University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT)

This study examines changes in crime victimization levels which occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and argues that observed changes may be related to changes in social solidarity which could have occurred as a result of the pandemic. The data sources include pre- and during-COVID-19 victimization surveys which were administered in Guyana and St. Lucia, as well as official crime data. Victimization survey data show a consistent decline in personal as well as household crime victimization in St. Lucia during the pandemic. Official crime data show similar declines. In Guyana, however, victimization survey data as well as official crime data show no changes during the pandemic. We also examined several measures of social solidarity and found that there was an increase in solidarity in St. Lucia after the pandemic. In contrast, the results show that there was no change in social solidarity in Guyana. The findings suggest that the decline in crime victimization in St. Lucia may be related to an increase in social solidarity after the pandemic, whereas no changes in crime levels in Guyana after the pandemic may be related to stability in the level of social solidarity. We examine the results in light of other competing explanations.

The following study investigates the effects of Rabinowitsch fluid on journal bearing lubrication under the influence of velocity slip and variable viscosity. The finite difference method is used to produce a numerical solution to the 2D Modified Reynolds equation. The findings verify the previous results, which indicate that the dilatant (shear-thickening) fluid pressure is higher than the Newtonian and pseudo-plastic (shear-thinning) fluids. The results show that in the presence of slip, the pressure distribution rises with the piezo- viscosity parameter (variable viscosity) by up to 75%. Compared to the Newtonian, and pseudo-plastic (shear thinning) fluid, the dilatant (shear-thickening) fluid produces the highest pressure. A higher eccentricity ratio, slip-velocity, piezo-viscosity parameter, and dilatant fluid enhances the load-carrying capacity. The reduction in the attitude angle plays an integral part in the load-carrying capacity of the journal bearing. The attitude angle decreases for all values of the bearing ratio; the dilatant fluid has the most significant reduction in attitude angle compared to the Newtonian and pseudo-plastic fluids. Slip effects reduce the attitude angle, and a further reduction occurs when the piezo-viscosity and slip factors are combined. The slip-velocity, lower values of the bearing’s length to diameter ratio, greater piezo-viscosity, higher values of the eccentricity ratio, and the dilatant fluid minimize friction. The Rabinowitsch fluid properties and the addition of both slip and variable viscosity increase bearing performance by increasing the pressure distribution, load-carrying capacity of the journal bearing and reduction of the frictional parameter, and should be considered when optimizing pressure, load, and friction for the creation of the ideal journal bearing.

Introduction: Alcohol intake and ectopic fat are associated with cardiometabolic diseases. While previous studies primarily focused on visceral and/or liver fat, few studies to date have investigated the associations of alcohol intake with skeletal muscle fat infiltration, a fat depot which might contribute to the increased risk of diabetes and hypertension in African ancestry populations. Methods: Alcohol intake (drinks/day) was assessed using a 146-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire in the Tobago Health Study (N=800). Ectopic fat was measured in the abdomen and thigh in a subset of this cohort (N=706, mean age=63.94 (8.66) years, mean BMI=27.72 (4.65) kg/m ² ) using computed tomography. Men were divided into current drinkers/not current drinkers, and the current drinkers were further subdivided into types of alcohol consumed (wine, beer/stout, or liquor). Results: A majority of men (56.1%) were not current drinkers. Of drinking men, 76.1% were light drinkers (<1 drink/day), 17.4% were moderate drinkers (1-3 drinks/day), and 6.5% were heavy drinkers (>3 drinks/day). Men who did not drink were slightly older (65.1 vs 62.5, p<0.001), with less visceral adiposity (91.4 vs. 101.9 cm ³ , p=0.002) and less psoas muscle fat (0.59 vs 0.64 cm ³ , p=0.017) than men who drank, independent of age. In fully adjusted models, drinking liquor was positively associated with BMI, waist circumference, visceral and subcutaneous adiposity, while drinking beer was positively associated with thigh muscle fat (Table). Conclusion: Alcohol intake was associated with greater ectopic fat accumulation in all studied compartments, except in the liver, in this cohort of African Caribbean men, who mostly had low alcohol consumption. We also report a novel finding that observed relationships differ by type of alcohol. † Adjusted for total energy intake, age, walking (hours/week), TV watching (≥14 hours/week), current smoking, diabetes, hypertension, and statin use status. * Additional adjustment for BMIHU = Houndsfield Units

