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Social media campus party politics and political participation
Political Participation is a desired quality among citizens in a democracy. Earlier studies have indicated that Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy and Civic Engagement enhance the Political Participation of college students. The current study has its background in two key aspects in the Indian context: First, the proliferation of Social Media Usage among newlinecollege students in the last decade; Second, the implementation of the Lyngdoh Commission Report (May 2006) on Campus Party Politics. newlineStudies have not adequately addressed the question of the direct impact of Social Media Usage among college students, on their level of Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy, Civic Engagement, and Political newlineParticipation. The present study attempts to assess the impact of Social Media Usage on Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy and Civic Engagement and Political Participation of college students in the context of Kerala. In the context of the implementation of the Lyngdoh Commission report by some of the college and University campuses in India thus banning Party Politics in their campuses, while some of the other campuses still retaining Campus Party Politics, the newlinepresence/absence of Campus Party Politics is used as a control variable to see the impact of Campus Party Politics on Social Media Usage, Political Knowledge, Political Efficacy, Civic Engagement, and Political newlineParticipation. To check the impact of various factors on Political Participation, a path model is framed and analysed using Structural newlineEquation Modelling. Key demographic variables such as gender, political student union membership, type of management that own and operate the college, the stream of study of students, etc are also examined to see its newlinevarying effects on the key variables under consideration. The results indicate that Social Media Usage and Political Knowledge do not impact Political Participation while Political Efficacy and Civic Engagement do newlineimpact Political Participation. -
Influence of e-service quality on customer retention in commercial banks
Keeping in mind the dynamic changes that have been taking place in the Indian banking scenario, since the introduction of technology and the advancement of the internet even into the remote regions of the country, the proposed study is designed to determine the impact of e-service quality newlineon the retention of banking customers in the city of Bangalore. Most of the existing studies are based on conceptual understanding and are not based on model testing. The proposed study is relevant to Bangalore as it is a tier one city with a dynamic and fast-paced lifestyle having the best newlinetechnological facilities among the tier one cities in India. The literature review initiates an exhaustive discussion of various newlineconstructs that are outcomes of e-service quality and determinants of customer retention. Based on references from the literature review,constructs identified for e-service quality are customer satisfaction, newlinecustomer commitment and customer retention. The constructs that are outcomes of customer satisfaction were identified as customer trust, commitment and loyalty, which in turn influences customer retention. Thus, commitment, loyalty, commitment and e-service quality were concluded to be influencers of customer retention, with commitment being newlinea construct that mediates the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention. Through extensive literature review, hypotheses were derived and the proposed conceptual model is developed. newlineObjectives of the proposed study are to empirically validate a model to establish the relationship between e-service quality and customer retention, linking customer satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty with select antecedents. Research methodology gives an explanation of the population newlinefrom which the samples are collected, the justification for using the particular sampling technique and also the tool employed for data collection. Detailed explanations have also been given for checking the newlinereliability and validity of the tool and pilot data. -
Health diagnosis of mango trees using image processing techniques
A Mango disease detection artificial intelligent model needs robust and effective newlinefeature extraction methods. The machine vision system has been designed for the newlineidentification of disease in plants from color leaf images. The research done proposes newlinenovel algorithms to extract color features Pseudo Color Regions and Texture Features newlineusing Pseudo Color Co-Occurrence Matrix. A new Mango dataset has been created and newlinealgorithms tested on it. An artificial intelligence model has also been created and tested on an existing disease dataset of Apple and Tomato plants. Results were compared with existing methods in the literature. The effectiveness of each statistical function was studied in classifying the pattern using a Support Vector Machine. For textures that are newlinedifferent like smooth new leaves, dry leaves, growth a Gray Level Co-occurrence based newlinestatistics was effective but values failed to discriminate in certain diseases. The proposed and implemented novel method which uses second-order statistics on a pseudo-color-based co-occurrence matrix has resulted in better classification. Pseudo Color Region feature is created using a novel intermediate data structure and found to be more effective than hue-based color features. It identifies dots, spots, patches and regions of different colors on the leaf and uses that as a feature vector to classify plant diseases. This generic method can be applied for early disease detection for plants and help farmers take corrective measures to avoid loss of yield. -
