Collections for people: museums' stored collections as a public resource

Collections in UK museums grew enormously in the latter half of the 20th century yet museum collections, mostly maintained at public expense, are perceived as an underused resource. The Museums Association’s 2005 report, Collections for the Future1, together with press comments and books such as Treasures on Earth (2002)2 and Fragments of the World (2005)3, brought this issue into sharp focus. Collections for People set out to understand the scale of museum stored collections, and the main parameters of their access and use: • What is the size and nature of collections as a resource? How are they distributed, geographically and among different types of museum? • How much are different types of collection used by people other than museum staff? What sort of people use collections? What do they use them for: research, teaching and learning, creative activities, visits for enjoyment such as store tours? • How do users perceive this service? Do museums actively market collections access? Do they publicise what is in their collections? • How do museums facilitate collections use? What are the factors associated with greater use of collections? What do museums see as the barriers to more use

The major neutral proteinase of Entamoeba histolytica.

FPLC anion-exchange and chromatofocusing chromatography were used to purify the major neutral proteinase from secretions of axenically cultured Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites. HM-1 strain trophozoites, which were more proteolytically active than the less virulent HK-9 strain, were used for purification of the enzyme. It is a thiol proteinase with a subunit Mr of approximately 56,000, a neutral pH optimum, and a pI of 6. The importance of this enzyme in extraintestinal amoebiasis is suggested by its ability to degrade a model of connective tissue extracellular matrix as well as purified fibronectin, laminin, and type I collagen. The enzyme caused a loss of adhesion of mammalian cells in culture, probably because of its ability to degrade anchoring proteins. Experiments with a peptide substrate and inhibitors indicated that the proteinase preferentially binds peptides with arginine at P-1. It is also a plasminogen activator, and could thus potentiate host proteinase systems

Horse Pasture Monitoring Program: Results after Three Years

Since 2001-2002 and the outbreak of Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MLRS) the University of Kentucky has been developing stronger ties with the state’s equine industry. Approximately 30% of the foal crop was lost in the Central Bluegrass region during this period with a devastating impact on the industry. Traditionally, many Thoroughbred farms have functioned as independent entities, but MLRS helped them to realize that the University of Kentucky had tremendous amount of expertise that they could provide in the areas of animal health, forage management, and other areas. Initially, there were many theories as to the cause of MLRS with tall fescue and other potential toxic plant species often mentioned. In the end, MLRS was found to be caused by the accidental ingestion of eastern tent caterpillars, but one of the positive outcomes was that farms realized the need to better understand the composition of their pastures

UK Horse Pasture Evaluation Program

The University of Kentucky is developing stronger ties with the state’s horse industry in the areas of research, extension and teaching. Many horse farms in the bluegrass region are interested in UK’s assistance with pasture evaluation. During the fall of 2005 a team from the UK Forage Extension Program (Ray Smith, Tom Keene, Jesse Morrison, Gabriel Roberts) conducted a pilot project to evaluate horse pastures on 14 central KY farms. One of the focuses of the pilot was the evaluation of pastures for percent tall fescue and the potential of fescue stands to cause fescue toxicity in pregnant broodmares. We have worked closely with Dr. Lowell Bush and his lab in conducting the endophyte infection and ergovaline analyses

Far infrared maps of the ridge between OMC-1 and OMC-2

Dust continuum emission from a 6 ft x 20 ft region surrounding OMC-1 and OMC-2 were mapped at 55 and 125 microns with 4 ft resolution. The dominant features of the maps are a strong peak at OMC-1 and a ridge of lower surface brightness between OMC-1 and OMC-2. Along the ridge the infrared flux densities and the color temperature decreases smoothly from OMC-1 to OMC-2. OMC-1 is heated primarily by several optical and infrared stars situated within or just at the boundary of the cloud. At the region of minimum column density between OMC-1 and OMC-2 the nearby B0.5 V star NU Ori may contribute significantly to the dust heating. Near OMC-2 dust column densities are large enough so that, in addition to the OMC-2 infrared cluster, the nonlocal infrared sources associated with OMC-1 and NU Ori can contribute to the heating

Far infrared and submillimeter brightness temperatures of the giant planets

The brightness temperatures of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune in the range 35 to 1000 micron. The effective temperatures derived from the measurements, supplemented by shorter wavelength Voyager data for Jupiter and Saturn, are 126.8 + or - 4.5 K, 93.4 + or - 3.3 K, 58.3 + or - 2.0 K, and 60.3 + or - 2.0 K, respectively. The implications of the measurements for bolometric output and for atmospheric structure and composition are discussed. The temperature spectrum of Jupiter shows a strong peak at approx. 350 microns followed by a deep valley at approx. 450 to 500 microns. Spectra derived from model atmospheres qualitatively reproduced these features but do not fit the data closely

Submarine landslides on the upper southeast Australian passive continental margin – preliminary findings

The southeast Australian passive continental margin is narrow, steep and sediment-deficient, and characterized by relatively low rates of modern sedimentation. Upper slope (\u3c1200m) sediments comprise mixtures of calcareous and terrigenous sand and mud. Three of twelve sediment cores recovered from geologically-recent, submarine landslides located offshore New South Wales/Queensland (NSW/QLD) are interpreted to have sampled failure surfaces at depths of between 85 cm and 220 cm below the present-day seabed. Differences in sediment physical properties are recorded above and below the three slide-plane boundaries. Sediment taken directly above the inferred submarine landslide failure surfaces and presumed to be post-landslide, returned radiocarbon ages of 15.8 ka, 20.7 ka and 20.1 ka. The last two ages correspond to adjacent slide features, which are inferred to be consistent with their being triggered by a single event such as an earthquake. Slope stability models based on classical soil mechanics and measured sediment shearstrengths indicate that the upper slope sediments should be stable. However, multibeam sonar data reveal that many upper slope landslides occur across the margin and that submarine landsliding is a common process. We infer from these results that: a) an unidentified mechanism regularly acts to reduce the shear resistance of these sediments to the very low values required to enable slope failure, and/or b) the margin experiences seismic events that act to destabilise the slope sediments