A psychometric questionnaire on patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care must cover areas such as patient information, involvement in decision-making, and contact with the anaesthetist. The assessment using summed scores for dimensions is more informative than a global summed rating. There were significant differences between hospitals. Moreover, the high problem scores indicate a great potential for improvement at all hospitals.

At the radioactive ion beam facility REX-ISOLDE, neutron-rich zinc isotopes were investigated using lowenergy Coulomb excitation. These experiments have resulted in B(E2, 2 74,76 Zn and the determination of the energy of the first excited 2 + 1 states in 78,80 Zn. The zinc isotopes were produced by high-energy proton-(A = 74, 76, 80) and neutron-(A = 78) induced fission of 238 U, combined with selective laser ionization and mass separation. The isobaric beam was postaccelerated by the REX linear accelerator and Coulomb excitation was induced on a thin secondary target, which was surrounded by the MINIBALL germanium detector array. In this work, it is shown how the selective laser ionization can be used to deal with the considerable isobaric beam contamination and how a reliable normalization of the experiment can be achieved. The results for zinc isotopes and the N = 50 isotones are compared to collective model predictions and state-of-the-art large-scale shell-model calculations, including a recent empirical residual interaction constructed to describe the present experimental data up to 2004 in this region of the nuclear chart.

Abstract. The Miniball germanium detector array has been operational at the REX (Radioactive ion beam EXperiment) post accelerator at the Isotope Separator On-Line facility ISOLDE at CERN since 2001. During the last decade, a series of successful Coulomb excitation and transfer reaction studies have been performed with this array, utilizing the unique and high-quality radioactive ion beams which are available at ISOLDE. In this article, an overview is given of the technical details of the full Miniball setup, including a description of the γ-ray and particle detectors, beam monitoring devices and methods to deal with beam contamination. The specific timing properties of the REX-ISOLDE facility are highlighted to indicate the sensitivity that can be achieved with the full Miniball setup. The article is finalized with a summary of some physics highlights at REX-ISOLDE and the utilization of the Miniball germanium detectors at other facilities.

The first excited 2 state of the unstable isotope 110 Sn has been studied in safe Coulomb excitation at 2:82 MeV=u using the MINIBALL array at the REX-ISOLDE post accelerator at CERN. This is the first measurement of the reduced transition probability of this state using this method for a neutron deficient Sn isotope. The strength of the approach lies in the excellent peak-to-background ratio that is achieved. The extracted reduced transition probability, BE2 : 0 ! 2 0:220 0:022e 2 b 2 , strengthens the observation of the evolution of the BE2 values of neutron deficient Sn isotopes that was observed recently in intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation of 108 Sn. It implies that the trend of these reduced transition probabilities in the even-even Sn isotopes is not symmetric with respect to the midshell mass number A 116 as 100 Sn is approached. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.172501 PACS numbers: 23.20.Js, 21.60.Cs, 25.70.De, 27.60.+j Substantial interest has recently arisen in the shell structure of atomic nuclei with only a few nucleons outside the double shell closure at 100 Sn. As an example, a series of experiments aiming at isotopes in this region has been carried out using fusion-evaporation reactions in the recent past [1]. With the advent of radioactive ion beams these studies are now taken further using sub-barrier and intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation [2,3]. In this Letter we present the only sub-barrier or ''safe'' Coulomb excitation experiment in this region to date. The study of the reduced transition probability -the BE2-of the first excited 2 state in an even-even nucleus gives a direct handle on the collectivity of that state. It can thus be used to measure systematic changes in the strengths of shell gaps. The general motivation for this kind of study goes back to our incomplete knowledge of the mechanisms that govern shell formation and their implications for the structure of nuclei far from stability. It is well known that a strong spinorbit force was introduced into the nuclear shell-model on Fermi's suggestion by Goeppert Mayer [4] and independently by Haxel, Jensen, and Suess [4] to explain the observed shell gaps. However, these papers were substantially predated by the consideration of a nuclear spin-orbit force by Inglis [5] who noted that the relativistic Thomas term which arises as a consequence of the noncommutation of Lorentz transformations should act also in atomic nuclei. This term, given by the vector product of the velocity and acceleration of the bound nucleon, gives rise to nuclear LS coupling, a result which can be derived from the Dirac equation [6]. In this picture, the acceleration is proportional to the derivative of the potential experienced by the bound particle, a notion still used in mean-field approaches today. As a consequence, the splitting of the shell gaps becomes density dependent and may change with the PRL 98,

The 9 Li + 2 H reaction has been investigated at 2.36 MeV/u at the REX-ISOLDE facility. In this Letter we focus on the 10 Li + p channel which potentially holds spectroscopic information on the unbound nucleus 10 Li. The experimental excitation energy spectrum and angular distribution are compared with CCBA calculations. These calculations clearly support the existence of a low-lying (s) virtual state, with a (negative) scattering length of the order a s ∼ 13-24 fm and a p 1/2 resonance with an energy of E r 0.38 MeV and a width of Γ 0.2 MeV.