Spin wave propagation in uniform waveguide: effects, modulation and its application

With the advent of the post-Moore era, researches on beyond-Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) approaches have been attracted more and more attention. Magnonics, or spin wave is one of the most promising technology beyond CMOS, which magnons-quanta for spin waves-process the information analogous to electronic charges in electronics. Information transmission by spin waves, which uses the frequency, amplitude and (or) phase to encode information, has a great many of advantages such as extremely low energy loss and wide-band frequency. Moreover, using the nonlinear characteristics of spin waves for information transmission can increase the extra degree of freedom of information. This review provides a tutorial overview over the effects of spin wave propagation and recent research progress in uniform spin wave waveguide. The propagation characteristics of spin waves in uniform waveguides and some special propagation phenomena such as spin wave beam splitting and self-focusing are described by combining experimental phenomena and theoretical formulas. Furthermore, we summarize methods for modulating propagation of spin wave in uniform waveguide, and comment on the advantages and limitations of these methods. The review may promote the development of information transmission technology based on spin waves.

Invisible or Powerful? Ageing in a Mediatised Society

In order to live your rights and achieve your goals, you need to be informed, have a voice and be listened to, and have the opportunity to engage in society, regardless of age. Freedom of expression and freedom of information are core human rights values that connect the concept of capability with the role of the media in society. The media can be a tool for enhancing a person’s capabilities, but it can also be seen as hindering a good life if technology and its applications are perceived as awkward and/or difficult to access.At a structural level, a wider discussion of media responsibility has the potential to contribute to enhancing people’s capabilities in later life. One critical issue is who should be held accountable and responsible for media content that lacks diverse stories about older people and their voices, possibly reinforcing ageism. Furthermore, where the responsibility lies for ensuring that older people have the technological means to act as digital citizens is somewhat unclear. In an increasingly mediatised environment, we might see a stronger relationship between media literacy, health and ageing, which in turn could emphasise the importance of the role of the media in enhancing capabilities.

United Kingdom Freedom of Information Act 2000, Local Government and Everyday Regimes of Practice

The United Kingdom’s Freedom of Information Act 2000 commenced in 2005 with the objectives of openness and transparency, accountability, better decision making and public involvement in decision making. However, there have been limited studies of its long-term impacts on government practices and how far the Act has delivered on its stated objectives, and even fewer studies into how Freedom of Information works in practice, especially at local government level. Addressing these gaps in existing knowledge, this research seeks to critically evaluate existing regimes of practices across local authorities. It seeks to identify the multiple practices surrounding the implementation of the 2000 Act, evaluate how these practices are reproduced, and generate lessons for practice and alternative modes of delivering Freedom of Information.

The Cost of Fraud Prediction Errors

We compare seven fraud prediction models with a cost-based measure that nets the benefits of correctly anticipating instances of fraud, against the costs borne by incorrectly flagging non-fraud firms. We find that even the best models trade off false to true positives at rates exceeding 100:1. Indeed, the high number of false positives makes all seven models considered too costly for auditors to implement, even in subsamples where misreporting is more likely. For investors, M-Score and at higher cut-offs the F-Score, are the only models providing a net benefit. For regulators, several models are economically viable as false positive costs are limited by the number of investigations regulators can initiate, and by the relatively low market value loss a "falsely accused" firm would bear in denials of requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Our results are similar whether we consider fraud or two alternative restatement samples.

The Prison Media Complex: Labour, Technology and Communication Infrastructures in the Prison System

Prisons are a recurring topic and backdrop in the popular culture of the Global North. They often serve as spectacular environments that seem far removed from most people’s everyday lives. This article develops the notion of the prison media complex and discusses material entanglements between prisons and private media industries via the production of media technologies, consumption of communication, and technology development in the prison sector. The article seeks to answer the question of how we can conceptualise the prison media complex (PMC) from a materialist perspective. Taking the Swedish context as a starting point, we analyse the economic and material connections that characterise the PMC in this national context. Drawing on archival data, participant observations at prison technology tradeshows and a prison sector conference, as well as freedom of information requests, we bring nuance to the picture of media and communication technologies, as technologies of freedom are also based on unfreedom and captivity.

