The formation of objects in the group matrix: Reflections on creative therapy with clay

In this article describes an experimental group experience where five people worked in silence for 20 minutes around a 2 ft square slate using clay as a medium for communication as part of a creative therapy session on an inpatient psychiatric ward. The interaction culminated in a group sculpt. It is suggested that the process of the sculpting may throw some light on the formation of objects in the unconscious group matrix. The article is intended as a contribution towards the debate about the potential symbiosis between group analysis and the creative therapies (Waller) as well as the basis for further investigation into Rey's question about the formation of group matrix

Career advancement of the professional women in the UK construction industry: Career success factors

The issue regarding the lack of women in the UK construction industry has become more prominent for some time, attracting government and industry wide attention due to this potential skill shortage facing the industry. In order to meet these future demands the industry cannot rely on recruiting only from the male workforce. Therefore women?s participation for the construction industry especially for professional level is important. This paper explores the importance of career success factors among professional women in the UK construction industry to achieve their career advancement. E-questionnaires were designed and data was collected from 31 professional women, consist of 10 women in idealism career phase (early career phase),10 in endurance career phase (mid career phase) and 11 from reinventive career phase (advanced career phase). Using relative important index technique, the level of importance of career success factors were group in to three categories. The critical career success factors, moderately important career success factors and the least important career success factors were categorised among women in each career phase. The results indicated that the age and gender didn?t have impact on professional women?s career advancement. Ability to work with people have been identified as one of the critical career success factors both in early and mid career with the highest overall index of 1.00, while strategic vision has became the one of the critical career success factor in advanced career with the highest index of 0.95. The finding of this study will have input towards the identification of different training and development activities to advance women?s career in the construction industr

Capacity building towards resilience: context of post disaster waste management

Capacity building provides an opportunity to understand strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities towards a resilient future through identification of broader issues around sustainable development of a particular program, project or process, including their unique cultural, social and ecological characteristics. Thus, concept of capacity building is an essential component in development theory and practice. In particular, in post disaster scenarios, focus has been placed upon local capacity building as a means of increasing resilience to natural hazards. In this context, this paper focuses on concept of capacity building and its role in post disaster waste management towards building future resilience. Case studies have been conducted to gather information on existing capacities of post disaster waste management in Sri Lanka. Semi-structured interviews were held as the main data collection method and content analysis was used to analyse collected data. Results of existing capacities and identified gaps of post disaster waste management are presented in key areas as skills and confidence building, links and collaborations, continuity and sustainability, research and development, communication and coordination, organisational implementations and investments in infrastructure. Finally, the paper concludes with proposed recommendations for enhancing capacities of post disaster waste management towards future resilience

Waste management strategies during post disaster phase: A case of Sri Lanka

Natural or man made disasters cause serious negative impacts on life, property, livelihood and industries often resulting in permanent changes to societies and environments. In disasters, creation of waste due to damaged buildings and infrastructure is unavoidable. If these wastes are not properly managed, serious environmental and economic burdens will fall on general living conditions, reconstruction and as well as general waste collection processes. Therefore, management of disaster waste has emerged as a critical issue and poses a significant challenge to governing bodies in responding to a disaster. This is not unique to Sri Lanka which is prone to frequent natural disasters such as floods, landslides and droughts apart from the Asian Tsunami of 2004. This paper addresses post disaster waste management strategies adopted and issues and challenges encountered at both national and local levels in Sri Lanka during post - Indian Ocean Tsunami period. A comprehensive literature review and a field survey were conducted to gather information. Accordingly, most affected six districts were selected based on three types of disasters namely floods, landslide and the Tsunami. Seven national institutes responsible for managing disasters were selected for collection of data at national level. Semi-structured interviews were used as the main method of data collection at each stage and content analysis was used to analyze data that was collected. Local level findings revealed that strategies, issues and challenges vary according to the type of disaster, magnitude and location. Unavailability of a centralized body, poor implementation of rules and regulations; poor standards of local expertise and capacities, inadequate funds, lack of communication and coordination were identified as key issues at national level

