Mexican Style Research Articles

Mexican Retrogrades in the Wave of American Film Culture

As one of the most penetrating media, film is an important expression of national cultural soft power. From the beginning of the 20th century to the present, American film culture has swept the world, directly or indirectly dominating the global screen entertainment. Relying on its mature film industry, the United States has rapidly penetrated its culture and values to the world, affecting the cultural identities of other countries. (Under the long-term hegemony of "Hollywood" values, the Mexican film culture as its neighbor has been seriously affected. In Hollywood films, Mexico seems to be synonymous with "chaos", "poverty" and "violence". For Mexican filmmakers, how to keep the Mexican style in the film in the "encirclement and suppression" of American films is the first problem, and then the goal is to show the real Mexico to the world. In response to this situation, some Mexican filmmakers have successively tried a genre-based creative path, transplanting the Hollywood genre film model into the local narrative, in order to achieve a balance between commerciality and artistry. This is also the goal that a group of Mexican filmmakers of the new genre have always pursued. They reject the domineering "cultural fusion" of Hollywood, but take the initiative to choose the "wall" that crosses national borders, galloping into the global film industry with Mexican concepts and creativity. One of the worthiest of exploration is the Mexican director Alessandro Gonzalez Inarito, because he has lived in the United States for a long time, so he has witnessed the situation of Mexicans in the United States, in his film The two perspectives of the United States and Mexico have appeared many times, intuitively revealing Mexico in the eyes of Americans. And almost all the films he shoots contain Mexican elements, trying to break the world's stereotypes about Mexico through the perspective of Mexicans. In the past ten years, Mexican films have made good news on the international stage and become one of the most active countries in the film industry in the world. Therefore, through the study of Alessandro's films, it is necessary to break the Mexico established by the United States and to re-establish the understanding of Mexico and its films.

Citizens of Scandal: Journalism, Secrecy, and the Politics of Reckoning in Mexico

Citizens of Scandal: Journalism, Secrecy, and the Politics of Reckoning in Mexico

Restructuring Health Reform, Mexican Style

ABSTRACT Mexico’s health system is undergoing major restructuring by the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (known as AMLO) starting in December 2018. The government has eliminated the 2003 health reform (Seguro Popular) from national laws and government agencies and is returning Mexico to a centralized health system with integrated public financing and delivery and reduced private participation. This article looks at the political drivers of Mexico’s restructuring reform. Three main ethical principles are identified as the foundation for the government’s health system vision: universality, free services, and anti-corruption. The article then compares what existed under Seguro Popular with the new system under the Instituto de Salud para el Bienestar (INSABI), which began on 1 January 2020. The analysis uses the five policy levers that shape health system performance: financing, payment, organization, regulation, and persuasion. The article concludes with five lessons about the reform process in Mexico. First, undoing past reforms is much easier than implementing a new system. Second, the AMLO government’s restructuring emerged more from broad ethical principles than detailed technical analyses, with limited plans for evaluation. Third, the overarching values of the AMLO government reflect a pro-statist and anti-market bias, swimming against the global flow of health policy trends to include the private sector in reforming health systems. Fourth, the experiences in Mexico show that path dependence does not always work as expected in policy reform. Finally, the debate of Seguro Popular versus INSABI shows the influence of personality politics and polarization.

Multiculturalism, Indigenism and New Universities in Mexico: a case of intercultural multilateralities

ABSTRACTExplicitly multicultural programs and/or institutions are a growing, but still very recent phenomenon in Mexico in particular and in Latin America in general. However, the long-standing tradition of indigenismo is a kind of ‘multiculturalism avant la lettre’, a set of policies that still shape the institutions specifically designed for the country’s 68 indigenous peoples. In the following, the different phases of ‘Mexican style’ multiculturalism are sketched, before I analyze the contemporary emergence of so-called intercultural bilingual education, an institutional arena in which indigenous movements and organizations participate, but which is still state-led and state-dominated. An empirical example from so-called intercultural higher education in Veracruz highlights how intercultural multilateralities (Guilherme, in this issue) shape emerging discourses on culturally and linguistically pertinent educational programs through emerging, novel and rather hybrid academic institutions. As will be shown, however, pre-existing structural path-dependencies limit the scope and depth of the resulting intercultural multilateralities.

