ECONOMIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTEROPERABILITY

In this article we define and describe the economic information interoperability problemand how it affects today’s enterprises in the context of globalization and current ICT development, thecurrently used solutions found in the integration and interoperability of information systems literature(EDI, Web Services, ebXML, RosettaNet, XBRL), the main research activities done so far in the field ofEnterprise Interoperability and the observed trends in the evolution of standard solutions.interoperability problem; economic information system; standard; enterprise interoperability

Comparative Analysis of Business Object Approaches

This paper presents a comparison of several technologies for developing distributed applications. The specific technologies into consideration are: one focused on COM/DCOM/COM and Microsoft technologies, Internet Explorer and ActiveX - and the other focused on Netscape, CORBA, JAVA/J2EE solutions.integrated technologies, interoperability, distributed systems, components, distributed architecture

INTRA EUROPEAN TRADE FACING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Trade is one of the key factors directly linked with development and especially with regional development. We take upon analysis the EU case in order to see how the international financial crisis has affected the mechanism of international exchange of goods and services. We focus mainly on intra-European trade and how the policy framework is correlated with the changes revealed. Although the financial crisis had a major impact upon trade, policymakers can diminish its aftermath by correlating their policy directions and concrete actions.intra-EU trade, financial crisis, regional development

Models of public-private partnerships in megaprojects: the Spanish case

This article provides a literature review of PPP Models, where the clarification of this current confusion and ambiguity constitute the fundamental issue addressed by our research. The systematization of the PPP models is performed by applying six classification criteria based on organizational and financial aspects and focused on the Spanish experience. Additionally, a comparative study of the various schemes applied in European countries is carried out, whereby the concession model implemented successfully in Spain is studied in greater detail. To this end, a megaproject, the first metro line of Seville (Spain) forms the basis of a case-study. When the megaproject is viable through user fees, the public sector can use PPPs to defer payments and as a way to control their deficits and debt without cutting investments in infrastructures and public services. Nevertheless, certain drawbacks should be borne in mind, such as the expenditure commitments of future budgets, the higher cost of private funding, and the necessity for transparency and accountability of PPP contractual arrangements to be improved. Therefore, the aim of this article is to analyze the various forms of PPPs in megaprojects in order to determine the potential efficiency gains that can be achieved in the implementation of these models

Femtosecond imaging and control of molecular photodynamics

Janssen, M.H.M. [Promotor

Study on the Information Level of Pupils and Parents Regarding the Effects of Unhealthy Food Consumption

During the past centuries, consumption has become both one of the most discussed and analyzed subjects in the literature and a mass phenomenon in society. In order to satisfy their needs and to improve the quality of their life consumers need information and education. Consumers’ information and education are promoted by a globally-developed consumer movement. The aims of our paper are to present the role of the consumer information and education in society, and to analyze and highlight the results of a national project regarding the information and education of Romanian young consumers, run by the Association for Consumers Protection (APC) Romania. By using primary data obtained from a survey based on a questionnaire, a set of three hypotheses was tested during our research. The results of our research shows that a relatively small number of Romanian pupils from the 5th grade to 8th grade were aware of the negative effects of unhealthy food consumption and of the fact that the unhealthy food consumption may give rise to obesity and ADHD (agitation with attention deficit).consumer information, consumption, consumer, consumerism, pupils

Figures of Radical Absence: Blanks and Voids in Theory, Literature, and the Arts

Although post-structuralism highlighted the importance of what is offstage, lost, forgotten, hidden or discarded, silent or silenced, the poetics and politics of absence (much like its ethics and aesthetics) have rarely been discussed across media and disciplines. This book proposes the concept of ‘radical absence’ to describe a certain tradition of resistance to ontology, predication, and representation, contesting their reliance on a metaphysics of presence. Apophatic speech, empty signifiers, and figural voids are some of the figures through which radical absence becomes apparent with unprecedented intensity in twentieth-century theory, literature, film, and the arts. Phantasmatic and outrageous, such figures play with creative strategies of dematerialization, irony, and other forms of discursive undoing. Therefore, absence becomes more than a simple theme; it reflects back on the medium and the meaning-making conditions under which it operates. Elusive and imprecise as an object of study, absence requires more subtle and flexible epistemological frameworks than have been available to date. This monograph proposes we think of it not only as a counter-concept for presence, but also – and perhaps more productively – as infinite spacing, deferral, fragmentation, and displacement

The Shadow Rate and its Relationship with Lender and Borrower Variables

Since the federal funds rate reached the zero lower bound in late 2008, economists have been struggling to adapt their models to a long-term zero rate. Wu and Xia built upon previous research by Fischer Black to create a model for how the federal funds rate behaves during the ZLB period. In their model, the rate actually dips into the negative digits, which the actual federal funds rate does not do. The logic behind the model is that a negative shadow rate is a much better indicator of true economic conditions while the current zero rate merely masks the actual economic reality. It is also easier to use the shadow rate for trend analysis purposes, since the shadow rate is flexible and changes while the federal funds rate remains artificially fixed at zero. Thus, this paper seeks to provide a comparison between the Shadow Rate, as defined by Wu and Xia, and how three key banking variables (leverage, profitability, and non-performing loans to total loans) react in response to the shadow rate, along with three control variables: real GDP growth, inflation, and the current account to GDP ratio. Regression will also be used to determine how three key borrower variables (S&P 500 Index, Credibility Consumer Distress Index, and the ratio of nonfinancial corporate business debt securities to total assets) interact with the shadow rate and the three control variables previously mentioned

Patterns in Standards and Technologies for Economic Information Systems Interoperability

This paper presets results from a review of the current standards used for collaboration between economic information systems, including web services and service oriented architecture, EDI, ebXML framework, RosettaNet framework, cXML, xCBL UBL, BPMN, BPEL, WS-CDL, ASN.1, and others. Standards have a key role in promoting economic information system interoperability, and thus enable collaboration. Analyzing the current standards, technologies and applications used for economic information systems interoperability has revealed a common pattern that runs through all of them. From this pattern we construct a basic model of interoperability around which we relate and judge all standards, technologies and applications for economic information systems interoperability