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Shakespeare's Macbeth has traveled a long way from its original milieu. This paper takes three major 21st-century Indian adaptions of Macbeth as its primary texts. The city of Mumbai in the west in Maqbool, an imaginary coastal Bengal village in the east in Mandaar, and the suburbs of Kerala in Joji in the south of the subcontinent become sites of "creative mistranslations" of the play. In this paper, we take the ambiguity that Shakespeare's witches evoke in the early 17th-century Scottish world as a point of entry and consider how that ambiguity is translated in its 21st-century Indian on-screen adaptations. Cutting across spaciotemporal boundaries, the witches remain a source of utmost significance through their presence/absence in the adaptations discussed. In Maqbool, Shakespeare's heath-hags become male upper-caste law-keepers, representing the tyrannies of state machinery. Mandaar's witches become direct agents of Mandaar's annihilation at the end after occupying a deceptively marginal position in the sleazy world of Gailpur. In an apparent departure, Joji's world is shorn of witches, making him appear as the sole perpetrator of the destruction in a fiercely patriarchal family. A closer reading, however, reveals the ominous presence of some insidious power that defies the control of any individual. The compass that directs Macbeth and its adaptations, from the West to the East, from 1606 to date, is the fatalism that the witches weave, in their seeming absence as well as in their portentous presence. We cannot help but consider them as yardsticks in any tragedy that deals with the age-old dilemma of predestination and free will. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and population growth play crucial roles in the planning of future water resources management strategies. In this paper, a balancing between projected water resources and water demands in the Iraqi Part of the Tigris River Basin (TRB) was evaluated till the year 2080 based on RCPs 2.6, 4.5 and 8.5 and population growth. This paper examined a sustainable adaptation plan of water resources in the TRB considering three scenarios; (S1) as no change in the current strategy, (S2) as improved irrigation efficiency and (S3) as improved irrigation and municipal water use efficiency. The results showed a decline in streamflow will occur in the range from 5 to 18.4% under RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5, respectively. The minimum increase in water demand is expected for RCP 2.6 (maximum increase for RCP 8.5) by 51.8 (208.2), 9.9 (42) and 1.2 (7)% for the municipal–industrial, irrigation and environmental water demands, respectively, compared with the RP. The main finding indicated that S1 is the worst scenario, with water stress in four provinces, especially on the warmest RCP. Whereas, under S2 and S3 conditions, water stress can be eliminated. Increasing ambition towards adaptation becomes obligatory for developing sustainable water sources, supporting water food securities and increasing resilience towards climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early warning systems (EWS) facilitate societies' preparedness and effective response capabilities to climate risks. Climate risks embody hazards, exposure, and vulnerability associated with a particular geographical area. Building an effective EWS requires consideration of the factors above to help people with coping mechanisms. The objective of this paper is to propose an approach that can enhance EWSs and ensure an effective climate risk resilience development. The paper focuses on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and highlights the issues with EWS, identifying weaknesses and characteristics of EWS to help in climate risk adaptation strategies. The SADC region was chosen as the context because it is a climate variability and change hotspot with many vulnerable populations residing in rural communities. Trending themes on building climate risk resilience were uncovered through scientific mapping and network analysis of published articles from 2008 to 2022. This paper contributes to on-going research on building climate risks resilience through early warning systems to identify hidden trends and emerging technologies from articles in order to enhance the operationalization and design of EWS. This review provides insight into technological interventions for assessing climate risks to build preparedness and resilience. From the review analysis, it is determined that there exists a plethora of evidence to support the argument that involving communities in the co-designing of EWS would improve risk knowledge, anticipation, and preparedness. Additionally, Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies provide effective tools to address existing EWS' weaknesses, such as lack of real-time data collection and automation. However, 4IR technology is still at a nascent stage in EWS applications in Africa. Furthermore, policy across societies, institutions, and technology industries ought to be coordinated and integrated to develop a strategy toward implementing climate resilient-based EWS to facilitate the operations of disaster risk managers. The Social, Institutional, and Technology model can potentially increase communities' resilience; therefore, it is recommended to develop EWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sahelian Great Green Wall (SGGW) is an influential project to combat desertification and promote sustainable land management on a large scale, involving 11 countries in the Sahel region of Africa. The UNCCD's 2020 progress report showed a mixed picture concerning the meeting of the initial targets. At the One Planet Summit in 2021, announcements were made to consolidate the implementation of the SGGW, most notably with the creation of the Great Green Wall Accelerator. In this context, our paper sets out to review the scientific work conducted with regard to the SGGW. We have thus carried out a bibliometric analysis of the literature on SGGW. Although the initiative involves 11 countries and covers a large spectrum of scientific disciplines, our results show the predominance of ecological studies in the SGGW literature and a concentration of studies in certain geographies of interest, such as northern Senegal. Moreover, based on a secondary analysis of publications on land restoration and sustainable ecosystem management in Sahelian countries, we show that the literature relevant to SGGW topics is richer and fills in the information gaps we have identified at thematic and geographical levels. By showing that SGGW studies are overly focused on certain topics and geographical areas, our paper argues for a better interdisciplinary mobilization of researchers working on GGW-related topics. The scientific and operational success of the project depends on stronger networking between the different research teams and themes, both in Africa and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nigeria is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change (CC) impact. Thus, there is a need to mitigate emission and implement strategies to adapt to the impacts of CC. This study is a review of publications on CC mitigation and/or adaptation in Nigeria. The aims are as follows: to identify commonly adopted climate change adaptation strategies (CCAS) and their determinants; and to identify the climate change mitigation strategies (CCMS) that are widely deployed to reduce emissions in Nigeria. Relevant keywords were used to search for publications in Scopus and Google Scholar. Our dataset shows that from 1999 to the present, there has been an exponential growth in the number of publications on CCAS and CCMS. In total, 75.2% of the papers were on CCAS, 19.6% were on CCMS and 5.2% combined CCAS and CCMS. Many of the papers on CCMS were on 'Energy' and 'Agriculture'. Other sectors identified from the included studies pertinent to mitigation in Nigeria included 'forestry', 'waste management', 'industry' and others. Most (80.7%) of the CCAS papers were related to 'Agriculture', showing the most important sector where CC-adaptive capacity is required in Nigeria. In all, 45% of the papers on CCAS were on 'Social' adaptation, followed by 'Structural measures' (42%), with the smallest amount being on 'Institutional' measures (13%). The relatively fewer number of papers on institutional CCAS highlights the need for more research. This is because institutional measures which include policies, legal and fiscal support are important to build resilience to climate change impact. The greatest determinant influencing the adoption of CCAS is 'Education'. A higher number of publications on 'Agriculture' for both CCMS and CCAS underscores the importance of the sector and the need to develop its mitigation and adaptive capacity strategies. Our results and findings were also compared and discussed in line with similar works on CCMS and CCAS in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research has raised concerns about how a warming planet will interact with natural cyclical climatic variations, and the implications for the resilience and vulnerability of coastal communities. As the anticipated effects of climate change will continue to intensify, it is necessary to understand the response and adaptive capacity of individuals and communities. Coastal communities in Ecuador have evolved in an environment of such cyclical climatic variations referred to as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and La Niña. These climatic events are