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Alternative and modified isoprenoid routes
Alternative and modified isoprenoid routes are non-canonical pathways by which archaea and some bacteria make isoprenoid precursors IPP and DMAPP, differing from the canonical mevalonate and MEP pathways.
Alternative certification for physics teachers
Alternative certification for physics teachers refers to routes into teaching that differ from standard college-based preparation, letting degree holders begin teaching while completing coursework for a credential.
Alternative complement pathway
Alternative complement pathway: antibody-independent, constitutively active complement route driven by spontaneous C3 hydrolysis (tick-over), factor B, factor D, and properdin; forms C3bBb, amplifies all complement activation, and is targeted by iptacopan.
Alternative complex III, ActD subunit
ActD subunit (Pfam PF11821, InterPro IPR021776) of bacterial alternative complex III (ACIII): a small transmembrane protein with two crossing helices, no redox cofactors, adjacent to ActC, proposed to stabilize the menaquinol binding pocket and proton translocation passage.
Alternative country
Alternative country (alt-country; also insurgent country, y'alternative) is a loosely defined country subgenre blending country with punk and rock aesthetics, crystallized by Uncle Tupelo's 1990 album No Depression and the No Depression magazine, later absorbed into Americana.
Alternative dispute resolution
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) covers mediation, arbitration, conciliation, and ombudsman schemes for settling disputes outside court. Covers definitions, history, effectiveness evidence, and 2025-2026 EU and UK consumer ADR reforms.
Alternative DSM-5 model for personality disorders
The Alternative DSM-5 Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) is a hybrid dimensional and categorical system in Section III of DSM-5, rating impairment and 25 pathological traits.
Alternative facts
Alternative facts: phrase coined by Kellyanne Conway on Meet the Press, January 22, 2017, defending Sean Spicer's false inauguration-crowd claims; widely treated as a euphemism for lies and a symbol of post-truth politics.
Alternative for Germany
Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), Alternative for Germany: German party founded 2013 against euro rescue policy, now radical right-populist; entered Bundestag 2017, second in 2025 with over 20%, never in government, classified right-wing extremist.
Alternative fuel
Alternative fuel is a term for transport and heating fuels used instead of conventional petroleum products, including ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity, with legal definitions varying.
Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation
The Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) is a 2023 European Union law setting mandatory targets for electric recharging and hydrogen refuelling stations, in force since April 2024.
Alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop is a tradition in United States hip hop, running from the late 1980s to the present, of artists whose music stood outside dominant commercial styles.
Alternative investment
An alternative investment, also known as an alternative asset, is a financial asset outside publicly traded stocks, bonds, and cash, including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, and commodities.
Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT)
Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is a telomerase-independent, homologous recombination-based telomere maintenance mechanism used by roughly 10-15% of cancers, marked by APBs, C-circles, and ATRX/DAXX loss.
Alternative media
Alternative media: nonmainstream media forms, also called citizen, radical, or movement media, that are smaller-scale, participatory, and often oppositional; studied through protest coverage, trust effects, and misinformation risk.
Alternative media (U.S. political right)
Alternative media (U.S. political right): conservative and far-right outlets, from 1960s Radio Right and Rush Limbaugh talk radio to Fox News, Breitbart, and Rumble, self-branded as correctives to liberal mainstream media, with mixed polarization effects and post-2020 audience fragmentation.
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine (CAM): medical systems, practices, and products outside standard care, used in place of (alternative) or alongside (complementary) conventional medicine. Includes supplements, acupuncture, yoga, Ayurveda, homeopathy; studied by NCCIH and governed by WHO TCIM strategy 2025–2034.
Alternative metal
Alternative metal (alt-metal): heavy metal fused with alternative rock and outside influences like funk, rap, and industrial. Emerged mid-1980s US with Faith No More, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden; dominated 1990s metal; spawned nu metal via Korn and Limp Bizkit.
Alternative minimum tax
The alternative minimum tax (AMT) is a parallel US federal income tax under which certain individuals, estates, and trusts pay the larger of regular or alternative tax.
Alternative oxidase
Alternative oxidase (AOX), encoded by Aox1/AOX1-type nuclear genes, is a cyanide-resistant mitochondrial terminal oxidase in plants, some fungi, and protists that oxidizes ubiquinol, reduces oxygen to water without proton pumping, and drives thermogenesis and stress tolerance.
Alternative R&B
Alternative R&B (alt-R&B, indie R&B, PBR&B) is an experimental strand of contemporary R&B that broke out in 2011 via Frank Ocean and The Weeknd, defined by atmospheric, lo-fi production and confessional lyrics.
Alternative rock
Alternative rock, also known as alt-rock, is a broad style of rock from punk and independent underground scenes of the late 1970s and 1980s that reached the mainstream in the early 1990s.
Alternative school
Alternative school: a public or private school with a special, more flexible curriculum than a traditional school; covers Montessori, Waldorf, magnet, charter, and at-risk-student schools, with US roots in 19th-century reform, industrial, and vocational schools.
Alternative spellings of woman
Alternative spellings of woman, including womyn, wimmin, and womxn, are feminist respellings avoiding m-a-n/m-e-n; womxn, added to Dictionary.com in 2019, is framed as trans- and nonbinary-inclusive, while womyn has exclusionary associations.
Alternative splicing
Alternative splicing, also called differential splicing, is a process in which a single gene produces multiple proteins by joining its RNA exons in different combinations.
Alternative stable states
Alternative stable states are distinct self-maintaining ecosystem configurations possible under identical environmental conditions, an idea from the 1960s with shallow lakes as the classic example.
Alternative versions of Batman
Alternative versions of Batman: depictions of Batman outside DC main continuity, spanning the Multiverse, Elseworlds (Gotham by Gaslight, Red Rain, Kingdom Come), Flashpoint's Thomas Wayne, the Dark Multiverse's Batman Who Laughs, Absolute Batman, and separate film and animation continuities.
Alternative versions of Spider-Man
Alternative versions of Spider-Man: the many Marvel Comics and screen portrayals beyond Peter Parker of Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962), including Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man 2099, and the 2014 Spider-Verse crossover that named the concept.
Alternative versions of Superman
Alternative versions of Superman: parallel-Earth, Elseworlds, and screen incarnations of DC's Superman (Clark Kent/Kal-El, Action Comics #1, 1938), spanning Ultraman, Superboy-Prime, Calvin Ellis, Val-Zod, Jon Kent, Red Son, Injustice, and film variants.
Alternatives to imprisonment
Alternatives to imprisonment are non-custodial sanctions such as fines, community service, probation, restitution, and electronic monitoring served in the community instead of prison, promoted under the UN Tokyo Rules and used by an estimated 12.5 million people worldwide.