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The Bangladeshi Migrants Pilot Study establishes the feasibility of applying the methods used in studying the informal support networks of older people in the majority population of Britain, specifically the Wenger support networks typology, to the elders of an immigrant group, and to elders who have remained in the region of origin. The sample consists of Bangladeshis aged 55+ in Tower Hamlets, London, United Kingdom (N=98), and Sylhet in Bangladesh (N=51) (see Table 1). The paper provides an ethnohistory of Bangladeshi immigration to the United Kingdom, a comparison of the support networks of Bangladeshis living in Sylhet and Tower Hamlets, and a comparison of support networks of Bangladeshis with rural and urban dwellers in the United Kingdom. The Practitioners Assessment of Network Typology (PANT) algorithm produces support network types in 99% of cases and demonstrates that the instrument is applicable in different cultures. Results show little difference between the support networks of Bangladeshis in Sylhet compared with London. There are significant differences between support networks of the Bangladeshi samples and the rural and urban United Kingdom samples.

To fabricate submicrometer thin membrane of silicon nitride and silicon dioxide over an anisotropically etched cavity in (100) silicon.

PECVD of silicon dioxide and Silcion nitride layers of compatible thicknesses followed by thermal annealing in nitrogen ambients at 1,000°C for 30 min, leads to stable membrane formation. Anisotropic etching of (100) silicon below the membrane through channels on the sides has been used with controlled cavity dimensions.

Lateral front side etching through channels slows down etching rate drastically. The etching mechanism has been discussed with experimental details.

Vacuum sealed cavity membranes can be realised for micro sensor applications.

The process is new and feasible for micro sensor technologies.

The purpose of the study is to assess the environmental and socio‐economic impacts and risks of climate change through GIS database management system (DBMS) on land use‐informatics and climate‐informatics. The Dabka watershed constitutes a part of the Kosi Basin in the Lesser Himalaya, India in district Nainital has been selected for the case illustration.

Land use‐informatics consists of land use mapping and change diction, i.e. decadal changes and annual changes. Climate‐informatics consists of climate change detection through daily, monthly and annual weather data for a period of 25 years.

The exercise revealed that oak and pine forests have decreased, respectively, by 25 percent (4.48 km²) and 3 percent (0.28 km²) thus bringing a decline of 4.76 km² forest in the watershed during 1990 to 2010. But, due to climate change the mixed forest taking place of oak forest in certain pockets and consequently the mixed forest in the catchment increased by 18 percent (2.3 km²) during the same period which reduced the overall loss of forests in the region but its not eco‐friendly as the oak forest. Barren land increased 1.21 km² (56 percent), riverbed increased 0.78 km² (52 percent) and cultivated land increased about 0.63 km² (3 percent) during the period of 1990 to 2010. Out of the total seven classes of the land use land cover, five classes (i.e. Oak, Pine, Mixed, Barren and Riverbed) are being changed dominantly due to climate change factor and anthropogenic factors plays a supporting role whereas only two classes (scrub land and agricultural land) are being changed dominantly by anthropogenic factors and climate change factors plays a supporting role. Expansion of mixed forest land brought out due to upslope shifting of existing forest species due to climate change factor only because upslope areas getting warmer than past with the rate of 9°C‐12°C/two decades. Consequently, the results concluded that the high rate of land use change accelerating several environmental problems such as high runoff, flash flood, river‐line flood and soil erosion during monsoon season and drought during non‐monsoon period. These environmental problems cause great loss to life and property and poses serious threat to the process of development with have far‐reaching economic and social consequences.

This study generated primary data on land use‐informatics and climate‐informatics to integrate each‐other for impact assessment and mitigation through sustainable land use as constitutes a part of a multidisciplinary project, Department of Science and Technology (D.S.T.) Government of India.

A MEMS process is described to control diaphragm thickness with an integrated provision for back to front alignment in the fabrication of a polysilicon piezoresistive pressure sensor. The end point detection for the diaphragm etching is suitably incorporated in the process so that it is also used for the back‐to‐front alignment. The proposed process is cost‐effective and suitable for the batch fabrication of the pressure sensor.

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the impacts of climate change on agriculture and assess the status of policies, programs and strategies to adapt small farm holders to climate change in South Asia.

The authors collected secondary information through a desktop review of policy documents, action plans and published reports. Face-to-face interviews with policy makers, agriculture and climate experts representing the government, non-governmental organizations, international development agencies and the private sector were also conducted to validate the secondary information.

The results revealed that agriculture is the dominant economic mainstay providing livelihood to over 70 per cent, employing 60 per cent of the labor force and contributing about 22 per cent of the regional gross domestic product. Climate impacts, such as floods, sea level rise and salt intrusion, increased frequency and intensity of storms, and pests combined with increasing water scarcity continue to reduce arable land, reduce yield of crops and threaten the food security of farmers. Adaptation efforts include using improved varieties of crop; changing cropping patterns and planting seasons; and water conservation techniques. However, progress remains low because of a lack of adequate technical knowledge and financial resources.