frequently characterized by extreme variations in precipitation, violent storms, and coastal flooding during El Niño and lowered sea water temperatures and drought during La Niña. This paper draws on survey data and long-term ethnographic research in Ecuadorian coastal communities to explore how fishers understand the impacts of ENSO and implications for their livelihood decisions and resilience to climate variability. The results suggest that fishers along the coast of Ecuador understand and respond differentially to the impacts of ENSO depending on social, cultural, environmental, and geographical factors. These differential levels of response suggest that livelihood diversification may uphold social resilience, which has implications for how coastal communities may adapt to the increasingly harsh weather conditions predicted by many climate models. Our findings further suggest that the impacts of El Niño are more salient than the impacts of La Niña; these findings have significant implications for fisheries management and science communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic shifts in shorelines due to erosion and deposition have become a significant challenge in coastal zone management, particularly in the context of climate change and rising sea levels. This paper evaluates the shoreline protection and efficiency of various wave-reducing breakwaters in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. The delta exemplifies the coastal erosion issue faced by deltas worldwide. Landsat satellite images were used to establish a coastal development map for the period 2000 to 2022. The wave data in front and behind the breakwaters were analyzed to assess the wave reduction efficiency of various breakwater structures. Our results reveal that coastal erosion is deeply concerning, with almost 40% of the coastline experiencing severe erosion. Hotspot areas have been observed to reach annual erosion rates of nearly 95 m per year. The majority of provinces have adopted protective measures, with 68% of affected shorelines protected to some degree. Our results show breakwaters to be highly effective in reducing wave height, with a 62% reduction in waves reaching the shore. The process of creating offset has taken place in the area from the breakwater back to the mainland, with the rate of increase in compensation also quite fast at up to 3.1 cm/month. The stability of the pile–rock is very high; however, it is necessary to add rock to compensate for the settlement of the rock part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal zones experience increasing climatic and human pressures, which lead to growing risks and tipping points (TPs) under future scenarios and natural resource scarcity. To avoid crossing TPs with irreversible coastal losses, this paper proposes the development of adaptation pathways based on advanced coastal oceanography and engineering knowledge that enables a comprehensive assessment of evolving coastal risks. These pathways feature sequential interventions steered by simulations and observations as a function of available coastal resources (mainly space and sediment) and risks for infrastructure and socioeconomic assets. Such an adaptation has been developed for urban and peri-urban Mediterranean beaches, considering conventional coastal engineering together with nature-based solutions (NbS). Both types of interventions are assessed in terms of key physical variables, which serve to evaluate performance and estimate TPs. This analysis supports the new coastal protection and management plan promoted by the regional government of Catalonia and the coastal adaptation plan of the central government of Spain. The approach and results illustrate the potential of adaptation pathways for beach sustainability, enhancing the compatibility between short-/long-term coastal protection objectives under present/future climate and management scenarios. The development of adaptation pathways underpins increasing stakeholder cooperation to achieve shared decisions for coastal sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change impacts occur at varying spatial scales requiring appropriately scaled responses. In impoverished rural areas, adapting to or mitigating the effects of climate change is challenging, with any short-term impairment to precarious livelihoods likely triggering negative community responses even if people are aware of long-term benefits. The paper will discuss a community-based carbon sequestration project in eastern Iran. It started in 2003 and since then has been expanded widely. It was nominated by UNDP as one of 10 transformative projects in Asia/Pacific in 2016. Over the past 20 years, the project has targeted improving the livelihood of the local communities while addressing local measures to adapt to/mitigate climate change. The paper elaborates on the formation of village development groups as pivotal drivers of success by highlighting local income-generating schemes and project documentation. Key lessons for climate change adaptation can be learnt and are applicable to other developing countries. Extreme poverty in rural areas facing climate change could be tackled through implementing bottom-up approaches in which local communities can be respected and engaged in co-leadership and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the representation of Bly Manor across different adaptations of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw (1898). The focus is on adaptations that emphasize Bly as an intricate space that limits the possibilities of actions that the main characters have. The theory of affordance states that places "afford" different uses of the space. Locked inside a place with uneasily determined affordances and clearly established rules, the main characters of these adaptations experience how different intersections of identities are afforded differently within the stately home. The paper traces the intertextual conversation through adaptations such as Jack Clayton's film The Innocents (1961), the readaptation of James's premise in Ruth Ware's novel The Turn of the Key (2019), before ending with the intertextual and temporal dimensions of haunted space in Mike Flanagan's streaming miniseries The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020). These iterations of the story showcase the voyeuristic elements of Bly as the characters are repeatedly watched by those who have come before them. At the same time, they show the ongoing appeal of James's story as its legacy continues into the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of building a coherent frame for the identification of local environmental urban vulnerabilities, coping with heat waves' increasing threats, and adopting specific adaptation policies in the Emilia-Romagna region. A microclimate model (ENVI-met) was used to simulate temperature regimes in five areas of Bologna, providing ex ante maps enabling us to locate the most vulnerable areas. Adaptation measures were suggested with the support of WMO Guidance 1234 and included recommendations about the introduction of high-albedo building materials and nature-based solutions. The step-by-step methodology developed, coupling local vulnerabilities with adaptation recommendation, integrates a scientific methodology into a political decision. The results, allowing us to widely represent this city's vulnerability, are considered outstanding with respect to supporting the city's adaptation ambitions and are now part of the running Bologna General Urban Plan (PUG), which regulates building interventions, introducing the obligation for enterprises to respect or ameliorate the microclimate in all the areas in which they intervene. This tool can be replicated and adapted to any municipal area, as it integrates authoritative WMO solutions with accurate microclimate assessment, thus providing locally tailored adaptation interventions. This paper aims to support the vision, shared by both science and policy makers, of transforming cities into widely resilient systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maintain a ski resort efficiently, regular inspections of the cableways are essential. However, there are some difficulties in discovering and observing the cable car cableways in the ski resort. This paper proposes a high-precision segmentation and extraction method based on the 3D laser point cloud data collected by airborne lidar to address these problems. In this method, first, an elevation filtering algorithm is used to remove ground points and low-height vegetation, followed by preliminary segmentation of the cableway using the spatial distribution characteristics of the point cloud. The ropeway segmentation and extraction are then completed using the least squares-principal component combination analysis method for parameter fitting. Additionally, we selected three samples of data from the National Alpine Ski Center to be used as test objects. The real value is determined by the number of point clouds manually deducted by CloudCompare. The extraction accuracy is defined as the ratio of the number of point clouds extracted by the algorithm to the number of point clouds manually extracted. While the environmental complexities of the samples differ, the algorithm proposed in this paper is capable of segmenting and extracting cableways with great accuracy, achieving a comprehensive and effective extraction accuracy rate of 90.59%, which is sufficient to meet the project's requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parts of the Mediterranean, including