Aetherius: Real-Time Volumetric Cloud Generation Tool for Unity

This thesis describes the development of Aetherius, a Unity tool which can generate and visualize virtually endless and unique cloudscapes in real-time dynamically; The resulting tool can be used in videogames to easily and quickly create immersive and dynamic skies without wasting resources in the development of a dedicated system. Developing a volumetric cloud system is complicated and especially small studios do not have the resources to create such systems for their skies. The objective of this project is to provide an accessible and easy to use alternative for small studios and indie developers to turn static, boring and featureless skies into high quality ones. In this document the problems encountered during the development of the tool and the techniques used to generate, render and optimize cloudscapes are described; to test the tool’s usefulness this project includes the creation of a small demo application

Soft Power, Modernization, and Security: US Educational Foreign Policy Toward Authoritarian Spain in the Cold War

[EN] Cold War strategic priorities led the United States to establish an enduring military alliance with General Francisco Franco's dictatorship in Spain between 1953 and 1975. This article examines the educational diplomacy carried out by the US government during the 1960s and early 1970s to foster Spain's stable modernization through the training of national development elites and the dissemination of US educational ideas. The work surveys US educational, informational, and cultural programs aimed at shaping an educational framework conducive to the expansion and legitimization of a US-oriented socioeconomic liberalization in Spain. On the one hand, this US soft power strategy sought to attract those groups who could play an important role in the capitalist modernization of the educational and economic structures of the Iberian country. On the other hand, it sought to reduce the identification of the United States with Franco's dictatorship and to link the image of the American superpower to the hopes for progress of the Spanish people. All of this was pursued in order to preserve US defensive interests in Spain. The piece also discusses US assistance to the crucial 1970 Spanish General Education Law, which allows us to explore how the US ideology of development and education was received by Spanish educational audiences. Thus, by delving deeper into the intersection between cultural diplomacy, international development, and the history of education, we aim to contribute to the integration of education into the histories of modernization and to deepen our understanding of US educational foreign policy in the Cold War.This article was supported by the research project "Modernization, Development and Democratization. The Role of Western European Powers and International Organizations in Political and Social Change in Spain" (PGC2018-097159-B-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.Martín-García, OJ. (2023). Soft Power, Modernization, and Security: US Educational Foreign Policy Toward Authoritarian Spain in the Cold War. History of Education Quarterly. 63(2):198-220. https://doi.org/10.1017/heq.2023.519822063

The End of the Carnival: The United Kingdom and the Carnation Revolution in Portugal

[EN] This article examines the role that Harold Wilson's Labour government played in the democratisation process begun in Portugal after the military coup of 25 April 1974. As we shall see, British policy towards regime change in the Iberian country is a relevant subject of study for various reasons. However, little attention has been paid by historians to the British government's policy during what is known as the Carnation Revolution. To help remedy this oversight, this article analyses the economic, political and diplomatic measures employed by the British Foreign Office to establish parliamentary democracy in Portugal, which brought an end to the final chapter in the 'carnival' of revolutions that had spread throughout Europe over the preceding two decades.Martín-García, OJ. (2015). The End of the Carnival: The United Kingdom and the Carnation Revolution in Portugal. Contemporary British History. 29(2):199-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/13619462.2014.97039219922129

Awkward Alliances. Modernisation Theory and United States Foreign Policy Towards Franco's Spain in the 1960s

[EN] A body of literature on Cold War international history has studied the influence of modernisation theory in United States foreign relations with its authoritarian allies in the Third World during the 1950s and 1960s. However, this area of research has been much less interested in those Washington-friendlydictatorships that, as in the case of Francisco Franco¿s regime in Spain, do not fit into the Third World analytical framework. This analysis assesses the contribution of modernisations doctrine principles to American foreign policy towards the Spanish dictatorship in the 1960s and considers how this theory provided the conceptual tools to justify the American collaboration with the Franco regime in the name of development, security, and long-term democratisation. It examines the role of modernisation as, on one hand, an interpretative framework for Spain¿s economic and social evolution during that decade and, on the other, an instument of political legitimisation serving American strategic interests. In this way, this work sheds light on the ideological and intellectual underpinnings of the American alliance with the Franco dictatorship in a period of great challenges and transformations in Spain.This article has been carried out in the framework of the research project 'Modernization, Development and Democratisation. The Tole of Western Powers and International Organisations in Political and Social Change in Spain', funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref. PGC2018-097159-B-I00).Martín-García, OJ. (2021). Awkward Alliances. Modernisation Theory and United States Foreign Policy Towards Franco's Spain in the 1960s. Diplomacy & Statecraft. 32(4):720-742. https://doi.org/10.1080/09592296.2021.199671472074232

