The functional and molecular characterisation of the pig ileal NA+/bile acid co-transport protein

Bile acids are essential for the efficient digestion and absorption of lipids, and are re-absorbed by aNa+ /bile acid co-transport protein within the ileum. Investigation into the transport protein, using BBMV and Xenopus laevis oocytes, revealed that pig ileal Na +/bile acid co-transport protein was not strictly dependent of the presence of an inwardly directed Na + gradient, as previously determined. Cations which had ionic radii between 0.8 - 1.33A, most notably Na+, K+ and Ca2+, stimulated secondary active transport of taurocholate. Taurocholate uptake in the presence of inwardly directed cation gradients of Na + and K+, demonstrated Michealis Menten Kinetics, concentrative accumulation, competitive inhibition and was temperature sensitive. Preventing the translation of the gene encoding the Na+/bile acid co-transport protein, abolished secondary active transport in the presence ofboth Na+ and K+. Isolation and computer modelling of the gene which encoded the pig ileal Na +/bile acid co-transport protein, revealed that this protein was composed of 8 transmembrane domains and lead to the identification of proposed cation and bile acid binding sites. The ability of K+ to stimulate the Na +/bile acid co-transport protein could be of physiological importance in vivo, because of the depleted Na + concentration present within the ileum. Though, the rate of taurocholate transport in the presence of K+ is reduced when compared to Na+, the transport protein has very similar affinities for taurocholate in the presence of both cations and therefore could use K+ for efficient re-absorption of taurocholate. Therefore, for this study it was proposed that the Na+/bile acid co-transport protein had a preference for Na+ rather than a strict dependence as previously concluded

Psychotherapy with two late adulthood children of the colonies

Abstract: There are a small group of mature adults in their 50s and 60s, members of the so-called third age that arrive at the door for psychotherapy. As clients, they want to explore an overwhelming sense of being dis-located in space and time, and at odds with where they find themselves living. They have a deep and profound sense of not belonging and of being rootless. These older, white, adults are the baby-boomers of post World War II, and I refer to them as the adult children of the colonies because they are of European descent but born in the colonies of Africa. This paper describes the experiences of two clients, Robert and Caitlin, who find themselves feeling progressively psychically dis-located in South Africa and confronting not only their limited future in terms of impending death, but confronting existential givens of life that prevent them at this late stage of life from returning home to their ancestral lands. They present a unique group of older adult clients, and like fish out of water, they have no sense of belonging to Africa, and as a result, they experience a range of emotions such as despair and depression with a concomitant sense of fragmented identities. Discussion of the cases ensues and includes the concept of intergenerational transmission of trauma, fragmented identities, and belonging as linked to ancestral lands

In the shadow of Apartheid : intergenerational transmission of Black parental trauma as it emerges in the analytical space of inter-racial subjectivities

Abstract: Using the construct of projective identification and integrating it with the body of literature on intergenerational transmission of unsymbolized parental trauma, I describe the case of an adult black South African woman called Sibulelo. It is suggested that Sibulelo has unconsciously identified with the disavowed parents and grandparents trauma that they suffered as a result of the system of Apartheid. Such trauma is expressed through her feelings of being dis-located in time and space, as if she is living outside of herself, unplugged from life, and living someone else’s life. The paper details the unfolding therapeutic process in relation to my whiteness in the context of her blackness. This brings into sharp focus an exploration of black-white racialized transference-counter-transference matrix in the context of intergenerational trauma. It is a reflective paper and opens up my own counter-transference, thus foregrounding the notion of therapeutic inter-subjectivity. A further contribution to psychoanalytic theory concerns the role of recognition and being seen as a powerful process in facilitating the symbolization of trauma. In addition, if there is no interruption of the cycles of intergenerational trauma, and therefore no symbolization, it becomes an unconscious familial compulsion to repeat. Moreover, this therapy case highlights the idea that as a traumatised family living within a bruised culture of intergenerational transmission of trauma, such repetition of trauma becomes a cultural compulsion to repeat what has not been spoken or named

Nonlinear shell analyses of the space shuttle solid rocket boosters

A variety of structural analyses have been performed on the Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) to provide information that would contribute to the understanding of the failure which destroyed the Space Shuttle Challenger. This paper describes nonlinear shell analyses that were performed to characterize the behavior of an overall SRB structure and a segment of the SRB in the vicinity of the External Tank Attachment (ETA) ring. Shell finite element models were used that would accurately reflect the global load transfer in an SRB in a manner such that nonlinear shell collapse and ovalization could be assessed. The purpose of these analyses was to calculate the overall deflection and stress distributions for these SRB models when subjected to mechanical loads corresponding to critical times during the launch sequence. Static analyses of these SRB models were performed using a snapshot picture of the loads. Analytical results obtained using these models show no evidence of nonlinear shell collapse for the pre-liftoff loading cases considered