Energy efficient routing protocols for wireless sensor networks
Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have gained universal attention now a day s owing to the advancements made in the fields of information and communication technologies and the electronics field. This innovative sensing technology incorporate an immense number of sensor nodes or motes set up in newlinean area to perceive any continuously fluctuating physical phenomena. These newlinetiny sensor nodes sense and process the sensed data and transfer this information to a base station or sink via radio frequency (RF) channel. newlineThe small size of these sensors is an advantage as it can be easily embedded within any device or in any environment. This feature has attracted the use of WSNs in immense applications especially in monitoring and tracking; the most prominent being the surveillance applications. But this tiny size of sensor nodes restricts the resource capabilities. Usually the WSNs are installed in application areas where the human intervention is quite risky or difficult. The sensed information might be needed to take critical decisions in emergency applications. So maintaining the connectivity of the network is of utmost newlineimportance. The efficient use of the available resources to the maximum extend newlineis a necessity to prolong the network lifetime. If any node runs out of power, the newlineentire network connectivity collapses and intend of the deployment might become futile. Because of this reason most of the research in the area of WSNs has concentrated on energy efficiency where the design of energy efficient routing protocols plays a major role. newlineThis research work titled Energy Efficient Routing Protocols for Wireless Sensor Networks proposes to develop energy efficient routing protocol strategies so as to enhance the lifetime of the WSNs. A thorough study of the existing literature serves as the back bone for attaining acquaintance concerning the pertinent scenario, the problems faced and the application of the WSNs. newlineThe use of clustering and sink mobility to enhance the energy utilisation is explored in this research. -
Exploring character strength in the functioning and well beings of religious leaders
Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal functioning, flourishing and well-being of individuals and organizations. The backbone of positive psychology, the character strengths are significant in effective leadership functioning. The current study explored the character strengths development and character strengths utilization in the functioning and well-being of religious leaders (consecrated nuns and priests). There were 17 participants, nine female and eight male consecrated Catholic religious leaders. The study used the mixed design. The Values in Action Tests was administrated to identify leaders top strengths and a phenomenological approach was used to explore character strengths development as well as the usage of character strengths in the functioning of the religious leaders. The findings illustrated that the most prevalent character strengths of leaders are honesty, gratitude, teamwork, fairness, and kindness. The least prevalent strengths are love of learning, humour, appreciation of excellence, zest, judgement and creativity. Results showed that the influencing factors of character strengths development are family influences, experiences at school, formative programmes in the religious formation, critical events and factors enhancing strength. The strength of wisdom and knowledge were used mainly at organizational and administrative level of leadership functioning. Strengths of courage manifested at the implementation level. The strength of humanity is identified as the most striking character strength in leader-member exchange. The strength of temperance has the role of controller in leadership functioning. The strength of justice is seen as a catalyst in promoting cohesion in the community. The leaders pivotal manifestation of the strengths of transcendence is in their intimacy with God that gives higher purpose and meaning in leadership, that is, do the Will of God. Character strengths were found in promoting wellness through achievements, facilitating total engagement, giving a great purpose in leader life and in promoting better leader-follower interactions. The highlighted character strengths that promote well-being were gratitude and appreciation. The study has brought out an ongoing leadership training programme for religious leaders that can be completed in three phases. -
Organic and Inorganic compunds anchored graphene frameworks as materials for sensor and supercapacitor applications