Nudging the Ship in the Right Direction: United States Public Diplomacy and Development in 1960s Spain

[EN] In the early 1960s, Franco¿s Spain began to experience a rapid process of economic growth, which was encouraged by US diplomacy as it would underpin the stability required by the US defence program in the country. However, American officials felt that such an accelerated economic development should be orderly since chaotic modernization might spark social turmoil that would compromise the US geo-strategic objectives in Spain. The article unravels the US public diplomacy programs to steer Spanish society along with a stable development path based on US-inspired capitalism and alliance with the Western bloc. It examines the cultural, educational, and informational means employed by the US government in a bid to channel the socio-economic upheaval occurring in Spain in a direction that was compatible with US security interests. We also argue that modernization theory provided the ideological and intellectual framework for US persuasion efforts to harness Spain¿s socio-economic ferment. Nevertheless, the `development model¿ promoted by the dictatorship generated inequalities and conflicts that fuelled anti-American sentiment among sectors of Spanish society called to play a role in the future post-Franco transition.This article was supported by the research project Modernization, Development and Democratization. The Role of Western European Powers and International Organizations in Political and Social Change in Spain' (PGC2018-097159-B-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.Martín-García, OJ. (2023). Nudging the Ship in the Right Direction: United States Public Diplomacy and Development in 1960s Spain. Journal of Contemporary History. 58(3):531-553. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022009423116660353155358

'The Most Developed of the Underdeveloped Nations'. US Foreign Policy and Student Unrest in 1960s Spain

[EN] Throughout the 1960s, Spanish students staged a strong opposition against the dictatorship of General Franco. Also during this decade, the U.S. Foreign Service in Spain began to pay great attention to these students for two key reasons. On the one hand, student protests posed a threat to US defensive interests in a country with a high strategic value during the Cold War in southern Europe. However, on the other hand, campus agitation could lead to positive effects for the United States if students' expectations of social change were channeled toward national development in a context of order and political stability. So, how could student activism and idealism be directed toward a controlled modernization of Spain? This article attempts to answer this question by studying American programs aimed at disseminating the principles of modernization theory in Spanish universities as an instrument to (1) influence students' political and intellectual socialization and to immunize them against radical ideologies and (2) channel students' aspirations towards constructive and responsible reform of their country's socioeconomic structures.This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain under research project `La modernización del sistema educativo y científico español en su dimensión internacional (1953-1986). (HAR2014-58685-R).Martín-García, OJ. (2019). 'The Most Developed of the Underdeveloped Nations'. US Foreign Policy and Student Unrest in 1960s Spain. The International History Review. 41(3):539-558. https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.2018.144699953955841

Aprendizaje significativo de las tablas de multiplicar

Se presenta un estudio de caso donde se explora y describe lo que sucede en un grupo de segundo grado de primaria cuando se aplica una propuesta didáctica que combina de manera no contradictoria una situación didáctica de Brousseau con una didáctica de aprendizaje por descubrimiento. Un primer objetivo del estudio fue que los niños aprendieran de manera significativa las “tablas de multiplicar”, un segundo objetivo, fue explorar la conjetura de que nuestra propuesta resulta operativamente más viable en el sentido de que requiere menos tiempo para su tratamiento didáctico; propicia más la intervención del profesor respetando la actividad del alumno, y simplifica el proceso de evaluación. La metodología empleada utiliza tres instrumentos de generación de datos: 1) Actividades diseñadas para la implementación de la propuesta, 2) Filmación de videos y 3) Entrevistas a niños, maestros y padres de familia. Los referentes teóricos están constituidos por aportes de J. Piaget, G. Brousseau y D.P. Ausubel. Las conclusiones del estudio se presentan más adelante

Bending mode fluctuations and structural stability of graphene nanoribbons

We analyze the thermal fluctuations of a narrow graphene nanoribbon. Using a continuum membranelike model in the harmonic approximation, we study the height-height correlation functions and the destabilization modes corresponding to two different boundary conditions: fixed and free edges. For the first case, the thermal spectrum has a gap and the correlations along the ribbon decay exponentially. Thermal fluctuations produce only local perturbations of the flat situation. However, the long range crystalline order is not distorted. For free edges the situation changes as thermal excitations are gapless. The low energy spectrum decouples into a bulk and an edge excitation. The bulk excitation tends to destabilize the crystalline order producing a homogeneous rippling. Furthermore, we can relate the edge mode to a precluding perturbation leading to scrolled edges, as seen in suspended graphene samples. We also analyze the implications of our results in the thermal conductivity of graphene nanoribbons.Fil: Scuracchio, Pablo Martín. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario (i); ArgentinaFil: Dobry, Ariel Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Física de Rosario (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Ingeniería y Agrimensura; Argentin