SENS-HEAD: A Machine Learning Framework for Sensationalism Detection in News Headlines Using Linguistic and Semantic Features

The proliferation of sensationalized news headlines has raised concerns about media integrity, necessitating automated approaches for detecting sensationalism beyond traditional clickbait classification. This study presents SENS-HEAD, a novel dataset comprising over 30,000 annotated headlines labelled for sensational content and emotional arousal. Employing Natural Language Processing (NLP), we extract a diverse set of linguistic and semantic features, including sentiment polarity, syntactic complexity, punctuation distribution, and stop word ratio, to systematically distinguish sensational from non-sensational headlines. We implement ensemble learning models—XGBoost, CATBoost, and Random Forest achieving a balanced F1-score of 0.66. To enhance interpretability, we integrate SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations), unveiling key predictive markers such as stop word frequency, headline length, and sentiment extremity. The findings not only advance explainable AI (XAI) for sensationalism detection but also provide practical applications in automated journalism, content moderation, and media ethics regulation. By strengthening computational linguistics with ethical AI, this research delivers actionable insights for policymakers and promotes trustworthy news dissemination in the digital era

Disproportion and decision: Ethnic minority overrepresentation and police risk assessment in missing persons cases

Disproportionality in missing persons cases raises critical questions about forensic and legal decision making. In the UK, Black individuals comprise 14% of missing persons but only 3% of the population. This study analysed 18,266 cases from nine police forces in England and Wales to examine how case characteristics and ethnicity influence risk assessments. Analyses proceeded in three stages: (i) descriptive profiling of demographic, contextual, and risk-related factors; (ii) statistical comparison across ethnic groups; (iii) predictive modelling of how these characteristics influence risk classification. Ethnicity did not independently predict risk classification once other characteristics were controlled for. However, characteristics disproportionately associated with Black missing persons, such as youth and care orders, were linked to lower risk classifications. In contrast, White individuals were more often reported with mental health, health, or harm risks, which strongly predicted high-risk classification. This suggests police decision making may be indirectly shaped by ethnicity via associated characteristics, raising concerns about equity in assessment and investigative prioritisation. Potential mechanisms include underreporting of vulnerabilities in minority communities and inconsistencies in police recording practices. The study highlights the need for culturally informed, evidence-based decision frameworks in missing persons investigations to support just and accurate decision making in policing

The British State, Citizenship Rights and Gendered Folk Devils: The Case of Shamima Begum

The revoking of Shamima Begum’s citizenship exemplifies much of the purposes of contemporary anti-Muslim racism and underlines its significant gendered element. Both state and media actors constructed the 15-year old as a problematic other, both to justify conditional citizenship ideologically, and to use her case to strengthen and add to the framework for making it legal. This comes in a context in which British Muslims and members of the British Windrush generation are being denied citizenship and the rights that go with it. We argue that Shamima Begum’s construction as a gendered folk devil must be understood in the context of nation states shifting their purpose and legitimacy from ‘civil rights’ to ‘national security’ and strengthening two-tier citizenship rights to control residents of colour, increase the state’s authoritarian purpose and, as part of an ongoing process, to transform the concept of ‘national security’ into legal reality, to further militarise the state and its borders against the ‘migrant crisis’ and, ultimately, to stifle dissent

Creative Products in Science

A deeper understanding of the emergence of creative products in science is essential, as scientific products have a profoundly impact society by driving advancements in medicine, technology, and industry. In this chapter, we examine creative products in science through the 5A framework, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the actor (the creative scientist), the action (scientific process), the audience (assessment), and affordances (material and socio-cultural resources) in the creation of scientific products (artefacts). Creative products, such as peer-reviewed publications and grant applications, are developed in an iterative cycle of divergent and convergent thinking, shaped by interactions with peers and access to resources. The audience plays an active role in assessing the value of these creative products, with peer reviewers and the broader scientific community acting as gatekeepers. Material and socio-cultural affordances, including funding, infrastructure, and intellectual freedom, further shape the development of scientific products

Transforming anxiety, depression, and quality of life in rural remote workers with GAD via music therapy: A quasi-experimental study

