The lens and source of the optical Einstein ring gravitational lens ER 0047-2808

(Abridged) We perform a detailed analysis of the optical gravitational lens ER 0047-2808 imaged with WFPC2 on the Hubble Space Telescope. Using software specifically designed for the analysis of resolved gravitational lens systems, we focus on how the image alone can constrain the mass distribution in the lens galaxy. We find the data are of sufficient quality to strongly constrain the lens model with no a priori assumptions about the source. Using a variety of mass models, we find statistically acceptable results for elliptical isothermal-like models with an Einstein radius of 1.17''. An elliptical power-law model (Sigma \propto R^-beta) for the surface mass density favours a slope slightly steeper than isothermal with beta = 1.08 +/- 0.03. Other models including a constant M/L, pure NFW halo and (surprisingly) an isothermal sphere with external shear are ruled out by the data. We find the galaxy light profile can only be fit with a Sersic plus point source model. The resulting total M/L_B contained within the images is 4.7 h_65 +/-0.3. In addition, we find the luminous matter is aligned with the total mass distribution within a few degrees. The source, reconstructed by the software, is revealed to have two bright regions, with an unresolved component inside the caustic and a resolved component straddling a fold caustic. The angular size of the entire source is approx. 0.1'' and its (unlensed) Lyman-alpha flux is 3 x 10^-17 erg/s/cm^2.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures. Revised version accepted for publication in MNRA

Climate Change, the Paris agreement and Subsidiarity

The 2015 Paris Agreement achieved a broad international consensus on a methodology to limit emissions to control climate change. By its terms, the Paris Agreement anticipates individual action by individual nation-states. But underlying this principle stands the fact that climate change need not and should not be addressed only by nation-states. Rather, combatting climate change requires attention at multiple levels – national, state, regional, and local – as well as requiring a public-private partnership to engage businesses in a dedicated effort to achieve meaningful results in abatement. This article examines overlapping competencies within the European Union (“EU”) and considers how various actors within the United States federalist system are engaged in trying to combat climate change. The question regarding overlapping competencies extends beyond the legal delineation of authority. At its core is the question of how to best utilize specific qualities of various constituencies with overlapping competencies to not only harmonize efforts but also to achieve maximum utilization of the efforts of different parties. Climate change is a global problem with globally felt externalities, and it must be addressed globally. It is not one that will self-resolve. Despite extensive technological advances, we cannot artificially create a livable habitat. People are dependent upon the continuing functioning of natural systems and habitats for survival. A coordinated approach to regulation among layers of government is essential to a properly functioning, fully utilized approach to climate change. This article thus addresses issues of European subsidiarity and American federalism in the context of climate change. Part II provides an overview of the basic issues at stake and briefly sketches the effectiveness of international treaties designed to address climate change and other approaches to date. No prior international effort created the cause for optimism that attended the signing of the Paris Agreement. Part III of this article takes a detailed look at issues of subsidiarity and places the discussion in the context of climate change. Part IV examines the issue within the United States, as the federal government’s approaches to climate change have been dramatically revised over the past couple of years

Mind the Gap: Another look at the problem of the semantic gap in image retrieval

This paper attempts to review and characterise the problem of the semantic gap in image retrieval and the attempts being made to bridge it. In particular, we draw from our own experience in user queries, automatic annotation and ontological techniques. The first section of the paper describes a characterisation of the semantic gap as a hierarchy between the raw media and full semantic understanding of the media's content. The second section discusses real users' queries with respect to the semantic gap. The final sections of the paper describe our own experience in attempting to bridge the semantic gap. In particular we discuss our work on auto-annotation and semantic-space models of image retrieval in order to bridge the gap from the bottom up, and the use of ontologies, which capture more semantics than keyword object labels alone, as a technique for bridging the gap from the top down

Legislatively Directed Judicial Activism: Some Reflections on the Meaning of the Civil Justice Reform Act

With the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA), Congress attempted to further a trend that the federal judiciary had undertaken largely on its own initiative. Sensing a critical need to address the mounting expense and delay of federal civil litigation, Congress, like the judiciary, sought to increase the degree of early and active involvement of judges in the adjudicatory process. The result of this mandate has been a further emphasis on the role of the judge as a case manager. As a necessary corollary, the liberty and self-determination of individual litigants-ideals that have historically been seen as philosophical cornerstones of the Anglo-American adjudicative process-have been correspondingly diminished. In this Article, the authors examine the departure from the philosophical moorings of the Anglo-American system of justice that implementation of the CJRA represents and consider whether the gains to be achieved by the Act, if successful, offset the potential costs to the litigants that the Act imposes

Legislatively Directed Judicial Activism: Some Reflections on the Meaning of the Civil Justice Reform Act, 28 U. Mich. J.L. Reform 305 (1995)

With the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA), Congress attempted to further a trend that the federal judiciary had undertaken largely on its own initiative. Sensing a critical need to address the mounting expense and delay of federal civil litigation, Congress, like the judiciary, sought to increase the degree of early and active involvement of judges in the adjudicatory process. The result of this mandate has been a further emphasis on the role of the judge as a case manager. As a necessary corollary, the liberty and self-determination of individual litigants-ideals that have historically been seen as philosophical cornerstones of the Anglo-American adjudicative process-have been correspondingly diminished. In this Article, the authors examine the departure from the philosophical moorings of the Anglo-American system of justice that implementation of the CJRA represents and consider whether the gains to be achieved by the Act, if successful, offset the potential costs to the litigants that the Act imposes