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BackgroundADVanced Organ Support (ADVOS) is a novel type of extracorporeal albumin dialysis and holds promise to sustain liver function and recovery of patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF). Previously, ADVOS was tested as continuous treatment for intensive care patients with liver failure. Data related to the applicability and safety as discontinuous treatment outside of ICU is not available.AimEvaluation of ADVOS as discontinuous treatment for patients with ACLF outside intensive care unit and comparison with a matched historic cohort.Methods and resultsIn this retrospective study, 26 patients with ACLF and the indication for renal replacement therapy related to HRS-AKI were included. Majority of patients were male (65%) with alcoholic cirrhosis in 88% and infections as a trigger of ACLF in 96%. Liver function was severely compromised reflected by high median MELD and CLIF-C ACLF scores of 37 (IQR 32;40) and 56.5 (IQR 51;60), respectively. Patients were treated discontinuously with ADVOS over a median time of 12 days (IQR 8.25;17) and received 8 (IQR 4.25;9.75) treatment cycles on average. No treatment related adverse events were recorded, and safety laboratory parameters remained constant during the observation time. After 16 h cumulative dialysis therapy, ADVOS significantly reduced protein-bound bilirubin (14%), creatinine (11.8%) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN, 33%). Using a matched cohort with ACLF treated with hemodialysis, ADVOS achieved a stronger decrease in bilirubin (p = 0.01), while detoxification of water-soluble catabolites' including creatinine and BUN was comparable. The 28-days mortality in the ADVOS group was 56% (14/26) and was not inferior to predicted survival (predicted median 28-days mortality was 44%, IQR 30; 59).ConclusionDiscontinuous ADVOS treatment was safe and effective in patients with ACLF outside intensive care and outperformed hemodialysis in reducing protein-bound metabolites.

This qualitative study explored how 249 transgender and non-binary (TNB) adolescents (ages 14-18) described salient supports in their lives, and ways in which key social-ecological contexts could better support TNB adolescents' wellbeing. Participants were recruited through social media, and completed online surveys; all study procedures were approved by the Boston University Institutional Review Board. Most (84.7%) participants identified as White, and as sexual minorities (96.4%). Modified consensual qualitative research (CQR-M) methods were used to examine TNB adolescents' responses to two questions: "In your life, which people, if any, would you describe as most supportive, and why?" and "What can individuals/groups within families, schools, and communities do to best support the well-being of transgender and non-binary adolescents?" Results indicated that the most common source of support for TNB participants was peers, followed by family members. Participants also highlighted the centrality of supportive environments that offer access to resources, as well as support derived through policies and practices that reduce stigma. Collectively, results have implications for how individuals and systems can foster wellbeing among TNB adolescents.

Drought stress causes multiple feedback responses in plants. These responses span from stomata closure and enzymatic downregulation of photosynthetic activity to structural adjustments of xylem biomass and leaf area. Some of these processes are not easily reversible and may persist long after the stress has ended. Despite a multitude of hydraulic model approaches, simulation models still widely lack an integrative mechanistic description of how this sequence of physiological to structural tree responses may be realized that is also simple enough to be generally applicable. Here, we suggest an integrative, sequential approach to simulate drought stress responses. First, decreasing plant water potential triggers stomatal closure alongside a downregulation of photosynthetic performance, thereby effectively slowing down further desiccation. A second protective mechanism is introduced by increasing the soil–root resistance, represented by a disconnection of fine roots after a threshold soil water potential has been reached. Further decreases in plant water potential due to residual transpiration and loss of internal stem water storage consistently lead to a loss of hydraulic functioning, which is reflected in sapwood loss and foliage senescence. This new model functionality has been used to investigate the responses of tree hydraulics, carbon uptake, and transpiration to soil and atmospheric drought in an extremely dry Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) plantation. Using the hypothesis of a sequential triggering of stress-mitigating responses, the model was able to reflect carbon uptake and transpiration patterns under varying soil water supply and atmospheric demand conditions – especially during summer – and respond realistically regarding medium-term responses, such as leaf and sapwood senescence. We could show that the observed avoidance strategy was only achieved when the model accounted for very early photosynthesis downregulation, and the relatively high measured plant water potentials were well reproduced with a root–soil disconnection strategy that started before major xylem conductance losses occurred. Residual canopy conductance was found to be pivotal in explaining dehydration and transpiration patterns during summer, but it also disclosed the fact that explaining the water balance in the driest periods requires water supply from stem water and deep soil layers. In agreement with the high drought resistance observed at the site, our model indicated little loss of hydraulic functioning in Aleppo pine, despite the intensive seasonal summer drought.

