A typology of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in the Middle East: the case of Syrian refugees in Jordan

Introduction: As the years of displacement accumulate, the burden of secondary stressors (i.e., stressors not directly related to war) increase on the shoulders of millions of refugees, who do not have the option of either returning home due to war or having a sustainable livelihood in the host countries. This paper aims to shed light on the overlooked importance of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in developing countries; it will do this by highlighting the experience of Syrian refugees in Jordan, and developing a typology of these stressors. Methods: We approached this issue using two levels of exploration. In study 1, we used participant observation and 15 in-depth interviews in Irbid, Jordan. Data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis to explore the different types of stressors. In study 2, a questionnaire survey among Syrian refugees in Jordan (n = 305) was used to collect data about a wide range of stressors. Responses were subjected to factor analysis to examine the extent to which the stressors could be organized into different factors. Results: The thematic analysis suggested three different types of secondary stressors: financial (money related), environmental (exile structures and feelings created by it), and social (directly related to social relations). The factor analysis of the survey data produced a similar typology, where secondary stressors were found to be grouped into four main factors (financial, services, safety, and relations with out-groups). The final result is a typology of 33 secondary stressors organised in three main themes. Discussion: Syrian refugees in Jordan suffer the most from financial stressors, due to loss of income and high living expenses. Environmental stressors arise from exile and are either circumstantial (e.g., services and legal requirements) or created by this environment (e.g., instability and lack of familiarity). Social stressors were observed among a considerable section of refugees, varying from stressors due to being targeted as a refugee by the locals (e.g., discrimination) to more traumatic stressors that came from both locals and other refugees (e.g., assault). The typology of secondary stressors suggested by the present analysis needs to be investigated in a larger sample of refugees of conflict in other countries in the Middle East, in order to determine its generality. We suggest that it is a basis for a framework for practitioners and academics working with refugees in the region

Psychosocial support among refugees of conflict in developing countries: a critical literature review

The aim of this paper is to examine the psychosocial needs and stressors among refugees of conflicts in developing countries, and their group-based social support mechanisms. A systematic literature search of peer reviewed journal articles (n = 60 articles) was carried out using the following factors: type (refugee); cause (conflicts); location (developing countries). As refugees move towards a prolonged urban displacement phase, needs and stressors become different than those of the acute phase. Daily stressors affect far more people than are affected by PTSD, but many psychosocial support interventions focus simply on the latter. Positive effects of social support on the mental health of displaced people are established; the process is not clear, yet group processes and identities seem to be important. We therefore suggest that the social identity approach can be applied to understand the emergence of a common refugee identity and its role in empowerment through activating social support networks

Manipulation of Dirac points in graphene superlattices

This study theoretically investigates the changes in the energy spectrum of the graphene monolayer subjected to different periodic potential to allow manipulation of the energy spectrum. Floquet theory and the resonance approximation are used to analyse the energy spectrum. Thus, we reviewed the application of single laser potential; linearly polarised and circularly polarised and concluded that the gap opening in the spectrum is determined by the polarisation of the laser field. Then we apply a time periodic electric filed and found that such single potential is not enough to break the topological symmetry. We investigate the manipulation of the spectrum in 1- spatial periodic magnetic field and 2- linearly polarised laser beam with an external periodically modulated static magnetic/electric field. We investigated in particular, the creation and the destruction of the Dirac-Weyl points. We found that at certain conditions the graphene is transformed into the two-dimensional Weyl metals, where each of the two original graphene Dirac cones is split into pairs of the Weyl cones. We also show that altering the laser's beam incidence (tilting) angle may lead to appearing and disappearing of the pairs of Weyl points, the opening gap in the spectrum, and its efficient manipulation. Deformation and symmetry breaking can be achieved via different laser s frequencies and amplitudes, hence the anisotropy can be controlled

Tawakal and Life Optimism for Divorced Married Couples: A Case Study in Medan, Satria Village, Bekasi City, West Java Province

Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman that is commanded in Islam. Among the purposes of marriage is to meet the various primary needs of human beings so that they can lead a better, calm and purposeful life (litaskunu ilaiha). However, along the way, there are often various problems that in some cases lead to divorce or separation. Divorce occurs due to various problems in the marriage, causing trauma, depression, loss of optimism in life and so on. The various negative impacts of divorce must certainly be faced in various ways so that the person concerned can rise from all the lags to continue to realize various plans and targets in his life. This research uses empirical legal methods using Islamic legal approaches as an analytical tool. Data were collected using in-depth interviews and documentation studies, interviews with informants of divorced parties both husband and wife. The informants in this study consisted of 5 people distinguished by 3 females and 2 males. The research concludes that trust is an important instrument in increasing faith after divorce. The majority of respondents said that putting their trust in post-divorce can increase faith. The informant said that post-divorce trust has an important role in strengthening self-mentality, increasing resilience, and building a positive mindset

