Research on the effects of political conflict has focused predominantly on the association between violence exposure and psychological trauma. This paper expands that focus. We broaden the assessment of health beyond the conventional spotlight on trauma-related stress to include culturally derived measures of health, and we assess the association between a broad array of political and economic conditions and health. Household interviews were conducted in 2011 with a representative sample of 508 30-40 year olds in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt; response rate = 97%). The four dependent variables were limits on functioning due to health, feeling broken or destroyed (both culturally derived measures of health), feelings of depression and trauma-related stress. Twenty-four predictor variables assessed multiple dimensions of political conflict and background characteristics. All four measures of health and suffering were associated with human insecurity and resource adequacy. Exposure to political violence was associated only with trauma-related stress. These findings support the increasing recognition that human insecurity and chronic economic constraints in the oPt broadly threaten health, perhaps more so than direct exposure to violence. Ultimately, a political solution is required, but in the meantime, efforts to reduce insecurity and improve economic conditions may improve health and reduce suffering in the oPt.

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PurposeThis mixed-methods exploratory study identified and then developed and validated a quantitative measure of a new construct of mental suffering in the occupied Palestinian territory: feeling broken or destroyed.MethodsGroup interviews were conducted in 2011 with 68 Palestinians, most aged 30–40, in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip to discern local definitions of functioning. Interview participants articulated of a type of suffering not captured in existing mental health instruments used in regions of political conflict. In contrast to the specific difficulties measured by depression and PTSD (sleep, appetite, energy, flashbacks, avoidance, etc.), participants elaborated a more existential form of mental suffering: feeling that one’s spirit, morale and/or future was broken or destroyed, and emotional and psychological exhaustion. Participants articulated these feelings when describing the rigors of the political and economic contexts in which they live. We wrote survey items to capture these sentiments and administered these items—along with standard survey measures of mental health—to a representative sample of 1,778 32–43 year olds in the occupied Palestinian territory. The same survey questions also were administered to a representative subsample (n = 508) six months earlier, providing repeated measures of the construct.ResultsAcross samples and time, the feeling broken or destroyed scale: 1) comprised a separate factor in exploratory factor analyses, 2) had high inter-item consistency, 3) was reported by both genders and in all regions, 4) showed discriminate validity via moderate correlations with measures of feelings of depression and trauma-related stress, and 5) was more commonly experienced than either feelings of depression or trauma-related stress.ConclusionsFeeling broken or destroyed can be reliably measured and distinguished from conventional measures of mental health. Such locally grounded and contextualized measures should be identified and included in assessments of the full impact of protracted political conflict on functioning.

This article summarizes a uniquely thorough study of the first generation of Palestinians to have lived the whole of their lives under occupation. Findings from group interviews and large, representative surveys of men and women from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 2011 draw a complex portrait of day-to-day life both currently and historically, including: widespread political activism that they continue to prize; high levels of exposure to often demeaning political violence and restriction of movement; limited access to basic resources, low employment stability and poverty; high levels of social cohesion, but also of lack of safety, political instability, fear for the future, stress, and feeling broken. Most were not optimistic in 2011 about the peace process but remained, confident in their ability to manage what the future brings. The findings also show that each of the three territories has unique types and levels of challenges.

In this paper, the application of a pneumatic gantry robot to contour tracking is examined. A hybrid controller is structured to control the contact force and the tangential velocity, simultaneously. A previous study provided controller tuning and model validation results for a fixed gain PI-based force/velocity controller. Performance was limited by system lag and Coulomb friction. New results demonstrate that even with perfect friction compensation, the limiting factor is the system lag. A neural network (NN) compensator was subsequently developed to counter both effects. Results for straight and curved edged workpieces are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the NN compensator and the capabilities of a pneumatic gantry robot.