Connectivity and Synchronisation of Lake Ecosystems in Space and Time - CONNECT

Within the project CONNECT we are establishing a collaborative network between experts in remote sensing (RS) and freshwater ecology to study connectivity and coherence of lake ecosystems in a regional context at unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution. The overall aim is to understand the yet unexplained variation in phytoplankton dynamics among river-connected German lowland lakes, many of which are presently classified as in poor to bad ecological status. These lakes often face a high risk of eutrophication, mass development of harmful algal blooms, and high production of greenhouse gases. We suggest if measured on adequate temporal and spatial scales much of the among-lake variation in phytoplankton dynamics to be explained by the strength of hydrological lake-to-lake and lake-to-catchment connectivity as modulated by lake depth and mixing regime. This may have profound implications for the maximum intensity, spatial range and regional-scale magnitude of eutrophication impacts. We will use (i) a large-scale experimental manipulation of lake connectivity, and (ii) an observational field campaign contrasting deep and shallow river-connected lakes, to challenge this research frontier by an innovative combination of automatic high- frequency in situ measurements with state of the art near-to-far RS technology. Climate change is expected to alter the hydrology, and thus the connectivity of lake-river systems. However, it is also predicted to increase extreme weather events leading to an increased input of nutrients as well as colored dissolved organic matter (cDOM). By providing data of high spatio-temporal coverage, CONNECT will provide basic high quality data to better understand mechanisms of eutrophication at the local and regional scale. Our data, thus, provide a valuable basis to improve current management of such river-connected lake ecosystems under future climate scenarios. To reach this ambitious goal, the project will (i) build a cross- disciplinary collaborative network of excellence, (ii) develop a mechanistic understanding of lake ecosystem functioning at local and regional scale, (iii) improve future environmental monitoring and interpretation of available data from inland waters, and (iv) support more effective integrated management of river-connected lakes to mitigate eutrophication impacts

Arte e personalità (1929)

In this essay Sachs faces and tries to solve one of the most difficult problems of psychoanalysis of art. That is how it is possible to understand a series of artistic products in which the individual contribution seems minimal (or even nonexistent) through the Freudian instruments, developed and tested on the basis of an equation between art and personality, or on the assumption that the work of art is expression of the personality of the author. Sachs, quite rightly, refers not only to the mosaics of Ravenna, which seem to inspire this essay, but also to certain types of epic, the art of the primitive and so on. It is clear that for such works the classic interpretative framework, established for example in Freud’s The Relation of the Poet to Daydreaming, whose crucial moment is the daydream itself, is totally inadequate. In the Ravenna mosaics there isn’t any (apparent) satisfaction of desire or expression of a personality, as even the artists hide all traces and evidence of it, together with the cypher of their name. Sachs's answer, as we will see, aims to integrate the original Freudian formulation with other elements, derived almost exclusively from the most recent works by Freud, in particular Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego and The Joke and its Relation to the Unconscious. In the end Sachs restores the traditional framework, although expanding it to the maximum: the intention of the “impersonal artist” is to establish a lasting peace with the superego and also in his work we find a satisfaction of desire related to drives connected to a pregenital phase - but at this point he does not go beyond the dimension of the hypothesis.  Nel saggio che segue Sachs affronta e tenta di risolvere uno dei più difficili problemi della psicoanalisi dell’arte. Come sia cioè possibile interpretare, con gli strumenti freudiani, elaborati e sperimentati sulla base di un’equazione arte-personalità, o almeno sull’ipotesi che fa dell’opera l’espressione della personalità dell’autore, una serie di prodotti artistici in cui l’apporto individuale pare minimo se non proprio inesistente – e Sachs, molto opportunamente, fa riferimento, oltre che ai mosaici ravennati, da cui il saggio pare ispirato, a certe forme dell’epica, all’arte dei primitivi ecc. È evidente infatti che per tali opere il quadro interpretativo classico, quello fissato dal Poeta e la fantasia per esempio, e bloccato sul momento cruciale del sogno ad occhi aperti, risulta del tutto insufficiente. Nei mosaici ravennati non si ha alcuna (apparente) soddisfazione di desiderio né l’espressione di una personalità, che anzi di essa gli artisti cancellano ogni traccia e indizio, insieme alla cifra del loro nome. La risposta di Sachs, come si vedrà, consiste nell’integrare l’originaria impostazione freudiana con altri elementi, desunti quasi unicamente dalle opere più recenti dello stesso Freud, in particolare da Psicologia delle masse, nonché dal Motto di spirito, e finisce quindi per restaurare il quadro classico, pur dilatandolo al massimo: l’intenzione dell’artista “impersonale” si rivela quella di instaurare una pace durevole con il Super-io, anche nella sua opera si attua una soddisfazione di desiderio in rapporto a pulsioni connesse