The purpose of this ethnonursing study was to discover, understand, describe, and explicate the emic expressions, meanings, beliefs, practices, and experiences of postpartum Mexican American women living in a Passaic, New Jersey, community and to gain an understanding of any phenomena in the postpartum period. Leininger's culture care diversity and universality theory was utilized as the undergirding framework for this study. Eight key and 15 general informants participated in this study. The ethnodemographic interview guide, a qualitative enabler, was used to assist with the collection and analysis of data. NVivo 8.0, a qualitative software program, was used to assist with data management and organization. The data were analyzed and interpreted into categories, patterns, and themes that were confirmed through multiple interviews. Through face-to-face interviews and field notes, the researcher discovered, understood, described, explicated, and analyzed the cultural expressions, meanings, beliefs, practices, and experiences of Mexican American women during the postpartum period. The findings from this study focus first on nursing knowledge development, pointing the direction for future research to determine effective nursing care actions. Early interventions assist in providing culturally congruent care to postpartum Mexican American women. Implications for nursing research, theory, education, and practice are offered. / School of Nursing / Nursing / PhD / Dissertation

Purpose <br>The purpose of this focused ethnography is to understand the meaning and cultural influences of healthy eating and the role of nursing in the promotion of healthy eating practices from the Mexican American child's point of view. <br>Background <br>No current studies directly measure the meaning of healthy eating from the Mexican American child's perspective. Mexican American children have a unique perspective and understanding of the meaning of healthy eating and can help identify cultural norms and other factors that may be vital in directing culturally appropriate health promotion interventions. <br>Research Design <br>A focused ethnography method using Leininger's four phases of data analysis was utilized. <br>Informants <br>The researcher interviewed twenty-one children aged eleven to thirteen for the study. Fifteen individual interviews and two group interviews were completed. <br>Data Collection and Analysis <br>Data gathering and data analysis occurred simultaneously. Leininger's four phases of qualitative data analysis and utilized NVivo9 qualitative data management software. <br>Results <br>The data emerged into three themes within the culture. Theme one: Mexican American children connect healthy eating with familiar foods in the context of their Mexican American culture. Theme two: Foods that provide feelings of happiness and well being are essential for healthy eating. Theme three: Sources of food and health information education are valued when provided by familiar and trusted sources. <br>Conclusions and Implications <br>For the informants of this study the meaning of healthy eating is closely tied to the cultural life ways learned and valued by the Mexican American culture. Culture cannot be separated from the child when considering the meaning of healthy eating. Mexican American children view healthy eating within the context of culture, associating familiar foods that provide a feeling of happiness and well being with healthy foods. Mexican American children view eating habits as healthy when taught by familiar and trusted sources. <br>This study provides nurses an enhanced understanding of the meaning of healthy eating and valuable information to improve nutritional health education and promotion activities, better assists children and their families to improve and maintain health and provides culturally congruent care that is valued by the population. / School of Nursing; / Nursing / PhD; / Dissertation;

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 1985. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-155). Also available online.

Cancer afflicts 1.4 million people in the United States annually. In 2007, 45.5 million Hispanics were the largest and fastest growing minority in the US. Although treated as a homogeneous group, Hispanics are different from cultural, socioeconomic and genetic perspectives. The cancer experience of Hispanic subpopulations has, thus far, been poorly described. The present dissertation focused on the descriptive epidemiology of Cancer in Hispanics in the US. We created and validated an algorithm, the Hispanic Origin Identification Algorithm (HOIA), to improve the assignment of ethnicity and Hispanic subpopulation. We applied the HOIA to the Florida incident cancer data of the period 1999-2001 to calculate incidence rates for Hispanics, non-Hispanic Whites and non-Hispanic Blacks, and to estimate rates for Mexican Hispanics, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and New Latinos. We compared the cancer risk of these populations in their countries of origin and in the US with US Whites. Finally, we studied colorectal cancer (CRC) as an opportunity for studying disparities in diagnosis among Hispanic subpopulations. HOIA was highly sensitive and specific to detect Hispanic ethnicity and subgroup. Cancer rates differed markedly among Hispanic subpopulations. The apparently health advantage of Hispanics in other health outcomes, was limited to Mexicans who demonstrated remarkably low rates for most cancers. Puerto Ricans and Cubans had the highest total cancer rates, in some cases similar to US Whites. Hispanics increased their risk for the most common cancers - breast, prostate, colorectal, endometrial and especially lung cancer - when they moved to the United States from their countries of origin. Finally, Hispanics were at a disadvantage in terms of stage at diagnosis for CRC compared to non-Hispanic Whites and Blacks. Cuban Americans were less likely to be diagnosed at a late stage compared to all other Hispanic populations. Focused research into the differences in cancer incidence among Hispanic subpopulations in the US should be carried out, in particular the relationship between acculturation and cancer. Research should also target the causes of persisting disparities in stage of presentation among Hispanic subpopulations. Florida is the ideal location for these studies, and should become an “Observatory for Cancer in Hispanic populations.”

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1980. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-177).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1980. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-177).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-246).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 393-404).

This thesis describes and evaluates a set of multiobjective generation expansion planning models that include four objectives and importance given to renewable generation technologies while considering location of generation units. Using multicriteria decision making theory, these models provide results which indicate the most recommendable amount of each type of generating technology to install at each location. A framework to solve and generate alternative solutions is provided for each model, and representative case studies from the Mexican Electric Power System are used to show the performance of the proposed models and solution methods. The models include a single-period model, a multi-period model, single-period mixed-integer non-linear model, and a fuzzy multi-criteria model. Among the attributes considered are the investment and operation cost of the units, the environmental impact, the amount of imported fuel, and the portfolio investment risk. The approaches to solve the models are based on multiobjective linear programming, analytical hierarchy process, and evolutionary algorithms. The incorporation of more than three criteria to generate the expansion alternatives, the importance given to renewable generation technologies, and the geographical location of the new generation units are some features of the proposed models which have not been considered simultaneously in the literature. A novel multiobjective evolutionary programming algorithm has been proposed in this thesis. / "July 2006."

Presented are case studies of two children as they make the transition from Mexican immigrant homes to kindergarten in an English-dominant school in the United States. In the first case, Victor adapts by keeping his attention focused on the teacher, which allows him to avoid disorientation and take on the role of exemplary student. In the second, Natalie adapts to kindergarten through her relationships with peers and the teacher. She often participates in class activities, however, without understanding the narrative or rationale behind them. Cross-case comparisons suggest that each student adapted in a way suited to his or her own needs and resources. The journey from disorientation to adaptation is described through the application of the holistic, systems-oriented, interactionalistic developmental approaches of Werner, Wapner, and Koizumi.