Luta: The Story of the Movimento dos Atingidos Por Barragens in the Valley of Jaguaribe

This is a paper about communities of share-croppers, landless families, and often-illiterate subsidence farmers who organized themselves to fight for their human rights after they were displaced by a dam. By organizing themselves with the national Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens, they were able overcome their marginalized position and demand changes that would protect their culture, protect their community, give them better access to education, access to work, and access to safe drinking water. What’s more, they are fighting for their right to participate in politics and in decisions about their own lives, and by promoting participation, promoting education, and creating public debates, they are making their society more democratic, and creating new types of citizens. Their movement is socialist, but don’t let that word invoke images military marches or authoritarian leaders. They desire equality and human rights for the marginalized, and an end to the outrageous inequalities of their country (and the world). Their means for achieving this are group discussions, literacy classes, and promotion of the right to own farmable land and have good schools through marches or peaceful occupations (pretty much like sit-ins, if the word occupation makes you squirm). Their movement recognizes that they aren’t just affected by dams, they are affected by all of the structures of marginalization that operate in their society and in the world. Because of this, they want to continue growing and spreading, leaving in their wake communities who are empowered to struggle for their rights

Girl on the loose

Girl on the Loose is a collection of personal essays focusing on the author\u27s acts of searching. These searches are sometimes physical undertakings such as the recreational activity Geocaching. Other times they are metaphorical as with the author\u27s search for answers to questions concerning family lineage. Set in the Pacific Northwest, the essays reflect the author\u27s cultural background as seen in an on the history of cultural institution of craft brewing. The essays explore themes of searching for identity, as in the essay Do They Still Call in Cyberspace? in which the author works through the created online persona she developed as a young child. This theme of identity then connects to essays concerning the author\u27s family, and especially how the women in her family develop identities and cope with living in a society that does not allow them to fully explore their own searching endeavors

Greatness from Small Beginnings: Amy Hennig and the Women of the Uncharted Series

“Greatness from Small Beginnings: Amy Hennig and the Women of the Uncharted series,” Rachel Wood, Faculty Mentor Andy Black, English & Philosophy Department Amy Hennig, creative director and writer for the Uncharted video game series, has had a great impact on the world of interactive storytelling, namely with her portrayal of female characters in the action-adventure genre. During her time at Sony-owned developer Naughty Dog, Hennig encouraged gamers and developers alike to redefine the genre through in-depth storytelling and well-rounded characters. This paper explored how these female characters, while unique in their backgrounds and roles within the games’ plots, represent well-developed and unique character archetypes within the realm of video games, a rare trait for female characters the action genre before the first game’s release in 2007. These characters are also an example of how video games can be approached and critiqued from a more literary standpoint. Hennig’s writing style and literary background enable an analysis of her characters as mirrors, foils, and antagonists, all while still forming characters that have personal motivations other than to service the series’ rugged protagonist. Likewise, this paper, through use of feminist criticism, analyzed the ways in which Hennig’s growth as a female game writer mirrors the plight of the nineteenth century female novelist, especially in relation to writing for a particular audience. No longer filled with oversexualized action heroines or merely damsels in distress, the Uncharted universe brings the action-adventure genre strong women, directed by a woman, yet applauded by gamers and critics alike

The effects of JNK isoform knockdown on cell growth and death in HUVECs and MCF-7 cells

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are two of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. The JNK pathway has been shown to play key roles at various stages of both of these diseases and therefore is an important protein to try and understand. In animal models of atherosclerosis and breast cancer, inhibition of JNK has been demonstrated to reduce pathogenesis and therefore targeting this protein may be key for developing treatments. JNK exists as three individual proteins, JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 and studies are now showing that not only can these proteins work independently but also opposingly in some instances and therefore understanding the function of the individual isoforms is becoming critical to fully understanding this pathway. Although more research is focusing on JNK isoform function, characterisation of each JNK protein has not yet been carried out in human primary vascular cells or a human breast cancer cell line, an investigation which must be carried out to understand the role of this pathway in the pathogenesis of these diseases. In the current study lentiviral shRNA was used to target and knockdown JNK1 and JNK2 in both human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the effects of knockdown on cell growth and cell death processes were analysed. In HUVECs knockdown of JNK2 caused an increase in pc-Jun levels and an increase in the percentage of multinucleated cells was observed, suggesting JNK2 may play a role in HUVEC cell growth. Unfortunately, the lentiviral infection itself caused detrimental effects which made it difficult to continue experiments and explore these findings further. In MCF-7 cells JNK knockdown did not produce any changes in cell growth or induced cell death when compared to non-target controls, suggesting that JNK does not play a key role in this breast cancer cell line.Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are two of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. The JNK pathway has been shown to play key roles at various stages of both of these diseases and therefore is an important protein to try and understand. In animal models of atherosclerosis and breast cancer, inhibition of JNK has been demonstrated to reduce pathogenesis and therefore targeting this protein may be key for developing treatments. JNK exists as three individual proteins, JNK1, JNK2 and JNK3 and studies are now showing that not only can these proteins work independently but also opposingly in some instances and therefore understanding the function of the individual isoforms is becoming critical to fully understanding this pathway. Although more research is focusing on JNK isoform function, characterisation of each JNK protein has not yet been carried out in human primary vascular cells or a human breast cancer cell line, an investigation which must be carried out to understand the role of this pathway in the pathogenesis of these diseases. In the current study lentiviral shRNA was used to target and knockdown JNK1 and JNK2 in both human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and MCF-7 breast cancer cells and the effects of knockdown on cell growth and cell death processes were analysed. In HUVECs knockdown of JNK2 caused an increase in pc-Jun levels and an increase in the percentage of multinucleated cells was observed, suggesting JNK2 may play a role in HUVEC cell growth. Unfortunately, the lentiviral infection itself caused detrimental effects which made it difficult to continue experiments and explore these findings further. In MCF-7 cells JNK knockdown did not produce any changes in cell growth or induced cell death when compared to non-target controls, suggesting that JNK does not play a key role in this breast cancer cell line

