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Objectives: Cervical cancer prevention practices are desperately low in the Caribbean. This study aims to describe the cervical cancer stigma and to evaluate the influence of the prevention practices among the Caribbean non-patient population in Jamaica, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 1,207 participants was conducted using a culturally trans-created Cancer Stigma Scale for the Caribbean context and supplemented with questions on cervical cancer and HPV/HPV vaccine knowledge and beliefs. Data collection took place online from October 2022 to March 2023. Results: Participants are young, single, well-educated, and have stable financial resources. Over a quarter (26.4%) agreed women with cervical cancer are more isolated in their country. Almost half (47%) of respondents agreed cultural background plays a big part in how they feel about illness and getting well. One in six participants believe women with cervical cancer are treated with less respect than usual by others in their country. Conclusion: Cancer stigma of cervical cancer exists in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Grenada. Particularly, cultural background and social norms are closely linked to stigma., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Thomas-Purcell, Bailey, Sealy, Song and Ashing.)

Jamaica is an island nation with a history that is informed by Taino settlement, European colonisation, chattel slavery, disinvestment, and continued extractivism. This perspective paper leverages a historical analysis to explore environmental injustices affecting the health and quality of life of Jamaicans living in Jamaica. This article hopes to contribute to a growing but limited body of scholarly research that contends with environmental and climate justice in the context of the Caribbean. In discussing a lack of critical environmental infrastructure, such as reliable solid waste management, and the impacts of extractive industries, such as bauxite mining, the paper intends to highlight the environmental, public health, and social harms that are produced. Employing an intersectional approach grounded in Black feminist epistemology put forward by Patricia Hill Collins, the authors use their lived experiences as a source of knowledge. The paper analyses how these environmental injustices harm Jamaican communities at large but underscores the compounded challenges faced by Jamaican women who experience marginalisation on the basis of gender, urban/rural residency, and class. The paper concludes by urging researchers, policymakers, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders to conduct further research and create sustainable and equitable environmental standards that have considerations for environmental injustice in Jamaica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rockpool cluster offers unique characteristics making it a model system for general questions in ecology: (1) all rockpools share biotic history (any species can reach any rockpool); (2) they form a strong gradient of conditions from benign to harsh; (3) 1‐day sampling across all rockpools ensures census consistency; (4) rockpools respond to changing conditions within a short (days) time frame; (5) they are easy to manipulate (note: the data are from an unmanipulated rockpool subset), and (6) they may act as a single metacommunity that exhibits consistent species distribution patterns on a broader scale (unpublished). Consequently, the rockpools continue generating insights, with the first publications in 1996. The data represent an intensive rockpool metacommunity monitoring project, making them of considerable value to our understanding of tropical coastal metacommunity dynamics and general ecological processes. The dataset covers surveys of invertebrate fauna in 49, primarily supratidal, rockpools on a fossil coral reef over 25 years. All rockpools occur within a 73 × 47 m array of rocks at a distance of less than 2 m from the nearest neighbor. About 200 other rockpools occur on the same area. They are in a sheltered bay (Discovery Bay, Jamaica) between 0 and 5 m from the ocean. Typically, rockpools are 5–30 cm deep and 40 cm across on average, with elevation from a few centimeters to 300 cm above sea level. Rockpools may drain excess water from precipitation or waves into other rockpools, which allows organisms to disperse passively downstream. Of the 49 rockpools in the survey, 35 are subject to occasional drying up, while the others appear permanent. Most collections (1989–2004) were annual censuses of invertebrate populations, exceeding a total of 475,000 invertebrates counted, with only minor record gaps. In all cases, species level taxonomic information consists of detailed photographs. In some cases, notes are included with the taxonomic data where species identification could not be matched to information available in the literature. Samples from 2005 to 2019 still require organism identification. Abiotic parameters were measured the day before biotic sampling took place as the process of biotic sampling can impact abiotic parameters through stirring, oxygenation and filtering (temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, light intensity, salinity, alkalinity, and nutrients). The cumulative richness in the metacommunity consist of 78 freshwater, marine, and brackish water taxa, with a mean richness per rockpool of 5.5 distinct species. Regarding taxonomic makeup, ostracods dominated in both diversity and number, followed by copepods, and insects. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set; please cite this data paper when using these data in publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Announces the Department of Geology, University of the West Indies second Caribbean Conference on Natural Hazards and Disasters. Date; Country; Contact person.

