The Theatre of the Absurd and Psychoanalysis: E. Albee’s The Zoo Story as a Study Case.

This article aims at showing the link between Psychology/ Psychoanalysis and The Theatre of the Absurd. An attempt is made to study the postmodern anti-hero in Edward Albee’s absurd tragedy in order to show the way new thoughts, beliefs, and morals are oppressed by the old certainties of the mainstream cultural discourse. The study puts emphasis on one major psychological aspect-for instance the transference process- coined by Julia Kristeva to demonstrate the psychical obstacles, traumas, fears, and desires of the self in his never completed identity stability. This transference process should move through a three-dimensional temporality to ensure a well-balanced identity of the self. The first time is called the linear time; the second is the zero time, and the third is the resurrection time. In order to conduct this issue, I have proposed to analyze Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story as a sample of the postmodern struggle for achieving identity stability. As a conclusion, I have reiterated that unlike any other theatre of any other previous age, The Theatre of the Absurd-with its complex language and its literary devices- is much closer to Psychoanalysis and much concerned with an individual’s inner struggle that seeks to secure a position of respect and dignity within the symbolic order of the world.     

Impacts of G x E x M on Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Wheat and Future Prospects

Globally it has been estimated that only one third of applied N is recovered in the harvested component of grain crops (Raun and Johnson 1999). This represents an incredible waste of resource and the overuse has detrimental environmental and economic consequences. There is substantial variation in nutrient use efficiency (NUE) from region to region, between crops and in different cropping systems. As a consequence, both local and crop specific solutions will be required for NUE improvement at local as well as at national and international levels. Strategies to improve NUE will involve improvements to germplasm and optimized agronomy adapted to climate and location. Essential to effective solutions will be an understanding of genetics (G), environment (E) and management (M) and their interactions (G x E x M). To implement appropriate solutions will require agronomic management, attention to environmental factors and improved varieties, optimized for current and future climate scenarios. As NUE is a complex trait with many contributing processes, identifying the correct trait for improvement is not trivial. Key processes include nitrogen capture (uptake efficiency), utilization efficiency (closely related to yield), partitioning (harvest index: biochemical and organ-specific) and trade-offs between yield and quality aspects (grain nitrogen content), as well as interactions with capture and utilization of other nutrients. A long-term experiment, the Broadbalk experiment at Rothamsted, highlights many factors influencing yield and nitrogen utilization in wheat over the last 175 years, particularly management and yearly variation. A more recent series of trials conducted over the past 16 years has focused on separating the key physiological sub-traits of NUE, highlighting both genetic and seasonal variation. This perspective describes these two contrasting studies which indicate G x E x M interactions involved in nitrogen utilization and summarizes prospects for the future including the utilization of high throughput phenotyping technology

Fast algorithm for border bases of Artinian Gorenstein algebras

Given a multi-index sequence $$\sigma$$, we present a new efficient algorithm to compute generators of the linear recurrence relations between the terms of $$\sigma$$. We transform this problem into an algebraic one, by identifying multi-index sequences, multivariate formal power series and linear functionals on the ring of multivariate polynomials. In this setting, the recurrence relations are the elements of the kerne l$I$\sigma of the Hankel operator $H$\sigma associated to $$\sigma$$. We describe the correspondence between multi-index sequences with a Hankel operator of finite rank and Artinian Gorenstein Algebras. We show how the algebraic structure of the Artinian Gorenstein algebra $A$\sigma$$associated to the sequence$$\sigma yields the structure of the terms $\sigma\alpha$for all$$\alpha$ $\in$ N n$. This structure is explicitly given by a border basis of$A$\sigma$$, which is presented as a quotient of the polynomial ring$K[x 1 ,. .. , xn$] by the kernel$I$\sigma$$of the Hankel operator$H$\sigma$$. The algorithm provides generators of$I$\sigma$$constituting a border basis, pairwise orthogonal bases of$A$\sigma$$ and the tables of multiplication by the variables in these bases. It is an extension of Berlekamp-Massey-Sakata (BMS) algorithm, with improved complexity bounds. We present applications of the method to different problems such as the decomposition of functions into weighted sums of exponential functions, sparse interpolation, fast decoding of algebraic codes, computing the vanishing ideal of points, and tensor decomposition. Some benchmarks illustrate the practical behavior of the algorithm

On Embeddability of Buses in Point Sets

Set membership of points in the plane can be visualized by connecting corresponding points via graphical features, like paths, trees, polygons, ellipses. In this paper we study the \emph{bus embeddability problem} (BEP): given a set of colored points we ask whether there exists a planar realization with one horizontal straight-line segment per color, called bus, such that all points with the same color are connected with vertical line segments to their bus. We present an ILP and an FPT algorithm for the general problem. For restricted versions of this problem, such as when the relative order of buses is predefined, or when a bus must be placed above all its points, we provide efficient algorithms. We show that another restricted version of the problem can be solved using 2-stack pushall sorting. On the negative side we prove the NP-completeness of a special case of BEP.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, conference version at GD 201

Zoneamento das areas em processo de degradacao ambiental no tropico Semi-Arido do Brasil.

