From Money Storage to Money Store: Openness and Transparency in Bank Architecture

In the middle of the twentieth century, banks changed from ‘closed’ designs signifying wealth, security, and safety to ‘open’ designs signifying hospitality, honesty, and transparency as the perception of money changed from a passive physical substance to be slowly accumulated to an active notational substance to be kept in motion. If money is saved, customers must trust that the bank is secure and their money will be there when they want it; if money is invested, customers must trust that it is being done openly and honestly and they are being well-advised. Architecture visually communicates that the institution can be trusted in the requisite way.

UV Responses in Native Hawaiians or Other Pacific Islanders and Asians Residing in Hawaiʻi and in Maryland

Background: UV exposure causes a wide range of skin damage including cutaneous melanoma. The mechanisms of cellular and molecular damage as well as erythemal and pigmentation responses to UV exposure have largely been studied in the White population. Methods: This study systematically investigates responses to UV exposure in the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (NHPI) and Asian populations living in Hawai’i (A/HI) as well as in Asians living in Maryland (A/MD). Results: Our analyses indicate that the NHPI population is less sensitive to UV exposure than the A/HI population. Comparisons between the two Asian groups suggest that, despite slightly but not statistically different baseline constitutive pigmentation (pre-UV exposure), the A/HI and A/MD had similar UV sensitivity, measured as minimal erythemal dose (MED). However, the A/MD population had higher levels of oxy-hemoglobin at doses of 2.0, 2.8 and 4.0 MED. Unexpectedly the A/MD subjects retained higher levels of pigmentation 2 weeks post UV exposure. Conclusion: This study provides insight into UV responses of the inhabitants of Hawai’i and shows that such responses are statistically significant for relatively small samples of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and for Asians living in Hawai’i and Asians living in Maryland.