The specific atoms or group of atoms that can attach to the other organic or inorganic newlinecompounds due to the strong affinity is called as the anchoring group. The electrons newlinefrom these organic and inorganic compounds are potent to travel through the anchor newlinegroup. This leads to specific features with the change in the arrangement of atoms in newlinethe entire molecule/system. Hence, the redox reaction properties, molecular chain newlinelength and the extent of conjugation of the resultant anchored product vary. Depending upon the binding nature, anchoring groups can be divided into monodentate, bidentate, and multidentate. Among these, multidentate anchoring groups are more significant since it can bind either partially to the molecules or with the whole surface. Though many multidentate anchoring groups like fullerene, carbon nanotubes, polymers, calixarenes, and graphene are presented in the literature, newlinegraphene oxide anchored organic and inorganic compounds are important because of its amazing contributions to the material science and design. The high thermal and electrical conductivity, large surface area, mechanical strength, and availability of more mobile electrons make graphene as the suitable anchor group for diverse applications in the field of adsorption of polluted gases, catalyst for the organic conversions, medicinal chemistry, electrochemical sensing, and energy storage devices. Therefore, Graphene oxide (GO) is one of the good choices to develop supercapacitance systems and electrochemical sensing materials. Heteroatom doping, conducting polymer, metal complexes, and metal oxides anchored graphene oxide are more significant because they change the electroactive properties significantly. Considering these, we studied the photophysical and electrochemical properties of chromium complex anchored GO synthesised by silane and diazonium coupling. -
Studies on the Fresh Water Algal Floria in Chimmony Wildlife Sanctuary
Algae is a crucial organism in the environment. They help in maintaining the balance among different ecosystems. According to the geography and climatic conditions, newlineKerala has a suitable environment for algal growth. However, the algal biodiversity newlinestudies conducted in Kerala are significantly less. The wildlife sanctuary comprises a newlineconsiderable scope for algal biodiversity. The Chimmony wildlife sanctuary is situated in Mukundapuram taluk of Thrissur district. It spreads over 85.067 km2 with a water spread area of 10.1 km2. Ten different sampling stations were selected across newlinethe wildlife sanctuary, and extensive field visits were conducted to identify and newlinedocument the algae with respect to three seasons (pre-monsoon, monsoon, and post- newlinemonsoon). The physicochemical parameters of water like dissolved oxygen, temperature, pH, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, light intensity, and rainfall amount were estimated seasonally. In this present study, a total of 121 taxa belonging to 60 genera, 38 families, 24 orders, and 5 classes, namely Chlorophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Euglenineae, Rhodophyceae, and Cyanophyceae, were identified from 10 different stations. The Bacillariophyceae and Chlorophyceae were the most dominant class in the study area. The algal multiplication will be more in the pre monsoon season and it was observed that the Chlorophyceaen members were dominant, while the Bacillariophyceae were dominant during the post-monsoon season. Cyanophyceae was dominant only during the monsoon season because of its sensitivity toward light. The ANOVA (Two-way) analysis showed no significant difference between stations, and there is a considerable difference between seasons for dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, temperature, and total dissolved solids. While pH, showed no significant difference between seasons and stations, light intensity showed a substantial difference between stations and seasons. The temperature and dissolved oxygen showed a negative correlation. -
A Study on Near Proper Coloring of Graphs
An equitable coloring of a graph G is a proper vertex coloring in which the number of vertices in any two color classes are equal or almost equal. In this graph coloring, there is a partition of tasks into subsets which perform at the same time. Equitable coloring play an important role when there is a requirement of dividing a system with binary conand#64258;ict free subsystems with equal or newlinenearly equal elements. The non-availability of sufcient number of colors leads to diand#64256;erent defective coloring problems. An equitable near proper coloring of a graph G is an improper coloring in which the vertex set can be partitioned into k color classes V1, V2, . . . , Vk ; (1 lt k lt and#967;e(G)) such that the number of vertices in any two color classes diand#64256;er by at most one and the resulting monochromatic edges are minimised by restricting the number of color classes that can have adjacency among their own elements. The minimum number of monochromatic newlineedges obtained from an equitable near proper coloring of G is called equitable defective number. This study introduces the notion of equitable near proper coloring of a graph G and investigates the equitable defective number for a few graph classes. In this study, the equitable near proper coloring of various graph classes and derived graphs are discussed, and the corresponding equitable newlinedefective number for any k where 2 and#8804; k and#8804; and#967;e(G) and#8722; 1 is obtained. -
