Search results

Historical newspaper collections provide a wealth of information about the past. Although the digitization of these collections significantly improves their accessibility, a large portion of digitized historical newspaper collections, such as those of KBR, the Royal Library of Belgium, are not yet searchable at article-level. However, recent developments in AI-based research methods, such as document layout analysis, have the potential for further enriching the metadata to improve the searchability of these historical newspaper collections. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned issue.

In this paper, the authors explore how existing computer vision and machine learning approaches can be used to improve access to digitized historical newspapers. To do this, the authors propose a workflow, using computer vision and machine learning approaches to (1) provide article-level access to digitized historical newspaper collections using document layout analysis, (2) extract specific types of articles (e.g. feuilletons – literary supplements from Le Peuple from 1938), (3) conduct image similarity analysis using (un)supervised classification methods and (4) perform named entity recognition (NER) to link the extracted information to open data.

The results show that the proposed workflow improves the accessibility and searchability of digitized historical newspapers, and also contributes to the building of corpora for digital humanities research. The AI-based methods enable automatic extraction of feuilletons, clustering of similar images and dynamic linking of related articles.

The proposed workflow enables automatic extraction of articles, including detection of a specific type of article, such as a feuilleton or literary supplement. This is particularly valuable for humanities researchers as it improves the searchability of these collections and enables corpora to be built around specific themes. Article-level access to, and improved searchability of, KBR's digitized newspapers are demonstrated through the online tool (https://tw06v072.ugent.be/kbr/).

This paper proposes a set of recommendations based upon the limitations found with the application and assessment process to become a Special Constable (SC) with one of the 43 police forces in England and Wales.

Participants were recruited via online social media platforms Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as personal networks and the study was geared towards both respondents who had completed the whole of the application and assessment process, as well as those who may have withdrawn at a particular point or who failed an element of the assessment.

This study yielded several key findings. First, some respondents had limited to no knowledge of the role of the Special Constable, nor of the depth of police work that would be expected of them. Secondly, respondents indicated that they would have benefited from support during the application and assessment process, specifying the advantages that could be derived from a variety of sources such as local force input and workshop sessions. Finally, respondents stated that poor communication from recruiting teams impacted their experience of applying to the Special Constable programmes, causing them to rethink their decision to join.

This research proposes that a far greater input from serving Special Constables during the application and assessment process is key to improving the experiences of candidates, and to their chances of success with the programme.

The term non-place was originally coined by French ethnographer Marc Augé to refer to all spaces of anonymity where tradition and history are eradicated. A non-place not only seems to be the result of hyper-mobility but also the opposite of what Augé called “an anthropological place.” The non-place is also a place of no heritage, no history, and disengagement. These spaces of depersonalization and anonymity include bus stations, airports, hotel rooms, and even shopping malls. Going beyond any controversy, he argues convincingly that non-places radically alter the essence of belonging distorting the borders between here-and-there, or us and them. The expansion of globalization has changed not only the epistemological basis of anthropology but also the host–guest encounters. Given the problem in this term, Augé leaves the construction of a place to individual perception, but what is more important the opposite is equally true, since places engender individual rights, non-places assume non-rights. In developing countries and Latin America, non-places are dwelled by persons or citizens who have been debarred from the economic prosperity or the labor marketplace. If this is correct, all these hapless homeless are subject to non-rights. Today, non-place theory bodes well to offer a diagnosis of how these spaces are dwelled by homeless young people globally. Hence, we build a conceptual bridge between Marc Augé and Zygmunt Bauman and his notion of vagabonds/tourists.

The Japanese government plans to release ALPS treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant starting in the summer of 2023. This has appeared to be a controversial topic in Japan and amongst its neighbors in the regions. This paper focuses on the attitudes of Japanese people towards the government policy, placing it within the context of wider issues.

An online survey of 2,000 participants completed an online survey comprising of Likert type and multi-choice type questions. The results were analyzed using logit regression analysis.

We found that issues other than the ALPS discharge were seen as equally important, but that there was concern about the policy, the impact the discharge would have, and about produce from the area. We also found that the farther away the participants lived, the less concern they showed. Consultations with both local communities and neighboring countries were seen as important by many participants.

This research places the issue of ALPS treated water into a wider context of other global issues and examines the role distance from Fukushima plays in the public’s engagement with the issue. It serves to highlight the mixed results of government efforts to win support for its ALPS discharge policy.

This study aims to understand the impact of extreme weather events on fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) consumption and to examine the role of anticipated product scarcity and FMCG types on such behavior.

