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The rural population in Peru has limited access to the financial system due to the high cost of credit and the high risk (default rates) caused by the informal sector. Thus, it is necessary to improve the assertive microcredits loans in favor of the rural economy. The Peruvian model is based mainly on evaluation achieved by experts, whose main tasks are to evaluate and verify clients requesting these microcredits. Currently, these tasks are performed manually and subjective to the expert's judgment. This work proposes to find the highest level of assertiveness for the credit granting process and the consequent reduction of credit risk using several Machine Learning models. These models considered significant variables of the microcredit evaluation process in rural areas, testing techniques such as SMOTE and K-fold and, evaluating the models using some metrics, such as Accuracy, Precision, Recall, F1 Score, AUC ROC. The LightGBM model, based on decision trees, achieved an excellent level of assertiveness, with a 96.20% loan success rate. The results to reduce the delinquency rate prove that it is optimal to use technological tools such as machine learning models to support decision-making by experts of credit risk assessment in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microcredits are an important component in the development of the peruvian rural economy, which are granted by microfinance institutions, the assessment process for the rural an poor people has a high risk index which is traditionally controlled by the business rural advisor, whose main tasks are the evaluation and verification of the clients requesting these microcredits. This research proposes a model that presents the best level of assertiveness for microcredits assessment process based on determination analysis of rural variables based on the specialized literature in the area. This model serves as a decision-support tool for business rural advisor in order to reduce the credit risk of the rural microfinance institution, The most representative variables of the financial and microfinance segment have been evaluated; the data has been pre-processed; Machine Learning models have been selected, trained, validated and evaluated through different metrics. The most assertive model in the assessment process of the granting of rural microcredit, based on the variables and data used by the analyzed entity, are: the Artificial Neural Network (93.72), on Logistic Regression (86.07), Random Forest (66.35), Support Vector Machine (84.44), Decision Tree (88.80) and k-Nearest Neighbor (65.98). Finally, the level of assertiveness achieved by ANN model 93.72% is better than the entity traditional methodology 76.81%, showing an improvement of 16.91% in the index of default customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The rapid rate of discovery of Lower Cretaceous tetrapod tracksites in terrestrial sequences on the Sichuan Basin area is such that the 2016 report of 21 sites in the Xiaoba, Feitianshan and Jiaguan Formations is now increased by ∼24%–26 sites. Of these seven occur in the Xiaoba Formation, including two new sites (Luogan and Apuruha) described here. Likewise, there has been a similar increase in reports of sites from the Jiaguan Formation, from 12 to 15 sites (=25%) in the same period. The total of estimated trackmakers, based on trackways, not individual tracks, is ∼598 for all three formations, including∼150 from the Xiaoba Formation, and ∼325 from the Jiaguan Formation. This indicates a two-year increase in the database of ∼20%. To date all tracks from the Xiaoba formation represent saurischians (non-avian theropods and sauropods). However, as the database has increased for all three formations it has been possible to demonstrate that didactyl, presumably deinonychosaurian trackmakers, although rare and in some cases poorly preserved, occur in about 20% of assemblages. Thus, the data base helps differentiate between the relatively low abundance and relatively widespread distribution of deinonychosaurian trackmakers within the non-avian theropod track database. This difference between abundance and distribution is consistent with what is known of patterns in other parts of Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many newly-discovered dinosaur tracksites have recently been reported from the Lower Cretaceous Dasheng Group of Shandong Province. These are proving valuable as tools for characterizing the fauna in deposits almost devoid of body fossils. Here we report on a new Cretaceous site, the 14th documented in recent years, with multiple track-bearing levels, that adds ∼300 tracks to a growing database. At least two morphotypes tentatively labelled as cf. Menglongpus isp., representing a deinonychosaur, and cf. Tatarornipes isp., representing an avian theropod, add to the list of at least seven named ichnogenera attributed to avian and non-avian theropods reported from the Dasheng Group in Shandong Province. Combined with two sauropodomorph and two ornithopod ichnogenera, and unnamed turtle tracks, the genus-level ichnodiversity (∼14) is one of the highest reported for any Cretaceous unit either regionally in China or globally. The tracks identified as cf. Menglongpus isp. occur in four parallel trackways indicating a group of small didactyl bipeds of inferred deinonychosaurian affinity. Despite the lack of body fossils from the Dasheng Group in Shandong Province, a high diversity of deinonychosaur body fossils is known from the contemporary Jehol Biota from northeastern China. This similarity underscores the importance of the Shandong track assemblage as indicators of regional, tetrapod biodiversity during the Cretaceous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of drones in the exploration and documentation of track surfaces in steep terrain, otherwise only accessible by time intensive climbing activity, is tested. Location is the Nanquan site, one of many now known footprint localities from the Lower Cretaceous Dasheng Group that has been recently exposed by local industrial excavation. It reveals an ichnofauna of sauropod, theropod, and ornithopod tracks and trackways occurring at multiple stratigraphic levels (at least 10) in a thin sequence