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The European paper wasp, Polistes dominulus Christ, is an abundant wasp species in South and Central Europe which dispersed to the north in recent times. Polistes dominulus exhibits an energy-extensive mode of life, spending much time resting at the nest, which should be reflected in adaptations regarding gas exchange and standard metabolism. We analysed the resting metabolism (CO emission) of Polistes dominulus workers in the ambient temperature range an individual may be exposed to during a breeding season ( T = 2.4-40.6 °C) via flow through respirometry. Behaviour and endothermic activity were assessed by infrared thermography. With rising T, CO release followed an exponential increase from 27 to 149 and 802 nl g min at T = 3, 20 and 35 °C, respectively. Measurements of the thermal regime at the nest showed that resting P. dominulus are most of the time in the lower range of their standard metabolic curve. A comparison with a 'highly energetic' wasp like Vespula sp. revealed that Polistes dominulus not only optimises behaviour but also reduces metabolism to save energy. The CO emission patterns changed with ambient temperature, from discontinuous (≤25 °C) to cyclic (25-36 °C) and continuous gas exchange at higher temperatures. A pronounced break appeared in the data progression regarding cycle frequency and CO emission per gas exchange cycle between 15 and 10 °C. This striking change in gas exchange features indicates a physiological adaptation to special respiratory requirements at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Establishing a mapping between the emergent biological properties and the repository of network structures has been of great relevance in systems and synthetic biology. Adaptation is one such biological property of paramount importance that promotes regulation in the presence of environmental disturbances. This paper presents a nonlinear systems theory-driven framework to identify the design principles for perfect adaptation with respect to external disturbances of arbitrary magnitude. Based on the prior information about the network, we frame precise mathematical conditions for adaptation using nonlinear systems theory. We first deduce the mathematical conditions for perfect adaptation for constant input disturbances. Subsequently, we translate these conditions to specific necessary structural requirements for adaptation in networks of small size and then extend to argue that there exist only two classes of architectures for a network of any size that can provide local adaptation in the entire state space, namely, incoherent feed-forward (IFF) structure and negative feedback loop with buffer node (NFB). The additional positiveness constraints further narrow the admissible set of network structures. This also aids in establishing the global asymptotic stability for the steady state given a constant input disturbance. The proposed method does not assume any explicit knowledge of the underlying rate kinetics, barring some minimal assumptions. Finally, we also discuss the infeasibility of certain IFF networks in providing adaptation in the presence of downstream connections. Moreover, we propose a generic and novel algorithm based on non-linear systems theory to unravel the design principles for global adaptation. Detailed and extensive simulation studies corroborate the theoretical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on some modern conceptions of biology related to human species. It is noted that species' adaptation to different modes of life was assumed by the Darwinian Theory. According to the author, modern school of evolutionists believes that they have not evolved by natural selection but rather arose as mutations. He suggests that one must conclude that man anthropoid apes mainly in adaptational characters, which he believes as inborn or congenital.

The experiences of overseas territories and how their varying degrees of self‐governance influence climate (in)action are overlooked topics, even though these places are often highly impacted by climate change. Analysing the situation of the Dutch Kingdom demonstrates some of these challenges. The Kingdom consists of the European Netherlands and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten, Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba. Out of these, the Caribbean islands are the most vulnerable to climate change, while the European Netherlands has contributed the most to it. This can be seen as climate injustice. Access to mitigation and adaptation mechanisms mentioned in international agreements could be beneficial to these Caribbean islands. However, the international climate change agreements have only entered into force for the European part of the Kingdom and not the Caribbean part due to a territorial limitation. This has several consequences, and this paper highlights two. First, the requirement that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced does not apply to the islands, which leaves room for unsustainable activities but also overlooks their need for adaptation and compensation for loss and damage. Second, access to climate finance instruments is limited as the Dutch Caribbean islands are seen as part of the Kingdom and therefore do not qualify for international assistance. Within the European Union, funds are available but access to these is not guaranteed, as the experience with recovery after Hurricane Irma demonstrates. These examples show that the issues around climate justice have been insufficiently resolved. There is a need for a long‐term climate strategy within the Kingdom along with complementary funding. Until then, climate litigation could assist in enforcing a duty of care by local governments and the Kingdom to protect inhabitants by using the human rights framework. This would also create a roadmap for other territories in similar circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is global consensus that we must immediately prioritize climate change adaptation—change in response to or anticipation of risks from climate change. Some researchers and policymakers urge 'transformative change', a complete break from past practices, yet report having little data on whether new practices reduce the risks communities face, even over the short term. However, researchers have some leads: human communities have long generated solutions to changing climate, and scientists who study culture have examples of effective and persistent solutions. This theme issue discusses cultural adaptation to climate change, and in this paper, we review how processes of biological adaptation, including innovation, modification, selective retention and transmission, shape the landscapes decision-makers care about—from which solutions emerge in communities, to the spread of effective adaptations, to regional or global collective action. We introduce a comprehensive portal of data and models on cultural adaptation to climate change, and we outline ways forward. