The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts, and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.The V&A is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area known as "Albertopolis" because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free.The V&A covers 12.5 acres (5.1 ha) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. However, the art of antiquity in most areas is not collected. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.The museum owns the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world.Since 2001, the museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation programme. New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815. The Young V&A in East London is a branch of the museum, and a new branch in London is being planned. The first V&A museum outside London, V&A Dundee opened on 15 September 2018. As with other national British museums, entrance is free.
High efficacy of the synthetic Ac-His-Ala-Glu-Glu-NH2 (HAEE) peptide in suppression of the congophilic amyloid plaque formation was earlier shown in the animal model of Alzheimer's disease. The study conducted as part of the pre-clinical trial aimed to determine the optimal therapeutic dose of this peptide when used as an anti-amyloid agent for treatment of this disorder. The APP/PS1 transgenic mice randomized into four experimental groups and one control group (eight males and eight females per group) were used as model animals. Mice of experimental groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 twice a week throughout eight weeks received subcutaneous injections of drugs with the following HAEE dosage: 0.18 mg/kg, 0.30 mg/kg, 1.50 mg/kg, 3.00 mg/kg. Mice of the control group were administered saline. The Congo red stain was used to determine amyloid plaques in the hippocampus of all animals. Quantification of such plaques showed a significant (p < 0.001) decrease in the number of plaques in mice of experimental groups (the average plaque number per brain slice was 7.5 +/- 2.1, 3.2 +/- 0.9, 3.1 +/- 0.6, and 3.3 +/- 0.7 in mice of groups 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively) compared to control mice (15.7 +/- 4.6). Since the number of plaques in groups 2, 3, and 4 did not change significantly, the minimal HAEE dose, with which the lowest number of amyloid plaques is observed in the studied mice, is 0.3 mg/kg. This is roughly equivalent to the dose of 1.75 mg in terms of one adult human. Thus, the optimal therapeutic HAEE dose for clinical trials has been experimentally substantiated.
Background:Palliative care is recommended by clinical practice guidelines for patients with advanced heart failure (aHF), yet specialty palliative care (SPC) remains substantially underutilized in this population. We sought to quantify between-facility variation in SPC receipt among people with aHF and determine how much variation is explained by patient case mix and facility structural characteristics versus residual unmeasured factors. Methods:This retrospective cohort study included 23,991 Veterans with prevalent aHF identified through administrative data across 133 VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) with ≥20 aHF cases, from January 2022 to December 2023. Variation was assessed using multilevel logistic regression with facility random intercepts, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and the adjusted median odds ratio (aMOR). Facility-specific risk-standardized SPC rates were used to estimate SPC encounters attributable to facility performance better or worse than the national rate. Results:Of the sample, the mean patient age was 72.3 years (SD = 10.0), and 97.6% were male. The national observed rate of SPC was 17.5%, with risk-adjusted rates varying approximately 14-fold across facilities (3.3% to 45.6%). The adjusted ICC was 11.5%, and aMOR was 1.87 (95% Confidence Intervals 1.70-2.06). Measured patient case-mix and facility structural characteristics explained only 18.9% of between-facility variation (proportional reduction in the ICC, fully adjusted vs. null model). Facilities performing better than the national rate delivered 791 more SPC encounters than expected (17.8%), while those performing worse than the national rate delivered 480 fewer encounters than expected (10.8%). Conclusions:In the context of a national mean rate of SPC that reflects substantial underuse, delivery varied 14-fold across VAMCs, with most variation unexplained by patient complexity or measured facility resources. These findings suggest that potentially modifiable organizational factors, beyond patient preferences or facility structures alone, may contribute to current utilization gaps and represent actionable targets for quality improvement. Clinical Perspective:What is new?: In this national cohort of 23,991 people with advanced heart failure cared for at 133 VA Medical Centers, risk-adjusted rates of specialist palliative care delivery varied 14-fold across facilities (median odds ratio 1.87). Measured patient case-mix and facility structural characteristics explained only 18.9% of the between-facility variation.Clinical implications?: Substantial variation in palliative care delivery across VAMCs is not accounted for by differences in patient complexity or facility resources, suggesting that institutional processes and referral practices are key drivers and represent actionable targets for quality improvement.
In 2019 the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London acquired a pair of c.1771 carved and gilded tables with marquetry tops and pier mirrors by Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) as part of an arrangement to offset UK inheritance tax. This allowed the objects to remain in their home, in the Music Room at Harewood House in Yorkshire. Acquisition funding allowed V&A conservators and curators to research and examine the objects in detail and carry out an in-depth conservation treatment. The gilding on the table frames had undergone several phases of restoration that obscured the original crispness of the carved detail, resulting in an overall patchy appearance. Close visual examination, coupled with cross-section analysis, established that the original Chippendale gilded surface, highly intricate in combining both oil and delicately contrasting burnished and matt water gilding, was largely intact under the many layers of later overgilding. The marquetry tabletops and mirrors had also been subjected to various campaigns of repair. This article presents the conservation treatments carried out including some innovative techniques to clean the gilding. Research carried out into historical documents referring to their original commission and later campaigns of restoration relating to repairs found on the objects is also discussed as it underpins the conservation decisions made and treatments carried out to return the objects closer to their original appearance.
This study presents the results of an 11-year monitoring campaign at the V&A Museum investigating the long-term response of four drawers from an 18th-century French cabinet to the gallery environment after consolidation using the same method but different adhesives. Digital speckle pattern interferometry (DSPI) was used to detect and document delamination of the decorative layers, revealing a consistent trend in damage development. The results demonstrate that objects can acclimatize relatively quickly, within a few years of exposure to the gallery environment, corresponding to only a few climate-induced strain cycles. A major strength of this study is the long monitoring period and high comparability of the examined objects. Despite the use of different adhesives, the drawers exhibited similar rates of acclimatization, suggesting that this process represents a general phenomenon relevant to the preventive conservation of treated cultural heritage objects, or more broadly, objects exposed to environmental conditions beyond their proofed range.
