Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Football: Exploring the Construction of Ethnic Identities and Their Manifestations for Athletic Club Bilbao and Celtic Football Club

This thesis centers on the construction of ethnic identities for fans of Athletic Club and Celtic F.C. and the two clubs’ roles in evincing nationalism. Utilizing survey data from an online, anonymous survey posted to fan forums, the research aimed to determine which of the three leading theories of ethnicity—primordialism, instrumentalism, or social constructivism—was most applicable to the formation of identities for Basque Athletic Club fans and Irish Celtic fans. The results demonstrated that the theory of social constructivism most closely aligns with the case of Basque Athletic Club fans while the identities of Irish Celtic fans can best be explained by the theory of primordialism. The study then directs its efforts to the two clubs’ purported roles in the promotion of nationalism, differentiating between ethnic and civic nationalism. Observing fans’ opinions, the results have shown that that the two clubs do continue to bear relations with Basque and Irish nationalism, however, the ways in which this is done differs. Athletic Club upholds a relationship with Basque nationalism through a combination of both ethnic and civic nationalism, whereas Celtic sustains a connection to Irish nationalism through cultural means mirroring ethnic nationalism. These results suggest a correlation between the way in which fans’ ethnicities are constructed and the club’s continued catering to Basque/Irish nationalism

Hybrid-VPIC: an Open-Source Kinetic/Fluid Hybrid Particle-in-Cell Code

Hybrid-VPIC is an extension of the open-source high-performance particle-in-cell (PIC) code VPIC incorporating hybrid kinetic ion/fluid electron solvers. This paper describes the models that are available in the code and gives an overview of applications of the code to space and laboratory plasma physics problems. Particular choices in how the hybrid solvers were implemented are documented for reference by users. A few solutions for handling numerical complications particular to hybrid codes are also described. Special emphasis is given to the computationally taxing problem of modeling mix in collisional high-energy-density regimes, for which more accurate electron fluid transport coefficients have been implemented for the first time in a hybrid PIC code

Spacecraft observations and analytic theory of crescent-shaped electron distributions in asymmetric magnetic reconnection

Supported by a kinetic simulation, we derive an exclusion energy parameter $\cal{E}_X$ providing a lower kinetic energy bound for an electron to cross from one inflow region to the other during magnetic reconnection. As by a Maxwell Demon, only high energy electrons are permitted to cross the inner reconnection region, setting the electron distribution function observed along the low density side separatrix during asymmetric reconnection. The analytic model accounts for the two distinct flavors of crescent-shaped electron distributions observed by spacecraft in a thin boundary layer along the low density separatrix.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Visualizing Mechanics: Improving Student Learning through Video Demonstrations

The Purdue Mechanics Freeform Classroom (PMFC) is a project that seeks to reform engineering mechanics education by integrating content and technology; enhancing communication between students, their peers, and instructors; accommodating a broader range of learning styles; and facilitating greater depths of understanding. In an attempt to increase the PMFC’s efficacy, a series of demonstration videos has been produced. As demonstrated by the popularity and pervasiveness of websites such as YouTube, short videos have the potential to captivate audiences. As such, these videos have incredible promise in educational contexts. In the PMFC series of videos, entitled Visualizing Mechanics, each imitates the length and format of a generic YouTube video, but is specifically designed to highlight and elucidate interesting phenomena in engineering mechanics. Various techniques are used in the course of video production, including student voiceovers, equation overlays, and advanced video enhancement techniques designed to improve student visualization. The result is videos capable of conveying key mechanics concepts that could not easily be recreated in a classroom setting. To date, the videos have been produced for only one class, ME 274: Basic Mechanics II at Purdue University, which provides an overview of particle and rigid body kinematics and kinetics, as well as an introduction to mechanical vibrations. Once this initial batch of videos is finalized, student surveys and YouTube Analytics tools will be used to assess their effectiveness. If the results of this assessment prove positive, the approach will be expanded to incorporate additional course content and allow for distribution to other colleges and universities outside the Purdue University College of Engineering

Lethal Injection for Execution: Chemical Asphyxiation?

Data from executions in the US suggest that current lethal injection protocols do not effect death through the mechanisms intended, and that potentially aware inmates could die through pancuronium-induced asphyxiation