The double-facing foreign relations function of the executive and its self-enforcing obligation to comply with international law

How does the international Rule of Law apply to constrain the conduct of the Executive within a constitutional State that adopts a dualist approach to the reception of international law? This paper argues that, so far from being inconsistent with the concept of the Rule of Law, the Executive within a dualist constitution has a self-enforcing obligation to abide by the obligations of the State under international law. This is not dependent on Parliament’s incorporation of treaty obligations into domestic law. It is the correlative consequence of the allocation to the Executive of the power to conduct foreign relations. The paper develops this argument in response to recent debate in the United Kingdom on whether Ministers have an obligation to comply with international law–a reference that the Government removed from the Ministerial Code. It shows that such an obligation is consistent with both four centuries of the practice of the British State and with principle

Exact evolution of time-reversible symplectic integrators and their phase error for the harmonic oscillator

The evolution of any factorized time-reversible symplectic integrators, when applied to the harmonic oscillator, can be exactly solved in a closed form. The resulting modified Hamiltonians demonstrate the convergence of the Lie series expansions. They are also less distorted than modified Hamiltonian of non-reversible algorithms. The analytical form for the modified angular frequency can be used to assess the phase error of any time-reversible algorithm.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett. A, Six Pages two Column

Dynamical Multiple-Timestepping Methods for Overcoming the Half-Period Time Step Barrier

Current molecular dynamic simulations of biomolecules using multiple time steps to update the slowingly changing force are hampered by an instability occuring at time step equal to half the period of the fastest vibrating mode. This has became a critical barrier preventing the long time simulation of biomolecular dynamics. Attemps to tame this instability by altering the slowly changing force and efforts to damp out this instability by Langevin dynamics do not address the fundamental cause of this instability. In this work, we trace the instability to the non-analytic character of the underlying spectrum and show that a correct splitting of the Hamiltonian, which render the spectrum analytic, restores stability. The resulting Hamiltonian dictates that in additional to updating the momentum due to the slowly changing force, one must also update the position with a modified mass. Thus multiple-timestepping must be done dynamically.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy

Effects of Ore dust pollution on the physical and chemical features, and on the Meiofauna and Microfauna, of a sandy beach

Effects of wind-blown iron and manganese ore dust on the upper part of a sandy beach have been investigated. The fine ore dust was found to reduce the porosity and  permeability of the sand by clogging the interstices. The presence of ore dust also  greatly increased the rate of heating and cooling of beach sand. Further, ore dust,  although of negligible solubility, was found to inhibit the action of aerobic bacteria. This is thought to be due to iron and manganese forming oxidation-reduction combinations in the sand. Ore dust appeared, however, to have no effects on the meiofauna

Studies on the Psammolittoral Meiofauna of Algoa Bay, South Africa

As a precursor to a study of the psammolittoral meiofauna of Algoa Bay, the important physical and chemical features of the beaches have been quantified. A sheltered and an exposed beach were selected. It has been found that the sheltered beach has a finer substrate, greater porosity and more chlorophyll a than the exposed beach. However, owing to the smaller sizes of the interstices, the sands of the sheltered beach have a slower drainage, a lower oxygen availibility in the interstitial water and shallower water tables than the sands of the exposed beach

The larval development and population dynamics of Derocheilocaris algoensis (Crustacea, Mystacocarida)

Seven larval stages of Derocheilocaris algoensis have been described and appear to be identical with those of D. typica from North America. This stresses the remarkable  conservativeness of this subclass of Crustacea. The population biology of D. algoensis has been studied over 16 months and reproduction has been found to continue  throughout the year but to exhibit some distinct peaks. Growth from egg to   reproductively active adult appears to take approximately 60 days. The total life-span is approximately eight months, of which the latter six are spent in reproductive activity

Studies on the Psammolittoral meiofauna of Algoa Bay, South Africa II. The distribution, composition and biomass of the Meiofauna and Macrofauna

Two beaches in Algoa Bay, South Africa, have been found to support a relatively rich and varied meio-fauna. Highest numbers were recorded at HW on the sheltered beach (2 250/10 cm1) and the lowest numbers at LW on the same beach (60/10 cm1). On the exposed beach numbers were more uniform but were highest between MW and LW. Distribution of the meiofauna on the sheltered beach was limited mainly by the amounts of available oxygen in the interstitial water while on the exposed beach amounts of available food, and to a lesser extent oxygen, were limiting. The meiofauna of the sheltered beach was dominated by nematodes and that of the exposed beach by Crustacea (harpacticoid cope-pods and mystacocarids). Meiofauna biomass values were highest in winter and lowest in summer. Macrofauna was richer on the exposed beach, mainly due to the sand mussel, Donax serra. Production estimates based on standing crop indicated that the meiofauna may account for 55 percent and 28 per cent of the total secondary production on the sheltered and exposed beaches respectively

Notes on the biology of some estuarine bivalves

No Abstract

Higher Order Effects in the Dielectric Constant of Percolative Metal-Insulator Systems above the Critical Point

The dielectric constant of a conductor-insulator mixture shows a pronounced maximum above the critical volume concentration. Further experimental evidence is presented as well as a theoretical consideration based on a phenomenological equation. Explicit expressions are given for the position of the maximum in terms of scaling parameters and the (complex) conductances of the conductor and insulator. In order to fit some of the data, a volume fraction dependent expression for the conductivity of the more highly conductive component is introduced.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, 4 postscript (*.epsi) files submitted to Phys Rev.

Composition, distribution, abundance and biomass of the macrofauna and meiofauna of four sandy beaches

The macrofauna and meiofauna have been investigated quantitatively on four exposed sandy beaches of medium quartz sands. Of the 12 macrofauna species recorded, two bivalves (Donax spp.) and one gastropod (Bullia rhodostoma)made up the bulk of the numbers and biomass values on all beaches. Macrofauna biomass values were 0,01 - 316,46 g/m2 on an ash-free, dry mass basis. Diversity index values for the macrofauna were low and on all beaches decreased from LW to HW irrespective of the distribution of densities. Similarity analysis indicated three fauna assemblages, which were less related to tidal heights than to quantities of available food. High meiofauna numbers were recorded (152 - 7056/10 cm2) and these were made up mainly of crustaceans (48%) and nematodes (44%). Meiofauna ash-free dry biomass values were 0,08-3,36 g/m2. On all beaches the meiofauna tended to be concentrated at those tide levels where a moderate, but not extreme, degree of desiccation of the sand occurred. Biomass values of macrofauna and meiofauna were extrapolated to 1 m transects of beach giving macrofauna values of 17,5-16553,3 g/transect and meiofauna values of 13,8-76,0 g/transect. Production estimates based on these biomass values indicated that the meiofauna dominated two beaches and the macrofauna two beaches. Two general conclusions are discussed, namely that the meiofauna and macrofauna on these beaches are quite distinct faunal components in all respects, and that the meiofauna, although not part of the macrofauna food chain, are nevertheless of great quantitative importance in the flow of energy