Biochar improves the nutrient cycle in sandy-textured soils and increases crop yield: a systematic review.

Background: Biochar is a relatively new development in sustainable agricultural management that can be applied to ameliorate degraded and less fertile soils, especially sandy-textured ones, to improve their productivity with respect to crop production through improved nutrient availability. However, as the literature has shown, the response of sandy-textured soils to biochar varies in terms of effect size and direction. Therefore, the present study systematically reviewed the available evidence to synthesize the impact of biochar amendments on aspects of the nutrient cycle of sandy-textured soils.

Activated carbon from pyrolysis of brewer's spent grain: Production and adsorption properties.

Brewer's spent grain is a low cost residue generated by the brewing industry. Its chemical composition (high nitrogen content 4.35 wt.

Economics of willow pyrolysis after phytoextraction.

The Campine is a vast cross-border area in the northeast of Belgium and southeast of the Netherlands that has been contaminated with heavy metals. As traditional excavation techniques are too expensive, phytoremediation is preferred. Economically viable conversion techniques for the biomass are researched in order to lower reclamation costs and to guarantee the income of the local farmers, mainly cultivating roughage for dairy cattle rearing.

A DFT conformational analysis and VCD study on methyl tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylate.

DFT calculations were performed on (S)-methyl tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylate to facilitate the interpretation of IR and VCD spectra. The potential energy surface could not be described unambiguously using the 6-31G* basis set in combination with different density functionals including B1LYP, B3LYP, B3P86, B3PW91, B98, BHandH, BHandHLYP, MPW1PW91 and PBE1PBE. In contrast, a uniform conformational picture could be found using the cc-pVTZ basis set.

Intermolecular association of tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylic acid in solution: a vibrational circular dichroism study.

Carboxylic acids are known for their strong intermolecular associations. With chiral carboxylic acids, this behavior can be studied using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD). Tetrahydrofuran-2-carboxylic acid 1, a chiral building block for beta-lactam antibiotics, is studied by emphasizing the effect of the dimerization.

Elucidation of the absolute configuration of JNJ-27553292, a CCR2 receptor antagonist, by vibrational circular dichroism analysis of two precursors.

The absolute configurations of two precursors, that is, 1-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-propanol and 1-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-propanamine, of a potent 2-mercapto-imidazole CCR-2 receptor antagonist, JNJ-27553292, were determined using vibrational circular dichroism. As a consequence, the absolute configuration of the antagonist itself was also determined. The two precursor compounds were subjected to a thorough conformational analysis and rotational strengths were calculated at the B3LYP/cc-pVTZ level of theory.

Determination of absolute configuration via vibrational circular dichroism.

Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) provides a growing and promising technology for the determination of the absolute configuration of molecules in solution, including drug molecules. The practical application of VCD spectroscopy consists of the experimental determination and comparison to quantum chemically calculated data. The key features of the VCD technology are presented and an example of an application of the technique is discussed.

Quantum similarity superposition algorithm (QSSA): a consistent scheme for molecular alignment and molecular similarity based on quantum chemistry.

The use of the molecular quantum similarity overlap measure for molecular alignment is investigated. A new algorithm is presented, the quantum similarity superposition algorithm (QSSA), expressing the relative positions of two molecules in terms of mutual translation in three Cartesian directions and three Euler angles. The quantum similarity overlap is then used to optimize the mutual positions of the molecules.