Approximately two-thirds of early death and poor outcome in acute stroke is attributed to nonmodifiable predictors, whereas main modifiable factors are early complications such as iICP, pneumonia, or other complications, on which stroke unit treatment should focus to further improve the prognosis of acute stroke.

; for the Berlin Stroke Register and the Stroke Register of Northwest Germany Background and Purpose-Poststroke pneumonia is a potentially preventable complication after stroke associated with poor outcome. We developed and externally validated a prognostic score for predicting risk of pneumonia after ischemic stroke. Methods-The prognostic score was developed based on clinical data routinely collected after admission from the Berlin Stroke Register, Germany. The association of demographics, comorbidities, and clinical characteristics with poststroke pneumonia was investigated using multivariable logistic regression analyses. Independent predictors of poststroke pneumonia were translated into a point scoring system based on the corresponding regression coefficients. The predictive properties of the developed prognostic score were externally validated using an independent data set from the Stroke Register Northwest-Germany. Results-Between 2007 and 2009, 15 335 patients with ischemic stroke were registered within the Berlin Stroke Register.The observed rate of pneumonia in hospital was 7.2%. A 10-point score was derived for prediction of poststroke pneumonia (Age Ն75 yearsϭ1, Atrial fibrillationϭ1, Dysphagiaϭ2, male Sexϭ1, stroke Severity, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 0 -4ϭ0, 5-15ϭ3, Ն16ϭ5; A 2 DS 2 ). The proportion of pneumonia varied between 0.3% in patients with a score of 0 point to 39.4% in patients with a score of 10 points. The score demonstrated excellent discrimination (C-statistic 0.84; 95% CI, 0.83-0.85) and calibration (McFadden R 2 ϭ0.21). Prediction, discrimination, and calibration properties were reproduced in the validation cohort consisting of 45 085 patients with ischemic stroke. Conclusions-The

The nuclides ' K, Ca, and ' Sc have been produced by fragmentation of a uranium target with a 600 MeV proton beam. The subsequent P decays to the daughter nuclei '2Ca, ' Sc, and ' Ti have been studied by neutron and y spectroscopy on sources obtained from on-line mass separation. P decay energies have been determined by P-y coincidence spectroscopy. In addition to the short halflife of K (Tl&2 --110+30 ms), we attributed two different half-lives (Tlq2 --4.6+0.3 s and Tl~2 --8.2+0.2 s) to ' Ca and ' Sc, respectively. A decay scheme has been established for ' K involving five P branches to delayed neutron emitting states between 6.6 and 10.3 MeV and one P branch to a bound level at E"=2.56 MeV. The ' Ca decay scheme accounts for 13 branches to four levels at 1.64, 2.75, 3.46, and 4.27 MeV for which the deduced logft values restrict the angular momentum and parity to J =1+. For the "Sc ground state, strong P transitions to the 2+ (1.05 MeV) and the (4+) (2.32 MeV) levels in '2Ti strongly favor a J =3+ attribution. The measured gp values for the Ca (5.7+0.2 MeV) and Sc (8.02+0.25 MeV) decay are noticeably lower than expected from mass systematics. The energy level diagrams of ' Ca, Sc, and ' Ti nuclei have been calculated in the framework of the shell model with a realistic interaction. Good agreement between theory and experiment is achieved as well for excitation energies as for mass excesses, assuring then the applicability of the theory to this region of nuclei far from stability.

The 34,35 Al ␤ decays have been studied at the CERN online mass separator ISOLDE by ␤-␥, ␤-␥-␥, and ␤-n-␥ measurements in order to corroborate the low-level description of 34 Si and to obtain the first information on the level structure of the Nϭ21 isotope 35 Si. Earlier observed ␥ lines in 34 Al decay were confirmed and new ␥ transitions following both ␤ decay and ␤-delayed neutron emission have been established. The first level scheme of 35 Si includes three excited states at 910, 974, and 2168 keV. Indication is found for J ϭ(3/2) Ϫ and (3/2) ϩ for the first two excited states, respectively. Beta-decay half-life of T 1/2 ϭ38.6(4) ms and ␤-delayed neutron branching value P n ϭ41(13)% were measured unambiguously. The significance of the single-particle energy determination at Nϭ21, Zϭ14 for assessing the effective interaction in sd-f p shellmodel calculations is discussed and illustrated by predictions for different neutron-rich isotopes.

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.

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