The Individual Mandate, Commerce Clause, and Supreme Court: Predicting the Court\u27s Ruling in HHS v. Florida

An analysis of the evolution of the Commerce Clause, the Justices on the Supreme Court, and the arguments presented in this case indicate that the minimum coverage provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be struck down. Although the Court will likely be split 5 to 4 along ideological lines, each of the justices will have a unique rationale behind their decision. Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, and Justice Kennedy were heavily targeted by both parties’ oral and written arguments because there was speculation that any one of these traditionally conservative justices could be the fifth vote to uphold the individual mandate. However, it does not appear likely that the federal government supported their claims well enough to yield such a result. Instead, the Court will respond in the negative to the issue of Whether Congress had the power under Article I of the Constitution to enact the minimum coverage provision. The Court’s interpretation of the Congress\u27 commerce power has undergone two major expansions since the Constitution was ratified, and both of these expansions were met with a contractionary response to prevent the commerce clause’s growth into an unchecked power. This Court will not open a new frontier of power for the Congress, but rather it will respect the limits on Congressional power established by the Rehnquist Court

An Analysis of Accounting Concepts Through Case Studies

This thesis aims to provide a holistic picture of the accounting profession through various topics in the field. Divided into case studies, each case examines a particular accounting issue or concept through research and analysis. These cases range from an examination of the events of 9/11 through the lens of the accounting profession to a multiple-case analysis of International Paper Company’s financial position and future actions. Several online articles, financial reports, and accounting courses were used to inform the information included in this thesis. These sources were not only used to provide an analysis of accounting concepts, but also to inform discussion of professional characteristics of accountants. These elements in conjunction serve to inform readers of the accounting profession as well as the accounting professionals that participate in the topics discussed in this thesis. Overall, this thesis seeks to inform readers of the multi-faceted accounting profession through individual studies of accounting concepts

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: understanding observations of large-scale outflows at low redshift with EAGLE simulations

This work presents a study of galactic outflows driven by stellar feedback. We extract main-sequence disc galaxies with stellar mass 10^9 ≤ M⋆/ M⊙ ≤ 5.7 × 10^(10) at redshift z = 0 from the highest resolution cosmological simulation of the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) set. Synthetic gas rotation velocity and velocity dispersion (σ) maps are created and compared to observations of disc galaxies obtained with the Sydney-AAO (Australian Astronomical Observatory) Multi-object Integral field spectrograph (SAMI), where σ-values greater than 150 km s^(−1) are most naturally explained by bipolar outflows powered by starburst activity. We find that the extension of the simulated edge-on (pixelated) velocity dispersion probability distribution depends on stellar mass and star formation rate surface density (Σ_(SFR)), with low-M⋆/low-Σ_(SFR) galaxies showing a narrow peak at low σ (∼30 km s^(−1)) and more active, high-M⋆/high-Σ_(SFR) galaxies reaching σ > 150 km s^(−1). Although supernova-driven galactic winds in the EAGLE simulations may not entrain enough gas with T <10^5 K compared to observed galaxies, we find that gas temperature is a good proxy for the presence of outflows. There is a direct correlation between the thermal state of the gas and its state of motion as described by the σ-distribution. The following equivalence relations hold in EAGLE: (i) low-σ peak  ⇔ disc of the galaxy  ⇔ gas with T <10^5 K; (ii) high-σ tail  ⇔ galactic winds  ⇔ gas with T ≥10^5 K

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release Two with absorption-line physics value-added products

We present the second major release of data from the Sydney – Australian Astronomical Observatory Multi-Object Integral Field Spectrograph (SAMI) Galaxy Survey. Data Release Two includes data for 1559 galaxies, about 50 per cent of the full survey. Galaxies included have a redshift range 0.004 11], the velocity dispersion strongly increases towards the centre, whereas below log (M⋆/M⊙) < 10 we find no evidence for a clear increase in the central velocity dispersion. This suggests a transition mass around log (M⋆/M⊙) ∼ 10 for galaxies with or without a dispersion-dominated bulge

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Galaxy Interactions and Kinematic Anomalies in Abell 119

