My Brother the Mexican

El “Piti” le decían, I never knew why. We lived just outside “El Barrio,” at least that’s what they called it, ‘cause it took too long to say “Tlachichilco del Carmen.” Nobody called it that, but my mom. She would make us go to El Barrio a vender “panquecitos.” Two little gringüitos selling cupcakes en la plaza. ..

Incremental Grid-like Layout Using Soft and Hard Constraints

We explore various techniques to incorporate grid-like layout conventions into a force-directed, constraint-based graph layout framework. In doing so we are able to provide high-quality layout---with predominantly axis-aligned edges---that is more flexible than previous grid-like layout methods and which can capture layout conventions in notations such as SBGN (Systems Biology Graphical Notation). Furthermore, the layout is easily able to respect user-defined constraints and adapt to interaction in online systems and diagram editors such as Dunnart.Comment: Accepted to Graph Drawing 201

Portable random number generators

Computers are deterministic devices, and a computer-generated random number is a contradiction in terms. As a result, computer-generated pseudorandom numbers are fraught with peril for the unwary. We summarize much that is known about the most well-known pseudorandom number generators: congruential generators. We also provide machine-independent programs to implement the generators in any language that has 32-bit signed integers-for example C, C++, and FORTRAN. Based on an extensive search, we provide parameter values better than those previously available.Programming (Mathematics) ; Computers

La vaca

This creative non-fiction piece written in Spanglish is called "La vaca.” The overarching themes of this story are birth, motherhood, siblings and the creative force in a non-conventional American family raised in Mexico. The narrative voice in this piece provides a unique perspective broadening dialogue(s) on Mexican American identity.   &nbsp

Molecular evidence of epithelial cell damage caused by iqmik, an Alaska smokeless tobacco mixture

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015The percentage of Alaska Natives who use smokeless tobacco (SLT) is 4 times that of non-Native Alaskans and 45 times higher for Alaska Native women than non-Native women. The use of SLT is concentrated in Southwest Alaska where 32% of all adult Alaska Natives use SLT. Out of those users, 35% use only iqmik, a unique form of SLT in Alaska, which is a combination of tobacco leaf mixed with Phellinus igniarius (punk fungus). There is little evidence of the pathological effects of iqmik to assist in the development of an evidenced-based intervention regarding the harmful effects of iqmik. The current lack of evidence reinforces a belief that iqmik is less harmful than other tobacco alternatives. The overall objective of this thesis is to elucidate the effect of iqmik and iqmik-mediated metal exposure on oxidative stress and nuclear factor- κB (NF-κB) induced inflammation in human gingival epithelial cells. The central hypothesis of this thesis is that cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co) and nickel (Ni) accumulate in human gingival epithelial cells from iqmik treatments, inducing oxidative stress and promoting an intracellular environment that alters NF-κB proinflammatory signaling targets. Our findings indicate that iqmik is a greater source of heavy metals, such as Cd, Co and Ni, than air-cured tobacco leaf. Human gingival epithelial cells accumulate more Cd, Co and Ni from the punk ash component of iqmik than from the air-cured tobacco. These metals have the capacity to accumulate in cells from iqmik treatments and generate and propagate the production of endogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS), which activates NF-κB significantly altering its signaling targets, more so than tobacco alone. The results of this thesis identify iqmik as a unique health hazard compared to other tobacco products and enhances our understanding of how iqmik may contribute to oral pathologies

Simón

This creative non-fiction piece written in Spanglish is called "Simón.” The overarching themes of this story are death, spirituality, animals and pets in a non-conventional American family raised in Mexico. The narrative voice in this piece provides a unique perspective broadening dialogue(s) on Mexican American identity

Gringos Mexicanos

This creative non-fiction piece written in Spanglish called “Gringos Mexicanos" stems from feelings of nostalgia and unrest within biculturalism and national identity. The piece centers around the degrees of belonging that two Americans siblings raised in Mexico have when contrasted to each other and to (Mexican or American) peer groups. The narrative voice in this piece provides a unique perspective broadening dialogue(s) on Mexican American identity

La Manda

This creative non-fiction piece written in Spanglish called “La Manda" reflects upon faith and ritual practices from a personal and transnational perspective. From dance, to fairs, to nun school, this story focuses on the difference in religious perspective held by two American siblings raised in Mexico. The narrative voice in this piece provides a unique perspective broadening dialogue(s) on Mexican American identity

Doce Horas: A Family Border Tale

This creative non-fiction piece written in Spanglish called "Doce horas: A Family Border Tale" comically narrates my family's adventure crossing the U.S./Mexico border by car a few days after Three Kings Day (Epiphany). The story deals with identity negotiation, biculturalism and bilingualism in a non-conventional American family raised in Mexico. The narrative voice in my piece provides a unique perspective broadening dialogue(s) on Mexican American identity.   &nbsp

Stress-Minimizing Orthogonal Layout of Data Flow Diagrams with Ports

We present a fundamentally different approach to orthogonal layout of data flow diagrams with ports. This is based on extending constrained stress majorization to cater for ports and flow layout. Because we are minimizing stress we are able to better display global structure, as measured by several criteria such as stress, edge-length variance, and aspect ratio. Compared to the layered approach, our layouts tend to exhibit symmetries, and eliminate inter-layer whitespace, making the diagrams more compact