Antigua State College

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to share the phonological features of Trinidadian English (TrE) and Trinidadian English Creole (TrinEC) and to offer clinical guidance on performing culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment with speakers of TrE and TrinEC across the lifespan. Method: The current literature on the phonological features of TrE and TrinEC is reviewed, and a proposed framework for culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment is presented. A case study is described to outline the clinical considerations of each step of the assessment framework for culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment. Results: Clinical use of the phonological features and the proposed framework for culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment are interpreted and presented. The steps a clinician must take to engage in culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment are outlined. Conclusions: This tutorial highlights the importance of understanding the features of a language and the use of the features in culturally and linguistically responsive assessment. The case study goes beyond describing one child to outline the process at each step of the culturally and linguistically responsive speech sound assessment.

Cervical cancer remains a significant public health issue globally. In Antigua and Barbuda, cervical cancer is ranked among the top five most common cancers in terms of incidence and mortality among females. There is no evidence that the costs of diagnosing, treating, and managing this cancer have been studied before in Antigua and Barbuda. From the providers’ perspective, this study aimed to estimate costs associated with cervical cancer in Antigua and Barbuda. The prevalence-based cost-of-illness methodology was used to assess patient data abstracted from four study sites for the period 2017–2021, and to derive the annual prevalence. Top-down and bottom-up costing approaches were used to estimate direct medical costs. Costs were computed using the 2021 price level and converted to United States Dollars (USD). Total annual direct medical costs of cervical cancer were estimated at USD 0.24 million (ranging between USD 0.19 million and USD 0.30 million). Major cost drivers were treatment (USD 112,863.76), post-treatment side-effects care (USD 67,406.57), and the diagnostic process (USD 26,238.58). The overall direct medical unit costs for managing a case were estimated at USD 115,822.09. Our study reflects the current estimates for managing cervical cancer and provides evidence to complement cervical cancer prevention and cost containment measures in Antigua and Barbuda.

El relleno sanitario es una forma de disposición adecuada que minimiza los impactos ambientales, pero no ofrece una solución definitiva a este problema. Principalmente porque la zona del vertedero no puede ser utilizada para ningún otro fin, a lo que se suma el problema del tratamiento de lixiviados, que tiene características variables y complejas. El tratamiento de lixiviados se puede realizar de diferentes formas, tanto físico-químicas como biológicas, entre las que destaca el tratamiento aerobio con biomasa en suspensión. Se realiza mezclando el lixiviado con aguas residuales en diferentes proporciones, debido al alto nivel de toxicidad del lixiviado para los microorganismos. La adaptación de los microorganismos a los lixiviados permitiría mejorar la eficiencia del tratamiento de los lixiviados, como es el caso de los lodos activados. La presente investigación se centra en evaluar la adaptación de microorganismos aeróbios al lixiviado como medio líquido en un reactor de mezcla completo. La metodología se basó en 6 etapas con diferentes grados de dilución (10, 20, 40, 60, 80 y 100%) con 6 días de duración para cada etapa. Los resultados obtenidos demuestran que en las pruebas finales la remoción de DQO en el reactor fue del 45% y el porcentaje de crecimiento de microorganismos fue de 3370 mg.L-1, inicialmente 40%, llegando a 7,220 mg.L-1 en la prueba 3. El lixiviado no fue completamente tóxico para los microorganismos a medida que crecieron y digirieron aún más la materia orgánica, esta biomasa puede usarse como inóculo en un reactor de lodos activados para tratar lixiviados con aguas residuales en mayor proporción.

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the technique of DNA metabarcoding have provided more efficient and comprehensive options for testing water quality compared to traditional methods. Recent studies have shown the efficacy of DNA metabarcoding in characterizing the bacterial microbiomes of varied sources of drinking water, including rivers, reservoirs, wells, tanks, and lakes. We asked whether DNA metabarcoding could be used to characterize the microbiome of different private sources of stored freshwater on the Caribbean Island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. Two replicate water samples were obtained from three different private residential sources in Antigua: a well, an above-ground tank, and a cistern. The bacterial microbiomes of different freshwater sources were assessed using 16S rRNA metabarcoding. We measured both alpha diversity (species diversity within a sample) and beta diversity (species diversity across samples) and conducted a taxonomic analysis. We also looked for the presence of potentially pathogenic species. Major differences were found in the microbiome composition and relative abundances depending on the water source. A lower alpha diversity was observed in the cistern sample compared to the others, and distinct differences in the microbiome composition and relative abundance were noted between the samples. Notably, pathogenic species, or genera known to harbor such species, were detected in all the samples. We conclude that DNA metabarcoding can provide an effective and comprehensive assessment of drinking water quality and has the potential to identify pathogenic species overlooked using traditional methods. This method also shows promise for tracing the source of disease outbreaks due to waterborne microorganisms. This is the first study from small island countries in the Caribbean where metabarcoding has been applied for assessing freshwater water quality.