Listening across borders: migration, dedications, and voice in cumbia sonidera

ABSTRACT During performances of cumbia sonidera, a Mexican style of music with roots in Colombia's northwest, sonideros (DJs) recite names of people and places over the music. Fans hand slips of paper, hold signs, or send text messages for the DJ to read. Speaking through sonideros’ voice, the public calls out to loved-ones via songs dubbed with dedications. Audiences send the recordings on CD or, increasingly, links to the Facebook Live stream of the performances to family members named in the dedications. Saludos (salutations) trace an auditory archive of relations, migration, and feelings of love and longing for people and places. I attune to the role of sound in constituting Mexican and Mexican-American lives through both established ethnographic approaches and more experimental forms of “doing anthropology in sound” [Feld, Steven, and Donald Brenneis. 2004. Doing Anthropology in Sound. American Ethnologist 31 (4): 461–474] – by curating and producing a compilation of border-crossing cumbia produced between Los Angeles and Mexico. How does the circulation of recorded sound – intensely layered music – provide ways for sensing, remembering, honoring, and conveying emotional messages across borders? I attend to how sonic technologies are creatively used to convey emotion, relations, and memory to produce co-presence across increasingly militarized borders.

AGENCY, ALTERITY, APPROPRIATION: POSTCLASSIC LOWLAND MAYA USES AND MODIFICATIONS OF THE “MIXTECA-PUEBLA” OR “INTERNATIONAL” STYLE

AbstractMaya participation in the Postclassic Mixteca-Puebla or International Style has long been recognized in murals and manuscript painting. Recent explanations for Maya adoptions/modifications of this central Mexican style have shifted from invasion or “influence” to emphasize the active and selective participation of the Maya. I examine two examples, the solar murals of Mayapan and Flores Stela 4, to elucidate how they reflect Maya uses of the Mexican Other in service of local political and religious power. I argue that these works represent a Late Postclassic continuation of a long Maya tradition of using central Mexican forms and iconography as exotic ideological “prestige goods” reinforcing the legitimacy of local elites. They cannot be understood apart from the previous history of interactions between the Maya and central Mexico, particularly in the Early Postclassic, and some of the “Mexican” elements in these examples may derive from Maya-Mexican interactions during this earlier time.For Eloise Quiñones Keber, and in memory of H.B. Nicholson

Evaluating and Rewarding Professors: Mexican Style

International Higher Education (IHE) publishes insightful, informed, and high-quality commentary and analysis on trends and issues of importance to higher education systems, institutions, and stakeholders around the world.

Border Chasm: International Boundary Parks and Mexican Conservation, 1935–1945

The failure of the Mexican government to agree to a joint park along the border with the United States has been portrayed as a lack of consciousness about conservation within Mexico. Yet in the 1930s the Mexican government created and administered forty national parks elsewhere in the country. The absence of a joint border park gives cause to examine the larger historical context to compare interpretations of national parks and reasons for their incompatibility. Detailed correspondence and discussions of the failed border park project reveal the agenda of Mexican officials and the ways in which they differed from and argued with their counterparts in the United States. This article argues that the international park failures had less to do with Mexican incompetence or insufficient funds and more to do with Mexican opinions on the environment and on their perceived purposes of nature protection. Among other factors, the Mexican style of conservation valued central landscapes, easy access, and forest restoration over remote wilderness. Culturally distinct definitions of conservation and different interpretations of national parks precluded the creation of an international border park, despite years of negotiation.

The Poor Bioavailability of Elemental Iron in Corn Masa Flour Is Not Affected by Disodium EDTA

The most sustainable way to eradicate iron deficiency is through food fortification. Elemental iron powders are commonly utilized as fortificants due to their low cost and few sensory problems. However, their bioavailability is unknown. Our goals were to measure the bioavailability of elemental iron in Mexican style corn masa flour tortillas and to evaluate the effects of Na(2)EDTA. We used a stable isotope of H(2)-reduced iron powder, with and without Na(2)EDTA in tortillas prepared with corn masa flour. Two groups of 5- to 7-y-old children (n = 12/group) were fed tortillas to which was added 3 mg/100 g of H(2)-reduced (58)Fe with a mean particle size of 15 micro m. In one group, Na(2)EDTA was incorporated at a ratio of 1:2 mol/mol. The next day, (57)Fe ascorbate was given as a reference dose. After 14 d, blood samples were analyzed for isotopic enrichment. When normalized to 40% absorption of the reference dose, the geometric mean (+/-range 1 SD) bioavailability of reduced iron in tortilla was 3.8% (2.7-5.3). The addition of Na(2)EDTA, tended to increase it (P = 0.18) to 5.1% (2.8-9.2). This observed low absorption was compounded by the use of iron isotopes with smaller particle size (mean diameter 15 micro m) than typical of commercial elemental iron powder (<45 micro m). We conclude that H(2)-reduced iron powder is an ineffective fortificant in corn tortillas.

