Shapes of the 192,190^{192,190}Pb ground states from beta decay studies using the total absorption technique

The beta decay of $^{192,190}$Pb has been studied using the total absorption technique at the ISOLDE(CERN) facility. The beta-decay strength deduced from the measurements, combined with QRPA theoretical calculations, allow us to infer that the ground states of the $^{192,190}$Pb isotopes are spherical. These results represent the first application of the shape determination method using the total absorption technique for heavy nuclei and in a region where there is considerable interest in nuclear shapes and shape effects

Teaching experienced developers to design graphical user interfaces

Five groups of developers with experience in the design of character-based user interfaces were taught graphical user interface design through a short workshop with a focus on practical design exercises using low-tech tools derived from the PICTIVE method. Several usability problems were found in the designs by applying the heuristic evaluation method, and feedback on these problems constituted a way to make the otherwise abstract usability principles concrete for the designers at the workshop. Based on these usability problems and on observations of the design process, we conclude that object-oriented interactions are especially hard to design and that the developers were influenced by the graphical interfaces of personal computers with which they had interacted as regular users

beta decay of (78)Sr

The gamma rays and conversion electrons emitted in the beta decay of (78)Sr to levels in (78)Rb have been studied using Ge detectors and a mini-orange spectrometer. A reliable level scheme based on the results of these experiments has been established. The properties of the levels in (78)Rb have been compared with calculations based on deformed Hartree-Fock with Skyrme interactions and pairing correlations in the BCS approximation. This has allowed an interpretation of the nature of the observed sets of levels in the odd-odd nucleus (78)Rb.This work was supported in part by the Spanish MEC under Grant No. FPA2005-03993 and a Formacion Profesorado Universitario (FPU) fellowship (FPA2003-4041). It was also supported by MICINN nuclear Grants No. FPA2008-06419- C02-01, No. FPA2009-07387, and No. FPA2010-17142 and by the U.K. Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Grant No. ST/F012012/1. The experiments were partly supported through EURONS No. 506065.Peer Reviewe

Fecundity of Baltic cod: temporal and spatial variation

Potential and relative potential fecundity of 701 cod Gadus morhua caught in the Bornholm Basin (ICES Sub-division 25) during 1987–1996 and 106 from the Gdansk Deep (ICES Sub-division 26) in 1995 and 1996 varied significantly between years but neither between different spawning grounds nor between different sampling months within one spawning season. Growth and water temperature are factors identified to influence the mean relative fecundity explaining 66% of the variance between years