Policy Responses to the Post-bubble Adjustments in Japan: A Tentative Review

This paper provides a very tentative review of the monetary and prudential policy responses to the post-bubble adjustments in Japan. The adjustments after the collapse of the bubble have been prolonged due to (1) the rapid downward revision of the expected economic growth rate; (2) balance-sheet adjustments on the part of firms; and (3) the malfunctioning of the financial intermediary system stemming from its nonperforming-asset problem. We use four yardsticks, Marshallian k, Taylor rule, the equity yield spread, and the short-term real interest rate for assessing the monetary easing. The results suggest that the timing of policy reversal was swift and the magnitude of easing in the early phase could be viewed as broadly adequate for dealing with a normal business cycle. It is possible to argue that the effects of the bursting of the bubble might have not been sufficiently taken into account. It should be noted the outcome would not have differed greatly even if the drastic monetary easing that eventually took place had been decided at an earlier point in time without a fundamental cure of the nonperforming- asset problem. A considerable achievement of prudential policy in the period under review is that systemic risk was avoided with the cost being delayed in establishing a legal framework for handling troubled financial institutions and in organizing a comprehensive safety net. As a result of this delay, it took a long time to deal with the nonperforming- asset problem. This, in turn, posed a serious drag on the economy. Our preliminary conclusion about the lesson we should draw from this experience is the importance for the Bank of Japan of identifying the precise impacts of shocks on the economy as well as their transmission mechanism promptly and thereby minimizing adjustment costs. It should also be conducive for the Bank to address actively structural issues that may influence the effectiveness of its policy measures.

Droplet activation, separation, and compositional analysis: laboratory studies and atmospheric measurements [Discussion paper]

Droplets produced in a cloud condensation nucleus chamber as a function of supersaturation have been separated from unactivated aerosol particles using counterflow virtual impaction. Residual material after droplets were evaporated was chemically analyzed with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer and the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry instrument. Experiments were initially conducted to verify activation conditions for monodisperse ammonium sulfate particles and to determine the resulting droplet size distribution as a function of supersaturation. Based on the observed droplet size, the counterflow virtual impactor cut-size was set to differentiate droplets from unactivated interstitial particles. Validation experiments were then performed to verify that only droplets with sufficient size passed through the counterflow virtual impactor for subsequent analysis. A two-component external mixture of monodisperse particles was also exposed to a supersaturation which would activate one of the types (ammonium sulfate) but not the other (polystyrene latex spheres). The mass spectrum observed after separation indicated only the former, validating separation of droplets from unactivated particles. Results from atmospheric measurements using this technique indicate that aerosol particles often activate predominantly as a function of particle size. Chemical composition is not irrelevant, however, and we observed enhancement of sulfate in droplet residuals using single particle analysis

<News> Bush Fire Control Using Arbors in Green Corridor Project at Bossou

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX178374 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Droplet activation, separation, and compositional analysis: laboratory studies and atmospheric measurements

Droplets produced in a cloud condensation nuclei chamber (CCNC) as a function of supersaturation have been separated from unactivated aerosol particles using counterflow virtual impaction. Residual material after droplets were evaporated was chemically analyzed with an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and the Particle Analysis by Laser Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument. Experiments were initially conducted to verify activation conditions for monodisperse ammonium sulfate particles and to determine the resulting droplet size distribution as a function of supersaturation. Based on the observed droplet size, the counterflow virtual impactor cut-size was set to differentiate droplets from unactivated interstitial particles. Validation experiments were then performed to verify that only droplets with sufficient size passed through the counterflow virtual impactor for subsequent analysis. A two-component external mixture of monodisperse particles was also exposed to a supersaturation which would activate one of the types (hygroscopic salts) but not the other (polystyrene latex spheres or adipic acid). The mass spectrum observed after separation indicated only the former, validating separation of droplets from unactivated particles. Results from ambient measurements using this technique and AMS analysis were inconclusive, showing little chemical differentiation between ambient aerosol and activated droplet residuals, largely due to low signal levels. When employing as single particle mass spectrometer for compositional analysis, however, we observed enhancement of sulfate in droplet residuals

Substitusi Minyak Jagung dengan Minyak Sawit Merah dalam Produksi Susu Bubuk Rekombinasi: Pengaruhnya pada Sifat Fisik dan Gizi

