Feedforward, -backward and neutral transparency measures for British English

Orthographic transparency metrics for opaque or deep languages such as French and English have tended to focus on feedforward and/or feedback directions, with claims made for the influence of both on reading. In the present study, data for five transparency metrics for Southern British English, three of which are neither feedforward nor feedback, are presented demonstrating the complex relationships between metrics, and offering an explanation for feedback effects in children's reading accuracy. The structure of such metrics from a variety of corpus sizes and origins is investigated, concluding that large corpus sizes do not make a substantial contribution to the value of such metrics when compared with smaller samples, and that adult and child corpuses have very similar profiles

Reducing cultural barriers via Internet courses

A web-based learning environment has been developed to support students from China who are studying in the UK and are confronted by many cultural barriers, which may impede their academic studies.The electronic environment incorporates a number of approaches to support learning, ranging from a simple text-based presentation to more active methods, including opportunities to use search-based learning strategies. Experimental results demonstrate a clear advantage for these active approaches.Internet support was also provided for students in the form of an E-learning course for academic writing, which featured extensive opportunities for interactions with English peers. The experimental results demonstrated that the group with access to the E-course successfully acquired skills, resulting in their academic writing being indistinguishable from native English speakers

The Establishment of Employer Based Car Sharing Schemes in West Yorkshire.

This paper describes the initial findings of an SSRC sponsored project to establish and monitor organised car sharing schemes in West Yorkshire. It follows from an earlier project funded by the TRRL, which aimed to predict the likely outcome of such schemes using micro-simulation methods. The removal of most of the legal obstacles to car sharing in November 1978 made it possible to establish and monitor the effectiveness of actual schemes and to check upon the validity of the earlier models. With the help of West Yorkshire County Council, three major employers were approached and agreed to co-operate. Following initial surveys aimed at describing existing commuting patterns, all employees were circulated with application forms affording them the opportunity to give lifts to, receive lifts from, or to pool cars with fellow- commuters. Compatible applicants were matched by manual means and informed of prospective partners. At all three sites, discounts on automotive products were offered as an inducement to carsharers and at one, free reserved car parking spaces were also made available. Applications to join the schemes were received from less than 7% of the workforces and less than 2% of the workforces actually became carsharers as a result of the scheme. About two thirds of the arrangements involved simple lift giving, with the same person driving at all times and receiving payments from passengers to cover costs. The remainder were carpools in which people took turns to drive. There appears to be evidence that this form of arrangement is adopted primarily to release the car for use at home rather than to save costs. The net effect of the scheme is an insignificant (<0.5%) reduction in work journey car mileage and a somewhat larger, though still marginal abstraction of public transport patronage. These findings broadly correspond to those of the earlier microsimulation models. Though detailed deviations occur, the experiments bear out the model's predictions that the effects of this type of carsharing scheme are likely to be extremely modest and the communitx benefits are unlikely to justify the costs of administration unless the impacts can be magnified or localised. The experience gained in running these experiments may prove useful to others contemplating the establishment of schemes elsewhere

Docking and retrieval mechanism

An engineering prototype docking and retrieval mechanism (DRM) which enables two spacecraft to dock and be structurally joined on-orbit is described. The joining of two spacecraft or payloads on-orbit supports future planned space activities such as payload servicing, deployment and retrieval, and assembly or large space systems. Advantages of the DRM include: it is a nonimpact docking mechanism; does not require impact absorbing mechanisms or attitude stabilization on the target spacecraft; is capable of docking to a spinning spacecraft; and can spin up and deploy a spinning spacecraft or payload

Projective, Sparse, and Learnable Latent Position Network Models

When modeling network data using a latent position model, it is typical to assume that the nodes' positions are independently and identically distributed. However, this assumption implies the average node degree grows linearly with the number of nodes, which is inappropriate when the graph is thought to be sparse. We propose an alternative assumption---that the latent positions are generated according to a Poisson point process---and show that it is compatible with various levels of sparsity. Unlike other notions of sparse latent position models in the literature, our framework also defines a projective sequence of probability models, thus ensuring consistency of statistical inference across networks of different sizes. We establish conditions for consistent estimation of the latent positions, and compare our results to existing frameworks for modeling sparse networks.Comment: 51 pages, 2 figure

Safety shield for vacuum/pressure chamber viewing port

Observers are protected from flying debris resulting from a failure of a vacuum or pressure chamber viewing port following an implosion or explosion by an optically clear shatter resistant safety shield which spaced apart from the viewing port on the outer surface of the chamber

Factors affecting the retirement of commercial transport jet aircraft

A brief historical background of the technology and economics of aircraft replacement and retirement in the prejet era is presented to see whether useful insights can be obtained applicable to the jet area. Significant differences between the two periods were demonstated. Current technological and operational economic perspectives were investigated in detail. Some conclusions are drawn to aircraft retirement policies