Abstract We present a formally exact and simulation-free approach for the normalization of X-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) spectra based on the f-sum rule of the imaginary-time correlation function (ITCF). Our method works for any degree of collectivity, over a broad range of temperatures, and is applicable even in nonequilibrium situations. In addition to giving us model-free access to electronic correlations, this new approach opens up the intriguing possibility to extract a plethora of physical properties from the ITCF based on XRTS experiments.

We present in situ measurements of spectrally resolved X-ray scattering and X-ray diffraction from monocrystalline diamond samples heated with an intense pulse of heavy ions. In this way, we determine the samples’ heating dynamics and their microscopic and macroscopic structural integrity over a timespan of several microseconds. Connecting the ratio of elastic to inelastic scattering with state-of-the-art density functional theory molecular dynamics simulations allows the inference of average temperatures around 1300 K, in agreement with predictions from stopping power calculations. The simultaneous diffraction measurements show no hints of any volumetric graphitization of the material, but do indicate the onset of fracture in the diamond sample. Our experiments pave the way for future studies at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research, where a substantially increased intensity of the heavy ion beam will be available.

Upscaling chamber measurements of soil greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes from point scale to landscape scale remain challenging due to the high variability in the fluxes in space and time. This study measured GHG fluxes and soil parameters at selected point locations (n=268), thereby implementing a stratified sampling approach on a mixed-land-use landscape (∼5.8 km2). Based on these field-based measurements and remotely sensed data on landscape and vegetation properties, we used random forest (RF) models to predict GHG fluxes at a landscape scale (1 m resolution) in summer and autumn. The RF models, combining field-measured soil parameters and remotely sensed data, outperformed those with field-measured predictors or remotely sensed data alone. Available satellite data products from Sentinel-2 on vegetation cover and water content played a more significant role than those attributes derived from a digital elevation model, possibly due to their ability to capture both spatial and seasonal changes in the ecosystem parameters within the landscape. Similar seasonal patterns of higher soil/ecosystem respiration (SR/ER–CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes in summer and higher methane (CH4) uptake in autumn were observed in both the measured and predicted landscape fluxes. Based on the upscaled fluxes, we also assessed the contribution of hot spots to the total landscape fluxes. The identified emission hot spots occupied a small landscape area (7 % to 16 %) but accounted for up to 42 % of the landscape GHG fluxes. Our study showed that combining remotely sensed data with chamber measurements and soil properties is a promising approach for identifying spatial patterns and hot spots of GHG fluxes across heterogeneous landscapes. Such information may be used to inform targeted mitigation strategies at the landscape scale.

Animal burrowing activity affects soil texture, bulk density, soil water content, and redistribution of nutrients. All of these parameters in turn influence sediment redistribution, which shapes the earth's surface. Hence it is important to include bioturbation into hillslope sediment transport models. However, the inclusion of burrowing animals into hillslope-wide models has thus far been limited and has largely omitted vertebrate bioturbators, which can be major agents of bioturbation, especially in drier areas. Here, we included vertebrate bioturbator burrows into a semi-empirical Morgan–Morgan–Finney soil erosion model to allow a general approach to the assessment of the impacts of bioturbation on sediment redistribution within four sites along the Chilean climate gradient. For this, we predicted the distribution of burrows by applying machine learning techniques in combination with remotely sensed data in the hillslope catchment. Then, we adjusted the spatial model parameters at predicted burrow locations based on field and laboratory measurements. We validated the model using field sediment fences. We estimated the impact of bioturbator burrows on surface processes. Lastly, we analyzed how the impact of bioturbation on sediment redistribution depends on the burrow structure, climate, topography, and adjacent vegetation. Including bioturbation greatly increased model performance and demonstrates the overall importance of vertebrate bioturbators in enhancing both sediment erosion and accumulation along hillslopes, though this impact is clearly staggered according to climatic conditions. Burrowing vertebrates increased sediment accumulation by 137.8 % ± 16.4 % in the arid zone (3.53 kg ha−1 yr−1 vs. 48.79 kg ha−1 yr−1), sediment erosion by 6.5 % ± 0.7 % in the semi-arid zone (129.16 kg ha−1 yr−1 vs. 122.05 kg ha−1 yr−1), and sediment erosion by 15.6 % ± 0.3 % in the Mediterranean zone (4602.69 kg ha−1 yr−1 vs. 3980.96 kg ha−1 yr−1). Bioturbating animals seem to play only a negligible role in the humid zone. Within all climate zones, bioturbation did not uniformly increase erosion or accumulation within the whole hillslope catchment. This depended on adjusting environmental parameters. Bioturbation increased erosion with increasing slope, sink connectivity, and topography ruggedness and decreasing vegetation cover and soil wetness. Bioturbation increased sediment accumulation with increasing surface roughness, soil wetness, and vegetation cover.

