Supporting Arizona Women's Economic Self-Sufficiency

The report looks at the economic status of women in Arizona through five categories: workforce participation, education, occupation, responsibility for children, and homeownership. The report determined that policies supporting childcare and early childhood education are the most effective ways to help low-income working families achieve economic self-sufficiency

Incorporating Flood Vulnerability to the Water Poverty Index in the Juarez Municipality

The objective of this study is to incorporate the concept of flood risk vulnerability as a variable into the Water Poverty Index (WPI), developed by Lawrence et al (2002). The distribution and availability of water resources vary considerably from region to region due to geographical, hydrological and socioeconomic factors. The WPI integrates information from parameters applied to a country, these parameters include: water volume per capita of surface and groundwater resources; capacity of the country to accomplish its agricultural, industrial, and urban water demands; the potential for buying, managing and treating this resource; efficiency in domestic, agricultural and industrial water use without wasting it; and also an environmental factor which provides a measure for water sustainability by including water quality records, environmental regulation strategies, and number of species in danger of extinction. The aim is to evaluate the WPI for the municipality of Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. In this analysis the region is considered as a country and the numbers obtained for each of the parameters mentioned are those related to this particular study area. Each index and a diagnosis of the prevailing water resources situation with regard to flood hazard in the region are evaluated. The assessment of the flood control infrastructure and related contingency prevention measures to avoid flood damage in Ciudad Juarez is incorporated as part of the WPI. This allowed a better understanding of the overall effect of flood risk on this index

Environmental implications of decarbonising electricity supply in large economies: The case of Mexico

AbstractDriven by the security of supply and climate change concerns, decarbonisation of energy supply has become a priority for many countries. This study focuses on Mexico, the world’s 14th largest economy, and considers the environmental implications of decarbonising its electricity supply. Eleven scenarios are considered for the year 2050 with different technology mixes and GHG reduction targets, ranging from stabilisation at the year 2000 level to a reduction of 60–85%. Unlike most energy scenario analyses which focus mainly on direct CO2 or GHG emissions, this paper presents the full life cycle impacts of electricity generation in 2050 considering ten environmental impacts which, in addition to global warming, include resource and ozone layer depletion, acidification, eutrophication, summer smog, human and eco-toxicity. The results indicate that continuing with business as usual (BAU) would double the current life cycle GHG emissions, even if annual electricity demand growth was reduced to 2.25% from the current 2.8%. Switching from the current fossil fuel mix to a higher contribution of renewables (55–86%) and nuclear power (up to 30%) would lead to a significant reduction of all ten life cycle impacts compared to the current situation and up to an 80% reduction compared to BAU

Gestión, transparencia y vocación altruista de asociaciones civiles. Un análisis de caso: Fundación Teletón

Esta investigación pretende evidenciar que las organizaciones civiles no sólo deben de llevar un buen control interno y mostrar transparencia sobre su gestión contable y sus operaciones, sino que también deben manejarse con ética y honestidad, dar prioridad a los donantes y cumplir con las promesas que le hacen. Asimismo, deben de hacer todo lo posible por mostrar al público la versión más cercana a la realidad para generar confianza y dirigir la percepción hacia un rumbo positivo en que la colaboración sea benéfica para todas las partes y se pueda potencializar el mercado que no está convencido. El trabajo trata el caso específico de la Fundación Teletón

Sustainability assessment of electricity options for Mexico : current situation and future scenarios

The aim of this research has been to identify the most sustainable options for electricity production in Mexico with an outlook to 2050. An integrated methodology for sustainability assessment of different electricity technologies and scenarios has been developed, taking into account environmental, economic and social aspects. The environmental impacts have been estimated using life cycle assessment; the economic costs considered include total capital and annualised costs while social aspects include security and diversity of energy supply, public acceptability, health and safety impacts and intergenerational issues. To help identify the most sustainable options, multi-criteria decision analysis has been used. The methodology has been applied to Mexican conditions for the assessment of both current and future electricity production. The results for the current situation show that on a life cycle basis 129 million tonnes of CO2 eq. are emitted annually from 225 TWh of electricity generated in Mexico. Heavy fuel oil, gas and coal power plants contribute together to 87% of CO2 eq. emissions. Total annualised costs are estimated at US$ 22.4 billion/yr with the fuel costs contributing 54%, mainly due to the operation of gas and heavy fuel oil power plants. A range of future scenarios up to 2050 has been developed in an attempt to identify the most sustainable options. The development of the scenarios has been driven and informed by the national greenhouse gas emission reduction target of 50% by 2050 on the 2000 levels, translating to an 85% reduction from the power sector. The results show that the business as usual (BAU) scenario (with the highest contribution from fossil fuels) is the least sustainable option with the CO2 eq. emissions increasing by almost 300% and the annualised costs by 290% for a projected electricity demand of 813 TWh in 2050. Overall, the most sustainable scenarios are those with higher penetration of renewable energies (wind, solar and hydro) and nuclear power, as in Green, A-3 and C-3. For example, compared to the BAU scenarios, the CO2 eq. emissions reduce by 84%, 89% and 89%, respectively. Although renewable energy based scenarios require high capital costs, the total annualised costs even out over time due to lower fuel costs. The lowest annualised costs are for C-3 scenario, representing a 40% reduction on BAU. With respect to social issues, the BAU scenario is also the least preferred option with the highest risks related to security and diversity of supply, health and safety and climate change. The most sustainable options are scenarios A-3 and Green, with social barriers related to public acceptability, reliability of supply and availability of energy resource. Most critical aspects for scenario C-3 are health and safety risks, and intergenerational issues related to nuclear power. Therefore, the Mexican Government should aim to strengthen the current low carbon energy policies as well as put measures in place to encourage reducing the electricity demand. In the case of the energy policy driver focusing on climate change mitigation or annualised costs, scenarios A-3 and C-3 are the most sustainable options.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceMexican Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT)Mexican Ministry of Education (SEP)GBUnited Kingdo

Understanding the Complex Structure of a Plant-Floral Visitor Network from Different Perspectives in Coastal Veracruz, Mexico

Our premise was to understand the basic structure of the flower-flower visitor community at La Mancha in Veracruz, Mexico. We used network analyses to study the structure of this community. In particular, to analyze, (1) if flower color and shape (“as a limited portion of the traditional floral syndromes definition”) were linked to the arrival of certain floral visitors, (2) if visits to flowers were generalist, specific and/or modular; and (3) which plant species, if any, in the core of the network could affect the stability of floral visitors. In order to analyze the organization of the plant-floral visitor community, we prepared network graphics using Pajek, nestedness (as NODF) with Aninhado, and modularity with the SA algorithm. The network obtained was nested suggesting that generalist species (with the most associations) were interacting with specialists (with fewer associations). Furthermore, floral visitors (Hymenoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and Trochiilidae) did not exhibit a particular preference for a specific flower color or shape, each pollinator group visited most flowers/colors/shapes considered. The same was similar for all 14 resulting modules. As in other studies, we suggest that pollination leans to generalization rather than to specialization. We suggest that maybe seasonality/food resource could be the factors to analyze as the next step in floral visits which may be the answer to modularity in this seasonal ecosystem

Quantum algorithms for group convolution, cross-correlation, and equivariant transformations

Group convolutions and cross-correlations, which are equivariant to the actions of group elements, are commonly used to analyze or take advantage of symmetries inherent in a given problem setting. Here, we provide efficient quantum algorithms for performing linear group convolutions and cross-correlations on data stored as quantum states. Runtimes for our algorithms are poly-logarithmic in the dimension of the group and the desired error of the operation. Motivated by the rich literature on quantum algorithms for solving algebraic problems, our theoretical framework opens a path for quantizing many algorithms in machine learning and numerical methods that employ group operations

Interaction Networks Help to Infer the Vulnerability of the Saproxylic Beetle Communities That Inhabit Tree Hollows in Mediterranean Forests

Insect communities are facing contrasting responses due to global change. However, knowledge on impacts of communities’ reorganizations is scarce. Network approaches could help to envision community changes in different environmental scenarios. Saproxylic beetles were selected to examine long-term variations in insect interaction/diversity patterns and their vulnerability to global change. We evaluated interannual differences in network patterns in the tree hollow–saproxylic beetle interaction using absolute samplings over an 11-year interval in three Mediterranean woodland types. We explored saproxylic communities’ vulnerability to microhabitat loss via simulated extinctions and by recreating threat scenarios based on decreasing microhabitat suitability. Although temporal diversity patterns varied between woodland types, network descriptors showed an interaction decline. The temporal beta-diversity of interactions depended more on interaction than on species turnover. Interaction and diversity temporal shifts promoted less specialized and more vulnerable networks, which is particularly worrisome in the riparian woodland. Network procedures evidenced that saproxylic communities are more vulnerable today than 11 years ago irrespective of whether species richness increased or decreased, and the situation could worsen in the future depending on tree hollow suitability. Network approaches were useful for predicting saproxylic communities’ vulnerability across temporal scenarios and, thus, for providing valuable information for management and conservation programs.Grants PID2020-115140RB-I00 and CGL2009-09656 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033

LA AGLOMERACIÓN PRODUCTIVA DE LA INDUSTRIA DE LA JOYERÍA DE GUADALAJARA A TRAVÉS DE LOS SISTEMAS DE INFORMACIÓN GEOGRÁFICA (SIG)

En este artículo se explica el concepto de aglomeración productiva, pero visualizado a través de los sistemas de información geográfica (SIG). Para presentar este tema es necesario partir de los efectos de la globalización en las transformaciones de tipo multidimensional en lo económico, cultural, político e institucional y sus consecuencias en los procesos productivos. El nuevo escenario llevó a un cambio en el progreso económico que impactó a todos los países de manera desigual. Esto llevó al cambio del escenario económico, político y social que se produjo a partir de mediados de los ochenta, planteó la necesidad de nuevos enfoques que permitieran comprender esos cambios en los sectores productivos de los países (Piore y Sabel, 1984). La producción flexible marcó una manera particular de producir, que transformó desde la base, hasta la naturaleza de los bienes finales, la organización de las empresas y las relaciones entre ellas. Se pueden explicar a través de los casos tratados en este documento que presenta el caso de la joyería al interior de algunas regiones de Italia, Reino Unido, Tailandia como Guadalajara en México y se podrá alcanzar un mejor análisis para mostrar las características de configuración productiva de la industria joyera. Se revisará la razón de aplicar los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG), se revisa la definción y como se traduce en una herramienta de análisis en las ciencias sociales y para ello también se presenta el desarrollo de la tecnología para el uso de los SIG, para entender mejor su uso se realiza un seguimiento de la Aplicación de los SIG en investigaciones dentro de las ciencias sociales en América Latina para llegar al Análisis territorial socio-espacial a partir de los SIG sobre la Industria Joyera. Por último, se realiza un ejercicio con la aplicación de los SIG para Analizar la aglomeración productiva de la industria joyera de Guadalajara y se presentan algunas conclusiones preliminares