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), often accompanied by comorbid depression, poses significant challenges to mental health, particularly among remote workers in underserved rural areas. These individuals frequently face unique stressors such as isolation, blurred work-life boundaries, and limited access to psychological support, further exacerbating their mental health challenges. Although receptive music therapy has shown well-documented benefits in reducing anxiety and depression in various populations, its effects on remote workers suffering from GAD in rural settings remain unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the independent efficacy of receptive music therapy in reducing anxiety symptoms and depression symptoms while enhancing quality of life in this population. Using a quasi-experimental design, 60 participants were divided into experimental and control groups, with the experimental group undergoing 12 sessions of receptive music therapy. Validated instruments, including the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) questionnaire, were used to assess outcomes. Statistical analyses, including ANCOVA, revealed significant reductions in anxiety scores (24.6 %, effect size = 0.54) and depression scores (12.7 %, effect size = 0.20), alongside a 10 % improvement in quality of life (effect size = 0.10). These findings highlight the potential of receptive music therapy as a standalone, scalable intervention to address mental health disparities among remote workers, offering a novel and accessible solution for improving psychological well-being in underserved populations

Investigating Opinions about the Relevance of Genetic and Environmental Research in Education: The Role of Parental Status, Working in Education and Heritability Ratings

Genetic research has a potentially increasing impact on educational practices. This study investigated attitudes towards the utility of genetic and environmental research in personalising education, with comparisons between parents/non-parents and educators/non-educators, as well as how these attitudes may relate to heritability ratings of educationally relevant traits (N = 6,304). Data was collected using the International Genetic Literacy and Attitudes Survey (iGLAS). Overall, participants endorsed environmental research more than genetic research to personalising education. Parents were slightly less likely to endorse genetic (but not environmental) research than non-parents. Educators tended to endorse environmental research over genetic research when compared to non-educators; however, effect sizes were minimal. Participants ranking educational traits as more heritable were more likely to endorse genetic (but not environmental) research in education. Future work should focus on promoting the importance of genetic and environmental research in education

Developing a culturally responsive pedagogy: making the national curriculum more inclusive and relevant to pupils' lives and identities

Contribution to a collection of recommendations for change by Black researchers and practitioners

Self-reported prospective and retrospective memory among middle aged and older autistic and non-autistic people

Objective: Self-reported memory difficulties are common among older adults, but few studies have examined memory problems among autistic middle-aged and older people. The current study examines self-rated prospective (PM) and retrospective (RM) memory difficulties and their associations with age in middle-aged and older autistic and non-autistic people. Methods: 350 autistic people (58% assigned-female-at-birth; age-range: 40-83 years) and 350 non-autistic adults matched on age, birth-sex and education level were included in the analysis. Participants completed the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questionnaire (PRMQ) which includes questions about PM vs. RM (memory type), environment-cued vs. self-cued (cue), and short vs. long delay (delay). Results: Autistic people reported significantly more PM and RM difficulties than the comparison group. Both groups reported more difficulties with PM (vs. RM), self-cued (vs. environment-cued), and short (vs. long) delay. No significant interactions were observed. Among autistic people, younger age was associated with reporting more PM and RM difficulties, but this pattern was not observed among non-autistic people. Conclusions: Autistic people may be at reduced risk for memory problems as they age, compared to their same-age non-autistic peers. Further studies are required to explore the association between self-reported memory challenges and memory task performance among autistic older people

Towards a minor sociology of futures: Shifting futures in Mass Observation accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic

This article argues for a ‘minor sociology of futures’, which focuses on the significance of futures in and to everyday life by attending to minor shifts in temporal rhythms and patterns that illuminate how futures are imagined and made. We draw on Deleuze and Guattari's concepts of the major and minor, to attend to how major time is ruptured and remade and how minor temporalities can be productive of new relationships with the major and different futures. Our analysis focuses on the intricate and ambivalent relations with futures articulated in written reflections submitted during the early phase (March–November 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK to a Mass Observation directive on COVID-19 and time. Nourishing a sensitivity to the minor helps us develop a minor sociology that takes futures seriously, which we argue matters in times of uncertainty that stretch beyond the pandemic