Copyright of Comparative & International Education is the property of Canadian & International Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introduction: Epidemiological transition to NCDs is a challenge for fragile health systems in the Caribbean. The Congregations Taking Action against NCDs (CONTACT) Study intervention proposes that trained health advocates (HAs) from places of worship (PoWs), supervised by nurses at nearby primary healthcare centres (PHCs), could facilitate access to primary care among vulnerable communities. Drawing on participatory and systems thinking, we explored the capacity of local PHCs in three Caribbean countries to support this intervention. Methods: Communities in Jamaica (rural, urban), Guyana (rural) and Dominica (Indigenous Kalinago Territory) were selected for CONTACT because of their differing socio-economic, cultural, religious and health system contexts. Through mixed-method concept mapping, we co-developed a list of perceived actionable priorities (possible intervention points ranked highly for feasibility and importance) with 48 policy actors, healthcare practitioners and civic society representatives. Guided in part by the concept mapping findings, we assessed the readiness of 12 purposefully selected PHCs for the intervention, using a staff questionnaire and an observation checklist to identify enablers and constrainers. Results: Concept mapping illustrated stakeholder optimism for the intervention, but revealed perceptions of inadequate primary healthcare service capacity, resources and staff training to support implementation. Readiness assessments of PHCs identified potential enablers and constrainers that were consistent with concept mapping results. Staff support was evident. Constraints included under-staffing, which could hinder supervision of HAs; and inadequate essential NCD medicines, training in NCDs and financial and policy support for embedding community interventions. Despite a history of socio-political disadvantage, the most enabling context was found in the Kalinago Territory, where ongoing community engagement activities could support joint development of programmes between churches and PHCs. Conclusion: Multi-sectoral stakeholder consultation and direct PHC assessments revealed viability of the proposed POW-PHC partnership for NCD prevention and control. However, structural and policy support will be key for implementing change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainty of climate change's impacts hinders adaptation actions, particularly micro-scale urban design interventions. This paper proposes a sixfold urban design framework to assess and enhance the resilience of urban form to climate change, where urban form refers to the patterns of streets, buildings, and land uses. The framework is then applied to Long Bay in Negril, Jamaica–a coastal area that incorporates the complex interactions between urbanization and a highly vulnerable socio-ecological system to climate change-related hazards, primarily sea-level rise. Empirical evidence from 19 in-depth interviews with planning and design professionals and development actors, in situ observations, and morphological analyses reveal that Long Bay's current adaptation strategies heavily rely on bounce-back resilience measures that predominantly consider the impacts of extreme climatic events rather than slow-onset ones. Such strategies abet current tourism-driven development patterns while overlooking Long Bay's inherent abilities for generative transformation and incremental changes to meet climatic uncertainty. Instead, this study's findings highlight how generative urban form transformation would better equip Long Bay to cope with future uncertainty–climatic or other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jamaica produces one of the most expensive coffees on the global market. The local specialty coffee industry plays a significant role in the island's economy and also contributes to the livelihood of smallholders—the majority of whom operate the industry's coffee farms. While climate model projections suggest that Jamaica will continue to experience a warming and drying trend, no study has assessed the future impacts of changing climatic patterns on local coffee-growing areas. This research developed a number of geospatial processing models within the ArcMap software platform to model current coffee suitability and future crop suitability across three Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) and three future time periods (2021–2040, 2041–2060, and 2081–2100). The results validated current locations of coffee production and revealed that there was an observable decrease in coffee suitability across the island, across all SSP scenarios and time periods under study. Most growing regions were projected to experience declines in production suitability of at least 10%, with the most severe changes occurring in non-Blue Mountain regions under the SSP5-8.5 scenario. Implications of this projected suitability change range from decreased production volumes, increased price volatility, and disruption to market operations and livelihood incomes. The paper's findings offer stakeholders within Jamaica's coffee industry the opportunity to develop targeted adaptation planning initiatives, and point to the need for concrete decisions concerning future investment pathways for the industry. It also provides insight into other tropical coffee-growing regions around the world that are facing the challenges associated with climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper ("Paper") examines the international, constitutional, legal history, and current rights to housing in the United States (U.S.), Jamaica, and South Africa. This Paper addresses the federal and sub-national systems regarding affordable housing initiatives that drive policies associated with poverty and homelessness. Moreover, the