Junctures: An Abecedum

Editor\u27s Note: Alfred Lubran\u27s article was inspired by the note on page 164 of David Crystal\u27s The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (reviewed in the November 1991 Word Ways); his examples of A, I, N, and T are reproduced below. All words can be found in Chambers English Dictionary

Word Containing the FFL Trigram

Where type is hand set, the type is kept in trays. Among the boxes in the lower-case trays are ones for the ligatures (letters joined on a single piece of type) ff, fi, fl, ffi and ffl. Of these, the ligature ffl always looks the newest because it is used least often. Just how infrequently is it used? When I asked the editor, he informed me that Kucera and Francis\u27s million-word sample of text published in the United States in 1962 revealed only 87 occurrences: ffl occurs, on the average, in only one word in ten thousand in running text

Collectible Words

No abstract available

Manias

In 1985, Alfred Lubran completed a 228-page book entitled Fears Phobias Philias Loves Manias Hates and Hurts (Human Behaviour), a compilation of lists of words accompanied by the briefest of descriptions. The following article excerpts the odder terms from one such list; if Word Ways readers welcome this, other such lists will be published in later issues

An Abecedum of the Word for God

No abstract available

FACTORS INFLUENCING MARYLAND FARMERS' ON-FARM PROCESSING LICENSE APPLICATION BEHAVIOR

A 2005 regulation adopted by Maryland's state health department allowed farmers to sell foods processed in their home kitchen provided they complete an 8-hour food safety education course and apply for an on-farm processing license. Although more than 100 farmers completed the course, only 25 farmers applied for and received a license. The number of licenses granted has not met expectations and the health department is continually looking for ways to improve the program. The objective of this study was to identify factors that may influence Maryland farmers' intentions to apply for a license as well as their actual license application behavior using a model which combines two dominant theoretical paradigms - the Health Belief Model and the Theory of Planned Behavior. To test the proposed model, a mail survey was administered to farmers who completed the training, farmers who have an on-farm license, and to a systematic random sample of other Maryland farmers (n = 745). To explore reasons why the courses may not have encouraged more farmers to apply, a content analysis of the training presentations was conducted by two trained coders. The usable survey response rate was 15% (n = 110). Using structural equation modeling, the proposed model, predicting farmers' intentions to apply for a license, was found to have marginal fit. Significant direct relationships were found between farmers' attitudes, subjective norms, and their intentions. Significant indirect relationships were found between farmers' beliefs of perceived benefits and barriers and their attitudes. Using rare events logistic regression to predict license obtainment, and a multiple regression and two correlation analyses to test the proposed indirect relationships, the same relationships were found to predict actual behavior as behavioral intentions. An additional significant relationship was found between perceived behavioral control and behavior. Few differences were found between mean responses of farmers who did and did not attend the training. The content analysis of training materials revealed few persuasive strategies were utilized during training. These findings provide insight into factors affecting farmers' decisions to apply for an on-farm license, and suggest relevant factors, concerns, and issues to address in future educational outreach efforts

Scattering theory for the Schr\"odinger-Debye System

We study the Schr\"odinger-Debye system over $\mathbb{R}^d$ iu_t+\frac 12\Delta u=uv,\quad \mu v_t+v=\lambda |u|^2 and establish the global existence and scattering of small solutions for initial data in several function spaces in dimensions $d=2,3,4$. Moreover, in dimension $d=1$, we prove a Hayashi-Naumkin modified scattering result.Comment: 22 page

Nursing & parental perceptions of neonatal care in Central Vietnam: a longitudinal qualitative study

Background: Neonatal mortality accounts for nearly three quarters of all infant deaths in Vietnam. The nursing team are the largest professional group working with newborns, however do not routinely receive neonatal training and there is a lack of research into the impact of educational provision. This study explored changes in nursing perceptions towards their role following a neonatal educational intervention. Parents perceptions of nursing care were explored to determine any changes as nurses gained more experience. Method: Semi-Structured qualitative interviews were conducted every 6 months over an 18 month period with 16 nurses. At each time point, parents whose infant was resident on the neonatal unit were invited to participate in an interview to explore their experiences of nursing care. A total of 67 parents participated over 18 months. Interviews were conducted and transcribed in Vietnamese before translation into English for manifest content analysis facilitated by NVivo V14. Results: Analysis of nursing transcripts identified 14 basic categories which could be grouped (23) into 3 themes: (1) perceptions of the role of the neonatal nurse, (2) perception of the parental role and (3) professional recollections. Analysis of parent transcripts identified 14 basic categories which could be grouped into 3 themes: (1) information sharing, (2) participation in care, and (3) personal experience. Conclusions: Qualitative interviews highlighted the short term effect that the introduction of an educational intervention can have on both nursing attitudes towards and parental experience of care in one neonatal unit in central Vietnam. Nurses shared a growing awareness of their role along with its ethical issues and challenges, whilst parents discussed their overall desire for more participation in their infants care. Further research is required to determine the long term impact of the intervention, the ability of nurses to translate knowledge into clinical practice through assessment of nursing knowledge and competence, and the impact and needs of parents. A greater understanding will allow us to continue to improve the experiences of nurses and parents, and highlight how these areas may contribute towards the reduction of infant mortality and morbidity in Vietnam