The Covid- 19 Pandemic has changed the way Higher learning institutions normally conduct learning. Educational technology is a learning tool that helps lecturers enhance learning through instructional practices; however, lecturers are having difficulties adopting technology. The purpose of this study was to examine the barriers that lecturers' face when attempting to adopt technology and the support needed to be successful within their instructional practices. The conceptual frameworks for this study were Bandura's self-efficacy theory and Rogers' diffusion of innovation. The study included eight lecturers from a Caribbean college in Antigua and Barbuda as participants. Data were collected through interviews and analyzed using open coding and thematic analysis. Findings from the study indicated that there were barriers that were preventing lecturers from adopting technology. These barriers included the need for professional training, institutional support, and observational learning of others which would assist with lecturers' pedagogy, content knowledge, and technology adoption. The results of the study may lead to social change by revealing potential barriers that lecturers face during technology use. The study can also provide both lecturers and stakeholders with data that is Caribbean-specific and can provide the most effective plan to support lecturers' adoption of technology. Keywords: Barriers to Technology Adoption, Caribbean lecturers' hindrances to technology adoption, Covid-19, Barriers to technology adoption in Higher Learning DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-10-02 Publication date: April 30 th 2021

La fe, pupila de la inteligenciaEl planteamiento de Santa Catalina de Siena, en «El diálogo» 1 yen' general en todas sus obras, puede ser descrito como existencial, o, para ajustarnos más a la perspectiva de la Santa, como espiritUal e históricosalvífico.Cuando habla del hombre lo considera siempre en cuanto situado en plena historia de la salvación, llamado por Dios, marcado por un destino eterno del que nos hace participar el Espíritu Santo al incorporarnos a Cristo.La perspectiva última de sus consideraciones es la de la

Abstract Research on the link between tourism and politics still remains relatively underdeveloped and more so when one considers the link between this phenomenon and the study of elections or psephology. This is despite the importance of elections to the democratic process and to considerations of the distribution of scarce resources particularly in countries heavily dependent on tourism. This chapter seeks to address this lacuna in scholarship through a theoretical explication of the nature of political issues and voter response. Applied to the development of a possible research agenda, this would aid in exploring the salience of tourism within electoral agendas from a relational perspective.

Current understanding of the factors influencing hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) hatch success is disparate and based on relatively short-term studies or limited sample sizes. Because global populations of hawksbills are heavily depleted, evaluating the parameters that impact hatch success is important to their conservation and recovery. Here, we use data collected by the Jumby Bay Hawksbill Project (JBHP) to investigate hatch success. The JBHP implements saturation tagging protocols to study a hawksbill rookery in Antigua, West Indies. Habitat data, which reflect the varied nesting beaches, are collected at egg deposition, and nest contents are exhumed and categorized post-emergence. We analyzed hatch success using mixed-model analyses with explanatory and predictive datasets. We incorporated a random effect for turtle identity and evaluated environmental, temporal and individual-based reproductive variables. Hatch success averaged 78.6% (SD: 21.2%) during the study period. Highly supported models included multiple covariates, including distance to vegetation, deposition date, individual intra-seasonal nest number, clutch size, organic content, and sand grain size. Nests located in open sand were predicted to produce 10.4 more viable hatchlings per clutch than nests located >1.5 m into vegetation. For an individual first nesting in early July, the fourth nest of the season yielded 13.2 more viable hatchlings than the initial clutch. Generalized beach section and inter-annual variation were also supported in our explanatory dataset, suggesting that gaps remain in our understanding of hatch success. Our findings illustrate that evaluating hatch success is a complex process, involving multiple environmental and individual variables. Although distance to vegetation and hatch success were inversely related, vegetation is an important component of hawksbill nesting habitat, and a more complete assessment of the impacts of specific vegetation types on hatch success and hatchling sex ratios is needed. Future research should explore the roles of sand structure, nest moisture, and local weather conditions.