Government Cloud Procurement

In Government Cloud Procurement, Kevin McGillivray explores the question of whether governments can adopt cloud computing services and still meet their legal requirements and other obligations to citizens. The book focuses on the interplay between the technical properties of cloud computing services and the complex legal requirements applicable to cloud adoption and use. The legal issues evaluated include data privacy law (GDPR and the US regime), jurisdictional issues, contracts, and transnational private law approaches to addressing legal requirements. McGillivray also addresses the unique position of governments when they outsource core aspects of their information and communications technology to cloud service providers. His analysis is supported by extensive research examining actual cloud contracts obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. With the demand for cloud computing on the rise, this study fills a gap in legal literature and offers guidance to organizations considering cloud computing.

The Control of the Past: Herbert Butterfield and the Pitfalls of Official History

Herbert Butterfield (1900–1979) was one of the earliest and strongest critics of what he saw as the British government’s attempts to control the past through the writing of so-called, ‘official histories’. His famous diatribe against the ‘pitfalls’ of official history first appeared in 1949, at a time when the British government was engaged in publishing official histories and diplomatic documents on an unprecedented scale following the Second World War. But why was Butterfield so hostile to official history, and why do his views still matter today? Written by one of the few historians employed by the British government today, this important new book details how successive governments have applied a selective approach to the past in order to tell or re-tell Britain’s national history, with implications for the future. Providing a unique overview of the main trends of official history in Britain since the Second World War, the book details how Butterfield came to suspect that the British government was trying to suppress vital documents revealing the Duke of Windsor’s dealings with Nazi Germany. This seemed to confirm his long-held belief that all governments would seek to manipulate history if they could, and conceal the truth if they could not. At the beginning of the 21st century, official history is still being written and the book concludes with an insider’s perspective on the many issues it faces today– on freedom of information, social media and reengaging with our nation’s colonial legacy. Governments have recently been given many reminders that history matters, and it is Herbert Butterfield above all who reminds us that we must remain vigilant in monitoring how they respond to the challenge.

Who funded the research behind the Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine?

ObjectivesThe Oxford–AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, Vaxzevira or Covishield) builds on two decades of research and development (R&D) into chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored vaccine (ChAdOx) technology at the University of Oxford. This study aimed to approximate the funding for the R&D of ChAdOx and the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine and to assess the transparency of funding reporting mechanisms.MethodsWe conducted a scoping review and publication history analysis of the principal investigators to reconstruct R&D funding the ChAdOx technology. We matched award numbers with publicly accessible grant databases. We filed freedom of information (FOI) requests to the University of Oxford for the disclosure of all grants for ChAdOx R&D.ResultsWe identified 100 peer-reviewed articles relevant to ChAdOx technology published between January 2002 and October 2020, extracting 577 mentions of funding bodies from acknowledgements. Government funders from overseas (including the European Union) were mentioned 158 times (27.4%), the UK government 147 (25.5%) and charitable funders 138 (23.9%). Grant award numbers were identified for 215 (37.3%) mentions; amounts were publicly available for 121 (21.0%). Based on the FOIs, until December 2019, the biggest funders of ChAdOx R&D were the European Commission (34.0%), Wellcome Trust (20.4%) and Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (17.5%). Since January 2020, the UK government contributed 95.5% of funding identified. The total identified R&D funding was £104 226 076 reported in the FOIs and £228 466 771 reconstructed from the literature search.ConclusionOur study approximates that public and charitable financing accounted for 97%–99% of identifiable funding for the ChAdOx vaccine technology research at the University of Oxford underlying the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine until autumn 2020. We encountered a lack of transparency in research funding reporting.