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.

On the Growth of Highly Ordered Pores in Anodized Aluminum Oxide

Abstract: It is now established that hexagonally ordered domain structures can be formed in anodic alumina films by repeated anodization and stripping of the porous oxide. We find that the domain size is a linear function of time and increases with temperature. The pore density is initially high but decreases with anodizing time, as dominant pores deepen. Very small pores exist in native oxide in air or nucleate after electropolishing. Pore growth may start when the electric field increases at the pore bottoms, and acid dissolves the oxide locally.

The Political Economy of Terrorism

Abstract: The Political Economy of Terrorism presents a widely accessible political economy approach to the study of terrorism. It applies economic methodology – theoretical and empirical – combined with political analysis and realities to the study of domestic and transnational terrorism. In so doing, the book provides both a qualitative and quantitative investigation of terrorism in a balanced up-to-date presentation that informs students, policy makers, researchers and the general reader of the current state of knowledge. Included are historical aspects, a discussion of watershed events, the rise of modern-day terrorism, examination of current trends, the dilemma of liberal democracies, evaluation of counterterrorism, analysis of hostage incidents and much more. The new edition expands coverage of every chapter, adds a new chapter on terrorist network structures and organization, accounts for changes in the Department of Homeland Security and the USA Patriot Act and insurance against terrorism. Rational-actor models of terrorist and government behavior and game-theoretic analysis are presented for readers with no prior theoretical training. Where relevant, the authors display graphs using data from International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE), the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), and other public-access data sets.

The third evolution of ionic liquids: active pharmaceutical ingredients

Abstract: A modular, ionic liquid (IL)-based strategy allows compartmentalized molecular level design of a wide range of new materials with tunable biological, as well as the well known physical and chemical, properties of ILs, which thus deserve consideration as ‘tunable’ active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) with novel performance enhancement and delivery options. IL strategies can take advantage of the dual nature (discrete ions) of ILs to realize enhancements which may include controlled solubility (e.g., both hydrophilic and hydrophobic ILs are possible), bioavailability or bioactivity, stability, elimination of polymorphism, new delivery options (e.g., slow release or the IL-API as ‘solvent’), or even customized pharmaceutical cocktails. Here we exemplify this approach with, among others, lidocaine docusate (LD), a hydrophobic room temperature IL which, when compared to lidocaine hydrochloride, exhibits modified solubility, increased thermal stability, and a significant enhancement in the efficacy of topical analgesia in two different models of mouse antinociception. Studies of the suppression of nerve growth factor mediated neuronal differentiation in rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells suggests potential differences between LD and lidocaine hydrochloride at the cellular level indicating an entirely different mechanism of action. Taken together these results suggest that the unique physiochemical properties of ILs in general, may confer a novel effect for the bioactivity of an API due to (at least) slow-release properties in addition to novel delivery mechanisms.

2017 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for adult and juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and their major subgroups

Abstract: Objective To develop and validate new classification criteria for adult and juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) and their major subgroups. Methods Candidate variables were assembled from published criteria and expert opinion using consensus methodology. Data were collected from 47 rheumatology, dermatology, neurology and paediatric clinics worldwide. Several statistical methods were used to derive the classification criteria. Results Based on data from 976 IIM patients (74% adults; 26% children) and 624 non-IIM patients with mimicking conditions (82% adults; 18% children), new criteria were derived. Each item is assigned a weighted score. The total score corresponds to a probability of having IIM. Subclassification is performed using a classification tree. A probability cut-off of 55%, corresponding to a score of 5.5 (6.7 with muscle biopsy) ‘probable IIM’, had best sensitivity/specificity (87%/82% without biopsies, 93%/88% with biopsies) and is recommended as a minimum to classify a patient as having IIM. A probability of ≥90%, corresponding to a score of ≥7.5 (≥8.7 with muscle biopsy), corresponds to ‘definite IIM’. A probability of Conclusions The European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology (EULAR/ACR) classification criteria for IIM have been endorsed by international rheumatology, dermatology, neurology and paediatric groups. They employ easily accessible and operationally defined elements, and have been partially validated. They allow classification of ‘definite’, ‘probable’ and ‘possible’ IIM, in addition to the major subgroups of IIM, including juvenile IIM. They generally perform better than existing criteria.

The Physics of Solar Flares

Abstract: Solar flare phenomena are examined in an introduction for advanced undergraduate and graduate physics students. Chapters are devoted to the history of observations, flare spectroscopy, flare magnetohydrodynamics, flare plasma physics, radiative processes in the solar plasma, preflare conditions, the impulsive phase, the gradual phase, and coronal mass ejections. Diagrams, graphs, and photographs are provided.