Adriatic Croatia, are becoming more exposed to climate risk. Changes in precipitation, temperature, and the occurrence of extreme weather events are increasingly significant. The paper aimed to identify the level of the perceived risk of climate change on the sample of horticultural farmers in the Adriatic Croatia. Furthermore, the paper aimed to research which risk management strategies are preferable to producers to reduce the impact of climate change on agricultural production. The survey was conducted among horticultural farmers in Adriatic Croatia (Mediterranean). The method used in the paper was cluster analysis, and the farmers' readiness to apply climate risk management strategies was additionally examined using ANOVA and the HSD Tukey test. The main results showed that on the sample of 275 horticultural farmers, 57.81% were climate sceptics. In contrast, the climate aware farmers were more ready to apply measures to adapt production strategies and risk reduction measures in response to a changing climate. Finally, the limitations of the research and future research are discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts a close study of Abe Kobo's novel Woman in the Dunes and its screen adaptation (dir. Teshigahara Hiroshi 1964). Engaging adaptation studies, media studies, and sound studies, this paper moves from the conventional focus on the linear transfer of text from a source to a result, to examine adaptation as a multilevel, multisensory, and multidirectional process of remediation. By mediating documentary cinema and avant-garde tradition, the filmic adaptation, as the paper argues, not only provokes and enhances its literary original, but also illuminates existentialist concerns that gained critical currency in the 1960s. The paper moves on to analyze Takemitsu Toru's score in relation to Teshigahara's surrealist imagery; in doing so, it elucidates the way the film gives the sand a form of human agency alluded to yet not fully realized in Abe's novel. Scrutiny of Abe and Takemitsu's early years in Japan-occupied Manchuria further connects Abe's work to the issue of postcolonial identity while opening Woman in the Dunes to more interpretative possibilities as an I-Novel. Through mediating collective history and personal memory, adaptation opens a dialogic intersubjective horizon where questions of identity and affect intersect in the post-war media environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of categorical and gradient effects in islands, with a focus on English, and argues that most islands are gradient. In some cases, the island is circumvented by the construction type in which the extraction takes place, and there is growing evidence that the critical factor is pragmatic in nature, contrary to classic and categorical accounts of island effects that are favored in generative circles to this day. In other cases, the island effect is malleable and can weaken with increased exposure to the extraction pattern, a phenomenon traditionally referred to as 'syntactic satiation'. However, it is not clear what satiation consists of. Some argue that it is nothing more than task adaptation (mere increased familiarity with the experimental paradigm, impacting difficult sentences more than easy ones), whereas others propose that it consists of a form of error-driven structure-dependent form of learning. The present paper discusses this controversy, and the broader adaptation debate, and argues that both task adaptation and grammatical adaptation are taking place during the processing of complex sentences, and that both frequency and attention are plausible factors to stimulate adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper systematically reviewed the relevant literature to generate evidence and identify knowledge gaps on the gender perspectives of ICT use for agriculture and climate response in West Africa. It was evident from the literature that ICTs continue to form an important part of agricultural operations, climate response and agribusiness in West Africa. TV, radio and mobile phones were the most frequently used ICT platforms for receiving agricultural and climate information. Mobile phones have an added use for sales and financial transactions. There were no distinct gender differences in the use of ICTs for agriculture and climate response. However, women's low income and limitations in controlling household financial responses were identified as significant barriers to ICT access. It was evident that ICTs may contribute to achieving gender outcomes in agriculture and climate response if an enabling environment is created for women to have access to the inputs and resources needed to implement agro-advisories. From the results obtained, there are clear indications that the gender perspectives of ICT use in agriculture and climate response has not received much research attention. The analyses identified important knowledge gaps on gender disaggregated information on the linkages among ICT use, agricultural productivity and climate adaptation indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing reconstruction is considered the backbone of disaster recovery. The increasing losses in housing due to disasters challenge conventional top-down schemes and call for people-centred approaches to acknowledge their agency and self-recovery resources. This paper examines the pathways for housing self-recovery through resident-controlled incremental housing development. This paper focuses on the Villa Verde settlement built in the Chilean city of Constitución, which was severely impacted by the 2010 Chile Earthquake. Villa Verde, designed by the Chilean architecture studio Elemental, is one of the most notable incremental housing projects worldwide that encourage residents to extend their houses within a provided structural framework. This research aims to provide clarity in the much-needed understanding of disaster-affected people's agency to self-recover, noted by researchers as one of the crucial elements for improving the humanitarian response in the aftermath of disasters. Through capturing the evolution of incremental housing construction, this paper presents multiple complexities resulting from the variety of households' characteristics and needs in their process of post-disaster housing self-recovery. The resident-controlled process studied evidence that the people's capacities and dedication to self-recover challenged the established housing framework with extensions beyond the designers' parameters requiring further evaluation of the long-term implications of self-help constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation (CCA) evolved in the global policy framework in the early 1990s. However, it began to flourish about a decade later through a subsequent development of institutions, policies and supporting financial mechanisms. Various adaptation approaches and development practices have been evolving over the last couple of decades through a process of scrutiny, debates, and critiques. One such recent approach is called conflict-sensitive adaptation, which encompasses concepts to understand potential conflict-inflicting elements and peacebuilding aspects of adaptation interventions. This paper examines 35 peer-reviewed research articles that have analysed field data with the notion of conceptualising conflict-sensitive CCA initiatives. Emerging key results were presented and discussed in different academic forums to stimulate peer reflections and debates. We found that the understanding of conflict-sensitive adaptation has its universality in engaging with diverse stakeholders. However, practicalities were different in the cases of the global north and the global south. In the global south, there is a concentration of research in areas of pre-existing conflict in Africa and Asia, where climate change links are often assumed from IPCC reports in order to compensate for the unavailability of field data. However, from the perspective of adaptation politics and governance, there is a concerted urge for the emancipatory participation of local and marginalised populations. We argue for a need to pretest adaptation projects through a conflict lens. Decolonising the adaptation and understanding of local geography is critical in such planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Personal emotions and affects have been identified and studied in the context of pandemics, as well as coping strategies centered on emotional regulation or the balance between positive and negative emotions. Objectives: The objectives of this paper are to identify an emotion and affect structure in our sample and analyze the relationship of these dimensions with resilient coping in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This study employed a cross-sectional design that involved a non-probabilistic sample with 598 participants over the age of 18, with 51.1% being female, and an average age of 40.73 years. First, the emotional structure was identified through principal component analysis (PCA). Secondly, a linear regression analysis was performed to investigate emotional dimensions as predictors of coping. Results: A valid and reliable emotional structure with four dimensions was identified. The regression model revealed that coping is positively associated with the active and positive dimension and negatively correlated with the negative and moral dimensions. Conclusions: Emotional dimensions are predictors of coping, with moral and negative dimensions having a negative effect, while active and positive dimensions have a positive effect. When designing interventions for coping strategies, multiple dimensions of emotions and affective states in people who are in vulnerable situations must be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, climate change remains one of the most pressing challenges, and it is also an obstacle to the fundamental achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The purpose of the study was to examine the determinants of small-scale farmers' participation in social capital networks to enhance adoption of climate change adaptation strategies. Multistage and purposive sampling were used to carry out the study. A cross-sectional research design was used to carry out the study and structured questionnaires were used as a data collection tool. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Binary Logit model, and the Ordered Logit model. The findings of the study show that gender, household size, age, marital status, education, and employment status affect a farmer's participation in social capital networks. The results also show that household size, employment status, and income level affect the extent of participation in social networks. As the paper is the first to look at the determinants of the participation of farmers in social capital networks in Eastern Cape, the results are of paramount importance to policy formulators in order to formulate policies that will encourage farmers to join localized farmer-based social capital networks to adopt climate change adaption measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ports are vital in the global trading system but are also vulnerable to climate-related threats. This problem has not been widely studied, especially in Egypt. However, there is an urgent need to address climate-related threats to Egyptian ports, which could have significant economic and trade-related consequences. Therefore, exploring the Egyptian port administrations' and stakeholders' perceptions regarding climatic hazards is an urgent and essential matter for sustainable and resilient ports, considering their strategic economic importance. Consequently, this article is the first to examine how the port authorities perceive and respond to climate hazards in one of the most important and largest commercial Egyptian ports; it also explores their adaptation strategies and plans, considering the national agenda to develop the coastal ports respecting the sustainable development pillars, and fills the gaps in regional and national studies on seaports and climatic hazards. The paper focuses on the Great Alexandria Port, which includes the Alexandria and El-Dekheila ports. A questionnaire is designed and distributed in different port sectors for gathering relevant data and conducting interviews, discussions, and workshops. The findings declare obvious concern about developing the Egyptian ports under the national projects umbrella. Also, the port authorities are aware of the risks of climate change and believe some adaptation measures are necessary and could be essential soon. They are taking steps to adapt their ports, considering a specific strategy that includes rehabilitating infrastructure (breakwater and berths), functional facilities, and services, improving drainage systems to enhance their port's resilience, and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Our research findings suggest that there are opportunities for scientists to engage with the port stakeholders to proactively develop plans to alleviate climate change's effects on their ports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community risk and resilience to high-latitude wildfires has received limited conceptual attention, with a comprehensive, integrated framework that unpacks the complex human–fire–climate relationship in high-latitude environments largely missing. In this paper, we use insights from both the climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction literature to build a conceptual framework to understand the factors and dynamics of risk and resilience to wildfires at the community level in high-latitude regions. Using an illustrative case study, the framework demonstrates how unique social and ecological features of high-latitude communities elevate their risk of wildfires and emphasizes the need to think holistically about the different spatial–temporal interactions and interdependencies between fire, humans, and climate in these regions. We find that remoteness, indigeneity, subsistence-based activities, and colonial practices, along with accelerated climate warming, are notable features influencing community risk and resilience to wildfires in high-latitude regions. This framework can help unravel the complex nature of wildfires, guide stakeholders through each phase of the disaster process, and facilitate the development and design of wildfire-related policies and strategies in high-latitude regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a product of the Anthropocene, and the human–nature system in which we live. Effective climate change adaptation requires that we acknowledge this complexity. Theoretical literature on sustainability transitions has highlighted this and called for deeper acknowledgment of systems complexity in our research practices. Are we heeding these calls for 'systems' research? We used hydrohazards (floods and droughts) as an example research area to explore this question. We first distilled existing challenges for complex human–nature systems into six central concepts: Uncertainty, multiple spatial scales, multiple time scales, multimethod approaches, human–nature dimensions, and interactions. We then performed a systematic assessment of 737 articles to examine patterns in what methods are used and how these cover the complexity concepts. In general, results showed that many papers do not reference any of the complexity concepts, and no existing approach addresses all six. We used the detailed results to guide advancement from theoretical calls for action to specific next steps. Future research priorities include the development of methods for consideration of multiple hazards; for the study of interactions, particularly in linking the short- to medium-term time scales; to reduce data-intensivity; and to better integrate bottom–up and top–down approaches in a way that connects local context with higher-level decision-making. Overall this paper serves to build a shared conceptualisation of human–nature system complexity, map current practice, and navigate a complexity-smart trajectory for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has drawn the attention not only of scientists but of politicians and societies worldwide. The aim of this paper is to present a method for selecting research studies on climate change, waste management and the role of microbes in the recycling of organic matter in soil that analyze the role of organic agriculture as the main connection between agricultural losses and climate change. VOSviewer version 1.6.18 free software tool was used in this study in order to achieve the bibliometric and mapping approach for studies on the effects of climate change in terms of soil recycled organic matter and microbe interaction. Scopus database (accessed 29 September 2022) indexed a total of 1,245,809 bibliographic items classified into paradigms. The presented documents were downloaded from Scopus as graph-based maps and as distance-based maps in order to reflect the strength of the relation between the items. Climate change includes changes in soil and soil microorganisms as affected by natural climate variations and local weather, which have beneficial or negative effects on soil organic matter. From the examination of the selected papers, it was concluded that climate change and changing precipitation patterns are having an impact on microorganisms, particularly bacterial groups, and thus ecosystem function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the specific "authoritarian" type of adaptive governance of urban regeneration using the example of Guangzhou city as the frontier of China's reforms. As opposed to the "democratic" type of adaptive governance with its bottom-up policy initiations, community autonomy, polycentric power, participation in decision making, and self-organized policy actors, adaptive governance in Guangzhou is based on top-down decision making and implementation of public authorities' solutions with the high role of political considerations. By analyzing data collected from policy documents, interviews, secondary data, and participative observations, this paper reveals three phases of urban regeneration in Guangzhou between 2009 and 2019: two of them based on "Three Old Redevelopment" policy implementation and the third one based on the local micro-regeneration initiative. Tradeoffs among urban regeneration, land leasing income and micro-regeneration are the key means of policy adaptation which differ from the described phases. Methodologically, the paper does not limit itself by answering only the traditional research questions in regeneration studies of "what" has changed and "why" these changes have happened. Instead, the main focus includes "how" such changes have occurred, which is less researched in the literature. Social–political mechanisms, including limited check-and-balance, selective feedback, and the social learning capacity of the local state, are crucial governance factors to enable adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides results on the tribological behavior of experimental Al–Sn–Pb–Si–Cu–Mg–Zn aluminum alloys