Exploring the process of attending a reflective practice group during training: A preliminary grounded theory study of qualified clinical psychologists’ experiences

Section A: This section critically considers reflective practice definitions, conceptualisations and implementation within dominant theoretical models. The value and limitations of the favoured method for developing reflective capacities in clinical psychology training, the reflective practice group (RPG), are described. Group theory and the current empirical evidence base for RPGs within counsellor and clinical psychology training are critically considered and future research is suggested. Section B: This section presents a preliminary grounded theory study of qualified clinical psychologists’ experiences of attending a reflective practice group during training. Reflective practice has become implicit within the clinical psychology profession; there is a lack however of empirical research on the methods through which reflective capacities are developed in trainees. This study aimed to build upon earlier research by Knight et al. (2010), which investigated the impact of reflective practice groups (RPG) whilst training, through further qualitative exploration of the mechanisms of experience related to participants perceiving the RPG as valuable and the role of distressing experiences. Eleven qualified clinical psychologists from a UK training programme who had previously (Knight el al. 2010) been categorised into 1 of 4 factor groups based on level of perceived value and distress (e.g. high value-low distress), took part in semi-structured interviews. Grounded theory methodology informed the data collection and analysis. A preliminary interactional map of experience was constructed from the data and five categories were important in understanding how the groups were perceived as valuable in the context of varying distress levels: ‘negotiating the unknown’; ‘managing emotion’; ‘negotiating the development of self-awareness’; ‘negotiating the reciprocal impact of others’; and ‘reflection-on-reflection’. It was recommended that training programmes should consider: trainee expectations; approach and motivation; the dual-relationships within groups/cohort; and facilitator style in offering RPGs. Recommendations were made for future research to attempt to match trainee personal learning style with appropriate reflective development methods, to build an evidence base for reflective practice methods generally and to establish the benefits of reflection for clinical practice. Section C: This section presents a critical appraisal of the study undertaken in relation to 4 stipulated questions. Learning outcomes and future research skill development needs are considered, limitations of the study and proposed retrospective changes are highlighted and the impact on practice is considered. Finally suggestions for future research are elaborated upon

Constraining the Inclination of Binary Mergers from Gravitational-wave Observations

Much of the information we hope to extract from the gravitational-waves signatures of compact binaries is only obtainable when we can accurately constrain the inclination of the source. In this paper, we discuss in detail a degeneracy between the measurement of the binary distance and inclination which limits our ability to accurately measure the inclination using gravitational waves alone. This degeneracy is exacerbated by the expected distribution of events in the universe, which leads us to prefer face-on systems at a greater distance. We use a simplified model that only considers the binary distance and orientation, and show that this gives comparable results to the full parameter estimates obtained from the binary neutron star merger GW170817. For the advanced LIGO-Virgo network, it is only signals which are close to edge-on, with an inclination greater than $\sim 75^{\circ}$ that will be distinguishable from face-on systems. For extended networks which have good sensitivity to both gravitational wave polarizations, for face-on systems we will only be able to constrain the inclination of a signal with SNR 20 to be $45^{\circ}$ or less, and even for loud signals, with SNR of 100, the inclination of a face-on signal will only be constrained to $30^{\circ}$. For black hole mergers observed at cosmological distances, in the absence of higher modes or orbital precession, the strong degeneracy between inclination and distance dominates the uncertainty in measurement of redshift and hence the masses of the black holes

Enhancing the decision-making process of project managers in the built environment: An integrated approach

A study of the project manager’s (PM) function must be to examine: what their role is, their skills, and training needed. The project manager needs wide perspective regarding the classic management functions of control, coordination, communication, and the settling of performance standards. If the PM is a professional, their performance must be of the highest standard, and must be accountable for a high level of productivity. This is the project manager’s Achilles heel. Another problem is the absence of feedback during the early stages through to completion of the project. During the project’s life the relative importance of their responsibilities may change several times, including the constant changing of the dynamic environment. The PM will aim for a balanced emphasis; they will try to be flexible so they can adapt to new circumstances as they occur. The PM needs tried and tested methods to aid his decision making. This paper posits an integrated development and use of methods such as; scenario planning, effectuation, and reflective thinking to enhance decision making. The paper concludes with potential benefits that this method brings to the PM when fully understood and tested in the application domain

