Horizontal collaboration between international and local non-governmental organisations : a cross-sectional study regarding the Syrian refugee crisis in Jordan : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Supply Chain Management at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Purpose-This thesis seeks to explore supply chain collaboration within a humanitarian context, and to appraise relationships between international non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations during disaster relief. It also aims to identify challenges facing such collaboration in the humanitarian supply chain, and to discover whether effective partnerships contain a set of identifiable facilitators, drivers and mechanisms which promote relationships between local and international NGOs. Design/Methodology/Approach-Literature from both commercial and humanitarian sectors is discussed in the context of horizontal partnerships. A Jordanian cross- sectional study spanning a network of NGOs is explored via semi-structured interviews. Insights are synthesised into a conceptual model of how NGOs can form partnerships during a humanitarian response. Findings-The research provides valuable insights into the challenges facing local and international NGOs when developing partnerships. Four types of challenge are identified: organisational, inter-organisational, external, and donor-related. The conceptual model highlights the essential elements required for effective partnerships. Research limitations/Future research-The research is built on a single cross-sectional study from one country during an extended humanitarian crisis. The majority of the empirical data is only from one actor’s perspective, thus further research into dyadic and network relationships is required. Further investigation is required into approaches to addressing the diverse cultural and decision-making perspectives of local and international NGOs. Practical Implications-Recognising the challenges and major elements to horizontal partnerships between local and international NGOs will assist managers, both at strategic and operational levels, to find solutions and evolve strategies to build effective partnerships. Compromise and consideration for partner’s drivers and cultural views are essential for effective humanitarian relief. Originality/Value- The research extends supply chain collaboration to a humanitarian context. Overcoming the challenges facing collaborative efforts and the complementary nature of the facilitators, drivers, and mechanisms provides a means to achieve effective partnerships. Despite the uniqueness of the humanitarian context, such as the secondary nature of cost and dynamic demand, the core principles of collaboration still hold. Keywords-Humanitarian, supply chain collaboration, partnerships, community-based organisations (CBOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international NGOs (INGOs)

The Right to Privacy and the Right to Use the Bathroom Consistent with One’s Gender Identity

Under hösten 2013 offentliggjorde den svenska regeringen att man vill investera i att bygga ut Stockholms tunnelbana. Denna utbyggnad innefattar nio nya stationer, Sofia på Södermalm är en av dessa stationer. På grund av platsens förutsättningar kommer stationen bli en av de djupaste i världen. Detta förslag utnyttjar dessa förutsättningar för att sammankoppla gatunivån med den underjordiska perrongen och ger den vardagliga upplevelsen av rymd, atmosfär, ljus och tomrum en central position. Förslaget innefattar ett hundra meter djupt schakt, två hisschakt, ett publikt torg park och tunnelbaneperrong. During the autumn of 2013 the Swedish government announced that they intend to invest in expanding the Stockholm Metro. The expansion includes nine new stations; Sofia on Södermalm is one of them. The conditions of the site make the station to one of the deepest in the world. This proposal makes use of these conditions to connect the street level and the underground platform level and give the everyday experience of space, atmosphere, light and void a central position. The proposal comprises a hundred meters deep shaft, two elevator shafts, a public square park and train platform.

Plerionic Supernova Remnants

Plerions represent ideal laboratories for the search for neutron stars, the study of their relativistic winds, and their interaction with their surrounding supernova ejecta and/or the interstellar medium. As well, they are widely believed to represent efficient engines for particle acceleration up to the knee of the cosmic ray spectrum (at about 1E15 eV). Multi-wavelength observations from the radio to the highest TeV energies, combined with modelling, have opened a new window to study these objects, and particularly shed light on their intrinsic properties, diversity, and evolution. High-resolution X-ray observations are further revealing the structure and sites for shock acceleration. The missing shells in the majority of these objects remain puzzling, and the presence of plerions around highly magnetized neutron stars is still questionable. I review the current status and statistics of observations of plerionic supernova remnants (SNRs), highlighting combined radio and X-ray observations of a growing class of atypical, non Crab-like, plerionic SNRs in our Galaxy. I will also briefly describe the latest developments to our high-energy SNRs catalogue recently released to the community, and finally highlight the key questions to be addressed in this field with future high-energy missions, including Astro-H in the very near future.Comment: AIP Conference Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on High-Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy, Heidelberg, July 9-13 (2012). Eds: F. Aharonian, W. Hofmann, F. Rieger. Solicited review, 8 pages, 4 colour figures. The figures resolution has been reduced for astro-ph. Original article can be found at: http://www.physics.umanitoba.ca/~samar/arxiv/safiharb-plerions-gamma2012.pd

An adaptive finite element method in reconstruction of coefficients in Maxwell's equations from limited observations

We propose an adaptive finite element method for the solution of a coefficient inverse problem of simultaneous reconstruction of the dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability functions in the Maxwell's system using limited boundary observations of the electric field in 3D. We derive a posteriori error estimates in the Tikhonov functional to be minimized and in the regularized solution of this functional, as well as formulate corresponding adaptive algorithm. Our numerical experiments justify the efficiency of our a posteriori estimates and show significant improvement of the reconstructions obtained on locally adaptively refined meshes.Comment: Corrected typo