and describes the adaptation phenomena that reduce wear intensity during friction with steel. The main focus is on tribofilm formation, which plays an important role in friction energy dissipation. The alloys were tested in a rig imitating a journal-bearing shaft couple, and the friction surfaces were studied by the scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopytechniques. Based on the analysis, a conclusion on processes and tribochemical reactions was made. Compared to the initial state, eight new compounds were found on the friction surface. In the most wear-resistant alloy, magnesium precipitated from a solid solution with the subsequent oxidation. The same process was detected for zinc in the least wear-resistant alloy due to its low magnesium content. Furthermore, CuSn3 and PbS compounds, which require >600 °C temperature to compose, were found in tribofilms, indicating that the rubbing body lost thermodynamic equilibrium during friction. The revealed processes are non-spontaneous and decrease the wear intensity of the alloys, as they are accompanied by negative entropy production and dissipation of friction energy. Stepwise depth XPS analysis also showed the functional levels of the tribofilms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spreading digitalization, flexibility, and autonomy of technological processes in cyber-physical systems entails high security risks corresponding to negative consequences of the destructive actions of adversaries. The paper proposes a comprehensive technique that represents a distributed functional cyber-physical system's infrastructure as graphs: a functional dependencies graph and a potential attacks graph. Graph-based representation allows us to provide dynamic detection of the multiple compromised nodes in the functional infrastructure and adapt it to rolling intrusions. The experimental modeling with the proposed technique has demonstrated its effectiveness in the use cases of advanced persistent threats and ransomware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About 10% of angiosperms, an estimated 20,000 species, produce latex from ubiquitous isoprene precursors. Latex, an aqueous suspension of rubber particles and other compounds, functions as an antifeedant and herbivory deterrent. It is soluble in neutral to alkaline pH, and coagulates in acidic environments. Here, I propose that foregut-fermenting herbivores such as ruminants, kangaroos, sloths, insect larvae, and tadpoles have adapted to latex in forage with the evolution of alkaline anterior digestive chamber(s). However, they consequently become susceptible to the action of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) δ-endotoxin and related bioinsecticides which are activated in alkaline environments. By contrast, hindgut-fermenting herbivores, such as horses and rabbits, have acidic anterior digestive chambers, in which latex coagulates and may cause gut blockage, but in which Bt is not activated. The latex-adapted foregut herbivore vs. latex-maladapted hindgut herbivore hypothesis developed in this paper has implications for hindgut-fermenting livestock and zoo animals which may be provided with latex-containing forage that is detrimental to their gut health. Further, ruminants and herbivorous tadpoles with alkaline anterior chambers are at risk of damage by the supposedly "environmentally friendly" Bt bioinsecticide, which is widely disseminated or engineered into crops which may enter animal feed streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change poses immense challenges for food security in most developing countries. The extent to which residents are able to reduce their impact on food resources and adapt to climate change will have implications for their livelihoods. Although climate change research has explored adaptation strategies to mitigate the negative effects on food security, empirical work on how climate change affects rural household food security in South Africa has been limited. This paper examines not only how climate change affects food security, but also residential challenges in combating climate change and food security. This paper focused on the Somkhele rural community located in the uMkhanyakude District Municipality of Northern KwaZulu-Natal, an area affected by water scarcity induced by climate change. A questionnaire was used to ascertain the views of 424 households on the impacts of climate variability on food security and the coping mechanisms and challenges involved in secure livelihoods. The results indicate that climate change has affected agricultural productivity and the use of water in households, especially since 2015. Food security is shaped by unemployment and a lack of financial capital. The local government did not assist with the required infrastructure to obtain water. Good governance and reflexive approaches are required to take into account household livelihood strategies and indigenous knowledge systems to ensure that support against the impacts of climate change is relevant [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea (Camellia sinensis L.), as one of the most important cash crops in China, plays an important role in increasing farmers' incomes and guaranteeing a high quality of life. Tea production has been greatly influenced by both climate change and economic development in China. However, without a scientific understanding of the interaction mechanism of climate change and the impetus from rapid economic development on tea production practices in China, it is difficult to take adaptive actions to meet the climate change challenges for the tea industry. In this paper, we firstly assessed the potential impacts of climate change on tea climate suitability by empirical formula calculation using meteorological data; then, the effects from the additional climatic stress due to warming on tea production were detected with the annual statistical tea yield record on a municipal level. The contribution of socioeconomic development to the tea industry was evaluated with the comparison of the movement of China's national economy's and tea industry's gravity center during the period of 1987–2017. Finally, a conceptual adaptation framework was built to demonstrate the interaction mechanisms between climate change, tea production, and the economic development. The results showed that there was a negative impact of climate change on tea production in mainland China, with the percentage of high tea climate suitability (>0.9) areas dropping by 45% to 32%, while opportunities of enlarging the tea cultivating area emerged in the north tea production region where the tea climate suitability increased. We found that the tea planting area expanded northwards from 33° N in 1987 to 35° N in 2017 to take advantage of the favorable climatic resources due to warming, and tea planting decreased at an altitude of 100–400 m while increasing to higher altitude of 400–2000 m to avoid hot temperature damage and seek the optimum environment in high mountainous areas for tea production. In addition, the tea production moved westward along the longitude, decreasing obviously at 117–121° E while increasing significantly at 98–104° E and 107–110° E. Meanwhile, the tea production gravity center showed a westward movement consistent with the national economic gravity center moving trend, which means that tea industry development was driven by multiple socioeconomic factors and climatic forcings. A conceptual framework was built in this paper, aiming to show a robust adaptation mechanism for the tea system to maximize the benefits and minimize the damages from the altered climatic resources under rapid economic development in mainland China. The results in this study would help deepen the understanding of the adaptation process and practices for tea production in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has been conducted to identify vulnerabilities and effects of climate change on women in 12 unions in Shyamnagar upazila in the Satkhira district in the Southwestern Coastal Region of Bangladesh (SWCRB). Climate vulnerability and gender inequality may increase due to climate change. Women may, thus, face specific conditions of vulnerability in society and daily livelihood. This paper focuses on investigating factors that influence women's vulnerability from climate change, their adaptations, and the importance of women empowerment to reduce their inequality in SWCRB. This study also emphasizes gender inequality caused by climate change, and looks at accommodations for women to reduce hostile influences of climate change. From the 9 unions in SWCRB, a total of 320 household respondents were randomly selected to complete a questionnaire. The results of the statistical analysis showed that most of the survey's perimeter has significant. Interviews, case studies, focus group discussions, workshops, and key informant interviews were also conducted from 12 unions, and it was found that climate change impacts men and women differently, with women being more vulnerable than men. Through case study this paper investigated the main factors influencing the vulnerability of women. In terms of empowerment women may also be well positioned to lead adaptation efforts alongside men, as this analysis represent that gender inequalities are leading by social norms. Women being more vulnerable both in short-term i.e., major natural disasters, cyclones, flood, and long-term i.e., sea level rise, salinity intrusion in water and soil, land erosion, droughts, climatic events, as they enhance gender inequalities. Further, gender