Adoption of cashless payment systems among consumers
The primary goal of any national payment system is to ensure smooth circulation of money. An efficient and secure payment system triggers economic activity and electronic payment systems in particular, benefit both the customer s and the country s economic growth. Diverse payment systems function ranging from paper-based ones where the instruments are physically exchanged and settlements worked out manually, to the sophisticated electronic fund transfer systems which are fully secured and transactions settled on a gross, real-time basis. Researchers have used various technology adoption models to predict their usage. The purpose of the study is to investigate the key driving factors responsible for the consumers adoption of cashless payment system. A descriptive study method using the paradigm of post - positivism was employed with a sample of 390 respondents from Bangalore who have used cashless payments. They were selected by purposive sampling using snowball sampling. The study is based on both primary and secondary sources of information. The current study extended the UTAUT with new constructs Habit, Hedonic Motivation, Price Value, Trust, Innovativeness, Perceived Risk, Attitude Towards Using Cashless Payment System and Anxiety. The findings of the study reveal that the factors namely Effort Expectancy, Performance Expectancy, Social Influence, Habit, Facilitating Conditions, Hedonic Motivation, Price Value, Trust, Innovativeness, Perceived Risk, Attitude Towards Using Cashless Payment System and Anxiety have significant influence on the consumers cashless payment usage. A close positive correlation of cashless payment systems usage with the independent variables was seen. The gender, age, income, occupation and educational qualification of the respondents has a significant role to play in their willingness to use cashless payments. The study gives an insight on what the considerations to look into while launching a new payment system are and the means to deal with consumers to adopt and use the same. -
On the Maximization of Some Graph Coloring Problems
A graph coloring problem involves labeling the vertices or edges in a graph with newlinecolors or numbers subject to some constraints. The most frequently known graph newlinecoloring problems are the ones that usually minimize the number of colors used in newlinecoloring the vertices or edges. The chromatic number of a graph G, denoted by and#967;(G), is the least number of colors used in a proper coloring of G. The chromatic sum of a graph G, denoted as P(G), was introduced in [1], which is to and the smallest possible coloring sum in a proper coloring of the graph G using natural numbers. Lately, a few studies have endured in a distinct area of the literature where the number of colors used in a graph coloring problem is maximized under certain conditions. Some of these works have applications in network sciences. newlineThe concerned study focuses on the maximization of three dierent edge coloring newlineconcepts, viz., the vertex induced kand#8722;edge coloring, vertex incident kand#8722;edge coloring, newlineand edge incident 2and#8722;edge coloring of a simple connected graph G, where k and#8805; 2. The newlinenumber of colors assigned to the edges of the graph G has been maximized under certain conditions. The vertex induced kand#8722;edge coloring and the vertex incident newlinekand#8722;edge coloring concepts are the generalized version of the edge coloring approach newlineintroduced and studied in [2]. Furthermore, the concept of the achromatic sum of a graph G has also been introduced here. This concept is to and the greatest possible coloring sum of the graph G in an improper edge coloring using natural numbers. An extensive study newlineon three achromatic sums, namely the vertex induced 2and#8722;edge coloring sum, the vertex incident 2and#8722;edge coloring sum, and the edge incident 2and#8722;edge coloring sum are carried out. A few bounds for these parameters on a simple connected graph G and the exact values for some elementary graph classes have been investigated. A few comparative results between some of these parameters have also been obtained. -
Sustainable tourism development through community based waste management in backwater destinations of kerala
