Immigrants on the front line: Korean military brides in America, 1950-1996

This history of Korean military brides, women who married American soldiers and immigrated to the United States as their wives, argues that they have been immigrants on the front line for the past fifty years. They have been on the front line of Korea-U.S. cultural and social contact, as well as on the front line of post-World War II Korean migration to America. It explores the ways in which their experiences have intersected with both Korean history and American history in the second half of the twentieth century, and argues for the significance of this front line and the women who have lived there in understanding issues of transnational culture and community. Based primarily on oral history interviews and three years of fieldwork in Korean military bride communities, this study firmly places their history within a context of U.S. military domination over Korea and militarized prostitution, discussing its far-ranging effects on Korean society, Korean migration to America and marriages between Korean women and American soldiers. It argues that although many women have no personal connection to militarized prostitution, its very existence and the presumption that military brides are former military prostitutes deeply influence their life experiences. It also places their history within the context of Korean migration, highlighting the importance of women in that history by discussing the influence military brides have had on migration to the United States and the relationships between military brides and other Korean immigrants. Korean migration to America is thus placed within a framework of U.S.-Korea relations that focuses on the social impact of those relations, and the history of Korean military brides is presented as one key portion of the overall history of Korean migration. In telling this history of Korean military brides, the study also explores the dynamics of immigrant life within the domestic context of American culture and society and the international context of U.S.-Korea relations. It argues that the women negotiate complex racial and gender dynamics within both the home and society at large through a mix of resistance and compliance, as well as with the creation of their own community. Thus a story of culture and identity, a story of multiculturalism, resistance and the imagined community of national and transnational culture, is embedded throughout this study

Immigrants on the front line: Korean military brides in America, 1950-1996

This history of Korean military brides, women who married American soldiers and immigrated to the United States as their wives, argues that they have been immigrants on the front line for the past fifty years. They have been on the front line of Korea-U.S. cultural and social contact, as well as on the front line of post-World War II Korean migration to America. It explores the ways in which their experiences have intersected with both Korean history and American history in the second half of the twentieth century, and argues for the significance of this front line and the women who have lived there in understanding issues of transnational culture and community. Based primarily on oral history interviews and three years of fieldwork in Korean military bride communities, this study firmly places their history within a context of U.S. military domination over Korea and militarized prostitution, discussing its far-ranging effects on Korean society, Korean migration to America and marriages between Korean women and American soldiers. It argues that although many women have no personal connection to militarized prostitution, its very existence and the presumption that military brides are former military prostitutes deeply influence their life experiences. It also places their history within the context of Korean migration, highlighting the importance of women in that history by discussing the influence military brides have had on migration to the United States and the relationships between military brides and other Korean immigrants. Korean migration to America is thus placed within a framework of U.S.-Korea relations that focuses on the social impact of those relations, and the history of Korean military brides is presented as one key portion of the overall history of Korean migration. In telling this history of Korean military brides, the study also explores the dynamics of immigrant life within the domestic context of American culture and society and the international context of U.S.-Korea relations. It argues that the women negotiate complex racial and gender dynamics within both the home and society at large through a mix of resistance and compliance, as well as with the creation of their own community. Thus a story of culture and identity, a story of multiculturalism, resistance and the imagined community of national and transnational culture, is embedded throughout this study

Storytelling in the Global Midwest

This project brings together existing and emerging digital humanities projects at Northwestern University, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Ohio State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison that work with narratives, storytelling, and oral histories.Ope

Storytelling in the Global Midwest

This project brings together existing and emerging digital humanities projects at Northwestern University, The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Ohio State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison that work with narratives, storytelling, and oral histories.Ope

Synergistic anti-cancer effect of phenformin and oxamate.

Phenformin (phenethylbiguanide; an anti-diabetic agent) plus oxamate [lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) inhibitor] was tested as a potential anti-cancer therapeutic combination. In in vitro studies, phenformin was more potent than metformin, another biguanide, recently recognized to have anti-cancer effects, in promoting cancer cell death in the range of 25 times to 15 million times in various cancer cell lines. The anti-cancer effect of phenformin was related to complex I inhibition in the mitochondria and subsequent overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Addition of oxamate inhibited LDH activity and lactate production by cells, which is a major side effect of biguanides, and induced more rapid cancer cell death by decreasing ATP production and accelerating ROS production. Phenformin plus oxamate was more effective than phenformin combined with LDH knockdown. In a syngeneic mouse model, phenformin with oxamate increased tumor apoptosis, reduced tumor size and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography/computed tomography compared to control. We conclude that phenformin is more cytotoxic towards cancer cells than metformin. Furthermore, phenformin and oxamate have synergistic anti-cancer effects through simultaneous inhibition of complex I in the mitochondria and LDH in the cytosol, respectively

Model of phenformin and oxamate activity in tumor cells.

<p>We propose that the two drugs act synergistically by simultaneous inhibition of complex I and LDH. Phenformin increases ROS production by inhibiting mitochondria complex I. Inhibition of LDH by oxamate results in decreased ATP levels and elevated ROS production in the presence of phenformin because of increased flow of electrons through complex I.</p

Effects of phenformin and oxamate on tumors <i>in vivo.</i>

<p>(A) CT26 tumors were developed in syngeneic host mice. Three days after cell injection the mice were treated with oxamate, phenformin, or both daily for 21 days. Average tumor size for each group on day 21 of treatment is shown. Group PO tumors were significantly smaller compared to the other groups (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in tumor sizes between groups C, O, and P. (B, C) Tumor samples were processed to examine TUNEL positive cells as a measure of apoptosis. Cells which showed strong TUNEL positive were counted in three sections (304 µm×304 µm) in each mouse at 20X by confocal microscopy. The PO group showed significantly higher apoptosis than group C (apoptotic cells: 42.8±23.5 vs. 18.9±11.1) (P = 0.001). (D, E) Tumor bearing mice were subjected to PET/CT scanning to determine the effect of phenformin plus oxamate on glucose uptake. Group C showed significantly higher glucose uptake compared to the PO group (SUVavg: 2.0±0.6 vs. 1.6±0.3) (P = 0.033).</p

Cell death pathways induced by phenformin and oxamate.

<p>(A) CT26 cells were treated as indicated at the bottom of each lane. Experiments were performed after either 1 day (left) or 2 days (right) of treatment. Western blot analysis of cPARP in total cell extracts was used as an estimate of apoptotic cell death. Western blot analysis of nuclear AIF was used as an estimate of PARP-dependent cell death. β-actin and SP1 were used for protein loading controls. (B) AIF (red) was detected by immunofluorescence in cells that had been treated with the compounds indicated on the left and for the time indicated at the top. DAPI was use to stain nuclei (blue). (C) Cells were treated with phenformin or phenformin plus oxamate in the presence or absence of either a pan-caspase inhibitor or a PARP inhibitor. The percentage of dead cells was determined 24 hours after treatment in the P group and 12 hours after treatment in the PO group. C: control, P: phenformin 1 mM, PO: phenformin 1 mM+oxamate 40 mM. *: p<0.05 compared with the control group. †: P<0.05 compared with PO+PARP inhibitor.</p