Notes on recent articles

An increasing number of studies in political communication focus on the “sentiment” or “tone” of news content, political speeches, or advertisements. This growing interest in measuring sentiment coincides with a dramatic increase in the volume of digitized information. Computer automation has a great deal of potential in this new media environment. The objective here is to outline and validate a new automated measurement instrument for sentiment analysis in political texts. Our instrument uses a dictionary-based approach consisting of a simple word count of the frequency of keywords in a text from a predefined dictionary. The design of the freely available Lexicoder Sentiment Dictionary (LSD) is discussed in detail here. The dictionary is tested against a body of human-coded news content, and the resulting codes are also compared to results from nine existing content-analytic dictionaries. Analyses suggest that the LSD produces results that are more systematically related to human coding than are results based on the other available dictionaries. The LSD is thus a useful starting point for a revived discussion about dictionary construction and validation in sentiment analysis for political communication.     

Boko Haram and the discourse of mimicry: a critical discourse analysis of media explanations for Boko Haram’s improved video propaganda quality

The Nigeria-based violent non-state actor Boko Haram is increasingly reported on in the news media in relation to the Islamic State, another, more prominent, violent non-state actor. In particular, these comparisons have been drawn within the context of reports on Boko Haram’s recent improvement in video propaganda quality. While the associations with the Islamic State are often warranted, there are broader social consequences when colonial power relations are brought into play. Borrowing an approach from critical discourse analysis, 16 online English-language news articles were read through a postcolonial lens in order to analyse the structural relations of dominance that arise when discussing African non-state actors. The analysis revealed that among the corpus of articles, nine developed a discourse of mimicry, which serves to deny Boko Haram full agency, relegate them to a silenced subaltern status, and ultimately to diminish the sense of threat posed to the dominant geopolitical security paradigm.     

Social network analysis and counterinsurgency: a counterproductive strategy?

Social network analysis has been adopted by a number of governments in their counterinsurgency campaigns. By using network analysis, security agencies claim they can render militant groups impotent by targeting ‘nodal points’ or key links in insurgent networks. The article makes three arguments on the potentially counterproductive nature of social network analysis-assisted counterinsurgency campaigns. Firstly, social network analysis may be ‘too successful’ in stripping militant movements of a cadre who could negotiate a peace accord. Secondly, social network analysis-assisted campaigns fail to address the root causes of violent conflict. Thirdly, by denuding communities of social capital and social entrepreneurs, social network analysis – as a counterinsurgency tool – may condemn communities to underdevelopment and failed post-war reconstruction. In short, the ‘magic weapon’ of social network analysis might actually prolong the conflict it is supposed to help quell. The article employs the government of Sri Lanka's social network analysis-assisted counterinsurgency campaign as a case study, though it also has application to other cases. It concludes by considering if social network analysis can be put to more constructive uses, specifically in the rebuilding of communities after violent conflict.     

British Muslims and the discourses of dysfunction: community cohesion and counterterrorism in the West Midlands

This article analyses how British discursive representations of Muslims during the last decade were utilised in a local context during the planning stages of a proposed mosque in the West Midlands town of Dudley. Locating the central narratives in dominant national discourses of community cohesion and counterterrorism, this article analyses how correspondents to a local newspaper re-articulated national representations of Muslims as culturally dysfunctional in a local context and used these representations to argue against construction. By critically analysing the local expression of dominant national discourses of threat and blame, in terms of both inherent contradictions and ideological effects, this article highlights the ways in which these discourses worked to exclude Muslims while simultaneously reprimanding them for failing to integrate into a national and local culture that regarded them as inherently ‘other’.     

The Spatial Distribution of Postblast RDX Residue: Forensic Implications

Locating exactly where trace explosive residue samples should be sought during sample collection at bomb scenes is not specified in the published literature or guidelines; in this area, it is generally acknowledged that forensic practices are based on tradition rather than evidence. This study investigated patterns in the spatial distribution of postblast 1,3,5‐trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazocyclohexane residue from a series of unconfined detonations, over a range of sampling sites, and at two different detonation heights. The amount of residue recovered from the sites decreased as a function of distance from the center of the explosion. [Correction added after online publication 27 December 2012: In the preceding sentence, “increased” was corrected to “decreased” to agree with the conclusion of the article.] As the height of the detonations increased, more residues were found from all sampling sites. The findings of this empirical study have a number of important practical implications including determining where residue samples are best sought at crime scenes.     

A New Method for the Removal and Analysis of Small Particles Adhering to Carpet Fiber Surfaces,,

Fibers are a commonly encountered evidence type and fiber comparisons are routinely conducted. When the characteristics of questioned and known fibers correspond, the probative value is limited because the characteristics compared are determined by their manufacture. It would be valuable to test the hypothesis that questioned fibers originated from a specific carpet. One means of testing this is to analyze fine particles on the fibers. A procedure was developed for removing adhering particles from fibers and preparing them for scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (SEM/EDS) analysis. The efficacy of several fluids (acetone, ethanol, hexanes, aqueous ethanol, aqueous sodium hexametaphosphate) and agitation methods (sonication and vortexing) for removing particles from fibers was evaluated. The most effective method evaluated was sonication in ethanol for 10 min. The recovered particles were filtered onto a polycarbonate filter and analyzed by automated SEM/EDS analysis to generate data on the particle assemblage. This method makes possible future research to test the within‐item and between‐item variability of particle assemblages on fibers.     

Ultrafast Amplification of DNA on Plastic Microdevices for Forensic Short Tandem Repeat Analysis

The majority of microfluidic devices used as a platform for low‐cost, rapid DNA analysis are glass devices; however, microchip fabrication in glass is costly and laborious, enhancing the interest in polymeric substrates, such as poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), as an inexpensive alternative. Here, we report amplification in PMMA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) microchips providing full short tandem repeat profiles (16 of 16 loci) in 30–40 min, with peak height ratios and stutter percentages that meet literature threshold requirements. In addition, partial profiles (15 of 16 loci) were generated using an ultrafast PCR method in 17.1 min, representing a ~10‐fold reduction in reaction time as compared to current amplification methods. Finally, a multichamber device was demonstrated to simultaneously amplify one positive, one negative, and five individual samples in 39 min. Although there were instances of loci dropout, this device represents a first step toward a microfluidic system capable of amplifying more than one sample simultaneously.     

Optimizing Accu Time‐of‐Flight/Direct Analysis in Real Time for Explosive Residue Analysis

The use of a direct analysis in real time (DART) mass spectrometer (MS) instrument was optimized for 22 compounds of organic explosive residues to provide a guide for DART‐MS users in rapid screening of explosive compounds. Samples were introduced as neat solutions and sequential dilutions to determine optimal instrument conditions and lowest concentration detectable. Most compounds were optimized to 250°C in the negative ion mode, and several compounds benefited from the addition of a chloride dopant from methylene chloride (amino‐dinitrotoluenes, RDX, EGDN, and PETN). Few compounds were more sensitive in the positive ion mode (TEGDN, DEGDN, HNS, and DMNB). Mixtures of compounds were detected using clean room wipes, directly from their surfaces and from subsequent extractions. Compounds from the mixtures were also successfully detected in soil and from swipes of spiked surfaces. The instrument showed merit in detection of pg/μL solutions for most of the compounds and among the substrates tested.