Neste estudo buscou-se aportar uma parcela de conhecimento sobre as areas que se encontram em processo de degradacao ambiental no Nordeste semi-arido, evidenciando uma escala de degradacao que vai desde as areas com baixo nivel de degradacao as areas com nivel severo, com enfase a porcao mais seca, por esta se trata do ambiente mais fragil. Este estudo visa comtribuir com os setores de planejamento nos niveis regional, estadual e municipal, como uma nova forma de planejamento estrategico para regiao. Este estudo fundamenta-se na aplicabilidade do Zoneamento Agroecologico do Nordeste. Trabalho realizado pela EMBRAPA, atraves do CPATSA - Centro de Pesquisa Agropecuaria do Tropico Semi-Arido e da frente de solos Solos Nordeste CNPS.bitstream/item/197281/1/Zoneamento-das-Areas-em-Processo-de-Degradacao-Ambiental-tropico-Semi-Arido-Brasil.pd

Genetic diversity in nitrogen fertilizer responses and N gas emission in modern wheat

Crops assimilate nitrogen (N) as ammonium via the glutamine synthetase/glutamate synthase (GS/GOGAT) pathway which is of central importance for N uptake and potentially represents a bottle neck for N fertilizer-use efficiency. The aim of this study was to assess whether genetic diversity for N-assimilation capacity exists in wheat and could be exploited for breeding. Wheat plants rapidly, within 6h, responded to N application with an increase in GS activity. This was not accompanied by an increase in GS gene transcript abundance and a comparison of GS1 and GS2 protein models revealed a high degree of sequence conservation. N responsiveness amongst ten wheat varieties was assessed by measuring GS enzyme activity, leaf tissue ammonium, and by a leaf-disc assay as a proxy for apoplastic ammonia. Based on these data, a high-GS group showing an overall positive response to N could be distinguished from an inefficient, low-GS group. Subsequent gas emission measurements confirmed plant ammonia emission in response to N application and also revealed emission of N2O when N was provided as nitrate, which is in agreement with our current understanding that N2O is a by-product of nitrate reduction. Taken together, the data suggest that there is scope for improving N assimilation capacity in wheat and that further investigations into the regulation and role of GS-GOGAT in NH3 emission is justified. Likewise, emission of the climate gas N2O needs to be reduced, and future research should focus on assessing the nitrate reductase pathway in wheat and explore fertilizer management options

Nutrient dynamics in wheat

Nutrients are taken up by plant roots in a regulated manner and are then distributed around the plant according to demand. As the plant develops and matures, requirements will change and new sinks for nutrients will replace old. In the case of wheat, the developing grain replaces the canopy as the major sink. Hence, nutrient allocation is a dynamic phenomenon, achieved by nutrient recycling and linked to processes of development including senescence. The effectiveness of these processes strongly influences performance and quality, particularly grain protein and mineral nutrient content, which are important health and quality attributes of the seeds. The effective reuse of nutrients is an essential contributor to nutrient use efficiency, an important sustainability trait. Movement of nutrients is achieved by multiple large gene families encoding for transporters, each family usually specific for transporting individual substrates, but often with family members showing varied distribution and regulatory patterns. There are observed interactions between nutrients resulting in coordinated accumulation within the plant. Cycling of nutrients refers to the process of internal movements of nutrients between cells, compartments, and organs or their reuse in metabolic processes. It may also refer to processes occurring within the ecosystem including cycling in the soil and between soil and crop. In this article, emphasis is placed on initial uptake and use of nutrients by the wheat plant and the recycling and partitioning of these nutrients to grain tissues

Visual Encoding of Dissimilarity Data via Topology-Preserving Map Deformation

We present an efficient technique for topology-preserving map deformation and apply it to the visualization of dissimilarity data in a geographic context. Map deformation techniques such as value-by-area cartograms are well studied. However, using deformation to highlight (dis)similarity between locations on a map in terms of their underlying data attributes is novel. We also identify an alternative way to represent dissimilarities on a map through the use of visual overlays. These overlays are complementary to deformation techniques and enable us to assess the quality of the deformation as well as to explore the design space of blending the two methods. Finally, we demonstrate how these techniques can be useful in several—quite different—applied contexts: travel-time visualization, social demographics research and understanding energy flowing in a wide-area power-grid