Cost recovery and pricing of payment services

A modern payment system is essential for promoting domestic and international trade and exchange as well as developing financial markets. Payment users will be directed toward the most efficient payment methods when the costs of producing those services are reflected in the prices paid. Resources are being wasted in the United States because consumers see no important difference in transaction prices or bank costs between using a check or using electronic direct debit in paying a bill, even though the social costs of these two instruments are different. Electronic payments cost only a third to half as much as paper-based payments. An estimated $100 billion (or 1.5 percent of GDP) is being lost by the continued use of paper-based checks. When payment instruments are not appropriately priced, the costs must be covered elsewhere. One common solution is to let loan revenues cover part of payment expenses (keeping loan rates higher to compensate). When prices reflect the full cost of producing the service, users demand the services that use the fewest real resources. The authors give examples of payment prices and price schedules and show how underlying cost data are used to"build up"to a price. They outline how payment services may best be structured to: a) Appropriately reflect economies of scale or scope in the production of payment services; b) Adjust cost recovery percentages to accommodate how much demand conditions associated with start-up differ from those associated with mature operation. (During a new system's early years of operation, the transaction volume may be low and some form of underrecovery of costs may be required to encourage use of the system. But any such underrecovery must be built into future pricing arrangements oncethe systems are established and traffic volumes are at a level where full cost recovery is practical. To ensure fairness, the pricing structure must also guarantee that latecomers to the system not get more favorable treatment than the initial user group.); and c) Induce efficient use of scarce resources. They note the economic principles that recommend certain pricing methods over others and apply equally to payment services provided by the private sector or through a government agency. They show why costs should be recovered through user transaction fees.Banks&Banking Reform,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Decentralization,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access

In situ observations of bubble growth in basaltic, andesitic and rhyodacitic melts

Bubble growth strongly affects the physical properties of degassing magmas and their eruption dynamics. Natural samples and products from quench experiments provide only a snapshot of the final state of volatile exsolution, leaving the processes occurring during its early stages unconstrained. In order to fill this gap, we present in situ high-temperature observations of bubble growth in magmas of different compositions (basalt, andesite and rhyodacite) at 1,100 to 1,240 °C and 0.1 MPa (1 bar), obtained using a moissanite cell apparatus. The data show that nucleation occurs at very small degrees of supersaturaturation (<60 MPa in basalt and andesite, 200 MPa in rhyodacite), probably due to heterogeneous nucleation of bubbles occurring simultaneously with the nucleation of crystals. During the early stages of exsolution, melt degassing is the driving mechanism of bubble growth, with coalescence becoming increasingly important as exsolution progresses. Ostwald ripening occurs only at the end of the process and only in basaltic melt. The average bubble growth rate (G R) ranges from 3.4 × 10-6 to 5.2 × 10-7 mm/s, with basalt and andesite showing faster growth rates than rhyodacite. The bubble number density (N B) at nucleation ranges from 7.9 × 104 mm-3 to 1.8 × 105 mm-3 and decreases exponentially over time. While the rhyodacite melt maintained a well-sorted bubble size distribution (BSD) through time, the BSDs of basalt and andesite are much more inhomogeneous. Our experimental observations demonstrate that bubble growth cannot be ascribed to a single mechanism but is rather a combination of many processes, which depend on the physical properties of the melt. Depending on coalescence rate, annealing of bubbles following a single nucleation event can produce complex bubble size distributions. In natural samples, such BSDs may be misinterpreted as resulting from several separate nucleation events. Incipient crystallization upon cooling of a magma may allow bubble nucleation already at very small degrees of supersaturation and could therefore be an important trigger for volatile release and explosive eruptions. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Fluid-melt partitioning of sulfur in differentiated arc magmas and the sulfur yield of explosive volcanic eruptions

