Head injury from a bungee run

An adaptation of bungee jumping, 'bungee running', involves participants attempting to run as far as they can whilst connected to an elastic rope which is anchored to a fixed point. Usually considered a safe recreational activity, we report a potentially life-threatening head injury following a bungee running accident.

Reassembled, Slightly Askew:Composition & Sound Design

Reassembled, Slightly Askew is an autobiographical, immersive audio-based artwork based on Shannon Sickels’ experience of falling critically ill with a rare brain infection and her journey of rehabilitation with an acquired brain injury. Audience members experience Reassembled individually, listening to the audio via headphones while lying on a bed. The piece makes use of binaural microphone technology and spatial sound design techniques, causing listeners to feel they are inside Shannon’s head, viscerally experiencing her descent into coma, brain surgeries, early days in the hospital, and re-integration into the world with a hidden disability. It is a new kind of storytelling, never done before about this topic, that places the listener safely in the first-person perspective with the aim of increasing empathy and understanding. Reassembled… was made through a 5-year collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of artists led by Shannon Sickels (writer & performer), Paul Stapleton (composer & sound designer), Anna Newell (director), Hanna Slattne (dramaturgy), Stevie Prickett (choreography), and Shannon’s consultant neurosurgeon and head injury nurse. It’s development and production has been made possible with the support of a Wellcome Trust Arts Award, the Arts Council NI, Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast's Metropolitan Arts Centre, and grants from the Arts & Disability Award Ireland scheme. In its 2015 premiere year, Reassembled had 99 shows across Northern Ireland, including at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival (the MAC, Belfast) and BOUNCE Arts & Disability Forum Festival (Lyric Theatre, Belfast). It was awarded 5 stars in the Stage, a Hospital Club h100 Theatre & Performance Award, and been shared at medical conferences and trainings across the UK. It continues to be presented in diverse artistic and educational contexts, including as part of A Nation’s Theatre Festival in 2016 at Battersea Arts Centre in London where it was given 4 star reviews in the Guardian, Time Out London and the Evening Standard. "A real-life ordeal, captured by a daring, disorientating artistic collaboration, which works brilliantly on so many levels…It should be available on prescription.” — The Stage ★★★★★ www.reassembled.co.uk Audio clips and documentary footage available here: http://www.paulstapleton.net/portfolio/reassembled-slightly-askew

Modern management of head injuries

Management of the head-injured patient is designed to prevent secondary injury and to provide the neurosurgeon with a live patient who has some hope of recovery. This review sets out the background essentials for the non-neurosurgeon dealing with the initial care of a head-injured patient.

The causal attributions of nursing students towards adolescent survivors of brain injury

Background: The hidden nature of brain injury means that it is often difficult for people to understand the sometimes challenging behaviors that individuals exhibit. The misattribution of these behaviors may lead to a lack of consideration and public censure if the individual is seen as simply misbehaving.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of visual cues indicating the presence or absence of brain injury on prejudice, desire for social interaction, and causal attributions of nursing and computing science students.

Method: An independent-groups design was employed in this research, which recruited 190 first-year nursing students and 194 first-year computing science students from a major university in Belfast, UK. A short passage describing an adolescent’s behavior after a brain injury, together with one of three images portraying a young adolescent with a scar, a head dressing, or neither of these, was given to participants. They were then asked to answer questions relating to prejudice, social interaction, locus of control, and causal attributions. The attributional statements suggested that the character’s behavior could be the result of brain injury or adolescence.

Results: Analysis of variance demonstrated a statistically significant difference between the student groups, where nursing students (M = 45.17, SD = 4.69) desired more social interaction with the fictional adolescent than their computer science peers (M = 38.64, SD = 7.69). Further, analysis of variance showed a main effect of image on the attributional statement that described adolescence as a suitable explanation for the character’s lack of self-confidence.

Discussion: Attributions of brain injury were influenced by the presence of a visible but potentially specious indicator of injury. This suggests that survivors of brain injury who do not display any outward indicator may receive less care and face expectations to behave in a manner consistent with the norms of society. If their injury does not allow them to meet with these expectations, they may face public censure and discrimination.

The effect of increasing dietary fibre and the provision of straw racks on the welfare of sows housed in small static groups

This study assessed the effects of increasing dietary fibre levels in concentrate rations and providing access to straw in racks on the welfare of pregnant sows housed in small static groups. In a 2 x 2 factorial design experiment, 128 Large White x Landrace pregnant sows were offered one of two diets: (i) High fibre diet with 9% crude fibre, or (ii) Control diet with 4.5% CF, and one of two levels of access to a foraging substrate: (i) access to straw in racks or (ii) no straw. The study was replicated eight times using groups of four sows, and treatment periods lasted four weeks. Sows were housed in pens with voluntary cubicles and a slatted exercise area and were offered a wet diet twice a day. Back-fat levels were measured before sows were mixed into groups at 28 days post partum, and four weeks later. Aggressive interactions were recorded on the day of mixing, and injury scores were recorded one week post mixing. Scan sampling was used to collect data on general activity, posture and location of the sows, and on sham-chewing and bar-biting behaviours across the treatment period. In addition, detailed focal observations were carried out on all sows across the treatment period. Straw usage was also recorded. There were no treatment effects on changes in back-fat levels over the treatment period. Treatments had no effect on post-mixing aggression or on injury scores. However, focal observations showed that sows with access to straw were involved in fewer bouts of head-thrusting over the treatment period. Control diet sows spent more time inactive than sows on the high fibre diet, however high fibre diet sows spent more time lying with eyes closed than sows on the control diet. Sows on the high fibre diet with access to straw showed less sham-chewing and bar-biting behaviour than sows in other treatments. These results show that although a diet containing 9% crude fibre promoted resting behaviour, it was necessary to combine it with access to straw to reduce stereotypic behaviour of sows in small static groups.