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Exploring the use of dual-processing in commercial property development decision making under conditions of risk and uncertainty
Get PDFPurpose
Commercial property development builds floor space in anticipation of potential, but unknown, future demand, making it particularly prone to risk and uncertainty. The research explores the degree to which property developer decision-making is objective and rational and the degree to which it relies on behavioural instincts and intuition. Decision-making theory, including heuristics, is considered and its prevalence in the field of commercial property development is examined.
Design/methodology/approach
A “dual-processing” decision-making model, comprising intuitive System 1 and objective System 2 processing, is proposed and tested. Inductive research using template analysis of interviews, with “high status” commercial property developers, explored whether the model offers an accurate representation of developers' behaviour and effective lens through which to examine decisions made under conditions of risk and uncertainty.
Findings
Participants believed they adopted objective and rational approaches to complex commercial property development decisions. Analysis of interviews reveals that System 1 heuristics and intuition play significant roles in decision-making behaviour, leading to potential bias and systematic error. The research concludes that the dual-processing model provides a useful lens through which to better understand the decision-making approach adopted by commercial property developers.
Originality/value
The research represents the rare application of behavioural theory to the realm of commercial property development and provides new and original insight as to how important investment decisions are made under conditions of risk and uncertainty, with implications for professional practice
Using skills profiling to enable badges and micro-credentials to be incorporated into higher education courses
Get PDFEmployers are increasingly selecting and developing employees based on skills rather than qualifications. Governments now have a growing focus on skilling, reskilling and upskilling the workforce through skills-based development rather than qualifications as a way of improving productivity. Both these changes are leading to a much stronger interest in digital badging and micro-credentialing that enables a more granular, skills-based development of learner-earners. This paper explores the use of an online skills profiling tool that can be used by designers, educators, researchers, employers and governments to understand how badges and micro-credentials can be incorporated within existing qualifications and how skills developed within learning can be compared and aligned to those sought in job roles. This work, and lessons learnt from the case study examples of computing-related degree programmes in the UK, also highlights exciting opportunities for educational providers to develop and accommodate personalised learning into existing formal education structures across a range of settings and contexts
One dose is not enough: the beneficial effect of corrective COVID-19 information is diminished if followed by misinformation
Get PDFThe World Health Organization (WHO) released a series of mythbuster infographics to combat misinformation during the COVID-19 infodemic. While the corrective effects of such debunking interventions have typically been examined in the immediate aftermath of intervention delivery; the durability of these corrective effects and their resilience against subsequent misinformation remains poorly understood. To this end, we asked younger and older adults to rate the truthfulness and credibility of 10 statements containing misinformation about common COVID-19 myths, as well as their willingness to share the statements through social media. They did this three times, before and after experimental interventions within a single study session. In keeping with established findings, exposure to the WHO’s myth-busting infographics—(a) improved participants’ ratings of the misinformation statements as untruthful and uncredible and (b) reduced their reported willingness to share the statements. However, within-subject data revealed these beneficial effects were diminished if corrective information was presented shortly by misinformation, but the effects remained when further corrective information was presented. Throughout the study, younger adults rated the misinformation statements as more truthful and credible and were more willing to share them. Our data reveal that the benefit of COVID-19 debunking interventions may be short-lived if followed shortly by misinformation. Still, the effect can be maintained in the presence of further corrective information. These outcomes provide insights into the effectiveness and durability of corrective information and can influence strategies for tackling health-related misinformation, especially in younger adults
The Oral Microbiome for Geographic Origin: An Italian Study
Get PDFThe human oral microbiome has primarily been studied in clinical settings and for medical purposes. More recently, oral microbial research has been incorporated into other areas of study. In forensics, research has aimed to exploit the variation in composition of the oral microbiome to answer forensic relevant topics, such as human identification and geographical provenience. Several studies have focused on the use of microbiome for continental, national, or ethnic origin evaluations. However, it is not clear how the microbiome varies between similar ethnic populations across different regions in a country. We report here a comparison of the oral microbiomes of individuals living in two regions of Italy – Lombardy and Piedmont. Oral samples were obtained by swabbing the donors’ oral mucosa, and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced from the extracted microbial DNA. Additionally, we compared the oral and the skin microbiome from a subset of these individuals, to provide an understanding of which anatomical region may provide more robust results that can be useful for forensic human identification. Initial analysis of the oral microbiota revealed the presence of a core oral microbiome, consisting of nine taxa shared across all oral samples, as well as unique donor characterising taxa in 31 out of 50 samples. We also identified a trend between the abundance of Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota and the smoking habits, and of Spirochaetota and Synergistota and the age of the enrolled participants. Whilst no significant differences were observed in the oral microbial diversity of individuals from Lombardy or Piedmont, we identified two bacterial families – Corynebacteriaceae and Actinomycetaceae – that showed abundance trends between the two regions. Comparative analysis of the skin and oral microbiota showed significant differences in the alpha (p = 0.0011) and beta (Pr(>F) = 9.999e-05) diversities. Analysis of skin and oral samples from the same donor further revealed that the skin microbiome contained more unique donor characterising taxa than the oral one. Overall, this study demonstrates that whilst the oral microbiome of individuals from the same country and of similar ethnicity are largely similar, there may be donor characterising taxa that might be useful for identification purposes. Furthermore, the bacterial signatures associated with certain lifestyles could provide useful information for investigative purposes. Finally, additional studies are required, the skin microbiome may be a better discriminant for human identification than the oral one
A public transport based crowdshipping concept: Results of a field test in Denmark
Get PDFIncreasing e-commerce and accompanying last mile delivery traffic challenges cities worldwide in terms of congestion, emissions, and road safety. This paper presents the main results of a full-scale field test of a public transport based crowdshipping concept aiming to address these challenges, by utilizing passenger flow to reduce the amount of delivery vehicles entering central city districts. The aim of this work was to assess adoption potential as well as the practical and conceptual aspects that may affect this.
The test took place in Denmark's capital region and northern Jutland over a two-month period, in which 28 automated parcel lockers (APLs) were placed at public transport stations/stops. Passengers were rewarded for bringing along empty test parcels on their trips, from APL to APL via an app developed for the purpose. Along with the app data, pre- and post-survey data was captured.
The practical viability of the concept was validated from a user perspective, with a high degree of post-measure acceptance. Regression results show that ease of interacting with the service affected acceptance of the tested concept, but not the intention to participate in a future realized concept. Perceived behavioural control was the most important predictor of intention, acceptance and behaviour during the trial. Our results highlight the relevancy of contextualizing and supplementing intention as a practice-based measure for adoption propensity
The causal relationship between green finance and geopolitical risk: Implications for environmental management
Get PDFThis study investigates the time-varying causal relationship between geopolitical risk and green finance during the period of 1 March 2012–February 16, 2022. By using the novel time-varying causality testing framework, our findings shed light on the nexus between geopolitical risk and green finance in informing environmental management decisions. First, we find that time heterogeneity does exist in the causal relations between geopolitical risk and green finance. Second, geopolitical risk has a more prolonged impact on the volatility of green bonds and renewable energy than the return. Yet, geopolitical risk tends to influence the return of clean energy more persistently than volatility. Third, we observe that geopolitical risk has a more sustained impact on the return and volatility of renewable energy than clean energy. This might be due to the distinct nature of the production of clean energy and renewable energy, thereby providing implications for effective environmental management. Lastly, this paper demonstrates that the impact of geopolitical risk on the return of European clean energy has diminished since the onset of 2015. The volatility of the European clean energy sector is not affected by global geopolitical risk, underscoring the necessity of promoting the development of this sector to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and enhance energy independence
Leading co-production in five UK collaborative research partnerships (2008-2018): responses to four tensions from senior leaders using auto-ethnography
