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

A digital simulation of message traffic for natural disaster warning communications satellite

Various types of weather communications are required to alert industries and the general public about the impending occurrence of tornados, hurricanes, snowstorms, floods, etc. A natural disaster warning satellite system has been proposed for meeting the communications requirements of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Message traffic for a communications satellite was simulated with a digital computer in order to determine the number of communications channels to meet system requirements. Poisson inputs are used for arrivals and an exponential distribution is used for service

Crucial Dependence of ``Precarious'' and ``Autonomous'' phi^4s Upon the Normal-ordering Mass

Using the Gaussian wave-functional approach with the normal-ordering renormalization prescription, we show that for the (3+1)-dimensional massive lambda phi^4 theory, ``precarious'' and ``autonomous'' phi^4s can exist if and only if the normal-ordering mass is equal to the classical masses at the symmetrc and asymmetric vacua, respectively.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, Revtex file, accepted for publication in Mod. Phys. Lett.

Use of strategies to improve retention in primary care randomised trials: a qualitative study with in-depth interviews

Objective To explore the strategies used to improve retention in primary care randomised trials.<p></p> Design Qualitative in-depth interviews and thematic analysis.<p></p> Participants 29 UK primary care chief and principal investigators, trial managers and research nurses.<p></p> Methods In-depth face-to-face interviews.<p></p> Results Primary care researchers use incentive and communication strategies to improve retention in trials, but were unsure of their effect. Small monetary incentives were used to increase response to postal questionnaires. Non-monetary incentives were used although there was scepticism about the impact of these on retention. Nurses routinely used telephone communication to encourage participants to return for trial follow-up. Trial managers used first class post, shorter questionnaires and improved questionnaire designs with the aim of improving questionnaire response. Interviewees thought an open trial design could lead to biased results and were negative about using behavioural strategies to improve retention. There was consensus among the interviewees that effective communication and rapport with participants, participant altruism, respect for participant's time, flexibility of trial personnel and appointment schedules and trial information improve retention. Interviewees noted particular challenges with retention in mental health trials and those involving teenagers.<p></p> Conclusions The findings of this qualitative study have allowed us to reflect on research practice around retention and highlight a gap between such practice and current evidence. Interviewees describe acting from experience without evidence from the literature, which supports the use of small monetary incentives to improve the questionnaire response. No such evidence exists for non-monetary incentives or first class post, use of which may need reconsideration. An exploration of barriers and facilitators to retention in other research contexts may be justified.<p></p&gt

A comparison of the domestic satellite communications forecast to the year 2000

The methodologies and results of three NASA-sponsored market demand assessment studies are presented and compared. Forecasts of future satellite addressable traffic (both trunking and customer premises services) were developed for the three main service categories of voice, data and video and subcategories thereof for the benchmark years of 1980, 1990 and 2000. The contractor results are presented on a service by service basis in two formats: equivalent 36 MHz transponders and basic transmission units (voice: half-voice circuits, data: megabits per second and video: video channels). It is shown that while considerable differences exist at the service category level, the overall forecasts by the two contractors are quite similar. ITT estimates the total potential satellite market to be 3594 transponders in the year 2000 with data service comprising 54 percent of this total. The WU outlook for the same time period is 2779 transponders with voice services accounting for 66 percent of the total

Management strategies: reproduction

Despite the negative effects of milk production on some reproductive traits, calving intervals between high- and low-producing groups varied by only 9 days (414 vs 423). First-service conception rates were 8 percentage points greater in the low-producing group than in the high-producing group. However, the percentage of cows not yet inseminated that were more than 120 days in milk was 18 percentage points greater in the low- than highproducing herds. When Kansas dairy herds in the DHIA program are evaluated, the higher producing herds seem to have lower firstservice conception rates and more services per conception. However, managers of high-producing herds are doing a better job of servicing cows inseminated earlier in lactation and putting replacements into the milk string at a younger age. This occurs because managers of high-producing herds have reproductive records and heat detection programs that allow them to detect a higher percentage of the cows in heat before 120 days in milk. Fine tuning the reproductive management program also can improve the profitability of a dairy operation. The reproductive losses in high-producing herds are considerably less than those in lowproducing herds ($139 vs$203). There are no magic formulas in establishing a good reproductive program. Combining good records, diligent heat detection, and sound artificial insemination technique can increase the profitability of a dairy.; Dairy Day, 1995, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 1995

A real-world mixed methods study of the feasibility, acceptability and impact of an online structured education programme for type 2 diabetes