The biology and taxonomy of Mesozoic stromatoporoids

The presence of spicule pseudomorphs and an aquiferous filtration system in Mesozoic stromatoporoids confirms poriferan affinity for this previously problematic group. The form, and postulated original siliceous nature of most of the spicules, indicates that the possessors of these were calcified demosponges; others with originally calcareous spicules were calcareans. Different spicule types and arrangements indicate that the possession of a calcareous skeleton is a convergent feature. Previous defining characteristics are found to be invalid and Mesozoic stromatoporoids are redefined as calcified sponges, so that the term 'stromatoporoid' now only refers to a grade of organisation of the calcareous skeleton and not a taxonomic grouping. 'Chaetetids', 'sphinctozoans' and 'sclerosponges' are also polyphyletic groupings, representing grades, where some members of which are calcified demosponges. These groupings should no longer be considered in isolation, as this has previously obscured their true nature. The original mineralogy of late Mesozoic stromatoporoids was probably low-Mg. calcite. Spicule and calcareous skeleton diagenetic lineages are given to enable workers to determine original microstructures. Analogies with Recent calcified demosponges, suggests that the fossil stromatoporoid demosponges produced a primary framework of siliceous spicules bound together with an organic matrix, which probably provided the nucleation sites for subsequent precipitation of the calcareous skeleton. A new taxonomic scheme is presented based on spicule type, arrangement and relationship of this framework to the microstructure of the calcareous skeleton. On the basis of spicule criteria, calcareous microstructure alone is found to be convergent and can no longer be used as a high-level taxonomic feature. Spiculate species are therefore redescribed and placed within the Recent poriferan classification framework. Synonyms are documented and intra-specific variation discussed. The present cnidarian-based nomenclature is replaced by one modified from Recent poriferan terminology. The possession of a calcareous skeleton is probably a relict feature of a previously widespread calcified sponge fauna. It appears that the calcareous skeleton was acquired independently in a number of lineages in the early Palaeozoic, and has subsequently been lost in many

Determination of Interior Vibration Levels from Tire/Wheel Assembly Non-Uniformities using a Monte Carlo Process

Variations in vehicle noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) response from one vehicle to the next can have significant impact on an automotive company’s profile and profitability. The warranty claims due to excessive NVH response end up costing the manufacturers a large sum of money each year. In addition, the OEM will suffer a larger financial loss due to the poor perception of quality and customer dissatisfaction with their products due to the unacceptable NVH response. Therefore, measures must be taken to ensure less warranty claims and higher levels of customer satisfaction. This research focuses on aspects of design variations that are costly or difficult to be avoided in the design process such as variations with rubber parts and variations due to rotating components. Vibrations induced at the tire/wheel assembly due to variations in the radial and tangential forces and radial runout are responsible for the driverelt vibrations that can lead to a large number of warranty claims. The purpose of this research is to improve the process of determining and analyzing vibration sources in the tire/wheel assembly in order to benefit the automotive manufacturer during the development and manufacturing phases. This research identifies the relationship between non-uniformity forces of the tire/wheel assemblies and the driverelt vibrations during typical highway driving speeds. The contribution from each assembly location is analyzed and sensitivities are determined. A Monte Carlo process is used to predict numerous non-uniformity properties that are statistically representative of the assembly properties that can be expected at the manufacturing plant. The Monte Carlo produced non-uniformity properties are combined with the sensitivities to predict driverelt vibrations that can be expected from vehicles leaving the manufacturing plant. This process provides the tools to determine an acceptable level of non-uniformities based on targets for interior vibration levels or determine if the vehicle sensitivities to non-uniformities need to be improved