Costing the lifecycle of networked learning: Documenting the costs from conception to evaluation

This paper reports the development of a course development lifecycle model which is intended to inform the identification of ‘hidden’ costs associated with network‐based learning. The development of this model formed part of a six‐month research study funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee of the UK Funding Councils. The study aimed to produce a planning document and financial schema through which the full costs of networked learning could be documented A discussion is given of the initial five‐stage model, the testing and development of this model and the evolution of a final three‐phase model. Hypothetical examples are given of the use of the three‐phase model

Interoceptive Ingredients of Body Ownership: Affective Touch and Cardiac Awareness in the Rubber Hand Illusion

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Laura Crucianelli, Charlotte Krahe, Paul M. Jenkinson, Aikaterini (Katerina) Fotopoulou, 'Interoceptive Ingredients of Body Ownership: Affective Touch and Cardiac Awareness in the Rubber Hand Illusion', Cortex, first published online 1 May 2017, available at doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.04.018. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.The sense of body ownership represents a fundamental aspect of bodily self-consciousness. Using multisensory integration paradigms, recent studies have shown that both exteroceptive and interoceptive information contribute to our sense of body ownership. Interoception refers to the physiological sense of the condition of the body, including afferent signals that originate inside the body and outside the body. However, it remains unclear whether individual sensitivity to interoceptive modalities is unitary or differs between modalities. It is also unclear whether the effect of interoceptive information on body ownership is caused by exteroceptive ‘visual capture’ of these modalities, or by bottom-up processing of interoceptive information. This study aimed to test these questions in two separate samples. In the first experiment (N = 76), we examined the relationship between two different interoceptive modalities, namely cardiac awareness based on a heartbeat counting task, and affective touch perception based on stimulation of a specialized C tactile (CT) afferent system. This is an interoceptive modality of affective and social significance. In a second experiment (N = 63), we explored whether ‘off-line’ trait interoceptive sensitivity based on a heartbeat counting task would modulate the extent to which CT affective touch influences the multisensory process during the rubber hand illusion (RHI). We found that affective touch enhanced the subjective experience of body ownership during the RHI. Nevertheless, interoceptive sensitivity, as measured by a heartbeat counting task, did not modulate this effect, nor did it relate to the perception of ownership or of CT-optimal affective touch more generally. By contrast, this trait measure of interoceptive sensitivity appeared most relevant when the multisensory context of interoception was ambiguous, suggesting that the perception of interoceptive signals and their effects on body ownership may depend on individual abilities to regulate the balance of interoception and exteroception in given contexts.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

The Time-Varying Systematic Risk of Carry Trade Strategies

We explain the currency carry trade performance using an asset pricing model in which factor loadings are regime-dependent rather than constant. Empirical results show that a typical carry trade strategy has much higher exposure to the stock market and is mean-reverting in regimes of high FX volatility. The findings are robust to various extensions, including more currencies, longer samples, transaction costs, international stock indices, and other proxies for volatility and liquidity. Our regime-dependent pricing model provides significantly smaller pricing errors than a traditional model. Thus, the carry trade performance is better explained by its time-varying systematic risk that magnifies in volatile markets-suggesting a partial explanation for the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity puzzle.carry trade, factor model, FX volatility, liquidity, smooth transition regression, time-varying betas

The Time-Varying Systematic Risk of Carry Trade Strategies

This paper suggests a factor model for carry trade strategies where the regression coefficients are allowed to depend on market volatility and liquidity. Empirical results on daily data from 1995 to 2008 show that a typical carry trade strategy has much higher exposure to the stock market and also more mean reversion in volatile periods - and that FX market volatility is a priced risk factor. The findings are robust to various extensions, including using more currencies and other proxies for volatility and liquidity (VIX, TED and a bid-ask spread).carry trade, factor model, smooth transition regression, time-varying betas

Readiness of BIM: a case study of a quantity surveying organisation

Building Information Modelling (BIM), as an emerging enabling technology, is widely promoted in the UK. For Quantity Surveyor, BIM has the potential to remove many mundane elements of traditional quantity surveying, such as taking off and the production of Bills of Quantities (BoQ), by automating or assisting in these tasks removing human error, increasing efficiency and promoting collaboration. However implementation of BIM in the Construction Industry is not an easy task. This research aims to investigate the readiness of quantity surveying (QS) firms in the UK in implementation of BIM. The paper presents a case study of a SME QS organisation analysing its readiness to adopt BIM and evaluating perceived potential benefits. The case study is analysed at both organisation level and project level to explore the challenges the SME organisation facing inside and out. The key barriers are discussed and identified for SME quantity surveying organisations to implement BIM