following thesis addresses the need for affordable housing and discusses the substantive right to housing. It examines the legal avenues and obstacles that must be overcome given the division of powers in each country. This Paper will discuss significant influences such as colonialism that shape current housing policies to eradicate poverty and homelessness. Colonial domination has triggered tremendous changes economically in the U.S. while others have remained disenfranchised (Jamaica and South Africa). This Paper calls for a transformed focus on housing law and poverty, specifically in the housing sector where low-income families live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a comparative study carried out in 2018, which aimed to explore and compare teacher educators' perceptions of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in Jamaica, Greece and Nigeria. This study endeavoured to add intercultural perspectives to the study of ITE and to underlie the idea that ITE has become increasingly bound up in the processes of neoliberalism and globalisation. A comparative research design was used to investigate the similarities and differences in ITE programmes available in these three countries. Specifically, this was a quantitative survey study, and the participants (n = 135) were teacher educators who were purposefully selected. Based on what the findings revealed, it is argued that, while features of national culture, tradition and institutional politics have a significant role to play in the detail of the approaches taken in ITE programmes, there is nevertheless evidence of significant convergence between the three countries in terms of the type, modality and duration of ITE, as well as the current issues facing ITE programmes and the areas that need improvement. This, it is suggested, reflects trends associated with neo-liberal 'globalisation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, Jamaican culture has been positioned at odds with the development of LGBTQ rights. Though the locale has been making steps towards accepting different groups, its stalwart history of heterotypical male and female roles is still ingrained in the AfroCaribbean psyche. This paper provides a critical analysis of the construction of the homophobic and misogynistic discourses within the Jamaican rock music scene. Despite attempts to embrace cultural differences, members consistently adopted heterophobias towards gay men and women. Within the scene's everyday discourse, women's bodies were constantly objectified. Additionally, gay men remained simultaneously invisible and subjugated by hypermasculine anxieties. The collective philosophy of the scene suggested that the community was a safe haven from mainstream prejudices. However, this philosophy was an act of dark play which hid the group's biases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ad-minister is the property of Universidad EAFIT and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the complexity of plural identities of the characters living within the sociocultural space of a London community, who define themselves as being from "here" and "elsewhere," in Guy Gunaratne's In Our Mad and Furious City (2018). First-generation and second-generation migrants, originally from Ireland, Pakistan, Jamaica, as well as other nations referred to in the novel, give life to the community at the Ends, a housing estate in Northwest London. On the one hand, in this suburban space, fury, neglect and powerlessness are deeply felt by the locals. However, the community also becomes the location for the creation of social habits, cultural patterns, forms of expression and group unity through the interaction and shared experiences of the locals. This dichotomy reveals underlying anxieties that raise questions about otherness, marginalisation and belonging, and how these aspects intersect in the construction of cultural identity. As characters struggle for meaning against a "cancel culture," their individual experiences are what constitutes their plural and fluid identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Community engagement is key to improving the quality of primary health care (PHC), with asset-based interventions shown to have a positive impact on equity and health outcomes. However, there tends to be a disconnect between community-based interventions and PHC, with a lack of evidence on how to develop sustainable community—primary care partnerships. This paper reports on the formative phases of 2 studies exploring the feasibility of embedding community assets, namely places of worship and barbershops, into the PHC pathway for the prevention and control of NCDs in deprived settings. It describes the participatory approach used to map and gather contextual readiness information, including the enablers and constrainers for collaborative partnerships with PHC. Methods: Grounded in community-based participatory research, we used elements of ground-truthing and participatory mapping to locate and gather contextual information on places of worship and barbershops in urban and rural communities. Local knowledge, gathered from community dialogs, led to the creation of sampling frames of these community assets. Selected places of worship were administered a 66-item readiness questionnaire, which included domains on governance and financing, congregation profile, and existing health programs and collaborations. Participating barbershops were administered a 40-item readiness questionnaire, which covered barbers' demographic information, previous training in health promotion, and barbers' willingness to deliver health promotion activities. Results: Fourteen barbershops were identified, of which 10 participated in the readiness survey, while 240 places of worship were identified, of which 14 were selected and assessed for readiness. Contextual differences were found within and between