This book seeks to address US public diplomacy strategies in Latin America, of particular importance during the 1960s when the leadership of the United States had been questioned after the Cuban revolution. The implicit mandate was "No more Cubas" so that what happened in the Caribbean country would not spread to other countries. The actions of the United States towards its southern neighbors in the first half of the twentieth century are quite well known. In contrast, Latin American scenarios of the Cultural Cold War have remained relatively less well known. The contributors and editors of this volume examine various facets and means of action used by the "U.S. machinery of persuasion" with the aim of disseminating the virtues of its socioeconomic and political model, including both public and private efforts, and the significance of nonstate actors. Subjects examined include the impact of the theory of modernization, anti-Americanism, the deployment of public diplomacy in the region, the activities of the Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Rockefeller Foundation, and the influence of these efforts on sporting, artistic, and musical events. This volume will be value to students and scholars alike interested in Latin American history and history of the Americas.

This book seeks to address US public diplomacy strategies in Latin America, of particular importance during the 1960s when the leadership of the United States had been questioned after the Cuban revolution. The implicit mandate was "No more Cubas" so that what happened in the Caribbean country would not spread to other countries. The actions of the United States towards its southern neighbors in the first half of the twentieth century are quite well known. In contrast, Latin American scenarios of the Cultural Cold War have remained relatively less well known. The contributors and editors of this volume examine various facets and means of action used by the "U.S. machinery of persuasion" with the aim of disseminating the virtues of its socioeconomic and political model, including both public and private efforts, and the significance of nonstate actors. Subjects examined include the impact of the theory of modernization, anti-Americanism, the deployment of public diplomacy in the region, the activities of the Congress for Cultural Freedom and the Rockefeller Foundation, and the influence of these efforts on sporting, artistic, and musical events. This volume will be value to students and scholars alike interested in Latin American history and history of the Americas.

This monograph is framed within the context of off-road mobile robotics. In particular, it discusses issues related to modelling, localization, and motion control of tracked mobile robots working in planar slippery conditions. Tracked locomotion constitutes a well-known solution for mobile platforms operating over diverse challenging terrains, for that reason, tracked robotics constitutes an important research field with many applications (e.g. agriculture, mining, search and rescue operations, military activities). The specific topics of this monograph are: historical perspective of tracked vehicles and tracked robots; trajectory-tracking model taking into account slip effect; visual-odometry-based localization strategies; and advanced slip-compensation motion controllers ensuring efficient real-time execution. Physical experiments with a real tracked robot are presented showing the better performance of the suggested novel approaches to known techniques.  Keywords: longitudinal slip, visual odometry, slip-compensation control, robust predictive control, trajectory tracking.  Related subjects: Robotics – Mechanical Engineering – Mechanics – Computer Science – Artificial Intelligence - Applications  

The aim of this book is to research comfort control inside buildings, and how this can be achieved through low energy consumption. It presents a comprehensive exploration of the design, development and implementation of several advanced control systems that maintain users' comfort (thermal and indoor air quality) whilst minimizing energy consumption. The book includes a detailed account of the latest cutting edge developments in this area, and presents several control systems based on Model Predictive Control approaches. Real-life examples are provided, and the book is supplemented by illustrations, tables, all of which facilitate understanding of the text. Energy consumption in buildings (residential and non-residential) represents almost the half of the total world energy consumption, and they are also responsible for approximately 35% of CO2 emissions. For these reasons, the reduction of energy consumption associated with the construction and use of buildings, and the increase of energy efficiency in their climatic refurbishment are frequently studied topics in academia and industry. As the productivity of users is directly related to their comfort, a middle ground needs to be found between comfort of users and energy efficiency. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to develop innovation and technology which can provide comfortable environments with minimum energy consumption. This book is intended for researchers interested in control engineering, energy and bioclimatic buildings, and for architects and process control engineers. It is also accessible to postgraduate students embarking on a career in this area, particularly those studying architecture.

Through its proven approach to language learning, EL MUNDO 21 HISPANO provides heritage speakers of Spanish with a wealth of both contextualized and purposeful content. The completely revised and redesigned second edition provides integrated coverage of grammar, vocabulary, media (audio and video), and culture as well as ample opportunities to review each lesson's theme. Throughout the book, readers are given multiple opportunities to learn about their own country of origin, or that of their ancestors, so that they begin to respect and take pride in their own cultural heritage. As readers discover the 21 countries that comprise the Spanish-speaking world, they will achieve a global understanding of the issues and challenges faced by the Spanish-speaking world today.