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This paper assesses four relevant climate actions in Indian agricultural sector through the lens of United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to understand how climate actions (SDG 13) are linked with other SDGs and their targets and what measures can be taken to scale up these actions. Four board categories of climate actions are considered for this exercise: shift to less-flooded paddy water management practices; minimizing overuse of nitrogen-based fertilizer, system of rice intensification and climate smart agricultural practices. A mixed method has been followed: first, scoping review of literature between 2010 and 2022 is undertaken to capture the growing body of literature and then a normalized weighted score is used to understand the net strength of the linkages. Scoping review helped in identifying 100 studies spanned across Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) and the eastern part of Peninsular India. Findings from the scoring method suggest that these practices have linkages with 15 SDGs and as many as 43 SDG targets. Almost all linkages are positive (synergy) but there are a few negative linkages (trade-offs) as well. Trade-offs include exacerbating inequalities including gender, high upfront cost, requirement of skilled labor, lack of access to information and finance. This paper provides a detailed description of these trade-offs and suggests measures to tackle and minimize them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review investigates the intricate interplay between COVID-19 and climate change, focusing on their collective repercussions on Sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural sector and food security. The paper aims to scrutinize existing literature to elucidate the multifaceted implications of COVID-19 and climate change on agriculture and food security. A review of scholarly articles, reports, and case studies was conducted to ensure a thorough analysis. Findings indicate that COVID-19 disruptions exacerbate the challenges posed by climate change, particularly through supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. Small-scale farmers demonstrate greater resilience due to their diverse and locally-oriented systems, while larger-scale farmers with more capital fare relatively better. In conclusion, urgent adaptive strategies and resilience-building measures are essential. Promoting diversified farming systems, enhancing smallholder capabilities, and advocating for international collaboration to address these synergistic threats effectively is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of expensive optimization, numerous papers have proposed surrogate-assisted evolutionary algorithms (SAEAs) for a few thousand or even hundreds of function evaluations. However, in reality, low-cost simulations suffice for a lot of real-world problems, in which the number of function evaluations is moderately restricted, e.g., to several thousands. In such moderately restricted scenario, SAEAs become unnecessarily time-consuming and tend to struggle with premature convergence. In addition, tuning the SAEA parameters becomes impractical under the restricted budgets of function evaluations—in some cases, inadequate configuration may degrade performance instead. In this context, this paper presents a fast and auto-tunable evolutionary algorithm for solving moderately restricted expensive optimization problems. The presented algorithm is a variant of adaptive differential evolution (DE) algorithms, and is called emulation-based adaptive DE or EBADE. The primary aim of EBADE is to emulate the principle of sample-efficient optimization, such as that in SAEAs, by adaptively tuning the DE parameter configurations. Specifically, similar to Expected Improvement-based sampling, EBADE identifies parameter configurations that may produce expected-to-improve solutions, without using function evaluations. Further, EBADE incepts a multi-population mechanism and assigns a parameter configuration to each subpopulation to estimate the effectiveness of parameter configurations with multiple samples carefully. This subpopulation-based adaptation can help improve the selection accuracy of promising parameter configurations, even when using an expected-to-improve indicator with high uncertainty, by validating with respect to multiple samples. The experimental results demonstrate that EBADE outperforms modern adaptive DEs and is highly competitive compared to SAEAs with a much shorter runtime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is dedicated to the analysis and detailed study of a procedure to generate both the weighted arithmetic and harmonic means of n positive real numbers. Together with this interpretation, we prove some relevant properties that will allow us to define numerical approximation methods in several dimensions adapted to discontinuities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science studies view community wellbeing to be a cumulative construct of multiple dimensions which include social, economic, environmental, physical, political, health, education indicators and more. The study of community wellbeing is compounded by climate change as it increases the frequency of disasters affecting all dimensions of community wellbeing. It becomes crucial for communities to build community resilience and address the impact on community wellbeing in the context of Disaster Risk Reduction and sustainable development. This systematic literature aimed to understand how community wellbeing is affected by climate change. It analysed 23 papers from Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Google Scholar, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method, to address three research questions: (i) how do climate change scholars understand community wellbeing, (ii) how community wellbeing is affected by specific climate change factors/conditions and the nature of impact, and (iii) how the impact on community wellbeing as a result of climate change is being addressed. The study found that climate change scholars hold mixed and multiple views or understanding of community wellbeing and climate change led to mental stress decreasing community wellbeing. The solutions to improve community wellbeing in the context of climate change suggests that adaptation should be the main policy instrument supplemented by mitigation strategies and recommends building a vibrant research culture in wellbeing and climate studies, among others. This review provides insights into the complex relationship between community wellbeing and climate change and identifies areas for future research and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and related adaptation strategies have gender-differentiated impacts. This paper reviews how gender is framed in 41 papers on climate change adaptation through an intersectionality lens. The main findings show that while intersectional analysis has demonstrated many advantages for a comprehensive study of gender, it has not yet entered the field of climate change and gender. In climate change studies, gender is mostly handled in a men-versus-women dichotomy and little or no attention has been paid to power and social and political relations. These gaps which are echoed in other domains of development and gender research depict a 'feminization of vulnerability' and reinforce a 'victimization' discourse within climate change studies. We argue that a critical intersectional assessment would contribute to unveil agency and emancipatory pathways in the adaptation process by providing a better understanding of how the differential impacts of climate change shape, and are shaped by, the complex power dynamics of existing social and political relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarises key issues from papers included in a special issue about the impacts of climate change on Australian wetlands. The papers covered: the assessment of wetlands under climate change, adaptation and engineering responses to climate change, and restoring wetlands under a changing climate. The key issues from these papers were used to indicate areas where the Ramsar Convention could develop guidance as part of its' Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands. These included: (i) assessing changes in the distribution of species and whether these constitute a change in the ecological character of the wetland; (ii) assessing the usefulness of models of wetland response to climate change; (iii) assessing the value in allocating water to protected sites where restoration would be contingent on reallocation of larger volumes of water; (iv) assessing the efficacy of engineering responses with the potential to deliver more water-efficient environmental outcomes for wetlands and (v) determining if the description of the ecological character of a Ramsar site at the time of listing is a suitable reference for management purposes. With these issues in mind it is recommended that further attention is directed towards determining and responding to the ecological consequences of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy systems, which are the main pillars of rural livelihoods in north-eastern Europe encounter ecological, economic, and political changes in their operating environments which threaten their capacity to provide dairy supply. As uncertainty increases, there is a need to increase understanding and identify concrete tools to help food system actors manage resilience. We defined 'dairy systems' as a social-ecological system in which milk supply is the primary function, and humans and ecosystems endogenous factors. We conducted a qualitative empirical study to develop, enrich, and validate a theoretical framework, acknowledging social, economic, and ecological perspectives affecting the resilience. This paper identifies critical changes affecting the systems and key determinants of dairy system resilience, especially means actors can manage, in two socially and ecologically contrasting regions, Finland and Russia. The data consist of 26 qualitative in-depth interviews conducted in Finland and the surroundings of St Petersburg in the Leningrad Oblast. The critical changes confronting dairy system actors in both regions were especially related to prices and economics, policies, and epidemics. In Finland, possible cuts to agricultural subsidies, as well as an increasing workload, were perceived as a significant threat, whereas risks related to investors and resource adequacy were highlighted in Leningrad Oblast. Despite the socioeconomic distinctions between the countries, the determinants were similar and included ecological, economic, and social issues. However, the form of farm ownership proved decisive: for family farms in Finland, social well-being determinants were more important than economic ones; for investor-owned businesses in Leningrad Oblast, the opposite was the case. The results can be used by dairy systems actors, as well as administrators and policymakers, as a tool for understanding, assessing, and managing resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming and climate change represent current threats for island states in the Pacific Ocean region. Next to global warming and the effects of Sea Level Rise, the resulting vulnerability of coastal offshore, shoreline, and oceanic ecosystems are additional factors that need to be considered urgently. As a coastal atoll area and part of the Pacific Small Island States, Tuvalu is now under threat with its cultural landscapes due to climate change impacts. The country and its landscapes surround an area of only 26 km2, where 11,810 people live in hostile climatic conditions. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change projected that Tuvalu would probably be the first country to sink underwater. The question arises about sustainable solutions for ongoing security and a habitable situation for people, culture, landscapes, and ecosystems. Unstable agricultural crop production, fishing, and coconuts cultivation are some of the challenges on the island. The exemplary derived polynomial curve of nine different islands and their islands' population displacement behavior shows up results of hostile conditions with six islands having lost their inhabitants, and only three islands' populations have increased. This study aims to analyze the overall situation of Tuvalu and find an alternative solution to safeguard Tuvaluan people, the island ecosystems and heritage, and cultural landscapes. Specific objectives of this study are the following: (1.) Understanding the theoretical concept of climate change impacts, sea-level rise impacts, the protection of Tuvaluan people, and the islands' unique biodiversity; (2.) Analyzing the socio-economic condition, livelihoods, culture, heritage, and environmental scenarios of Tuvalu; (3.) Giving potential recommendations for creating an international network, applied research, and training for the future development of ecosystems and cultural landscapes of Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean. This paper analyzed the present affected situation of Tuvalu; it also highlighted socio-economic and livelihoods sustainability, future scenarios, and alternative suggestion to mitigate this hostile environment of Tuvalu. GIS applications for visualizing and analyzing environmental data were one of the appropriate tools for decision-makers to support long-term planning for Tuvalu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Interventions are essential for the management of built heritage because they extend the lifespan of buildings and enable them to be enjoyed by multiple generations. International organisations and institutions, such as UNESCO and ICOMOS, have adopted doctrinal documents over time, stimulating best practices in built heritage management worldwide. Although these documents are often referenced in academic work, they are seldom systematically researched. Which interventions are referenced or omitted? Are they defined? What trends are noted in the understanding of best practices as interventions? Design/methodology/approach: This research consists of a systematic content analysis of nine international doctrinal documents, which were selected from nearly seventy international doctrinal documents—mainly adopted by UNESCO and ICOMOS. The main aim is to reveal and compare the concepts used for reference interventions and further use the definitions to reveal and discuss the relationships between them. The trends of these interventions being used were determined based on the frequency of mentions per intervention term in the selected documents. Findings: Regarding the definition of the intervention concepts, there are three main findings. First, instead of being treated as a single concept, 'conservation' has been presented as an umbrella concept for other interventions and thus has been the most popular concept since the first version (1992) of the New Zealand Charter was implemented. In contrast, 'preservation' remains a single concept, among the highest scales, to maintain the integrity of built heritage, including use. Second, 'repair' was found to play a paradoxical role between 'restoration' and 'reconstruction', which created divergent opinions in the documents. Third, since the notions of 'use' have expanded from the functions of monuments (International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites: The Venice Charter, 1964) to the 'associations of places' (The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, with associated Guidelines and Code on the Ethics of Co-existence, 1999; The Burra Charter: The Australia ICOMOS Charter for Places of Cultural Significance, 2013), which include activities, traditional habits, accessibility, etc., the complexity of mentioning different forms of 'use' has led to some (re)interventions, such as 'adaptation', 'adaptive reuse', and 'rehabilitation', being put into grey areas and used interchangeably. Originality: This research advances the current understanding of intervention concepts and their relationships, as well as differences and similarities in definitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role streaming networks played in transforming the world of book-to-film adaptation. In 2013, Netflix debuted the first ever television show commissioned by a streaming service, House of Cards: a story inspired by Michel Dobb's 1989 novel. From then on streaming services became a go-to source for backlist books looking for a second life and another chance at the bestsellers list. An analysis of book adaptations produced by streaming services alongside the subsequent New York Times bestsellers list shows that the freedom and creative liberties these companies have allowed in their adaptations has produced wildly successful projects with the potential to launch lesser-known books into prominence, often years after their initial publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability induced increased frequency of disasters has affected the livelihood of the people especially in developing countries. Rural communities are more affected and vulnerable towards these events due to limited livelihood alternatives. The exponentially increasing population, unsustainable use of natural resources and increasing disparities in social structure have posed threats to rural livelihoods. Climate variability and change have adversely affected agriculture and allied activities but more so in mountainous regions where the agriculture is still primarily rain-fed and is practised by smallholder farmers. Thus, livelihood vulnerability assessment is essential for suggesting suitable adaptation strategies and making policy decisions. This paper makes an attempt to examine livelihood vulnerability using composite vulnerability index. Evidence is given from blocks (administrative divisions of the district) of Dimapur district of Nagaland in India. We constructed livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) by incorporating site-specific indicators for its three components (exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity). The results revealed that all the blocks were greatly affected by climate variability and its induced drought. Niuland block was found the most vulnerable block followed by Kuhuboto, Dhansiripar and Medziphema blocks. Livelihood vulnerability in Niuland, Kuhuboto and Dhansiripar blocks is attributed to high sensitivity and low adaptive capacity. Sensitivity has predominantly increased livelihood vulnerability in Medziphema block. Thus, the study calls for policy implications to reduce the extent of livelihood vulnerability. LVI as a policy tool has proved to be effective in livelihood vulnerability assessment. Hence, it can successfully be utilised in other geographical regions for policy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nature-inspired algorithms have been designed to solve optimization problems by combining randomization with exploitation and exploration. Randomization plays a vital role in defining the convergence rate and performance of the algorithm. However, excessive use of randomization may adversely affect the performance of the algorithm. Therefore, a proper balance in randomization, exploitation, and exploration is required to improve the convergence rate of the algorithm. One of the methods to solve the optimization problems is Environmental Adaptation Method. It is a randomized algorithm that works on the theory of adaptive learning. It was followed by an enhanced version named Improved Environmental Adaptation Method. Both of these algorithms used binary encoding to represent the solutions. Since binary encoding requires extra efforts to convert a binary solution to a real solution, a real parameter version of the algorithm will be a good alternative to solve problems. In this paper, we present a new real parameter algorithm named Advanced Environmental Adaptation Method with a novel approach to balance randomization, exploitation, and exploration. This is achieved using operators that make it efficient to search for optimal global solutions. We compare the performance of this new algorithm with other state-of-the-art algorithms. The results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm over existing algorithms. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm for real-life problems by applying it to the salient object detection problem, which is an emerging problem in computer vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The U.S. Mid-Atlantic coastal region is experiencing higher rates of SLR than the global average, especially in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where this acceleration is primarily driven by land subsidence. The adaptation plans for coastal flooding are generally developed at the municipal level, ignoring the broader spatial implications of flooding outside the individual administrative boundaries. Flood impact assessments at the watershed scale would provide a more holistic perspective on what is needed to synchronize the adaptation efforts between the neighboring administrative units. This paper evaluates flooding impacts from sea level rise (SLR) and storm surge among watersheds in Hampton Roads to identify those most at risk of coastal flooding over different time horizons. It also explores the implications of flooding on the municipalities, the land uses, and land covers throughout this region within the case study watershed. The 2% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) storm surge flood hazard data and NOAA's intermediate SLR projections were used to develop flooding scenarios for 2030, 2060, and 2090 and delineate land areas at risk of combined flooding. Findings show that five out of 98 watersheds will substantially increase in inundation, with two intersecting multiple municipalities. They also indicate significant inundation of military, commercial, and industrial land uses and wetland land covers. Flooding will also impact residential land use in urban areas along the Elizabeth River and Hampton city, supporting the need for collaborative adaptation planning on hydrologically influenced spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Documenting trends in the health impacts of ambient temperature is key to supporting adaptation strategies to climate change. This paper explores changes in the temperature-related mortality in 18 French urban centers between 1970 and 2015. Method: A multicentric time-series design with time-varying distributed lag nonlinear models was adopted to model the shape of the relationship and assess temporal changes in risks and impacts. Results: The general shape of the temperature-mortality relationship did not change over time, except for an increasing risk at very low percentiles and a decreasing risk at very high percentiles. The relative risk at the 99.9th percentile compared to the 50th percentile of the 1970–2015 temperature distribution decreased from 2.33 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.95:2.79] in 1975 to 1.33 [95% CI: 1.14:1.55] in 2015. Between 1970 and 2015, 302,456 [95% CI: 292,723:311,392] deaths were attributable to non-optimal temperatures, corresponding to 5.5% [95% CI: 5.3:5.6] of total mortality. This burden decreased progressively, representing 7.2% [95% CI: 6.7:7.7] of total mortality in the 1970s to 3.4% [95% CI: 3.2:3.6] in the 2000s. However, the contribution of hot temperatures to this burden (higher than the 90th percentile) increased. Discussion: Despite the decreasing relative risk, the fraction of mortality attributable to extreme heat increased between 1970 and 2015, thus highlighting the need for proactive adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting computing resource usage in any system allows optimized management of resources. As cloud computing is gaining popularity, the urgency of accurate prediction is reduced as resources can be scaled on demand. However, this may result in excessive costs, and therefore there is a considerable body of work devoted to cloud resource optimization which can significantly reduce the costs of cloud computing. The most promising methods employ load prediction and resource scaling based on forecast values. However, prediction quality depends on prediction method selection, as different load characteristics require different forecasting mechanisms. This paper presents a novel approach that incorporates data-driven adaptation of prediction algorithms to generate short- and long-term cloud resource usage predictions and enables the proposed solution to readjust to different load characteristics as well as both temporary and permanent usage changes. First, preliminary tests were performed that yielded promising results – up to 36% better prediction quality. Subsequently, a fully autonomous, multi-stage optimization solution was proposed. The proposed approach was evaluated using real-life historical data from various production servers. Experiment results demonstrate 9.28% to 80.68% better prediction quality when compared to static algorithm selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak shows that pandemics and epidemics can seriously wreak havoc on supply chains (SC) around the globe. Humanitarian logistics literature has extensively studied epidemic impacts; however, there exists a research gap in understanding of pandemic impacts in commercial SCs. To progress in this direction, we present a systematic analysis of the impacts of epidemic outbreaks on SCs guided by a structured literature review that collated a unique set of publications. The literature review findings suggest that influenza was the most visible epidemic outbreak reported, and that optimization of resource allocation and distribution emerged as the most popular topic. The streamlining of the literature helps us to reveal several new research tensions and novel categorizations/classifications. Most centrally, we propose a framework for operations and supply chain management at the times of COVID-19 pandemic spanning six perspectives, i.e., adaptation, digitalization, preparedness, recovery, ripple effect, and sustainability. Utilizing the outcomes of our analysis, we tease out a series of open research questions that would not be observed otherwise. Our study also emphasizes the need and offers directions to advance the literature on the impacts of the epidemic outbreaks on SCs framing a research agenda for scholars and practitioners working on this emerging research stream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Climate change is among the most renowned concerns of the current century, endangering the lives of millions of people worldwide. To comply with the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), hospitals should be on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Although hospitals contribute to climate change by emitting greenhouse gases, they are also affected by the health consequences of climate change. Despite all the guidance provided, hospitals need more radical measures to confront climate change. The current study was carried out to examine the components of hospitals' adaptation to climate change and to review measures to confront climate change in hospitals. Method: This systematic review was designed and carried out in 2020. The required information was collected from international electronic databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. Moreover, Iranian datasets such as Scientific Database (SID), Irandoc, Magiran, and IranMedex were reviewed. No restriction was considered in the methodology of the study. For the relevant thesis, the ProQuest database was also explored. The related sources were examined and the Snowball method was applied to find additional related studies. The research team also reviewed other accessible electronic resources, such as international guidelines and academic websites. The checklist of the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI, 2017) was employed in order to evaluate the quality of the included papers. The studies published until June1, 2020, were included in the study. Results: Of 11,680 published documents in the initial search, the full-texts of 140 were read after evaluating the titles and abstracts, of which 114 were excluded due to lack of sufficient information related to countermeasures in hospitals. Finally, the full-texts of 26 studies were reviewed to extract the required components. Two strategies were found, including climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation, with 13 components including water, wastewater, energy, waste, green buildings, food, transportation, green purchasing policy, medicines, chemicals and toxins, technology, sustainable care models, and leadership in hospitals were identified as