The more‐than‐minimal state defended against Nozick

Robert Nozick's book, Anarchy, State, and Utopia provides one of the most influential statements of the argument that the welfare state is lacking in moral justification because it infringes property rights. Most previous criticisms of Nozick's work have been concerned to reject the concept of abstract individual rights that forms his starting point. While sound, these criticisms may have little influence on those who find the concept of abstract rights plausible. In this paper Nozick's assumptions about rights are accepted and it is shown that a much more extensive state than Nozick's minimal defensive agency can be supported. Under the specified conditions this stage does not violate these rights. If so much of the argument of those who accept abstract rights is undermined.     

Citizen and government co-production of data: Analyzing the challenges to government adoption of VGI

With the recent rise of open government and open data initiatives, governments are increasingly adopting new approaches of citizen participation to support a more democratic, transparent, and inclusive government system. Among other forms of citizen participation, Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) is one approach to connecting citizens and government. Accepting VGI as a way to update government data or collect near-real-time information from citizens can create a partner-like relationship where citizens voluntarily contribute time and effort to support government actions. However, as a relatively new approach to citizen participation and data collection, VGI requires evaluation from the perspective of governments. This research investigates the challenges and opportunities that governments have found through the implementation of VGI projects. Results are drawn from interviews conducted with 19 government organizations, revealing organizational and technical challenges that limit the adoption of VGI. Organizational challenges are associated with government mindset, implementation, and project management, while technical challenges involve development of the system and quality of data. Given these challenges, we derive recommendations within the phases of project initiation, implementation, and expansion that can foster VGI adoption in government.     

Last meals inferred from the possible gut contents of a mummy: A case study from Astana Cemetery,Xinjiang, China*

The gut contents of ancient humans have been proven to be the most direct evidence for palaeodietary study. In the Xinjiang region of north-west China, large numbers of mummies are well preserved owing to the extremely dry environment to be found there. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) combined with multi-archaeobotanical methods, including macrofossil examination, starch grain analysis, phytolith analysis and bran fragments analysis, were applied to investigate the possible gut contents (c.1300 bp by ¹⁴C dating) of a person unearthed at tomb 75TAM601 in Astana Cemetery, which were the public graveyards of the ancient Gaochang people (residents of Turpan, dating from about the third to the ninth centuries ce ), in Turpan, Xinjiang. The result of the FTIR analysis showed that the matrix of the possible gut contents consisted of protein and starch and was characterized as undigested food residue. The white mineral fragments of this sample were from the decomposition products of the skeleton. The microfossil analysis demonstrated that Setaria italica, Panicum miliaceum and Triticum aestivum were the main cereal resources for the last meals eaten by the deceased. Moreover, direct macrofossil evidence also advocates for the importance of the three aforementioned cereal crops and fruits of Cucumis melo and Vitis vinifera in the person's diet.     

ENERGY-DISPERSIVE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE PORCELAINS USING Am-241

Americium-241 source was used to investigate elements whose fluorescent X-ray energies are between about 25 and 40 keV. We did not find any correlation between the amount of the elements present and the time of manufacture except for barium, which can therefore be used to detect modern reproductions. This method of detection is both quick and non-destructive.