inequality is seen in illiteracy, food shortages and poor health conditions, traditional norms, religious taboos, and patriarchy. Moreover, gender-based economic opportunities, women's mobility, and income are changing, while household authority relations and gender-based socio-economic, cultural, and institutional constraints remain. This study examines the increased vulnerability of women in SWCRB to climate change, which can be mitigated through women empowerment; female involvement with environmentally friendly stoves, rural electrification and renewable energy development, microfinancing, and nakshikantha. (Nakshikantha is a special type of sewing art that is made by creating designs with different types of colored threads on plain stitches). Lastly, women may also lead adaptation efforts alongside men, make decisions, and promote their participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is predicted to have severe impacts on coastal communities, including sea level rise, flooding, and coastal erosion, and is expected to reshape many coastlines. One further, and often overlooked, consequence of the climate crisis is the threat posed to cultural heritage sites in the coastal zone. The threat to coastal cultural heritage (CCH) will inevitably impact both tangible (physical and material) and intangible (socio-cultural) components of cultural, historical, and archaeological character along frontline coastal communities. This poses substantial sustainability challenges for stakeholders and decision-makers for the management of cultural heritage assets and for management practices to respond to increasing threats from climate change. This paper uses five illustrative examples based on maximum variation principles to evaluate different strategies (or 'steering' processes) for managing coastal heritage resources in the context of climate change. These include the traditional 'preservationist' perspective and trajectories based on discontinuity or transformation. We examine these issues with reference to five post-European heritage assets located along the East Coast of the USA. While a consideration of steering processes is important, we argue that it is necessary to also embrace the policies and strategies for adapting to and mitigating the impacts of climate change through which processes of managing CCH unfold. Adopting such a perspective can lead to more nuanced approaches for understanding how CCH can respond to the challenges of a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attention to sustainability transformations and related processes of learning, innovation, and adaptation has inspired a growing interest in theories that help to grasp the processes of change in governance. This perspective paper and the Special Issue of which it is part explore how evolutionary perspectives on environmental governance can enrich our understanding of the possibilities and limits of environmental policy and planning. The aim of this paper is to highlight some key notions for an evolutionary understanding of governance theory and to show how such an evolutionary perspective can help to develop a more integrated perspective on environmental governance in which the temporal dimension and the effects of steering attempts play a pivotal role. It is argued that the effects of environmental governance on the material environment, community, and governance itself must be considered in their interrelation. Such insight in couplings and co-evolutions can be of great value in the everyday practice of environmental policy and governance and even more so when attempting to transform the governance system towards more ambitious and coordinated goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban areas continue to be the center of action for many countries due to their contribution to economic development. Many urban areas, through the urbanization process, have become vulnerable to climate risk, thereby making risk mitigation and adaptation essential components in urban planning. The study assessed the impacts of IPCC Assessment Reports (ARs) on academic research on risk mitigation and adaptation concerns in urban areas. The study systematically reviewed literature through searches of the Web of Science and Scopus databases; 852 papers were retrieved and 370 were deemed eligible. The results showed that the East Asia and Pacific, and Europe and Central Asia regions were most interested in IPCC ARs, while Sub-Saharan Africa showed little interest. Several urban concerns, including socio-economic, air quality, extreme temperature, sea level rise/flooding, health, and water supply/drought, were identified. Additionally, studies on negative health outcomes due to extreme temperatures and air pollution did not appear in the first four IPCC ARs. However, significant studies appeared after the launch of the AR5. Here, we must state that climate-related problems of urbanization were known and discussed in scientific papers well before the formation of the IPCC. For instance, the works of Clarke on urban structure and heat mortality and Oke on climatic impacts of urbanization. Though the IPCC ARs show impact, their emphasis on combined mitigation and adaptation policies is limited. This study advocates more combined risk mitigation and adaptation policies in urban areas for increased resilience to climate risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the dominant 'vulnerability narrative' applied to studies of gender, age, and other intersectional characteristics in determining differentiated impacts of climate change, there is growing attention to the agency and voices of young people in the context of their development futures in a changing climate. This paper draws on Feminist Participatory Action Research undertaken by adolescent girls in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Centred on access to education, the findings prompt a reframing of youth agency and empowerment beyond instrumental concerns to integrate intrinsic factors that include self-fulfilment, recognition from others, status, and self-resilience. The research demonstrates how young people's enquiry can help to surface the underlying structures of inequality shaping both their gendered experience of climate change and the response options available. Tackling structural issues may be beyond the conventional scope of climate change projects and policy, but gender and youth concerns require more than incremental changes. Rather, harnessing opportunities from low-carbon and climate-resilient futures requires understanding and tackling structural drivers of gender inequality that influence development opportunities for young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing consumption patterns, new packaging materials, innovative waste processing, and recycling technologies, but also unforeseen events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, in the presence of the climate crisis and ecological degradation, necessitate the development of flexible and adaptive municipal waste management infrastructure and processes governed by equally flexible and adaptive organisations. In this regard, this paper presents the design process for such an organisation based on the Viable System Model (VSM). The VSM is a systems approach for the methodological diagnosis and design of organisations that can adapt to, and survive, changes in the environment that they are part of. Through a reference case of a large municipality in Greece, we demonstrate how the VSM and the related VIPLAN methodology can be used for the methodological development of flexible and adaptive municipal waste management systems (MWMS) for governing organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is now one of the most formidable threats to the livelihoods of resource-poor communities in low-income developing countries world-wide. Addressing this challenge continues to be undermined by the conspicuous absence of actionable adaptation strategies that are potentially capable of enhancing our capacities to realize the Millennial Sustainable Development Goals that seek to securitize access to adequate food supplies for everybody. This paper attempts to address this limitation by providing an improvised geostatistical methodology that integrates multi-source data to map the adaptive capacities of vulnerable communities in a selected South African local municipality, whose livelihoods are largely dependent on rain-fed agriculture. The development of this methodology was based on the use scripts that were compiled in Python and used to test-try its usefulness through a case-study-based assessment of the climate-change-adaptive capacities of local communities in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality (RMLM), Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. A Bayesian maximum entropy framework-based technique was used to overcome the lack of missing soil moisture data, which we included because of its reliable usefulness as a surrogate indicator of climate-change-driven variations in this variable on the sustainability of rain-fed agriculture. Analysis of the results from a sampling universe of 124 communities revealed that 65 and 56 of them had high and medium adaptive capacities, respectively, with the remaining 3 having low adaptive capacities. This finding indicates that more than half of the communities in the municipality's communities have limited capabilities to cope with climate change's impacts on their livelihoods. Although our proposed methodology is premised on findings from a case-study-based