affecting these measures and strategies. Conclusion: Considering the significance of climate change and strategies to confront it as one of the current challenges and priorities in the world, it is necessary to develop a framework and model to reduce the effects of climate change and adapt to climate changes in hospitals and other health centers. The identification and classification of the measures and components, influencing hospital adaptability and solutions for reducing the climate change impacts could be the first stage in developing this strategy. This is because it is impossible to create this framework without identifying these factors and their mutual impacts at the first. In the present study, through a systematic review using a comprehensive approach, the related components were explored and divided into two categories, including measures to reduce the effects and measures to adapt to climate change. The results of this study can be useful in developing a comprehensive action model to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt hospitals to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to identify major strategies applied by small-scale farm households to adapt to climate change and determine factors that affect their choice of adaptation strategies. A logistic regression model and a multivariate probit model were applied to a set of primary data collected from a survey of 290 farm households in two mountainous provinces of Northeastern Vietnam. Results show that farm households combined various strategies in response to the impacts of climate hazards. Changes in farm activities and livelihood diversification were the two most widely used adaptation strategies. Farm households' choice of adaptation strategies was influenced by a set of complex factors related to demographic characteristics, economic well-being, access to resources, and perception. Age and farming experience negatively affected farm households' adaptation. Meanwhile, access to resources, savings, extension services, membership of associations, access to information, and perception had a significantly positive effect on the adoption of adaptation strategies. Social-economic barriers restricted female-headed and ethnic minority households from taking up adaptation measures that required new technologies, updated knowledge, or resources. It is essential to issue policies and implement projects to enhance adaptive capacity and facilitating the adaptation process for farm households in mountainous areas, taking into account the barriers and disadvantages of female and ethnic minority farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poultry sector is large and expanding in the global South, playing a central role in providing increased protein to a rapidly growing base of consumers. The sector includes small backyard farms, small commercial operations, and very large, complex enterprises. Although there is substantial literature on climate adaptation by crop farmers and large livestock farmers, such information is limited for poultry. This study focuses on the effects of higher temperatures on commercial poultry farms in southwest Nigeria and their adaptation strategies. We use a rich set of in-depth interviews to describe how poultry farmers are adapting to higher temperatures and their reasons for adopting particular practices. In general, interviewees are aware that temperatures have increased over time and that heat stress reduces poultry productivity in terms of weight gain and laying capacity. They are knowledgeable and are not passively enduring the adverse effects of higher temperatures as they have adopted a range of adaptation practices. This study identified three main adaptation strategies: (i) keeping drinking water cool, (ii) keeping the building cool and increasing ventilation, and (iii) giving birds medicines and supplements that help them cope with increased heat. Small farms tend to adopt simple and low-cost practices, and large farms tend to adopt more sophisticated and expensive approaches, in line with the nature of their respective operations. The paper's findings can help address gaps in strategies aiming to help this critically important sector of the food system be robust to future environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

very useful service to the example-based machine translation (EBMT) community was provided by Harold Somers in his summary article which appeared in 1999, and was extended in our 2003 book Recent advances in example-based machine translation. As well as providing a comprehensive review of the paradigm, Somers gives a categorisation of the different instantiations of the basic model. In this paper, we provide a complementary view to that of Somers. Today's EBMT systems learn by analogy. Perhaps even more so than statistical models of translation, one might view these systems as being incapable of forgetting. We researchers and system developers, on the other hand, often forget or are ignorant of techniques and models presented in prior research. The primary aim of this paper is to try to ensure that golden nuggets from past (now quite distantly so) EBMT research papers are gathered together and presented here for a new generation of researchers keen to operate in the paradigm, especially given the spate of recent open-source releases of EBMT systems. We revisit the findings of the previous main research papers, relate them to some of the major research efforts which have taken place since then, and examine especially the prophecies given in the older pieces of work to see the extent to which they have been borne out in the newer research. Given the strong convergence between the leading corpus-based approaches to MT, especially since the introduction of phrase-based statistical MT, a further hope is that these findings may also prove useful to researchers and developers in other areas of MT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to identify how targeted asset transfers help to build adaptive capacity and adaptive actions of the urban extreme poor to climate change phenomena. This paper explores the theoretical debates of community-based adaptation approach and failure of such approach to address urban extreme poor. The empirical evidence of these theoretical debates will be drawn from two informal settlements of Dhaka city, where a targeted asset transfer project has been implementing since 2009. This paper explains that urban extreme poor usually work as unskilled labour and lack different livelihood capitals; and climate change is an increasingly important influence exacerbating an already vulnerable livelihood context. There is growing recognition in the literature that poor urban people and communities are adapting to climate change in physical and behavioural terms. But, in the case of urban extreme poor these adaptation approaches are delivering short-term survival strategies disregarding the notion of wellbeing in the medium to long-term perspectives. It is also evident that community level initiatives structurally reproduce the exclusion of the urban extreme poor. However, poverty literatures acknowledge that poverty-centred approaches could help to reduce vulnerability. As urban extreme poor are significantly more resource constrained, it is reasonable to assert that targeted asset transfers could be a poverty-centred adaptation approach in a changing climate. Targeted asset transfers approaches are the outcomes of recent social protection revolution that especially consider accumulation of physical, financial, human, and social capital in order to build adaptive capacity of the urban extreme poor. This adaptive capacity of the extreme poor may facilitate adjustments in assets, livelihoods, behaviours, and technologies in order to reduce future climate vulnerability. In this context, this paper seeks to answer whether targeted asset transfer approaches can be considered as effective poverty-centred adaptation approaches for the urban extreme poor or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India's economy is rooted in agriculture, and the majority of the farmers, being smallholders, are highly exposed to the adversities associated with climate change. It has been argued by several researchers that perceiving climate change is a pre-condition for the adoption of adaptation strategies to reduce vulnerabilities. In this regard, studies are limited to explore the question 'is the perceptions of changing climate primarily motivate the smallholders to take adaptation actions?' In this nexus, the present paper seeks to understand the linkages between smallholders' climate change perception and the changes in their farming practices. The study was conducted in the seven villages of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, India, using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools. Key results show, (1) respondents perceived increased warming and decreased precipitation in accordance with the scientific analysis; (2) abundance of groundwater, misconceptions and lack of awareness shaped respondents' agricultural risk perception, and despite decreasing precipitation, water management appeared less risky (3) incorporation of irrigation, diversification towards high valued and high yielding crops, as well as farm mechanizations were the major changes in the farming practices; and, (4) except water management, rest of the changes were not necessarily made to adapt with climate change instead to increase crop yield and profit. It is noticed that the changes in farming practices perhaps made the farmers unconsciously adapted to