Multimedia is gaining ever more importance on the Internet. This increases the need for intelligent and efficient video caches. A promising approach to improve caching efficiency is to adapt videos. With the availability of MPEG-4 it is possible to develop a standard compliant proxy cache that allows fast and efficient adaptation. We propose a modular design for an adaptive MPEG-4 video proxy t...

The issue of setting the values of various parameters of an evolutionary algorithm (EA) is crucial for good performance. One way to do it is controlling EA parameters on-the-fly, which can be done in various ways and for various parameters. We briefly review these options in general and present the findings of a literature search and some statistics about the most popular options. Thereafter, w...

The essay reviews major environmental problems of energy development within a broader development and sustainability context. The role of energy in human development and major historical trends as well as their implications for carbon dioxide emissions are discussed. After summarizing the scientific understanding of current and poss ible future climate change the paper review s available mitiga...

Organizations will be central actors in societal adaptation to climate variability and change. But highly simplified assumptions are often made about the response of organizations to the stimulus of perceived or experienced climate change. This paper reviews recent literature, arguing that three approaches are applied in studies of organizational adaptation: utility-maximizing, behavioral, and ...

The project “Developing Policies and Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change in the Baltic Sea Region” (AS­ TRA) assesses regional vulnerabilities to climate change and aims for developing adaptation options. To de­ termine whether the participating municipalities are prepared to climate change, this study investigates stake­ holder perspectives and knowledge in multiple case studies. Based on ...

This study explores potential adaptation approaches in planning and management that the United States Forest Service might adopt to help achieve its goals and objectives in the face of climate change. Availability of information, vulnerability of ecological and socio-economic systems, and uncertainties associated with climate change, as well as the interacting non-climatic changes, influence se...

Prostate Cancer (PCa) is an important age-related disease being the most common cancer malignancy and the second leading cause of cancer mortality in men in Western countries. Initially, PCa progression is androgen receptor (AR)- and androgen-dependent. Eventually advanced PCa reaches the stage of Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer (CRPC), but remains dependent on AR, which indicates the impo...

Assessments of the relationships between crop productivity and climate change rely upon a combination of modelling and measurement. As part of this review, this relationship is discussed in the context of crop and climate simulation. Methods for linking these two types of models are reviewed, with a primary focus on large-area crop modelling techniques. Recent progress in simulating the impacts...