This chapter examines language curricula and related education policy documents in Trinidad and Tobago using Critical Discourse Studies given that CDS can provide “the tools for addressing the complexity of movement across educational sites, practices and systems in a world where equalities are global in scope” (Rogers, Critical discourse analysis in education, 2nd edn. Routledge, p. 2, 2011). Through critical lenses, this chapter traces the development of the National English Language Arts curricula for lower secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago from conceptualization at the turn of this century, to the writing and enacting of three sets of national documents in 2002, 2008 and 2015. The analytical procedures used for this study were drawn primarily from Fairclough’s (1995) threethree-part model for analysing a communicative event or interaction (the text, the discourse practice, the sociocultural practice), and were further supported by Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics and Genette’s transtextuality model. The analysis highlights the role of education policy documents as ideological constructs, legitimising as well as challenging language education practices with each curriculum revision.

Gender-based violence (GBV) represents a highly pervasive issue in the Caribbean, posing a threat to women’s voice and agency across the region (ECLAC, Bringing an end to violence against women and girls and femicide or feminicide: A key challenge for building a care society.https://oig.cepal.org/sites/default/files/22-01012_end_violence_ing_web.pdf, 2021). This paper critically explores digital discourses on GBV in Trinidad and Tobago, with a focus on three major critical incidents that took place between November 2020 and January 2021. The deaths of Ashanti Riley, Andrea Bharrat, and Krystal Primus-Espinoza catalyzed public attention and generated a considerable response on social media platforms, partially aided by a surge of digital access and traffic in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected and analyzed Facebook comments to news pieces covering the three deaths published by the three main online newspapers in the country (the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, The Trinidad and Tobago Newsday and the Trinidad Express). Data collection mapped the evolution of digital discussions stemming from the initial news stories (i.e., the victims going missing) and their numerous follow-ups as the events unfolded. By means of a Social Media Critical Discourse Studies (SM-CDS) approach (KhosraviNik, Social media critical discourse studies (SM-CDS). In Flowerdew J, Richardson JE (eds) Routledge handbook of critical discourse studies. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 582–596, 2017; Esposito and KhosraviNik, Digital distribution processes and “new” research tools in SM-CDS. In: KhosraviNik M (ed) Social media and society: integrating the digital with the social in digital discourse. John Benjamins Publishing, pp. 15–37, 2023), the analysis unpacks the main digital debates related to GBV and the discursive construction of the victims, the perpetrator(s), and the state, shedding light on the pervasiveness and normalization of GBV in the Caribbean.

The Regal Demoiselle, Neopomacentrus cyanomos is only the second Indo-Pacific reef fish (after the lionfish) to become well established in the Greater Caribbean (GC). It was first discovered, after it already was common, in the southwest Gulf of Mexico (SGM) in 2013. In 2019, an isolated second population was found at Trinidad, 3300 km away. The initial occurrence of this species only at two distant offshore oilfields supports the hypothesis that it was transported via an oil platform in water from its native range into the Atlantic. From there, populations spilled over to nearby reefs. In both its native range and the SGM, N. cyanomos lives in the relatively stable marine environment of coral reefs. In contrast, the Trinidad population lives on rocky reefs in a large, murky, brackish estuary with strong seasonal variation in salinity mostly due to inflow from the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Its capacity to successfully breed in that estuary indicates that N. cyanomos is a highly adaptable species. The existence of two distant, isolated populations of this non-native species in such very different environments presents a unique opportunity for the study of the biology of recently established non-native reef fishes. A previous study showed that both the SGM and Trinidad populations derive from the same two of four, largely allopatric, native-range mitochondrial DNA lineages. Here we analyzed native populations from the area of those two lineages in the Pacific and Indian oceans, and the two non-native populations in the GC using thousands of genomic markers (RAD sequences) to evaluate patterns of genetic differentiation, population structure and the potential role of natural selection to affect establishment success. Based on RAD sequences we show that native and non-native populations have very similar levels of genetic diversity (no evidence of bottleneck or founder effects). In addition, data showed that native Indian and Pacific Ocean individuals partition in separate genetic clusters and that non-native Atlantic individuals are prevalently of Pacific genetic origin (~ 95% of their genetic material belong to the Pacific Ocean cluster). Finally, we found that 32 loci were potentially under selection, and 12 of them corresponded to protein coding genes. Additional work will be necessary to determine the potential role of natural selection in the successful establishment of non-native species in the Caribbean.

Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the principal causes of cancer death worldwide. The mortality rate for PC in the Caribbean is higher than in many developed countries, and there is a difference in the incidence among the various Caribbean nations. Besides surveillance and screening, these factors increase concerns about genetic and other risk factors causing PC incidence. PC research is limited in scope and regularity in the Caribbean, creating a literature gap. This literature review aims to examine the PC situation in the Caribbean to highlight where further studies are needed. This review includes all available studies on PC in the specified Caribbean population from 1958 to 2023 utilising the keywords “Prostate Cancer and Caribbean” on PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect databases. The information is then structured by Caribbean countries and by seven themes. These themes are PC incidence and mortality, demographics, clinicopathology, genetics, non-genetic risks, diagnosis and treatment, and PC control. The findings demonstrated that countries with low resources are burdened by more severe illnesses with worse PC outcomes. Furthermore, territories with national cancer registries seemed to have enhanced methods for PC management. In conclusion, this review is significant because it provides initial support for researchers, administrators, and planners for PC healthcare. Additionally, it gives an opportunity for further epidemiological analyses that can supply more significant insights into the PC situation in the Caribbean. Further research should focus on prevention strategies and the standardisation of treatment procedures to enhance surveillance and improve patient outcomes.

This study used Spanish Kiko goats as a small ruminant model (SRM) for teaching animal science courses via experiential laboratory-based methods at a small liberal arts college in the Southeastern United State. Perceivably, the SRMs presents an accessible and sustainable teaching tool for undergraduate education at institutions with limited resources, such as cattle facilities. The use of mature (> 3 years old) bucks (male model 1, 2 & 3), does (female model 1 & 2), and kids (kid model 1, 2, 3; 8 months old) as SRMs in 4 courses and resultant learning is reported herein. SRMs were fed, late weaned, and continuously bred to simulate the nutritional and reproductive management practiced in rotationally grazed strictly forage-fed cattle. Growth performances amongst bucks (pre and post pubertal; Figure 1), does (pre- and post-partum Figure 2), and kids (pre and post weaning Figure 3) were recorded and analyzed. Feed intake trials (Figures 4 and 5), fecal analysis, and apparent DMD were conducted. The benefits of continuous suckling and postweaning management of does and kids were realized as 100% of does and kids successfully transited each breeding period. In addition, kids approached market weights (15.53 kg) at 136 days postpartum (Figure 3) and does were rebred at first postpartum estrus (62 days). The use of pre-breeding season reproductive tract examinations via ultrasound and BSE in female and male SRMs enabled effective evaluations of the poor reproductive performance of the cattle herd (59.3% pregnancy rate in 2022). The use of SRMs allowed for learning ruminant gastrointestinal and reproductive system physiology. Subsequently, comprehension of the impact of mineral and vitamin deficiencies on the annually declining reproductive performance of rotationally grazed cattle was enhanced. Conclusively, the use of SRMs supported my learning and is recommended for teaching/learning in animal sciences at institutions with limited resources.

