Vulnerability to drought in the La Paz, Mexico watershed

Includes bibliographical references.Acknowledgements in English and Spanish.2015 Summer.This study explores the relationship between drought vulnerability and migration in the ranchero community in the Sierras of the La Paz watershed in Baja California Sur, Mexico. Using household survey data, I examine how the various dimensions of vulnerability are related to migration as an adaptation strategy to drought. Contrary to what is predicted by environmental migration and climate vulnerability theory, drought exposed rancheros who had high sensitivity and low adaptive capacity did not use migration as an adaptation strategy in the last severe drought (2006-2012), despite migration being a central part of their traditional culture. This dissertation shows how rural upstream households are constrained in traditional adaptation options (including migration options) while new options have become available (including sedentary options) - because of other social changes in the same watershed, specifically, the expansion of urban services. Taking a closer look at watershed dynamics, I find that urban services have both positive and negative impacts on ranchero drought vulnerability. On the one hand, urban services diversify ranchero water sources in normal seasons; on the other hand, access to urban services does not remain consistent in severe drought. I conclude with a new conceptualization of drought responses with a discussion of the implications of these findings for future research and public policy that includes a need for broader stakeholder inclusion

An Error Model for the Cirac-Zoller CNOT gate

In the framework of ion-trap quantum computing, we develop a characterization of experimentally realistic imperfections which may affect the Cirac-Zoller implementation of the CNOT gate. The CNOT operation is performed by applying a protocol of five laser pulses of appropriate frequency and polarization. The laser-pulse protocol exploits auxiliary levels, and its imperfect implementation leads to unitary as well as non-unitary errors affecting the CNOT operation. We provide a characterization of such imperfections, which are physically realistic and have never been considered before to the best of our knowledge. Our characterization shows that imperfect laser pulses unavoidably cause a leak of information from the states which alone should be transformed by the ideal gate, into the ancillary states exploited by the experimental implementation.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Accepted as a contributed oral communication in the QuantumComm 2009 International Conference on Quantum Communication and Quantum Networking, Vico Equense, Italy, October 26-30, 200

Factors Influencing the Self-Efficacy of Novice School Librarians

Effective school library programs depend on school librarians with the capacity to lead and administrate library programs that reflect the core values of contemporary school librarianship. Research has shown that the first years of practice are critical in establishing the professional identity of the school librarian. This mixed methods explanatory research study identifies factors that affect the self-efficacy of the novice school librarian, which influences the degree to which the novice school librarian feels confident of their ability to succeed in the role of school librarian

Observing a Quantum Phase Transition by Measuring a Single Spin

We show that the ground-state quantum correlations of an Ising model can be detected by monitoring the time evolution of a single spin alone, and that the critical point of a quantum phase transition is detected through a maximum of a suitably defined observable. A proposed implementation with trapped ions realizes an experimental probe of quantum phase transitions which is based on quantum correlations and scalable for large system sizes.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure