Review of software applications for deriving collocations

The field of collocation extraction has enjoyed considerable growth and vitality from the 1990s onwards. Our research uncovered a multitude of software programs that can derive collocations from textual data, but also introduced the following question: Which one is the most fitting for the task of extracting collocations from a corpus? This paper attempts to answer the previous question. We start by stating the criteria on which we based our judgement of the software applications included in our review. We then move on to give a brief description of each package, in terms of its functions, merits and demerits. We conclude by stating which of the packages was deemed, according to our opinion, the most appropriate for our purposes and provide a summary table of the results of the software review

Optimising content clarity for human-machine systems

This paper details issues associated with the production of clearly expressed and comprehensible technical documentation for domestic appliances and human-machine systems, and describes an approach to optimising the clarity of such content. The aim is to develop support for authors in checking the likely comprehensibility of chosen forms of expression by reference to an external measure of 'likely familiarity'. Our DOcumentation Support Tool (DoST) will assist in identifying words and expression forms that are likely to be unfamiliar to end users

From corpus-based collocation frequencies to readability measure

This paper provides a broad overview of three separate but related areas of research. Firstly, corpus linguistics is a growing discipline that applies analytical results from large language corpora to a wide variety of problems in linguistics and related disciplines. Secondly, readability research, as the name suggests, seeks to understand what makes texts more or less comprehensible to readers, and aims to apply this understanding to issues such as text rating and matching of texts to readers. Thirdly, collocation is a language feature that occurs when particular words are used frequently together for other than purely grammatical reasons. The intersection of these three aspects provides the basis for on-going research within the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Strathclyde and is the motivation for this overview. Specifically, we aim through analysis of collocation frequencies in major corpora, to afford valuable insight on the content of texts, which we believe will, in turn, provide a novel basis for estimating text readability

Method of making encapsulated solar cell modules

Electrical connections to solar cells in a module are made at the same time the cells are encapsulated for protection. The encapsulating material is embossed to facilitate the positioning of the cells during assembly

Preliminary results of accelerated exposure testing of solar cell system components

Plastic samples and solar cell sub modules were exposed to an accelerated outdoor environment in Arizona and an accelerated simulated environment in a cyclic ultraviolet exposure tester which included humidity exposure. These tests were for preliminary screening of materials suitable for use in the manufacture of solar cell modules which are to have a 20-year lifetime. The samples were exposed for various times up to six months, equivalent to a real time exposure of four years. Suitable materials were found to be FEP-A, FEP-C, PFA, acrylic, silicone compounds and adhesives and possibly parylene. The method of packaging the sub modules was also found to be important to their performance

Real time outdoor exposure testing of solar cell modules and component materials

Plastic samples, solar cell modules, and sub-modules were exposed at test sites in Florida, Arizona, Puerto Rico, and Cleveland, Ohio, in order to determine materials suitable for use in solar cell modules with a proposed 20-year lifetime. Various environments were encountered including subtropical, subtropical with a sea air atmosphere, desert, rain forest, normal urban, and urban-polluted. The samples were exposed for periods up to six months. Materials found not suitable were polyurethane, polyester, Kapton, Mylar, and UV-stabilized Lexan. Suitable materials were acrylic, FEP-A, and glass. The results of exposure of polyvinylidene fluoride were dependent on the specific formulation, but several types appear suitable. RTV silicone rubber (clear) appears to pick up and hold dirt both as a free film and as a potting medium for modules. The results indicate that dirt accumulation and cleanability are important factors in the selection of solar cell module covers and encapsulants

Improved cover for cadmium sulfide solar cells

Solar cell performance and radiation resistance is improved by application of 1-mil thickness of Teflon FEP protective material. Cells produce 30 percent more power than similar cells with conventional Kapton covers

Determinants of Industrial Performance in the EU-15 Countries, 1980-2003.

The process of EU integration has been associated with a variety of outcomes in time and space. A critical question has to do with the impact of open markets on the differences, in economic performance, among more and less advanced countries. Given that industrial activity is more exposed to the forces of integration than any other productive activity, this discussion is more interesting when it focuses on industry. The paper aims to detect the determinants of industrial performance in the EU-15 countries covering the period 1980-2003 in the ongoing process of EU integration. Understanding the factors behind success and failure may have an added value for policy-making at a time when EU structural and cohesion policies are under scrutiny.

A Generalized Model of Regional Economic Growth in the European Union

Understanding the forces driving regional growth in the EU is a major challenge for theory and policy. The opening of national borders, together with the rapid technological and scientific progress, has exposed regional economies to an extremely competitive, free-market, integrated economic environment, affecting their patterns of development. EU regions should, thus, be understood not only as national, geographic and administrative sub-divisions, but also as integral parts of the EU economic space. The paper develops a generalized econometric model for the investigation of the determinants of regional economic growth in 249 EU NUTS II regions, for the period 1990-2003. The model provides critical insight with important implications for theory and policy.DYNREG, regional economic growth, EU regions