Women's secure hospital services: national bed numbers and distribution.

A mapping exercise as part of a pathway study of women in secure psychiatric services in the England and Wales was conducted. It aimed to (i) establish the extent and range of secure service provision for women nationally and (ii) establish the present and future care needs and pathways of care of women mentally disordered offenders (MDO) currently in low, medium and enhanced medium secure care. The study identified 589 medium secure beds, 46 enhanced medium secure beds (WEMSS) and 990 low secure beds for women nationally. Of the 589 medium secure beds, the majority (309, 52%) are in the NHS and under half (280, 48%) are in the independent sector (IS). The distribution of low secure beds is in the opposite direction, the majority (745, 75%) being in the IS and 254 (25%) in the NHS. Medium secure provision for women has grown over the past decade, but comparative data for low secure provision are not available. Most women are now in single sex facilities although a small number of mixed sex units remain. The findings have implications for the future commissioning of secure services for women

Assessing the Risk of Crew Injury Due to Dynamic Loads During Spaceflight

No abstract availabl

Rabbits (<i>Oryctolagus cuniculus</i> L.) in coastal dune grasslands

We describe a field experiment for examining the impact of wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) on the vegetation in two Flemish coastal dune grasslands. When numerous, rabbits had a major impact on the vegetation. This impact can be considered positive in the case of the studied grasslands, as evidenced by a decreasing abundance by dominant grass species and a declining species richness. The decrease of the number of rabbits, due to VHS, may hence negatively affect dune grassland species richness. Introducing large herbivores can be part of the solution for preserving the dune grasslands, and this introduction may even have positive effects on rabbit populations through feeding facilitation

Assessing the Risk of Disc Heniation Related to Landing Impact Following Long-duration Spacecraft

Previous research has shown that crewmembers returning on the Space Shuttle have an increased incidence of herniated nucleus pulposus after spaceflight. This increased risk is thought to be related to disc volume expansion due to unloading and prolonged exposure to microgravity. Although there is an increased risk of disc herniation in Space Shuttle astronauts, it is unknown if dynamic landing loads further contribute to the risk of herniation. To determine if dynamic loads increase the risk of incidence, data from crewmembers (excluding cosmonauts) returning on the Soyuz spacecraft will be compared to Space Shuttle astronauts. These data will be obtained from the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Project at NASA. Severity and incidence after spaceflight will be mined from the data, and statistical analyses will be used to determine if Soyuz crewmembers have a higher incidence of disc herniation than Space Shuttle crewmembers. The results are expected to show no difference between Space Shuttle and Soyuz crewmembers, indicating that higher dynamic loads on landing and long-duration spaceflight do not significantly increase the risk of disc herniation. If no difference is shown between the two crewmember populations, then disc volume expansion due to microgravity does not significantly increase the risk of injury due to dynamic loads for deconditioned crewmembers. Any risk associated with deconditioning would be primarily due to bone structure changes and resulting bone strength changes. This study is an important first step in determining whether the spinal disc plays a role in injury due to dynamic loads

Feeding facilitation, the hidden interaction in mammalian herbivore assemblages? A case-study on rabbits (<i>Oryctolagus cuniculus</i> L.) and large grazers

This thesis focuses on the positive interaction ‘feeding facilitation’ which is predicted to occur in assemblages of large and small(er) herbivore species. The main hypothesis of the research is that introduced large herbivores facilitate rabbits (medium-sized herbivores) by modification of the vegetation. This modification involves creating short swards, creating denser (more productive) swards, creating swards that have a high food quality for rabbits and influencing vegetation composition. By conducting field observation, semi-controlled field experiments up to entirely controlled feeding experiments, we tried to test several aspects of the main hypothesis. From our results, we conclude that the main hypothesis could not be affirmed, although some causal mechanisms of feeding facilitation have been affirmed. We suggest that feeding facilitation is not necessarily absent, but is hard to detect or is not present under particular conditions. Experimental research is needed for further unravelling causal mechanisms about feeding facilitation and alternative approaches, while field observations remain necessary to gain insight into other variables (e.g. habitat productivity, predators, food accessibility, seasonality) that may shift the balance between the occurrence and absence of feeding facilitation