of fine grained purple mudstones with thin sandstone units that are steeply inclined by >45°. It was therefore necessary and most efficient to map the track-bearing surfaces using drone photography. The majority of track-bearing levels reveal sauropod tracks (cf. Brontopodus , cf. Parabrontopodus ), which on some surfaces are very abundant. Large theropod tracks (cf. Grallator ) and ornithopod tracks ( Caririchnium ) also occur, but only on single horizons. The ichnofauna is evidence of repeated activity by large dinosaurs in a fluvio-lacustrine floodplain setting susceptible to periodic desiccation. The Naquan site forms part of an extensive Dasheng Group outcrop belt with multiple tracks sites, most of these containing multiple track-bearing levels. As a result of the investigation, drone techniques can be recommended as an additional tool for quick documentation, in order to get a general overview and map of the track surface. Details are relatively distinct on the achieved photographs, however, a precise study still needs direct examination and documentation by classical outline drawings or photogrammetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of dinosaur tracks at a courtyard location in a restaurant in Leshan City, Sichuan Province, China became an international news story due to the unusual location of the discovery. Careful analysis of these 'restaurant tracks' indicates that they originate in the track-rich, Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation, and are Brontopodus type sauropod tracks typical of the saurischian dominated Sichuan Basin ichnofauna of this epoch. Studies of the weathering of the Leshan Buddha at Mount Lingyun, a world heritage site only 5.5 km from the restaurant, indicate similar lithologies that allow estimation of weathering rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Dinosaur tracks have been known and reported sporadically from the coal-bearing beds of the Fuxin Formation (upper Aptian–Albian, upper Lower Cretaceous) of Liaoning Province, northeastern China for some time but have not been described in detail. Here available material is illustrated suggesting a diversity of theropod track morphotypes, including small grallatorid, eubrontid and possible Gigandipus -like forms, a Magnoavipes- like form and an isolated small ornithopod track. Some of the tracks show the characteristic distortion of flattened footprints. The ichnofauna supplements our knowledge of the Fuxin Biota by adding a more diverse dinosaur fauna, indicated by the footprint record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The largest dinosaurian tracks at Lark Quarry, central-western Queensland, Australia, were re-examined using revised analytical protocols that incorporate three-dimensional (3D) structure. Comparisons were made with archival photographs, replica specimens (c. 1977) and the in situ tracks (2013) to account for changes to the track surface. Damage caused both during and after the excavation of the tracks was evident, and in cases where the archival photographs and 1970's replicas strongly differ from the in situ tracks, it is apparent that restoration has modified the original track morphology. Even after accounting for recent damage and alteration, several of the track morphologies obtained from new 3D evaluation models differ considerably from the track outlines that were published in the original description of the site. Compared with the new set of representations, some of the original outlines seem to represent simpler, stylized versions of the tracks. A number of the original outlines are >20% larger than the in situ tracks, while others appear to incorporate cracks as part of the margin of digit impressions. Overall, the best-preserved tracks show blunt digit impressions, reaffirming the idea that the trackmaker was a large ornithopod and supporting a reassignment to cf. Iguanodontipus. The new analysis also reveals the nature of the displacement rims associated with the tracks, and the overprinting of these rims by other ichnites—initially by tool marks (presumably caused by floating vegetation) and then by other dinosaurian tracks (assignable to Wintonopus latomorum). In the context of these observations, we see no evidence for an interaction between the cf. Iguanodontipus trackmaker and the smaller-bodied W. latomorum trackmakers, as neither can be inferred to have been present at the tracksite at, or even close to the same time. Similarly, there is no evidence to support the idea that the approach of the cf. Iguanodontipus trackmaker in some way triggered the movement of the W. latomorum trackmakers. Rather than a snap-shot of dinosaurian ‘stampede’, this study supports the idea that Lark Quarry most likely represents a complex time-averaged assemblage of multiple dinosaurian ichnites, preserved over an extended period of time (hours to days) and bracketed by discrete phases of trackmaker activity and fluctuations in water depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Multivariate analysis is used to differentiate shape variations between ichnites of theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs. Tracks of an alleged theropod cf. Tyrannosauropus from the mid-Cretaceous (late Albian–Cenomanian) Winton Formation of Lark Quarry, central-western Queensland, Australia were examined and foot shape ratios calculated. Multivariate analysis of these shape variables indicates this track-maker was an ornithopod dinosaur. A strong morphological similarity exists between the Lark Quarry ichnites and those of the iguanodontian ichnotaxon Amblydactylus gethingi. Considering the grade of ornithopod this ichnogenus is thought to represent (a non-hadrosaurid styracosternan) and the age and geography of Lark Quarry, we suggest that the track-maker may have been a dinosaur similar to Muttaburrasaurus langdoni. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The track rich Cretaceous Jindong Formation is famous for abundant tetrapod track assemblages, which occur at multiple, closely-spaced stratigraphic levels in the Gyeongsang Basin lake deposits of South Korea. However, until now no fish traces or fish body fossils had been reported. Thus, the discovery of three Undichna ichnospecies (U. simplicitas , U. bina , and U. britannica) provide the first direct evidence of fish in the basin. Paired in-phase traces vary in width and indicate a range of fish sizes among the tracemakers. Undichna assemblages represent a shallow lacustrine Undichna ichnocoenosis. Bird tracks (Ignotornis) registered on the same surface represent the superposition of a shorebird ichnocoenosis. Dinosaur tracks (Brontopodus and Caririchnium) associated with surfaces only ∼1 m below the bird and fish traces, represent additional large tetrapod ichnocoenoses, and demonstrate multiple, superimposed ichnocoenoses, interpenetrating localized sedimentary successions which are little separated in space or time. The Undichna and shorebird, ichnocoenoses are considered, in schema followed here, as representative of higher-level 'archetypal' Charachichnos and Grallator ichnofacies respectively. However, it is not clear whether a third ichnocoenosis and ichnofacies is represented by the Brontopodus and Caririchnium assemblages or the extent to which the overprinting of different ichnofaunas in localized areas always allows for the unambiguous application of ichnocoenois and ichnofacies schema. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different drivers stimulate eco-innovation in developed and developing countries. • Embedded technology is crucial for eco-innovations in a developing country. • Collaboration, Alliances and Networks promote eco-innovation in Chile. • R&D intensity and training does not exert any influence on eco-innovations. • Market factors drives eco-innovation in Chile. Despite the growing literature on the drivers of eco-innovation, few studies analyze it in developing countries. Therefore, to fill this gap, this paper aims to analyze the influence of different groups of drivers of eco-innovation (technology push, market pull and regulatory push-pull) on two types of eco-innovations: Resources Efficiency and Sustainable Sensitiveness , differentiating between varieties of innovation -product and process- and between the novelty degree- incremental and radical-. The empirical analysis is built using multivariate probit models and considering a sample of Chilean firms in the period 2009-2016. Results show a displacement of open innovation drivers when a developing country is analyzed; Collaboration with Partners, Alliances and Networks, along with the Non R&D Embedded are predominant technological push strategies in this analysis. Furthermore, Market factors would have a driving effect on eco-innovations, while the Public Support is weakly significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distinctive crocodylian ichnogenus Crocodylopodus, previously reported only from a few Jurassic and lowermost Cretaceous sites in Europe, Central Asia and North Africa, occurs abundantly at several sites in the Cretaceous (?Aptian) Jinju Formation of Korea. It is therefore the first report of the ichnogenus from East Asia. Comparison between known crocodylian ichnogenera show that Crocodylopodus and Batrachopus , the latter predominantly known from the Lower Jurassic, represent small trackmakers that left narrow walking trackways with no tail traces, mostly in fine-grained emergent, lacustrine shoreline facies. In contrast the large crocodylian ichnogenus Hatcherichnus represents swimming behavior of large animals in siliciclastic fluvial, coastal plain settings, particularly in North America, where they represent a swim track ichnofacies. Such contrast between large aquatic crocodylian tracks, which remain very rare in the Cretaceous of Asia, and small Crocodylopodus spoor, show that the Korean occurrences represent a different paleoecology characterized by diverse, mostly small lake basin tetrapods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slabs with tetrapod tracks from the Madigou Village quarry in the Tuchengzi Formation have famously been used as building stones at the imperial summer resort locality, also referred to in the ichnological literature as the "Chengde Summer Palace." The Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary Tuchengzi Formation has elsewhere in the region yielded differently composed ichnofaunas with non-avian and avian theropod and sauropod tracks. The Madigou assemblage is remarkable because it shows the co-occurrence of abundant and diverse non-avian and avian theropod tracks. The non-avian theropod tracks are mostly Grallator- and Eubrontes -like with a few that registered faint hallux traces. A small number of didactyl deinonychosaurian tracks were recognized which we here label as Velociraptorichnus isp. The avian theropod tracks can tentatively be referred to Aquatilavipes and Koreanaornis , with wide digit divarications. Growing geochronological and biostratigraphic evidence suggests that these are among the oldest known bird tracks, similar in age to Pullornipes , also from the Tuchengzi Formation in northeastern China and dating close to the Tithonian-Berriasian boundary. Theropod tracks are dominating, even if an isolated possible sauropod track and some questionable tridactyl imprints that could either represent theropods or ornithopods, may indicate the presence of further dinosaur groups. The Tuchengzi ichnofauna is important because of the stratigraphic age close to the famous Jehol Biota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Qiaomaigoumen dinosaur tracksite was previously described briefly in 1995 and 2006 based on examination of a single surface (∼200 m2) with five trackways representing two quadrupedal ornithopods (Caririchnium isp.) and three bipedal theropods. While confirming this general description, this study also revealed that two additional sites (Sangyuan I and II) had been found, and that tracks from all three sites had been collected for local institutions. This created the opportunity to describe the ichnofauna more completely, including a variety of theropod morphotypes (cf. Jialingpus isp. and cf. Eubrontes isp.) not previously identified in this area. It is also inferred that the tracksites occur in the Xiguayuan Formation, not in the Jiufotang Formation as previously suggested. This indicates an equivalency with the Jehol Biota and some track elements corresponding generally to Jehol body fossils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]