The benefits of single room versus multi-occupancy room hospital accommodation has been recently debated. The results from our survey indicate a marked difference in the preference for a single room between 2008 and 2013. The introduction of open visiting and care rounding has reduced the risk of isolation in single rooms. Our survey introduces new discussion about social isolation, privacy, noise levels and patient well-being and recovery.

Five line transects were sited over grass-covered, convex-concave slopes in the Berkshire and Wiltshire chalk downs, with the object of describing and interpreting the variation in selected surface soil properties. Previous work had concentrated upon the correlation between single variables and slope gradient and slope length, whereas the emphasis of the present paper lies in examining the interrelationships amongst the variables through the use of principal components analysis.A consistent pattern of variation was established between the five sites. T h e first component derived from the analysis was interpreted as a combined organic matter and soluble constituents factor, which accounted for between 50 and 60 per cent of the total variance. The second component was identified as particlesize variation and accounted for a further 13 to 18 per cent of the total variance.Whereas the distribution of the component scores for the second component supported the original ideaof asharp junction effect in the pattern of soil properties on the slope, the first and most important component indicated a more diffuse transition from net erosion to net deposition conditions.

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