Body size is key to many life-history processes, including reproduction. Across species, climate change and other stressors have caused reductions in the body size to which animals can grow, called asymptotic size, with consequences for demography. A reduction in mean asymptotic length was documented for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales, in parallel with declines in health and vital rates resulting from human activities and environmental changes. Here, we tested whether smaller body size was associated with lower reproductive output, using a state-space model for individual health, survival and reproduction that quantifies the mechanistic links between these processes. Body size (as represented by the cube of length) was strongly associated with a female's calving probability at each reproductive opportunity. This relationship explained 62% of the variation in calving among reproductive females, along with their decreasing health (20%). The effects of decreasing mean body size on reproductive performance are another concerning indication of the worsening prospects for this species and many others affected by environmental change, requiring a focus of conservation and management interventions on improving conditions that affect reproduction as well as reducing mortality.

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) has been widely used as a microstructure characterization technology. In this work, a fully connected dense forward network is applied to inversely retrieve the mean particle size and particle distribution from SAXS data of samples dynamically compressed with high-power lasers and probed with X-ray free electron lasers. The trained network allows automatic acquisition of microstructure information, performing well in predictions on single-species nanoparticles on the theoretical model and in situ experimental data. We evaluate our network by comparing it with other methods, revealing its reliability and efficiency in dynamic experiments, which is of great value for in situ characterization of materials under high-power laser-driven dynamic compression.

Abstract Biogeochemical models simulate soil nitrogen (N) turnover and are often used to assess N losses through denitrification. Though models simulate a complete N budget, often only a subset of N pools/fluxes (i.e., N2O, NO3−, NH3, NOx) are published since the full budget cannot be validated with measured data. Field studies rarely include full N balances, especially N2 fluxes, which are difficult to quantify. Limiting publication of modeling results based on available field data represents a missed opportunity to improve the understanding of modeled processes. We propose that the modeler community support publication of all simulated N pools and processes in future studies.

Burrowing animals influence surface microtopography and hillslope sediment redistribution, but changes often remain undetected due to a lack of automated high-resolution field monitoring techniques. In this study, we present a new approach to quantify microtopographic variations and surface changes caused by burrowing animals and rainfall-driven erosional processes applied to remote field plots in arid and Mediterranean climate regions in Chile. We compared the mass balance of redistributed sediment between burrow and burrow-embedded area, quantified the cumulative sediment redistribution caused by animals and rainfall, and upscaled the results to a hillslope scale. The newly developed instrument, a time-of-flight camera, showed a very good detection accuracy. The animal-caused cumulative sediment excavation was 14.6 cm3 cm−2 yr−1 in the Mediterranean climate zone and 16.4 cm3 cm−2 yr−1 in the arid climate zone. The rainfall-related cumulative sediment erosion within burrows was higher (10.4 cm3 cm−2 yr−1) in the Mediterranean climate zone than the arid climate zone (1.4 cm3 cm−2 yr−1). Daily sediment redistribution during rainfall within burrow areas was up to 350 %(40 %) higher in the Mediterranean (arid) zone compared to burrow-embedded areas and much higher than previously reported in studies that were not based on continuous microtopographic monitoring. A total of 38 % of the sediment eroding from burrows accumulated within the burrow entrance, while 62 % was incorporated into hillslope sediment flux, which exceeds previous estimations 2-fold. On average, animals burrowed between 1.2–2.3 times a month, and the burrowing intensity increased after rainfall. This revealed a newly detected feedback mechanism between rainfall, erosion, and animal burrowing activity, likely leading to an underestimation of animal-triggered hillslope sediment flux in wetter climates. Our findings hence show that the rate of sediment redistribution due to animal burrowing is dependent on climate and that animal burrowing plays a larger than previously expected role in hillslope sediment redistribution. Subsequently, animal burrowing activity should be incorporated into soil erosion and landscape evolution models that rely on soil processes but do not yet include animal-induced surface processes on microtopographical scales in their algorithms.

