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There is a widespread fear that the measures as a consequence of the worldwide corona pandemic have led to a significant increase in domestic violence and child abuse. The current study uses criminal files from all incidents of domestic violence that were reported to the police in a relatively large city in the Netherlands during 3.5 months before the pandemic and the first 3.5 months from the start of the nationwide shutdown, to compare the characteristics of the incident, the suspect and victim, how the case was handled and the involvement of minors. Results show that levels of domestic violence during the Covid-19-related restrictions did not increase compared to before the pandemic. During the pandemic, suspects were relatively more often men, the violence was less often reciprocal, more often took place inside the homes of suspects and victims, and was more often reported to the police by a witness than before the pandemic. Before and during the pandemic, minors were involved in respectively 34% and 43% of the incidents, mainly as witnesses of the violence between their parents. The results of the study may ease the concerns about the potential threat of domestic violence levels going through the roof during isolating measures such as during a shutdown. Limitations of the study are that official data from a single, but large, city were used and that we were not able to control for seasonal effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and larch (Larix spp.) are two species that could contribute to diversifying Ireland's timber supply. However, there is little knowledge about their properties as well as their variation with age. The aim of this study is to investigate the structural properties (modulus of elasticity, strength and density) of Irish-grown Scots pine and larch and the effect of cambial age on timber grading. Structural-sized pieces were used for this purpose, and the timber properties, knots and ring width were measured on 158 and 250 pieces of Scots pine and larch, respectively. Characteristic values of the properties and indicative yields for different strength classes were calculated. The age effect was assessed using an empirical approach, and a novel modelling approach that disaggregates the timber properties at the annual growth ring level. Yields above 90 per cent of C20 were achieved for Scots pine, whereas larch achieved a 100 per cent yield of C24 strength class. The effect of cambial age in the grading properties indicated that older boards increased the characteristic values of a timber population. In Scots pine, the empirical approach showed that the yields increased by up to 26 per cent when using pieces up to 50 years old compared with pieces up to 30 years old. In larch, the use of pieces up to 40 years old increased the yields by up to 16 per cent compared with using pieces up to 30 years old. The results of the modelling approach were consistent with the values obtained in the empirical analysis and can help to make informed decisions regarding rotation lengths for the production of structural timber. Our results found that cambial ages of 40 years in Scots pine produce high yields of structural timber, whereas 30 years are enough for larch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It has recently been discussed whether hearing screening and hearing threshold assessment can accurately be completed using automated ASSR methods for children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD). Possible causes for the claimed potential failures were investigated here. Design: The study is based on the analysis of stored ASSR raw data. Study sample: This study reviewed raw ASSR data from 274 patients with a total of 5809 individual recordings. Results: Cochlear microphonics (CM) were found in 18 of the 274 patient records. Four of these 18 were obtained from patients with ANSD. One patient with ANSD without click auditory brainstem responses up to 100 dBnHL demonstrated clear ASSR responses from 65 dBnHL upwards. Where click stimulation suggests an auditory nerve defect, narrow-band chirps were shown to evoke ASSR in certain patients. CMs are elicited by narrow-band chirps in the same way as by broadband stimuli. CM residuals as well as a presumed enlarged wave I with absent neural responses, always accompanied by CM, were found as possible causes of misinterpretation at high stimulus levels. A CM detector was created. Conclusions: The CM detector, indicating the presence of CM, will prevent misinterpretation of clinical ASSR results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In‐prison violence by detainees is a problem worldwide, but despite evidence of a much higher prevalence of a range of psychiatric disorders than in the general population, little is known about psychopathology among violent detainees. Aims: Our aim was to explore the psychopathology and mental healthcare history of Dutch detainees who were transferred to the highly restrictive facility for uncontrollably violent detainees following severe in‐prison violence. Methods: Anonymised data for all 253 male detainees incarcerated at any time between January 2016 and January 2020 in the specialist national facility for those seriously violent while in prison—'the Violence Facility'—were obtained from the Dutch Ministry of Justice together with similarly recorded data for a matched comparison group of 253 detainees admitted to an in‐prison psychiatric facility—'the Psychiatric Facility'. Results: There was no record of any psychiatric assessment for 29% of the Violence Facility men. Almost all of the detainees who had been assessed were classified with at least one disorder. Compared to detainees in the Psychiatric Facility, Violence Facility men were more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, behavioural and personality disorders; Psychiatric Facility men were more likely to be diagnosed with psychosis or substance use disorder. Most men in both groups had previously used mental health services. Conclusions: This first study of detainees in the Dutch in‐prison facility for violent detainees raises questions about whether the extent of violence among these men may have masked mental healthcare needs and leads to questions about potential benefits from establishing more systematic mental health assessments for them, and a need for more specialist services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]