Potential Milk Production in the Point MacKenzie Area of Southcentral Alaska

Point MacKenzie is an area northwest of Anchorage directly across the Knik Arm of Cook Inlet (Figure 1 ). This area contains a substantial amount of latent agricultural land and discussion regarding its potential has been going on for some time. The catalyst which activated the recent planning process directed at Point MacKenzie was concern over potential loss of the southcentral Alaska dairy industry expressed on May 4, 1979, in a letter from Jack Flint, General Manager, Matanuska Maid, Inc., to Governor Jay Hammond: "It is my opinion that if we do not take immediate steps to stabilize this important phase of agriculture, [the dairy industry] will pass from the scene. I think that if it should occur, it would be a serious blow to the State of Alaska, economically and socially. I believe we should also realize that if the dairy industry should cease to exist within the state, it is going to be very difficult to re-establish it." Mr. Flint's letter and corresponding action by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough have directed planning processes of the State of Alaska toward Poinr Mac- Kenzie. The Alaska Agricultural Action Council, created by the 1979 state legislature to plan, recommend, and administer agricultural development projects on state lands in Alaska, held a meeting in the Matanuska Valley in September, 1979, and determined that an economic feasibility study, directed toward dairy production, should be undertaken for the Point MacKenzie area. This report is that feasibility study.The information presented in this bulletin is part of a report prepared for the Agricultural Action Council of the State of Alaska. The group was formed in 1979 by legislative action and is chaired by W. I. "Bob" Palmer, Special Projects Director, Office of the Governor. The purpose of the group is to plan and manage agricultural development projects within the state. The report on the feasibility of milk production in the Point MacKenzie Area presented to Governor Hammond through the Alaska Agricultural Action Council was prepared by the authors of this bulletin and Dr. Boyd Buxton, Agricultural Economist, U.S. D.A., stationed at the University of Minnesota at St. Paul and Dr. Paul Fuglestad, Agricultural Economist, U.S.D .A., stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, both of whom are acknowledged with gratitude. The authors also wish to thank Cathy Warren who reviewed extensively the tabular data

Parametric wave amplification and mixing in the ionosphere

Parametric wave amplification and mixing in ionospher

An LP-based inconsistency monitoring of pairwise comparison matrices

A distance-based inconsistency indicator, defined by the third author for the consistency-driven pairwise comparisons method, is extended to the incomplete case. The corresponding optimization problem is transformed into an equivalent linear programming problem. The results can be applied in the process of filling in the matrix as the decision maker gets automatic feedback. As soon as a serious error occurs among the matrix elements, even due to a misprint, a significant increase in the inconsistency index is reported. The high inconsistency may be alarmed not only at the end of the process of filling in the matrix but also during the completion process. Numerical examples are also provided

Analysis of the backscatter spectrum in an ionospheric modification experiment

Predictions of the backscatter spectrum, including effects of ionospheric inhomogeneity, are compared with experimental observations of incoherent backscatter from an artificially heated region. Our calculations show that the strongest backscatter echo received is not from the reflection level, but from a region some distance below. Certain asymmetrical features are explained of the up-shifted and down-shifted plasma lines in the backscatter spectrum, and the several satellite peaks accompanying them

Parallel Iterative-Deepening Search

This report describes my implementation of a parallel iterative-deepening A* search algorithm on a NCUBE parallel computer. I present a detailed description of the algorithm, followed by a discussion of its theoretical performance. The actual performance of my implementation is compared to the theoretical model, and a summary of the results is presented

On the Applicability of Genetic Algorithms to Fast Solar Spectropolarimetric Inversions for Vector Magnetography

The measurement of vector magnetic fields on the sun is one of the most important diagnostic tools for characterizing solar activity. The ubiquitous solar wind is guided into interplanetary space by open magnetic field lines in the upper solar atmosphere. Highly-energetic solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are triggered in lower layers of the solar atmosphere by the driving forces at the visible ``surface\u27\u27 of the sun, the photosphere. The driving forces there tangle and interweave the vector magnetic fields, ultimately leading to an unstable field topology with large excess magnetic energy, and this excess energy is suddenly and violently released by magnetic reconnection, emitting intense broadband radiation that spans the electromagnetic spectrum, accelerating billions of metric tons of plasma away from the sun, and finally relaxing the magnetic field to lower-energy states. These eruptive flaring events can have severe impacts on the near-Earth environment and the human technology that inhabits it. This dissertation presents a novel inversion method for inferring the properties of the vector magnetic field from telescopic measurements of the polarization states (Stokes vector) of the light received from the sun, in an effort to develop a method that is fast, accurate, and reliable. One of the long-term goals of this work is to develop such a method that is capable of rapidly-producing characterizations of the magnetic field from time-sequential data, such that near real-time projections of the complexity and flare-productivity of solar active regions can be made. This will be a boon to the field of solar flare forecasting, and should help mitigate the harmful effects of space weather on mankind\u27s space-based endeavors. To this end, I have developed an inversion method based on genetic algorithms (GA) that have the potential for achieving such high-speed analysis

Museums Connect: Teaching Public History through Transnational Museum Partnerships

Museums Connect is a program funded by the US Department of State and administered by the American Alliance of Museums that sponsors transnational museum partnerships. This program provides one model for teaching public history in a transnational context, and this article analyzes the experiences of two university-museums—the Museum of History and Holocaust Education (MHHE) in the United States and the Ben M’sik Community Museum (BMCM) in Morocco—during two grants between 2009 and 2012. In exploring the impact of the program on the staff, faculty, and students involved and by analyzing the experiences and reflections of participants, I argue that this program can generate positive pedagogical experiences. However, in addition to the successes of the MHHE and BMCM during their two grants, the participants encountered significant power differentials that manifested themselves in both the processes and products of the grants. It is the conclusion of this article that both partners in a public history project need to address and confront potential power issues at the outset in order to achieve a more balanced, collaborative partnership