climate change. Still, a prolonged continuation of some of those practices may lead to maladaptation. In this regard, we have given direction towards necessary policy formulation and future research to achieve sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of adaptation to extreme climate changes using the Australian animal husbandry data. The paper finds that farmers have adapted to a hot and arid climate regime through animal husbandry. The number of sheep vastly increases into arid ecosystems while the number of beef cattle does not decline in high temperatures. In the future climate system in which Australia becomes hotter and more arid, we predict that farmers will increase by large percentages the numbers of beef cattle and/or sheep owned in order to adapt to a highly unfavorable climate condition, especially into the arid ecosystems. This paper shows how humanity has adapted to climate extremes taking into account changing ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates Malaysian farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a planned adaptation programme for addressing climate issues in the Malaysian agricultural sector. We used the contingent valuation method (CVM) for a monetary valuation of farmers' preferences for a planned adaptation programme by ascertaining the value attached to address climatic issues in the Malaysian agricultural sector. Structured questionnaires were distributed among the sampled farmers. The study found that 74 % of respondents were willing to pay for a planned adaptation programme and that several socioeconomic and motivation factors have greater influence on their WTP. This paper clearly specifies the steps needed for all institutional bodies to better address issues in climate change. The outcomes of this paper will support policy makers to better design an efficient adaptation framework for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is making a profound impact on agricultural production across the globe. Coffee (especially the Arabica variety) is one of the most severely affected crops. Adaptive measures are therefore needed to ensure the industry's survival. Although large coffee companies have a long history of environmental action, less is known about their strategies and attitudes related to climate adaptation. This paper attempts understand how global coffee companies are addressing climate change adaptation as part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies and what barriers may exist to prevent future scale-up. To answer this question, I analyzed overall global adaptation needs and the specific needs of the coffee industry, which revealed serious financial, capacity-related, and principle-based challenges. To better understand how the industry may view climate adaptation, I reviewed CSR theoretical literature and the history of CSR within the coffee industry. Through this analysis, I determined the promotion of climate adaptation in the coffee industry can best be explained by the "Creating shared value" (CSV) framework. Using the CSV framework and an understanding of global adaptation challenges, I reviewed the CSR strategies of five major coffee companies as well as supporting literature and industry information. I find that all five companies have expansive CSR programs, yet none seriously undertake climate adaptation efforts and/or make them public. I suggest several reasons for this absence, including competing CSR priorities, lack of awareness, competition, lack of leadership, the controversial nature of climate change, and the overemphasis of certification. I end the paper with a call for more collaboration and research around the adaptation issue for the coffee industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has diverse physical and socio-economic implications for communities in semi-arid areas. While several studies have sought to understand the underlying power relations that shape adaptive capacities of rural farmers, fewer studies have focused on unpacking the differences within the different social groups. In this paper, we present a case study based on women smallholder farmers from semi-arid Ghana. It explores their nuanced perceptions of climate variability and highlights how gender intersects with other identities, roles and responsibilities to influence adaptation strategies and barriers to adaptation in the semi-arid context. Farm-level data was collected from 103 women farmers using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Rainfall patterns were perceived by the women farmers to be increasingly erratic and perceptions of average temperatures were that they are increasing. Adoption of adaptation strategies were influenced by socio-demographic factors such as age, marital and residential status, which also influenced decision-making and power dynamics within the household. The paper highlighted the complex relationships that mediate women farmers' access to resources and influence their vulnerability to climate variability and change. Highlighting the intra-gender differences that shaped the adaptation options and adaptive capacity is a prerequisite for proper adaptation policy planning and targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex adaptive systems provide a significant number of concepts such as reaction, interaction, adaptation, and evolution. In general, these concepts are modelled employing different techniques which give an inexplicit vision on the system. Therefore, all concepts must be carefully modelled using the same approach to avoid contradiction and guarantee system homogeneity and correctness. However, developing a computing system that includes all these concepts using the same approach is not an easy task and requires a perfect understanding of the system's behaviour. In this paper, we contribute as stepwise towards proposing an approach to model the most important concepts of complex adaptive systems while ensuring homogeneity and the correctness of models. For this aim, we present five standard agent-based models formalizing agent properties, reaction, interaction, adaptation, and evolution. These models are adapted to all cases of complex adaptive systems since they include an abstract description of these concepts. To implement our approach formally, we choose the Event-B method due to the strong assurance of bugs' absence that it guarantees. Besides, it supports horizontal and vertical refinement which facilitates the specification process. Furthermore, the approach of this paper addresses the very abstract level of modelling which expand the use of this approach to other formal methods and tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on analyzing the composing elements of the water governance regime in the Hirmand River Basin, Iran, this paper examines the factors that facilitate the emergence of Adaptive Governance in a Global South context. Although the literature provides valuable insights into the characteristics of a well-established Adaptive Governance regime in the context of the Global North, relatively little research has been conducted on Adaptive Governance's fostering factors in the states in the Global South. To address this gap, this study utilizes an analytical framework upon which the features of water governance regimes are assessed. A combination of primary and secondary qualitative data (survey research and document analysis) is used to evaluate the assessment framework, which aims to analyze the characteristics that enhance resilience to the imposed changes and disturbances in complex environmental and water systems. The analysis suggests that addressing scalar and sectoral tensions, well-functioning reflecting mechanisms, adaptable policies, and flexible financial mechanisms are vital requisites for the transition towards more adaptive forms of water governance. The results also propose that the formal water governance system in the region has felt the urgency to adapt to new circumstances; however, unlike cases from the Global North, it lacks the required agility to escape from the rigidity trap it finds itself in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hazard mitigation plans can support communities' resilience in the context of natural hazards and climate change. The quality of these plans can be evaluated using established indicators; however, research is also needed regarding the perceptions of participants in planning processes, to understand aspects of the planning processes that may not be evident in the plan documents. This study builds on previously reported plan quality scores and survey data, to investigate whether selected collaboration dynamics (principled engagement and capacity for joint action) occurred during counties' hazard planning processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 hazard planning professionals who were involved in preparing county-level hazard mitigation plans in Washington State, USA. Findings (for cases with both high- and low-scoring plans) include evidence of collaboration dynamics, although important participants (e.g., members of the local community) were reportedly missing from some planning processes, raising concerns about the extent to which the plans reflect local needs. These results are consistent with previous literature, which has demonstrated that members of the public often view hazard mitigation as inaccessible and disconnected from their daily lives. The paper concludes with recommendations for how practitioners might go about bolstering participation from important participants, potentially leading to higher-quality plans and helping to protect