Toward further understanding of the geographic disparities in oncologic outcomes faced by American patients.

Abstract Climate change is affecting species distributions in space and time. In the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest-warming marine regions on Earth, rapid warming has caused prey-related changes in the distribution of the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis). Concurrently, right whales have returned to historically important areas such as southern New England shelf waters, an area known to have been a whaling ground. We compared aerial survey data from two time periods (2013–2015; 2017–2019) to assess trends in right whale abundance in the region during winter and spring. Using distance sampling techniques, we chose a hazard rate key function to model right whale detections and used seasonal encounter rates to estimate abundance. The mean log of abundance increased by 1.40 annually between 2013 and 2019 (p = 0.004), and the mean number of individuals detected per year increased by 2.23 annually between 2013 and 2019 (R2 = 0.69, p = 0.001). These results demonstrate the current importance of this habitat and suggest that management options must continually evolve as right whales repatriate historical habitats and potentially expand to new habitats as they adapt to climate change.

We demonstrate a significantly simplified experimental approach for investigating liquid metallic hydrogen, which is crucial to understand the internal structure and evolution of giant planets. Plastic samples were shockcompressed and then probed by short pulses of X-rays generated by free electron lasers. By comparison with ab initio simulations, we provide indirect evidence for the creation of elemental hydrogen in shock-compressed plastics at ∼150GPa and ∼5,000K and thus in a regime where hydrogen is predicted to be metallic. Being the most common form of condensed matter in our solar system, and ostensibly the simplest of all elements, hydrogen is the model case for many theoretical studies and we provide a new possibility to benchmark models for conditions with extreme pressures and temperatures. Moreover, this approach will also allow to probe the chemical behavior of metallic hydrogen in mixture with other elements, which, besides its importance for planetary physics, may open up promising pathways for the synthesis of new materials.

Abstract North Atlantic right whales frequently become entangled in fishing gear, which can negatively affect their reproductive output and probability of survival. We estimated individual whale health from a hierarchical Bayesian model fit to photographic indices of health. We reviewed 696 whales sighted from 1980 to 2011 and assigned 1196 entanglement events to 573 individuals in six categories of increasing injury severity and estimated monthly median health scores (0–100 scale) for the duration of their life within the study period. We then quantified the relationship between entanglement injury events and their severity with survival, reproduction, and population health. Severe entanglements resulted in worse health for all whales—males and females with severe injuries were eight times more likely to die than males with minor injuries. Females with severe injuries that survived had the lowest birth rates. Though the relationship between entanglement and fecundity was complex, we found that as the health of reproductively active females declined, their calving intervals increased. Unimpacted whale health scores declined significantly over three decades, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, suggesting food limitations may be contributing to population‐wide health declines. Decadal health scores of entangled whales showed a more notable reduction in health suggesting a clear and perhaps synergistic effect.

Abstract Background Epidermolysis bullosa is a group of rare inherited skin diseases characterized by blister formation following mechanical skin trauma. Epidermolysis bullosa is associated with increased skin cancer rates, predominantly squamous cell carcinomas, yet to our best knowledge, there is no reported case of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans in a patient with Epidermolysis bullosa. Case presentation Here, we present a 26-year-old man with junctional epidermolysis bullosa, who developed a DFSP on the neck. Initial, the skin alteration was mistakenly not considered malignant, which resulted in inadequate safety margins. The complete resection required a local flap to close the defect, which is not unproblematic because of the chronic inflammation and impaired healing potential of the skin due to Epidermolysis bullosa. Conclusions To our best knowledge, this is the first reported case of a skin-associated sarcoma in a patient with EB; however, further investigation is required to verify a correlation.

