Cross-linguistic patterns in the acquisition of quantifiers

Learners of most languages are faced with the task of acquiring words to talk about number and quantity. Much is known about the order of acquisition of number words as well as the cognitive and perceptual systems and cultural practices that shape it. Substantially less is known about the acquisition of quantifiers. Here, we consider the extent to which systems and practices that support number word acquisition can be applied to quantifier acquisition and conclude that the two domains are largely distinct in this respect. Consequently, we hypothesize that the acquisition of quantifiers is constrained by a set of factors related to each quantifier's specific meaning. We investigate competence with the expressions for "all," "none," "some," "some not," and "most" in 31 languages, representing 11 language types, by testing 768 5-y-old children and 536 adults. We found a cross-linguistically similar order of acquisition of quantifiers, explicable in terms of four factors relating to their meaning and use. In addition, exploratory analyses reveal that languageand learner-specific factors, such as negative concord and gender, are significant predictors of variation

Contrasting acclimation mechanisms of berry color variant grapevine cultivars (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Furmint) to natural sunlight conditions

The acclimation mechanisms of two berry color variant grapevine leaves, Furmint White (FW) and Furmint Red (FR), to natural sunlight conditions were investigated comparing leaves from two distinct locations: at canopy surface (sun-exposed leaves) and in the inner layers (shaded leaves). We found that in contrast to FR leaves, sun-exposed FW leaves were thicker than shaded leaves due to thicker palisade tissues. Confocal laser scanning microscopy of Naturstoff-treated leaf segments revealed that flavonoids were accumulated in nuclei, cell walls, cytoplasm, and chloroplasts of the adaxial epidermal and palisade layers of sun-exposed leaves in both cultivars. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis showed that the main phenolic components in both cultivars were caftaric acid and various glycosylated flavonols. Among the latter, the dominant component was quercetin glucuronide in both cultivars, unaffected by light conditions. However, caftaric acid and quercetin glucoside were present in significantly higher amounts in sun-exposed than in shaded leaves of both cultivars, but the effect of light conditions on caftaric acid contents was more pronounced in FR than in FW. Accordingly, the total polyphenol content of leaf extracts characterized by Folin-reagent reactivity was more enhanced in sun-exposed leaves of FR, than in FW. Our data suggest two different sunlight acclimation strategies to protect photosynthetic mesophyll tissues from potential photo-oxidative damage. One is realized in FW leaves as stronger shading by thicker palisade layer accompanied by enhanced chemical defense. The other is achieved in FR leaves via a more pronounced increase in caftaric acid and total polyphenol content but without morphological adjustments

Charge collection studies in irradiated HV-CMOS particle detectors

Charge collection properties of particle detectors made in HV-CMOS technology were investigated before and after irradiation with reactor neutrons. Two different sensor types were designed and processed in 180 and 350 nm technology by AMS. Edge-TCT and charge collection measurements with electrons from 90Sr source were employed. Diffusion of generated carriers from undepleted substrate contributes significantly to the charge collection before irradiation, while after irradiation the drift contribution prevails as shown by charge measurements at different shaping times. The depleted region at a given bias voltage was found to grow with irradiation in the fluence range of interest for strip detectors at the HL-LHC. This leads to large gains in the measured charge with respect to the one before irradiation. The increase of the depleted region was attributed to removal of effective acceptors. The evolution of depleted region with fluence was investigated and modeled. Initial studies show a small effect of short term annealing on charge collection

Charge collection studies in irradiated HV-CMOS particle detectors

Charge collection properties of particle detectors made in HV-CMOS technology were investigated before and after irradiation with reactor neutrons. Two different sensor types were designed and processed in 180 and 350 nm technology by AMS. Edge-TCT and charge collection measurements with electrons from 90Sr source were employed. Diffusion of generated carriers from undepleted substrate contributes significantly to the charge collection before irradiation, while after irradiation the drift contribution prevails as shown by charge measurements at different shaping times. The depleted region at a given bias voltage was found to grow with irradiation in the fluence range of interest for strip detectors at the HL-LHC. This leads to large gains in the measured charge with respect to the one before irradiation. The increase of the depleted region was attributed to removal of effective acceptors. The evolution of depleted region with fluence was investigated and modeled. Initial studies show a small effect of short term annealing on charge collection