https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/23 2026-10-16T10:48:44Z 2026-10-16T10:48:44Z Kirkbride, Mark https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/34000 2026-10-15T02:00:32Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Coherence/incoherence: A gestalt approach to the representation of ‘mental disorders’ using literary genres Authors: Kirkbride, Mark Abstract: ii Abstract This creative writing PhD explores mental health in the light of literary genres and comprises a novel, The Conspiracy Factory, and critical reflection. Set in a psychiatric facility, the novel is told in, through and between different genres, with ‘schizophrenia’ mapped onto the cognitive estrangement of science fiction, ‘PTSD’ onto psychological horror, and ‘paranoia’ onto a conspiracy thriller. What it is like to experience each ‘disorder’ is communicated through familiarity with these genres. The research responds to current theories of consciousness, which state that we all hallucinate (Seth, 2022) and the brain fills in gaps to form wholes even – especially – if wrong. Since the brain uses models (Frith, 2007), it makes sense to use models. Genres supply such models and the emphasis is on genres as gestalts. For the research asks how successfully coherence, as opposed to incoherence, can be used to represent or communicate the experience of ‘mental disorders’. Whereas the modernists and many writers since have used incoherence to represent mental health conditions, with surface difficulty gesturing at that experience, it investigates whether taking the opposite course, writing in terms of the whole or gestalt, provides a more ‘immersive’ approach. Accordingly, it uses plot shape and literary genres, along with associated tropes, techniques and theory, including Suvin (1979) and Todorov (1977), mapped to clusters of symptoms, to convey the experience of ‘mental disorders’. Drawing on first-hand accounts, it emphasises different genres in relation to different ‘disorders’ with the intention being to give an authentic representation of ‘mental illness’ and understand the relationship between literature, genre and mental health. By combining creative and critical methods, the research also asks how writing about ‘mental disorders’ through distinct genres illuminates ‘mental illness’, and considers what the comparison reveals about the nature of genre(s). Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Dalton, Stefan Daniel Paul https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33997 2026-10-15T02:01:21Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Implicit core belief adaptation integrated cognitive behavioural therapy Authors: Dalton, Stefan Daniel Paul Abstract: Emotions have been at the forefront of philosophers’ and theoreticians’ curiosities for millennia. A great deal of influential research has described how emotions are defined, generated, and regulated, and many theoretical models have further described the processes underlying the maintenance of psychiatric disorders. Although implicit mechanisms are frequently documented, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practices largely rely on explicit techniques such as cognitive reappraisal. Given the large body of evidence suggesting emotion generation, emotion regulation, and emotional disorders largely operate via implicit mechanisms, the present PhD thesis investigated implicit emotion processing and potential techniques for utilising implicit emotion regulation strategies within brief CBT interventions. This thesis adopted several methodological approaches, including meta-analyses, behavioural studies, and intervention studies. Several novel findings were reported. First, behavioural and fMRI meta-analyses reported maladaptive implicit emotion regulation in mood and anxiety disorder samples compared to healthy controls, further highlighting dysfunctional neural activation in patients within the medial prefrontal cortex. Second, implicit cognitive reappraisal was reported to be effective across symptom measures related to the cognitive model of emotional disorders, particularly at reducing maladaptive core beliefs. Third, the development of a standardised digital single-session cognitive behavioural therapy intervention for a presenting emotional complaint was effective on symptom measures, including GAD-7 scores, negative automatic thoughts, avoidance, and maladaptive core beliefs. Finally, the newly introduced implicit facial stimuli exposure integrated single-session CBT was reported to be increasingly effective on equivalent symptom measures. The findings are discussed within the context of influential theories and models of emotion generation, emotion regulation, emotional disorders, and goal-directed behaviours. From this, the emerging theory of implicit core belief adaptation is presented, which is hypothesised to be the implicit activation of adaptive core beliefs surrounding safety, acceptance, and connection via implicit exposure to facial stimuli. In conclusion, harnessing evolutionary mechanisms in response to facial stimuli may have important implications for adaptive cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses, further highlighting their importance in both research, and potentially, psychiatric practice. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Han, Jie https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33994 2026-10-14T08:40:09Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Targeting Acinetobacter baumannii wound infections: From transcriptional profiling to drug repurposing and bioactive hydrogel development Authors: Han, Jie Abstract: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing public health emergency, driven largely by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Among multidrug-resistant pathogens, Acinetobacter baumannii is a major clinical concern due to its ability to survive in hospital environments. Recent studies have shown that artificial sweeteners, including acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sodium saccharin (SACC), and sodium cyclamate (CYC), can inhibit bacterial growth, motility, and biofilm formation, and may enhance antibiotic activity in vitro. However, effective delivery of these compounds to wound infection sites remains a significant challenge. This thesis investigates alternative non-antibiotic strategies for targeting A. baumannii, with a focus on artificial sweetener-loaded polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based hydrogels, behaviour changing in wound-mimic environment, 3D-printable hydrogel development, and screening of FDA-approved drugs that modulate virulence-associated pathways. PVA-Borax and freezethaw PVA hydrogels were formulated with Ace-K, SACC, and CYC and demonstrate strong antimicrobial activity. In addition, this thesis explores how A. baumannii behaves in a woundmimic environment in Lubbock chronic wound biofilm (LCWB) medium. Under LCWB