Peace Corps

PRIMARY CONTACT: Jack Campbell ([email protected])The Peace Corps sends the best and brightest Americans abroad on behalf of the United States to tackle the most pressing needs of people around the world. Volunteers work at the grassroots level to develop sustainable solutions that address challenges in education, health, economic development, agriculture, environment and youth development. Through their service, volunteers gain a unique cultural understanding and a life-long commitment to service that positions them to succeed in today's global economy

The Inconceivable Popularity of Conceivability Arguments

Famous examples of conceivability arguments include (i) Descartes’ argument for mind-body dualism, (ii) Kripke's ‘modal argument’ against psychophysical identity theory, (iii) Chalmers’ ‘zombie argument’ against materialism, and (iv) modal versions of the ontological argument for theism. In this paper, we show that for any such conceivability argument, C, there is a corresponding ‘mirror argument’, M. M is deductively valid and has a conclusion that contradicts C's conclusion. Hence, a proponent of C—henceforth, a ‘conceivabilist’—can be warranted in holding that C's premises are conjointly true only if she can find fault with one of M's premises. But M's premises are modelled on a pair of C's premises. The same reasoning that supports the latter supports the former. For this reason, a conceivabilist can repudiate M's premises only on pain of severely undermining C's premises. We conclude on this basis that all conceivability arguments, including each of (i)–(iv), are fallacious

A Statistical Modelling Approach Evaluating Explosive Volcanism as a Trigger of Millennial-Scale Climate Change

Although millennial-scale climate change events are well documented across an array of globally distributed paleoclimate records, their driving mechanics remain ambiguous; a single coherent theory with concrete evidence providing a comprehensive explanation of the nature and origin of these phenomena remains elusive. Here a statistical model uses explosive volcanism as the sole trigger of millennial-scale climate change to reconstruct the NGRIP δ18O ice core chronology over the last 100 ka BP. The model takes numerous steps to address the inferred undercount in the volcanic catalogue by using a weighted probability Monte Carlo simulation approach to generate statistically grounded ‘missing’ eruptions. The results make a compelling case for the consideration of explosive volcanism as a potential trigger of millennial-scale climate change. A model using known eruptions generated a modelled δ18O time-series significantly correlated with the NGRIP δ18O time-series (R2 = 0.678, p < 0.001). Another model using both known eruptions and statistically generated ‘missing’ eruptions generated the strongest reproduction of the NGRIP δ18O time-series (R2 = 0.681, p < 0.001), strongly supporting the hypothesis that unknown eruptions could have triggered millennial-scale climate change events that occurred during gaps in the known eruptions catalogue. The results also suggest it is highly likely that the abrupt climate transitions at the onset of the Younger Dryas and GS-20 had volcanic origins, using the recently dated rare supereruption doublet at the onset of GS-20 to underscore the importance of accurately dating eruptions to fully understand the potential climatic impacts of explosive volcanism. Future investigations should focus modelling attempts on shorter windows to adequately investigate the plausibility of explosive volcanism as a trigger of millennial-scale climate change at an individual event level while considering eruption dating uncertainties to address offset issues and maximise correlations between modelled and NGRIP δ18O time-series

Vibration Analysis of Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles

Truck drivers are more susceptible than other workers to lower back pain and spinal disorders caused by whole body vibrations, which are among the most common long term health effects for drivers. The dynamic behavior of trucks can be modeled and simulated to improve the design of the trucks, which can reduce the exposure of drivers to whole body vibrations. The main purposes of this study are to analyze vibrations for different manufacturers and road types, and to create a computer-based model using Adams to predict vibration anywhere on the model using acceleration data collected previously from on-road tests of real vehicles. Another objective of this study is to develop a method for validating an Adams model of trucks tested. Also, this study examines the results predicted by the simulations. This study uses vibration measurements that were made on twenty-two heavy-duty diesel vehicles from four different manufacturers, each driven on the same route, which include rural and interstate roads. Road types and manufacturers are compared using data from an accelerometer located underneath the driver seat. Vertical vibrations in five trucks are simulated using Adams, one truck from each manufacturer and one without a trailer. Vibrations in three orthogonal directions are compared for of the trucks. Results show that the vibrations on the roads of US-27 and I-75 are similar to each other, while the manufacturers show significant differences between one another. Two basic models were developed with Adams that use collected data to “drive” the model. Results are more accurate when the data from the transducers located on the body of interest are used as impact. Only one transducer is needed on the body of interest to provide accurate results. Since the mechanical properties of the trucks tested were not available, the model has not been validated. However, the model could be validated if the specifications of a tested truck were given

Helicity, linking, and writhe in a spherical geometry

Open Access journalLinking numbers, helicity integrals, twist, and writhe all describe the topology and geometry of curves and vector fields. The topology of the space the curves and fields live in, however, can affect the behaviour of these quantities. Here we examine curves and fields living in regions exterior to a sphere or in spherical shells. The winding of two curves need not be conserved because of the topology of a spherical shell. Avoiding the presence of magnetic monopoles inside the sphere is very important if magnetic helicity is to be a conserved quantity. Considerations of parallel transport are important in determining the transfer of helicity through the foot of a magnetic flux tube when it is in motion

Revoking the Fishing License: Recent Decisions Place Unwarranted Restrictions on Administrative Agencies\u27 Power to Subpoena Personal Financial Records

The backbone of an administrative agency\u27s effectiveness is the ability to investigate rapidly the activities of entities within the agency\u27s jurisdiction., An agency\u27s ability to carry out its investigative functions depends upon enforcement of the agency\u27s administrative subpoenas. Courts have not always looked favorably upon broad agency subpoena power. The implementation of the New Deal and the exigencies of World War II created a need for increased administrative oversight of national affairs. Courts began to recognize the usefulness of proactive administrative government. Concurrent supreme court decisions reflected this philosophical change by adopting highly deferential views of administrative subpoena enforcement. This deference has governed administrative subpoena enforcement for over fifty years. Recent decisions, however, have signaled a move away from the deferential view of administrative subpoena power. In response to the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s Congress passed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 ( FIRREA ). Administrative agencies charged with enforcing FIRREA routinely subpoena the personal financial records of directors and officers of failed savings and loan associations. Attempts to enforce these subpoenas have proven difficult. Judicial resistance to this use of the subpoena power rests on two grounds. First, courts have drawn a distinction between corporate and personal financial records. This distinction underlies the holding that fourth amendment privacy concerns require agencies to demonstrate some suspicion of wrongdoing in order to subpoena personal financial records. Second, courts have prohibited or curtailed use of the subpoena power to determine the cost-effectiveness of bringing an enforcement action. Part II of this Note describes the development of broad agency subpoena power and the recent decisions restricting that power. Part III analyzes the validity of a distinction between personal and corporate financial records in the context of administrative subpoena enforcement. It also discusses the impact of such a distinction on administrative agencies\u27 ability to carry out their regulatory missions effectively. Part IV focuses on the use of administrative subpoena power to determine the cost-effectiveness of enforcement actions. This Part particularly emphasizes the tension between restrictions on this use of the subpoena power and the judicial deference typically granted to agency discretion in setting a regulatory agenda. Part V concludes that the restrictions placed on administrative agencies\u27 power to subpoena personal financial records in recent decisions are unwarranted and threaten the effective and efficient functioning of administrative agencies