COPING WITH THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF FAMILIES IN POVERTY

There is a gap in the social welfare literature concerning the perspectives of low-income families about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. This qualitative study contributes to the literature by exploring how families in poverty across Southern California survived the pandemic. Interviews were conducted with 10 heads of household (N = 10) to determine the impact of the pandemic and the strategies used to cope with the crisis. Thematic analysis of the data revealed five key themes: a) the devastating impact of the pandemic on low-income families, b) the use of various coping mechanisms by families, b) the narrow view of families’ support system, d) the importance of government assistance during the pandemic, and e) the importance of individual and environmental strategies for crisis survival. The findings from this study have major implications for poverty and social welfare stakeholders, including families, social workers, social service organizations, community leaders, and lawmakers at local, state, and national levels. Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, families in poverty, thematic analysis, government programs, Resilience Theory, Strengths Perspective

Stated Willingness to Pay for Residential Renewable Electricity and Green Jobs in Aguascalientes, Mexico

Via a discrete choice experiment, this paper documents that residential electricity consumers in Aguascalientes, Mexico, are willing to pay a premium for renewable energies as well as for the creation of green jobs. These results are particularly timely because the current Federal administration has redirected priorities from an energy transition that was expected to boost renewable energies to the pursuing of energy sovereignty. Concerns regarding this prioritization have been raised by national and international stakeholders due to its potential economic inefficiency and its implications for the achievement of climate change goals. These concerns have only intensified as discussions begin on how Mexico should face the post-coronavirus recession. This paper’s findings open the door to discuss whether a combination of a just energy transition together with the boosting of renewable energies should be part of a strategy to reach energy sovereignty at the same time that Mexico deals with a post-coronavirus world

Efficient plot-based floristic assessment of tropical forests

The tropical flora remains chronically understudied and the lack of floristic understanding hampers ecological research and its application for large-scale conservation planning. Given scarce resources and the scale of the challenge there is a need to maximize the efficiency of both sampling strategies and sampling units, yet there is little information on the relative efficiency of different approaches to floristic assessment in tropical forests. This paper is the first attempt to address this gap. We repeatedly sampled forests in two regions of Amazonia using the two most widely used plot-based protocols of floristic sampling, and compared their performance in terms of the quantity of floristic knowledge and ecological insight gained scaled to the field effort required. Specifically, the methods are assessed first in terms of the number of person-days required to complete each sample (‘effort’), secondly by the total gain in the quantity of floristic information that each unit of effort provides (‘crude inventory efficiency’), and thirdly in terms of the floristic information gained as a proportion of the target species pool (‘proportional inventory efficiency’). Finally, we compare the methods in terms of their efficiency in identifying different ecological patterns within the data (‘ecological efficiency’) while controlling for effort. There are large and consistent differences in the performance of the two methods. The disparity is maintained even after accounting for regional and site-level variation in forest species richness, tree density and the number of field assistants. We interpret our results in the context of selecting the appropriate method for particular research purposes

Do consistent F(R)F(R) models mimic General Relativity plus Λ\Lambda?

Modified gravity models are subject to a number of consistency requirements which restrict the form that the function $F(R)$ can take. We study a particular class of $F(R)$ functions which satisfy various constraints that have been found in the literature. These models have a late time accelerating epoch, and an acceptable matter era. We calculate the Friedmann equation for our models, and show that in order to satisfy the constraints we impose, they must mimic General Relativity plus $\Lambda$ throughout the cosmic history, with exponentially suppressed corrections. We also find that the free parameters in our model must be fine tuned to obtain an acceptable late time accelerating phase. We discuss the generality of this conclusion.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures. References adde

Influence des limitations RF sur les performances d'un récepteur SIMO-OFDM pour systèmes WIFI 802.11g. Application à la conception globale de systèmes de radiocommunications multi-antennes et multi-normes

National audienceCet article traite de l'impact des imperfections radiofréquences (RF) sur les performances d'un récepteur SIMO-OFDM dans le cas de standard WIFI 802.11g. En particulier notre travail a porté sur l'influence du déséquilibre des voies I et Q en gain et en phase, le bruit de phase de l'oscillateur local ainsi que les non-linéarités de l'amplificateur de puissance utilisé au niveau de l'émetteur

Construccion de un modelo para explicar la dinamica del mercado de venta de trigo para la industria molinera de Chile

