Caste, military, migration : Nepali Gurkha communities in Britain

The 200-year history of Gurkha service notwithstanding, Gurkha soldiers were forced to retire in their own country. The policy changes of 2004 and 2009 ended the age-old practice and paved the way for tens of thousands of retired soldiers and their dependants to migrate to the UK, many settling in the garrison towns of southern England. One of the fundamental changes to the Nepali diaspora in Britain since the mass arrival of these military migrants has been the extraordinary rise of caste associations, so much so that caste – ethnicised caste –has become a key marker of overseas Gurkha community and identity. This article seeks to understand the extent to which the policies and practices of the Brigade of Gurkhas, including pro-caste recruitment and organisation, have contributed to the rapid reproduction of caste abroad. Informed by Vron Ware’s paradigm of military migration and multiculture, I demonstrate how caste has both strengthened the traditional social bonds and exacerbated inter-group intolerance and discrimination, particularly against the lower castes or Dalits. Using the military lens, my ethnographic and historic analysis adds a new dimension to the largely hidden but controversial problem of caste in the UK and beyond

Evaluation Of Conventional And Non-Conventional Asphalt Mixes

Various types of additives have been applied in the past to Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) to improve pavement performance. Different techniques including Warm Mix Asphalts (WMA) have helped to increase the workability and strength of pavement as well as decrease greenhouse gas emissions and production costs. Pavement construction can be a challenge in regions with short construction seasons due to various factors including cold weather. It is believed that additives can be a solution for some of those challenges due to lower rate of cooling for such mixes. This study is carried out to evaluate two hot mix asphalts in the field. One has been modified with the Proprietary additive (creating a non-conventional mix), while the other is kept as a conventional hot mix asphalt with PG 58-28 binder. Asphalt mix field samples for the study were collected from a Cass County, North Dakota project in Summer 2015. Both the conventional and non-conventional specimens were subjected to three different types of tests: rut resistance tests, moisture sensitivity tests, and compaction aid tests. Six specimens from each conventional and non-conventional mix categories were tested for rut resistance using the Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA). The results indicated that the non-conventional mix had higher rut resistance than the conventional mix. Eight specimen from each mix category were tested for moisture sensitivity using the Modified Lottman test under dry and wet conditions. The results showed that the non-conventional mix had higher strength than the conventional mix under both dry and wet conditions. Finally, three specimens from each mix category were compacted at three different temperatures. The air voids of the mixes were compared with the corresponding compaction temperatures. The results suggested that the non-conventional mix had lower air void content, thus better compactibility was achieved than conventional mix. The overall results of the study indicate that Proprietary additive can work as a warm mix additive in North Dakota with favorable performance compared to conventional HMA mixes

Analyzing Big Data Using Hadoop

Due to growing development of advanced technology, data is produced in an increasing rate and dumped without analyzing it. Data sets are coming in large quantities through many mediums like, Networking sites, Stock exchanges, Airplane’s black boxes etc. People who used to have 44 kb small floppy disk in the past are not happy with 1 TB external hard-drives nowadays. Big companies who are forced to add more servers in order to maintain the velocity of the incoming large data sets, are still looking for an easy way to control, handle big data. Traditional methods of handling big data are causing a variety of issues such as slow system performance, and lack of scalability. This research paper explores through the alternative method of handling big data which can address issues of the traditional methods. The goal of this research paper is to highlight an importance of a new method that can replace the traditional method of handling big data. This paper mainly consists of analyzed past work done by several fellow researchers. The outcomes of this paper will be useful for students and researchers alike who would like to work in the field of big data

Providing Alternatives to Fossil Fuels in Nepal

Inadequate energy supply continues to hinder social and economic development in Nepal. Despite a wealth of renewable energy potential – particularly with hydropower but also solar and biomass – sustainability and access remain major challenges. A research project, led by the University of Leeds, with partners in Nepal and the UK, identified indigenous oil seed plants as an alternative, more environmentally friendly energy source than fossil fuels.ESRC-DFI

Transforming local natural resource conflicts to cooperation in a changing climate: Bangladesh and Nepal lessons

