Learning the lessons from the developed world: e-banking security in Nigeria

In the past decade banks invested heavily in internet technology so as to engage in e-business and e-commerce activities. However, this development exposed banks to threats, such as online fraud. Consequently, there was a need to adopt security measures and controls to mitigate such threats. Banks in developed countries have developed a level of ‘best practice’ to reduce such online threats. The objective of this study was to explore the extent to which banks in the developing world were benefitting from the experiences of banks in the developed world in terms of how they address online security threats. Case studies of two Nigerian Banks were undertaken using interviews and short questionnaire. The findings show respondents perceived the level of threats to e-banking in Nigeria to be low. When adopting e-banking security controls, the case study banks placed more emphasis on the technical dimension than the human dimension. Senior management commitment is a significant barrier to adopting best practice, which is highlighted in limited financial resources being provided for new investment in training or customer education. The study concludes that senior managers need to change their perceptions and priorities towards IT security to reduce the vulnerability of their e-banking services

Coping with People’s Inflation Perceptions During a Currency Changeover

The gap between actual and perceived inflation is one of the more unexpected consequences of the euro changeover in January 2002. In this note we argue that this gap was caused by a lack of preparation and experience of the authorities to appropriately communicate with the public during the changeover. Using principles of crisis communication we identify the mistakes made and give policy recommendations for future changeovers.crisis communication, transformative explanation, perceived inflation, euro changeover

Three ages of Venus

A central question for any planet is the age of its surface. Based on comparative planetological arguments, Venus should be as young and active as the Earth (Wood and Francis). The detection of probable impact craters in the Venera radar images provides a tool for estimating the age of the surface of Venus. Assuming somewhat different crater production rates, Bazilevskiy et al. derived an age of 1 + or - 0.5 billion years, and Schaber et al. and Wood and Francis estimated an age of 200 to 400 million years. The known impact craters are not randomly distributed, however, thus some area must be older and others younger than this average age. Ages were derived for major geologic units on Venus using the Soviet catalog of impact craters (Bazilevskiy et al.), and the most accessible geologic unit map (Bazilevskiy). The crater counts are presented for (diameters greater than 20 km), areas, and crater densities for the 7 terrain units and coronae. The procedure for examining the distribution of craters is superior to the purely statistical approaches of Bazilevskiy et al. and Plaut and Arvidson because the bins are larger (average size 16 x 10(6) sq km) and geologically significant. Crater densities define three distinct groups: relatively heavily cratered (Lakshmi, mountain belts), moderately cratered (smooth and rolling plains, ridge belts, and tesserae), and essentially uncratered (coronae and domed uplands). Following Schaber et al., Grieve's terrestrial cratering rate of 5.4 + or - 2.7 craters greater than 20 km/10(9) yrs/10(6) sq km was used to calculate ages for the geologic units on Venus. To improve statistics, the data was aggregated into the three crater density groups, deriving the ages. For convenience, the three similar age groups are given informal time stratigraphic unit names, from youngest to oldest: Ulfrunian, Sednaian, Lakshmian

Coping with People's Inflation Perceptions during a Currency Changeover

The discrepancy between popular impressions of how the 2002 changeover to the euro affected prices and its actual impact is perhaps the most surprising consequence of the single currency’s introduction. Following the changeover, perceived inflation rose significantly and returned to its prechangeover level only several months later. This paper argues that people’s inflation misperceptions could have been avoided. Using principles of crisis communication, we identify the mistakes made and present policy recommendations for future changeoverseuro changeover, perceived inflation, communication, perceptual crisis

Investigation of AC Loss in HTS Cross-Conductor Cables for Electrical Power Transmission

This paper presents the alternating current (AC) loss analysis on high-temperature superconductor (HTS) Cross-Conductor (CroCo) cables, in order to evaluate whether they could be utilized for electrical power transmission. The modeling of HTS CroCo cables was based on a cable assembled at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the AC loss calculation was based on the H-formulation model implemented in the finite-element method (FEM) software package COMSOL Multiphysics. The AC loss calculations have been carried out for isolated single-phase CroCo cable and three-phase CroCo cables. The AC loss angular dependence of a particular phase of CroCo cables during three phase operation has been studied. The current distributions of individual tapes within CroCo cables have been investigated

For a post-disciplinary study of finance and society

The financial crisis of 2007-8 sparked a variety of responses from elites and popular movements across the world. Its legacy also continues to shape capitalist societies through ongoing processes of regulatory reform, state restructuring, and financial innovation. While these processes are open-ended, they are increasingly subject to critical attention from a range of commentators. The usual suspects are out in force – academics, politicians, and pundits – but they are now joined by a wider array of theorists and activists, playwrights, novelists and artists. The financialisation of capitalism, it seems, has finally been met with a blooming of the financial imagination. Finance and Society will provide a space for the further development of this imagination, generating new insights into how money and finance organise social life

Fabric anisotropy & DEM informed two-surface hyperplasticity : constitutive formulation, asymptotic states & experimental validation.

In geotechnical analysis continuum idealisations of the bulk material still provide the most appropriate approach for engineers designing large-scale structures. In this area, the most successful framework for describing the behaviour of soils is Critical State (CS) soil mechanics. However, the findings from discrete element method (DEM) analysis, such as the uniqueness of the CS, can provide invaluable information in the development such models. This paper details the key concepts behind a two-surface hyperplasticity model (?) whose development was informed by recent DEM findings on the uniqueness of the CS. Asymptotic states of the model will be confirmed and the DEM-continuum-experimental loop will be closed through comparison of the developed model with experimental data on coarse-grained particulate media. This will demonstrate, that providing the previous stress history is accounted for, the proposed model is suitable for a variety of particulate media