these assets regarding governance, accessibility, and reach. Key enablers for both include training in health promotion, an overwhelming enthusiasm for participation and recognition of the potential benefits of a community—primary care partnership. Lack of previous collaborations with the formal health system was common to both. Conclusion: The participatory approach extended reach within underserved communities, while the readiness data informed intervention design and identified opportunities for partnership development. Contextual differences between community assets require comprehensive readiness investigations to develop suitably tailored interventions that promote reach, acceptance, and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bauxitic soils in Jamaica are enriched with rare earth elements and other heavy minerals/elements by up to two orders of magnitude relative to bedrock. Geochemical evidence supports the origin of Jamaican bauxite as volcanic ash fall-out from Central America and windblown dust from West Africa. Jamaican bauxite, by virtue of its possible igneous origins, is suspected of being a source of radioactive material. The potential concentration and mobility of radon gas from bauxite waste is an environmental health and safety risk. Therefore, this paper investigates the theoretical radon concentrations and exposure rates in the bauxite mining community in Perth, Manchester. Results from the study show that the exposure rates in the Perth community are all below the recommended 1 WLM/yr. Therefore, radon from the bauxite waste is not a concern for radiation exposure and could be a potential recycled material for brick and other low-income housing materials in Jamaica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the increased reports in Aedes-borne diseases in the Caribbean and Latin America, the United States Agency for International Development assisted the Jamaican Ministry of Health and Wellness in conducting insecticide susceptibility tests on Aedes aegypti populations. Sentinel sites were established in seven parishes of Jamaica (St. Catherine, Kingston and St. Andrew, St. Thomas, Portland, St. Mary and St. Ann) and Aedes aegypti eggs were collected, reared to adults per collected population and their susceptibility to varying pyrethroids and organophosphates were tested using the World Health Organization paper bioassays for these insecticides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bottle bioassay was used to assess susceptibility to the carbamate, bendiocarb. The voltage gated sodium channel gene mutations V1016I and I1011V, normally associated with pyrethroid resistance, were also analysed. The results showed that Aedes aegypti collected from all parishes exhibited resistance to pyrethroids at the following concentrations, permethrin 0.25–2.5%; deltamethrin 0.03–0.15%; lambda-cyhalothrin 0.03–0.3%; and etofenprox 0.5–2.5%. The insecticide deltamethrin at concentration 0.3% was the only pyrethroid tested that resulted in high mortality, 94.9 ± 0.34% knockdown within 1 hour of exposure and 98.95 ± 0.01% mortality (p <0.01) at 24 hours post exposure. The frequency of the voltage gated sodium channel gene mutation V1016I was high in the tested population, possibly accounting for the reduced sensitivity to pyrethroids. Organophosphate resistance was also observed in all populations tested. Mortality rates for 0.8% Malathion was 0.8 ± 0.02–60.68 ± 0.01% after 24 hour and 0.00–47.10 ± 0.09%, for pirimiphos-methyl 0.21%. Bendiocarb applied as 12.5 μg/ bottle resulted in mortality rates of 76.25 ± 4.30–100 ± 0.00% after 30 minutes of exposure. The results showed that Ae. aegypti from the seven parishes analysed demonstrated resistance to the insecticides tested. Deltamethrin and bendiocarb at concentrations 0.3% and 12.5μg respectively, were considered most effective, causing high mortality in the local populations. Routine monitoring and evaluations of Ae. aegypti populations from the included parishes are recommended. Additionally, the study results represent the most comprehensive testing to date with local Aedes aegypti populations distributed across different parishes of Jamaica and should be useful to guide national and sub national strategies for vector control and surveillance. Author summary: The recent outbreaks of chikungunya, Zika and dengue viruses in the Caribbean and Latin America during 2013–2018, have motivated local health authorities in individual countries to seek international assistance from multiple agencies and adjust their vector management strategies in order to contain the transmission of Aedes-borne diseases. Countries within the region rely mainly on the use of commercially available insecticides to manage the mosquito populations and by extension, reduce the transmission of vector-borne diseases. However, this practice is stymied by the ability of these insects to develop resistance mechanisms to insecticides of frequent use. Many countries in the Caribbean and Latin America regions lack the facilities and supplies to conduct routine insecticide susceptibility testing. In an effort to ascertain knowledge on the presence of insecticide resistance in Aedes aegypti populations, and to determine which insecticide is more effective to reduce vector populations of Jamaica, we conducted an array of bioassays with three different types of insecticides (pyrethroid, organophosphate, carbamate) to use local evidence and inform public health authorities on vector control status and alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continued disparity in compensation, career advancement, and equitable access to leadership positions in traditionally male-dominated disciplines both in the business sector and higher education, continue to be an essential area of research. This paper examines the relationship of gender equity to; academic staff/faculty compensation, career