Get PDFBackgroundDespite growing enthusiasm for co-production in healthcare services and research, research on co-production practices is lacking. Multiple frameworks, guidelines and principles are available but little empirical research is conducted on ‘how to do’ co-production of research to improve healthcare services. This paper brings together insights from UK-based collaborative research partnerships on leading co-production. Its aim is to inform practical guidance for new partnerships planning to facilitate the co-production of applied health research in the future. MethodsUsing an auto-ethnographic approach, experiential evidence was elicited through collective sense making from recorded conversations between the research team and senior leaders of five UK-based collaborative research partnerships. This approach applies a cultural analysis and interpretation of the leaders’ behaviours, thoughts, and experiences of co-production taking place in 2008-2018 and involving academics, health practitioners, policy makers, and representatives of third sector organisations. ResultsThe findings highlight a variety of practices across CLAHRCs, whereby the intersection between the senior leaders’ vision and local organisational context in which co-production occurs largely determines the nature of co-production process and outcomes. We identified four tensions in doing co-production: 1) idealistic, tokenistic vs realistic narratives, 2) power differences and (lack of) reciprocity, 3) excluding vs including language and communication, 4) individual motivation vs structural issues.ConclusionsThe tensions were productive in helping collaborative research partnerships to tailor co-production practices to their local needs and opportunities. Resulting variation in co-production practices across partnerships can therefore be seen as highly advantageous creative adaptation, which makes us question the utility of seeking a unified ‘gold standard’ of co-production. Strategic leadership is an important starting point for finding context-tailored solutions; however, development of more distributed forms of leadership over time is needed to facilitate co-production practices between partners. Facilitating structures for co-production can enable power sharing and boost capacity and capability building, resulting in more inclusive language and communication and, ultimately, more credible practices of co-production in research. We provide recommendations for creating more realistic narratives around co-production and facilitating power sharing between partners
Biofilm inspired fabrication of functional bacterial cellulose through ex-situ and in-situ approaches
Get PDFBacterial cellulose (BC) has been explored for use in a range of applications including tissue engineering and textiles. BC can be produced from waste streams, but sustainable approaches are needed for functionalisation. To this end, BslA, a B. subtilis biofilm protein was produced recombinantly with and without a cellulose binding module (CBM) and the cell free extract was used to treat BC either ex-situ, through drip coating or in-situ, by incorporating during fermentation. The results showed that ex-situ modified BC increased the hydrophobicity and water contact angle reached 120°. In-situ experiments led to a BC film morphological change and mechanical testing demonstrated that addition of BslA with CBM resulted in a stronger, more elastic material. This study presents a nature inspired approach to functionalise BC using a biofilm hydrophobin, and we demonstrate that recombinant proteins could be effective and sustainable molecules for functionalisation of BC materials
Beyond the genitalia: What is a hu-WO-man?
Get PDFReview of: What Is a Woman? (2022, documentary), presented by Matt Walsh, directed by Justin Folk, and produced by The Daily Wire
Developing a virtual laboratory module for forensic science degree programmes
Get PDFLaboratory work is essential in forensic science degree courses. They provide students an opportunity to put theory into practice, as well as developing relevant professional laboratory skills through a case-based learning framework. Traditional laboratory instruction involves the use of a written laboratory script or manual that details the laboratory procedures and techniques for an experiment. Occasionally, instructors may provide a brief in-person demonstration of a critical aspect of the experimental procedure during the session. Since the coronavirus pandemic, the use of virtual laboratory (vLab) resources, such as video demonstrations, in teaching science practical skills has increased. These resources may be used alone or in combination with in-person laboratory sessions in a flipped learning model. Previous research has shown that vLab resources could enhance students’ knowledge, confidence, and experience inside the laboratory. This study aimed to explore the perceptions and attitudes of forensic science students towards the use of a vLab module. Three videos were created in which procedures for carrying out presumptive tests, screening exhibits and recording examinations were demonstrated. Seven undergraduate students enrolled at different stages of a forensic science degree programme were introduced to the vLab module and interviewed using a semi-structured interview approach. Through a thematic synthesis of the interview transcripts, we found that the implementation of an inclusive vLab module could enhance students’ knowledge, confidence, and independence in carrying out forensic science laboratory procedures