The fluid-melt partitioning of sulfur (DSfluid/melt) in differentiated arc magmas has been experimentally investigated under oxidizing conditions (Re-ReO2 buffer) from 800 to 950°C at 200MPa. The starting glasses ranged in composition from trachyte to rhyolite and were synthesized targeting the composition of the residual melt formed after 10-60% crystallization of originally trachy-andesitic, dacitic and rhyodacitic magmas (Masotta and Keppler, 2015). Fluid compositions were determined both by mass balance and by Raman spectroscopy of fluid inclusions. DSfluid/melt increases exponentially with increasing melt differentiation, ranging from 2 to 15 in the trachytic melt, from 20 to 100 in the dacitic and rhyodacitic melts and from 100 to 120 in the rhyolitic melt. The variation of the DSfluid/melt is entirely controlled by the compositional variation of the silicate melt, with temperature having at most a minor effect within the range investigated. Experiments from this study were used together with data from the literature to calibrate the following model that allows predicting DSfluid/melt for oxidized arc magmas: lnDSfluid/melt=9.2-31.4·nbot-1.8·ASI-29.5·Al#+4.2·Ca#where nbot is the non-bridging oxygen atoms per tetrahedron, ASI is the alumina saturation index, Al# and Ca# are two empirical compositional parameters calculated in molar units (Al#=XAl2O3XSiO2+XTiO2+XAl2O3 and Ca#=XCaOXNa2O+XK2O).The interplay between fluid-melt partitioning and anhydrite solubility determines the sulfur distribution among anhydrite, melt and fluid. At increasing melt polymerization, the exponential increase of the partition coefficient and the decrease of anhydrite solubility favor the accumulation of sulfur either in the fluid phase or as anhydrite. On the other hand, the higher anhydrite solubility and lower partition coefficient for less polymerized melts favor the retention of sulfur in the melt. At equilibrium conditions, these effects yield a maximum of the sulfur fraction in the fluid phase for slightly depolymerized melts (nbot= 0.05-0.15). Our data allow quantitative predictions of the sulfur yield of explosive volcanic eruptions over a wide range of magma compositions

Evidence for Cooper Pair Diffraction on the Vortex Lattice of Superconducting Niobium

We investigated the Abrikosov vortex lattice (VL) of a pure Niobium single crystal with the muon spin rotation (\mu SR) technique. Analysis of the \mu SR data in the framework of the BCS-Gor'kov theory allowed us to determine microscopic parameters and the limitations of the theory. With decreasing temperature the field variation around the vortex cores deviates substantially from the predictions of the Ginzburg-Landau theory and adopts a pronounced conical shape. This is evidence of partial diffraction of Cooper pairs on the VL predicted by Delrieu for clean superconductors.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Magnetic field distribution and characteristic fields of the vortex lattice for a clean superconducting niobium sample in an external field applied along a three-fold axis

The field distribution in the vortex lattice of a pure niobium single crystal with an external field applied along a three-fold axis has been investigated by the transverse-field muon-spin-rotation (TF-$\mu$SR) technique over a wide range of temperatures and fields. The experimental data have been analyzed with the Delrieu's solution for the form factor supplemented by phenomenological formulas for the parameters. This has enabled us to experimentally establish the temperatures and fields for the Delrieu's, Ginzburg-Landau's, and Klein's regions of the vortex lattice. Using the numerical solution of the quasiclassical Eilenberger's equation the experimental results have been reasonably understood. They should apply to all clean BCS superconductors. The analytical Delrieu's model supplemented by phenomenological formulas for its parameters is found to be reliable for analyzing TF-$\mu$SR experimental data for a substantial part of the mixed phase. The Abrikosov's limit is contained in it.Comment: 12 pages, 15 figure

Bulk rock elastic moduli at high pressures, derived from the mineral textures and from extrapolated laboratory data

The elastic anisotropy of bulk rock depends on the mineral textures, the crack fabric and external parameters like, e.g., confining pressure. The texture-related contribution to elastic anisotropy can be predicted from the mineral textures, the largely sample-dependent contribution of the other parameters must be determined experimentally. Laboratory measurements of the elastic wave velocities are mostly limited to pressures of the intermediate crust. We describe a method, how the elastic wave velocity trends and, by this means, the elastic constants can be extrapolated to the pressure conditions of the lower crust. The extrapolated elastic constants are compared to the texture-derived ones. Pronounced elastic anisotropy is evident for phyllosilicate minerals, hence, the approach is demonstrated for two phyllosilicate-rich gneisses with approximately identical volume fractions of the phyllosilicates but different texture types

Crystallographic preferred orientations of exhumed subduction channel rocks from the Eclogite Zone of the Tauern Window (Eastern Alps, Austria), and implications on rock elastic anisotropies at great depths

