Identifying mechanisms of change in a conversation therapy for aphasia using behaviour change theory and qualitative methods.

Background: Conversation therapy for aphasia is a complex intervention comprising multiple components and targeting multiple outcomes. UK Medical Research Council (MRC) guidelines published in 2008 recommend that in addition to measuring the outcomes of complex interventions, evaluation should seek to clarify how such outcomes are produced, including identifying the hypothesized mechanisms of change.

Aims: To identify mechanisms of change within a conversation therapy for people with aphasia and their partners.

Conversation Therapy with People with Aphasia and Conversation Partners using Video Feedback: A Group and Case Series Investigation of Changes in Interaction.

Conversation therapies employing video for feedback and to facilitate outcome measurement are increasingly used with people with post-stroke aphasia and their conversation partners; however the evidence base for change in everyday interaction remains limited. We investigated the effect of Better Conversations with Aphasia (BCA), an intervention that is freely available online at https://extend.ucl.

Reduction of Salmonella enterica serotype Poona and background microbiota on fresh-cut cantaloupe by electron beam irradiation.

The efficacy of electron beam (e-beam) irradiation processing to reduce Salmonella enterica serotype Poona on surfaces of fresh-cut cantaloupe, and the impact of e-beam irradiation processing on the numbers of indigenous microorganisms were determined. Additionally, the D10-value for S. Poona reduction on the cut cantaloupe was also determined.

Conversation focused aphasia therapy: investigating the adoption of strategies by people with agrammatism.

: A recent review of interaction (or conversation)-focused therapy highlighted the potential of programmes targeting the person with aphasia (PWA) directly. However, it noted the key limitations of current work in this field to be a reliance on single case analyses and qualitative evidence of change, a situation that is not unusual when a complex behavioural intervention is in the early stages of development and evaluation. : This article aims to evaluate an intervention that targeted a PWA and their conversation partner (CP), a dyad, as equals in a novel conversation therapy for agrammatic aphasia, using both quantitative and qualitative evidence of change.

Development of a novel device for applying uniform doses of electron beam irradiation on carcasses.

The Maxim's Electron Scatter Chamber (Maxim Chamber) was developed to obtain uniform dose distribution when applying electron beam (e-beam) irradiation to materials of irregular surface. This was achieved by placing a stainless steel mesh surrounding a cylindrical area where the target sample was placed. Upon contact with the mesh, electrons scatter and are directed onto the target from multiple angles, eliminating the e-beam linearity and resulting in a uniform dose distribution over the target surface.