On the Exploitation of the Inherent Error Resilience of Wireless Systems under Unreliable Silicon

In this paper, we investigate the impact of circuit misbehavior due to parametric variations and voltage scaling on the performance of wireless communication systems. Our study reveals the inherent error resilience of such systems and argues that sufficiently reliable operation can be maintained even in the presence of unreliable circuits and manufacturing defects. We further show how selective application of more robust circuit design techniques is sufficient to deal with high defect rates at low overhead and improve energy efficiency with negligible system performance degradation.

Top incomes under finance-driven capitalism, 1990-2010: power resources and regulatory orders

This article examines the impact of financialisation on the income shares of the top 1% from 1990-2010, through a panel analysis of 14 OECD countries. Drawing together literatures stressing the dependence of income inequality on the structural bargaining power of capital relative to labour, and of the dependence of accumulation on underlying institutionalised modes of state regulation, it shows that financialisation has significantly enhanced top income shares net of underlying controls. Whilst the income shares of the top 1% appear responsive to variables typical of wider studies of personal income inequality, we emphasise distinctive mechanisms of top income growth linked to the rising dominance of financial instruments and actors, facilitated by a historically specific regulatory order. These conditions were key to the emergence of a state of ‘asymmetric bargaining’ which disproportionately enhanced the fortunes of the wealthy. Results thus emphasise the importance of class-biased power resources and underlying regulatory structures, as determinants both of income concentration and of the distribution of economic rewards beyond growth capacity alone.

The early exploitation of Southeast Asian mangroves:Bone technology from caves and open sites

This paper focuses on the contribution that the study of bone technology is making to the understanding of early tropical subsistence in Southeast Asia. Newly completed research suggests that during the period from the terminal Pleistocene to mid Holocene, bone tools may have featured prominently in coastal subsistence. There are indications that this technology may have had a particular association with hunting and gathering in the mangrove forests that proliferated along many coasts during this period. The study of these tools thus represents a rare chance to examine prehistoric extractive technologies, which are generally agreed to have been predominantly made on organic, nonpreserving media. The evidence presented also suggests that prehistoric foragers from this region possessed a good working understanding of the mechanical properties of bone and used bone implements where conditions and needs suited the parameters of this material. © 2005 by the University of Hawai'i Press.

Beyond Pietism and Prosperity: Religious Resources for Reconstruction and Reconciliation in Zimbabwe

It is often assumed that charismatic Christianity in Africa promotes either a pietist withdrawal from social and political concerns, or a preoccupation with gaining individual health and wealth (the prosperity gospel). This research presents an alternative vision of the role of charismatic Christianity in Zimbabwe. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of a charismatic congregation, it analyzes how these Christians are drawing links between spirituality and social action. This congregation is developing an egalitarian conception of power, promoting service to the poor, and using biblical discourses to support their actions. This can be understood as part of a wider process in which Zimbabwean Christians are using religious resources to develop a vision for reconstruction and reconciliation. This article points to further areas in which the churches could use their public position to raise sensitive issues, including how to deal with the past and heal relationships between previously antagonistic groups.

Catalyst-Free Photoredox Addition-Cyclisations: Exploitation of Natural Synergy between Aryl Acetic Acids and Maleimide

Suitably functionalised carboxylic acids undergo a previously unknown photoredox reaction when irradiated with UVA in the presence of maleimide. Maleimide was found to synergistically act as a radical generating photoxidant and as a radical acceptor, negating the need for an extrinsic photoredox catalyst. Modest to excellent yields of the product chromenopyrroledione, thiochromenopyrroledione and pyrroloquinolinedione derivatives were obtained in thirteen preparative photolyses. In situ NMR spectroscopy was used to study each reaction. Reactant decay and product build-up were monitored, enabling reaction profiles to be plotted. A plausible mechanism, whereby photo-excited maleimide acts as an oxidant to generate a radical ion pair, has been postulated and is supported by UV/Vis. spectroscopy and DFT computations. The radical-cation reactive intermediates were also characterised in solution by EPR spectroscopy.

Accumulating research: a systematic account of how cumulative meta-analyses would have provided knowledge, improved health, reduced harm and saved resources

BACKGROUND: "Cumulative meta-analysis" describes a statistical procedure to calculate, retrospectively, summary estimates from the results of similar trials every time the results of a further trial in the series had become available. In the early 1990 s, comparisons of cumulative meta-analyses of treatments for myocardial infarction with advice promulgated through medical textbooks showed that research had continued long after robust estimates of treatment effects had accumulated, and that medical textbooks had overlooked strong, existing evidence from trials. Cumulative meta-analyses have subsequently been used to assess what could have been known had new studies been informed by systematic reviews of relevant existing evidence and how waste might have been reduced.

METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used a systematic approach to identify and summarise the findings of cumulative meta-analyses of studies of the effects of clinical interventions, published from 1992 to 2012. Searches were done of PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Methodology Register and Science Citation Index. A total of 50 eligible reports were identified, including more than 1,500 cumulative meta-analyses. A variety of themes are illustrated with specific examples. The studies showed that initially positive results became null or negative in meta-analyses as more trials were done; that early null or negative results were over-turned; that stable results (beneficial, harmful and neutral) would have been seen had a meta-analysis been done before the new trial; and that additional trials had been much too small to resolve the remaining uncertainties.

CONCLUSIONS: This large, unique collection of cumulative meta-analyses highlights how a review of the existing evidence might have helped researchers, practitioners, patients and funders make more informed decisions and choices about new trials over decades of research. This would have led to earlier uptake of effective interventions in practice, less exposure of trial participants to less effective treatments, and reduced waste resulting from unjustified research.

Economical and coordinated dispatch of CHP based microgrid with renewable energy resources

The advantages of high energy efficiency and economic benefit promote the wide application of combined heat and power system (CHP) based microgrid. Firstly, a mathematical model of the CHP based microgrid is developed. Then, a cost function for the coordination of heat and electric load is proposed. Finally, an optimal dispatch model is developed to achieve the economical and coordinated operation of the CHP based microgrid system. Simulation results verify effectiveness of the proposed dispatch model, which is a powerful tool for the energy management of CHP based microgrid with renewable energy resources.