Galaxy mergers are important events that can determine the fate of a galaxy by changing its morphology, star formation activity and mass growth. Merger systems have commonly been identified from their disturbed morphologies, and we now can employ integral field spectroscopy to detect and analyze the impact of mergers on stellar kinematics as well. We visually classified galaxy morphology using deep images (µ_r = 28 mag arcsec^(-2)) taken by the Blanco 4 m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. In this paper we investigate 63 bright (M_r < -19.3) spectroscopically selected galaxies in Abell 119, of which 53 are early type and 20 show a disturbed morphology by visual inspection. A misalignment between the major axes in the photometric image and the kinematic map is conspicuous in morphologically disturbed galaxies. Our sample is dominated by early-type galaxies, yet it shows a surprisingly tight Tully–Fisher relation except for the morphologically disturbed galaxies which show large deviations. Three out of the eight slow rotators in our sample are morphologically disturbed. The morphologically disturbed galaxies are generally more asymmetric, visually as well as kinematically. Our findings suggest that galaxy interactions, including mergers and perhaps fly-bys, play an important role in determining the orientation and magnitude of a galaxy's angular momentum

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Mass as the Driver of the Kinematic Morphology–Density Relation in Clusters

We examine the kinematic morphology of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in eight galaxy clusters in the Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral-field spectrograph Galaxy Survey. The clusters cover a mass range of 14.2 < log(M_(200)/M_☉) < 15.2 and we measure spatially resolved stellar kinematics for 315 member galaxies with stellar masses 10.0 <log(M_*/ M_☉) ⩽ 11.7 within 1 R_(200) of the cluster centers. We calculate the spin parameter, λ_R , and use this to classify the kinematic morphology of the galaxies as fast or slow rotators (SRs). The total fraction of SRs in the ETG population is F_(SR) = 0.14 ± 0.02 and does not depend on host cluster mass. Across the eight clusters, the fraction of SRs increases with increasing local overdensity. We also find that the slow-rotator fraction increases at small clustercentric radii (R_(cl) < 0.3R_(200)), and note that there is also an increase in the slow-rotator fraction at R_(cl) ~ 0.6 R_(200). The SRs at these larger radii reside in the cluster substructure. We find that the strongest increase in the slow-rotator fraction occurs with increasing stellar mass. After accounting for the strong correlation with stellar mass, we find no significant relationship between spin parameter and local overdensity in the cluster environment. We conclude that the primary driver for the kinematic morphology–density relationship in galaxy clusters is the changing distribution of galaxy stellar mass with the local environment. The presence of SRs in the substructure suggests that the cluster kinematic morphology–density relationship is a result of mass segregation of slow-rotating galaxies forming in groups that later merge with clusters and sink to the cluster center via dynamical friction

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: Data Release One with emission-line physics value-added products

We present the first major release of data from the SAMI Galaxy Survey. This data release focuses on the emission-line physics of galaxies. Data Release One includes data for 772 galaxies, about 20 per cent of the full survey. Galaxies included have the redshift range 0.004 < z < 0.092, a large mass range (7.6 < log M*/ M⊙ < 11.6), and star formation rates of ∼10^(−4) to ∼10^1M⊙ yr^(−1). For each galaxy, we include two spectral cubes and a set of spatially resolved 2D maps: single- and multi-component emission-line fits (with dust-extinction corrections for strong lines), local dust extinction, and star formation rate. Calibration of the fibre throughputs, fluxes, and differential atmospheric refraction has been improved over the Early Data Release. The data have average spatial resolution of 2.16 arcsec (full width at half-maximum) over the 15 arcsec diameter field of view and spectral (kinematic) resolution of R = 4263 (σ = 30 km s^(−1)) around H α. The relative flux calibration is better than 5 per cent, and absolute flux calibration has an rms of 10 per cent. The data are presented online through the Australian Astronomical Observatory's Data Central

The SAMI Galaxy Survey: the cluster redshift survey, target selection and cluster properties