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, (2002) solid waste newlinemanagement is a great challenge in many tourist destinations because improperly managed solid waste can threaten the environment as well as the life of the local community. Sewage waste and plastic material from tourism houseboats are increasing the pollution in the backwaters of south Kerala. These days it is not completely proper for touristic activities because of their physical and morphological attributes. This can lead to unsustainable negative impact on the backwater (Iskander and El 2014).Therefore this study was seeking to understand the influence of community based waste management towards the sustainable tourism development in the backwaters of south Kerala. The research adopted a descriptive research design. The study consists of three newlinecategories of stakeholders. Public sector, Private sector, and Local community. Public Sector stakeholders include Hotel Officials, Resorts officials and houseboat officials. Private sector stakeholder includes the government representative of concerned backwater destination. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), SEM Modelling are the various statistical techniques used in this study. Cross-case analysis was used to analyse newlinethe qualitative aspects of the research study. This study also develops and test a community based waste management model for newlinesustainable tourism development and considered the influence of factors on community support, community involvement, perceived benefits and perceived cost. The structural model indicates that increasing perceived benefits and decreasing perceived cost from backwater tourism would help to enhance community involvement and support for newlinesustainable tourism development in the backwaters of south Kerala. -
A Study on Dominating Functions in Signed Graphs
In this thesis, a study on Roman dominating functions in the realm of signed graphs is carried out. Unlike graphs, not all signed graphs admit a Roman dominating function, which leads to the primary problem of exploring signed graphs admitting a Roman dominating function. Further, variants of dominating function such as Roman {2}-dominating function, Minus dominating function and Signed dominating function in signed graphs are also studied. A dominating set of a signed graph S is dened as a set D and#8838; V such that each vertex v and#8712; V \ D has at least one neighbour u and#8712; D with and#963;(uv) = 1. The domination number and#947;(S) is the minimum cardinality among all the dominating sets newlineof S. A characterisation for minimal dominating sets of a signed graph along with newlinecharacterisations of signed graphs with domination number k, where 1 and#8804; k and#8804; 4 and newlinen and#8722; 2 and#8804; k and#8804; n are obtained. A Roman dominating function(RDF) on a signed graph S = (G, and#963;) is a function f : V (S) and#8594; {0, 1, 2} having the properties that (i) for every vertex u and#8712; V (G), f(N[u]) = f(u) + Pvand#8712;N (u) and#963;(uv)f(v) and#8805; 1 and (ii) for each vertex u and#8712; V (G) with f(u) = 0, there exists a vertex v and#8712; N +(u) having f(v) = 2. The signed graphs newlineadmitting an RDF are explored and certain classes of signed graphs such as paths, newlinecycles, stars admitting an RDF are characterised. Further, structural properties of signed graphs with 3-regular underlying graphs that admit an RDF are presented newlineand a characterisation of net-regular signed graphs with 3-regular underlying graphs, newlineadmitting an RDF is obtained. The signed graphs with Roman domination number equal to 2, 3, 4 and n are characterised. Further, criticality concepts have been examined by studying and#947;R-edge critical signed graphs S for which and#947;R(S +e) lt and#947;R(S), where the signature of the edge e is 1. A characterisation of and#947;R-edge critical signed trees with a single negative edge is presented, apart from some general results on and#947;R-edge critical signed graphs. -
Effect of personality psychological capital institutional support on job satisfaction and affective commitment among private school teachers in south karnataka
A teacher's personality traits are important to create and maintain a classroom learning environment. The behaviour of Teachers depends on the characteristics of the personality. There have been many pieces of research based on the positive aspects of teachers' behaviour through enhancing some psychological states which are based on the positive institutional behaviour. This particular research has its focus on the positive strengths of the teachers, and this construct has an essential influence on job satisfaction. Hence, a satisfied and engaged teacher is very much necessary to strengthen the competitive student base of every School. To explore the fact, the researcher has chosen the constructs such as Personality, Positive psychological capital, Institutional factors (Perceived Institutional support, Work-life policies, Work autonomy), Job satisfaction factors, and Affective commitment to study the impact of the Big five dimensions of personality on job satisfaction and affective commitment of private school teachers in South Karnataka and to investigate the impact of psychological capital on job satisfaction and affective commitment of teachers. The study also attempts to understand the influence of Institutional factors (perceived Institutional support, work-life policies, and work autonomy) on job satisfaction and affective commitment. Also, the study explores the influence of job satisfaction on the outcome factors namely affective commitment among private school teachers. The study used a descriptive research design, and it is observed that the total number of districts in south Karnataka is fifteen. The researcher selected four private schools from each district randomly with the help of the private school list used as a sampling frame. The total sample size for the study estimated were 477 teachers working in private schools. The study has analysed the data using appropriate statistical tools such as (i) frequency