investigation, it is still extremely useful because it demonstratively shows that there is tremendous scope for the scientific community to provide objectively informed insights that can be used to enhance the adaptive capacities of those in need of the badly needed but difficult-to-access information. Added to this is the fact that our proposed methodology is not only applicable for use under different environmental settings but also capable of allowing us to cost-effectively tap into the rich, wide-ranging, freely accessible datasets at our disposal. The aim of this submission is to show that although we have the information, we need to address these persevering challenges by exploring innovative approaches to translate the knowledge we have into actionable climate-change-adaptation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As several researches indicate, since the 1950s one observed unprecedented warming of the atmosphere and oceans, resulting from greenhouse gas emissions and changes in land use and occupation, leading to sea level rise and impacts on coastal areas. In the municipality of Niterói—Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where a large urban concentration in coastal areas is observed, a Climate Change Adaptation System was developed, through which mitigation and adaptation strategies are combined, in order to: reduce vulnerabilities; avoid losses and damages; build instruments to allow adaptation of natural, human, productive and infrastructure systems. In this context, this paper aims to measure possible impacts, in the biophysical and socioeconomic spheres, resulting from an eventual 0.50 m rise in mean sea level, which represents an optimistic scenario according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In contrast to similar studies, this work also considered daily and occasional water level variations, represented by the highest astronomical tide and the highest storm surge observed in the studied region. The following data were applied: digital elevation model, 2010 population census data, and real estate information. With the altimetry data, by means of GIS, the census sectors inserted in the affected areas were selected, to obtain data regarding population, number of households, and income. Specialized websites were applied to collect average property values. The simulations revealed that approximately 2950 households and more than 9000 residents could be directly affected, with losses that could exceed R$ 3.60 billion. The Oceanic Region is configured as the most exposed region, susceptible to losses of several ecosystems, economic losses in residential areas and possible destruction of urban infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are the main natural disaster in Poland, and the risk of both fluvial and pluvial floods is serious in the country. Pluvial floods are on the rise in the changing climate, particularly in increasingly sealed urbanized areas. In this paper, we examine the changes in flood risk in Poland, discussing the mechanisms, observations, projections and variability. Next, we discuss flood risk management in the country, including specific issues related to urban and rural areas and the synergies between flood and drought risk reduction measures. We identify and assess the weaknesses of the existing flood risk management plans in Poland for the first planning period 2016–2021 and for the second planning period 2022–2027. We find the level of implementation of plans in the former period to be very low. Many planned measures do not have much to do with flood risk reduction but are often linked to other objectives, such as inland navigation. The plans contain numerous small measures, which come across as inapt and economically ineffective solutions. We specify policy-relevant recommendations for necessary and urgent actions, which, if undertaken, could considerably reduce flood risk. We also sketch the way ahead for flood risk management in Poland within the timeframe of the implementation of plans for 2022–2027 and the next regular update of plans for 2028–2033. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

eHealth services require continuous data streaming and a stable level of quality of service. However, wireless network connections can be characterized by variable bandwidths. This requires continuous adaptation of systems, including adapting the bit rates of data streamed by sensors. Assigning appropriate rates to the data represents a main task in congestion control. Most of the current methods look for proper sensor data rates within continuous domains. We examine the case when sensors can generate data streams with several different qualities (e.g., sampling rates, sampling accuracies, etc.). For this reason, the domain of the data rate values can be restricted to the discrete values representing the data rates of the possible quality variations. This paper examines the optimization of the utility of the delivered data under resource constraints by selecting an appropriate variation of the provided data from a discrete set. We provide a formal model for delivering data streams in WBANs and recommend an optimization algorithm to solve the problem. Our recommended solutions are related to the multiple-choice multidimensional knapsack problem. By comparing the proposed algorithms, we found that the greedy method closely approximates the optimum in a short running time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transposable elements constitute one of the main components of eukaryotic genomes. In vertebrates, they differ in content, typology, and family diversity and played a crucial role in the evolution of this taxon. However, due to their transposition ability, TEs can be responsible for genome instability, and thus silencing mechanisms were evolved to allow the coexistence between TEs and eukaryotic host-coding genes. Several papers are highlighting in TEs the presence of regulatory elements involved in regulating nearby genes in a tissue-specific fashion. This suggests that TEs are not sequences merely to silence; rather, they can be domesticated for the regulation of host-coding gene expression, permitting species adaptation and resilience as well as ensuring human health. This review presents the main silencing mechanisms acting in vertebrates and the importance of exploiting these mechanisms for TE control to rewire gene expression networks, challenging the general view of TEs as threatening elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptation is crucial for addressing current and future climate change challenges in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and climate finance instruments, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) can play a key role in increasing their adaptive capacity and supporting the integration of adaptation into policy and programmes. Few studies have analysed the linkages between climate finance, adaptation mainstreaming, and institutional adaptive capacity; however, assessments of the impacts of climate finance on adaptation and adaptive capacity, particularly at the institutional level, are still limited. This research assesses how climate finance may promote institutional change through the mainstreaming of adaptation policies at the national level, and may contribute to more institutional adaptive capacity. Through reviewing the documentation of approved Green Climate Fund Readiness Preparatory Support Grants, and through semi-structured interviews focusing on three Caribbean SIDS (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, and Haiti), this paper shows that the grants had a positive impact on several processes, though sometimes limited by the strength and role of the institutions in place. These results demonstrate that access to climate finance can create a window of opportunity for countries to accelerate institutional change and adaptation integration. However, further studies are needed to examine the complementary influence of the different climate finance flows (multilateral or bilateral), and their interplay with national institutional mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inclusion, equality, and well-being for all, especially for people with special needs and disabilities, is globally recognized as a priority. At the same time, there is an urgent need to create digital training environments for people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Virtual reality (VR) and gaming technologies have entered the race at full speed for skills training. Despite significant research on each of these technologies, there is still limited knowledge about the effectiveness of virtual reality games (VRGs) in targeted groups such as those with SEND. Thus, the current systematic review paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of gaming in virtual reality as an intervention strategy for meta-skills training among people with neurodevelopmental, cognitive disorders, and learning difficulties. The PRISMA 2020 methodology was used to respond to the objective and research questions. This study also emphasizes the mediating role of motivations, metacognition, and emotional intelligence as important assets for meta-skills development. The database search generated 1100 records, and 26 studies met the inclusion criteria. This study concludes that VRGs have the potential to support people with SEND in terms of raising motivation and developing metacognitive skills, as well as in developing the emotional intelligence skills needed for inclusion, accomplishment, an independent life, and personal well-being. As was observed, VRGs provided the subjects with positive experiences, allowing them to internalize motivations and—with less effort—develop self-motivated, self-regulated, and flexible behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the UN recognizes the right of individuals "to take risks and make mistakes", there are reasons to question whether this right can be universal. In the context of a changing climate, it is imperative that individuals have access to a safe and sustainable environment; yet we must ask if this covenant is broken if people choose to place themselves in harm's way. In its first part, this paper explores outcomes of climate change denial, manifested as continued migration to dangerous locations, and skepticism for adaptive strategies. The second half of the paper explores how localities can create a false narrative concerning risks, and asks whether communities also have a right to make mistakes? