Universal quantification in children’s English

Researchers since Inhelder and Piaget (1964) have replicated a curious finding. When using a picture-verification task (e.g., a picture of four elephants, three of them being ridden by boys), children have been shown to supply a non-adult answer in response to a question such as ‘Is every boy riding an elephant?’, e.g. ‘no, not that one’ (pointing to the extra elephant). The question we will address here is whether or not this response by children reflects a non-adult linguistic semantic representation of the meaning of the universal quantifier. Non-adult accounts of children’s interpretation of the universal quantifier (‘every’) suggest that children answer ‘no’ to questions like ‘Is every boy riding an elephant?’ because they may not initially interpret the subject set of ‘boys’ as the restrictor of every. By contrast, adult-like accounts of children’s interpretation of every maintain that children do correctly interpret the set of ‘boys’ as the restrictor of every in such sentences, suggesting that children’s non-adult responses can be eliminated by satisfying contextual demands on the use of the universal quantifier. In this paper, we present longitudinal data from 4 two-year-old children, children far younger than have previously been studied experimentally. We show that even from the earliest stages of language acquisition, so long as sentences are presented in felicitous discourse contexts, children’s interpretation of universal quantification appears adult-like. The data therefore support the adult-like accounts of children’s acquisition of universal quantification

Stormwater management:Methods for measuring near-surface infiltration capacity in clayey till

Glacial till forms a major proportion of the surface deposits in Northern Europe, and in Denmark more than 40% of the land surface is covered by clayey till. At the same time the majority of densely populated areas are situated on this fertile sediment type. In urban areas, one of the major tools in adaptation to climate change are sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). Their function is to manage the increasing amounts of stormwater on site, often by direct infiltration into the sediment. Accordingly, a realistic estimate of nearsurface hydraulic properties is required when dimensioning SuDS for infiltration

Global tephra studies: role and importance of the international tephra research group “Commission on Tephrochronology” in its first 60 years

Tephrochronology is a correlational and age-equivalent dating method whereby practitioners characterize, map, and date tephra (or volcanic ash) layers and use them stratigraphically as connecting and dating tools in the geosciences (including volcanology) and in studies of past environments and archaeology. Modern tephra studies per se began around 100 years ago (in the 1920s), but the first collective of tephrochronologists with a common purpose and nascent global outlook was not formed until 7 September 1961 in Warsaw, Poland. On that date, the inaugural “Commission on Tephrochronology” (COT) was ratified under the aegis of the International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA). The formation of COT is attributable largely to the leadership of Kunio Kobayashi of Japan, the commission's president for its first 12 years. We were motivated to record and evaluate the function and importance of COT because tephrochronology continues to grow globally and its heritage needs to be understood, appreciated, and preserved. In addition, studies on cryptotephras, which are fine-grained glass-shard and/or crystal concentrations preserved in sediments or soils but insufficiently numerous to be visible as a layer to the naked eye, have also expanded dramatically in recent times. Therefore, in this article, we review the role and impacts of COT under the umbrella of INQUA for 53 of the last 60 years or under IAVCEI (International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior) for 7 of the last 60 years, including since 2019. The commission also functioned under other names (abbreviated as COTS, CEV, ICCT, COTAV, SCOTAV, and INTAV; see Table 2 for definitions). As well as identifying key persons of influence, we describe the development of the commission, its leaders, and its activities, which include organizing nine specialist tephra field meetings in seven different countries. Members of the commission have participated in numerous other conferences (including specialist tephra sessions) or workshops of regional to international scale, and they have played leading roles in international projects such as INTIMATE (INTegrating Ice-core, MArine and TErrestrial records) and SMART (Synchronising Marine And ice-core Records using Tephrochronology). As well as strongly supporting early-career researchers including graduate students, the commission has generated 10 tephra-themed journal volumes and two books. It has published numerous other articles including field guidebooks, reports, and specialist internet documents/sites. Although its fortunes have ebbed as well as flowed, the commission began to prosper after 1987 when key changes in leadership occurred. COT has blossomed further, especially in the past decade or so, as an entire new cohort of specialists, including many engaged in cryptotephra studies, has emerged alongside new geoanalytical and dating techniques or protocols to become a vibrant global group today. We name 29 elected officers who have been involved with COT since 1961 as well as 15 honorary life members. After reviewing the aims of the commission, we conclude by evaluating its legacies and by documenting current and future work

Epsilon Haemoglobin Specific Antibodies with Applications in Noninvasive Prenatal Diagnosis

Invasive procedures for prenatal diagnosis are associated with increased risk of abortion; thus, development of noninvasive procedures would be beneficial. Based on the observation that embryonic nucleated red blood cell (NRBC) crosses the placenta and enters the circulation of pregnant women, the ability to identify such cell would allow development of such procedures. Identification of NRBCs in blood samples would be possible provided that specific antibodies are available. Here we have isolated recombinant antibodies using phage display. From the panel of antibody fragments specifically recognising ε-Hb, one was chosen for further characterization, DAb1. DAb1 binds to ε-Hb both in Western blots and immunocytochemistry. Several ε-Hb positive cells were detected in a blood sample taken as postchorionic villus sampling (CVS). To evaluate the sensitivity of the method, K562 cells (which express ε-Hb) were spiked in a blood sample followed by staining in solution and FACS analysis

Evaluering af Bycyklen i København.

Her i august 1997 står Bycyklen i København midt i projektets tredje sæson, og Bycyklen er ved at bide sig fast som en permanent del af det københavnske trafikbillede. Der har ikke i projektets første to leveår været midler til at foretage en systematisk undersøgelse af, hvordan Bycyklerne bruges, men der findes registreringer af cyklerne i stativerne samt en del mere journalistiske beskrivelser. Det er derfor meget vigtigt for erfaringsopsamlingen omkring Bycyklen, at Transportrådet har bevilliget støtte til en evaluering af projektet i 1997. Det er Danmarks Tekniske Universitet ved Jan Grubb Laursen, der står for undersøgelsen, og der afrapporteres i slutningen af året. Jeg har dog fået lov til at se lidt på det foreløbige materiale og kan vise nogle eksempler fra undersøgelsen. Også ZEUS-Projektet (“Zero and low Emission vehicles in Urban Societies”) under EU har givet midler til evaluering af Bycyklen i de næste par år. Det følgende er altså min vurdering af Bycyklen 1995 - 97, og jeg vil indlede med en meget kort beskrivelse af bycykelsystemet. Bycyklen må kun bruges i Københavns Indre By afgrænset af Søerne, Havnen og Christianshavns Vold, et område der svarer til P-betalingszonen. Bycyklerne frigives fra et stativ mod en pant på 20 kr., som det kendes fra supermarkeder. Pengene fås tilbage, når cyklen stilles igen i et af de 120 stativer. Og hvordan er så de første 3 år af projektets levetid er gået