The potential impact on Florida-based marina and boating industries of a post-embargo Cuba: an analysis of geographic, physical, policy and industry trends

The information in this Technical Paper addresses the future of the US-Cuban marina and recreational boating industries from the geographic, physical, policy making and economic perspectives for a post-embargo Cuba. Each individual paper builds on the presentations made at the workshop, the information obtained in the subsequent trip to Cuba and presents in detailed form information which we hope is useful to all readers. (147pp.

Differential neuropsychological profiles in Parkinsonian patients with or without vascular lesions.

The purpose of this study is to compare the neuropsychological profile of patients affected by parkinsonism and vascular lesions to that in patients with PD alone (PD) and to evaluate whether the brain vascular lesion load is associated with neuropsychological variables. Thirty-six nondemented patients with parkinsonism were divided into 3 groups of 12 patients each, according to both clinical history and the presence of brain vascular lesions and/or dopaminergic denervation as revealed by magnetic resonance and dopamine transporter imaging, respectively. The first group had vascular lesions without dopaminergic denervation (VP group); the second group had vascular lesions and dopaminergic denervation (DD) (VP+DD group); and the third group consisted of patients with dopaminergic denervation (PD group) without vascular lesions. All patients underwent neurological and neuropsychological assessments. The groups differed in disease duration, age at onset, and cerebrovascular risk factors. The VP and VP+DD groups performed worse than the PD group on frontal/executive tasks. Regardless of the presence of dopaminergic denervation, cerebrovascular lesions in hemispheric white matter, basal ganglia, and cerebellum have an important effect in determining early onset and severity of cognitive impairment in patients with parkinsonism

Thermostable Shelf Life Study

The objective of this project is to determine the shelf life end-point of various food items by means of actual measurement or mathematical projection. The primary goal of the Advanced Food Technology Project in these long duration exploratory missions is to provide the crew with a palatable, nutritious and safe food system while minimizing volume, mass, and waste. The Mars missions could be as long as 2.5 years with the potential of the food being positioned prior to the crew arrival. Therefore, it is anticipated that foods that are used during the Mars missions will require a 5 year shelf life. Shelf life criteria are safety, nutrition, and acceptability. Any of these criteria can be the limiting factor in determining the food's shelf life. Due to the heat sterilization process used for the thermostabilized food items, safety will be preserved as long as the integrity of the package is maintained. Nutrition and acceptability will change over time. Since the food can be the sole source of nutrition to the crew, a significant loss in nutrition may determine when the shelf life endpoint has occurred. Shelf life can be defined when the food item is no longer acceptable. Acceptability can be defined in terms of appearance, flavor, texture, or aroma. Results from shelf life studies of the thermostabilized food items suggest that the shelf life of the foods range from 0 months to 8 years, depending on formulation

Stochastic macromodeling for hierarchical uncertainty quantification of nonlinear electronic systems

A hierarchical stochastic macromodeling approach is proposed for the efficient variability analysis of complex nonlinear electronic systems. A combination of the Transfer Function Trajectory and Polynomial Chaos methods is used to generate stochastic macromodels. In order to reduce the computational complexity of the model generation when the number of stochastic variables increases, a hierarchical system decomposition is used. Pertinent numerical results validate the proposed methodology

Implications of the delayed 2013 outburst of the ESO 243-49 HLX-1

After showing four outbursts spaced by $\sim 1$ year from 2009 to 2012, the hyper luminous X-ray source ESO 243-49 HLX-1, currently the best intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) candidate, showed an outburst in 2013 delayed by more than a month. In Lasota et al. (2011), we proposed that the X-ray lightcurve is the result of enhanced mass transfer episodes at periapsis from a donor star orbiting the IMBH in a highly eccentric orbit. In this scenario, the delay can be explained only if the orbital parameters can change suddenly from orbit to orbit. To investigate this, we ran Newtonian smooth particle hydrodynamical simulations starting with an incoming donor approaching an IMBH on a parabolic orbit. We survey a large parameter space by varying the star-to-BH mass ratio ($10^{-5}-10^{-3}$) and the periapsis separation $r_p$ from 2.2 to $2.7~r_t$ with $r_t$, the tidal radius. To model the donor, we choose several polytropes ($\Gamma = 5/2,~n=3/2$; $\Gamma=3/2,~n=2$; $\Gamma=5/3,~n=2$ & $n=3$). Once the system is formed, the orbital period decreases until reaching a minimum. Then, the period tends to increase over several periapsis passages due to tidal effects and increasing mass transfer, leading ultimately to the ejection of the donor. The development of stochastic fluctuations inside the donor could lead to sudden changes in the orbital period from orbit to orbit with the appropriate order of magnitude of what has been observed for HLX-1. Given the constraints on the BH mass ($M_{\rm BH} > 10^4~M_\odot$) and assuming that HLX-1 is currently near a minimum in period of $\sim 1$ yr, the donor has to be a white dwarf or a stripped giant core. We predict that if HLX-1 is indeed emerging from a minimum in orbital period, then the period would generally increase with each passage, although substantial stochastic fluctuations can be superposed on this trend.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (acceptance date: 2014-08-01

Comparison of vitality states of finishers and withdrawers in trail running: An enactive and phenomenological perspective.