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to grow persistently since 1750. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force in 1994 to stabilize GHG emissions. Since then, the increasingly harmful impacts of global climate change and repeated scientific warnings about future risks have not been enough to change the emissions trend and enforce policy actions. This paper synthesizes the climate change challenges and the insofar insufficient mitigation responses via an integrated literature review. The fossil industry, mainstream economic thinking, national rather than international interests, and political strive for short-term interests present key barriers to climate mitigation. A continuation of such trends is reflected in the Dice model, leading to a 3.5 °C temperature increase by 2100. Despite receiving the Nobel Prize for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis via the Dice model, increases in global mean temperatures overshooting the 1.5 °C to 2 °C Paris targets imply an intensified disruption in the human–climate system. Past and present policy delays and climate disruption pave the way for solar radiation management (SRM) geoengineering solutions with largely unknown and potentially dangerous side effects. This paper argues against SRM geoengineering and evaluates critical mitigation solutions leading to a decrease in global temperatures without overshooting the Paris targets. The essential drivers and barriers are discussed through a unified approach to tipping points in the human–climate system. The scientific literature presents many economically and technologically viable solutions and the policy and measures required to implement them. The present paper identifies the main barriers to integrating them in a globally cooperative way, presenting an efficient, long-term, and ethical policy approach to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's energy transition strategy highlights the significance of developing innovative energy models to encourage the utilization of renewable energy sources in urban areas. Utilizing local urban biomasses, including food waste, sewage, and green waste, can contribute to the establishment of energy systems that harness bio-waste for energy generation, thereby promoting circular economy principles and urban metabolisms. This paper proposes using a pre-design tool (based on soft computing approaches) that incorporates an initial analysis of the multidisciplinary feasibility of such systems as an effective strategy and valuable support for preliminary studies. It focuses on validating three "biomass ratio" parameters, integrating urban morphology and district characteristics with the amount of bio-waste in a peri-urban district comprising multifamily buildings. These parameters can be incorporated into a pre-design tool that facilitates multi-criteria decision analyses, aiding the design of innovative models that promote renewable energy sources in urban areas. The findings suggest that synthetic parameters can guide initial considerations, but they may overestimate the energy potential and should be further investigated. Hence, future research should explore complementary strategies for estimating biomass energy potential and extend the application of this methodology to other types of districts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the reality of unprecedented climate change, which has negatively impacted and continues to impact societies and economies, exploring the collective efficacy (CE)-)–adaptation nexus is urgent. Against this backdrop, the current contribution systematically reviews the literature on CE and adaptation by utilising the reporting standards for systematic evidence syntheses (RoSES). The aim is to establish the state of knowledge on the association between CE and adaptation to climate change and its variability globally. The appraisal of eight articles that satisfied the inclusion criteria demonstrates the limited and geographically skewed distribution of publications on the CE–adaptation nexus. CE has not been extensively operationalized in parts of the highly vulnerable African continent. CE and adaptation research in African countries is imperative considering their collectivistic culture, high vulnerability, and low adaptive capacity. Evidence on the positive association between CE and adaptation to climate change and climate-related hazards has been accrued. This is the context within which this paper advances the need for increased research across socio-cultural contexts to advance knowledge on the CE–adaptation nexus and facilitate effective and sustainable adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the effect of prolonged trophic acclimation on the subsequent growth of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii batch cultures was studied. The mixotrophic (light + acetate) acclimation stimulated subsequent growth at both mixotrophy and autotrophy conditions and altered the expression profile of genes encoding enzymes of primary metabolism and plastid transporters. Besides the trophic effect, the influence of Chlamydomonas culture growth stage on gene expression was determined. Under mixotrophic conditions, this effect was most pronounced in the first half of the exponential growth with partial retention of the previous acclimation period traits. The autotrophy acclimation effect was more complex and its significance was enhanced at the end of the growth and in the stationary phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-cyber-physical systems (SCPSs) have emerged as networked heterogeneous systems that incorporate social components (e.g., business processes and social networks) along with physical (e.g., Internet-of-Things devices) and software components. Model-driven techniques for building SCPSs need actor and goal models to capture social concerns, whereas system issues are often addressed with the Systems Modeling Language (SysML). Comprehensive traceability between these types of models is essential to support consistency and completeness checks, change management, and impact analysis. However, traceability management between these complementary views is not well supported across SysML tools, particularly when models evolve because SysML does not provide sophisticated out-of-the-box goal modeling capabilities. In our previous work, we proposed a model-based framework, called CGS4Adaptation, that supports basic traceability by importing goal and SysML models into a leading third-party requirement-management system, namely IBM Rational DOORS. In this paper, we present the framework's traceability management method and its use for automated consistency and completeness checks. Traceability management also includes implicit link detection, thereby, improving the quality of traceability links while better aligning designs with requirements. The method is evaluated using an adaptive SCPS case study involving an IoT-based smart home. The results suggest that the tool-supported method is effective and useful in supporting the traceability management process involving complex goal and SysML models in one environment while saving development time and effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture plays an important role in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Yet, advances in climate-smart agriculture require a better understanding of farmer adoption. This exploratory paper uncovered differences that distinguish High, Moderate, and Low adopters of climate-smart practices. Our study utilized 952 in-person surveys of California farmers with a focus on mitigation and adaptation practices, along with farm characteristics, information sources, and practice benefits and challenges. Specifically, farmers with larger parcels were more likely to be High adopters, and farmers with access to only one water source were more likely to be Low adopters. There was no significant difference found between Moderate and High adopters' use of any information sources. The ranking of different information sources changed between groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the rate of Moderate and High adopters' consideration of practice benefits. All groups identified practice uncertainty as the greatest challenge, with a significant difference between Moderate and High adopters. Our results demonstrate where differences occur between farmer adopter groups and by extension provide insights into where to target outreach efforts to promote the adoption of climate-smart practices in California agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]