Climate Change and Potential Economic Impacts in Ireland: The Case for Adaptation

This thesis explores a number of key economic impacts associated with climate change in Ireland. It begins by examining the idea of climate change as a so called “wicked problem”, and in turn investigates uncertainty, the importance of ethics in economic valuation, and the complexities associated with creating economic assessments, formulating policy and carrying out appropriate action. Drawing on sustainability science the terms resilience, vulnerability and adaptive capacity are also discussed, defined and engaged with. Key results, associated with both potential climate impact and adaptation costs, are presented from global and regional integrated assessment models and in turn vulnerable Irish sectors are uncovered. The following bottom-up approach explores key vulnerabilities in Ireland in the areas of coastal exposure, wetland vulnerability and inland flooding. Digital Terrain Modelling is used in conjunction with a range of datasets to examine vulnerabilities relating to coastal land, commercial and residential property addresses, insurance claim costs, as well as wetland and species vulnerability. It should be noted that the results presented are cognisant of the limitations of monetary evaluation alone as a measure of potential climate impacts. The bottom up approach has the added advantage of providing geographically distributed impacts in discrete sectors as apposed to the often highly aggregated regional Integrated Assessment Modelling approach. Finally, the implications of these results for decision-making in relation to adaptation planning are discussed, along with avenues for potential future work

Administrative Law - Procedure - Primary Jurisdiction to Determine Illegality of Contract Under Shipping Act

Plaintiff, an independent shipper, sought review of a Federal Maritime Board order approving under section 15 of the Shipping Act an association\u27s dual-rate contract system found to be a necessary competitive measure to offset the effect of non-conference competition. The court pf appeals set aside the Board\u27s order on grounds that the system was prohibited by section 14 Third of the same act. On certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting. A dual-rate contract system found by the FMB to be designed to meet outside competition is a resort to other discriminatory or unfair methods to stifle such competition in violation of section 14 Third, and is therefore illegal per se. Federal Maritime Board vs. Isbrandtsen Co., 356 U.S. 481 (1958)

Constitutional Law - Courts - Martial - Power of Congress to Provide for Military Jurisdiction Over Retired Servicemen

A retired naval officer was charged with violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice based upon acts of sodomy occurring after his retirement. At arraignment he challenged the jurisdiction of the military tribunal on the ground that Article 2(4) of the U.C.M.J., providing for court-martial jurisdiction over retired servicemen, contravenes the Fifth Amendment. The court-martial and the board of review overruled this objection, and the accused was convicted and sentenced. On appeal, held, while jurisdiction is proper, reversed on other grounds for further proceedings. A retired member of the armed forces who is entitled to pay is a part of the land or naval forces and is therefore subject to military jurisdiction within the exception to the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Hooper, 9 U.S.C.M.A. 637 (1958)

Stern-Gerlach surfing in laser wakefield accelerators

We investigate the effects of a Stern-Gerlach-type addition to the Lorentz force on electrons in a laser wakefield accelerator. The Stern-Gerlach-type terms are found to generate a family of trajectories describing electrons that surf along the plasma density wave driven by a laser pulse. Such trajectories could lead to an increase in the size of an electron bunch, which may have implications for attempts to exploit such bunches in future free electron lasers

Trusts - Interchangeability of the Inter Vivos Trust and the Will - Various Tests of Trust Validity

This comment will be devoted to an examination of various tests of trust validity in this setting and their relative utility as tools for analysis

Pronounced and prevalent intersexuality does not impede the ‘Demon Shrimp’ invasion

Crustacean intersexuality is widespread and often linked to infection by sex-distorting parasites. However, unlike vertebrate intersexuality, its association with sexual dysfunction is unclear and remains a matter of debate. The ‘Demon Shrimp,’ Dikerogammarus haemobaphes, an amphipod that has invaded continental waterways, has recently become widespread in Britain. Intersexuality has been noted in D. haemobaphes but not investigated further. We hypothesise that a successful invasive population should not display a high prevalence of intersexuality if this condition represents a truly dysfunctional phenotype. In addition, experiments have indicated that particular parasite burdens in amphipods may facilitate invasions. The rapid and ongoing invasion of British waterways represents an opportunity to determine whether these hypotheses are consistent with field observations. This study investigates the parasites and sexual phenotypes of D. haemobaphes in British waterways, characterising parasite burdens using molecular screening, and makes comparisons with the threatened Gammarus pulex natives. We reveal that invasive and native populations have distinct parasitic profiles, suggesting the loss of G. pulex may have parasite-mediated eco-system impacts. Furthermore, the parasite burdens are consistent with those previously proposed to facilitate biological invasions. Our study also indicates that while no intersexuality occurs in the native G. pulex, approximately 50% of D. haemobaphes males present pronounced intersexuality associated with infection by the microsporidian Dictyocoela berillonum. This unambiguously successful invasive population presents, to our knowledge, the highest reported prevalence of male intersexuality. This is the clearest evidence to date that such intersexuality does not represent a form of debilitating sexual dysfunction that negatively impacts amphipod populations

Exploring the edge of electromagnetism using extreme fields

This thesis considers aspects of nonlinear electromagnetism and the eects of spin under the in uence of extreme elds. Born-Infeld-like theories are studied in the context of possible slow light experiments. Maximum amplitude plasma waves are considered as a possible testing ground for nonlinear electrodynamics with regards to electron energy gain. Finally the eects of the coupling between the electromagnetic eld and the spin of a relativistic classical particle are considered via a new derivation of the relativistic Stern-Gerlach and Thomas- Bargmann-Michel-Telegdi equations. These equations are then paired with the Nakano-Tulczyjew condition and, as the Stern-Gerlach-type terms in the equations of motion are most prominent in a eld with a high eld gradient, the impact of spin is investigated in the context of a maximum amplitude plasma wave