Abstract Background The significance of perineural invasion (PNI) in prostate cancer (PC) is unclear. A recent report of patients with pT2N0R0 PC found that PNI at prostatectomy was independently associated with higher Gleason score and more diffuse prostatic disease. We aimed to test our hypothesis that PNI on prostate biopsy in pT2N0R0 patients is associated with increased Gleason score upgrading at prostatectomy. Methods We identified 2892 patients status post prostatectomy with pT2N0R0 PC from three institutions, diagnosed between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2014. Multivariable logistic regression (MVA) was used to evaluate the association between prostate biopsy PNI status and surgical Gleason upgrading, while controlling for potential confounders. Results Of the 2892 patients identified, 14% had PNI on biopsy, of whom 21% had surgical Gleason upgrading, while 28% without PNI on biopsy had such upgrading (P 4 ng/mL (OR 1.26, P = .02). Conclusions In post‐prostatectomy patients with favorable‐risk PC, PNI on prostate biopsy was not associated with surgical Gleason score upgrading. This may be due to the association of PNI with more diffuse disease, leading to increased biopsy tumor yield and grading accuracy. These findings suggest that in this setting, biopsy PNI alone should not be a concern for more aggressive disease requiring pathologic confirmation or intervention. This may help guide treatment decision‐making for men debating active surveillance, radiation, and surgery.

BackgroundAlthough clinically effective treatment is available for schizophrenia, recovery often is still hampered by persistent poor psychosocial functioning, which in turn is limited by impairments in neurocognition, social cognition, and social behavioral skills. Although cognitive remediation has shown general efficacy in improving cognition and social functioning, effects still need to be improved and replicated in appropriately powered, methodologically rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Existing evidence indicates that effects can most likely be optimized by combining treatment approaches to simultaneously address both social cognitive and social behavioral processes.ObjectivesTo assess whether Integrated Social Cognitive and Behavioral Skill Therapy (ISST) is more efficacious in improving functional outcome in schizophrenia than the active control treatment Neurocognitive Remediation Therapy (NCRT).MethodsThe present study is a multicenter, prospective, rater-blinded, two-arm RCT being conducted at six academic study sites in Germany. A sample of 180 at least partly remitted patients with schizophrenia are randomly assigned to either ISST or NCRT. ISST is a compensatory, strategy-based program that targets social cognitive processes and social behavioral skills. NCRT comprises mainly drill and practice-oriented neurocognitive training. Both treatments consist of 18 sessions over 6 months, and participants are subsequently followed up for another 6 months. The primary outcome is all-cause discontinuation over the 12-month study period; psychosocial functioning, quality of life, neurocognitive and social cognitive performance, and clinical symptoms are assessed as secondary outcomes at baseline before randomization (V1), at the end of the six-month treatment period (V6), and at the six-month follow-up (V12).DiscussionThis RCT is part of the German Enhancing Schizophrenia Prevention and Recovery through Innovative Treatments (ESPRIT) research network, which aims at using innovative treatments to enhance prevention and recovery in patients with schizophrenia. Because this study is one of the largest and methodologically most rigorous RCTs on the efficacy of cognitive remediation approaches in schizophrenia, it will not only help to identify the optimal treatment options for improving psychosocial functioning and thus recovery in patients but also allow conclusions to be drawn about factors influencing and mediating the effects of cognitive remediation in these patients.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT 02678858, German Study Register DRKS 00010033

Abstract Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a widely‐used tool for conserving biodiversity. Features that support marine mammal foraging have been suggested as important components to include in MPAs, but research is needed to understand the relationship between these features and diversity. For example, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument represents an area known to support marine mammal foraging and was designated to protect an area of high marine mammal diversity. However, no comparisons have been made between marine mammal diversity in the Monument and other areas. We used 3,174,167 km of survey effort and 189,175 sightings to assess alpha and beta diversity in the Monument and 500 randomly selected sites along the east coast of the United States. We used linear models to relate diversity to variables that represent marine mammal foraging areas. Our analyses showed a gradient of higher to lower diversity from north to south and that the shelf‐edge, canyons, and areas of likely upwelling support high diversity. We also found that the Monument protects a diverse and unique marine mammal community. Our analyses contribute to efforts to designate MPAs to conserve habitat that is important for protecting species by identifying drivers of biodiversity and potential sites for protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.