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the idea that there should be a close relationship between biological significance and low power driving of spike neural networks (SNNs), this paper aims to focus on spike-frequency adaptation, which deviates significantly from existing biological meaningfulness, and develop a new spike-frequency adaptation with more biological characteristics. As a result, this paper proposes the s e n s o r y a d a p t a t i o n method that reflects the mechanisms of the human sensory organs, and studies network architectures and neuron models for the proposed method. Next, this paper introduces a dedicated SNN simulator that can selectively apply the conventional spike-frequency adaptation and the proposed method, and provides the results of functional verification and effectiveness evaluation of the proposed method. Through intensive simulation, this paper reveals that the proposed method can produce a level of training and testing performance similar to the conventional method while significantly reducing the number of spikes to 32.66% and 45.63%, respectively. Furthermore, this paper contributes to SNN research by showing an example based on in-depth analysis that embedding biological meaning in SNNs may be closely related to the low-power driving characteristics of SNNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of Christian mission, adaptation to local cultures (later called acculturation or inculturation) has been the main factor in mission failure or success. Placide Tempels is considered a pioneer of adaptation in modern times. He was a Flemish Franciscan missionary in Congo from 1933 to 1962 (with two breaks) and is well known for his adaptation to the Bantu worldview. Referring to spiritual and intellectual adaptation, the paper will answer the following questions: Was the adaptation of Placide Tempels successful? If it was or was not, why and in what way? The analysis will be linked to William Biernatzki's theory of root paradigms and meanings. To conclude, a connection will be made to the process of adaptation in international mission organizations today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Case studies are valuable tools for instruction but are often limited to a single topic and a single class period. Courses such as evolution that synthesize multiple concepts around a common theme, however, can use a single case study type project that extends over the entire semester to develop and link core concepts. A central theme in evolutionary biology is determining if complex biological traits represent adaptations that arose by natural selection. The instructional model presented here engages students in a step-by-step process to answer this question of adaptation for a trait of their choosing. In this process, the instructor first introduces the major concepts required to address adaptation. As each major concept is developed in class, students apply this concept to their particular trait, using information gathered from published studies. Students then report their research back to the class. At the end of the semester, each group synthesizes their evidence into a paper developing an argument as to whether or not their trait fits the criteria of being an adaptation. This project provides students with ownership of course material, gets students to act as practicing scientists, and helps them integrate and apply theoretical material to real questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adaptation of biological species to their environment depends on their traits. When various biological processes occur (survival, reproduction, migration, etc.), the trait distribution may change with respect to time and space. In the context of invasions, when considering the evolution of a heritable trait that encodes the dispersive ability of individuals, the trait distribution develops a particular spatial structure that leads to the acceleration of the front propagation. That phenomenon is known as spatial sorting. Many biological examples can be cited like the bush cricket in Britain, the cane toad invasion in Australia, or the common myna one in South Africa. Adopting this framework, recent mathematical studies have led to highlighting the influence of the reproductive mode on the front propagation. Asexual populations have been shown to spread with an asymptotic rate of t3/2 in a minimal reaction-diffusion model, whereas the analogous rate for sexual populations is of t5/4 (where t denotes the time). However, the precise description of the behavior of the front propagation in the sexual case is still an open question. The aim of this paper is to give precise approximations for large times of its position, as well as some features of the local trait distribution at the front. To do so, we solve explicitly the asymptotic problem derived formally. Numerical simulations are shown to confirm these calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water urbanism and more in general climate change adaptation are an essential part of urban transition processes. While sea level rising demands a re-evaluation of the new geography of extreme-cities, it emerges a temporal and conceptual gap between climate prediction, policies, adaptation strategies, and factual interventions. Consequently, the very same method of urban analysis needs to be reconsidered in light of this new horizon. This paper addresses extreme-cities as spaces of transition, and analyses the case of the Veneto Region via a multi-scalar process of mapping entailing: (i) zoning transition; (ii) mapping microtopography; (iii) sampling urban-topographical patterns; (iv) re-designing a territorial transect. The resulting representations disclose two types of information: (a) they suggest a set of rules for transitioning urban landscape in coastal areas according to different SRL scenarios; (b), they indicate the specificities of the same study area, disclosing a taxonomy of past and potential future elements of modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Control parameters and mutation methods impact upon the global search ability of differential evolution algorithm (DE), and varying optimization issues own varying parameter settings. In this paper, an enhanced elite archive mutation strategy with self-adaption parameter adjustment (EAMSADE) is proposed to raise DE's performance. The population's diversity and the individual's difference are considered by this paper to enhance the algorithm's convergence property. EAMSADE amends the DE/rand/1 strategy by means of enhanced elite archive mutation and modifies parameters (crossover rate and scaling factor) adaptively which is based on quantitative analysis of individual variability and population diversity. To confirm the proposed EAMSADE's performance, a suit of 21 benchmark functions from IEEE CEC2005 are utilized to carry out the experiment. The outcome of the experiment confirms that the proposed EAMSADE has got an overall improvement on convergence performance and global search ability compared to the other four amended DE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formal structures for evaluating climate change risk are important components of adaptation decision-making. In this paper, we present an accessible, cost-effective and user-tested climate change risk assessment framework which allows organisations to systematically apply a risk management process aligned with international standards to identify and manage their climate change risks. It is delivered through 'CoastAdapt', a resource supporting climate change adaptation in Australia. This three-tier framework offers four benefits to the adaptation process. First, it allows organisations to identify climate change risks and integrate them with their mainstream risk management process. Second, it makes optimal use of an organisation's limited adaptation resources by taking a tiered approach, so allowing an organisation to start from a low knowledge base using minimal resources and, only if required, then move to more complex and resource-intensive risk assessment processes. Third, it introduces a time-dependent vulnerability rating which recognises the particular characteristics of climate change risks—that they are long term and associated with a considerable degree of uncertainty. Finally, it takes into account business inter-dependencies that can exacerbate impacts but be overlooked in a sector-based impacts evaluation. In this paper, we highlight the appropriate context in which to use each risk assessment tier, explore key technical differences among the three tiers, describe performance testing and present one case study of application. We discuss