Adaptive, eclectic and democratic : an alternative year 2020 vision of the place of psychiatry

It was the end of the academic year in 2020. On the third floor of the Southern Health University's administrative building, the five Vice-Chancellors of the Health Universities were gathering. Outside it was raining, but the patter of drops on the window only served to enhance the coziness of the meeting room. This annual event would take three days. The Vice-Chancellors enjoyed this meeting. They seldom saw each other during the busy academic year and under Professor Hope Brightview's 6 years of chairmanship they had been able to work well together to formulate a rational and profitable distribution of teaching, research and consultation services.

Alternative targeted therapy for early HER2 positive breast cancer

Her2 (erbB2) receptor is overexpressed in around twenty percent of early breast cancer and historically conferred a poorer prognosis (1). Targeted anti-Her2 therapy has significantly improved outcomes for these women.

The more things change, the more they stay the same : the 2012 alternative film/video festival

The Alternative Film/Video Festival in Belgrade has historically been one of a triumvirate of critical festivals, with Pula’s MAFAF (1965-1990) and Zagreb’s initiating GEFF (1963-70), servicing experimental, exploratory, avant-garde, personal film in the former Yugoslavia, at Belgrade’s Academic Film Center (AFC) within the Student City Cultural Centre (DKSG). Initiated in 1982 it was resurrected in 2003 with a dual regional and international focus after a hiatus due to the collapse of the socialist states of the former Yugoslavia. As well as a series of curated and retrospective programs each competition program is now split into international and regional halves, selected by Greg de Cuir and Zoran Saveski with production support by Milan Milosavljević. Two film workshops were also available. One on scratch film by Ivan Ladislav Galeta, the other on filming and processing led by Vassily Bourakis. Initiated by de Cuir the first Alternative Film/Video Research Forum was part of the festival this year bringing together research on alternative/ experimental/ avant-garde/ underground film and video. Although I participated in this side-bar I will concentrate here more on discussions from the festival roundtable and contextualise a small number of films, a couple from competition but mainly regional work that I would find difficult to encounter without attendance here.

Role of increased CD8/CD28null T cells and alternative co-stimulatory molecules in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease; it is a leading cause of death and existing treatments have no proven disease-modifying effect. The mechanisms underlying this resistance are largely unknown, but suggest the presence of some self-maintaining pathogenic process, possibly initiated by cigarette smoking, that prevents the normal resolution of inflammation. We have previously reported increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and granzyme b by CD8⁺ T cells in COPD; costimulatory receptor/ligand interactions required include CD80:86/CD28, B7-1/CTLA4, 4-1BB/1BBL and OX40/OX40L. We hypothesized that a dysregulated expression/function of these molecules may play a role in inflammatory/autoimmune components of COPD. We analysed T cell co-stimulatory molecules in blood from 34 controls, 15 smokers and 48 COPD subjects. We assessed the potential functional relevance of CD8/CD28^null cells in COPD by measuring their production of proinflammatory cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, granzyme and perforin. A smoke-exposed murine model was applied to investigate the relative expression of CD8/CD28^null T cells in blood, lung tissue and airway. CD8/CD28^null cells were increased in both current- and ex-smoker COPD groups; these cells expressed significantly more interferon (IFN)-γ, OX40, 4-1BB, CTLA4, granzyme and perforin when stimulated than CD8/CD28⁺ T cells. There were no changes in CD4/CD28^null T cells. In mice exposed to cigarette smoke for 12 weeks, CD8/CD28^null T cells were significantly increased in the airway with a trend for an increase in lung tissue and blood. Increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and expression of alternative co-stimulatory molecules by CD8/CD28^null T cells may play a role in inflammatory or autoimmune responses in COPD and identify therapeutic targets.

Fictional inquiry : an alternative process to inspire creativity in children's co-design projects

Children's creativity is a valuable resource for architectural design, and attempts have been made throughout the world to involve children in the design process of their environments. Previous children's co-design projects often followed a problem solving process, however, this process has limitations in stimulating children's creativity. Research has found that children's creativity is different to adult's creativity: Instead of creative problem solving skills, children's creativity is most evident in their imagination and originality of thinking. Addressing this issue, an alternative process in children's co-design projects was experimented: Fictional Inquiry. In this paper, two case studies are used to illustrate how the fictional inquiry process is applied in children's co-design projects.* These two projects were both joint educational projects between Deakin University and schools in Geelong and Melbourne. Through several weeks' of workshops, children and university architecture students worked in small groups to develop architectural design solutions. It was observed that creative design outcomes have been achieved in these two projects, which suggested that Fictional Inquiry was an effective process to inspire children's creativity. Applying the Fictional Inquiry process, Deakin University is currently working with another school in the Geelong Region, with the aim of achieving creative architectural design outcomes.

Nanostructured liquid crystalline particles as an alternative delivery vehicle for plant agrochemicals

Agrochemical spray formulations applied to plants are often mixed with surfactants that facilitate delivery of the active ingredient. However, surfactants cause phytotoxicity and off-target effects in the environment. We propose the use of nanostructured liquid crystalline particles (NLCP) as an alternative to surfactant-based agrochemical delivery. For this, we have compared the application of commercial surfactants, di (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate and alkyl dimethyl betaine, with NLCP made from phytantriol, at concentrations of 0.1%, 1% and 5% on the adaxial surface of leaves of four plant species Ttriticum aestivum (wheat), Zea mays (maize), Lupinus angustifolius (lupin), and Arabidopsis thaliana. In comparison with the application of surfactants there was less phytotoxicity on leaves of each species following treatment with NLCP. Following treatment of leaves with NLCP analysis of cuticular wax micromorphology revealed less wax solubilization in the monocot species. The results clearly show that there are advantages in the use of NLCP rather than surfactants for agrochemical delivery.

Effectiveness of alternative organic solvents in field preservation of whole barnacles for PCR analyses

There are few reports of non-cryogenic preservation methods for marine invertebrates, so potable alcohol and acetone-based nail varnish remover (NVR) are for the first time evaluated against absolute ethanol as short-term preservatives of whole barnacles. Performance of ethanol and NVR-preserved material was comparable, but potable alcohol was significantly worse. These results are of practical importance for fieldwork in remote areas where laboratory chemicals are unattainable but potable alcohol or NVR are locally available. Of these, acetone-based NVR would be the solvent of preference.

Reformulating higher education and renewing legitimacy through advancing sustainability : the alternative approach of Universiti Sains Malaysia

The Universiti Sains Malaysia Accelerated Programme for Excellence (APEX) program is an attempt to engage the difficult and complex problems of competition, moral leadership and responsibility in Malaysian education. This paper discusses and gives an analysis of some central issues with regards to USM' s reform agenda. I seek to place the USM project within a broader debate over the nature of reform and the possibilities of business unusual in the Malaysian and global environment. The paper is part of a broader project of theorization of USM in the context of understanding what APEX is and how it truly offers a new and vigorous engagement with the problems of higher education in Malaysia.