Since the 1990s, climate change impact discourse has highlighted potential for large scale violent conflicts. However, the role of climate stresses on local conflicts over natural resources, the role of policies and adaptation in these conflicts, and opportunities to enhance cooperation have been neglected. These gaps are addressed in this paper using evidence from participatory action research on 79 cases of local collective action over natural resources that experience conflicts in Bangladesh and Nepal. Climate trends and stresses contributed to just under half of these conflict cases. Nine factors that enable greater cooperation and transformation of conflict are identified. Participatory dialogue and negotiation processes, while not sufficient, changed understanding, attitudes and positions of actors. Many of the communities innovated physical measures to overcome natural resource constraints, underlying conflict, and/or institutional reforms. These changes were informed by improving understanding of resource limitations and indigenous knowledge. Learning networks among community organizations encouraged collective action by sharing successes and creating peer pressure. Incentives for cooperation were important. For example, when community organizations formally permitted excluded traditional resource users to access resources, those actors complied with rules and paid towards management costs. However, elites were able to use policy gaps to capture resources with changed characteristics due to climate change. In most of the cases where conflict persisted, power, policy and institutional barriers prevented community-based organizations from taking up potential adaptations and innovations. Policy frameworks recognizing collective action and supporting flexible innovation in governance and adaptation would enable wider transformation of natural resource conflicts into cooperation

The Dominant Patterns of Intraseasonal Rainfall Variability in May–October and November–April over the Tropical Western Pacific

The space–time structure of intraseasonal (10–90 day) rainfall variability in the western tropical Pacific is studied using daily 3B42 TRMM and ERA-Interim reanalysis data for the period 1998–2014. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of 10–90-day filtered daily rainfall anomalies identifies two leading modes in both May–October and November–April; together these modes explain about 11%–12% of the total intraseasonal variance over the domain in both seasons and up to 60% over large areas of the western Pacific in both climatological periods. The two leading modes in May–October are linearly related to each other and both are well correlated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) indices. Although the two leading EOF modes in November–April are linearly independent of each other, both show statistically significant correlations with the MJO. The phase composites of 30–80-day filtered data show that the two leading modes are associated with strong eastward and northward propagation of rainfall anomalies in May–October, and eastward and southward propagation of rainfall anomalies in November–April. The eastward propagation of rainfall anomalies in both seasons and southeastward propagation related with EOF2 in November–April is linked to the development of low-level moisture flux convergence ahead of the active convection. Similarly, the northward propagation in May–October is also connected with low-level moisture flux convergence, but surface wind and evaporation variations are also important. The wind–evaporation–SST feedback mechanism drives the southeastward propagation of rainfall anomalies associated with EOF1 in November–April. The different mechanisms for southeastward propagation associated with two leading modes in November–April suggest dynamically different relations with the MJO.publishedVersio

Caputo-Fabrizio approach to numerical fractional derivatives

Fractional calculus is an essential tool in every area of science today. This work gives the quadratic interpolation-based L1-2 formula for the Caputo-Fabrizio derivative, a numerical technique for approximating the fractional derivative. To get quadratic and cubic convergence rates, respectively, we study the use of Lagrange interpolation in the L1 and L1-2 formulations. Our numerical analysis shows the accuracy of the theory’s predicted convergence rates. The L1-2 formula aims to enhance the accuracy and usability of a flexible tool for many applications in science and mathematics. We demonstrate the validity of the theory’s predicted convergence rates using numerical analysis. Several numerical examples are also given to show how the suggested approaches may be utilized to determine the Caputo-Fabrizio derivative of well-known functions. Lagrange interpolation is used in the L1 and L1-2 procedures to obtain quadratic and cubic convergence rates, respectively. The numerical study demonstrates that the L1-2 formula offers greater accuracy when compared to current approaches. In addition, it is a better apparatus for several applications in science and mathematics. Due to its higher convergence rate, the L1-2 formula outperforms other available numerical methods for scientific computations. The L1-2 formula, a novel numerical method for the Caputo-Fabrizio derivative that makes use of quadratic interpolation, is introduced in this study as a conclusion

Reflections and recommendations on transitioning from pre- to post-disaster research

Fieldwork often takes place in dynamic, uncertain environments. This is especially true of fieldwork in developing countries. Occasionally events can occur that have significant repercussions for ongoing research involving human participants. For example, political and social unrest, terror attacks, economic crises, epidemics, and natural disasters all have the potential to derail fieldwork plans and to radically alter the circumstances in which researchers operate. However, literature on how to anticipate and navigate these repercussions is limited. While a number of papers have reflected on the difficulties of conducting post‐crisis fieldwork, few have discussed the rather different challenge of dealing with, and adapting to, events that occur during ongoing work. In this paper, we discuss how the 2015 Nepal earthquake – which occurred while we were conducting fieldwork in one of the affected areas – forced us to reassess our research agenda, profoundly affected our relationship with the community we had been working in, and evoked challenging ethical questions in respect to our obligations to our research participants. Based on our reflections, we suggest eight issues that researchers who are engaged in fieldwork in high‐risk or post disaster locations should give consideration to. The issues include matters relating to research design, fieldwork risk and ethics assessment, interaction with research participants, and researcher support