Extremality conditions for isolated and dynamical horizons

A maximally rotating Kerr black hole is said to be extremal. In this paper we introduce the corresponding restrictions for isolated and dynamical horizons. These reduce to the standard notions for Kerr but in general do not require the horizon to be either stationary or rotationally symmetric. We consider physical implications and applications of these results. In particular we introduce a parameter e which characterizes how close a horizon is to extremality and should be calculable in numerical simulations.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, added reference; v3 appendix added with proof of result from section IIID, some discussion and references added. Version to appear in PR

Distorted Black Holes with Charge

We present new solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations representing a class of charged distorted black holes. These solutions are static-axisymmetric and are generalizations of the distorted black hole solutions studied by Geroch and Hartle. Physically, they represent a charged black hole distorted by external matter fields. We discuss the zeroth and first law for these black holes. The first law is proved in two different forms, one motivated by the isolated horizon framework and the other using normalizations at infinity.Comment: 18 pages, LaTe

The Organ in Worship: A Sermon Delivered in the Main Street Christian Church, Lexington, Ky., May 11, 1889.

https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/crs_books/1206/thumbnail.jp

Isolated, slowly evolving, and dynamical trapping horizons: geometry and mechanics from surface deformations

We study the geometry and dynamics of both isolated and dynamical trapping horizons by considering the allowed variations of their foliating two-surfaces. This provides a common framework that may be used to consider both their possible evolutions and their deformations as well as derive the well-known flux laws. Using this framework, we unify much of what is already known about these objects as well as derive some new results. In particular we characterize and study the "almost-isolated" trapping horizons known as slowly evolving horizons. It is for these horizons that a dynamical first law holds and this is analogous and closely related to the Hawking-Hartle formula for event horizons.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures, version to appear in PRD : a few minor changes and many typos corrected in equation

When can gravitational-wave observations distinguish between black holes and neutron stars?

Gravitational-wave observations of compact binaries have the potential to uncover the distribution of masses and angular momenta of black holes and neutron stars in the universe. The binary components' physical parameters can be inferred from their effect on the phasing of the gravitational-wave signal, but a partial degeneracy between the components' mass ratio and their angular momenta limits our ability to measure the individual component masses. At the typical signal amplitudes expected by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (signal-to-noise ratios between 10 and 20), we show that it will in many cases be difficult to distinguish whether the components are neutron stars or black holes. We identify when the masses of the binary components could be unambiguously measured outside the range of current observations: a system with a chirp mass $\mathcal{M} \le 0.871$ M$_\odot$ would unambiguously contain the smallest-mass neutron star observed, and a system with \mathcal{M} \ge 2.786 \Msun must contain a black hole. However, additional information would be needed to distinguish between a binary containing two 1.35 M$_\odot$ neutron stars and an exotic neutron-star--black-hole binary. We also identify those configurations that could be unambiguously identified as black-hole binaries, and show how the observation of an electromagnetic counterpart to a neutron-star--black-hole binary could be used to constrain the black-hole spin.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Final version to be published in Ap.J.Let

Detecting binary compact-object mergers with gravitational waves: Understanding and Improving the sensitivity of the PyCBC search

We present an improved search for binary compact-object mergers using a network of ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. We model a volumetric, isotropic source population and incorporate the resulting distribution over signal amplitude, time delay, and coalescence phase into the ranking of candidate events. We describe an improved modeling of the background distribution, and demonstrate incorporating a prior model of the binary mass distribution in the ranking of candidate events. We find a $\sim 10\%$ and $\sim 20\%$ increase in detection volume for simulated binary neutron star and neutron star--binary black hole systems, respectively, corresponding to a reduction of the false alarm rates assigned to signals by between one and two orders of magnitude.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, as accepted by Ap

Improved source localization with LIGO India

A global network of advanced gravitational wave interferometric detectors is under construction. These detectors will offer an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over the initial detectors and will usher in the era of gravitational wave astronomy. In this paper, we evaluate the benefits of relocating one of the advanced LIGO detectors to India.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in proceedings of ICGC2011 conference. Localization figures update