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

Regularity theory and high order numerical methods for the (1D)-fractional Laplacian

This paper presents regularity results and associated high-order numerical methods for one-dimensional Fractional-Laplacian boundary-value problems. On the basis of a factorization of solutions as a product of a certain edge-singular weight $w$ times a ``regular´´ unknown, a characterization of the regularity of solutions is obtained in terms of the smoothness of the corresponding right-hand sides. In particular, for right-hand sides which are analytic in a Bernstein Ellipse, analyticity in the same Bernstein Ellipse is obtained for the ``regular´´ unknown. Moreover, a sharp Sobolev regularity result is presented which completely characterizes the co-domain of the Fractional-Laplacian operator in terms of certain weighted Sobolev spaces introduced in (Babu{s}ka and Guo, SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 2002). The present theoretical treatment relies on a full eigendecomposition for a certain weighted integral operator in terms of the Gegenbauer polynomial basis. The proposed Gegenbauer-based Nystr"om numerical method for the Fractional-Laplacian Dirichlet problem, further, is significantly more accurate and efficient than other algorithms considered previously. The sharp error estimates presented in this paper indicate that the proposed algorithm is spectrally accurate, with convergence rates that only depend on the smoothness of the right-hand side. In particular, convergence is exponentially fast (resp. faster than any power of the mesh-size) for analytic (resp. infinitely smooth) right-hand sides. The properties of the algorithm are illustrated with a variety of numerical results.Fil: Acosta, Gabriel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Borthagaray, Juan Pablo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Matemática; ArgentinaFil: Bruno, Oscar Ricardo. California Institute Of Technology; Estados UnidosFil: Maas, Martín Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciónes Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio. - Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Astronomía y Física del Espacio; Argentin

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

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

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

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

Egg clutch structure of Rhinella rumbolli (Anura: Bufonidae), a toad from the Yungas of Argentina, with a review of the reproductive diversity in Rhinella

Rhinella rumbolli is a poorly known, medium-sized toad endemic to the Yungas of Argentina. Recent fieldwork allowed observing its peculiar oviposition mode, which is described in this paper. A review of literature and examination of museum material indicate that oviposition in Rhinella can vary from strings of eggs in a gelatinous tube (uniserial, biserial or multiserial) to open clumps. Clutch features in Rhinella provide informative variation for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies and help to understand the relationships in this large genus of true toads.Fil: Pereyra, Martín Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Vera Candioti, María Florencia. Fundación Miguel Lillo. Dirección de Zoología. Instituto de Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Faivovich, Julián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Baldo, Juan Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Posadas; Argentin