the benefits of this tiered risk assessment approach in the context of broader adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract—: The paper discusses V.I. Vernadsky’s concept of living matter of the biosphere. Living matter in the sense of all organisms of the biosphere considered collectively is heterogeneous, plastic, integral, organized, and facilitates the continuous movement of atoms of chemical elements, transforms energy, and forms and preserves corresponding environments. Living matter is characterized by a certain chemical elemental composition and mass and performs certain functions. Living matter is mosaic and ubiquitous. It is characterized by homeostasis due to biological diversity, multiple relations between individual organisms, and the unique ability of adaptation. The paper reports data on the mass of living matter, its differentiation, and chemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research by Manolo Gouy and colleagues from the University of Lyon in France regarding the search for different means of tracing the last universal common ancestor (LUCA). Topics include a brief explanation of LUCA, a description of the ribosomal RNA and protein sequence analysis Gouy and colleagues performed, and Gouy and his colleagues' hypothesis regarding LUCA's environmental adaptations.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) was launched in 1988 with the aim of completely clearing wild polio viruses by 2000. More than three decades later, the goal has not been achieved, although spectacular advances have been made, with wild polio virus reported in only 2 countries in 2019. In spite of such progress, novel challenges have been added to the equation, most importantly outbreaks of vaccine-derived polio cases resulting from reversion to neurovirulence of attenuated vaccine virus, and insufficient coverage of vaccination. In the context of the latest discussions on malaria eradication, the GPEI experience provides more than a few lessons to the malaria field when considering a coordinated eradication campaign. The WHO Strategic Advisory Committee on Malaria Eradication (SAGme) stated in 2020 that in the context of more than 200 million malaria cases reported, eradication was far from reach in the near future and, therefore, efforts should remain focused on getting back on track to achieve the objectives set by the Global Technical Strategy against Malaria (2016–2030). Acknowledging the deep differences between both diseases and the stages they are in their path towards eradication, this paper draws from the history of GPEI and highlights relevant insights into what it takes to eradicate a pathogen in fields as varied as priority setting, global governance, strategy, community engagement, surveillance systems, and research. Above all, it shows the critical need for openness to change and adaptation as the biological, social and political contexts vary throughout the time an eradication campaign is ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human performance, endurance, and resilience have biological limits that are genetically and epigenetically predetermined but perhaps not yet optimized. There are few systematic, rigorous studies on how to raise these limits and reach the true maxima. Achieving this goal might accelerate translation of the theoretical concepts of conditioning, hormesis, and stress adaptation into technological advancements. In 2017, an Air Force-sponsored conference was held at the University of Massachusetts for discipline experts to display data showing that the amplitude and duration of biological performance might be magnified and to discuss whether there might be harmful consequences of exceeding typical maxima. The charge of the workshop was "to examine and discuss and, if possible, recommend approaches to control and exploit endogenous defense mechanisms to enhance the structure and function of biological tissues." The goal of this white paper is to fulfill and extend this workshop charge. First, a few of the established methods to exploit endogenous defense mechanisms are described, based on workshop presentations. Next, the white paper accomplishes the following goals to provide: (1) synthesis and critical analysis of concepts across some of the published work on endogenous defenses, (2) generation of new ideas on augmenting biological performance and resilience, and (3) specific recommendations for researchers to not only examine a wider range of stimulus doses but to also systematically modify the temporal dimension in stimulus inputs (timing, number, frequency, and duration of exposures) and in measurement outputs (interval until assay end point, and lifespan). Thus, a path forward is proposed for researchers hoping to optimize protocols that support human health and longevity, whether in civilians, soldiers, athletes, or the elderly patients. The long-term goal of these specific recommendations is to accelerate the discovery of practical methods to conquer what were once considered intractable constraints on performance maxima. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores ethologist Niko Tinbergen’s path from animal to human studies in the 1960s and 1970s and his views about human nature. It argues, first, that the confluence of several factors explains why Tinbergen decided to cross the animal/human divide in the mid 1960s: his concern about what he called “the human predicament,” his relations with British child psychiatrist John Bowlby, the success of ethological explanations of human behavior, and his professional and personal situation. It also argues that Tinbergen transferred his general adaptationist view of animal behavior to the realm of human biology; here, his concern about disadaptation led him to a view of human behavior that was strongly determined by the species’ evolutionary past, a position that I call evolutionary determinism. These ideas can be seen in the work he carried out with his wife, Elisabeth Tinbergen, on autism. The paper concludes that Tinbergen’s vision of human nature constitutes another version of what anthropologist Clifford Geertz called in 1966 the “stratigraphic” conception of the human: a view of human nature as a composite of levels in which a universal ancestral biological core is superimposed by psychological and cultural layers that represent accidental variation at best and pathological deviation at worst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal community continuity and change in livelihoods become a prime adaptation strategy worldwide because of climate and environmental change. The changes in climate and environment along the coast have been associated with natural and human induced factors. This paper analysed the livelihood continuity and change as adaptation measures in northern Unguja, in relation to temperature and rainfall change. Archival and current reviews, interview and observation which represent the livelihoods change over last 100years were used. The paper also, analyzed how local community processes of continuity and change have interconnected with local climate events and changes over last 100 years. The results reveal that there were societal change both North Western Zone and North Eastern Zone in livelihoods activities as an adaptation mechanism due to gradual environmental changes, such as coastal erosion, coastal floods, unreliable rainfall and droughts. Such scenario increases the risk and vulnerability to the local community. The study also reveals that the identification of risks and vulnerability depends on the local community perceptions of what functions the coastal and terrestrial land should provide, as they informed by past experience, histories and current situation. Therefore, the successful adaptation from the local perspective should go beyond protecting what is already there and allow for future development of the village. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gene conversion is a ubiquitous phenomenon that leads to the exchange of genetic information between homologous DNA regions and maintains coevolving multi-gene families in most prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. In this paper, we study its implications for the evolution of a single functional gene with a silenced duplicate, using two different models of evolution on rugged fitness landscapes. Our analytical and numerical results show that, by helping to circumvent valleys of low fitness, gene conversion with a passive duplicate gene can cause a significant speedup of adaptation, which depends nontrivially on the frequency of gene conversion and the structure of the landscape. We find that stochastic effects due to finite population sizes further increase the likelihood of exploiting this evolutionary pathway. A universal feature appearing in both deterministic and stochastic analysis of our models is the existence of an optimal gene conversion rate, which maximizes the speed of adaptation. Our results reveal the potential for duplicate genes to act as a "scratch paper" that frees evolution from being limited to strictly beneficial mutations in strongly selective environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate adaptation planning is said to be a necessary and inevitable facet of future societies, and is rapidly occurring across a range of geopolitical scales. Previous scholarship suggests that a democratic decentralized approach, one that fosters inclusive participation and representation, is central to achieving equitable and sustainable outcomes of adaptation. However, recent studies frequently characterize the adaptation process as dominated by a techoscientific approach, among expert and elite actors, that tends to obscure or neglect the perceptions and desires of more marginalized members of society. This paper employs a values-based approach to better understand motivational factors for a closed and non-inclusive adaptation process. Through a case study of early, yet formidable stages of adaptation planning in the urban, coastal region of Hampton Roads, Virginia, empirical data among the epistemic community were gathered by interviews and participant observation at de facto adaptation planning forums. Research results document an exclusionary process favoring the participation and representation of technocratic elites and the exclusion of elected officials and local citizens. When linking these case study findings to value theory, inferences are made that adaptation planning in Hampton Roads is motivated by dominant institutional actor values of power and security, those that are theorized to be in opposition to values fostering social and environmental justice. In light of these research results, this paper calls for a critically reflexive adaptation practice, thereby challenging values, assumptions, and beliefs of the self, as well as social structures and power relations that shape adaptation planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity of genetic and non-genetic processes that make offspring resemble their parents are increasingly well understood. In addition to genetic inheritance, parent–offspring similarity is affected by epigenetic, behavioural and cultural mechanisms that collectively can be referred to as non-genetic inheritance. Given the generality of the Price equation as a description of evolutionary change, is it not surprising that the Price equation has been adopted to model the evolutionary implications of non-genetic inheritance. In this paper, we briefly introduce the heredity perspectives on which those models rely, discuss the extent to which these perspectives make different assumptions and place different emphases on the roles of heredity and development in evolution, and the types of empirical research programmes they motivate. The existence of multiple perspectives and explanatory aims highlight, on the one hand, the versatility of the Price equation and, on the other hand, the importance of understanding how heredity and development can be conceptualized in evolutionary studies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Fifty years of the Price equation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation to climate change has become an imperative intricately linked to human existence and the planet's wellbeing: if learning is not part of the adaptation process, it is doubtful the adaptation will be sustainable. In Zimbabwe, one initiative for promoting learning for adaptation is the establishment of the Eco-Schools Clubs (ESC), a concept based on the possibilities of intergenerational learning developed and widely adopted in the Global North. Based on an ethnographic study in a community struggling with food insecurity arising from unpredictable rainfall, this paper examines the context-dependency of ESCs' affordances for intergenerational climate change learning. The study found that in contrast to reports from the Global North, the children in this study were not able to exercise agency to effect change in their families and communities. Using the analytical resources of Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, the study analyses the challenges of appropriating a model of learning from afar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a reliability-based optimization approach is applied using a recently proposed CMA-ES with optimal covariance update and storage complexity. Cholesky-CMA-ES gives a significant increase in optimization speed and reduces the runtime complexity of the standard CMA-ES. The reliability index is the shortest distance between the surface of Limit-State Function (LSF) and the origin of the standard normal space. Hence, finding the reliability index can be expressed as a constrained optimization problem. To verify the concept and test the feasibility of this algorithm, several numerical examples consisting of mathematical and highly nonlinear civil engineering problems are investigated. The reliability indexes obtained agree reasonably well with reported values from some existing approximation methods and Monte Carlo simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate‐driven environmental changes bring new risks but also opportunities to populations living along the world's major rivers. Based on ethnoecological fieldwork, in this paper we examine how people living in the cuvette centrale of the Congo basin have adopted flood‐recession agriculture on islands in the Congo River, taking advantage of a secular shift since the 1980s in the hydrological regime of the Congo River. Analyses of the hydrological data reveal that this shift decreased flood risk and significantly extended the growing season on the islands, long enough to enable cultivation of fast‐maturing varieties of manioc and other crops. Flood‐recession farming on islands in the river is today not only an important source of food, but also a source of income for women, who are primarily responsible for seasonal cultivation of fields during the low‐water season. Hydrological changes alone are insufficient to explain the adoption of the new agricultural practice; adoption also arose as a result of dynamic interactions among river fishing, trading, and broader socio‐economic forces. Climate‐change models project an increased frequency of extreme floods. Our results suggest that this change may limit island cultivation in the future. More generally, our findings point to the importance of looking beyond single‐factor, solely environmental explanations in studies of climate‐change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone marrow is a cellular tissue that forms within the pore space and hollow diaphysis of bones. As a tissue, its primary function is to support the hematopoietic