The Java™ Persistence API (JPA) provides an easy mechanism to use with relational databases when you need applications to persist data. Although it is traditionally used with Enterprise Java™Beans (EJBs), JPA works quite well directly with Web applications. This article describes the simplified programming model and tools that IBM® Rational® Application Developer for WebSphere® Software Version 7.5 provides for easily building Web applications that use JPA.
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/08/0819_mutdosch/index.html
Thys Michels Blog 