Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Users as Service Innovators: The Case of Banking Services

Many services can be self-provided. An individual user or a user firm can, for example, choose to do its own accounting - choose to self-provide that service - instead of hiring an accounting firm to provide it. Since users can 'serve themselves' in many cases, it is reasonable to suspect that they can also innovate with respect to the services they self-provide - possibly without the assistance of service providers. In this paper, we conduct the first quantitative exploration of the importance of services innovation by users, focusing on the field of commercial and retail banking services. We find that 55% of today's computerized commercial banking services were first developed and implemented by non-bank firms for their own use, and 44% of today's computerized retail banking services were first developed and implemented by individual service users rather than by commercial financial service providers. Manual precursors to these services - manual procedures that carried out functions similar to computerized services in our sample - were almost always developed by users as self-services. Our empirical findings differ significantly from prevalent producer-centered views of service development. We speculate that the patterns we have observed in banking with respect to the major role of users in service development will prove to be quite general. If so, this will be an important matter: on the order of 75% of GDP in advanced economies today is derived from services. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in service development.
Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States

Gated communities are a new "hot button" in many North American cities. From Boston to Los Angeles and from Miami to Toronto citizens are taking sides in the debate over whether any neighborhood should be walled and gated, preventing intrusion or inspection by outsiders. This debate has intensified since the hard cover edition of this book was published in 1997. Since then the number of gated communities has risen dramatically. In fact, new homes in over 40 percent of planned developments are gated n the West, the South, and southeastern parts of the United States. Opposition to this phenomenon is growing too. In the small and relatively homogenous town of Worcester, Massachusetts, a band of college students from Brown University and the University of Chicago picketed the Wexford Village in November of 1998 waving placards that read "Gates Divide. " These students are symbolic of a much larger wave of citizens asking questions about the need for and the social values of gates that divide one portion of a community from another.
Firms in Markets Under Uncertainty

We analyze a rational-expectations model of price formation in an intermediate-good market under uncertainty. There is a continuum of dyads, each consisting of an upstream party and a downstream party. Both parties can make specific investments at private cost. As in property-rights models, different governance structures induce different investments. As in rational-expectations models, some parties may invest in acquiring (common-value) information, which is then incorporated into the market-clearing price by the parties' trading behaviors. The informativeness of the price mechanism affects the returns to specific investments and hence the optimal governance structure for individual dyads; meanwhile, the governance-structure choices by individual dyads affect the informativeness of the price mechanism. In equilibrium, firms and the market coexist and shape each other. In particular, the informativeness of the price mechanism can induce ex ante homogeneous dyads to choose heterogeneous governance structures.
Stream‐aquifer interactions and hyporheic exchange in gaining and losing sinuous streams

The irregular planform morphology of rivers leads to formation of hyporheic zones along its banks. This study investigates how hyporheic exchange in stream banks, whose planform is idealized as sinusoidal, is affected by net gains from and net losses of water to the adjacent aquifer. These effects are studied via numerical modeling of groundwater flow adjacent to sinuous channels across a broad range of sinuosity and gain/loss magnitude. Hyporheic zone areas and fluxes both decrease exponentially with increasing magnitude of net gain or loss relative to the case where the stream has no net flux of water (neutral). Residence time through the hyporheic zone also decreases with gain/loss magnitude. The hyporheic zones become constrained near the apex of bends, indicating that these areas could be hot spots for mixing and biogeochemical processing. Hyporheic zones in channels with smaller sinuosity are more prone to hyporheic flux and area reduction while very sinuous channels are able to maintain a hyporheic zone even under largely losing or gaining conditions. Equations fitted to the suite of simulation results allow for prediction of hyporheic flux, area, and residence time on the basis of aquifer hydraulic conductivity, channel sinuosity, and the ratio of along‐valley and across‐valley mean head gradients.
Computers and Mathematics with Applications

In this article, a finite difference scheme for coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations is studied. The existence of the difference solution is proved by Brouwer fixed point theorem. With the aid of the fact that the difference solution satisfies two conservation laws, the finite difference solution is proved to be bounded in the discrete L ∞ norm. Then, the difference solution is shown to be unique and second order convergent in the discrete L ∞ norm. Finally, a convergent iterative algorithm is presented.
Data augmentation for recommender system: A semi-supervised approach using maximum margin matrix factorization

Collaborative filtering (CF) has become a popular method for developing recommender systems (RS) where ratings of a user for new items is predicted based on her past preferences and available preference information of other users. Despite the popularity of CF-based methods, their performance is often greatly limited by the sparsity of observed entries. In this study, we explore the data augmentation and refinement aspects of Maximum Margin Matrix Factorization (MMMF), a widely accepted CF technique for the rating predictions, which have not been investigated before. We exploit the inherent characteristics of CF algorithms to assess the confidence level of individual ratings and propose a semi-supervised approach for rating augmentation based on self-training. We hypothesize that any CF algorithm’s predictions with low confidence are due to some deficiency in the training data and hence, the performance of the algorithm can be improved by adopting a systematic data augmentation strategy. We iteratively use some of the ratings predicted with high confidence to augment the training data and remove low-confidence entries through a refinement process. By repeating this process, the system learns to improve prediction accuracy. Our method is experimentally evaluated on several state-of-the-art CF algorithms and leads to informative rating augmentation, improving the performance of the baseline approaches.
PALEOCEAN CIRCULATION DURING THE LAST DEGLACIATION : A BIPOLAR SEESAW ?