progenitor cells that maintain the populations of both erythroid and myeloid lineage cells in the bone marrow, making it an essential element of normal mammalian physiology. However, bone's primary function is load bearing, and deformations induced by external forces are transmitted to the encapsulated marrow. Understanding the effects of these mechanical inputs on marrow function and adaptation requires knowledge of the material behavior of the marrow at multiple scales, the loads that are applied, and the mechanobiology of the cells. This paper reviews the current state of knowledge of each of these factors. Characterization of the marrow mechanical environment and its role in skeletal health and other marrow functions remains incomplete, but research on the topic is increasing, driven by interest in skeletal adaptation and the mechanobiology of cancer metastasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into biological materials often centers on the impressive material properties produced in Nature. In the process, however, this research often neglects the ecologies of the materials, the organismal contexts relating to how a biological material is actually used. In biology, materials are vital to organismal interactions with their environment and their physiology, and also provide records of their phylogenetic relationships and the selective pressures that drive biological novelties. With the papers in this symposium, we provide a view on cutting-edge work in biological materials science. The collected research delivers new perspectives on fundamental materials concepts, offering surprising insights into biological innovations and challenging the boundaries of materials' characterization techniques. The topics, systems, and disciplines covered offer a glimpse into the wide range of contemporary biological materials work. They also demonstrate the need for progressive "whole organism thinking" when characterizing biological materials, and the importance of framing biological materials research in relevant, biological contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pathogenesis of mycoplasmas requires their attachment to the epithelial mucosa membrane of the host cells, followed by colonisation and necrotic destruction of the submucosal tissue. The extent of this pathogenesis depends on the ability of species of Mycoplasma to effectively attach and invade the host's tissue. In this regard, the cytadherence tip organelle has evolved within the mycoplasmas to accomplish this feat. However, species of Mycoplasma that do not possess the specialized structure remain virulent with the use of surface-membrane lipoproteins. The lipoprotein ligands bind to sulfatides and sialoglycoconjugates on the host's mucosa membranes. This host-mycoplasma interaction, though poorly studied, appears to have a wide underlying array of complex molecular mechanisms, which after activation trigger cytadherence, immunomodulation and virulence. Mycoplasmas with their highly redundant minimal genomes display dynamic genotypic and phenotypic plasticity; a trait that has allowed them to adapt, persist and survive successfully in adverse niches through circumvention and tempering of the host's humoral immune response. Additionally, the linkages between the mycoplasmas persistence and chronic inflammatory diseases in humans necessitate examining the host-mycoplasma interaction at the proteogenomic level. This paper provides an overview on the molecular mechanisms involved in cytadherence, surface-membrane antigenic variation and survival strategies of human urogenital mycoplasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent articles were written in response to our paper 'Breaking RAD: An evaluation of the utility of restriction site associated DNA sequencing scans of adaptation.' While we agree with some of the comments made by the authors of these two response papers, we still believe caution should be employed in RADseq studies that aim to detect loci that contribute to adaptation. In this rebuttal, we evaluate the key points made in these papers, attempt to identify a middle ground and make suggestions for responsibly conducting future studies to understand the genomewide mechanisms of adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea that climate change may cause the loss of atoll countries is now taken for granted in much of climate change science, policy and media coverage. This normalisation of loss means atoll countries now face a future that is apparently finite, which is a grievous situation no other country has to contend with. This paper explains the dilemmas this presents to atoll countries. If there is a risk of forced migration, then strategic planning can minimise its social impacts. Yet, doing so may bring future dangers into the present by undermining efforts to facilitate adaptation to climate change, creating new identities and deterring investments in sustainable resource management. To overcome this dilemma, the paper argues for a more hopeful approach to the future of atoll countries, because for as long as the science of loss remains uncertain, and the limits to adaptation are unknown, forced migration cannot be taken as a matter of fact and could possibly be averted through emission reductions and a vastly improved and significantly more creative approach to adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the extent and the nature of how the urban planning literature has addressed climate change adaptation. It presents a longitudinal study of 157 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000 to 2013 in the leading urban planning and design journals whose selection considered earlier empirical studies that ranked them these journals. The findings reveal that the years 2006–07 represent a turning point, after which climate change studies appear more prominently and consistently in the urban planning and design literature; however, the majority of these studies address climate change mitigation rather than adaptation. Most adaptation studies deal with governance, social learning, and vulnerability assessments, while paying little attention to physical planning and urban design interventions. This paper identifies four gaps that pertain to the lack of interdisciplinary linkages, the absence of knowledge transfer, the presence of scale conflict, and the dearth of participatory research methods. It then advocates for the advancement of participatory and collaborative action research to meet the multifaceted challenges of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we establish a rigorous mathematical theory of three types of fluctuation-dissipation theorems (FDTs) for inhomogeneous Markov jump processes. It turns out that the FDTs and the response formula proved in this paper apply to any form of external perturbations and thus are quite general. Further physical and biochemical applications are also discussed. In particular, the FDTs are used to study an important biochemical phenomenon called adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The risk of pandemics is increasing, driven by changes in human behavior and climate, both of which are difficult for policymakers to control. There are two main strategies available for reacting to these changes. This paper considers the decision to invest in either adaptation (domestic) capital or prevention (foreign) capital before a pandemic in an interval of time when pandemic risk is increasing. This paper demonstrates how relatively small investments in the two strategies can provide large savings through smaller expected future damages. The technical relationships between adaptation, prevention and risk also determine the optimal mixture of investment over time. As risk increases, the technical relationships between these three stocks causes the optimal mixture of strategies