Cervical cancer (CvC) is considered a preventable disease; however, in the Caribbean, it is still one of the fourth most common causes of death in women. Efforts to overcome obstacles to the treatment and control of this preventable disease are being made by several countries within the Caribbean. However, no health issue can be readily managed without first acquiring an understanding of the dynamics relating to its severity of impact reaching the target population, its clinical pathology, and the availability of treatment and/or preventative measures to control or halt its progression. To assess the status of CvC in the Caribbean, a review of the literature was conducted using PubMed. The Caribbean was defined in the review as comprising nations and islands whose coastlines are touched by the Caribbean Sea. This led to an assessment of the available literature on CvC for 33 Caribbean territories. The review showed a lack of published information on CvC and highlights the need for greater research. This also serves as a template for subsequent investigations.

Quarantine plant pests are socially, economically and environmentally important due to their impact on food security, human health, global trade and crop production costs. The increase in global trade and tourism, frequent occurrence of natural disasters and climate changes have exacerbated the rate of entry, establishment and spread of plant pests regionally and globally. It has, therefore, become exigent to develop a list of pests of quarantine importance at the regional and national levels to prioritise and allocate the limited available resources to manage the associated risks. In the present study, the Technical Committee on the Formulation and Prioritisation of a Regional Priority Pest List for the Caribbean, in collaboration with the National Plant Protection Organisation of the Caribbean countries and the United States Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), developed and prioritised a quarantine pest list using a multi-criteria decision-making approach. The technical committee successfully evolved the process in 2014 and 2018 and developed a list of the top 10 pests of quarantine importance for the Caribbean Region, employing the Delphi Technique (DT) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) through the assignment of criteria that are relevant to the region. The Mediterranean fruit fly ( Ceratitis capitata ), frosty pod rot ( Moniliophthora roreri ) and the tomato leaf miner ( Tuta absoluta ), listed as top quarantine pest threats, were subsequently detected in the region. This exercise guided the authorities in advance to allocate resources and to develop response plans including capacity building for surveillance and detection of priority pests. This has demonstrated the significance and appropriateness of the multi-criteria decision approach to determine priority pest lists and prepare the region for development of better management practices.

Background Exploration into the development of cost-effective and eco-friendly adsorbents for the removal of fluoride continues to be unabated. The modification of chitosan through the development of composites and derivatives has shown great promise over the past decade. These modifications aim to overcome the limitation of chitosan, such as separability and adsorption capacity. Objectives The objective of this study is to review various modifications to chitosan for defluoridation, the resulting adsorption capacities, operational parameters that appreciably influence the fullscale application of adsorption systems and, where reported, the mechanisms that influenced the adsorption process. Results and Discussion Among the adsorbents reviewed, most of the processes were best modelled by the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second order model. Chitosan composites were able to achieve significantly higher F - adsorption capacities and compared well to other adsorbents in the literature. Gamma degraded chitosan-Fe(III) beads, 10%-Lanthanum-incorporated chitosan beads and neodymium-modified chitosan were found to easily achieve the WHO drinking water limit of 1.5 mg/L. In all instances, the reactions were spontaneous and endothermic. Fluoride adsorption was shown to increase from the acidic region to near neutral pH followed by a decrease into the alkaline range. Conclusion The presence of competing ions is a major operational parameter for full-scale adsorption applications. The presence of carbonate and bicarbonate ions has been a consistent hindrance in reported studies. Thus, future investigations are warranted in this area.

Trinidad and Tobago’s (T&T) conditional commitment to the Paris Agreement requires an overall power emission avoidance (EAT) of 28.7 MtCO2-e from Business-As-Usual by 2030, dependent on international financing. T&T has outlined several initiatives to achieve this, including zero-carbon renewable energy (RE) introduction. However, other technologies such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can also be used in support of achieving EAT. Using a specific scenario (S3), this study assesses the techno-economics of CCS within the sector to minimize the requirement of RE using a carbon measuring tool called Carbon Emission Pinch Analysis (CEPA) to achieve EAT. Local power plants were screened, and a CCS retrofit was then technically designed using a validated software called Aspen HYSYS. Multi-period CEPA methodology was then applied to quantify ∼17% of grid energy from RE along with CCS to achieve EAT. Economic models were also used to determine the grid unit cost of emission abatement for S3 to be 64 USD/tCO2-e; a doubling of initial projection requirements. With T&T’s current dynamics, these findings can help guide actions to reduce the requirements of RE onto the grid through the supplemental introduction of CCS to achieve its EAT.

