Justifying the State from Rights-Based Libertarian Premises

Although many libertarians share similar moral foundations, they disagree about whether the state can be justified. The most famous libertarian attempt to justify the state is that of Robert Nozick. This attempt has been criticized by, among others, the libertarian anarchist Murray Rothbard. In this article, Nozick’s theory and Rothbard’s critique are discussed, as well as some other attempts to justify the state from libertarian premises. Keeping the criticisms of those theories in mind, an alternative theory, which attempts to bypass the criticisms, is put forward. This alternative theory explains how a state—most probably a nonminimal democratic state—can legitimately be formed in a condition of anarchy without violating anyone’s libertarian rights. One result of this is that the rights-based case for minarchism is severely weakened

Building need-based systems for complex hostile situations

The concept of need-based systems is that they are not instantiated until they are brought to use. Such systems are either designed, assembled and instantiated for very concrete needs, alternatively built on speculation. They are used for evaluation, training or for real. In most cases they are not instantiated, though possibly brought into use as needed. How should needs be expressed? Needs are expressed in terms of results and effects. They may be simple or complex, where complex needs can be seen as structured compositions of more basic needs. When facing a hostile situation, it is critical to have predicted all needs necessary for resolving the given assignment. The complexity of needs, and of their interdependencies may appear to be overwhelming, and it is important to find optimal solutions to the problem at hand. What is needed is a knowledge-based conceptual model that describes the inter-relation of needs, predictions and effects. This paper proposes a number of viewpoints and tools to be applied to the construction of need-based systems -- viewing needs as a resource economy, as a non-linear dynamical system, making use of game theory, decision theory, and risk management. Models for needs and predictions, and the ways they are utilized, extends current systems engineering methods

Hedonistic Utilitarianism and Feminist Politics

Hedonistic utilitarianism – the theory that one should act so as to maximize pleasure and minimize pain – has not attracted much interest from feminist scholars. In this article, however, it is claimed that many policies advocated by feminists could also reasonably be advocated by hedonists. Thus, hedonism can normally not be called a non-feminist (much less an anti-feminist) moral theory, and this is not surprising since hedonism avoids many of the critical points that have been directed at other "malestream" theories

Аналіз енергетичних характеристик компактних люмінесцентних ламп, що знаходяться на ринку України

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) handlar om att koppla samman system för att tillfredsställa behov som inte kunnat tillfredsställas av systemen var och en för sig, eller upprätta nya kommunikationskanaler inom eller mellan företag. Allteftersom system och deras underliggande teknologier blivit mer avancerade har uppgiften att integrera dem blivit mer komplicerad. Genom att göra en fallstudie i samband med ett integrationsprojekt på ett företag syftar denna uppsats till att identifiera fallgropar som kan innebära risker för sådana projekt. En målsättning är att analyser kring dessa fallgropar ska kunna användas för att hjälpa utvecklare undvika dessa i sina projekt. Under fallstudien identifierades flera fallgropar genom analys av dokumentation och reflektion. Den fallgrop som hade störst påverkan under projektet var otydliga krav. Fallgroparna analyseras utifrån hur de upptäcktes och resonemang förs kring bidragande faktorer. För de fallgropar som utgjorde faktiska utmaningar under fallstudien analyseras även hur de undveks, medan potentiella lösningar diskuteras för resterande.Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) concerns connecting systems together to meet demands that could not be met by either system individually, or to establish new channels for communication within and between enterprises. As the systems and their underlying technologies have become more advanced, the task of integrating them has become a more complicated one. By making a case study bound to an integration project at an enterprise, this study aims to identify pitfalls that could constitute risks for such projects. The main goal is for the analysis of these pitfalls to guide developers to avoid the pitfalls in their own projects. Several pitfalls were identified by analyzing documentation and reflecting on the course of the project. The pitfall that had the greatest impact during the project was unclear requirements. The pitfalls are analyzed with emphasis on circumstances under which they were discovered and contributing factors are reasoned about. For the pitfalls that were actual challenges for the case study, analysis also covers how they were avoided, while potential solutions are discussed for the remainder

