Leveling Up Financial Literacy: Evidence from Game-Based Intervention with Aspiration Treatment amongst Rural Women in India

In India, rural women exhibit notably low financial literacy levels, necessitating effective and scalable educational interventions. Our randomized controlled trial evaluated a novel approach, combining game-based financial literacy education with a video documentary-based aspirations intervention, targeting women in self-help groups in Karnataka. The study included 348 participants and employed an ANCOVA model adjusted for clustering to analyze the effects. The results demonstrate significant improvements in financial literacy and aspirations, particularly when interventions are combined. The game-based intervention alone significantly enhanced digital literacy, financial confidence, and behavioral indices such as agency, pathways, and aspirations. The aspirations intervention also independently affected financial confidence and aspiration indices. These results suggest that targeted, innovative interventions can effectively advance financial literacy and aspirations in low and middle-income settings, providing valuable insights for designing comprehensive financial education programs

Twitter-Based Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling of Social Media Posts using Natural Language Processing, to Understand People’s Perspectives Regarding COVID-19 Omicron Subvariants XBB.1.5 and BF.7

Concerns about an increase in cases during the COVID-19 pandemic have been heightened by the emergence of a new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 that joined the previously reported BF.7 as a source of public health concern. COVID-19 cases have been on the rise intermittently throughout the ongoing pandemic, likely because of the continuous introduction of SARS-CoV-2 subtypes. The present study analyzed the Indian citizen’s perceptions of the latest covid variants XBB.1.5 and BF.7 using the natural language processing technique, especially topic modeling and sentiment analysis. The tweets posted by Indian citizens regarding this issue were analyzed and used for this study. Government authorities, policymakers, and healthcare officials will be better able to implement the necessary policy effectively to tackle the XBB 1.5 and BF.7 crises if they are aware of the people’s sentiments and concerns about the crisis. A total of 8,54,312 tweets have been used for this study. Our sentiment analysis study has revealed that out of those 8,54,312 tweets, the highest number of tweets (n = 3,19,512 tweets (37.3%)) about COVID variants XBB.1.5 and BF.7 had neutral sentiments, 3,16,951 tweets (37.1%) showed positive sentiments and 2,17,849 tweets (25.4%) had negative sentiments. Fear of the future and concerns about the immunity of the vaccines are of prime concerns to tackle the ongoing pandemic

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Sustainable Studies: Mapping Sustainability in WPI Curricula

Integration of sustainability topics in curricula at WPI is lacking in part due to communications challenges between the WPI Office of Sustainability and the WPI community. To improve communications, we developed and implemented an online sustainability resource platform for both WPI faculty and students through the utilization of faculty interviews and student surveys. The platform provides students with a list of sustainability themed courses and provides faculty with resources to assist them in providing quality sustainability themed content

A NOVEL METHODOLOGY FOR INFILTRATION MODEL STUDIES

<p>Infiltration is treated as one of the important parameter of the hydrological cycle as far as ground water recharge is concerned. It depends on soil characteristics such as soil texture, hydraulic conductivity, soil structure, vegetation cover, porosity, permeability, degree of saturation etc. Determination of infiltration rates is useful for mitigation of hydrological riskand reflects the future of ground water resources in the study area. Infiltration of water into the soil is determined by a simple instrument called Double ring infiltrometer. Infiltration models are the empirical formulae developed using infiltration concepts which is used to determine the infiltration rate of soil. One way ANOVA test was performed to find the significance of the infiltration models. In the present study an attempt is made to validate the Horton’s model, Green ampt model and Kostiakov’s infiltration model with observed field data for a residential area, Ernakulam. From the present study significant model for the particular site is determined by using decision factor analysis.</p

RT2 OSF Demo

Test project for RT

Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Modern Trends in Engineering Technology and Management

This proceeding contains articles on the various ideas of the academic community presented at The 2nd International Conference on Modern Trends in Engineering Technology and Management (ICMEM 2023) organized by the Sree Narayana Institute of Technology Adoor-691554, Kerala, India on 4th-6th May 2023.  ICMEM 2023 aimed to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, issues, challenges, discoveries, opportunities, and applications of Modern Trends in Engineering Technology and Management. The ever-changing scope and rapid development of science and technology generate new problems, questions, and curiosity, necessitating the exchange of brilliant ideas and raising awareness of this vital research field in a variety of directions.  Conference Title: 2nd International Conference on Modern Trends in Engineering Technology and ManagementConference Acronyms: ICMEM 2023Conference Date: 4th-6th May 2023Conference Location: Hybrid ModeConference Organizer: SNIT Adoor, Kerala, Indi