analysis, (ii) Factor analysis, (iii) ANOVA with post hoc (v) Regression analysis. The study concludes that when the private school teachers personalities such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience which will tend to significantly influence Job satisfaction among teachers working in the private schools of South Karnataka. Similarly, private school teachers Psychological capital like resilience, self-efficacy, optimism, and hope which tend to influence job satisfaction at their work significantly. This study also concludes that private school teachers to be given proper work-life balance and work autonomy by the school management, which will significantly influence job satisfaction among the teachers at work. Also, private school teachers who possess personalities such as extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience significantly influence the teacher's affective commitment. The study also reveals that the private school teachers have Psychological capital like resilience, Self-efficacy, Hope, and Optimism, which tend to significantly influence their affective commitment which will reflect towards their respective institution. If the private institution gave the school teachers proper work-life balance and work autonomy, then they tend to influence their affective commitment significantly. Also, it is concluded that the affective commitment of teachers significantly influences the job satisfaction level of school teachers. This implies that the school management can enhance the level of teachers' commitment to their schools by creating a more conducive and more satisfying environment in the workplace. Accordingly, schools can decide on pay and other monetary incentives. However, they can enhance teachers' job satisfaction by creating better training and development opportunities, improving leadership and management support, promoting accountability, and involving teachers in decision-making made at the school level. Another important finding of this study is the observed positive relationships between scores of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Some of these findings contradict the existing literature in these fields; others are inconsistent with the prevailing literature. -
Green Synthesis of Nano Carbon-Infused Polymer for The Detection of Toxic Heavy Metals
The global population is marching towards greener ways of life. Green nanotechnology, newlinewhich uses carbon nanomaterials for environmental remediation, is the pioneer among the existing strategies for the production, characterization, and applications of carbon nanomaterials derived from sustainable and renewable energy resources. Additionally, easily available natural ingredients are effective carbon precursors for producing carbon dots with newlineenthralling physical and chemical properties. Compared to other approaches, plant-based newlinesynthesis of nanomaterials is more dependable because it is simple, fast, ecologically newlinefriendly, and does not require particular conditions. We report for the first time, the use of a fluorescent nanocarbon material synthesised from plant, Indigofera Tinctora (L.) (IBLH), for the detection of metal ions. This nanomaterial developed using a green synthesis method that aided hydrothermal processing from the leaf extract of IBLH. The IBLH sensor used to detect hazardous metal ions (Pb2+) was very sensitive and selective. Considering the concentration from 1 nM to 100 mM and 100 mM to 1M, developed sensor displayed broad, dual linearity. The limit of detection (LOD) for the sensor appreciable low with 14.74 nM as the detection limit, with a wide and linear response spanning from 1 nM to 1M Cd2+ concentration range. Utilising Ruta Graveolens as the carbon source, we developed ARH-CDs from agricultural waste using chemical-free, one-step hydrothermal procedures that are safe for the environment. The synthesized ARH-CDs showed nano particle size, outstanding water newlinesolubility, great biocompatibility, and appreciable optical characteristics. The FTIR and XPS findings validated the existence of functional groups. such as C-O, C-C, and O-H with various oxygen functional groups, with predominating hydroxyl group, supporting the newlineexistence of CDs. For the selective detection of Hg2+, the synthesized ARH-CDs are employed as a biocompatible fluorescence sensor. -
A mixed methods study on factors associated with relapse of alcohol use disorder
Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most concerning mental health issues in India. According to the recent survey, Magnitude of Substance Use in India, 2019, 160 million of the countrys population consumes alcohol. About 35.6% are problem drinkers among those who drink, of which 18% are alcohol dependent. Despite the greater understanding of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the scientific advancements in treatment, relapse remains to be the main challenge in managing AUD. This study aimed at investigating various factors associated with relapse of AUD and presenting an in-depth understanding of it. Methods: A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods design was used. In the quantitative phase, 72 relapsed individuals with AUD currently undergoing treatment were compared with 72 individuals previously treated for AUD who maintain total abstinence for a minimum period of one year. Relapsed participants were selected from three private de-addiction centers in Bangalore and abstaining participants were recruited from various Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Bangalore. The relapsed and sober groups were matched on gender, AUD diagnosis, and previous inpatient alcohol de-addiction treatment. Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised was used to assess the personality profiles of the participants. A sociodemographic and clinical information form was also used to collect data. Six participants were selected purposively from the same sample for in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and NVivo for quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The study protocol was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Results: Bivariate analyses showed a significant difference in Novelty Seeking, Persistence, Self-Directedness, and Self-Transcendence traits between the relapsed and sober participants. Results also suggested that reported use of other substances, post- discharge follow-ups, and living with drinking or drug-using individuals are significantly associated with relapse. Logistic regression displayed incomplete treatment, use of other substances, and no post-discharge follow-up as predictors of relapse. The qualitative thematic analysis revealed preparedness, motivation, personal exceptionalism, meaning and purpose, and social and interpersonal as the main relapse-related themes. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of treatment engagement, discharge planning, aftercare, and special attention to those presenting with multiple substance use. It also displays a few culture-specific aspects to be considered during treatment, such as preparing the individuals entering treatment to effectively engage, assessing and working with their motivation, and addressing the relationship dynamics. -
Effectiveness of the Services Delivered by Special Schools for Children with Intellectual Disability
Special schools are the most widespread in the country among the various models for the education of children with intellectual disabilities. In India, there are large number of special schools for children with intellectual disabilities, implementing special education programme using various methods and materials. The present research attempts to determine the effectiveness of special schools rendering services for children with intellectual disability. A comprehensive understanding of the practices followed by different special schools would provide more insight into the functioning of special schools that serve children with intellectual disability. This study explores the various practices in special schools and the progress of children in self-care, behaviour and communication after receiving special education. The study also focused on understanding the progress of children with mild, moderate, and severe intellectual disability. The study used mixed research method. A causal design was used to assess special schools' effectiveness with a focus on self-care, behaviour, and communication of children. Both quantitative and qualitative method of data collection and interpretation were done to conclude the study. The self-structured interview schedule was used for qualitative research and collected information from 12 special schools. Cases were developed based on the qualitative data. Within-case and cross-case analysis with thematic analysis were used for analyzing the data. Quantitative data was collected from caretakers of 98 children, using a standardized tool Behavioural Assessment scale for Indian Children with Mental Retardation (BASIC- MR). The impact of special education on the self-care, communication and behaviour of Children with Intellectual Disabilities were analyzed with Wilcoxon Signed Rank test using the baseline data and their progress of the children after five years in special school. The result shows that there are changes in behaviour, self-care and communication of children with ID after they joined special school. The results also highlighted that there is a difference in children's progress based on the level of intellectual disability (mild, moderate and severe). The qualitative analysis explained the best practices exhibited by special schools for children with ID. -
Psychosocial Well-Being of Adolescents : A Social Group Work Intervention
Social work practice with children and families is one of the most challenging, skilled and rewarding areas of social work practice. Social workers believe that safeguarding children and preventing them from significant harm is a rewarding and challenging way to make a difference in the life of a child, which involves the corporation, consultation and collaboration of many people working effectively together. As highlighted by the United Nations' data disaggregation against the goal of "no one left behind," the absence of data on adolescents needs research on the "second decade." Furthermore, because India has the world's largest adolescent population, studies and policies aimed at developing adolescents' competencies are critical to the country's development; interventions aimed at instilling confidence in underprivileged adolescents to strive for a better future are critical for mitigating