Concentration effects of 1,2-dichlorobenzene on soil microbiology

The effect of increasing concentrations (65, 130, 325, 1,300, and 3,250 μg/g soil dry weight) of 1,2-dichlorobenzene (1,2-DCB) on the microbial biomass, metabolic potential, and diversity of culturable bacteria was investigated using soil microcosms. All doses caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in viable hyphal fungal length. Bacteria were more tolerant, only direct total counts in soils exposed to 3,250 μg/g were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than untreated controls, and estimates of culturable bacteria showed no response. Pseudomonads counts were stimulated by 1,2-DCB concentrations of up to 325 μg/g; above this level counts were similar to controls. Fatty acid methyl ester analysis of taxonomic bacterial composition reflected the differential response of specific genera to increasing 1,2-DCB concentrations, especially the tolerance of Bacillus to the highest concentrations. The shifts in community composition were reflected in estimates of metabolic potential assessed by carbon assimilation (Biolog) ability. Significantly fewer (p < 0.05) carbon sources were utilized by communities exposed to 1,2-DCB concentrations greater than 130 μg/g (<64 carbon sources utilized) than control soils (83); the ability to assimilate individual carbohydrates sources was especially compromised. The results of this study demonstrate that community diversity and metabolic potential can be used as effective bioindicators of pollution stress and concentration effects.

Es teatro vuestra oración: Santa Teresa’s performed confession in Juan Mayorga’s La lengua en pedazos

Juan Mayorga’s La Lengua en Pedazos (2010) strikes at the heart of the compositional circumstances of St Teresa's Libro de la Vida– staging, and arguably heightening the origins of her rhetorical strategies, the sense of awareness of readership and potential censure we encounter within the Libro de la Vida. His inquisitor refuses to be complicit in the tacit agreement that the word spoken in the theatrical space can conjure new realities –insistent on underscoring the textual origin of the visions painfully and partially offered up for his and our scrutiny. I will suggest that the persistent undertow towards a meta-commentary on the unmaking and remaking of the autobiographical text creates an unresolved tension between Teresa’s eloquent ability to take the spectator to a place beyond language, and our awareness that we are in the presence of a consummate performer, the textual source for the script itself produced with a supreme awareness of audience scrutiny. The play reflects ongoing lines of inquiry in our evolving understanding of the cultural production of Teresa and other holy women of the Early Modern period.