Electronic and vibrational contributions to first hyperpolarizability of donor-acceptor-substituted azobenzene

In this study we report on the electronic and vibrational (hyper)polarizabilities of donor–acceptorsubstituted azobenzene. It is observed that both electronic and vibrational contributions to the electricdipole first hyperpolarizability of investigated photoactive molecule substantially depend on the conformation. The contributions to the nuclear relaxation first hyperpolarizability are found to be quite important in the case of two considered isomers (cis and trans). Although the double-harmonic term is found to be the largest in terms of magnitude, it is shown that the total value of the nuclear relaxation contribution to vibrational first hyperpolarizability is a result of subtle interplay of higher-order contributions. As a part of the study, we also assess the performance of long-range-corrected densityfunctional theory in determining vibrational contributions to electric dipole (hyper)polarizabilities. In most cases, the applied long-range-corrected exchange correlation potentials amend the drawbacks of their conventional counterparts

Applying recommendations to aligncompetences, methodology and assessment in Telematics, Computing and Electronic Engineering courses

The alignment between competences, teaching-learning methodologies and assessment is a key element of the European Higher Education Area. This paper presents the efforts carried out by six Telematics, Computer Science and Electronic Engineering Education teachers towards achieving this alignment in their subjects. In a joint work with pedagogues, a set of recommended actions were identified. A selection of these actions were applied and evaluated in the six subjects. The cross-analysis of the results indicate that the actions allow students to better understand the methodologies and assessment planned for the subjects, facilitate (self-) regulation and increase students’ involvement in the subjects.

Bundling electronic journals and competition among publishers

Site licensing of e-journals has been revolutionizing the way academicinformation is distributed. However, many librarians are concerned aboutthe possibility that publishers might abuse site licensing by practicingbundling. In this paper, we analyze the private and social incentives forthe publishers to use bundling in the context of STM electronic journalmarket. In the short run in which the number of journals is exogenouslygiven, we find a strong conflict between the two incentives: each publisherfinds bundling optimal and bundling increases the industry profit butreduces social welfare. However, in the long run we find that publishersmight have higher incentives to introduce new journals under bundlingthan without bundling and, in this case, bundling can reduce the industryprofit while increasing social welfare. Finally, we examine publishers incentive to provide links to the websites of the rival publishers underbundling and show that even asymmetric publishers have incentive tointerconnect.

Electronic titling: Potential and risks

Initiatives in electronic conveyancing and registration show the potential of new technologies to transform such systems, reducing costs and enhancing legal security. However,they also incur substantial risks of transferring costs and risks among registries, conveyancersand rightholders, instead of reducing them; entrenching the private interests of conveyancers,instead of increasing competition and disintermediating them; modifying the allocation of tasksin a way that leads in the long term to the debasement of registries of rights with indefeasibletitle into mere recordings of deeds; and empowering conveyancers instead of transactors andrightholders, which increases costs and reduces security. Fulfilling the promise of newtechnologies in both costs and security requires strengthening registries incentives andempowering rightholders in their interaction with registries.

Towards storage and access of electronic theses: A proposal of its organisation for the Consortium of Catalan Libraries

Els objectius d'aquest informe són realitzar un estudi de la tècnica en la digitalització, l'emmagatzematge i l'accés a les tesis doctorals electròniques, per tal de fer una proposta d’organització al Consorci de Biblioteques Universitàries de Catalunya (CBUC). Actualment, tot i que existeixen diverses iniciatives a Europa, és als EUA on la digitalització de tesis doctorals s’ha desenvolupat més amb la creació de la Networked Digital Library for Theses and Dissertation (NDLTD), i ha estat qui ha definit els estàndards en aquest camp. En el següent informe es planteja i es recomana al CBUC l’adhesió institucional a l’NDLTD per poder gaudir de la seva experiència.

Informe sobre el segon DLM-Forum on electronic records

El DLM-Forum on Electronic Records és un fòrum internacional multidisciplinari, organitzat per la Comissió Europea, que té per objectiu impulsar els projectes per a la millora de la gestió dels documents electrònics en les organitzacions i per a la conservació d'aquests a llarg termini. Al mateix temps, el DLM-Forum esdevé un punt de referència bàsic per a la coordinació de les polítiques de gestió dels documents electrònics que es porten a terme als estats membres de la Unió Europea, per a l'establiment d'estàndards de gestió i de conservació a escala comunitària, i per a la implicació dels agents del sector privat en la recerca de solucions a la problemàtica dels documents electrònics. El present informe exposa l'origen d'aquesta iniciativa, en descriu les dues edicions celebrades fins ara i les perspectives de futur del fòrum.