Hughen et al. [1998] have documented that during the first 200 years of Younger Dryas time the 14C content of atmospheric CO2 increased by ∼50‰ and that during the remainder of this 1200-year-duration cold event it steadily declined. The initial increase in 14C/C was likely the result of a reduction in the Atlantic's conveyor circulation. However, were the subsequent radiocarbon decline due to the rejuvenation of this potent heat pump, then it is difficult to understand why the climate conditions in the northern Atlantic basin remained cold throughout the Younger Dryas. Modeling exercises by Stocker and Wright [1996], Mikolajewicz [1998], and Schiller et al. [1998] show that if the conveyor is terminated, the transfer of radiocarbon into the deep sea shifts to the Southern Ocean, thereby stabilizing the atmospheric 14C/C ratio. Paleoclimatic evidence from the Antarctic continent suggests that this model-based scenario might have been played out in the real world. While the Younger Dryas cooling has been documented in many places around the world, including New Zealand [Denton and Hendy, 1994], Sowers and Bender [1995], using their 18O in O2-based correlation between the ice core 18O in ice records for Antarctica and Greenland, have demonstrated that in Antarctica the Younger Dryas was a time of maximum warming. The point of this paper is that the steep rise in 18O rise in Antarctic ice which commenced close to the onset of the Younger Dryas might have been caused by heat released to the atmosphere in response to an increase in deep-sea ventilation in the Southern Ocean.
Understanding Post-adoption Usage of Mobile Data Services: The Role of Supplier-side Variables

This study investigates factors that affect usage changes in mobile data services (MDS). First, we conducted an exploratory study based on 378 survey responses to learn about important decision factors of MDS usage. It revealed a discrepancy between the forces influencing usage increase and those of usage decrease. Based on the findings from the exploratory study and Hertzberg’s two-factor theory, we postulated information quality as the motivator and system quality as the de-motivator of MDS usage. Then, we undertook a confirmative study on the respective roles of these factors in encouraging and discouraging the usage of MDS. We proposed a research model and empirically tested our hypotheses with partial least square (PLS) analysis based on 478 responses from MDS users. Information quality (as a motivator) was positively associated with MDS usage increase, but system quality (as a de-motivator) was not. Also, system quality was negatively associated with usage decrease, but information quality was not. Last, their association was partially moderated by the type of motivation for using MDS. Information quality had a stronger influence on MDS usage increase when the main motive was utilitarian rather than hedonic.
Integration of altimetric lake levels and GRACE gravimetry over Africa: Inferences for terrestrial water storage change 2003–2011

Terrestrial water storage (TWS) change for 2003–2011 is estimated over Africa from GRACE gravimetric data. The signatures from change in water of the major lakes are removed by utilizing kernel functions with lake heights recovered from retracked ENVISAT satellite altimetry. In addition, the contribution of gravimetric change due to soil moisture and biomass is removed from the total GRACE signal by utilizing the GLDAS land surface model. The residual TWS time series, namely groundwater and the surface waters in rivers, wetlands, and small lakes, are investigated for trends and the seasonal cycle using linear regression. Typically, such analyses assume that the data are temporally uncorrelated but this has been shown to lead to erroneous inferences in related studies concerning the linear rate and acceleration. In this study, we utilize autocorrelation and investigate the appropriate stochastic model. The results show the proper distribution of TWS change and identify the spatial distribution of significant rates and accelerations. The effect of surface water in the major lakes is shown to contribute significantly to the trend and seasonal variation in TWS in the lake basin. Lake Volta, a managed reservoir in Ghana, is seen to have a contribution to the linear trend that is a factor of three greater than that of Lake Victoria despite having a surface area one‐eighth of that of Lake Victoria. Analysis also shows the confidence levels of the deterministic trend and acceleration identifying areas where the signatures are most likely due to a physical deterministic cause and not simply stochastic variations.
A Global Climatology of Temperature and Water Vapor Variance Scaling from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder

Abstract A global climatology of height-resolved variance scaling within the troposphere is presented using derived temperature (T) and water vapor (q) profiles from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS). The power-law exponent of T variance scaling approaches 1.0 outside of the tropics at scales >500–800 km, but it is closer to 0.3 at scales <500 km, similar to exponents obtained from aircraft campaigns, numerical modeling, and theoretical studies. The T exponents in the tropics at all scales become less than 0.3, with a similar pattern observed within the boundary layer in some extratropical regions. For q, the variance scaling differs substantially from T with exponents near 0.5–0.6 in parts of the tropics and subtropics with little to no scale break, showing some consistency with a very limited set of aircraft and satellite studies. Scaling differences as a function of land and ocean, altitude, and cloudy- and clear-sky scenes are quantified. Both T and q exponents indicate peak magnitudes in the mi.
Soil structure and carbon cycling

Samples from the surface horizons of six virgin soils were collected and separated into density fractions. Based on the spatial distribution of organic materials within the mineral matrix of soil, the soil organic matter (SOM) contained in various density fractions was classified as: (a) free particulate OM, (b) occluded particulate OM, and (c) colloidal or clay-associated OM. The compositional differences noted among these three components of SOM were used to describe the changes that OM undergoes during decomposition when it enters the soil, is enveloped in aggregates and eventually is incorporated into microbial biomass and metabolites and associated with clay minerals. The occluded organic materials, released as a result of aggregate disruption, were in various stages of decomposition and had different degrees of association with mineral particles. Changes in the degree of association of occluded organic materials and mineral particles with decomposition are discussed and form the basis of a model which illustrates the simultaneous dynamics of microaggregates and their organic cores. This model indicates a major role for carbohydrate-rich plant debris in formation and stabilization of microaggregates.
Wolfeite and barbosalite from Thackaringa, Australia

Summary Wolfeite (Fe,Mn)2PO4(OH) and barbosalite FeIIFeIII 2(PO4)2(OH)2 are the principal phases in phosphate pods from the core of a zoned altered granitic pegmatite at Thackaringa. Chemical analyses of the wolfeite show it to be Fe-rich and extends the triploiditewolfeite isomorphous series (Frondel, 1949) from ΣFe/Mn = 3·39 (this study) to greater than 100 (Clark and Couper, 1979).
Multistage analysis of Meteosat images

This paper presents a methodology for pixel classification applied to METEOSAT images. It will be used as the first step in the derivation of high space/time resolution ERB (Earth Radiation Budget) images. The classification method combines temporal and spatial analysis with fixed prior knowledge (in the form of a surface properties database) to obtain a final robust unsupervised cloud recognition. The different algorithms which are combined in this methodology are time series greyscale morphology, k-means clustering, median filtering and iterative Bayesian clustering based on discriminant analysis using prior probability functions. The combination of these different algorithms realizes a fuzzy combination of complementary data in a multi-stage (gradual) classification-decision-making process. The outputs of the different classification stages can be validated autonomously. Technical novelties in this approach reside as well in the use of the different algorithms as in the way to combine them.
An Analysis of the Conditional Instability of the Tropical Atmosphere

Abstract The ice phase is included in thermodynamic calculations of convective available potential energy (CAPE) for a large number of soundings in the tropical atmosphere, at both land and ocean stations. It is found that the positive-buoyancy contribution to CAPE resulting from the latent heat of fusion more than offsets the negative-buoyancy contribution due to water loading in the reversible thermodynamic process. The departure from moist neutrality in much of the tropical atmosphere exhibits a threshold in boundary-layer wet-bulb potential temperature of 22°–23°C. The corresponding sea surface temperature is approximately 26°C, close to the empirical threshold for hurricane formation, which suggests that conditional instability plays an important role in the latter phenomenon. The simultaneous presence of finite CAPE and infrequent deep convection in the tropics is tentatively attributed to the convective inhibition energy (CINE) and to the mixing process that destroys positive buoyancy in incipient .
Environmental impact of multi‐annual drought in the Jordan Kinneret watershed, Israel

Floods and droughts are the most common of natural disasters, and the number of victims and the economic damage are both greater than those caused by other events such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The drought that affected Israel between 1998 and 2001 was of unusual climatic and hydrologic severity; the most serious in the last 125 years in northern Israel. The climatic drought affected the water flow of the Jordan River and the level of Lake Kinneret, which fell to −214·90 m (below sea‐level), the lowest lake level in historical periods. The annual flow of the Jordan River in the drought period was the lowest in the 50‐year hydrological record.
Diagenetic significance of carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopic compositions in the Aptian-Albian Mural Formation in Cerro Pimas area, northern Sonora, Mexico.