The inappropriate consumption, use, and dispensing of antibiotics are problems faced globally, with a pattern of inappropriate consumption differing in higher-income countries due to the ease of accessibility of antibiotics. The main drivers of consumption and inappropriate use are the over-the-counter sales of antibiotics by pharmacies. Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), a twin island state in the Caribbean, has two Acts of Parliament that regulate antibiotics: the Antibiotics Act and the Food and Drug Act, yet the Over-the-Counter (OTC) sale of antibiotics still exists. This study sought to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding the OTC dispensing of antibiotics in T&T. A cross-sectional study gathered data from pharmacists in both the private and public sectors of Trinidad over 7 months. The results showed that antibiotic resistance and antibiotic abuse were seen as significant problems. The level of experience, gender (female), and age (younger) were significantly associated with having good overall knowledge of good dispensing habits and antibiotic laws (p = 0.036, p = 0.047, and p = 0.001, respectively). Pharmacists generally agreed that antibiotics under the Food and Drug Act may have contributed to OTC dispensing in the private sector (p = 0.013) and that all antibiotics should be under the Antibiotic Act (p = 0.002). Additionally, it was found that the dispensing of antibiotics OTC in the private sector (p = 0.006) occurred: without doctors’ advice and without requesting prescriptions; because it was perceived as lawful (especially by older pharmacists); and because of the perceived motivation of profit. Regulation enforcement was perceived as deficient. OTC dispensing for reasons, such as misunderstanding of laws, occurs in T&T.

The effective management of marine protected areas (MPAs) requires an in-depth understanding and assessment of the varying socioeconomic uses and users of the physical space. However, in some localities, little research is conducted on this aspect and in particular user perceptions on current and proposed management strategies for MPAs. Such site-specific evaluations are imperative to developing context-dependent management measures. The aim of this study was to identify the spatial extent of socioeconomic activities, assess stakeholders’ awareness of the varying socioeconomic activities that take place in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago, and gauge stakeholder support for proposed management mechanisms, namely marine spatial planning (MSP). Targeted surveys were conducted over a six-month period, to obtain perspectives from key Marine Park stakeholder groups, namely marine resource managers, visitors, and tour operators. The results indicated over ten main socioeconomic activities occurring within the Marine Park, with multiple activities taking place in the same location. Results also suggest that stakeholders are aware of the conflicts that occur between various users of the space with jet skis operation identified as the primary contributor. Finally, using a Likert scale, stakeholder groups predominantly rated the need for a marine spatial plan as “necessary.” This research, therefore, documents existing socioeconomic activities in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park and highlights the importance of stakeholder engagement in future management strategies.

The perception of survivorship among the cancer communities of the Caribbean is largely unknown. This study focused on determining the perception and interest in cancer survivorship among breast cancer (BC) patients in Trinidad and Tobago, as a preliminary, to introducing a pilot survivorship program and evaluating its impact on this patient population. Participants were given a questionnaire to determine needs, expectations and interest in survivorship care. Baseline measurable outcomes reported in this article include the following: 1. Participants' satisfaction with their medical care follow-up plan (if any), 2. Participants' satisfaction with the amount of information provided by healthcare providers, and 3. Participants' satisfaction with their physician's overall concern about their well-being, ranked on a 5-point Likert scale. Participants also reported on the advice/ guidelines provided by their physicians, after surgery and/or on completion of treatment, what they did to cope with BC, and their expectations of what could have been done to improve the quality of care received. A second questionnaire was then used to measure the level of interest in participating in a Cancer Survivorship Program (CSP) with components such as: nutrition, psychosocial development, spiritual well-being, and yoga and mindfulness. The level of interest was ranked by participants on a 5-point Likert scale. Fifteen themes emerged from participants' responses to the first questionnaire. Nutrition stood out as the module of highest interest, followed by psychosocial development among BC patients.