communities from hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of climate-related changes on northern Canada's renewable resource sectors makes bolstering adaptive capacity an urgent imperative throughout the region. Although social learning is a key ingredient of adaptive capacity, our understanding of the relationships among social learning, adaptive capacity, and climate change adaptation is limited. Building on previous conceptual and empirical studies, this paper develops a framework that clarifies the interactions among social learning, adaptive capacity and climate change adaptation pertinent to a regional scale of analysis. The framework is multi-layered and consists of different levels of governing variables, units of analysis, learning outcomes and climate change adaptations. It is also integrative in that it encompasses social learning motivations, context and process factors, and outcomes, along with key determinants of adaptive capacity. A post hoc assessment of two climate change disturbances in northern boreal resource systems reveals the applicability of the framework to a regional scale analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The publication of Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture in 1964 signaled the end of Modernism. The reality was that the modern movement had already jettisoned its ideological underpinnings and had become merely another 'style.' The avant garde architects in Europe and in North America were ready to move on and saw Postmodernism as a liberating antidote to the strictures of high Modernism. Historic architectural styles, which had been vilified as antiquated and out of step with modern culture, were revived, reinterpreted, and manipulated. However, Postmodernism, which had burned brightly during the 1970s and 1980s, was superseded by other architectural movements, namely, Deconstructivism, Pluralism, during the waning years of the 12th century. Even though new building forms and design theory changed during Postmodernism, building technology remained the same. Exterior walls continued to be built as skins, comprised of either glass, masonry, metal, or synthetic cladding, which were hung of steel or concrete framing. Rubberised membranes covered essentially flat roofs. Moisture infiltration was managed in ever complex composite wall assemblies. More important, environmental systems decoupled nature from interiors and were designed to manage ever demanding humidity control requirements. Through the development of new building technology, Modernism severed design style from traditional construction. In re-introducing historical forms back into architecture, Postmodernism complicated constructability. Moreover, Postmodernism and its successors rarely developed new technological ideas by introducing more intricate building forms, which were based on theoretical ideas rather than technical ones, while continuing to employ Modernism building technology into their buildings. This inherent paradox is the most consequential challenge in preserving Postmodernism. Today, approximately 40 years after its inception, we must consider if, in some cases. is it tenable to preserve Postmodern buildings? This paper reassesses three museums of the Postmodern era through the twin lenses of historic preservation and their legacy as cultural artifacts. It analyses how three iconic Postmodern museums, the Wexner Centre for the Arts in the USA, the Neue Staatsgalerie in Germany, and the Hedmark Museum in Norway, became cultural artifacts and how each of them present technical challenges for their future preservation. These museums represent late 20th century theoretical ideas, which were more a melding of pluralistic influences than design ideology, and the utilisation of Modernist technology. All of which present unique conditions for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the conditions for the assimilation of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) in organizations and the influence of various actors in the organization and eBusiness context. To do so it draws on the literature on assimilation gap, sociomateriality and infrastructure together with a study of implementation and use of information and communication technology in and among organizations in a Swedish region. There were substantial investments in web infrastructure made on a regional level and the focus of this study is how the investments were transformed and assimilated in practices, relations and communication. Based on the empirical data from the case study, the paper extends the assimilation process into interplay among actors in organizations contexts. It describes organizations' strategies for coping with their needs for information and the actors in these processes. Two categories of actors are identified, sensemaking and sensegiving actors, as most important in assimilation of IS/IT in organizations. A sociomaterial perspective gives guidance and a better understanding of the assimilation process in terms of knowledge and interpretative frames, and how assimilation involves identity construction and negotiations among sensemaking and sensegiving actors. The contribution of this paper is a better understanding of the context of assimilation and adaptation of IT in organizations' business processes, and steps to be taken to improve readiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing frequency of extreme events, exogenous and endogenous, poses challenges for our societies. The current pandemic is a case in point; but "once-in-a-century" weather events are also becoming more common, leading to erosion, wildfire and even volcanic events that change ecosystems and disturbance regimes, threaten the sustainability of our life-support systems, and challenge the robustness and resilience of societies. Dealing with extremes will require new approaches and large-scale collective action. Preemptive measures can increase general resilience, a first line of protection, while more specific reactive responses are developed. Preemptive measures also can minimize the negative effects of events that cannot be avoided. In this paper, we first explore approaches to prevention, mitigation and adaptation, drawing inspiration from how evolutionary challenges have made biological systems robust and resilient, and from the general theory of complex adaptive systems. We argue further that proactive steps that go beyond will be necessary to reduce unacceptable consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Eastern Snake Plain of Idaho, increasing rates of groundwater extraction for irrigation have corresponded with the adoption of more efficient irrigation technologies; higher use and lower incidental recharge have led to increasing groundwater scarcity. This paper assesses farmer vulnerability to a water resource policy that responds to that scarcity by reducing availability of groundwater for irrigation by 4–20%. Using results from a household survey of impacted farmers, we examine vulnerability in two stages, contributing to theorization of farmer vulnerability in a changing climate as well as producing important regional policy insights. The first stage, multimodel selection and inference, analyzes the primary predictors of two forms of vulnerability to groundwater scarcity among this population of farmers. The second stage, a segmentation analysis, highlights policy-relevant variation in adaptive capacity and in vulnerability predictors across the population. Individual-level results indicate that key indicators of vulnerability include several dimensions of adaptive capacity and sensitivity. At the population level, we find that reductions in sensitivity may play an important role in reducing farmer vulnerability. Accelerating global environmental change will require agriculture in arid and semi-arid regions to adapt to shifts in water availability. As water resources shift, institutional contexts and policy landscapes will shift in parallel, as seen with the reduction in groundwater availability in our case study. These institutional shifts may change the face of adaptation and farmer vulnerability in unexpected ways. Our results indicate that such institutional shifts could lean on efforts to enhance farmer adaptive capacity or reduce farmer sensitivity as mechanisms for reducing farmer vulnerability to adaptation policy changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments in developing countries are christened as proadaptation agents. However, global research effort has virtually ignored inherent adaptation policy implementation nuances in developing countries, ostensibly assuming that narratives from existing policy implementation literature could fill the void. Drawing on qualitative data from six LGs from Ghana, this paper examines the motivation, agenda setting processes and teething challenges constricting the implementation of decentralized climate change adaptation governance in Ghana. Though adherents of decentralization argue that local governments are more likely to conceive and implement proadaptation-related interventions, evidence from Ghana provides fascinating lessons. This paper shows that local governments' ability to mainstream adaptation-related actions into local governance is constricted by taxonomy of local political economy issues and the "science-heaviness" of climate change. It concludes that local government are unlikely to be a fulcrum of adaptation governance as touted if reasonable efforts are not made at strengthening and broadening its resource basket. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, policy makers and scientists have become interested in the dynamic links between migration and environmental change (Döös in Global Environ Change 7(1):41-61, ; Adger et al. in Living with Environmental Change: Social vulnerability, adaptation and resilience in Vietnam, ; Gunderson and Holling in Panarchy-understanding transformations in systems of humans and nature, Island Press, Washington, DC, Gunderson and Holling ; Scoones et al. in Dynamic systems and the challenge of sustainability, ; Galaz et al. in Ecosystems under pressure. A policy brief for the International Commission on Climate Change and Development, ). Recently, scoping activities have emerged to produce empirical observations about the role of environmental change in decisions about human mobility, including a range of movements from voluntary to forced migration and displacement. One notable recent attempt to contribute to the base of knowledge about the links between environmental change and migration has been the European Commission co-sponsored the Environmental Change and Forced Scenarios (EACH-FOR) project. The EACH-FOR project was created to assess the impact of environmental change on migration at the local, national, regional and international level. This paper shares the methods and fieldwork experiences of a first-time, multicontinent survey of environmental change and migration from the research project supported by the European Commission: Environmental Change and Forced Migration Scenarios (EACH-FOR, Contract Number 044468, ). This paper has three purposes. First, the authors explore issues related to how EACH-FOR designed its methodological approach for the first global survey of environmental change and migration. The paper then describes how the project attempted to create a method that would produce comparable results in a challenging context of multiple scientific challenges and trade-offs for research design. The second purpose of this paper is to examine how field researchers implemented and used this methodology in the EACH-FOR project. This paper takes a closer look at the fieldwork approach applied in investigating the 23 EACH-FOR project case studies. These case studies presented diverse local conditions and social contexts and different types of environmental changes. The paper discusses some of the practical considerations and shortcomings of the method in practice and illustrates how local researchers from selected case studies managed the challenges of their complex assignment. The third purpose of this paper is to explore lessons learned from the initial fieldwork experience and fruitful directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the design and study of an adaptive formation—maintaining control of two satellites in low-Earth orbits. The purpose of the control is to maintain a projective circular orbit. It is assumed that one of the spacecraft is not controllable and its ballistic coefficient is unknown. The other spacecraft is controllable, and it is possible to control both its effective cross section area and orbital motion by using a high-thrust engine. Artificial neural networks are used to approximate the control functions and adapt to the uncertain ballistic coefficient of the uncontrolled spacecraft. Implementation, architecture, learning processes, and quality evaluation scheme of the neural networks are described in detail. The procedure for real-time adaptation to an unknown parameter of an uncontrolled vehicle is given. It is shown that the real-time adaptation is possible within an acceptable time interval. The results of the adaptation to two parameters—the ballistic coefficient and the atmospheric density—are also presented. The simulation is performed within the context of the perturbed two-body problem that takes into account the atmospheric drag and the second zonal harmonic effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper used original survey data in Shandong province of China to depict local farmers' perceptions of combined climatic and market risks, and their adaptive behaviors. Two Logit models were developed to capture the empirical relationship between farmers' risk perception of the combined risks and adaptive behaviors. Results show that farmer's risk perception of climate change and market significantly affected their adoption behavior of adaptive measures, including perception of rainfall decrease, gale decrease, drought increase, and price fall of agricultural products. Moreover farmers' adaptive behaviors are more sensitive to their perceptions of extreme climatic events. Addition of demographic factors can improve the explanatory capacity of the Logit model. As illustrated by the models, male and better educated farmers have greater willingness to take actions for averting risks, while household heads with bigger farm are more reluctant. A majority of respondents chose to construct farm structure for irrigation and water conservation to avert climatic risks. Insurance, which is regarded as an effective tool to help farmers mitigate risks and avoid losses, has not been sufficiently accepted by farmers in rural areas in Shandong province. This underscores the need of effective communication of knowledge to enhance farmers' coping capacity and to encourage their active response to risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate variability and change make agricultural sector a risky venture for smallholders' farmers. This paper presents an assessment of smallholder farmers' perceptions of climate variability and change, associated impacts on agricultural sector and the adaptive responses given in Fincha'a sub-basin of the Blue Nile River Basin of Ethiopia. We interviewed 380 head of households selected through systematic random sampling from eight Kebeles, two each from highland, midland, wetland, and lowland agro-ecosystems. Furthermore, focus group discussion and key informant interviews also performed to supplement and substantiate the quantitative data. Descriptive statistics used to summarize quantitative data and χ2 tests used to measure significance. The result revealed that increased temperature, frequency and severity of extreme weather events (drought and flood), and overall change in seasonality of rainfall over the last 20 years is a widely held perception. The associated impacts on agriculture include decline in length of growing period, the decreased and variability of water availability, increased crop damage by insects, pests, disease and weeds. In response, farmers practiced different adaptation measures like modification in crop and livestock production practices, and investment in land and water management activities at household and community level. The study also revealed the presence of multiple barriers that hindered the adoption of adaptation measures. To meet the impending challenges, situate by climate variability and change the adaptation measures implemented until now is not adequate. There is also extrication between farmers' perceptions of climate variability and change, and actual adaptation level. Despite significant number of farmers' perceived changes in temperature (about 93%) and rainfall (about 88%), the number of farmers adopted certain adaptation measures are below average. These necessitate the need for planned interventions to identify and support effective adaptation measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threespine stickleback exhibit a row of superficial neuromasts that project through the bony plates on each side of the trunk and which constitute an important sensory modality for detection of near-field water motion. Previously, we have shown that numbers of neuromasts on each structural plate are highly variable among populations. In the current paper, we expand this study to evaluate the extent of deviation from bilateral symmetry of 4344 fish in 57 natural and three transplant populations of threespine stickleback from lakes, streams and oceanic habitats of coastal British Columbia, predicting that neuromasts would be largely bilaterally symmetrical for optimal detection of external stimuli. In contrast, we found asymmetry in all populations, the greatest amount occurring on the anterior buttressing lateral plates and on populations with the fewest neuromasts. We found no consistent trends of signed (directional) asymmetry (SA) among the populations while relative absolute asymmetry (RAA) is lower in dystrophic (stained) habitats than in clearwater habitats (p < 0.001), except for fish with few neuromasts. Sexual dimorphism in RAA is also greater in dystrophic habitats (p < 0.001). Transplants from stained lakes to unstained ponds resulted in a 0.1% to 14% difference in RAA from the source population in less than 12 generations but varied in direction among experiments. Our data suggest a widespread tendency for populations exposed to reduced photic information to exhibit reduced asymmetry in their lateral line system, which can change rapidly in response to a new environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change can cause significant (un)foreseen changes in the fisheries sector. However, adaptation has the potential to moderate some of the impacts. This paper explores the challenges faced by both freshwater and marine fisheries sector in addressing climate change and teases out intervention measures from 21 African countries. The paper uses document analysis and draws selected analysis parameters from the grounded theory. The data are obtained from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change National Communication reports. Among the key adaptation measures emerging from the analysis are: fish breeding, integrated coastal management, putting in place appropriate policies, water and flood management as well as research and development. The study concludes that adaptation in the African fisheries sector should be prioritised, an aspect that could also apply elsewhere in the world to enhance food security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Least Developed Countries are likely to be hit the hardest by climate change and need focused efforts towards adaptation. Nepal recognizes that it needs to integrate climate change adaptation into various policies, but limited understanding of how to make these policies coherent is among the factors that hinder effective adaptation action. This can lead to wasted resources and lost opportunities. This paper applies concepts from policy coherence for development frameworks and policy content analysis to examine coherence in Nepal’s climate and forest policies—and discusses the factors hindering effective implementation. The policies are analyzed at the horizontal/external level at three layers—motivation, measures, and planned implementation process. The paper finds that policies are more consistent on motivation level and adaptation measures, but are less coherent on implementation. The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) is more explicit in identifying institutions, organizations, roles and responsibilities, resource allocation (financial), and a monitoring and evaluation plan for climate change adaptation while other policies such as Climate Change Policy 2011, National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2020, Forest Policy 2015, and Forest Sector Strategy 2016 have critical gaps in this area. This paper conclude that formulation of a policy, articulating targets, and mobilizing financial resources are in themselves not sufficient to effectively address climate change adaptation. Policy-based legislation is required, together with development of a supportive collaborative multi-stakeholder approach at different levels of governance, backed up by effective, collaborative monitoring and enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel class of systems assisting diagnosis and personalised assessment of diseases in healthcare. The targeted systems are end-to-end deep neural architectures that are designed (trained and tested) and subsequently used as whole systems, accepting raw input data and producing the desired outputs. Such architectures are state-of-the-art in image analysis and computer vision, speech recognition and language processing. Their application in healthcare for prediction and diagnosis purposes can produce high accuracy results and can be combined with medical knowledge to improve effectiveness, adaptation and transparency of decision making. The paper focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson’s, as the development model, by creating a new database and using it for training, evaluating and validating the proposed systems. Experimental results are presented which illustrate the ability of the systems to detect and predict Parkinson’s based on medical imaging information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design of a multi-agent framework that aids engineers in the adaptation of modular production systems. The framework includes general implementations of agents and other software components for self-learning and adaptation, sensor data analysis, system modelling and simulation, as well as human-computer interaction. During an adaptation process, operators make changes to the production system, in order to increase capacity or manufacture a product variant. These changes are automatically captured and evaluated by the framework, building an experience base of adjustments that is then used to infer adaptation knowledge. The architecture of the framework consists of agents divided in two layers: the agents in the lower layer are associated with individual production modules, whereas the agents in the higher layer are associated with the entire production line. Modelling, learning, and adaptations can be performed at both levels, using a semantic model to specify the structure and capabilities of the production system. An evaluation of a prototype implementation has been conducted on an industrial assembly system. The results indicate that the use of the framework in a typical adaptation process provides a significant reduction in time and resources required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although ski tourism in China is experiencing a boom, and the number of operating ski areas has significantly increased, the influence of climate change on the future development of China's ski industry has so far largely been overlooked. This paper addresses this important gap by applying the ski season simulation model SkiSim 2.0 at 116 ski areas. Four main indicators of climate change impact were examined: ski season length, operational ski days in economically important season segments, technically produced snow and snowmaking requirements. For all ski resorts in China and all climate change scenarios, average ski seasons are projected to shorten (− 4 to − 61% RCP 4.5; − 6 to − 79% RCP 8.5 in the 2050s) while snowmaking needs increase (27 to 51% RCP 4.5; 46 to 80% RCP 8.5 in the 2050s). The results indicate that high regional differences in climate change vulnerability exist. The implications for altered competitiveness and development potential of the ski industry in China are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides micro-level evidence of rising inequality in Thailand, using data from an intensive study of seven communities in Northeast and Southern Thailand. This inequality affects participants' material and subjective wellbeing, their aspirations, and the extent to which they feel these are realised. The paper argues that adaptation, expressed as reduced aspirations, could explain why the effect of material poverty on people's satisfaction with their lives is small. The reduction in attainment of aspirations linked to socio-economic status suggests that a small, but constant group of people are being excluded from a shift in the societal consensus over what constitutes a good life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corporate sector is one of the most important contributors to the global emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. According to a representative public opinion survey 34% of Hungarian citizens believe that corporations are responsible for climate change. The business sector is motivated to take an active role in the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. As a result, the last few decades saw a marked increase in corporate measures aiming at the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as other initiatives to tackle climate-related problems which result in numerous social issues. The aim of this paper is to assess whether Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be applied as a tool in agribusiness fostering steps towards the implementation of the climate-oriented and sustainable agriculture in Hungary. The research makes an effort to explore the role and opportunities of the Hungarian agricultural sector in adapting to climate change, it also examines the extent of the mitigation and adaptation activities appearing in the CSR portfolio of the companies and what specific measures are taken to realize them. The results of the evaluation show that climate-oriented CSR activities of the companies are relatively undeveloped, but businesses are working to reduce the impact of climate change on the usage of exercising adaptation strategies. There are several actions that can help to reduce vulnerability to the consequences of climate change in the agriculture sector. The results can support not only companies but other decision-makers decisions in climate-oriented CSR activities in agribusiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evolution has led to a great diversity that ranges from elegant simplicity to ornate complexity. Many complex features are often assumed to be more functional or adaptive than their simpler alternatives. However, in 1999, Arlin Stolzfus published a paper in the Journal of Molecular Evolution that outlined a framework in which complexity can arise through a series of non-adaptive steps. He called this framework Constructive Neutral Evolution (CNE). Despite its two-decade-old roots, many evolutionary biologists still appear to be unaware of this explanatory framework for the origins of complexity. In this perspective piece, we explain the theory of CNE and how it changes the order of events in narratives that describe the evolution of complexity. We also provide an extensive list of cellular features that may have become more complex through CNE. We end by discussing strategies to determine whether complexity arose through neutral or adaptive processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigation and adaptation represent two solutions to the issue of global warming. While mitigation aims at reducing $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ emissions and preventing climate change, adaptation encompasses a broad scope of techniques used to reduce the impacts of climate change once they have occurred. Both have direct costs on a country's gross domestic product, but costs also arise from temperature increases due to inaction. This paper introduces a tipping point in a real options model and analyzes optimal investment choices in mitigation and their timing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]