From Local Atomic Environments to Molecular Information Entropy.

The similarity of local atomic environments is an important concept in many machine learning techniques, which find applications in computational chemistry and material science. Here, we present and discuss a connection between the information entropy and the similarity matrix of a molecule. The resulting entropy can be used as a measure of the complexity of a molecule.

An olfactory perceptual fingerprint in people with olfactory dysfunction due to COVID-19.

The sense of smell is based on sensory detection of the molecule(s), which is then further perceptually interpreted. A possible measure of olfactory perception is an odor-independent olfactory perceptual fingerprint (OPF) defined by Snitz et al. We aimed to investigate whether OPF can distinguish patients with olfactory dysfunction (OD) due to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from controls and which perceptual descriptors are important for that separation.

Site-selective chemical reactions by on-water surface sequential assembly.

Controlling site-selectivity and reactivity in chemical reactions continues to be a key challenge in modern synthetic chemistry. Here, we demonstrate the discovery of site-selective chemical reactions on the water surface via a sequential assembly approach. A negatively charged surfactant monolayer on the water surface guides the electrostatically driven, epitaxial, and aligned assembly of reagent amino-substituted porphyrin molecules, resulting in a well-defined J-aggregated structure.

Enhancing the Carrier Transport in Monolayer MoS through Interlayer Coupling with 2D Covalent Organic Frameworks.

The coupling of different 2D materials (2DMs) to form van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) is a powerful strategy for adjusting the electronic properties of 2D semiconductors, for applications in opto-electronics and quantum computing. 2D molybdenum disulfide (MoS ) represents an archetypical semiconducting, monolayer thick versatile platform for the generation of hybrid vdWH with tunable charge transport characteristics through its interfacing with molecules and assemblies thereof. However, the physisorption of (macro)molecules on 2D MoS yields hybrids possessing a limited thermal stability, thereby jeopardizing their technological applications.

Facial disgust in response to touches, smells, and tastes.

Disgust serves to defend the body from the entry of toxins and disease. Central to this function is a strong relationship with the proximate senses of smell, taste, and touch. Theory suggests that distinct and reflexive facial movements should be evoked by gustatory and olfactory disgusts, serving to impede bodily entry.