The Politics of Abstract Art. Forma 1 and the Italian Communist Party

Este artículo examina el papel del grupo de artistas abstractos Forma 1 en relación con la política cultural del Partido Comunista Italiano durante la posguerra, como ejemplo de los intentos de superar la dicotomía establecida en Italia entre arte abstracto y realismo socialista y producir una alternativa a la confrontación entre ambos discursos estéticos. Mientras los artistas realistas socialistas subrayaban la necesidad de expresar contenidos políticos explícitos con un estilo que asegurase su máxima legibilidad para una audiencia de masas, los artistas de Forma 1 argumentaban que la abstracción significaba una crítica de la representación pictórica que podía contribuir a la crítica de la ideología burguesa, armonizando de este modo el marxismo con los desarrollos artísticos más avanzados. El PCI, por su parte, basaba su política artística en amplias alianzas de artistas e intelectuales antifascistas, que cada vez eran más difíciles de mantener en el clima de creciente confrontación política y cultural que siguió a la II Guerra Mundial

Bridging the gap between design and implementation of components libraries

Object-oriented design is usually driven by three main reusability principles: step-by-step design, design for reuse and design with reuse. However, these principles are just partially applied to the subsequent object-oriented implementation, often due to efficienc y constraints, yielding to a gap between design and implementation. In this paper we provide a solution for bridging this gap for a concrete framework, the one of designing and implementing container-like component libraries, such as STL, Booc h Components, etc. Our approach is based on a new design pattern together with its corresponding implementation. The proposal enhances the same principles that drive the design process: step-by--step implementation (adding just what is needed in every step), implementation with reuse (component implementations are reused while library implementation progresses and component hierarchies grow) and implementation for reuse (intermediate component implementations can be reused in many different points o f the hierarchy). We use our approach in two different manners: for building a brand-new container-like component library, and for reengineering an existing one, Booch Components in Ada95.Postprint (published version

Improving design and implementation of OO container-like component libraries

Object-oriented design is usually driven by three main reusability principles: step-by-step design, design for reuse and design with reuse. However, these principles tend to be just partially applied to the subsequent object-oriented implementation, often because they conflict with other quality criteria (remarkably, efficiency). So, there is a gap between design and implementation: due to these conflicts developers use to give up design level abstractions during the implementation. In this paper we present a framework for bridging this gap for a concrete domain, the design and implementation of object-oriented container-like component libraries, such as JCF, STL, Booch Components, LEDA, etc. At the core of the framework we propose a new design pattern called emph{Shortcut} together with its corresponding implementation. The Shortcut pattern, introduced in a generic base class container, provides a secure and efficient access to items in a container decoupled from the implementation details of concrete containers. Shortcut enhances applying the same principles that drive the design process to the implementation process of these libraries: step-by-step implementation, implementation with reuse and implementation for reuse without penalising other quality criteria. Our framework not only supports the design and implementation of new libraries but also the reengineering of existing ones to overcome some of their drawbacks. We show by a case study, reengineering the Booch Components in Ada95, the application and benefits of our framework.Postprint (published version

Adding efficient and reliable access paths to the JCF

The Java Collections Framework (JCF) is the standard Java library for representing and manipulating collections (i.e., objects that represent a group of objects, such as sets, lists, etc.). Although JCF provides adequate functionality for many purposes, it does not offer any mechanism for accessing directly the objects stored in collections apart from the standard Java references. This absence is a crucial functionality exhibited by many other widespread Java and non-Java collection libraries. In this paper, we carry out a reengineering process on the JCF to add this kind of alternative access paths, which we give the name of shortcuts. This process relies on a framework called Shortcut-Based Framework, which has been defined as library- independent. We present this framework and then we show how it may be tailored to the specific case of the JCF. The resulting JCF with shortcuts library is fully compatible with the original one (i.e., programs using the original JCF are not required to be modified), and exhibits good behaviour with respect to efficiency, reliability and internal quality. As an additional benefit of the framework, we mention that it can be applied to other collection libraries, as we have done before with an Ada95 one.Postprint (published version

Shortcuts: abstract "pointers''