to change over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a review article focussing on the research on past environments of Zimbabwe. The paper synthesises the current knowledge on palaeo-climates and other environmental parameters that inform debates and discussions on climate change and human adaptation. The study of palaeoenvironments provides environmental knowledge that chronologically goes beyond the range of written climatic records that are available in the country. The palaeoenvironmental data now available shows that our human ancestors in Zimbabwe have survived numerous climatic upheavals since the beginning of the Stone Age. However, limited research in the Stone Age and the variety of proxy data available creates a less coherent record. Extrapolation of evidence from the region makes the data less reliable for archaeological interpretations. The paper shows conflicting signals across the region at some specific periods. There are numerous gaps in the record. The paper concludes by calling for multidisciplinary research on the past environments of Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schultz, M.T. and Smith, E.R., 2016. Assessing the resilience of coastal systems: A probabilistic approach. Resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions. Methods and tools to quantify resilience are needed to provide actionable intelligence to plan, design, construct, and manage coastal systems. This paper describes how a probabilistic measure of resilience can be assessed for a coastal community using a Bayesian network. The measure of resilience is the joint probability of meeting two management objectives, one with respect to the level of system performance and the other with respect to the length of time required to restore system performance. This paper describes a pilot study to demonstrate the approach in Jamaica Bay, New York, a dense, urban, residential community located on the southern coast of Long Island. Results of the pilot study illustrate how practical information can be developed to support decisions about managing coastal systems. The pilot study provides insights into data and information requirements; the advantages, challenges, and limitations of the approach; and the feasibility of implementing this approach for operations. This approach to resilience assessment is well suited for coastal planning contexts because it explicitly incorporates information about uncertainty in the severity of coastal storm events, as well as uncertainty in how the system will perform when exposed to storm loads. The method challenges the community to establish explicit objectives for coastal resilience, identifies what data are needed to monitor progress toward objectives, and provides a platform from which to explore how those objectives might be achieved in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation is increasingly concerned with how organisations develop capacity to adapt to uncertain futures. A participatory action research project conducted in Victoria, Australia, examined how health and social service organisations developed their organisational adaptive capacity through the use of adaptation decision-support tools. It can be challenging for any organisation to select and apply a decision-support tool, but this is particularly the case where resources and capacities are limited. For most organisations, climate change is only one of a complex set of dynamic stressors they must consider in meeting organisational goals. This paper shows that while decision-support tools can help co-generate knowledge and facilitate customised organisational adaptation processes, for them to be practically helpful for organisations with limited resources and capacities, intensive collaborative and discursive processes are needed to adjust such tools to fit specific organisational contexts and needs. Facilitators and participatory approaches that enable co-inquiry can play a critical role in supplementing scarce resources and initiating adaptation processes that go well beyond the scope and purpose of the decision-support tool used. Organisations working effectively with decision-support tools to adapt to climate change will need to feel ownership of them and have confidence in modifying them to suit their particular adaptation needs and organisational goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focused on the actions of the School Improvement Advisor/Researcher (SIA) reports on the results of research carried out in schools over the course of a decade, and discusses and evaluates this approach to the raising of standards in educational institutes. From a methodological standpoint, this approach is the evolution of a process that lies midway between action research and design-based research, during the phases of which the SIA is able to effectively combine coaching, aimed at raising standards in both the institute and in individual teachers, with the creation/development/adaptation of tools, whose primary function is to respond to the needs expressed by these players and to the problems they experience. The approach was developed on the basis of several considerations: on the one hand, relative to the processes of change in place and, on the other, to the related research processes. Choosing to proceed in such a way is not an arbitrary act but originates in both the difficulty the research 'academic' faces in establishing himself as a type of compass for teachers in their daily practice and also from the need to conduct action research where rigour is not simply sacrificed for the immediate relevance of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parentage analysis is a cornerstone of molecular ecology that has delivered fundamental insights into behaviour, ecology and evolution. Microsatellite markers have long been the king of parentage, their hypervariable nature conferring sufficient power to correctly assign offspring to parents. However, microsatellite markers have seen a sharp decline in use with the rise of next‐generation sequencing technologies, especially in the study of population genetics and local adaptation. The time is ripe to review the current state of parentage analysis and see how it stands to be affected by the emergence of next‐generation sequencing approaches. We find that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the typical next‐generation sequencing marker, remain underutilized in parentage analysis but are gaining momentum, with 58 SNP‐based parentage analyses published thus far. Many of these papers, particularly the earlier ones, compare the power of SNPs and microsatellites in a parentage context. In virtually every case, SNPs are at least as powerful as microsatellite markers. As few as 100–500 SNPs are sufficient to resolve parentage completely in most situations. We also provide an overview of the analytical programs that are commonly used and compatible with SNP data. As the next‐generation parentage enterprise grows, a reliance on likelihood and Bayesian approaches, as opposed to strict exclusion, will become increasingly important. We discuss some of the caveats surrounding the use of next‐generation sequencing data for parentage analysis and conclude that the future is bright for this important realm of molecular ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Categorising is arguably one of the first steps in cognition, because it enables high-level cognitive processing. For a similar reason, categorising is a first step—a preprocessing step—in artificial intelligence, specifically in decision-making, reasoning, and natural language processing. In this paper we categorise the motion of entities. Such categorisations, also known as qualitative representations, represent the preprocessing step for navigation problems with dynamical obstacles. As a central result, we present a