Post-WTO China : competition and technology transfer laws in the 'new' socialist market economy

China has been the focus of much academic and business scrutiny of late. Its economic climate is changing and its huge new market opportunities seem quite tantalizing to the would-be 'technology entrepreneur'. But China's market is a relatively immature one; it is still in the process of being opened up to real competition. The corollary of this is that, at this stage of the transitional process, there is still significant State control of market function. This article discusses Chinese competition law, the technology transfer system, how the laws are being reformed and how the technology entrepreneur fares under them. The bottom line is that while opportunities beckon, the wise entrepreneur will nevertheless continue to exercise caution.

Water sensitive urban design in landscape projects in Shijiazhuang and Yueyang in China [水敏性城市设计 (WSUD) 策略及景观项目中的应用 (中国石家莊和中國岳陽)]

With the rapid urbanization progress, water resources protection and water pollution control have become key problems of human environment construction and social sustainable development. Many countries, especially Australia, have mature experiences. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is one of the successful strategies that is put forward under this global situation and helps releasing heavy environmental pressure from urbanization. The paper discussed main principles of WSUD and then took Shijiazhuang, Heibei and Yueng, Hunan for examples trying to apply WSUD in river landscape projects in China's new urban area, thus doing contributions to more sustainable water management in new urban areas in China.

Transforming agriculture through pervasive wireless sensor networks

A large-scale, outdoor, pervasive computing system based on the Fleck hardware platform applies sensor network technology to farming. Comprising static and animal-borne mobile nodes, the system measures the state of a complex, dynamic system comprising climate, soil, pasture, and animals. This data supports prediction of the land's future state and improved management outcomes through closed-loop control. This article is part of a special issue, Building a Sensor-Rich World.

The relationship between particulate air pollution and emergency hospital visits for hypertension in Beijing, China

BACKGROUND: A number of epidemiological studies have examined the adverse effect of air pollution on mortality and morbidity. Also, several studies have investigated the associations between air pollution and specific-cause diseases including arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, and heart failure. However, little is known about the relationship between air pollution and the onset of hypertension. OBJECTIVE: To explore the risk effect of particulate matter air pollution on the emergency hospital visits (EHVs) for hypertension in Beijing, China. METHODS: We gathered data on daily EHVs for hypertension, fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(2.5)), particulate matter less than 10 microm in aerodynamic diameter (PM(10)), sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide in Beijing, China during 2007. A time-stratified case-crossover design with distributed lag model was used to evaluate associations between ambient air pollutants and hypertension. Daily mean temperature and relative humidity were controlled in all models. RESULTS: There were 1,491 EHVs for hypertension during the study period. In single pollutant models, an increase in 10 microg/m(3) in PM(2.5) and PM(10) was associated with EHVs for hypertension with odds ratios (overall effect of five days) of 1.084 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.028, 1.139) and 1.060% (95% CI: 1.020, 1.101), respectively. CONCLUSION: Elevated levels of ambient particulate matters are associated with an increase in EHVs for hypertension in Beijing, China.

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Tropical and Temperae Agriculture: The Need for a Full-Cost Accounting of Global Warming Potentials

Agriculture's contribution to radiative forcing is principally through its historical release of carbon in soil and vegetation to the atmosphere and through its contemporary release of nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CHM4). The sequestration of soil carbon in soils now depleted in soil organic matter is a well-known strategy for mitigating the buildup of CO2 in the atmosphere. Less well-recognized are other mitigation potentials. A full-cost accounting of the effects of agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to quantify the relative importance of all mitigation options. Such an analysis shows nitrogen fertilizer, agricultural liming, fuel use, N2O emissions, and CH4 fluxes to have additional significant potential for mitigation. By evaluating all sources in terms of their global warming potential it becomes possible to directly evaluate greenhouse policy options for agriculture. A comparison of temperate and tropical systems illustrates some of these options.

Nitrogen fertilizer management for nitrous oxide (N2O) mitigation in intensive corn (Maize) production: an emissions reduction protocol for US Midwest agriculture

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse gas (GHG) product of intensive agriculture. Fertilizer nitrogen (N) rate is the best single predictor of N2O emissions in row-crop agriculture in the US Midwest. We use this relationship to propose a transparent, scientifically robust protocol that can be utilized by developers of agricultural offset projects for generating fungible GHG emission reduction credits for the emerging US carbon cap and trade market. By coupling predicted N2O flux with the recently developed maximum return to N (MRTN) approach for determining economically profitable N input rates for optimized crop yield, we provide the basis for incentivizing N2O reductions without affecting yields. The protocol, if widely adopted, could reduce N2O from fertilized row-crop agriculture by more than 50%. Although other management and environmental factors can influence N2O emissions, fertilizer N rate can be viewed as a single unambiguous proxy—a transparent, tangible, and readily manageable commodity. Our protocol addresses baseline establishment, additionality, permanence, variability, and leakage, and provides for producers and other stakeholders the economic and environmental incentives necessary for adoption of agricultural N2O reduction offset projects.