LEVERAGING SOA IN BANKING SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

There is no doubt that the systems integration is one of the most important and complicated tasks in software filed especially for complex applications like banking systems. Complexity in integrating banking systems often comes from continues changes in both technical and business features provided by them to meet customer needs. Banking systems always come from different software vendors which mean using platforms and different design and architecture patterns, and this for sure adds extra complexity for integrating them. Serviceoriented architecture (SOA) is a promising method in software filed that aims to build or restructure software systems in a manner that makes their maintenance and integration easier. Agility is the most important goal that should be achieved when building and integrating banking systems. Simply, agility is needed to meet market needs quickly and efficiently and SOA is the way that could provide itSOA, SOI, P2P Integration, Web Services, and Legacy Code

Cosmological solutions of massive gravity on de Sitter

In the framework of the recently proposed models of massive gravity, defined with respect to a de Sitter reference metric, we obtain new homogeneous and isotropic solutions for arbitrary cosmological matter and arbitrary spatial curvature. These solutions can be classified into three branches. In the first two, the massive gravity terms behave like a cosmological constant. In the third branch, the massive gravity effects can be described by a time evolving effective fluid with rather remarkable features, including the property to behave as a cosmological constant at late time.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure; discussion extended, a few references added, improved analysis in Section

IS AGRICULTURAL SECTOR GROWTH A PRECONDITION FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH? THE CASE OF SOUTH AFRICA

In this paper a simple growth model is adapted to explain the effect of the agricultural sectors' growth on the non-agricultural sector. The empirical results suggest that for a 1% growth in the agricultural sector, the non-agricultural sector responds by more than 1%. The results also confirm that productivity difference exists, the non-agricultural sector being more efficient in terms of input use. The empirical results support the argument of President T. Mbeki, that South Africa should follow an "agricultural-led" growth strategy for successful development.International Development,

Tracking dynamics of functional brain networks using dense EEG

International audienceCognition is formed from networks between functionally specific but distributed brain regions. A very challenging issue in cognition is how to precisely track brain networks at very short temporal scales (often very short <1s). So far, very few studies have addressed this problem as it requires high temporal and spatial resolution simultaneously. Due to its excellent temporal resolution, Electroencephalography (EEG) is a key neuroimaging technique to access real-time information flow among large scale neuronal networks. Here, we propose a new method based on EEG source connectivity to map large-scale networks at high temporal (in the order of ms) and spatial (~1000 regions of interest) resolution. We show clear evidence of the ability of EEG source connectivity to track brain networks with high time/space resolutions during picture naming task. Our results reveal that the cognitive process can be decomposed into a sequence of transiently-stable and partially-overlapping networks. Our qualitative and quantitative observations show that the identified brain networks are in accordance with results reported in the literature regarding involved brain areas during the analyzed task

Thermal quantum and classical correlations in two qubit XX model in a nonuniform external magnetic field

We investigate how thermal quantum discord (QD) and classical correlations (CC) of a two-qubit one-dimensional XX Heisenberg chain in thermal equilibrium depend on the temperature of the bath as well as on nonuniform external magnetic fields applied to two qubits and varied separately. We show that the behavior of QD differs in many unexpected ways from the thermal entanglement (EOF). For the nonuniform case (B1 = -B2), we find that QD and CC are equal for all values of (B1 = -B2) and for different temperatures. We show that, in this case, the thermal states of the system belong to a class of mixed states and satisfy certain conditions under which QD and CC are equal. The specification of this class and the corresponding conditions are completely general and apply to any quantum system in a state in this class satisfying these conditions. We further find that the relative contributions of QD and CC can be controlled easily by changing the relative magnitudes of B1 and B2. Finally, we connect our results with the monogamy relations between the EOF, CC and the QD of two qubits and the environment.Comment: 8 pages, 13 figures. We connect our results with the monogamy relations between the EOF, CC and the QD of two qubits and the environmen

CAUSALITY AND DYNAMICS OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND OUTPUT: EVIDENCE FROM NON-OECD ASIAN COUNTRIES

This article examines the short-run and long-run causal relationship between energy consumption and output in six non-OECD Asian developing countries. Standard time series econometrics is used for this purpose. Based on cointegration and vector error correction modeling, the empirical result shows a bi-directional causality between energy consumption and income in Malaysia, while a unidirectional causality from output to energy consumption in China and Thailand and energy consumption to output in India and Pakistan. Bangladesh remains as an energy neutral economy confirming the fact that it is one of the lowest energy consuming countries in Asia. Both the generalized variance decompositions and the impulse response functions confirm the direction of causality in these countries. These findings have important policy implications for concerned countries. Countries like China and Thailand may contribute to the fight against global warming directly implementing energy conservation measures whereas India and Pakistan may focus on technological developments and mitigation policies. For Malaysia, a balanced combination of alternative policies seems to be appropriate.Energy Conservation, Cointegration, Error Correction Model, Generalized Variance Decompositions, Generalized Impulse Response Functions