A carbon, oxygen and strontium isotopic study on the predominantly carbonate succession of the shallow marine Mural Formation in the Cerro Pimas locality of northern Sonora (Mexico) was undertaken to understand isotopic variations in seawater during Aptian- Albian time. Petrographic study has been carried out on these limestones to support the isotopic study. The limestones show low content of TOC, both negative and positive δ13C values (-4.1 to +2.2‰ VPDB) and d18O values varying from -13.4 to -8.9‰ VPDB. The carbon isotope composition, δ13C vs δ18O plot and Mn/Sr ratio suggest that the δ13C measured values are primary in nature and remain unaltered during diagenesis. The carbon isotope curve shows a positive δ13C excursion followed by a negative event in the lower part of the Los Coyotes Member (Lower Albian) of the Mural Formation and confirm the global nature of the episode OAE 1b in the Cerro Pimas section. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios for limestones of the Mural Formation (0.707221 to 0.707340) are similar to the ratios for Late Aptian and Early Albian seawater (0.70726 to 0.70740). In addition, 87Sr/86Sr age of the Cerro La Ceja member (113.4 Ma; Late Aptian age) is comparable to that of published zircon radiometric age. The numerical age of Los Coyotes (112.0 Ma and 111.1 Ma) and Cerro La Espina (110.9 Ma and 110.7 Ma) members indicate also Early Albian age. The whole-rock Sr isotope ages in this study are consistent with the previously published radiometric and biostratigraphic ages.
Profile for Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) Congestion Control ID 3: TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC)

This document contains the profile for Congestion Control Identifier 3, TCP-Friendly Rate Control (TFRC), in the Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP). CCID 3 should be used by senders that want a TCP-friendly sending rate, possibly with Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), while minimizing abrupt rate changes. [STANDARDS- TRACK]
The effect of synaptic weight initialization in feature-based successor representation learning

After discovering place cells, the idea of the hippocampal (HPC) function to represent geometric spaces has been extended to predictions, imaginations, and conceptual cognitive maps. Recent research arguing that the HPC represents a predictive map; and it has shown that the HPC predicts visits to speciﬁc locations. This predictive map theory is based on successor representation (SR) from reinforcement learning. Feature-based SR (SF), which uses a neural network as a function approximation to learn SR, seems more plausible neurobiological model. However, it is not well known how diﬀerent methods of weight (W) initialization aﬀect SF learning. In this study, SF learners were exposed to simple maze environments to analyze SF learning eﬃciency and W patterns pattern changes. Three kinds of W initialization pattern were used: identity matrix, zero matrix, and small random matrix. The SF learner initiated with random weight matrix showed better performance than other three RL agents. We will discuss the neurobiological meaning of SF weight matrix. Through this approach, this paper tried to increase our understanding of intelligence from neuroscientiﬁc and artiﬁcial intelligence perspective.
Large‐scale river flow archives: importance, current status and future needs

Time-series for river gauging stations are core blue-skies and applied research resources for understanding impacts of climate and anthropogenic change on basin hydrology. River flow archives hold vital information for evidence-based assessment of past hydrological variability, and support hydrological modelling of future changes. River discharge is an integration of basin input, storage and transfer processes to the gauging point. It is important to set basin outlet data in regional to global and long-term contexts: to better understand nested scales of variability; to pinpoint locations and time periods most sensitive to climate and human impacts; to make predictions for ungauged basins; and to inform decision makers on water security issues, and where and when to take measures to mitigate water hazards and stress, including floods and droughts (Dai et al., 2009; Bonnell et al., 2006; Feyen & Dankers, 2009; Haddeland et al., 2006; Hannah et al., 2005). Thus, there is clear rationale for supporting large-scale (i.e. regional to continental to global) river flow archives. Notable examples of such databases include that held by the WMO Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC) and the UNESCO Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data (FRIEND) European Water Archive (EWA). For large-scale river flow archives to be valuable research resources, they must be fit for purpose. However, these databases are at risk due to a possible decline in network coverage, associated time-series truncation, growing human impact on (near-) natural flows, and increasingly restricted access to national-scale data. This commentary aims: (1) to demonstrate largescale river flow datasets are crucial to advance hydrological science and solve operational issues; (2) to assess the current status of large-scale river flow datasets; and (3) to propose ways forward to consolidate historical data and secure future river flow data.
Estimación del valor económico-ambiental del bosque de algarrobos de Tiataco en Cochabamba, Bolivia

A traves del Metodo de Valoracion Contingente (MVC), se estimo el valor economico-ambiental del bosque nativo de algarrobos, Prosopis spp. de Tiataco, comunidad de aproximadamente 1.100 habitantes, ubicada en el Valle Alto del Departamento de Cochabamba. Se realizaron encuestas con las cuales se determino la Disposicion A Pagar (DAP) por el bosque. A partir de 195 encuestas, se obtuvo una DAP media muestral individual de 9 - 13 $US ano-1. Extendiendo esta DAP al grupo poblacional mayor de 15 anos, se obtuvo una DAP grupal entre 7.499 y 9.925 $US ano-1. Sin embargo, para estimar el valor del bosque con persistencia garantizada, este valor se expreso como valor actual o presente, resultando en 62.129 - 82.229 $US.