conditions, it induced reduced biofilm formation and iron-starvation responses. With iron supplementation, biofilm formation was restored. This highlights that iron is limited in the LCWB medium and is an important regulator of A. baumannii behaviour. Moreover, a 3Dprintable PVA/hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) hydrogel was then developed to improve mechanical properties and control antimicrobial release. The optimised PVA/HPMC/SACC formulation demonstrated improved printability, structural integrity, swelling behaviour, rapid SACC release and antimicrobial activity compared with non-printed formulations. Finally, a high-throughput screen of an FDA-approved drug library identified compounds that regulate pilA expression and biofilm formation in A. baumannii. A cancer drug pomalidomide, was identified as a key hit that suppressed pilA expression, reduced twitching-associated behaviour, enhanced biofilm formation, and increased infection severity in Galleria mellonella and murine infection models. Overall, these findings demonstrate that effective control of A. baumannii wound infections requires more than identifying antimicrobial compounds alone. It also requires wound-relevant testing models, rational biomaterial-based delivery systems, and careful evaluation of how nonantibiotic compounds influence bacterial physiology and virulence. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

2026-01-01T00:00:00Z Abu-Khadija, Zahiya https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33992 2026-10-14T02:00:36Z 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: An exploration of the ramification of divorce on international human rights of women in Qatar Authors: Abu-Khadija, Zahiya Abstract: The aim of the study was to explore the effects of divorce on the international human rights of women in Qatar, with a particular focus on domestic abuse. The critical perspective was utilised under both the socio-legal and doctrinal analyses. The critical perspective was informed by several theories identified in the literature review, including Islamic feminism, post-structuralism, and intersectionality. The findings are based on the synthesised analysis of Qatari family law, implementation of human rights of women treaty obligations, reservations to CEDAW, and three original court decisions. The findings reveal that oppression and discrimination of women in Qatar occur on account of a set of five categories of factors - legal, social, cultural, political and economic. The effects of these factors which are systemic, systematic and structural, display intersectionality, such as the role of social and cultural factors on the legal aspects. The analysis of the legal frameworks that govern the family affairs, coupled with laws that sanction discrimination and domestic violence reveals a gap in the extent to which Qatar protects women from discrimination. First, since there are no explicit provisions sanctioning intimate partner violence, the position of the Qatari government against domestic violence is not supported by the existing laws and how those laws are applied to incidences of violence against women. The results are evident from the three judicial decisions, whereby, although emancipation through divorce enabled the female victims to escape domestic abuse, the sanctions imposed on the perpetrators of the violence were insufficient. These legal factors can be attributed to the presence of a socio-culturally constructed patriarchal system, which perpetuates the perspective that men are superiority than women. This power dynamic accounts for the differences in how men and women are treated, both under law and in practice. Within this patriarchy, the interests of women are overlooked in most contexts. Ultimately, while the law provides for women to utilise divorce for emancipation from abusive marriages, there are limitations to this option. Similarly, the analysis of laws relating to citizenship reveals that while Qatari men automatically transmit birth-right citizenship to their children, such an assurance is not available to Qatari women married to non-Native men. The available options for such children to acquire citizenship are through a naturalisation process that features numerous bottlenecks. The provisions have implications on the oppression of Qatari women, who, due to the economic subjugation within the institution of marriage, have to consider their options regarding their ability to survive in the post-divorce period. Second, an analysis of the extent to which Qatar has fulfilled its CEDAW treaty obligations reveals the imposition of reservations, understandings and declarations (RUDs) in at least 5 articles under the treaty provisions. Qatar has adopted a customised RUDs regime, whereby reservations are made with reference to specific components of the provisions under certain articles, rather than the provisions under an entire article. The approach is indicative of the degree to which Qatar is committed to adhering to as much of the provisions as possible. The RUDs are attributed to the incompatibility between the provisions under CEDAW regarding the empowerment of women, as well as their emancipation from discrimination of all forms, and the provisions under Shariah law. Ultimately, considering the integral nature of Shariah law as a component of Qatari law, the most possible outcome in terms of improvement in treaty obligations under CEDAW by Qatar is the quantitative improvement under the provisions that no reservations exist, rather than qualitative improvement through changes to the RUDs regime. Finally, the analysis of judicial decisions regarding the application of the laws to scenarios where Qatari women sought divorce as an emancipation from domestic abuse reveals two key outcomes. On one hand, the existing laws are insufficient to legislate against intimate partner violence, and other forms of abuse of women within the institution of marriage. The lack of willingness for the country to utilise laws that govern violence to bridge the gaps is indicative of the procedural failures in Qatari jurisprudence. On the other hand, the application of Qatari laws for emancipation of women from abusive marriages does not necessarily enable women to enjoy international human rights. The analysis reveals the apparent role of patriarchy in determining what parts of the law to apply, as well as the types of sanctions to impose on the perpetrators in remedying the infringements. However, in spite of the provisions therein, the three cases reveal that the bare minimum protections assured to the parties of a divorce proceedings, specifically towards women can be excluded from the settlement. The findings highlight the ways through which the option of divorce as an emancipation from domestic abuse can end up exposing the woman to additional suffering. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London

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