We describe the selection of galaxies targeted in eight low-redshift clusters (APMCC0917, A168, A4038, EDCC442, A3880, A2399, A119 and A85; 0.029 < z < 0.058) as part of the Sydney-AAO Multi-Object Integral field spectrograph Galaxy Survey (SAMI-GS). We have conducted a redshift survey of these clusters using the AAOmega multi-object spectrograph on the 3.9-m Anglo-Australian Telescope. The redshift survey is used to determine cluster membership and to characterize the dynamical properties of the clusters. In combination with existing data, the survey resulted in 21 257 reliable redshift measurements and 2899 confirmed cluster member galaxies. Our redshift catalogue has a high spectroscopic completeness (∼94 per cent) for rpetro ≤ 19.4 and cluster-centric distances R < 2R200. We use the confirmed cluster member positions and redshifts to determine cluster velocity dispersion, R200, virial and caustic masses, as well as cluster structure. The clusters have virial masses 14.25 ≤ log(M200/M_⊙) ≤ 15.19. The cluster sample exhibits a range of dynamical states, from relatively relaxed-appearing systems, to clusters with strong indications of merger-related substructure. Aperture- and point spread function matched photometry are derived from Sloan Digital Sky Survey and VLT Survey Telescope/ATLAS imaging and used to estimate stellar masses. These estimates, in combination with the redshifts, are used to define the input target catalogue for the cluster portion of the SAMI-GS. The primary SAMI-GS cluster targets have R <R200, velocities |vpec| < 3.5σ200 and stellar masses 9.5 ≤ log(M^∗_(approx)/M_⊙) ≤ 12. Finally, we give an update on the SAMI-GS progress for the cluster regions

Self-consistent Bulge/Disk/Halo Galaxy Dynamical Modeling Using Integral Field Kinematics

We introduce a method for modeling disk galaxies designed to take full advantage of data from integral field spectroscopy (IFS). The method fits equilibrium models to simultaneously reproduce the surface brightness, rotation, and velocity dispersion profiles of a galaxy. The models are fully self-consistent 6D distribution functions for a galaxy with a Sérsic profile stellar bulge, exponential disk, and parametric dark-matter halo, generated by an updated version of GalactICS. By creating realistic flux-weighted maps of the kinematic moments (flux, mean velocity, and dispersion), we simultaneously fit photometric and spectroscopic data using both maximum-likelihood and Bayesian (MCMC) techniques. We apply the method to a GAMA spiral galaxy (G79635) with kinematics from the SAMI Galaxy Survey and deep g- and r-band photometry from the VST-KiDS survey, comparing parameter constraints with those from traditional 2D bulge–disk decomposition. Our method returns broadly consistent results for shared parameters while constraining the mass-to-light ratios of stellar components and reproducing the H i-inferred circular velocity well beyond the limits of the SAMI data. Although the method is tailored for fitting integral field kinematic data, it can use other dynamical constraints like central fiber dispersions and H i circular velocities, and is well-suited for modeling galaxies with a combination of deep imaging and H i and/or optical spectra (resolved or otherwise). Our implementation (MagRite) is computationally efficient and can generate well-resolved models and kinematic maps in under a minute on modern processors

Using an artificial neural network to classify multicomponent emission lines with integral field spectroscopy from SAMI and S7

Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) surveys are changing how we study galaxies and are creating vastly more spectroscopic data available than before. The large number of resulting spectra makes visual inspection of emission line fits an infeasible option. Here, we present a demonstration of an artificial neural network (ANN) that determines the number of Gaussian components needed to describe the complex emission line velocity structures observed in galaxies after being fit with LZIFU. We apply our ANN to IFS data for the S7 survey, conducted using the Wide Field Spectrograph on the ANU 2.3 m Telescope, and the SAMI Galaxy Survey, conducted using the SAMI instrument on the 4 m Anglo-Australian Telescope. We use the spectral fitting code LZIFU (Ho et al. 2016a) to fit the emission line spectra of individual spaxels from S7 and SAMI data cubes with 1-, 2- and 3-Gaussian components. We demonstrate that using an ANN is comparable to astronomers performing the same visual inspection task of determining the best number of Gaussian components to describe the physical processes in galaxies. The advantage of our ANN is that it is capable of processing the spectra for thousands of galaxies in minutes, as compared to the years this task would take individual astronomers to complete by visual inspection