Background: Structured education for people with type 2 diabetes improves outcomes, but uptake is low globally. In the UK in 2016, only 8.3% of people who were referred to education programmes attended. We have developed an online structured education programme called HeLP-Diabetes: Starting Out; (HDSO), as an alternative to face-to-face courses. An online programme gives people more options for accessing structured education and may help improve overall uptake. // Objectives: The aim was to explore the feasibility and acceptability of delivering an online structured education programme (called HeLP-Diabetes: Starting Out) in routine primary healthcare and its potential impact on self-efficacy and diabetes-related distress. // Methods: HeLP-Diabetes: Starting Out was delivered as part of routine diabetes services in primary healthcare in the United Kingdom, having been commissioned by local Clinical Commissioning Groups. Quantitative data were collected on uptake, use of the programme, demographic characteristics, and self-reported self-efficacy and diabetes-related distress. A sub-sample of people with type 2 diabetes and healthcare professionals were interviewed about acceptability of the programme. // Results: It was feasible to deliver the programme, but completion rates were low: of 791 people with type 2 diabetes registered only 74 (9%) completed it. Completers improved their self-efficacy (change in median score 2.5, p=0.001) and diabetes-related distress (change in median score 6.0, p=0.001). Interview data suggested that the course was acceptable, and that uptake and completion may be related to non-prioritization of structured education. // Conclusions: The study provides evidence of the feasibility and acceptability of online structured education. However, uptake and completion rates were low, limiting potential population impact. Further research is needed to improve completion rates, and to determine the relative effectiveness of online versus face-to-face education

Tissue-selective expression of a conditionally-active ROCK2-estrogen receptor fusion protein

The serine/threonine kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 are central mediators of actomyosin contractile force generation that act downstream of the RhoA small GTP-binding protein. As a result, they have key roles in regulating cell morphology and proliferation, and have been implicated in numerous pathological conditions and diseases including hypertension and cancer. Here we describe the generation of a gene-targeted mouse line that enables CRE-inducible expression of a conditionally-active fusion between the ROCK2 kinase domain and the hormone-binding domain of a mutated estrogen receptor (ROCK2:ER). This two-stage system of regulation allows for tissue-selective expression of the ROCK2:ER fusion protein, which then requires administration of estrogen analogues such as tamoxifen or 4-hydroxytamoxifen to elicit kinase activity. This conditional gain-of-function system was validated in multiple tissues by crossing with mice expressing CRE recombinase under the transcriptional control of cytokeratin14 (K14), murine mammary tumor virus (MMTV) or cytochrome P450 Cyp1A1 (Ah) promoters, driving appropriate expression in the epidermis, mammary or intestinal epithelia respectively. Given the interest in ROCK signaling in normal physiology and disease, this mouse line will facilitate research into the consequences of ROCK activation that could be used to complement conditional knockout models

Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in evidence synthesis:how the PatMed study approached embedding audience responses into the expression of a meta-ethnography

Background: Patient and public involvement (PPI) has become enshrined as an important pillar of health services empirical research, including PPI roles during stages of research development and analysis and co-design approaches. Whilst user participation has been central to qualitative evidence synthesis (QES) for decades, as seen in the Cochrane consumer network and guidelines, meta-ethnography has been slow to incorporate user participation and published examples of this occurring within meta-ethnography are sparse. In this paper, drawing upon our own experience of conducting a meta-ethnography, we focus on what it means in practice to ‘express a synthesis’ (stage 7). We suggest the methodological importance of ‘expression’ in Noblit and Hare’s seven stage process (Noblit, GW and Hare, RD. Meta-ethnography: synthesizing qualitative studies, 1988) has been overlooked, and in particular, opportunities for PPI user participation within it. / Methods: Meta-ethnography comprises a seven-stage process of evidence synthesis. Noblit and Hare describe the final 7th stage of the meta-ethnography process as ‘expression of synthesis’, emphasizing co-construction of findings with the audience. In a previous study we conducted a meta-ethnography exploring patient and student experience of medical education within primary care contexts. We subsequently presented and discussed initial meta-ethnography findings with PPI (students and patients) in focus groups and interviews. We transcribed patient and student PPI interpretations of synthesis findings. As a research team, we then translated these into our existing meta-ethnography findings. / Results: We describe, with examples, the process of involving PPI in stage 7 of meta-ethnography and discuss three methodological implications of incorporating PPI within an interpretative approach to QES: (1) we reflect on the construct hierarchy of user participants’ interpretations and consider whether incorporating these additional 1st order, 2nd level constructs implies an additional logic of 3rd order 2nd level constructs of the QES team; (2) we discuss the link between PPI user participation and what Noblit and Hare may have meant by ideas of ‘expression’ and ‘audience’ as integral to stage 7; and (3) we link PPI user participation to Noblit and Hare’s underlying theory of social explanation, i.e. how expression of the synthesis is underpinned by ideas of translation and that the synthesis must be ‘translated in the audience’s (user participants) particular language’. / Conclusions: The paper aims to complement recent attempts in the literature to refine and improve guidance on conducting a meta-ethnography, highlighting opportunities for PPI user participation in the processes of interpretation, translation and expression. We discuss the implications of user participation in meta-ethnography on ideas of ‘generalisability’