A return on investment: the future of police cooperation between Australia and Indonesia

This Special Report presents a strategy for the future relationship between Indonesia’s National Police—known as POLRI—and the Australian Federal Police (AFP). It draws on 60 interviews with current and retired police officers, officials from other Australian and Indonesian agencies, and academic experts in related fields. The report presents a strategy for the future POLRI–AFP relationship in two parts. The first paperexamines the near term to early 2015. POLRI and the AFP should first aim to restore full trust and cooperation in all relevant policing areas, especially in cybercrime. Early initiatives could include a 10‑year celebration for the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, workshops for future AFP and POLRI leaders, and a request for POLRI officers to support the AFP during the G20 meeting in November 2014. It would also be worth sponsoring an international ‘needs analysis’ for POLRI. Reinstating funding for the Law Enforcement Cooperation Program is needed to promote the AFP’s flexibility and responsiveness during this time. The second paper provides background, tracing the remarkable relationship between the Australian Federal Police and the Indonesian National Police from its early days, where the focus was on information sharing, through a journey into joint operations. The paper describes the numerous capability cooperation initiatives that the forces have undertaken, especially since 2002, and charts both successes and times where cooperation didn’t necessarily deliver as intended

Jokowi’s Generals, Civilian Control, and the Power of the Panglima

The relationship between the president and the military chief (known as the Panglima) can be a useful proxy for understanding the state of civil-military relations in Indonesia. This research note argues that, under President Joko Widodo, democratic norms of civil-military relations have been further eroded with the selection of the Panglima becoming increasingly politicised, rather than being guided by operational or service rotation needs. Also, the president has experienced varying levels of civilian control over the military chief, influenced by factors such as personality and timing

Critical analysis of features and quality of applications for clinical management of acne

Background: Mobile medical applications (apps) for clinical management of medical conditions are increasing in prevalence. Our aim was to identify features and overall quality of acne apps that could facilitate clinical management. Methods: We established 10 pertinent features (6 essential and 4 desirable) for an acne app through literature search and nominal group discussion. Searches were then conducted in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Apps which assisted with clinical management of acne were assessed for functionality and quality. Overall quality was evaluated by grading against pre-established criteria for medical apps. Results: A total of 358 Apple apps and 256 Google apps were found. After removing apps which did not assist with the clinical management of acne, 12 Apple and 13 Google apps remained. Apps were classified as interactive, informational, or teledermatology apps. Mean Masud scores were 12.8±3.7 for the Apple apps and 12.2±3.7 for the Google apps. Conclusions: Mobile acne apps can be effective in the self-management and collaborative management of acne. The current acne apps are of variable quality and none contained all 10 features crucial for effective clinical management. The shortcomings identified in this paper can guide future acne app development

Clinical relevance of findings in trials of CBT for depression

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is beneficial in depression. Symptom scores can be translated into Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scale scores to indicate clinical relevance. We aimed to assess the clinical relevance of findings of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of CBT in depression. We identified RCTs of CBT that used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD). HAMD scores were translated into Clinical Global Impression – Change scale (CGI-I) scores to measure clinical relevance. One hundred and seventy datasets from 82 studies were included. The mean percentage HAMD change for treatment arms was 53.66%, and 29.81% for control arms, a statistically significant difference. Combined active therapies showed the biggest improvement on CGI-I score, followed by CBT alone. All active treatments had better than expected HAMD percentage reduction and CGI-I scores. CBT has a clinically relevant effect in depression, with a notional CGI-I score of 2.2, indicating a significant clinical response. The non-specific or placebo effect of being in a psychotherapy trial was a 29% reduction of HAMD

Increased adrenal secretion of norepinephrine and epinephrine after endotoxin and its reversal with corticosteroids

Two groups of dogs were subjected to an LD60 of E. coli endotoxin. Group II animals were pretreated with 30 mg/kg of methyl prednisolone sodium succinate before the intravenous endotoxin. All animals had hypotension and diminished cardiac index after endotoxin administration.The nonsteroid dogs, Group I, demonstrated increased adrenal secretion of norepinephrine and epinephrine. Arterial plasma catecholamines were comparable. Group II steroid-treated animals demonstrated lower adrenal secretion of norepinephrine and epinephrine when compared to Group I, nonsteroid animals. These results demonstrate that pretreatment with pharmacologic doses of synthetic corticosteroids exerts a specific effect on the adrenal medulla in endotoxin shock that profoundly limits adrenal catecholamine release.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/22090/1/0000514.pd

Chemokines cooperate with TNF to provide protective anti-viral immunity and to enhance inflammation

The role of cytokines and chemokines in anti-viral defense has been demonstrated, but their relative contribution to protective anti-viral responses in vivo is not fully understood. Cytokine response modifier D (CrmD) is a secreted receptor for TNF and lymphotoxin containing the smallpox virus-encoded chemokine receptor (SECRET) domain and is expressed by ectromelia virus, the causative agent of the smallpox-like disease mousepox. Here we show that CrmD is an essential virulence factor that controls natural killer cell activation and allows progression of fatal mousepox, and demonstrate that both SECRET and TNF binding domains are required for full CrmD activity. Vaccination with recombinant CrmD protects animals from lethal mousepox. These results indicate that a specific set of chemokines enhance the inflammatory and protective anti-viral responses mediated by TNF and lymphotoxin, and illustrate how viruses optimize anti-TNF strategies with the addition of a chemokine binding domain as soluble decoy receptors.We thank Javier Salguero for help with animal experimentation and immunohistochemistry, Rocío Martín and Carolina Sánchez for technical assistance and Daniel Rubio for discussions on the project. This work was funded by Grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiviness and European Union (European Regional Development’s Funds, FEDER) (grant SAF2015-67485-R), and the Wellcome Trust (grant 051087/Z97/Z). M.B.R.-A. and A. Alejo were recipients of a Ramón y Cajal Contract from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Strategic alliances in the corporate environment

This paper concentrates on research regarding the various types of strategic alliances that are employed within the corporate environment. A strategic alliance defined is the sharing of resources between two or more companies in order to provide shared benefits that otherwise individually would be more difficult to realise. This paper applies the findings to the Engineering Line of Business (ELoB) of BC Hydro, a Crown corporation in British Columbia. ELoB is entering a transition phase where deregulation is a distinct possibility in the horizon of the electrical industry in BC. In order to position itself to sustain and then grow in the marketplace, ELoB must pay attention to its core business which consists of Transmission Engineering, Distribution Engineering, and Generation Engineering. ELoB must also grow its people resources as it is suffering from weak succession planning from HR decisions from the 1990’s. One way of positioning ELoB to remain a leader in the hydroelectricity industry in BC is to selectively enter partnerships that can benefit ELoB and allow it to grow and reach the goals it has set for itself