72 p.La metodología de dinámica de sistemas, es un instrumento no convencional para la formulación de modelos, esta permite la inclusión de una multiplicidad de variables de cualquier tipo de índole, de esta forma la dinámica de sistemas permite abordar problemas complejos como lo representa el mercado de venta de trigo para la industria molinera en Chile, esta metodología permite ingresar todos los factores condicionales y sus niveles de interacción, dentro de cada área del modelo, además de ver los efectos que provoca ya sea en un contexto especifico o en el modelo general, la modificación de una o varias variables. Esta metodología permitió identificar las variables claves y más influyentes para este mercado, como por ejemplo la cantidad de trigo cosechado, la que a su vez genera la oferta de trigo nacional; la cantidad demandada de trigo, tanto en cosecha como en el resto del año por parte de la industria molinera, lo cual integra la demanda nacional, cabe destacar que la demanda nacional de trigo es relativamente constante, así también su nivel de ocupación durante el transcurso del año. La demanda por trigo por parte de la industria molinera en Chile es superior a la oferta, es por ello que el factor de las importaciones juega un papel crucial para sopesar la demanda faltante y necesaria para el país, ya que el harina de trigo es el elemento primordial para el alimento básico del país, el pan. La metodología de dinámica de sistema, permite que en el proceso de creación del modelo, se vayan agregando más variables para dar mayor realismo al modelo, variables que inicialmente no se tenían contempladas, conllevando a crear un modelo con mayor precisión. Esta conformación de variables afecta una serie de otras variables que se nutren de los flujos de información entregadas por las variables principales, las que en su conjunto van conformando el modelo, finalmente el modelo entrega las probables fluctuaciones de precio, stock, trigo ocupado durante la temporada, niveles de importaciones e ingreso, entre otras, que permitirán a los agentes de este mercado a conocer más el mercado y por ende tomar decisiones más certeras, ya sea en sus decisiones de siembra por parte de los agricultores, o decisiones de compra de trigo por parte de los molineros. El modelo permite especular sobre los efectos que ocurrirían en el mercado, ante situaciones específicas, y pronosticar posibles resultados, así como también, dados una serie de factores, encontrar el óptimo de producción de trigo nacional que determina el mayor nivel de ingresos en su conjunto para los agricultores

On the Compensation of RF Impairments with Multiple Antennas in SIMO OFDM systems

International audienceThis paper provides an analysis of the impact of radio frequency (RF) front end impairments (I/Q gain and phase imbalance, phase noise, non-linear distortion and direct current offset) on the performance of a single input multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (SIMO OFDM) receiver. We developed a new estimation/compensation scheme to jointly compensate for the effect of multipath and RF nonidealities on baseband signals in the special case of Zero-IF receivers. Some first results illustrating this approach are presented for a 4 antenna 802.11g receiver with the SMI algorithm and with or without IQ imbalance, as well as BER curves for different phase noise models

The effects of stakeholder power, strategic posture and slack financial resources on sustainability performance in UK higher education institutions

Purpose-Higher education institutions (HEIs) are critical in the sustainability agenda, not only as catalysts for promoting sustainability practices, but also because their activities have substantial social, economic, and environmental impacts. Yet there is limited research that examines their sustainability performance. In this paper, we investigate the factors that are associated with sustainability performance in HEIs. Specifically, drawing from the stakeholder theory and exploiting Ullmann's (1985) conceptual framework, we examine the association between sustainability performance and stakeholder power, strategic posture, and financial slack resources. Design/methodology/approach-We draw our sample from the People & Planet University Green League Table for the period 2011 to 2019 and use the generalized estimating equations (GEE) for our modelling approach. Findings-We find that stakeholder power, in particular, funding grant income, tuition fee income and student and staff numbers, are positively associated with sustainability performance. In relation to strategic posture, we find that sustainability performance is negatively associated with governing body independence and gender diversity, and positively associated with internal structures. Finally, regarding financial slack resources, we find that surplus income (staff costs) is positively (negatively) associated with sustainability performance. Practical implications-This research contributes to several existing literature focusing on not-for-profit sector by documenting, for the first time, the role of stakeholder power, strategic posture, and slack financial resources on sustainability performance. Social implications-The paper includes relevant implications for HEI managers and regulators for promoting sustainability. Originality/value-These results contribute to the literature on the factors influencing sustainability performance