general method to generate categorisations of motion based on categorisations of space. We assess its general validity by generating two categorisations of motion from two different spatial categorisations. We show examples of how the categorisations of motion describe and control trajectories. We also establish its soundness in cognitive and mathematical principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change risk assessments traditionally follow an analytical structure in which climate information is linked to impact models, and subsequently to damage models and decision-making tools. This structure generates a wide cascade of uncertainties that accumulate with each analytical step, consequently resulting in a wide range of risk estimates. This cascade of uncertainties can suggest that climate change risk assessments are not very useful in the context of decision-making regarding climate adaptation. However, many of the uncertainties revealed in traditionally structured climate risk assessments are not equally relevant to specific decisions, and presenting wide cascades of uncertainties can mask key decision-making parameters. In this paper, we show how the cascade of uncertainty relevant to decision-making can be reduced by applying an uncertainty decomposition approach, which, in study design, initially identifies the uncertainty cascade elements of particular relevance to the focal decision-making context. We compare the full cascade of uncertainties that emerge in a traditional risk assessment based on linked climate scenarios, impact modeling, and damage cost assessment with the uncertainty cascade generated by a detailed assessment of urban flooding risks where the focus is on key uncertainties in decision-making on climate change adaptation. A case study on flooding from extreme precipitation in the Danish city of Odense is used to decompose major sources of uncertainties in the climate modeling, the hydrological modeling, and the damage cost assessment. The decomposition approach reduces the focal range of damage cost estimates by 7-9 M EUR, which corresponds to a 20-24% reduction in the full uncertainty range without the application of the decomposition approach. Assuming that damage cost assessments can provide an indication of how much society should be willing to spend on climate adaptation, a decomposition approach as presented here could assist decision-makers in increasing the economic effectiveness when investing in protective measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract This work was supported by the Woolf Fisher Trust and the Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust, in the form of a Woolf Fisher Scholarship (2014). Highlights • Few studies explore the processes and possible impacts of adaptation constraints. • A lack of empirical depth means that they are often ignored in policy formulation. • This paper proposes a method for exploring the empirics of adaptation constraints. • Numerical preference functions are estimated for 15 salient constraints. • These constraints could be modelled quantitatively and should no longer be ignored. Abstract The concept of adaptation constraints has become well known in the climate change literature. It describes impediments to the process of adaptation that could in principle be overcome but often are not. Many adaptation constraints have been identified and described in the literature across a wide range of contexts, and the importance of their influence on climate change adaptation is clear. However most studies have focussed on describing constraints rather than exploring their origins, processes, and possible impacts. As a consequence, it has been difficult to operationalise the concept to provide information meaningful to decision makers. This study demonstrates an approach to estimating empirically the processes and the impacts of adaptation constraints, based on a case-study of farmers in New Zealand. It combines established social scientific methods to explore the processes underlying a range of adaptation constraints and estimate the impacts that these constraints may have. The approach can be used to explore further the social and economic impacts of adaptation constraints. This information can then be used to consider sub-optimal adaptation to climate change more fully, and paves the way for policy responses that are more conscious of the human elements of climate change adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Adaptation to water scarcity induced by future climate change will be crucial for the viability of agricultural economies in many areas of the world. In this paper, we study the acquisition of supplemental irrigation water rights as an adaptation strategy undertaken by irrigation-dependent farmers in response to historical climate change. By exploiting the panel structure of a unique dataset of farm-level supplemental right adoption decisions in the state of Oregon, we establish a relationship between climate conditions, competition for local water resources, and the acquisition of supplemental rights. Our results indicate that a warmer, drier climate increases the likelihood that irrigated farms acquire supplemental rights, suggesting that farmers in Oregon have used supplemental rights to adapt to historical climate change. We also find evidence of heterogeneous effects suggesting that junior irrigators, groundwater-dependent irrigators, and farmers with access to a relatively lower volume of water have been most affected by historical climate change with respect to their supplemental water right acquisition decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work explores bacterial colonies and their individual and social behaviours under the lens of complex adaptive systems. We initially provide a background on the biology of bacteria to describe important phenomena, such as quorum-sensing, individual and collective behaviours, adaptation, evolution and self-organization over the influence of mechanical effects on bacterial systems and connecting scales. We then explore some associations between bacterial colonies and complex adaptive systems by considering components and ownerships of self-organization. The main contribution of this paper places emphasis on individual decision-making and behaviour as a cause of bacterial colonies’ actions, i.e., how self-organization and collective behaviours impact the ability of a bacterial colony to address an environmental stimulus and maintain itself as an open biological and fault-tolerant system. Finally, we conclude the work and provide some comments regarding future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract MicroRNA (miRNA) are endogenous small noncoding RNA gene products, on average 22 nt long, that play important regulatory roles in mediating gene expression by binding to and targeting mRNAs for degradation or translational repression. In this paper we identify both novel and conserved miRNA sequences present in the genome of the gray mouse lemur, Microcebus marinus. In total, 122 conserved and 44 novel miRNA were identified with high confidence from the lemur genome (Mmur_2.0) and were used for expression analysis. All conserved and novel miRNA were subjected to relative quantification by RT-qPCR in liver samples from control and torpid lemurs. A total of 26 miRNA (16 conserved and 10 novel) showed increased levels during primate torpor, whereas 31 (30 conserved and 1 novel) decreased. Additional in silico mapping of the predicted mRNA targets of torpor-responsive mature miRNA suggested that miRNA that increased during torpor were collectively involved in cell development and survival pathways, while miRNA that decreased were enriched in targeting immune function. Overall, the study suggests new regulatory mechanisms of primate torpor via miRNA action. Highlights • Characterization