Acknowledgments
A long list of people deserves credit for the completion of my Ph.D. Since a
careful and detailed appreciation of all the contributions by so many people would
double the size of this work, I will try to combine fairness and a reasonable length.
First of all, two people deserve the highest recognition. Eduardo and Luisa (or
Luisa and Eduardo) are a necessary condition for understanding why I made many
substantive decisions in my life. The conduct instilled by my parents since my early
youth marked my life and shaped it with a set of core principles: perseverance,
confidence, effort, responsibility and reasonability. Having grown regarding all the
sacrifices they made to fulfill our needs moved me for the rest of my life, and I feel
proud of trying to emulate their behavior. In spite of how much they suffered my
absence during these years, they have always been an invaluable source of support and
encouraged me never to give up. For all these reasons and many others, a big part of this
degree is theirs. De corazon, gracias viejos!!
My sisters Mariana and Ana have also been strong suppliers of support, both at
home and abroad. Whenever I needed a joke, a smile, a cheer or a thoughtful reflection,
they have always been there. I also thank their patience at listening to dozens of practice
talks, and also their tolerance over my unintended use of Spanglish in Buenos Aires. I
hope this degree can also work as a reference point for my colleague sister, whose
dissertation (I'm convinced) will surely go above this one in the short future.
The rest of my relatives do also occupy a placé in the acknowledgments for all
their encouragement and revealed excitement every time I was going to land in Buenos
Aires. My uncles, cousins and my family in law have been strongly supportive from the
first minute and spent hours of MSN Messenger trying to cheer me up when I felt sad
and lonely. My most sincere thanks for all!
At the side of the academic contributors, I have to thank first to my advisor,
Mark P. Jones. From the very beginning of my career, and even before knowing well
what the meaning of a Ph.D. was, Mark pushed me towards deep thought and hard
work and introduced me to a world of opportunities. His very early trust on me has
been an invaluable good, which forced me do everything with highest standards. Also,