Capacity building for sustainable post disaster waste management: Construction \& demolition waste

Disasters, both natural and man-made, have been occurring with increasing frequency and effect in recent decades in many countries around the world. Among them, Sri Lanka is yet to recover from the effects of December 2004 Tsunami. Among many other reasons it has been identified that lack of awareness of the mechanisms and systems for post disaster waste management is a critical issue of concern. None of the Sri Lankan academic institutions related to the field offer courses designed for the management of disaster waste within the country. Furthermore, none of these institutions conduct awareness programmes aimed at the public on new mechanisms and systems of management of disaster waste. To address these issues, this research aims to enhance capacities to develop new mechanisms and systems for sustainable post disaster waste management focusing on construction and demolition waste. To achieve the identified aim, the research will explore current status of disaster waste management in Sri Lanka and a framework will be proposed for enhancing capacities for sustainable disaster waste management in economical, social and technological aspects. The research methodology includes a comprehensive literature review, semi structured interviews and case study with selected personal views on management of disaster waste management. In this context, the objective of this paper is to present the current scenario of disaster waste management based on the results of a secondary survey

Capacity building towards sustainability: Context of post disaster waste management

Concept of Capacity Building is an essential component in development theory and practice. In developing countries, it is identified as a key concept in achieving sustainability. In particular, in post disaster scenarios, focus has been placed upon local capacity building as a means of increasing resilience to natural hazards. In this context, this paper focuses on concept of capacity building and its role on achieving sustainable post disaster waste management. A literature review and pilot study have been conducted to gather information on post disaster waste management in Sri Lanka. Semi-structured interviews were held as the main data collection method and content analysis was used to analyse collected data. Unavailability of a centralized body, poor implementation of rules and regulations; lack of skills and confidence, inadequate funds, lack of communication and coordination were identified as prevailing capacity gaps in post disaster waste management. Thus, finally paper proposes a framework for capacity building for sustainable post disaster waste management

Symbolic framework for linear active circuits based on port equivalence using limit variables

Published versio

A new role for BiP: closing the aqueous translocon pore during protein integration into the ER membrane

In mammalian cells, most membrane proteins are inserted cotranslationally into the ER membrane at sites termed translocons. Although each translocon forms an aqueous pore, the permeability barrier of the membrane is maintained during integration, even when the otherwise tight ribosome–translocon seal is opened to allow the cytoplasmic domain of a nascent protein to enter the cytosol. To identify the mechanism by which membrane integrity is preserved, nascent chain exposure to each side of the membrane was determined at different stages of integration by collisional quenching of a fluorescent probe in the nascent chain. Comparing integration intermediates prepared with intact, empty, or BiP-loaded microsomes revealed that the lumenal end of the translocon pore is closed by BiP in an ATP-dependent process before the opening of the cytoplasmic ribosome–translocon seal during integration. This BiP function is distinct from its previously identified role in closing ribosome-free, empty translocons because of the presence of the ribosome at the translocon and the nascent membrane protein that extends through the translocon pore and into the lumen during integration. Therefore, BiP is a key component in a sophisticated mechanism that selectively closes the lumenal end of some, but not all, translocons occupied by a nascent chain. By using collisional quenchers of different sizes, the large internal diameter of the ribosome-bound aqueous translocon pore was found to contract when BiP was required to seal the pore during integration. Therefore, closure of the pore involves substantial conformational changes in the translocon that are coupled to a complex sequence of structural rearrangements on both sides of the ER membrane involving the ribosome and BiP

Optical studies of two LMC X-ray transients : RX J0544.1-7100 and RX J0520.5-6932

We report observations which confirm the identities of the optical counterpart to the transient sources RX J0544.1-7100 and RX J0520.5-6932. The counterparts are suggested to be a B-type stars. Optical data from the observations carried out at ESO and SAAO, together with results from the OGLE data base, are presented. In addition, X-ray data from the RXTE all-sky monitor are investigated for long term periodicities. A strong suggestion for a binary period of 24.4d is seen in RX J0520.5-6932 from the OGLE data.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure