Anthropogenic Mercury Release Flow in China

China is the largest emitter of anthropogenic mercury worldwide. Implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury will significantly impact the development, use, and management of mercury resources. Chinese mercury management policies require significant adjustment. There is an urgent need to develop a current national mercury inventory to estimate mercury inputs and outputs by source category, and to clarify the distributions to various environmental scenarios. Here, the mercury releases are quantitatively analysed to facilitate the implementation of strategic mercury management policies in China. First, the mercury inputs and outputs by source categories in 2016 are quantified and then the mercury distributions to various environmental and intermediate sinks are estimated. The total mercury input was 5,116 t in 2016, of which 77% was attributable to mineral production. In total, 3,083 t were released into various environmental and intermediate reservoirs. Of this total, 53.8 % was intentional uses, followed by extraction and combustion (26.5%), and mineral production (19.6 %); 1,501 t were released into air, water, and land, of which extraction and combustion accounted for 48.6 % followed by mineral production (25.7 %) and intentional uses (25.6 %)

Developing a dataset for the expected anthropogenic mercury release in China in response to the Minamata convention on mercury

This paper contains supplementary data in support of a research paper published [1] regarding the expected anthropogenic mercury release in China in response to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (MCM). The dataset provided within this article contains a set of excel spreadsheets. Each spreadsheet contains filtered (collected) and analysed data, i.e., parameters, collected data, calculated and summarized results for mercury distribution by the category of mineral production, intentional uses, secondary metal production, extraction and combustion, and waste treatment in a specific year. The collected (filtered) data in this article consist of the input factor (IF), activity rate data (ARD), output scenario (OS), initial distribution factor (iDF), and redistribution factor (rDF). IF was from the default IF in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Toolkit Level 2 and published scientific papers. ARD was obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey database, China Statistical Yearbooks, and published scientific papers. The OS content was from the default OS in the UNEP Toolkit Level 2 and published scientific papers. iDF was from the default distribution factor (DF) in the UNEP Toolkit Level 2 and published scientific papers. rDF was from published scientific paper. The mercury input was calculated using IF and ARD. The mercury release to different media in the initial distribution step was calculated using the mercury input and iDF. The release of mercury to the final sinks in the redistribution step was calculated using the amount of sector-specific treatment/disposal, product or by-product, and rDF. The dataset with combination of the collected (filtered) and analyzed data can contribute to an understanding of differences in anthropogenic mercury release before and after implementation of the MCM, especially considering technology transformation in China. Government policymakers involved in hazardous waste management, especially those working on MCM, and engineers and scientists interested in hazardous waste management may benefit from these data. The data can be used for identifying the environmental impact of anthropogenic mercury release before and after the MCM in China. The data can facilitate the creation of strategic management policies for mercury as the MCM is implemented in China

Japanese Monetary Policy during the Collapse of the Bubble Economy: A View of Policymaking under Uncertainty

Focusing on policymaking under uncertainty, we analyze the monetary policy of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in the early 1990s, when the bubble economy collapsed. Conducting stochastic simulations with a large- scale macroeconomic model of the Japanese economy, we find that the BOJf s monetary policy at that time was essentially optimal under uncertainty about the policy multiplier. On the other hand, we also find that the BOJ's policy was not optimal under uncertainty about inflation dynamics, and that a more aggressive policy response than actually implemented would have been needed. Thus, optimal monetary policy differs greatly depending upon which type of uncertainty is emphasized. Taking into account the fact that overcoming deflation became an important issue from the latter 1990s, it is possible to argue that during the early 1990s the BOJ should have placed greater emphasis on uncertainty about inflation dynamics and implemented a more aggressive monetary policy. The result from a counterfactual simulation indicates that the inflation rate and the real growth rate would have been higher to some extent if the BOJ had implemented a more accommodative policy during the early 1990s. However, the simulation result also suggests that the effects would have been limited, and that an accommodative monetary policy itself would not have changed the overall image of the prolonged stagnation of the Japanese economy during the 1990s.Collapse of the bubble economy; Monetary policy; Uncertainty

Continuous Space-Time Semantics Allow Adaptive Program Execution

A spatial computer is a collection of devices filling spacewhose ability to interact is strongly dependent on theirproximity. Previously, we have showed that programmingsuch a computer as a continuous space can allow self-scalingacross computers with different device distributionsand can increase robustness against device failure. Wehave extended these ideas to time, allowing self-scalingacross computers with different communication and executionrates. We have used a network of 24 Mica2 Motes todemonstrate that a program exploiting these ideas showsminimal difference in behavior as the time between programsteps ranges from 100 ms to 300 ms and on a configurationwith mixed rates

Nonlinear triggering process of whistler-mode emissions in a homogeneous magnetic field

We perform an electromagnetic particle simulation of triggered emissions in a uniform magnetic field for understanding of nonlinear wave–particle interaction in the vicinity of the magnetic equator. A finite length of a whistler-mode triggering wave packet with a constant frequency is injected by oscillating an external current at the equator. We find that the first subpacket of triggered emissions is generated in the homogeneous magnetic field. By analyzing resonant currents and resonant electron dynamics in the simulation, we find that the formation of an electron hole in a velocity phase space results in resonant currents, and the currents cause wave amplification and frequency increase. We obtain the interaction time of counter-streaming resonant electrons in a triggering wave packet with a finite width. By changing the duration time of the triggering pulse, we evaluate the interaction time necessary for formation of an electron hole. We conduct 4 runs with different duration times of the triggering pulse, 980, 230, 105, 40 Ωe⁻¹, which correspond to cases with interaction times, 370%, 86%, 39%, and 15% of the nonlinear trapping period, respectively. We find generation of triggered emissions in the three cases of 370%, 86%, and 39%, which agrees with the conventional nonlinear model that the nonlinear transition time, which is necessary for formation of resonant currents, is about a quarter of the nonlinear trapping period

A Study of Commercial Solid Waste Generation and Composition in Phnom Penh City, CAMBODIA

This paper presents the findings of a study carried out in Phnom Penh city, Cambodia, on the basis of commercial solid waste. The waste samples were collected from hotels, restaurants, internet cafés, guesthouses, beer gardens, markets, schools, microfinances and shops from 22 July–28 August 2013. The objectives of this research are to determine waste generation rate, physical composition, and the level of recyclables remaining in the residual of waste stream and to evaluate the appropriate technology for waste treatment. The waste from 52 commercial sectors were daily collected and segregated into 23 categories. The results show that composition of commercial waste consist of 56.70% (biodegradable), 19.32% (plastic), 14.84% (paper), 8.14% (inorganics), 1.25% (textiles & shoes), 0.25% (rubber/leather), and 0.01% (wax). Waste generation rate (kg/cap/day) is 1.31 (internet cafés), 1.04 (restaurants), 0.84 (beer gardens), 0.51 (guesthouses), 0.33 (hotels), 0.23 (markets-family marts), 0.19 (ministries), 0.13 (council of ministers) and 0.11 (stores-phone, grocery and small cloth shops). In addition, schools and microfinance agencies produce waste less than 0.1.The most sorted wastes by those sectors are food waste, followed by glass bottle, paper, PET bottle, aluminium can and steels. The most recyclable remaining in unsorted waste is plastic, followed by paper, steels and aluminium can. Finally, treatment options for organic waste from commercial sectors in Phnom Penh were discussed. Keywords: Commercial solid waste; Recyclables; Composition; Waste Generation Rate, Phnom Pen