Kommersiella skogsmarksinvesteringar : en jämförande studie av ägarmål

Since the early 1990s interest rates have been decreasing, which has led to lowered yield on traditional secure financial assets as bonds. It has resulted in a flow of capital in the financial market towards alternative investments in the search for yield beyond the stock market. The forest asset has traditionally been desirable in a portfolio for the diversification aspect associated with the unique characteristic of the biological growth being uncorrelated to the financial markets. However, the interest in forestland investments has become more diverse through the monetization of non-timber values. In Sweden, the price of forestland available for purchase by juridical persons has increased rapidly since the abolishment of the price regulation in the early 1990s. This study aims to identify forest owner categories of commercial forest investors within the Swedish forestland property market. The thesis used a multiple case study design conducted through a mixed-method data collection combining quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative part consisted of a total survey from secondary data of the last 20 years' transactions of forestland from juridical persons. It was followed by a landowner classification which constructed owner categories present on the Swedish property market of forestland. The quantitative analysis was followed by a qualitative part, using semi-structured interviews to understand the owner categories objectives and perception of risk and opportunities with forestland ownership. The data analysis method used was theoretical interpretation and the applied theories were the net present value (NPV), Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Vertical Integration (VI), taxes, and types of risks in forestry. The results from the quantitative part derived nine owner categories from the secondary data, where six of the categories were related to forestry land use. The qualitative analysis indicated that the different owner categories have various objectives of acquiring forestland. Forestland was primarily seen as a financial asset and as a strategic resource for the industries. Taxes were not found to be a significant reason to invest in forestland for any owner category. The owner categories have in common that they are positive towards increasing their holdings. The main perceived risk among the owner categories was associated with the legislature, reputational and physical risks. The legislature and reputational risks are mainly connected to the uncertainty of prerequisites of the silviculture related to policy interventions. The contribution of this thesis consisted of constructing a classification of forestland acquirers in the Swedish property market of forestland. Furthermore, it identified different owner categories objectives associated with forestland ownership and the category's perceived risk and opportunities.Under de senaste decennierna har marknadsräntorna sjunkit, vilket har lett till sänkt avkastning på traditionellt säkra finansiella tillgångar som obligationer. Det har resulterat i ett flöde av kapital på den finansiella marknaden mot alternativa investeringar i sökandet efter avkastning bortom aktiemarknaden. Skog som tillgångsslag har traditionellt varit önskvärd i en portfölj för dess diversifieringsaspekt associerad med den unika egenskapen i skogens biologiska tillväxt. Under det senaste decenniet har intresset i skogsmark vidgats genom en sakta monetärisering av icke virkesrelaterade värden. I Sverige har priset på skogsmark som kan köpas av juridiska personer ökat snabbt under de senaste decennierna. Denna studien syftar till att identifiera kategorier av kommersiella skogsinvesterare inom den svenska skogsfastighetsmarknaden. Studien använde en fallstudiedesign utförd genom en datainsamling med en ”mixed-metod” som kombinerar kvantitativa och kvalitativa data. Den kvantitativa totala undersökningen innefattade sekundärdata i form av transaktioner av skogsmark de senaste 20 åren som även användes som grund för att konstruera ägarkategorier som finns på den svenska skogsfastighetsmarknaden. Det följdes av en kvalitativ del, som använde semistrukturerade intervjuer för att förstå ägarkategoriernas mål och uppfattning om risker och möjligheter med skogsägande. Den använda dataanalysmetoden var teoretisk tolkning, de använda teorierna var nettonuvärdesmetoden (NPV), Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), Vertical Integration (VI), skatter och typrisker för skog som tillgång. Resultatet från den kvantitativa delen skapade nio ägarkategorier från sekundärdata, där sex av ägarkategorierna var relaterade till skogsbruk som markanvändning. Följande kvalitativa del indikerade att de olika ägarkategorierna har flertalet olika mål att förvärva skogsmark. Innehav av skogsmark sågs som en finansiell tillgång och en strategisk resurs for industriföretagen, skatter visade sig inte vara en betydande anledning till att investera i skogsmark för någon ägarkategori. Gemensamt för de studerade ägarkategorierna i den här fallstudien var att alla dessa är positiva till att öka sina skogsinnehav. Den huvudsakliga upplevda risken för ägarkategorierna är förknippad med lagstiftningsrisker, opinions- och fysiska risker. Lagstiftnings- och opinionsrisker är främst kopplade till osäkerheten om skogsbrukets förutsättningar relaterade till politiska beslut. Bidraget från denna studie var en ägarklassificering på förvärv av skogsmark på den svenska skogsfastighetsmarknaden. Studien bidrog även till att förklara olika mål för ägarkategorier förknippade med deras skogsägande tillsammans med olika kategoriers upplevda risker och möjligheter med ägande av skogsmark

Mutagenesis as a Tool in Plant Genetics, Functional Genomics, and Breeding

Plant mutagenesis is rapidly coming of age in the aftermath of recent developments in high-resolution molecular and biochemical techniques. By combining the high variation of mutagenised populations with novel screening methods, traits that are almost impossible to identify by conventional breeding are now being developed and characterised at the molecular level. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the various techniques and workflows available to researchers today in the field of molecular breeding, and how these tools complement the ones already used in traditional breeding. Both genetic (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes; TILLING) and phenotypic screens are evaluated. Finally, different ways of bridging the gap between genotype and phenotype are discussed