of torpor-responsive miRNA expression from the Gray mouse lemur • Identification of novel torpor-responsive lemur miRNA • In silico prediction of torpor-responsive miRNA targets and cellular function in coordinating primate torpor [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terms such as resilience, vulnerability and adaptation are heterogeneously defined in the contemporary climate-change adaptation literature and, hence, remain difficult to operationalize. In this paper, the authors offer a cultural evolutionary perspective, where these terms are mapped onto the terminology of triple-inheritance theory, which clarifies how risks arise through the complex interplay of social and ecological feedbacks. Studies of past risk, vulnerability and resilience are often conducted within a historical ecological framework. As both ecological (synchronic) and evolutionary (diachronic) understandings of human culture ultimately derive from the same source of inspiration – Darwinian evolutionary theory – they are, the authors argue, readily integrated. They take steps towards such an integration, which not only offers a unified theoretical and conceptual framework for studies of past and present vulnerability and resilience, but also provides explicit mechanisms for how issues of future vulnerability and resilience can be approached. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The aim of this paper is to fully exploit the medical potential of α‑Fe 2 O 3 as a promising material for anticancer agent. Herein, Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles (NPs) have been synthesized using thermal decomposition method for the iron(III) Schiff base (N , N ′‑disalicylidene‑l,2‑phenylenediamine (H 2 dsp), N , N ′‑disalicylidene‑3,4‑diaminotoluene (H 2 dst), 4‑nitro‑ N , N ′‑disalicylidene‑1,2‑phenylenediamine (H 2 ndsp) and N , N ′‑disalicylidene ethylenediamine (H 2 salen)) complexes as precursors. The calcined of Fe 2 O 3 NPs were comprehensively characterized based on UV–Vis, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and XRD. The band gap energy of the synthesized α‑Fe 2 O 3 NPs particles are 1.75–1.92 eV range. Evaluation of cytotoxicity against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) for the synthesized α‑Fe 2 O 3 hematite nanoparticles was performed. Highlights • Fe 2 O 3 NPs have been synthesized using iron(III) Schiff bases precursors. • Fe 2 O 3 NPs were discussed using UV–Vis, FT-IR, SEM, TEM and XRD. • Band gap energy of the Fe 2 O 3 NPs particle located within 1.75–1.92 eV range • Cytotoxicity of synthesized Fe 2 O 3 against MCF-7 cell line was assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the terminology of (mal)adaptation opportunism - a situation in which projects undertaken in the name of climate change adaptation (CCA) are overrun by interests other than the stated or intended objectives of the CCA project. A goal of CCA projects is to reduce poverty and promote social justice. The case of the threat of displacement of the community of Kewunor by the Trasacco Estate Development Company (TEDC), after the construction of the Ada Sea Defense System (AdSDS) of Ghana as a CCA, is illustrative of this concept of (mal)adaptation opportunism. Through a narrative presentation of eight different accounts concerning this issue, I demonstrate how (mal)adaptation opportunism arises and is often motivated by economic interests. This case illustrates how economic interests can take over not only CCA projects but also their maladaptive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade has witnessed significant growth across the globe of domestic and international initiatives designed to ameliorate both existing and potential impacts of climate change. The threat of altered environments and possibility of mass migrations of people have spurred intensive planning as well as the commitment of considerable resources to addressing such threats. Indeed, the primacy of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts and planning has become so pronounced that one might argue that this is a new and pre-eminent form of development in the international arena. As with previous developmental preoccupations such as progress, modernity, gender, microcredit, participation and good governance, climate change adaptation and mitigation is today a central part of the development mantra. In this paper I examine the 'climate change turn' in development work by focusing on the case of Bangladesh, a country often discussed in both scholarly literature and popular discourse as one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the possible effects of climate change. Images of rising waters, flooded fields and displaced farmers in the region have become an iconic symbol deployed during debates on climate change both locally and globally. As a result Bangladesh has emerged as a laboratory of sorts in which a series of national-level strategic plans, projects, programmes, trust funds and financing schemes are being designed and tested in partnership with international donors and development agencies, all built around the idea of climate change and resilience. Looking specifically at some of the most marginalised communities in Bangladesh - such as char dwellers and slum populations - I question in this paper what impact these efforts to combat climate change may have, in particular the possibility of being displaced not by climate change but rather by development processes meant to ameliorate its effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is a crucial biological function possessed by many sensory systems. Early work has shown that some influential equilibrium models can achieve accurate adaptation. However, recent studies indicate that there are close relationships between adaptation and nonequilibrium. In this paper, we provide an explanation of these two seemingly contradictory results based on Markov models with relatively simple networks. We show that as the nonequilibrium driving becomes stronger, the system under consideration will undergo a phase transition along a fixed direction: from non-adaptation to simple adaptation then to oscillatory adaptation, while the transition in the opposite direction is forbidden. This indicates that although adaptation may be observed in equilibrium systems, it tends to occur in systems far away from equilibrium. In addition, we find that nonequilibrium will improve the performance of adaptation by enhancing the adaptation efficiency. All these results provide a deeper insight into the connection between adaptation and nonequilibrium. Finally, we use a more complicated network model of bacterial chemotaxis to validate the main results of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathway approaches to adaptation highlight the uncertainty of future impacts of climate change and the ongoing, contingent nature of responses to these effects. This article reviews adaptation to climate change literature employing the notion of pathways and argues that these approaches offer a useful framework to spur meaningful adaptation action. After providing an overview of the history of pathway approaches, the paper focuses on four approaches that apply the metaphor of pathways differently: the socioeconomic pathways, dynamic adaptive policy pathways, pathways to resilience, and the social, technology, and environmental pathways to sustainability. Lessons and strengths from each of these approaches are highlighted. Utilizing multiple pathway approaches can further aid in creating useful and usable knowledge. However, the paper concludes by arguing that pathway approaches could be further strengthened by including political concerns and processes. Working to include the broader public within the coproduction of pathways would help achieve this goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]