A research on substitution of milk fat with red palm oil in Milk Powder (MP) production has been conducted. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of corn oil substitution with red palm oil on physical, chemical and nutritional properties of the recombined milk powder (RMP). Pre-formulated milk powder (PMP) was prepared by mixing of corn oil, skim milk powder, stabilizer and water followed by filtering, preheating, homogenization and spray drying. The corn oil was substituted with 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of red palm oil (RPO-0, RPO-25, RPO-50, RPO- 75 and RPO-100). RMP formula were prepared as a commercial milk powder formula with protein and fat content of 20% and 18%, respectively. Chemical and physical properties of the RMPs were analyzed. The RMPs were then reconstituted and sensory character as well as nutritional properties was examined. The result showed that substitution of 50% corn oil with red palm oil resulted in a red palm oil milk powder (RPOMP) similar to the corn oil milk powder (control milk powder) in term of panelist acceptability. This RPOMP have a higher wet ability and solubility index but lower dispersibility and similar density to the control milk powder. The RPOMP contain a lower total and beta carotene content but higher tocoferol content than the control milk powder. Spray drying in the pre-formulated milk powder processing decrease 90% of carotene content of the pre-formulated milk powder but the tocoferol content was not affected by the process. In Wistar rats, consumption of RPOMP for 4 weeks had no effects on the lipids profiles

Equation of state of isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter in relativistic mean-field models with chiral limits

Using in-medium hadron properties according to the Brown-Rho scaling due to the chiral symmetry restoration at high densities and considering naturalness of the coupling constants, we have newly constructed several relativistic mean-field Lagrangians with chiral limits. The model parameters are adjusted such that the symmetric part of the resulting equation of state at supra-normal densities is consistent with that required by the collective flow data from high energy heavy-ion reactions, while the resulting density dependence of the symmetry energy at sub-saturation densities agrees with that extracted from the recent isospin diffusion data from intermediate energy heavy-ion reactions. The resulting equations of state have the special feature of being soft at intermediate densities but stiff at high densities naturally. With these constrained equations of state, it is found that the radius of a 1.4$M_\odot$ canonical neutron star is in the range of 11.9 km$\leq$R$\leq$13.1 km, and the maximum neutron star mass is around 2.0$M_\odot$ close to the recent observations.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Physics Opportunities with Meson Beams

Over the past two decades, meson photo- and electro-production data of unprecedented quality and quantity have been measured at electromagnetic facilities worldwide. By contrast, the meson-beam data for the same hadronic final states are mostly outdated and largely of poor quality, or even nonexistent, and thus provide inadequate input to help interpret, analyze, and exploit the full potential of the new electromagnetic data. To reap the full benefit of the high-precision electromagnetic data, new high-statistics data from measurements with meson beams, with good angle and energy coverage for a wide range of reactions, are critically needed to advance our knowledge in baryon and meson spectroscopy and other related areas of hadron physics. To address this situation, a state of-the-art meson-beam facility needs to be constructed. The present paper summarizes unresolved issues in hadron physics and outlines the vast opportunities and advances that only become possible with such a facility.Comment: 46 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Formulasi dan Stabilitas Mikroemulsi O/W dengan Metode Emulsifikasi Spontan Menggunakan VCO dan Minyak Sawit sebagai Fase Minyak: Pengaruh Rasio Surfaktan-Minyak

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk (1) formulasi mikroemulsi o/w dengan variasirasio surfaktan-minyak, (2) menentukan stabilitas mikroemulsiterhadap sentrifugasi, pemanasan dan penyimpanan suhu ruang, dan (3) karakterisasi mikroemulsi dengan stabilitas terbaik. Mikroemulsi dibuat menggunakan campuran tiga surfaktan food grade yaitu surfaktan HLB rendah (span 80), sedang (span 20 atau span 40), dan tinggi (tween 80), dengan rasio surfaktan minyak 2, 3, 4 dan 5. VCO dan minyak kelapa sawit digunakan sebagai fase minyak, 10 μM bufer fosfat pH 7 sebagai fase aqueous. Mikroemulsi o/w terbentuk pada rasio surfaktan minyak 3 atau lebih untuk penggunaan VCO dan pada rasio surfaktan minyak yang lebih tinggi (yaitu 4 atau 5) untuk penggunaan minyak sawit sebagai fase minyak. Mikroemulsi dengan fase minyak VCO yang stabil terhadap sentrifugasi, pemanasan maupun penyimpanan suhu ruang adalah mikroemulsi dengan rasio surfaktan-minyak 4 atau 5, sedangkan penggunaan minyak sawit sebagai fase minyak menghasilkan mikroemulsi yang stabil pada rasio surfaktan-minyak 4. Mikroemulsi dengan rasio surfaktan-minyak 4 memperlihatkan stabilitas terbaik. Mikroemulsi tersebut memiliki distribusi ukuran partikel monomodal, rerata diameter partikel dan viskositas mencapai 21,7 ± 0,02nm dan 6,0 ± 0,10cp (VCO), 22,9 ± 0,15nm dan 6,2 ± 0,05cp (minyak sawit)