inequity. Adolescents from disadvantaged families and whose parents are no longer able to provide adequate care to children are having various psychosocial problems, high risk of violence, exploitation, abuse and neglect and their psychosocial well-being is often insufficiently monitored. This intervention study adopted a quasi-interventional design to measure the effectiveness of social group work in raising the psychological well-being, self-esteem and coping orientation of adolescents in child sponsorship programs. Social group work intervention with 20 sessions was designed in response to the information garnered through the pilot study and administered to the intervention group (n=20). Conducted pre-test and post-test for both intervention group and control group (n=20) and two follow up tests in three months intervals for the intervention group (n=20) using 42 item version of Ryffs scale for psychological well-being, Rosenbergs 10 item self-esteem scale and 54 items A-COPE scale; and data analyzed using SPSS. Comparison between pre and post measurements carried out using paired sample t-test for the intervention group and control group separately, gave out a p value < 0.05 for the intervention group and, > 0. 05 for the control group. Thus, it was proved that the psychological well-being, self-esteem and coping orientation of participants in the intervention group were raised significantly due to the social group work intervention. Applying refined granularity, this research adds data specifically on adolescents enrolled in child sponsorship programs and sets a blueprint for social group work to raise their psychological well-being, self-esteem and coping orientation. Proposing a conceptual framework for child sponsorship programs, this study recommends the need for operational tie-ups, sustained youth support, training of trainers (ToT) for community animators, preparing individual care plans and training to school social workers and the need of starting walk-in counselling centres and mentoring services. Furthermore, this study suggests additional research in all aspects of its operation, as well as interventions at the group, family, and community levels, for the well-being and empowerment of marginalised adolescents. -
Impact of Integrated Explicit Instruction on Development of Critical Thinking Skills and Dispositions among Adolescents
Critical thinking is an essential skill that is required for survival in the twenty first newlinecentury. Educational institutions are gearing up to align their curriculum to ensure the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions among their candidates. However, there are few empirical studies that layout a clear road map of instructional strategies for the teaching of critical thinking. Given that adolescents are the most receptive to neurobiological skill and disposition development and that Literature is one of the best platforms that connects to real life, this research uses the educational design research method to develop an Integrated Explicit Instruction (IEI) module that could be used in English classes to teach adolescents critical thinking skills and develop in them critical thinking dispositions. This research not only bridges the gap in an empirically tested instructional strategy to teach critical thinking but also lays the foundation for further longitudinal studies that could measure the development of critical thinking skills and dispositions long term in participants who have been exposed to the intervention. -
Design and development of an efficient model for handwritten modi script recognition
Machine simulation of human reading has caught the attention of computer science newlineresearchers since the introduction of digital computers. Character recognition, a branch of pattern recognition and computer vision, is the process of identifying either printed or handwritten text from document images and converting it into machinecoded text. Character recognition has been successfully implemented for various foreign language scripts like English, Chinese and Latin. In the case of Indian language scripts, the character recognition process is comparatively difficult due to various complexities such as the presence of the vowel modifiers and a large number of characters (class). MODI script is a shorthand form of Devanagari script and it was used as an official script for writing Marathi until 1952. Presently the script is not used officially, but has historical importance. MODI script is a cursive script and the character recognition task is difficult due to various reasons such as variations in the shapes of a character with different individuals and the presence of identical looking characters. MODI documents do not have any word demarcation symbols and that adds to the complexity of the task. The advances in various Machine Learning newlinetechniques have greatly contributed to the success of optical character recognition. newlineThe proposed work is aimed at exploring various Machine Learning techniques/ newlinemethods which can be effectively used in(to) recognizing(recognize) MODI script and newlinebuild a reliable and robust character recognition model for handwritten MODI script. This research work also aims at the development of a Machine Transliteration and text recognition system for MODI manuscripts.