Angularly resolved X-ray scattering measurements from fs-laser heated hydrogen have been used to determine the equilibration of electron and ion temperatures in the warm dense matter regime. The relaxation of rapidly heated cryogenic hydrogen is visualized using 5.5 keV X-ray pulses from the Linac Coherent Light (LCLS) source in a 1 Hz repetition rate pump-probe setting. We demonstrate that the electron-ion energy transfer is faster than quasi-classical Landau-Spitzer models that use ad hoc cutoffs in the Coulomb logarithm.

Abstract Evaluations of the conservation status of the endangered North Atlantic right whale as well as many other wildlife species often rely extensively on counts and cause‐of‐death determinations of carcasses found accidentally or during dedicated surveys. Even when survey effort dedicated to a population is extensive, many deaths may go unseen. We used an abundance estimation model to derive estimates of cryptic mortality for North Atlantic right whales and found that observed carcasses accounted for only 36% of all estimated death during 1990–2017. We found strong evidence that total mortality varied over time, and that observed carcass counts were poor predictors of estimated annual numbers of whales dying. Importantly, there were substantial differences between fractions of deaths determined to be entanglement related during necropsy (49%) and the fraction of cryptic deaths suffering serious injuries related to entanglement (87%). Although we concluded that a single year's observations produced poor estimates of carcass detection rates due to the volatility of ratios of small counts, ratio estimates of data pooled over periods of consistent survey may offer better information on detection rates. Additionally, it appears unwise to consider cause of death determinations from detected carcasses as representative of cause‐specific mortality rates in right whales given the large number of seriously injured whales from entanglement that are likely part of the unseen mortality.

The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NECSMNM) was designated by President Barack Obama in 2016, using his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906. The Act allows a President to proclaim as national monuments “historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest” that are “upon the lands owned or controlled” by the United States but to reserve each designation to “the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected.” Protection in general excludes commercial scale extraction and is in perpetuity. Here we present analyses of physiographic and ecological datasets that facilitated assessment of the conservation benefits of protections for a new monument. We also review and synthesize the ecological literature to describe processes that operate in continental margin and deep-sea settings, in order to demonstrate the monument area is bounded for proper management and is an object of scientific interest. Results indicate that the current monument designation is an area of high diversity and ecological connectivity across depths and along the continental margin. The monument boundaries contain hot spots (areas of high abundance and species richness) for seafloor communities (inclusive of benthic invertebrate and demersal fish) as well as marine mammals in the epipelagic. Many species are sensitive to disturbance and vulnerable to human activities (e.g., deep-sea corals and sponges) with very long recovery times and extremely low resilience. The monument contains at least nine exemplars of offshore northwest Atlantic marine wildlife communities and habitats (e.g., deep shelf invertebrates, shelf fish, deep sea corals and sponges in canyons and on seamounts, deep sea fish, chemosynthetic communities, deep sea soft sediment, shelf edge cetaceans, and seabirds). The region is relatively undisturbed and can serve as a reference site to focus future research on ecological processes in an increasingly industrialized ocean and one subject to the synergies of regional climate effects. These results suggest that there is great potential for discovery and novel research in this first Atlantic Ocean Marine National Monument.

This study examines the effectiveness of a financial literacy program, Invest in Girls (IIG), in promoting financial capability among high school girls. Using a quasi-experimental separate-samples pretest-posttest design and a longitudinal qualitative study, the study aims to assess the program efficacy and investigate the perspectives of the female students on its impact on their knowledge, behavior, and future goals and aspirations. The results indicated that the participants had significantly higher confidence for engaging in financial literacy after the program. The findings from the longitudinal study also suggested that that the program was influencing the students in positive ways, increasing their financial capability and leading them to consider wide occupational pathways available in finance. Given the lack of female leaders in the world of finance, the IIG program aims to address gender disparity in financial knowledge and highlight the importance of building financial literacy skills among girls.

No abstract available.