advancement, and access to leadership roles in selected colleges of business in Finland, Jamaica, and the United States. The open and unembellished response of business school academic staff/faculty regarding their perceptions of gender equity in three culturally diverse societies, Finland, Jamaica, and the United States, were evaluated using the Conventional Content Analysis methodology. The three societies analyzed in this paper reflect distinct cultural, political, economic, and societal structures as well as views regarding gender equity. Mores and culturally imbued societal structures influence the perceptions and, ultimately, the level of distrust and dissatisfaction relating to gender equity. The findings confirm that female faculty/academic staff in colleges of business continue to experience inequitable working conditions. Furthermore, these unfair conditions are extraordinarily widespread, as they relate to compensation, career advancement, and access to leadership roles. The progress of female faculty members continues to lag when compared to males with similar or equal human capital. Our findings add vital insights to the cross-continental conversation on the inequitable experiences faced by business school academic staff/faculty, based on gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business-training programs are typically offered for free. Charging a price for training provides potential benefits such as financial sustainability, but little is known about how price affects demand. We conducted two experiments in Jamaica using the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism and take-it-or-leave-it offers to estimate the demand for training. Most entrepreneurs have positive willingness to pay for training, but demand falls sharply as price increases. Offering the chance to pay in installments does not increase demand. Higher prices screen out poorer, less educated entrepreneurs who have smaller firms. However, charging a higher price does increase attendance among those who pay. Finally, our paper points to the limitations of using a BDM mechanism in a context of low contract enforcement and when payments for purchasing an intangible service do not occur immediately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there have been numerous reports of species of both exotic and invasive predatory flatworms (Geoplanidae) across several islands of the Caribbean. During the rainy season from September to November 2020, citizen scientists reported and submitted photographs of sightings of exotic species of flatworms across eight of 14 parishes in Jamaica. This stimulated a collection of 439 samples of land planarians which were photographed and carefully identified using morphologically distinguishing features. The collections included three exotic species not previously reported from any Jamaican ecosystem, namely Bipalium vagum, Dolichoplana striata and Platydemus manokwari. The economic, environmental, or social impacts of these worms in Jamaican ecosystems are unknown as these species, among other planarians, are poorly studied. This paper reports the potential implications of exotic flatworm invasion in Jamaica, with emphasis on P. manokwari which, according to the ISSG Global Invasive Species Database, is among the world's 100 worst invasive species. P. manokwari is also a known paratenic host species of a zoonotic parasite, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which is the most common causal agent of eosinophilic meningitis in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been identified as a viable means of securing a sustainable present and future. However, the existing body of literature related to Sustainable Development (SD) and ESD varies. Additionally, there is a paucity of studies conducted within the context of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Jamaica which are unique in their biodiversity, culture, economy and society. As a member state of the United Nations, Jamaica is expected to devise and implement strategies towards SD, guided by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, there is a need for these strategies to be contextually appropriate and relevant as efforts are pursued to engage in curriculum reform seeking to improve learnersí knowledge, values, competencies and dispositions towards sustainable lifestyles. Consequently, curriculum reform should be carefully aligned with teacher education and its implementers. With this in mind, this paper seeks to i) contextualise ESD, ii) review salient components of curriculum reforms in Jamaica and iii) proffer implications for teacher education in a small island developing state in light of ESD curriculum reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal and marine ecosystems are supplying a wide range of services. With accelerated Sea Level Rise, intensification of waves and storm surge severity and increasing anthropogenic pressures, these areas are under multiple threats and society may not receive the same level of ecosystems services. This study aims at measuring the trend of beach erosion and at identifying and quantifying the role of some coastal and marine ecosystems in mitigating beach erosion in the region of Negril (Jamaica). In this location, the tourism industry provides the main source of economic revenue. Even at the national level, the two beaches are important assets linked with 5% of the national revenue as 25% of the hotel rooms are located around Negril. In Jamaica, the tourism industry is a significant component of national GDP. 25% of hotel rooms are located around the two beaches of Negril, which have lost an average of 23.4 m of width since 1968. Given the importance of Negril's beaches to their economy, the Government of Jamaica asked UNEP to conduct a study to identify causes of beach erosion in Negril and potential solutions to address trends of beach erosion, in