This paper conducted five studies, combining archival data analysis with behavioral experiments. The archival data included sales data from a supermarket chain and weather data from the National Weather Service. The experiments were designed to test the effect of extreme weather cues on consumption, the psychological mechanism behind this effect and moderators.

This research found that consumers’ anticipation of extreme weather events significantly increases their consumption of FMCGs. This research further discovered that these behaviors are driven by anticipated product scarcity and moderated by consumers’ altruisms and FMCG types.

Limitations of the research include the reliance on reported sales data and self-reported measures, which could introduce biases. The authors also primarily focused on extreme weather events, leaving other types of disasters unexplored. Furthermore, cultural differences in disaster response might influence results, yet the studies do not fully address these nuances. Despite these limitations, the findings provide critical insights for FMCG retailers and policymakers, suggesting strategies for managing demand surges during disasters. Moreover, understanding consumer behavior under impending disasters could inform intervention strategies, potentially mitigating panic buying and helping ensure equitable resource distribution. Last, these findings encourage further exploration of environmental influences on consumer behavior.

The findings have practical implications for products, brand managers and retailers in managing stock levels and product distribution during disasters. Furthermore, understanding the psychological mechanisms of these behaviors could inform policymakers’ designs of public interventions for equitable resource allocation during extreme weather events.

The research provides significant social implications by highlighting how extreme weather events impact FMCG consumption. This understanding can guide public policymakers in creating efficient disaster management plans. Specifically, anticipating surges in FMCG purchases can inform policies for maintaining price stability and preventing resource shortages, mitigating societal stress during crises. Moreover, these findings encourage public education around responsible purchasing during disasters, potentially reducing panic buying. By collaborating with FMCG manufacturers and retailers, governments can ensure a steady supply of essentials during extreme weather events. Thus, the research can play a crucial role in enhancing societal resilience in the face of impending disasters.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to integrate the impact of extreme weather events on consumption behavior with the psychological theory of anticipated product scarcity. The unique focus on FMCGs offers a novel perspective on consumer behavior literature.

An increase in informal job advertisements has been attributed to high unemployment. However, less scholarly attention has been placed on the experiences of victims of advertised job scams.

This explorative study investigates the lived experiences of victims of advertised job scams in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, adopting Durkheim’s Functionalism and Anomie Theory. Around 35 victims were purposively engaged in in-depth and telephone interviews.

The findings of the study indicated the link between functionalism and anomie, an increasing rate of advertised job scams and a high rate of unemployment and poverty as well as the desperation of victims in getting jobs. The value orientation of an individual is determined by the dynamics of the social institutions. The pattern of job scammers revealed extremists conditioned by the large number of youths seeking employment. The advertised scam jobs are usually unavailable. In addition, employers, through informal job advertisements, subject victims to extortions, exploitation, street begging, kidnapping and rituals as well as sexual harassment and rape. Owing to the high rate of unemployment, many genuine job offers are characterised by bribes, besides trivializing merit.

The government should design measures to tackle the rate of corruption and unemployment. This can be achieved by introducing entrepreneurship and skill acquisition programmes in the nation’s education system.

Some fairy tale characters have transcended their original fairy tale genre and their influence can be perceived in other fictional genres. One illustration of this is the character of Blue Beard. This story, written by Charles Perrault, was first published in 1697 (Hermansson, 2010, p. 2). It moved through several themes or topics from anxiety to money to the right of the husband and wives (Warner, 2014, p. 82). In Perrault's story, Blue Beard is conceived as a serial killer and a jealous husband. ‘Whatever the medium, whatever the date: in opera, cartoon, X-rated film or graphic novel, he is an archetypal serial murderer, terrifying and yet alluring’ (2015, p. 76).

The influence of this character and examples that carry, at the very least, remnants of Blue Beard can be clearly identified in several contemporary narratives. In the BBC television series The Fall (Cubitt, 2013), Jamie Dornan portrays a serial killer named Paul Spector. Alternatively known as the Belfast Strangler, Spector, like Blue Beard, has a wife and children who are unaware of his murderous spree. Another example of the attempted enforcement of extreme patriarchy can be seen in Cult, the seventh season of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story anthology series. The season is dedicated to the 2016 US election between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton (Raddish, 2017). In this fictional narrative Kai Anderson (Evan Peters) symbolises toxic masculinity and models patriarchal archetypes to create a cult and become a senator.

Through a contextual post-structuralist analysis of the aforementioned characters, this chapter intends to examine the representation and evolution of male character under the umbrella of the fairy tale ‘man’.