Studies on ultra-endurance suggest that during the races, athletes typically experience three vitality states (i.e., preservation, loss, and revival) at the phenomenological level. Nevertheless, how these states contribute to the management and outcome of performance remains unclear. The aim of this study was to determine whether and how the vitality states experienced by runners and their evolution during a trail race can be used to distinguish finishers from withdrawers. From an enactive and phenomenological framework, we processed enactive interviews and blog posts of race narratives. We distinguished units of meaning, which were grouped into sequences of experience; each sequence was then categorized as one of the three vitality states: state of vitality preservation (SVP), state of vitality loss (SVL) or state of vitality revival (SVR). We analyzed the distribution of these vitality states and their temporal organization at the beginning, in the second and third quarters, and at the end of the races, and we qualitatively characterized runners' adaptations to SVL. Results showed that finishers completed the race in SVP, with overall significantly more sequences in SVP and significantly fewer sequences in SVL than withdrawers. SVR did not discriminate finishers from withdrawers. The temporal organization of the vitality states showed a significant difference in the emergence of SVP from the second quarter of the race, as well as a significant difference in the emergence of SVL from the third quarter of the race. The analysis of adaptations to SVL confirmed that finishers were more capable of exiting SVL by enacting a preservation world when they felt physical or psychological alerts, whereas withdrawers remained in SVL. Our results showed that finishers and withdrawers did not enact the same phenomenological worlds in the race situation, especially in the organization of vitality adaptations and their relationships to difficulties; the cumulative effect of the succession of experienced vitality states differed, as well

A Counterpart to the Radial Orbit Instability in Triaxial Stellar Systems

Self-consistent solutions for triaxial mass models are highly non-unique. In general, some of these solutions might be dynamically unstable, making them inappropriate as descriptions of steady-state galaxies. Here we demonstrate for the first time the existence in triaxial galaxy models of an instability similar to the radial-orbit instability of spherical models. The instability manifests itself when the number of box orbits, with predominantly radially motions, is sufficiently large. N-body simulations verify that the evolution is due neither to chaotic orbits nor to departures of the model from self-consistency, but rather to a collective mode. The instability transforms the triaxial model into a more prolate, but still triaxial, configuration. Stable triaxial models are obtained when the mass contribution of radial orbits is reduced. The implications of our results for the shapes of dark-matter halos are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure

TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENCE OF DOMAIN-WALL COERCIVE FIELD IN MAGNETIC GARNET-FILMS

The coercive properties of magnetically uniaxial liquid-phase epitaxy garnet films were investigated between 10 K and the Neel temperature (T(N) less-than-or-equal-to 500 K). Two independent methods, the results of which are nearly identical (magnetical response of oscillating domain walls and the method of coercive loops measured in a vibrating sample magnetometer), were used. Besides the usual domain-wall coercive field, H(dw), the critical coercive pressure, p(dw), was also introduced as it describes in a direct way the interactions of the domain walls with the wall-pinning traps. Both H(dw) and p(dw) were found to increase exponentially with decreasing temperature. Three different types of wall-pinning traps were identified in the sample and their strength, their rate of change with temperature, and their temperature range of activity were determined

The Relationship between Trail Running Withdrawals and Race Topography

Context: A growing amount of recent research in sport psychology has focused on trying to understand withdrawals from ultra-races. However, according to the Four E approach, the studies underestimated the embedded components of these experiences and particularly how they were linked to the specific environmental conditions in which the experiences occurred. Objective: This study aimed to characterize trail running withdrawals in relationship to race topography. Design: Qualitative design, involving self-confrontation interviews and use of a race map. Setting: Use of the race map for description of the race activity and self-confrontation interviews took place 1–3 days after the races. Participants: Ten runners who withdrew during an ultra-trail race. Data Collection and Analysis: Data on past activity traces and experiences were elicited from self-confrontation interviews. Data were coded and compared to identify common sequences and then each type of sequence was counted with regard to race topography. Results: Results showed that each sequence was related to runners’ particular possibilities for acting, feeling, and thinking, which were in turn embedded in the race topography. These sequences allowed the unfolding of the activity and increased its overall effectiveness in relation to the constraints of this specific sport. Conclusion: This study allowed us to highlight important information on how ultra-trail runners manage their races in relationship to the race environment and more specifically to its topography. The result will also help us to recommend potential adjustments to ultra-trail runners’ performance-oriented training and preparation