The South Atlantic Alliance: A southeastern U.S. state Governors initiative to address opportunities and challenges embodied in the region's coastal and ocean domain

The pressures placed on the natural, environmental, economic, and cultural sectors from continued growth, population shifts, weather and climate, and environmental quality are increasing exponentially in the southeastern U.S. region. Our growing understanding of the relationship of humans with the marine environment is leading us to explore new ecosystem-based approaches to coastal management, marine resources planning, and coastal adaptation that engages multiple state jurisdictions. The urgency of the situation calls for coordinated regional actions by the states, in conjunction with supporting partners and leveraging a diversity of resources, to address critical issues in sustaining our coastal and ocean ecosystems and enhancing the quality of life of our citizens. The South Atlantic Alliance (www.southatlanticalliance.org) was formally established on October 19, 2009 to “implement science-based policies and solutions that enhance and protect the value of coastal and ocean resources of the southeastern United States which support the region's culture and economy now and for future generations.” The Alliance, which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, will provide a regional mechanism for collaborating, coordinating, and sharing information in support of resource sustainability; improved regional alignment; cooperative planning and leveraging of resources; integrated research, observations, and mapping; increased awareness of the challenges facing the South Atlantic region; and inclusiveness and integration at all levels. Although I am preparing and presenting this overview of the South Atlantic Alliance and its current status, there are a host of representatives from agencies within the four states, universities, NGOs, and ongoing southeastern regional ocean and coastal programs that are contributing significant time, expertise, and energy to the success of the Alliance; information presented herein and to be presented in my oral presentation was generated by the collaborative efforts of these professionals. I also wish to acknowledge the wisdom and foresight of the Governors of the four states in establishing this exciting regional ocean partnership. (PDF contains 4 pages

Ephemeral: An Original Play

Interesting conversations are had when an American woman spends a weekend with her Czech penpal and his relatives at his recently deceased mother\u27s cottage. Based on a series of interviews with Czech citizens and personal experiences, Kierstan DeVoe\u27s play focuses on the complex nature of tragedy and nostalgia, complete with moments of warm laughter and great tension

Cellular Neural Networks with Switching Connections

Artificial neural networks are widely used for parallel processing of data analysis and visual information. The most prominent example of artificial neural networks is a cellular neural network (CNN), composed from two-dimensional arrays of simple first-order dynamical systems (“cells”) that are interconnected by wires. The information, to be processed by a CNN, represents the initial state of the network, and the parallel information processing is performed by converging to one of the stable spatial equilibrium states of the multi-stable CNN. This thesis studies a specific type of CNNs designed to perform the winner-take-all function of finding the largest among the n numbers, using the network dynamics. In a wider context, this amounts to automatically detecting a target spot in the given visual picture. The research, reported in this thesis, demonstrates that the addition of fast on-off switching (blinking) connections significantly improves the functionality of winner-take-all CNNs. Numerical calculations are performed to reveal the dependence of the probability, that the CNN correctly classifies the largest number, on the switching frequency

Deformation Post-Doming: New mapping of the Oliverian Jefferson Dome, Mt. Dartmouth 7.5\u27 Quadrangle, New Hampshire

The Mt. Dartmouth 7.5’ Quadrangle, west of the Presidential Range, contains the southeastern portion of the Jefferson Dome, the largest of the Oliverian Domes. As part of a USGS NHGS EdMap StateMap project, the purpose of this study was to remap this part of the Jefferson Dome and perform a structural and mineralogical analysis of its rock units to develop a better understanding of the tectonic history of the Northeast. Structural analyses show dextral shear zones and folded foliation which suggest at least three phases of deformation post-doming. Literature claims shear zones exist throughout the Northeast, and this analysis discovered shear zones through the Jefferson Dome