An exploration of the experiences of stigma and community reintegration following acquired brain injury

This portfolio thesis consists of three parts; a systematic literature review, an empirical study and a set of related appendices. The thesis as a whole considers the experience of stigma and factors that affect community integration following an acquired brain injury (ABI).The first section is a systematic literature review that explores the factors that affect reintegrating into the community after an ABI. It explores the relationship between numerous different patient, injury, psychological and external factors and community integration. Twenty two papers were reviewed and their findings synthesised using a narrative synthesis approach. Review findings were combined and integrated to generate new perspectives and highlight commonalities and differences within the literature. The findings indicate the complex and multi-dimensional relationship between numerous different factors and levels of community integration following brain injury. The majority of findings were inconsistent and with small effect sizes. However, the review provided interesting points for discussion and highlighted age, severity of injury and ethnicity as predictive factors of community integration. The findings are discussed within the context of wider literature, and recommendations for additional support and targeted interventions post injury are discussed.The second section of the portfolio is an empirical study that explores the experience of stigma in an acquired brain injury population. A positive psychology framework is adopted and the study also aimed to explore the dialectical nature of experiencing stigma, in line with second wave positive psychology principles. The researcher used semi-structured interviews to obtain rich information and experiences regarding individuals experience of stigma. Data was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Six participants between the ages of 37 and 67 were interviewed, 3 of which had sustained a traumatic brain injury, 2 had experienced a stroke and one had contracted encephalitis. Three super-ordinate themes and 10 sub-themes emerged from the data. The findings indicate that participants perceived to experience stigma and discrimination from society but also experience those with a good understanding of their injuries. Post-traumatic growth in terms of developing resilience, empathy and empowerment to create social change was also evident. The interaction between both good and bad experiences may have contributed to the development of PTG and also highlights the dialectical nature of experiencing stigma. The findings are discussed in the context of wider literature and the implications for strategies to increase public understanding of brain injury and facilitate social contact between those with and without injuries.The third section consists of a set of appendices relating to both the systematic literature review and the empirical paper. A reflective statement and an epistemological statement can also be found within the appendices. The statements consider the researcher’s motivation behind the research, the positions and assumptions underlying the research and their experience of conducting the research

Probing the structure and dynamics of molecular clusters using rotational wavepackets

The chemical and physical properties of molecular clusters can heavily depend on their size, which makes them very attractive for the design of new materials with tailored properties. Deriving the structure and dynamics of clusters is therefore of major interest in science. Weakly bound clusters can be studied using conventional spectroscopic techniques, but the number of lines observed is often too small for a comprehensive structural analysis. Impulsive alignment generates rotational wavepackets, which provides simultaneous information on structure and dynamics, as has been demonstrated successfully for isolated molecules. Here, we apply this technique for the firsttime to clusters comprising of a molecule and a single helium atom. By forcing the population of high rotational levels in intense laser fields we demonstrate the generation of rich rotational line spectra for this system, establishing the highly delocalised structure and the coherence of rotational wavepacket propagation. Our findings enable studies of clusters of different sizes and complexity as well as incipient superfluidity effects using wavepacket methods.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Mapping the Complete Reaction Path of a Complex Photochemical Reaction

We probe the dynamics of dissociating CS2 molecules across the entire reaction pathway upon excitation. Photoelectron spectroscopy measurements using laboratory-generated femtosecond extreme ultraviolet pulses monitor the competing dissociation, internal conversion, and intersystem crossing dynamics. Dissociation occurs either in the initially excited singlet manifold or, via intersystem crossing, in the triplet manifold. Both product channels are monitored and show that despite being more rapid, the singlet dissociation is the minor product and that triplet state products dominate the final yield. We explain this by consideration of accurate potential energy curves for both the singlet and triplet states. We propose that rapid internal conversion stabilises the singlet population dynamically, allowing for singlet-triplet relaxation via intersystem crossing and efficient formation of spin-forbidden dissociation products on longer timescales. The study demonstrates the importance of measuring the full reaction pathway for defining accurate reaction mechanisms

Ab-Initio Surface Hopping and Multiphoton Ionisation Study of the Photodissociation Dynamics of CS2

New ab initio surface hopping simulations of the excited state dynamics of CS2 including spin-orbit coupling are compared to new experimental measurements using a multiphoton ionisation probe in a photoelectron spectroscopy experiment. The calculations highlight the importance of the triplet states even in the very early time dynamics of the dissociation process and allow us to unravel the signatures in the experimental spectrum, linking the observed changes to both electronic and nuclear degrees of freedom within the molecule

19. ‘Unity in difference’: The Representation of Life in the Soviet Union through Isotype

Between 1945 and 1947 a series comprising three slim volumes, The Soviets and Ourselves, was published with the aim ‘to promote understanding and prevent misunderstanding […] to understand is to recognize unity in difference’. The first book, Landsmen and Seafarers, aimed to present the diverse climate, geography and natural resources of the Soviet Union and compare them to those of the British Commonwealth; the second, Two Commonwealths, discussed the political evolution of the USSR and the ..

19. ‘Unity in difference’: The Representation of Life in the Soviet Union through Isotype

Between 1945 and 1947 a series comprising three slim volumes, The Soviets and Ourselves, was published with the aim ‘to promote understanding and prevent misunderstanding […] to understand is to recognize unity in difference’. The first book, Landsmen and Seafarers, aimed to present the diverse climate, geography and natural resources of the Soviet Union and compare them to those of the British Commonwealth; the second, Two Commonwealths, discussed the political evolution of the USSR and the ..

'A person does not always look like himself' : the visual representation of Russian writers, 1860-1899

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Marie Neurath: Picturing Science

This exhibition explored Marie Neurath’s pioneering methods for explaining science to children. The exhibition featured books about science, technology and natural history selected from several book series published in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Accompanying the books were groupings and sequences of preparatory material showing concept and design development. The exhibition was realised in partnership with Design Science and House of Illustration. Exhibited items were drawn from the Otto and Marie Neurath Isotype Collection, University of Reading