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Capitalist Expansion in Hawaii
Full text linkHawaiians have been exploited by the United States and its capitalist model of society at least since the earlier 20th century. But, to what extent and in what ways do Hawaiians today embrace or reject the continuing expansion of American capitalism and its processes of alienation, gentrification and exploitation? Do they believe that the latter are symptoms of capitalism or do they see capitalism a positive force disconnected to the exploitation of the land and its people? Hawaiians continue to endure economic displacement, living in a socially ruinous and only semi-democratic capitalist society. Productive activity in Hawaii is centered on surplus value and the full commercialization of life. Hawaiians are attempting to resist this situation by creating schools that teach life as it is imagined before the US occupation, presenting the narrative that there can be a form of life that isn’t American capitalism. For those involved in this Hawaiian resistance, capitalism is rejected as a source of and fuel for colonialism and economic exploitation. The counter-resistance movement, however, claims that without the tourist industry and broader capitalist expansion, Hawaiians would not have even the minimal income that they do. In this research, I analyze this debate and demonstrate how the latter position is an expression of capitalist ideology against the forces of resistance of the former.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1001/thumbnail.jp
Reed This
Full text linkLanguage is the medium through which humans communicate. From the beginning of recorded history, humans have been devising visual symbols to register this communication. These symbols and the shapes they take have a close relationship to the culture they are developed by and for. When language takes a visual form it is not only a recording of speech but also a recording of motion and cultural ideals. Through an understanding of the material circumstances involved in the development of a script, we can dissect the expressive range of the shapes made with these materials. From here, we understand scripts and letterforms not as random or predetermined shapes but as points of relevant cultural and individual decisions. The reed pen, use for thousands of years throughout the Mediterranean, influenced the development of many widespread scripts. Using this pen as the major material circumstance for the Egyptian, Greek, and Latin scripts, a distinction can be made between written, drawn, and inscribed text. These material differences are naturally tied to particular movements in the recording process. These differences allow for distinct expressive ranges that can be used to communicate various cultural ideas. This cultural communication goes beyond the linguistic recording. By understanding the reed pen as it is connected to Egyptian, Greek, and Roman writing and culture, a method of analysis is created with which any script or typeface may be seen as a product of material, cultural, and historical circumstances.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1008/thumbnail.jp
Effect of Bak and Bax on Oxidative Stress in A549 Cells
Full text linkCancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Thus, understanding the mechanisms that drive cancer progression is urgent and vital. Two common characteristics of many cancers are the abnormal expression of the BCL-2 pathway (involved in regulating apoptosis) and elevated levels of oxidative stress. Despite new insights into the role of BCL-2 proteins within and beyond the intrinsic apoptosis pathway, much remains to be elucidated about the function of specific BCL-2 proteins, such as Bak and Bax. Bak and Bax are two proteins within the BCL-2 family of proteins that play a role in mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP), leading to the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria. The cytochrome c then activates a cascade of caspases 3 and 9 that lead to the activation of proteases. These proteases break down cellular structures leading to cell death. One thing that is unknown about Bak and Bax is their contribution to oxidative stress within cancer cells treated with chemotherapy. One such agent is the anti-cancer drug Trichostatin A (TSA). TSA is a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi). TSA arrests cancer cells in the G2/M phase in a mitochondrial derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) dependent matter leading to apoptosis. Testing the effect of Bak and Bax on oxidative stress in the presence of TSA can shed new light on the functions of Bak and Bax. This can lead to a new understanding of how Bak and Bax interact with different parts of the cell and could lead to a new mechanistic model for Bak and Bax, which can be tested in future projects, including therapeutic design.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2022/1009/thumbnail.jp