The neutron-deficient calcium isotopes, forming the northern boundary of the sd shell, have attracted considerable attention recently. Present studies are divided over the amount of proton pf-shell occupancy, ranging from an intact Z=20 shell closure to a considerable weakening already in the vicinity of doubly-magic 40Ca. Coulomb excitation studies of 36,38Ca and two-neutron removal from 38Ca populating states of 36Ca, both performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, yield conclusive evidence for the need of sizeable proton cross-shell excitations already for the ground states of 36,38Ca.

The second part details the potential of dissipative reactions for the study of mirror-energy differences of states which cannot be populated the traditional way, e.g. through fusion-evaporation reactions, and highlights new results for excited states of the near-dripline nucleus 32Ar populated in multi-nucleon removal reactions from intermediate-energy rare-isotope beams.