University of Alabama

About: University of Alabama is a education organization based out in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 27323 authors who have published 48609 publications receiving 1565337 citations. The organization is also known as: Alabama & Bama.

Exemplification Effects in the Promotion of Safety and Health

Abstract: After explicating essentials of exemplification theory, research demonstrations of the effects of exemplar presentations on the formation and modification of beliefs about safety and health, as well as on the consequences of these beliefs for self-protective behavior, are summarized. Affective reactivity connected with exemplifications, especially with exemplifications presented in pictorial formats, is given special consideration. The implications of theory and research for the promotion of safety and health via the media of communication are then enumerated. The influence of exemplifications on matters of personal welfare is further considered in concert with the influence projected by complementary theoretical approaches that focus on strategic decision making.

Radio Imaging of the Very-High-Energy gamma-Ray Emission Region in the Central Engine of a Radio Galaxy

Abstract: The accretion of matter onto a massive black hole is believed to feed the relativistic plasma jets found in many active galactic nuclei (AGN). Although some AGN accelerate particles to energies exceeding 10(12) electron volts and are bright sources of very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray emission, it is not yet known where the VHE emission originates. Here we report on radio and VHE observations of the radio galaxy Messier 87, revealing a period of extremely strong VHE gamma-ray flares accompanied by a strong increase of the radio flux from its nucleus. These results imply that charged particles are accelerated to very high energies in the immediate vicinity of the black hole.

The cleft ion fountain

Abstract: Low-energy (below approximately 50 eV) ionospheric ions, injected into the magnetosphere at the dayside cleft, are studied using data from the retarding ion mass spectrometer (RIMS) experiment on the Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite. It is concluded that upwelling ions at the cleft form an ion fountain and are blown into the polar cap by antisunward convection. At high Kp (>4), convection is generally strong enough to fill the entire polar magnetosphere with low-energy O+ ions, whereas at low kp (<2) they are largely restricted to the dayside half of the cap. Using a two-dimensional kinetic ion trajectory model, the locations where RIMS detected O+ within the cap are shown to be consistent with the spatial distributions of O+ density, predicted for an upwelling ion source at the cleft and various dawn-dusk convection electric fields. A detailed study is made of one polar pass of DE 1, during which RIMS detected He+, N+, O+, and O++ ions, the ion trajectory model being used to trace all these ions back to a common source at an observed upwelling ion event near the cleft. All observed species are deduced to be falling earthward in the nightside of the cap, as predicted from the model, indicating the dominance of gravity over upward field-aligned acceleration (such as by the ambipolar electric field). Comparison of field-aligned velocities observed for O+ and O++ ions defines a maximum limit to the upward electrostatic acceleration present within the cap which was only sufficient to eject ionospheric H+ ions, all heavier ions being supplied from the dayside by the cleft ion fountain.

Genetic Algorithms In Pipeline Optimization

Abstract: The application of a genetic algorithm to the steady state optimization of a serial liquid pipeline is considered. Genetic algorithms are search procedures based upon the mechanics of natural genet...