The roles of lipids and nucleic acids in HIV-1 assembly

During HIV-1 assembly, precursor Gag (PrGag) proteins are delivered to plasma membrane (PM) assembly sites, where they are triggered to oligomerize and bud from cells as immature virus particles. The delivery and triggering processes are coordinated by the PrGag matrix (MA) and nucleocapsid (NC) domains. Targeting of PrGag proteins to membranes enriched in cholesterol and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI[4,5]P2) is mediated by the MA domain, which also has been shown to bind both RNA and DNA. Evidence suggests that the nucleic acid-binding function of MA serves to inhibit PrGag binding to inappropriate intracellular membranes, prior to delivery to the PM. At the PM, MA domains putatively trade RNA ligands for PI(4,5)P2 ligands, fostering high affinity membrane binding. Triggering of oligomerization, budding and virus particle release results when NC domains on adjacent PrGag proteins bind to viral RNA, leading to capsid (CA) domain oligomerization. This process leads to the assembly of immature virus shells in which hexamers of membrane-bound MA trimers appear to organize above interlinked CA hexamers. Here we review the functions of retroviral MA proteins, with an emphasis on the nucleic acid binding capability of the HIV-1 MA protein, and its effects on membrane binding. <br/

ADVANCED RADIO ACCESS NETWORK FEATURING FLEXIBLE PER-UE SERVICE PROVISIONING AND COLLABORATIVE MOBILE EDGE COMPUTING

Enriched by numerous technological advances, radio access networks (RANs) in the fifth mobile networks generation (5G)-and-beyond strive to meet the goals of both mobile network operators (MNOs) and end-users. While MNOs seek efficiency, resiliency, reliability and flexibility of their networks, end-users are more concerned with the variety and quality of the provided, state-of-the-art, reasonably priced services. This has resulted in a complex, multi-tier, and heterogeneous RAN architecture that is severely challenged to achieve and maintain a strict reliability requirement of seven-nines (i.e., 99.99999% network up-time) and to meet ultra-reliable, low latency communications (URLLC) requirements with a latency upper bound of 1 ms end-to-end roundtrip time. Based on the flexible function split concept and data-plane programmability, this dissertation makes several key contributions to the body of knowledge on advanced, service-oriented RANs in two key core components. The first core component pertains to improving fronthaul efficiency, resiliency, flexibility, and latency performance with a cross-layer integration of Analog-Option-9 function split in the flexible fronthaul paradigm. Within the folds of that, the novel cross-layer digital-analog integration is experimentally investigated to pave the way for promising analog technologies to find their niche in 5G-and-beyond. The second core component is related to the design of lightweight, fronthaul-positioned multi-access edge computing (MEC) units to host Cooperative-URLLC applications at the edge of the fronthaul. Hence, from the vertical perspective, the dissertation provides solutions to support general URLLC applications and the Cooperative-URLLC variation by shrinking and eliminating latency sources at the Top-of-RAN and Low-RAN segments of advanced RANs.Ph.D

Sustainability and OHS Global Reporting in Petrochemical Industries: The GRI Reporting Standard and Corporate Social Responsibility

Sustainability reporting, an aspect of corporate social responsibility (i.e., CSR), is the practice of measuring, disclosing, and being accountable to internal and external stakeholders for organizational performance and the goal of sustainable development. Sustainability reporting is a broad term used to describe reporting on a firm economic, environmental, and social impacts. A sustainability report should provide a balanced and reasonable representation of the sustainability performance of a reporting organization, which includes both positive and negative contributions. (Global Reporting Initiative, 2011, p. 3). This paper describes the level of occupational health and safety reporting for the Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) top 50 global chemical companies. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard GRI: 403 Occupational Health and Safety 2018 was used as the basis for investigation. This paper explains how the growing interest in corporate social responsibility can contribute to improving the implementation of adequate systems of prevention and protection. Occupational health and safety in the petrochemical sector has become a great public interest and is associated with exposure risks to a variety of toxic chemicals and other agents which fuels questions surrounding the necessary strategies required for safer petrochemical industries. The increasing pressure from challenges impeding the improvement of performance requires the need for establishing strategic roles aimed at restoring safety design systems while improving the roles of national health safety standards and corporate staff. This paper focuses on a set of three strategies aimed at improving occupational health and safety in the petrochemical sector including: (1) national/international standards and regulating agencies, (2) the role of health staff, and (3) strategic safety culture management. This is accomplished using a qualitative research design based on secondary data sources. Descriptive methods were used to analyze the qualitative data and the results presented through frequency tables, graphs, correlation matrices, and mean scores across study populations. The findings from this study reveal that a company's safety culture is a function of national OHS policies, safety rules and procedures, incentives, training, communication, worker involvement, safety manager commitment, and employee safety behavior. Safety culture is additionally observed as a reflection of the safety performance of firms in the petrochemical industry. Health staff can contribute towards health and safety training, the development of positive safety attitudes, and safety compliance. These statistics and evaluations are important because their role in establishing occupational health practices have been found to be effective in promoting, protecting, and rehabilitating the health and well-being of people. The study concludes that it is essential to establish the roles of health staff, national OHS standards, and safety culture management, and the means of achieving them