valuable insights into achieving a synergistic combination of ultrahigh strength and large tensile ductility in MPEAs.