Highlights • Analysis of crystallographic preferred orientations of high-pressure polymineralic rocks by time-of-flight neutron diffraction • Elastic properties of a complete set of subduction channel rocks calculated from their crystallographic preferred orientation • Vp/Vs ratio and P-wave anisotropy of eclogites and metasediments • Influence of eclogite retrogression during exhumation on their elastic properties • Evaluation of the seismic signature of both clastic and carbonate sediments in subduction channels Abstract Crystallographic preferred orientations (CPO) of rocks from an exhumed subduction channel of the Alpine orogen were determined using time-of-flight neutron diffraction. This method allows the investigation of large polymineralic samples and, more importantly, the application of full pattern fit methods to constrain CPOs of mineralogically complex rocks. Samples studied include intensely deformed fresh and retrogressed eclogites, as well as metasediments, which are interleaved with the eclogites in the subduction channel. From the CPO, seismic properties of the samples were calculated. P- wave anisotropies of the eclogite samples are fairly low, with an average of about 1.5%, and mainly constrained by pronounced omphacite CPO. Growth and deformation of retrograde amphibole in the eclogites also led to a pronounced CPO, which has a large impact on seismic anisotropies by raising them to up to 3.7% and changing the orientations of velocity maxima. Elastic anisotropies of the subducted metasediments are higher (up to 7.4%) and constrained by quartz and mica CPO in clastics and by calcite CPO in marble. VP/VS ratios may help to distinguish fresh eclogites from retrogressed ones, and both rock types from mantle peridotites of downgoing lithospheric slabs in seismic imaging. Our data also indicate that subducted terrigenous sediments are not only strongly anisotropic, but also have low VP/VS ratios. This way there may be potential to image them by seismic tomography at depth in active subduction channels

Controlled assembly of SNAP-PNA-fluorophore systems on DNA templates to produce fluorescence resonance energy transfer

The SNAP protein is a widely used self-labeling tag that can be used for tracking protein localization and trafficking in living systems. A model system providing controlled alignment of SNAP-tag units can provide a new way to study clustering of fusion proteins. In this work, fluorescent SNAP-PNA conjugates were controllably assembled on DNA frameworks forming dimers, trimers, and tetramers. Modification of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) with the O6-benzyl guanine (BG) group allowed the generation of site-selective covalent links between PNA and the SNAP protein. The modified BG-PNAs were labeled with fluorescent Atto dyes and subsequently chemo-selectively conjugated to SNAP protein. Efficient assembly into dimer and oligomer forms was verified via size exclusion chromatography (SEC), electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), and fluorescence spectroscopy. DNA directed assembly of homo- and hetero-dimers of SNAP-PNA constructs induced homo- and hetero-FRET, respectively. Longer DNA scaffolds controllably aligned similar fluorescent SNAP-PNA constructs into higher oligomers exhibiting homo-FRET. The combined SEC and homo-FRET studies indicated the 1:1 and saturated assemblies of SNAP-PNA-fluorophore:DNA formed preferentially in this system. This suggested a kinetic/stoichiometric model of assembly rather than binomially distributed products. These BG-PNA-fluorophore building blocks allow facile introduction of fluorophores and/or assembly directing moieties onto any protein containing SNAP. Template directed assembly of PNA modified SNAP proteins may be used to investigate clustering behavior both with and without fluorescent labels which may find use in the study of assembly processes in cells

Crystallization behavior of iron- and boron-containing nepheline (Na2 O●Al2 O3 ●2SiO2 ) based model high-level nuclear waste glasses

This study focuses on understanding the relationship between iron redox, composition, and heat‐treatment atmosphere in nepheline‐based model high‐level nuclear waste glasses. Glasses in the Na2O–Al2O3–B2O3–Fe2O3–SiO2 system with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 and Na2O/Fe2O3 ratios have been synthesized by melt‐quench technique and studied for their crystallization behavior in different heating atmospheres—air, inert (N2), and reducing (96%N2–4%H2). The compositional dependence of iron redox chemistry in glasses and the impact of heating environment and crystallization on iron coordination in glass‐ceramics have been investigated by Mössbauer spectroscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. While iron coordination in glasses and glass‐ceramics changed as a function of glass chemistry, the heating atmosphere during crystallization exhibited minimal effect on iron redox. The change in heating atmosphere did not affect the phase assemblage but did affect the microstructural evolution. While glass‐ceramics produced as a result of heat treatment in air and N2 atmospheres developed a golden/brown colored iron‐rich layer on their surface, those produced in a reducing atmosphere did not exhibit any such phenomenon. Furthermore, while this iron‐rich layer was observed in glass‐ceramics with varying Al2O3/Fe2O3 ratio, it was absent from glass‐ceramics with varying Na2O/Fe2O3 ratio. An explanation of these results has been provided on the basis of kinetics of diffusion of oxygen and network modifiers in the glasses under different thermodynamic conditions. The plausible implications of the formation of iron‐rich layer on the surface of glass‐ceramics on the chemical durability of high‐level nuclear waste glasses have been discussed