the context of future sea level rise scenarios induced by climate change. This paper addresses the current beach erosion status and future trends under different climate scenarios. We explain how, by using remote sensing, GIS, wave modelling and multiple regressions analysis associated with national, local and community consultations, we were able to identify and quantify the role of ecosystems for mitigating beach erosion. We show that larger widths of coral and seagrass meadows reduce beach erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatility is an essential parameter in risk management applications, and it can affect economic activity and public confidence. It is also a key parameter in several studies examining the link between the stock market, economic growth, and other financial variables. This paper seeks to broaden our understanding of volatility in a Small Island Developing State capital market by conducting a Bayesian model comparison of several volatility models for modeling stock returns on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE). The paper uses a formal Bayesian model comparison methodology to compare seven generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) type models and seven stochastic volatility (SV) type models using the daily JSE index, All Items, from January 03, 2012, December 31, 2019, from the Jamaica Stock Exchange Database. The models include the standard models of GARCH(1,1) and SV with an AR(1) log-volatility process and models with jumps, volatility in mean, leverage effects, heavy-tailed distribution, and moving average innovations. The results reveal that SV models generally fit the data better than their GARCH counterparts. The heavy-tailed distributed innovations and the jump component substantially improve the performance of the basic GARCH and SV models. It also finds that allowing for the moving average component improves the fit of both GARCH and SV models. The result also indicates that volatility feedback is essential. There is also evidence of a significant inverse leverage effect. In total, the SV model with Student-t innovations is the best. The result presented has a potential value for academics, policymakers, and practitioners. For academics, the evidence of the dominance of the SV models over their GARCH counterparts would suggest that spillover studies involving Jamaica would gain from adopting the SV specification. The result presented also has a potential value for the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). The BOJ can adopt the SV-t framework rather than a GARCH framework as a tool for gauging volatility in the JSE. Lastly, using the SV model to compute volatility would provide more accurate pricing and risk management results for practitioners, especially global fund managers who plan to include JSE stocks for asset allocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relevance of gender equity to; faculty compensation, career advancement, and access to leadership roles in selected business schools in Finland, Jamaica, and the United States. These three countries reflect distinct cultural, political, economic, and societal structures and views regarding gender equity. Anchored by feminist, human capital, and socialization theories, we present the perspectives of both male and female business school faculty through cultural, economic, and societal constructs. A total of 410 business faculty members across 30 colleges in Finland, Jamaica, and the United States completed the modified Athena SWAN Gender Equity Survey. From this research, a conceptual framework was developed to help higher education administrators and faculty members contextualize the often-dissimilar experiences of business school faculty from a multi-cultural perspective. The findings confirm that female faculty in business colleges continue to lag in perceived and actual compensation and access to opportunities to succeed in business schools compared to males. Additionally, the findings support the further examination of the dichotomous relationship between perceived and actual gender inequities encountered by female faculty in business schools. These inequitable treatments continue to reflect, even with positive societal shifts, a distinctly patriarchal leadership, career advancement, and compensation system in business schools, often regardless of cultural norms and mores. Our findings add to the organizational and gender studies literature by proposing a balancing of the scales for gender equity in business schools from a multi-country perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses two books, "Bought & Sold: Scotland, Jamaica and Slavery" by Kate Phillips and "The Glasgow Sugar Aristocracy: Scotland and Caribbean Slavery, 1775–1838" by Stephen Mullen, which explore Scotland's involvement in slavery and the slave trade. The author criticizes Phillips' book for its lack of original manuscript sources and superficial approach, pointing out errors and unsupported claims. Mullen's book is praised for its scholarly apparatus but criticized for not citing previous works, particularly a 1971 doctoral thesis by Tom Devine. The article emphasizes the importance of careful and rigorous research in contributing to the understanding of slavery and its legacies. [Extracted from the article]

