Commentaries: Intuition and Evidence: A Reaction to Watson and Clark

A consideration of evidence-based practice has led many to debate the nature of evidence. Rejecting the idea that randomized controlled trials should be the only legitimate source of evidence, writers have argued that other types of research and knowledge should be considered legitimate sources of evidence. This paper suggests that one should draw on systematic research, including qualitative research, for evidence, and that other types of knowledge such as craft and practice knowledge are part of the profession's expertise. This paper argues that evidence and expertise are both required for evidence-based practice to occur. Finally, a consideration of patients' values and expectations is explored as a third component of evidence-based practice. The paper argues that all three components are necessary for evidence-based practice.     

Disasters and development: Part 2: Understanding and exploiting disaster-development linkages

This lesson is a continuation of Disasters and Development: Part 2: Understanding and Exploiting Disaster-Development Linkages published in Prehospital and Disaster Medicine in Volume 17, Number 3. It identifies the goals of a specific damage mitigation project that can be incorporated into a regular development project and the mechanisms for obtaining the mitigation component of such a project. Mechanisms for assessing the success of such a project are discussed. It stresses the importance of the application of building codes, associated training programs, and more extensive use of zoning regulations in urban development that decrease the population at risk and the likelihood of damage to industrial facilities. Disasters can elevate the development potential of a society at risk for damage from a hazard. The political impact of damage and disruption can be a catalyst for change. Development opportunities often are compromised because of an excessive focus on relief assistance. Interventions designed to mitigate the damage from a given hazard are particularly effective when they focus on areas at particularly high risk for actualization of the hazard. Support from the private sector, including the non-formal sector, is a key element of successful reconstruction management. The period of recovery is an opportunity for general assistance to government with administrative procedures, including enhanced management training programs.     

Mastery and Achievement:

No abstract available for this article.     

Disasters and development: Part 2: understanding and exploiting disaster-development linkages

Disasters can impede the effectiveness of development resource allocation. The damage sustained from an event can be classified into four categories: (1) Loss of resources; (2) Interruption of programs and switching of crucial resources to other, shorter-term needs; (3) Negative impacts upon investment climates; and/or (4) Disruption of the non-formal sector (local businesses). Disasters have a particularly destructive economic impact in areas in which there are few alternatives for assets that are destroyed or in areas in which the resources already are at critical levels. Development processes can both increase and/or decrease the vulnerability of a society to hazards. There are dearly established linkages between poverty, marginalization, over-population, and vulnerability. To a large extent, vulnerability derives from poverty. The poor are more likely to live in vulnerable areas (slopes prone to landslides, flood plains, marginal agricultural land), have difficulty accessing education and information, have fewer assets to invest in resources to reduce vulnerability, and are more prone to become malnourished and have chronic illnesses that predispose them to injury and death. Development may be associated with the production of new hazards accepted by a society because the perceived benefits of the development project far exceed the relative risk associated with the project. Therefore, risk assessments must be part of any program planning and evaluation. Training and education are of critical importance in preventing increased vulnerability as a result of development strategies. Development also can progress in a manner that will result in mitigation of the impacts of an event on a given society (increase absorbing capacity and/or buffering capacity, elimination of hazards or the risk of them producing a disaster). Such mitigation measures can be either structural or nonstructural. There exists a wide range of options for incorporating mitigation measures in development projects. Two case studies provide exercises that incorporate the concepts provided in this discussion: (1) The 1985 earthquake in Mexico City; and (2) Agricultural development in northern Sudan.     

Retracted: Tetraoxanes: Synthetic and medicinal chemistry perspective

The following article from Medicinal Research Reviews, Tetraoxanes: Synthetic and medicinal chemistry perspective by Nitin Kumar, Ram Singh, Diwan S. Rawat, published online on 21 December 2009 in Wiley Online Library ( http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com ), has been retracted by agreement between the authors, the journal Editor in Chief, Binghe Wang and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. The retraction has been agreed due to inappropriate citation of previously published work.