Preliminary 2-D shell analysis of the space shuttle solid rocket boosters

A two-dimensional shell model of an entire solid rocket booster (SRB) has been developed using the STAGSC-1 computer code and executed on the Ames CRAY computer. The purpose of these analyses is to calculate the overall deflection and stress distributions for the SRB when subjected to mechanical loads corresponding to critical times during the launch sequence. The mechanical loading conditions for the full SRB arise from the external tank (ET) attachment points, the solid rocket motor (SRM) pressure load, and the SRB hold down posts. The ET strut loads vary with time after the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) ignition. The SRM internal pressure varies axially by approximately 100 psi. Static analyses of the full SRB are performed using a snapshot picture of the loads. The field and factory joints are modeled by using equivalent stiffness joints instead of detailed models of the joint. As such, local joint behavior cannot be obtained from this global model

Developing an assessed reading portfolio to improve reading habits and raise test results

For over 10 years, preparatory students at Khalifa University, UAE, have been encouraged to improve their reading and language learning skills through the use of an assessed reading portfolio. This paper briefly outlines the rationale behind this type of assessment and the design features of the portfolio, before detailing some of the many adaptations that it has experienced over the years, paying particular attention to recent developments involving the use of technology. Through an evaluation of the portfolio, using authentic scores for the portfolio and comparing them to IELTS reading test scores, it emerges that students who do well on the portfolio are more likely to make gains in their reading scores than those who do not perform well in their reading portfolio assessment

Healing stories of the unconscious: past-life imagery in transpersonal psychotherapy

Theoretically this thesis was grounded in the discourse of transpersonal psychology and the related discourse of transpersonal feminism. The focus was on a particular category of transpersonal phenomena - past-life experiences. These experiences were viewed from a poetic and therapeutic perspective as being healing stories of the unconscious that served to articulate psychological and spiritual realities of the human psyche within both the personal and the collective unconscious. They were thus not questioned in regard to their literal occurrence. The central aims of this thesis were to (a) document and faithfully describe a participant's past-life experiences that occurred during selected psychotherapy sessions, (b) engage in a hermeneutic dialogue between the participant's past-life experiences and contemporary transpersonal literature, and, in so doing, to evaluate and extend existing theory, (c) uncover the archetypal significance of past-life experience and its relationship to the re-emerging Feminine within patriarchal culture and, finally, (d) show how the past-life stories and images contribute to the process of inner healing and transformation, a process termed 'spiritual emergence'. The research was a phenomenological-hermeneutic case study, comprising the selection of eight consecutive psychotherapy sessions in which nine past-life experiences were identified. These sessions were reduced to narrative synopses, and a hermeneutically grounded thematic analysis of a total of six past-life themes were explicated. Principle conclusions reached were that past-life stories and images contribute to the process of spiritual emergence and empowerment as well as to the re-emergence of the Feminine consciousness. Moreover, as healing stories of the unconscious, these past-life experiences can be understood as expressions of the collective struggle with unresolved archetypal forces within the collective psyche, as well as echoes of personal conflicts and dilemmas from the individual unconscious

My story in response to the stories of my patients’ experience of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic : a relational psychoanalytic approach

Abstract: The hallmark of being human is to tell stories. The stories told give meaning to the experience, and it is in telling stories about our experience, that we begin the process of meaning-making. Psychotherapy is storytelling, and in our consultation room we, as psychotherapists, listen to the tales told. This paper documents my story in response to some of the stories of my patients’ experience of the impact of the unprecedented impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. While there have been pandemics before, this pandemic is arguable unique because of social media and the number of people across the world who can share their experience. It is said that more than 4 billion people have self-isolated at home together at the same time as a collective humanity in response to their country’s lockdown rules. For psychotherapists, the shift to online therapy has allowed for a continuation of psychotherapy, and the telling of stories of COVID-19. Some of their stories are sad stories of loss and uncertainty. Some of their stories are more positive and inspiring. In this paper, three patients’ stories have been selected that illustrate both the positive and negative reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the conceptual framework is relational psychoanalytic with its focus on the dynamics of the intersubjective relationship, my story, as counter-transference reactions are incorporated