In this work we present the specification and the implementation of a new abstract data type (ADT) called STORE. This new ADT allows the storage of a given collection of elements offering an abstract mechanism that supplies a direct access to them, alternative to the method defined by the standard operations of usual ADTs. The interest of the new mechanism stems from the efficiency of pointers, while avoiding the loss of modularity that usually occurs when pointers are used. The implementation of the operations offered by the new ADT is done by derivation from the equational specification. The representation chosen for the implementation of the new ADT makes the efficiency previously mentioned possible, even when the representation strategy requires the movement of the elements.Postprint (published version

The use of educational platforms as teaching resource in mathematics

Dropping out from the school system at High School level has been a problem for several years; high levels of mathematics’ failing have been a recurring situation. This paper discusses how academic virtual counseling might be a tool to help students in math class. The methodological approach is based in the non-experimental, longitudinal model evolution and in the designs of evolutionary group analysis, we stated the possibility to generalize the results of the use of technological resources in the teaching of mathematics in order to find out if it is possible to improve the levels of students at a school in upper level education. According to this research, the use of educational platforms as a resource for the subject of mathematics represents not only a technological tool for teachers but also offers students the opportunity to view this subject as an academic challenge to overcomePeer Reviewe

Surface movement and cascade processes on debris cones in temperate high mountain (Picos de Europa, northern Spain)

Producción CientíficaDebris talus is a very common landform in the temperate high mountain, so much so that it is the most representative of the periglacial and nival processes. This work studies debris cones in the Picos de Europa, an Atlantic mountain range in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. A detailed geomorphological map was prepared, fieldwork was carried out on the debris cone surface, the ground and air thermal regime was analyzed, and a five-year Terrestrial Laser Scan survey carried out. Annual volume changes on the surface of the debris cones were detected and related to active processes and sediment transfer. Two different behaviors were observed in each cone. Cone A is linear, with equilibrium between accumulation and sediment transfer, while Cone B is concave-convex denoting accumulation processes in the upper part deriving from the greater frequency of snow avalanches. Changes in morphology surpass 50 cm/year with most of the activity taking place in the highest and lowest areas. The presence and action of the ice on the debris slope are moderate or non-existent and freeze-thaw processes are only active on the walls at over 2000 m a.s.l. The main processes on debris cones are debris flow and creep related to snowcover, but sediment transfer on the slopes involves high intensity-low frequency (debris flow, avalanches) and high frequency-low intensity processes (creep, shift, solifluction and wasting).Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project CGL2015-68144-R)Junta de Extremadura - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project GR10071

The Polítics of abstract art: Forma 1 and the Italian Communist Party, 1947-1951

This paper discusses the role of the Forma 1 group of abstract artists within the cultural politics of the Italian Communist Party during the Post-war period, as an example of the attempts carried out in Italy to overcome the established dichotomy between abstract and socialist realist art, and produce an alternative to conflicting post-war aesthetic discourses. Socialist realist artists stressed the need for unambiguous political contents and easy readability. In turn, the Forma 1 artists argued that abstract art meant a critique of pictorial representation that could contribute to a critique of bourgeois ideology, harmonising Marxism with advanced technical developments in the field of art. The PCI, for its part, pursued a policy of wide alliances of anti-fascist artists and intellectuals, which was increasingly difficult to hold in the climate of growing political and cultural confrontation in Italy that followed the WarEste artículo examina el papel del grupo de artistas abstractos Forma 1 en relación con la política cultural del Partido Comunista Italiano durante la posguerra, como ejemplo de los intentos de superar la dicotomía establecida en Italia entre arte abstracto y realismo socialista y producir una alternativa a la confrontación entre ambos discursos estéticos. Mientras los artistas realistas socialistas subrayaban la necesidad de expresar contenidos políticos explícitos con un estilo que asegurase su máxima legibilidad para una audiencia de masas, los artistas de Forma 1 argumentaban que la abstracción significaba una crítica de la representación pictórica que podía contribuir a la crítica de la ideología burguesa, armonizando de este modo el marxismo con los desarrollos artísticos más avanzados. El PCI, por su parte, basaba su política artística en amplias alianzas de artistas e intelectuales antifascistas, que cada vez eran más difíciles de mantener en el clima de creciente confrontación política y cultural que siguió a la II Guerra Mundia