Jihadi video and auto-radicalisation: evidence from an exploratory YouTube study

Large amounts of jihadi video content on YouTube along with the vast array of relational data that can be gathered opens up innovative avenues for exploration of the support base for political violence. This exploratory study analyses the online supporters of jihad-promoting video content on YouTube, focusing on those posting and commenting upon martyr-promoting material from Iraq. Findings suggest that a majority are under 35 years of age and resident outside the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with the largest percentage of supporters located in the United States. Evidence to support the potential for online radicalisation is presented. Findings relating to newly formed virtual relationships involving a YouTube user with no apparent prior links to jihadists are discussed

What’s love got to do with it? Framing ‘JihadJane’ in the US press

The purpose of this article is to compare and contrast the US press coverage accorded to female terrorist plotter, Colleen LaRose, with that of two male terrorist plotters in order to test whether assertions in the academic literature regarding media treatment of women terrorists stand up to empirical scrutiny. The authors employed TextSTAT software to generate frequency counts of all words contained in 150 newspaper reports on their three subjects and then slotted relevant terms into categories fitting the commonest female terrorist frames, as identified by Nacos’s article in Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (2005). The authors’ findings confirm that women involved in terrorism receive significantly more press coverage and are framed vastly differently in the US press than their male counterparts

Combining social network analysis and sentiment analysis to explore the potential for online radicalisation

The increased online presence of jihadists has raised the possibility of individuals being radicalised via the Internet. To date, the study of violent radicalisation has focused on dedicated jihadist websites and forums. This may not be the ideal starting point for such research, as participants in these venues may be described as “already madeup minds”. Crawling a global social networking platform, such as YouTube, on the other hand, has the potential to unearth content and interaction aimed at radicalisation of those with little or no apparent prior interest in violent jihadism. This research explores whether such an approach is indeed fruitful. We collected a large dataset from a group within YouTube that we identified as potentially having a radicalising agenda. We analysed this data using social network analysis and sentiment analysis tools, examining the topics discussed and what the sentiment polarity (positive or negative) is towards these topics. In particular, we focus on gender differences in this group of users, suggesting most extreme and less tolerant views among female users

Generating function polynomials for legendrian links

It is shown that, in the 1-jet space of the circle, the swapping and the flyping procedures, which produce topologically equivalent links, can produce nonequivalent legendrian links. Each component of the links considered is legendrian isotopic to the 1-jet of the 0-function, and thus cannot be distinguished by the classical rotation number or Thurston-Bennequin invariants. The links are distinguished by calculating invariant polynomials defined via homology groups associated to the links through the theory of generating functions. The many calculations of these generating function polynomials support the belief that these polynomials carry the same information as a refined version of Chekanov's first order polynomials which are defined via the theory of holomorphic curves.Comment: Published by Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol5/paper23.abs.htm

On the specifics of modelling of rotary forging processes

Rotary forging process, in spite of its various advantages, has still not reached industrial production scale owing to its complex nature. With the advent of sophisticated finite-element modelling capabilities, it is now possible to make rotary forging more predictable and optimise it for industrial production standards. However, modelling by nature involves a series of assumptions and simplifications that can help us make reasonable predictions. It is important to know the important factors that affect the results, and what compromises can be made, with a genuine understanding of what the compromises will result in. This paper reports some initial findings from our attempt towards robust modelling for the design of the rotary forging process. Herein, we have taken the simple case of rotary upsetting of cylinders using a custom-designed rotary forging machine and modelled it using commercial metal-forming software QForm

Minimal Awareness and Stalled Uptake of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Among at Risk, HIV-Negative, Black Men Who Have Sex with Men

In the United States, rates of HIV infection are highest among black men who have sex with men (BMSM). Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective form of HIV prevention, but the uptake of this strategy has been slow since FDA approval in 2012, and it is unknown whether information about PrEP is reaching BMSM. Four hundred and thirty-six BMSM in Atlanta, GA were surveyed from January 2012 (6 months prior to PrEP approval) to March 2014 (20 months after approval). Analyses revealed no association between date of survey assessment and awareness of PrEP (20.5% were aware of PrEP before approval and 23.4% were aware after approval; OR=0.99 [0.98?1.02], p=0.952). In a multivariate model, BMSM unaware of PrEP reported lower rates of HIV testing knowledge, fewer experiences with HIV testing, and higher rates of transactional sex than BMSM who were aware of PrEP. Our findings suggest that there is limited understanding of PrEP and that there is considerable groundwork that needs to be achieved in order to reap the full benefits of PrEP. The current findings call attention to the need to both prioritize and better understand how to strengthen the bridge between medical advances and community uptake.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140210/1/apc.2014.0303.pd

First Nations First: First Nations public servants, the future of the Australian public service workforce

This article imagines a future public service that is culturally safe and supportive of First Nations employees and end users, a place wheretransformative policy can emerge. The authors, First Nations and settler/non-indigenous academics and public servants, offer visions for change in five key areas, drawing on our academic research and public service practice

Multi-scale analysis of the water-energy-food nexus in the Gulf region

We quantify the heavily oil-dominated WEF nexus in three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) across spatial scales and over time, using available empirical data at the national level, and explore the exposure to nexus stresses (groundwater depletion) in other countries through virtual water trade. At the domestic scale, WEF trade-offs are fairly limited; while all sectors require considerable amounts of energy, the requirements for water and food production are modest compared to other uses. At the international scale, revenues from oil exports in the GCC allow the region to compensate for low food production and scarce water availability. This dependency is dynamic over time, increasing when oil prices are low and food prices are high. We show how reducing domestic trade-offs can lead to higher exposure internationally, with rice imports originating in regions where groundwater is being depleted. However, Saudi Arabia's increased wheat imports, after reversing its food self-sufficiency policy, have had limited effects on groundwater depletion elsewhere. Climate change mitigation links the WEF nexus to the global scale. While there is great uncertainty about future international climate policy, our analysis illustrates how implementation of measures to account for the social costs of carbon would reduce the oil and gas revenues available to import food and desalinate water in the GCC