Massive, long‐lived Siderastrea and Diploria corals are species commonly used for sea surface temperature (SST) reconstructions in the North Atlantic. However, they are rarely found to exceed 200 years in age. Thus, it is imperative to continuously develop alternative taxa for paleoreconstructions. Colpophyllia natans, a highly populous tropical North Atlantic coral, are known to grow large colonies, potentially containing environmental records spanning several hundreds of years. However, its low density and complicated architecture poses a challenge in extracting climate signals from this coral. This study presents the first monthly‐resolved climate calibration of Colpophyllia natans and validates its utility as a new paleoarchive, relative to Siderastrea siderea. Linear regressions of monthly and interannual coral Sr/Ca with instrumental SST reveal robust, significant relationships (p < 0.05), indicating that microsampling along a single thecal wall of C. natans allowed for robust climate reconstructions. Additionally, both corals capture similar SST variations (t‐test, p ≥ 0.05), which allowed for the generation of a single, composite interspecies SST record that correlates with instrumental SST even more strongly (p < 0.0001) than the individual corals. Mean annual and boreal summer interspecies SST correlate significantly with North Atlantic SST indices (p < 0.05), demonstrating the ability to capture regional, long‐term SST trends in the North Atlantic. Spatial correlation maps of boreal winter interspecies SST to instrumental SST and geopotential height anomalies reveal coherent spatial patterns linked to the North Atlantic Oscillation. Our findings suggest that Colpophyllia natans has enormous potential as a new paleoclimate archive for reconstructing temporal and spatial SST variability in the tropical Atlantic.

Solar cell development has been largely done by investigating how changes in the structural design of new materials will affect the cell’s performance. Although this process has been used for decades, it can sometimes be slow and expensive. Therefore, a new approach to solar cell development must be taken via simulations and modeling to enhance the cell performance. Simulations and modeling before actual fabrication have the added benefit of avoiding wastage of costly materials and time. This paper reviews the various types of solar cells and discusses the latest developments in the photovoltaic field. It also expounds how modeling solar cells before the developmental phase is beneficial with a focus on COMSOL Multiphysics describing how it is particularly advantageous.

Tropical climates provide ideal year-round marine thermal gradients that meet the requirements for the operation of commercial Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) plants. This study assesses Barbados' OTEC resources and viability at several locations around the island. The island's coastline was divided into four quadrants and four proposed plant locations were selected within each quadrant based on the shortest distance to the coast. These locations were ranked via a multi-criteria decision analysis using the AHP-TOPSIS methodology. The results of the analysis ranked east coast plant locations highest, with the north, south and west coasts following in that order. The results of this study can guide OTEC development as well as marine planning and investment on the island.

Previous studies and theoretical assumptions suggest a heterogeneity among users at risk of Facebook addiction, similar to other behavioral addictions. These studies, which took a variable-centered approach showed varied relationships between psychological factors, personality traits and motives with addiction indicators. This study aimed to take a person-centered approach that focused on investigating profiles of Facebook addiction indicators and the associated level and importance of Griffiths’ six core components of addiction as measured by the Bergen Facebook addiction scale. Further, the predictive power associated with loneliness, self-esteem, the Big Five personality traits and gratifications sought related to the identification of Facebook addiction risk level were also assessed. Data were collected from 611 college students using a self-administered online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using latent profile analysis (LPA), ANOVAs, pairwise comparisons and decision trees. The LPA identified three latent classes of Facebook behavior, namely ‘high-risk’, ‘low risk’ and ‘no risk’. The prevalence of ‘high-risk’ users was 8.5%, which was predominantly females (88%). All six of the core components of addiction were found to contribute to classification of users within the three classes. Additionally, sex, age, agreeableness, loneliness and all five forms of gratification sought had a significant positive relation to Facebook addiction. While self-esteem had a significant negative relationship with Facebook addiction. Further, according to the decision tree analyses and pairwise comparisons of the classes the criteria of tolerance and mood modification, and the covariates of loneliness and self-esteem showed the highest predictive powers. The study concluded that tolerance and mood modification are the most relevant criteria in the diagnosis of Facebook addiction. Further, emotional support and escapism are likely critical underlying factors in conversion to Facebook addiction.