Electronic thesis and dissertations conference, University of Pittsburgh, 10-12 de junio de 2009

El pasado mes de junio se celebró en Pittsburgh, EE.UU., el duodécimo simposio internacional sobre tesis electrónicas: Electronic Thesis and Dissertations Conference (ETD2009). Fue organizado por Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD). La mayoría de los ponentes explicaron las experiencias de su propia universidad. Además, hubo expertos invitados entre los cuales se pueden destacar Stevan Harnad (Univ. Southampton), Karla Hahn (Association of Research Libraries) y Deanna Marcum (Library of Congress). Estos simposios pretenden promover la adopción, creación, uso, difusión y preservación de las tesis electrónicas. De hecho, el éxito ha sido tal, que algunas universidades ya prescinden de la copia en papel para el depósito y preservación del documento. Un caso reciente es el de la University of Albany cuya nueva política, anunciada durante el simposio, consiste en que a partir de setiembre del 2009 ya no requiere el depósito de una copia impresa de las tesis aprobadas en aquella universidad.

Electronic journals, scholarly communication and libraries

The recent surge in scientific electronic journals began when libraries began having access to the WWW in the mid-1990s. The shift from paper to digital has affected the traditional alignment and role of the primary "stakeholders" -mainly authors, publishers, universities and libraries. The author offers a brief review of the history of the scholarly journal followed by the evolution of e-journals in during the past two decades. The article then focuses on the implications that these have had on traditional library processes and services such as selection, acquisitions, cataloguing, storage, preservation and user services. In the conclusion the author speculates on the long term effect of Web-based publishing on the format of the traditional scholarly journal as it has existed for over 300 years.

Librarians' perceptions on the use of electronic resources at Catalan academic libraries: results of a focus group

The aim of this paper is to expand on previous quantitative and qualitative research into the use of electronic information resources and its impact on the information behaviour of academics at Catalan universities.

A qualitative study of the impact of electronic journals on scholarly information behavior

A qualitative study of the impact of electronic journals on the information behavior of academics at Catalan universities shows that academics now read more, and more widely. However, their reading is becoming more superficial; they are compelled to improve their discrimination skills in order to decide what to read in more depth. The electronic accessibility of journals means that academics now make fewer library visits. Web browsing and TOC e-mail alerts are replacing physical browsing, and searching is a very popular option for keeping up to date with developments. Internet search engines, especially Google and Google Scholar, are becoming important sources of information for academics. However, they face problems in managing their personal scientific information.

Informe sobre el tercer DLM-Forum on Electronic Records (Barcelona, 6¿8 de maig de 2002)

Del 6 al 8 de maig de 2002 es va celebrar a Barcelona la tercera edició del DLM-Forum on Electronic Records, el fòrum internacional multidisciplinari que té per objectiu la millora de la gestió dels documents electrònics a les organitzacions i conservació a llarg termini. Aquesta edició ha estat marcada per una participació més activa de la indústria de les tecnologies de la informació i de les comunicacions, i per la presentació dels resultats d'iniciatives del DLM-Forum 1996. El present informe descriu la gènesi i el desenvolupament del DLM-Forum de Barcelona, i n'indica els assoliments més remarcables.

Shot noise anomalies in elastic nondegenerate diffusive conductors

We present a theoretical investigation of shot-noise properties in nondegenerate elastic diffusive conductors. Both Monte Carlo simulations and analytical approaches are used. Two interesting phenomena are found: (i) the display of enhanced shot noise for given energy dependences of the scattering time, and (ii) the recovery of full shot noise for asymptotic high applied bias. The first phenomenon is associated with the onset of negative differential conductivity in energy space that drives the system towards a dynamical electrical instability in excellent agreement with analytical predictions. The enhancement is found to be strongly amplified when the dimensionality in momentum space is lowered from three to two dimensions. The second phenomenon is due to the suppression of the effects of long-range Coulomb correlations that takes place when the transit time becomes the shortest time scale in the system, and is common to both elastic and inelastic nondegenerate diffusive conductors. These phenomena shed different light in the understanding of the anomalous behavior of shot noise in mesoscopic conductors, which is a signature of correlations among different current pulses.

Static dipole polarizability of alkali-metal clusters: Electronic exchange and correlation effects

Nonlocal approximations for the electronic exchange and correlation effects are used to compute, within density-functional theory, the polarizability and surface-plasma frequencies of small jelliumlike alkali-metal clusters. The results are compared with those obtained using the local-density approximation and with available experimental data, showing the relevance of these effects in obtaining an accurate description of the surface response of metallic clusters.

Electronic structure of few-electron concentric double quantum rings

The ground state structure of few-electron concentric double quantum rings is investigated within the local spin density approximation. Signatures of inter-ring coupling in the addition energy spectrum are identified and discussed. We show that the electronic configurations in these structures can be greatly modulated by the inter-ring distance: At short and long distances the low-lying electron states localize in the inner and outer rings, respectively, and the energy structure is essentially that of an isolated single quantum ring. However, at intermediate distances the electron states localized in the inner and the outer ring become quasidegenerate and a rather entangled, strongly-correlated system is formed.