The amount of published literature on climate change and its impact on agriculture is increasing, but there is little effort to analyze and document impacts and strategies to adapt small farm holders to climate change at a landscape level, particularly in South Asia. This study fills in this gap and will serve as a valuable source of information for those wishing to conduct research or develop adaptation strategies for any of the four countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.

This study aims to investigate the trajectories of sand particles and erosion wear in a hydraulic turbine model.

The Lagrangian-based approach is used to track large numbers of sand particles and determine their impact through the hydro turbine components. The tracking procedure includes the stochastic eddy interaction model and the squeeze film effect. The number of particles, sizes and release positions are conformed to the particle concentration and size distribution. The impact locations, frequency and conditions of impacts are used to estimate the erosion rates and thereby the eroded mass from the distributor vane and the rotor blade and their deteriorated geometry.

The patterns of erosion in the stationary and rotating parts differ significantly and the effect of the initial position of the runner blade is elucidated. The distributor vane is characterized by a widespread of erosion over the pressure side. Typically, the surface beyond the throat and the root and tip junctions are the regions prone to erosion wear. The entry region of the runner blade is subject to a high number of impacts resulting in high erosion rates visible from the forepart of the blade pressure side.

The erosion patterns and geometry deterioration may serve to evaluate the drop in the hydraulic performance and to select the appropriate surface coating to extend the lifetime of the turbomachinery parts and reduce the maintenance cost.

Erosion developments reveal a strong dependence on the blade position against the distributor vane and the particle size and concentration level.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors influencing the citizens of India to prevent cybercrimes in the proposed Smart Cities of India.

A conceptual model has been developed for identifying factors preventing cybercrimes. The conceptual model was validated empirically with a sample size of 315 participants from India. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with SPSS and AMOS softwares.

The study reveals that the “awareness of cybercrimes” significantly influences the actual usage of technology to prevent cybercrimes in Smart Cities of India. The study reveals that government initiative (GI) and legal awareness are less influential in spreading of the awareness of cybercrimes (AOC) to the citizens of the proposed smart cities.

The conceptual model utilizes two constructs from the technology adoption model, namely, perceived usefulness and ease of use. The study employs other factors such as social media, word of mouth, GIs, legal awareness and organizations constituting entities spreading awareness from different related literature works. Thereby, a comprehensive theoretical conceptual model has been proposed which helps to identify the factors that may help in preventing cybercrimes.

This study provides an insight to the policy maker to understand several factors influencing the AOC of the citizens of the proposed Smart Cities of India for the prevention of cybercrimes.

There are few existing studies analyzing the effect of AOC to mitigate cybercrimes. Thus, this study offers a novel contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to electrically examine the quality of thin thermally grown SiO₂ with thickness variation, on Si‐face of 4H‐SiC <0001> (having 50 μm epitaxial layer) by current‐voltage (I‐V) and capacitance‐voltage (C‐V) methods.

Metal‐oxide‐silicon carbide (MOSiC) structures with varying oxide thickness have been fabricated on device grade 4H‐SiC substrate. Ni has been used for gate metal on thermally oxidized Si‐face and a composite layer of Ti‐Au has been used for Ohmic contact on the highly doped C‐face of the substrate. Each structure was diced and bonded on a TO‐8 header with a suitable wire bonding for further testing using in‐house developed LabVIEW‐based computer aided measurement setup.

The leakage current of fabricated structures shows an asymmetric behavior with the polarity of gate bias ( + V or −V at the anode). A strong relation of oxide thickness and temperature on effective barrier height at SiO₂/4H‐SiC interface as well as on oxide charges have been established and reported in this paper.

The paper focuses on the development of 4H‐SiC based device technology in the fabrication of MOSiC‐based integrated structures.

The purpose of this paper is to prepare calcium oxide (CaO) nanoparticles by green synthesis technique and study its structural, morphological and optical properties. The prepared samples were calcined at, 200°C, 300°C and 500°C, and the variation in the properties at different temperatures were investigated.

Green approach has been used in the present work to synthesise the CaO nanoparticles using Murraya Koenigii leaf (curry leaves) extract as a capping agent. This technique involves the use of nontoxic reagents and natural products derived from various parts of plants.

Studies reveal that CaO nanoparticles with good optical properties can be synthesized successfully by green approach. The optical absorbance spectra show a broad absorption peak around 400–500 nm. FTIR studies confirm the presence of different functional groups that help in the stabilization of CaO nanoparticles. PL emission spectra show a high intensity emission peak at around 231 nm in addition to peaks at 375 nm and 400 nm. XRD studies show planes of CaO cubic phase. SEM images show a nonuniform distribution of spherical particles along with some clusters. EDX spectra confirm the presence of calcium and oxygen.

CaO nanoparticles have wide applications in optical devices as well as in phototherapy. It is thus interesting to devise new and eco-friendly techniques to synthesise these nanoparticles to suit these applications.

This work would provide a new insight into the preparation of different metal oxide nanoparticles by a very simple and cost-effective green technique without the use of toxic reagents.