The motivational mind of Magneto: towards Jungian discourse analysis

Discourse analysis has been a prominent area of psychology for 25 years. It traditionally focuses on society’s influence on the world through the rhetoric (implicit persuasion) and symbolism, dealing with important psychological areas such as ‘identity’ and many social justice issues. Graphic novel analyses is also increasingly more common. Social justice issues are especially prominent in analysis: particularly in X- Men, through metaphors of ‘oppression’, ‘sexuality and identity’ (Zullo, 2015). Psycho-discursive analysis focuses on the 'subject' neglected in traditional discourse analysis, which has been provided recent attention. A Freudian and Jungian psycho-discursive analysis of DC comic character, 'Batman' has been studied regarding motivation and psyche (Langley, 2012). However, ‘reflexivity’ in Freudian psycho-discursive analysis is a known problem that previous psycho-discursive analyses have been unable to tackle effectively. Therefore, this study proposed a step towards Jungian psycho-discursive analysis adapted from personality and motivation theory, ‘Psychological Types’ (1971) and theoretical expansions by Myers and Myers (1995). It was applied to fictional representations of psyche within the X-Men comic character, ‘Magneto’, due to fictional inspirations which commonly form Jungian theory. Magneto was interpreted as the type, ‘INTJ’, and future implications of further applications to psyche are discussed

Salinity tolerance of three competing rangeland plant species: Studies in hydroponic culture

Halogeton (Halogeton glomeratus) is an invasive species that displaces Gardner\u27s saltbush (Atriplex gardneri) on saline rangelands, whereas, forage kochia (Bassia prostrata) potentially can rehabilitate these ecosystems. Salinity tolerance has been hypothesized as the predominant factor affecting frequency of these species. This study compared relative salinity tolerance of these species, and tall wheatgrass (Thinopyrum ponticum) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Plants were evaluated in hydroponics, eliminating the confounding effects of drought, for 28 days at 0, 150, 200, 300, 400, 600, and 800 mmol/L NaCl. Survival, growth, and ion accumulation were determined. Alfalfa and tall wheatgrass shoot mass were reduced to 32% of the control at 150 mmol/L. Forage kochia survived to 600 mmol/L, but mass was reduced at all salinity levels. Halogeton and Gardner\u27s saltbush increased or maintained shoot mass up to 400 mmol/L. Furthermore, both actively accumulated sodium in shoots, indicating that Na+ was the principle ion in osmotic adjustment, whereas, forage kochia exhibited passive (linear) Na+ accumulation as salinity increased. This study confirmed the halophytic nature of these three species, but, moreover, discovered that Gardner\u27s saltbush was as saline tolerant as halogeton, whereas, forage kochia was less tolerant. Therefore, factors other than salinity tolerance drive these species’ differential persistence in saline-desert ecosystems

Phenilpropanoate identification in young wheat plants by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry: monomeric and dimeric compounds

Metabolomic approach has become a very important tool for determining the actual gene expression and protein activity. Metabolism via the shikimate pathway in plant gives rise to a large number of aromatic compounds, including p-hydroxycinnamates, which are mainly associated with their cell walls in complex structures, ester-linked to heteroxilans. In this work, ferulate dehydrodimers and related compounds were extracted from the cellwalls of young lyophilized wheat plants with 2mol/l NaOH for 4 h at 25 ?C under N2. After solid phase extraction, samples were analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-linear ion trap tandem mass spectrometry with the electrospray source operating in negative mode. Nineteen dehydrodiferulates, 2 hydrate forms, 3 oxo- forms, 2 decarboxilated forms and 1 dihydroxysinapate, were identified bymass spectra interpretation. In addition, five mixed dehydrodimers of ferulic-sinapic, ferulic-coumaric and ferulicsyringic acids were also identified. Reproducibility of peak areas was usually better than 10% but some minor components which may be procedural artefacts, although relativelymild conditions were used. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd