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Across the world, there is an increasing tendency for businesses to rely on best practices, based on the assumption that they provide proven, credible and efficient solutions. In-depth scrutiny of 'best practicism', however, paints a different picture of its effectiveness; indeed, the adoption of best practices is commonly ineffective due to their misapplication or the use of unsupported assumptions. This article explores the use of best practices in the business resilience profession and describes reasons why assumptions about them are often incorrect. Cautions about best practices focus on the importance of change processes, underestimating problem complexity, and the influence of confirmation bias. These factors, and ways to address them, are described in the context of business resilience.

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Decision-making is a central aspect of crisis management, yet research and literature directed at the topic are scarce. Consequently, practitioners have access to very few new decision-making insights. To help fill this knowledge gap, a study of leader decision-making during the 2017 Northern California firestorm was undertaken. The outcomes of the study suggest that crisis decision-making may be less process-driven and consequence-focused than has been previously thought. Rather, a myriad of human elements appear to have significantly influenced crisis decision-making. Three influences discussed in this paper involve the fluidity and variability of decision factors, leader and team trust, and leader wellbeing. Finally, the paper discusses the practical implications of the study's outcomes.

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OBJECTIVES: We examined the role that Indigenous Elders can play in ensuring that community-based research (CBR) is conducted ethically. METHODS: We present data from a larger qualitative study exploring ethical issues that occur in HIV-related CBR through the experiences of researchers engaged in CBR. Between May 2010 and July 2011, we interviewed 51 academic and community research team leaders of federally funded HIV CBR studies. We used thematic analysis techniques to identify themes. RESULTS: Participating researchers engage Elders in research because Elders are keepers of Indigenous knowledge, dynamic ethical consultants, community protectors, and credible sources of information who are able to counsel and support, mediate conflict, provide local context and history, and conduct ceremonial roles. Potential challenges cited by participants to engaging Elders in research include finding the right "fit," approaching Elders in a culturally appropriate way, and bureaucratic environments that do not honor Indigenous processes. CONCLUSIONS: Culturally appropriate Elder engagement in HIV CBR with Indigenous communities is vital for promoting positive relationships and culturally safe research that respects ceremony and Indigenous ways of knowing.

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The role of alcohol in the transmission of HIV and access to health services for persons living with HIV/AIDS is relatively unexamined across the globe. Our team's community-based, mixed methods study examined both of these questions from the perspectives of Aboriginal persons living in Canada with HIV/AIDS (APHA) and service providers (SP). A bilingual national survey was undertaken with APHAs and SPs and the findings were followed up on in peer interviews. A complex relationship was identified between alcohol use, perceptions of alcohol use and access to services. Nearly half of APHAs surveyed reported that alcohol played a role in their becoming HIV positive. APHAs and SPs differed in their assessment of the impact of alcohol in the lives of Aboriginal persons once diagnosed, with a far greater proportion of SPs identifying it as problematic. Both SPs and APHAs associated the misuse of alcohol with diminished health. Nearly half of the APHAs surveyed shared they had been told they were drinking by a SP when they were not, while over one-third reported ever being denied services because of drinking when in fact they were not. Both SPs and APHAs identified physical health and discrimination as key reasons. Notwithstanding these results that point to shortcomings in service provision, the data also reveal that most APHAs are recieving care in which their choices are respected and from providers they trust. The findings point to the need for a nuanced strategy to solidify the strengths and address the shortcomings in APHA's service provision.

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X-ray backlit radiographs of dense plasma shells can be significantly altered by refraction of x rays that would otherwise travel straight-ray paths, and this effect can be a powerful tool for diagnosing the spatial structure of the plasma being radiographed. We explore the conditions under which refraction effects may be observed, and we use analytical and numerical approaches to quantify these effects for one-dimensional radial opacity and density profiles characteristic of inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) implosions. We also show how analytical and numerical approaches allow approximate radial plasma opacity and density profiles to be inferred from point-projection refraction-enhanced radiography data. This imaging technique can provide unique data on electron density profiles in ICF plasmas that cannot be obtained using other techniques, and the uniform illumination provided by point-like x-ray backlighters eliminates a significant source of uncertainty in inferences of plasma opacity profiles from area-backlit pinhole imaging data when the backlight spatial profile cannot be independently characterized. The technique is particularly suited to in-flight radiography of imploding low-opacity shells surrounding hydrogen ice, because refraction is sensitive to the electron density of the hydrogen plasma even when it is invisible to absorption radiography. It may also provide an alternative approach to timing shockwaves created by the implosion drive, that are currently invisible to absorption radiography.

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Bremsstrahlung is correlated with high-energy electrons in laser-heated plasma [K. Brueckner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 36, 677 (1976)]. Since the result is important to the National Ignition Campaign (NIC) we reconsider the derivation, and the energy dependence of the Gaunt factor(s). We find an expression for bremsstrahlung we can Abel invert, and we demonstrate the accuracy of the transform with a simple numeric exercise.

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A diagnostic is developed for the nonintrusive study of the azimuthal drift current in the coaxial ExB discharge of a Hall plasma accelerator. The technique of fast current interruption is used to generate a signal on several loop antenna that circle the outer wall of the discharge channel. The signal on the antenna is recorded, and used to determine the spatial distribution of the azimuthal drift at the moment of current interruption. The results of the experiment are compared to estimates derived via prior intrusive measurements, and the intrusive estimates are found to predict the spatial characteristics of the azimuthal drift, but underestimate its total magnitude. The self-induced magnetic field is then calculated and added to the applied magnetic field. The peak total magnetic field is seen to shift 2-5mm towards the anode due to self-induction, and suffer a reduction in magnitude of 10%-15%. The peak in the total magnetic field is then found to more closely coincide with the peak of the measured electric field than the peak of the vacuum magnetic field. It is concluded that the self-induced magnetic field could be important to anomalous electron mobility in the Hall-effect thruster, and simulation efforts should try to include its impact.