Reverse flows characterize a situation in which external inflows, such as remittances, are used to service external debt, finance capital flight, and/or accumulate foreign reserves. The existing literature on the impact of remittances in developing countries suggests that remittances are used for consumption and/or investment. However, the ultimate development effect of remittances will depend on how much of this external flow is absorbed domestically. If all remittances are not used for domestic consumption and/or investment, the residual amount will flow out of the country in the form of reverse flows. The objective of this paper is to identify the long run amount of reverse flows out of remittances in Jamaica, one of the largest recipient of remittances in the Caribbean. To examine the relationship between remittances and reverse flows in Jamaica, we estimate a net exports equation using the autoregressive distributed lag technique. We then calculate the marginal effect of remittance on reverse flows from the estimated remittance coefficient in the net exports equation. The dataset used in the paper covers the period 1976 to 2017. This determination is a first for Jamaica. The central finding is that, in the long run, approximately $0.24 of every dollar of remittances is used to finance reverse flows. Therefore, only 76 percent of any additional amount of remittances is domestically absorbed in the form of consumption and/or investment in Jamaica. These results suggest that the ultimate development impact of remittances will be overstated if reverse flows out of remittances are not taken into account. Our results echo earlier findings in the existing literature on reverse flows. The overarching policy implication of our finding is that policymakers should design growth policies of remittances after considering its reverse flow impact. Future research should focus on the reverse flow impacts of other external flows such as foreign aid. Further, future research should also identify reverse flows for other Caribbean countries. These findings are not only important for Jamaica but also have significance for other remittance-recipient developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E10 is a blend of 10% bioethanol and 90% gasoline that can be used in the engines of most cars without causing damage. Currently for the E10 blend, Jamaica imports gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago and bioethanol from Brazil because the bioethanol production in Jamaica is at an early stage. However, the country has great potential for bioethanol production. In order to assess the environmental and economic feasibility of bioethanol in Jamaica, this paper presents an economic and environmental life cycle assessment for a case study in Jamaica in two different scenarios. The Baseline Scenario represents the use of E10 in the current conditions in which bioethanol comes from Brazil and gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago. Scenario I represents the use of E10 with bioethanol from Jamaica and gasoline from Trinidad & Tobago. The comparative environmental life cycle assessment revealed that the Baseline Scenario had better results than Scenario I in ten environmental categories. The economic assessment results in Scenario I were 7% higher than in the Baseline Scenario. Hence, the current context (Baseline Scenario) was identified as the scenario with the best economic performance. Therefore, the current situation in Jamaica (Baseline Scenario) scored better results than Scenario I from an environmental and an economical point of views. It is recommended to increase the bagasse cogeneration of Scenario I to lower the environmental impacts. To improve their productivity, it is necessary to improve the Jamaican sugar infrastructure by combining molasses and cane juice to produce bioethanol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The postcolonial states of the English-speaking Caribbean inherited unequal political, social, and economic institutions from British rule. Although the region's forefathers made decided strides towards rebuilding new nations, independence and equality still elude modern Caribbean societies. The systemic challenges that the region faces, situated within the threats and opportunities of globalization, have implications for education and other social services. This paper explores the challenge of education reform by asking the question: What do students' perspectives contribute to the agenda-setting of basic education in the Caribbean Community? Using a grounded theory lens to analyse the site of Kingston, Jamaica, through focus groups and thematic analysis, the paper investigates students' perspectives on basic education reform. The research finds that students view identity, industry, and citizenship as fundamental aims of Caribbean education, but consider standardized testing as an impediment to achieving these objectives. The study recommends the incorporation of identity, industry and citizenship through progressivist curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment into the reform of basic education in the region.

This paper offers a rationale for how ESD related learning at postgraduate level can be assessed. It proposes a framework for evaluating whether assessments in Master's level programmes align with the pedagogical approach of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). If assessment is to contribute to the overall learning process, then the nature of the assessment should reflect the pedagogy, values and principles associated with ESD. Utilising an Appreciative Inquiry model, existing models of competences for sustainable development have been used to develop the framework. The framework is not aimed at the performance of the students; rather, it is applied to the course itself to identify if assessment opportunities are in keeping with an ESD approach. The framework is applied to three examples from Master's programmes, with which the authors are affiliated in England and Jamaica. The findings identify key characteristics that should feature in assessing learning for sustainability. The framework enabled the authors to gauge the extent to which their assessment regimes are in line with the aims, purpose and content of their programmes. While the examples cited are from the field of education, the framework can be applied to any Master's programmes containing elements of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]