A high-fiber, moderate-glycemic-index, Mexican style diet improves dyslipidemia in individuals with type 2 diabetes

The typical Mexican diet includes beans and tortillas, which are foods with a low glycemic index. The objective of this paper was to compare the effects of a lower and a higher glycemic index Mexican style diet on metabolic control. In a randomized, controlled crossover design, eight subjects with type 2 diabetes were assigned to either a high glycemic index (GI=72), lower dietary fiber (30g/d) diet or a moderate glycemic index (GI=60) higher dietary fiber (53g/d) for three weeks each. Biochemical data was obtained at the start and finish of each dietary period. Multi and univariate one-factor repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to compare biochemical data. The overall differences in the total and LDL cholesterol (5.02±0.6 to 3.36±0.83) population means were significant (P<0.004 and P<0.001). We conclude that a low GI diet with more than 23g fiber per day, containing Mexican style foods may help to improve dyslipidemia in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Book Reviews

EthniCity: Geographic Perspectives on Ethnic Change in Modern Cities. Curtis Roseman, Hans Dieter Laux, Gunther Thieme, eds. Disaster and Memory: Celebrity Culture and the Crisis of Hollywood Cinema. Wheeler Winston Dixon. Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness. Carole G. Silver The Victorian Underworld. Donald Thomas. Jazz‐Age Boomtown. Jerry L. Rodnitzky and Shirley R. Rodnitzky. Media Communication: An Introduction to Theory and Process. James Watson. The McDonaldization Thesis. George Ritzer. Generations of Youth: Youth Cultures and History in Twentieth‐Century America. Joe Austin and Michael Willard, eds. Locating American Studies: The Evolution of a Discipline. Lucy Maddox, ed. Music and the Silent Film: Contexts &amp; Case Studies 1895–1924. Martin Miller Marks. American Laughter: Immigration, Ethnicity, and 1930s Hollywood Film Comedy. Mark Winokur. Robert Graves and the White Goddess. Richard Perceval Graves. Conversations with Chaim Potok. Daniel Walden. Islands of Women and Amazons: Representations and Realities. Batya Weinbaum. Mexican Style Source Book. Susan Tomlinson.

New Mexican–Style Care With a New York Accent

Editor’s note: In the “Practice Profiles” department of Clinical Diabetes , we spotlight clinicians who have chosen to dedicate a significant portion of their time to the care of patients with diabetes. Suggestions for clinicians to interview in the future are welcome and can be e-mailed to levetan@juno.com. I am a native New Yorker, born and bred in New York. I grew up on Long Island and moved to Little Neck Queens in the early ’70s. I picked up and moved myself to Albuquerque, N.M., 7 years ago. Actually, most people ask me why I made that move. To quote a Lovelace Regional Diabetes Program brochure, “No one can beat us for our climate, our culture, our cuisine . . . and our shocking rate of diabetes!” I went into nursing in my late 20s, later than most nurses I know. I had worked in a variety of places, owned a business, and then worked for an orthopedic surgeon as an office manager. His wife was a physician also, and for community service they would do physical exams for new people who were staying at the Salvation Army. As I assisted them with this, I became interested in learning more about medicine and decided to try nursing. I went back to college for an associate’s degree and then continued on eventually for a master’s degree in adult health from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where I also got my nurse practitioner (NP) training. It took about 10 years because I was working full time and going to school. I owned a luggage and leather repair shop in Great Neck, N.Y. I was sort of a “Ms. Fix It” for luggage and handbags. I learned all about fixing things and how luggage and handbags were made. …

Back to basics Mexican style: Radical catholicism and survival on the margins

The significance of radical Catholic movements among the urban poor in Latin American cities has been the subject of much debate over recent years, though Mexican cases have received less attention. This paper argues that their practical, material objectives cannot be understood in isolation from the holistic religious and moral community in which participants project for themselves. It is also argued that the social justice sought within the base communities is as much a product of a long, if varied, radical, Christian tradition as it is of the particular circumstances of political and economic marginalisation in contemporary Mexican cities.

Back to Basics Mexican Style: Radical Catholicism and Survival on the Margins1

Abstract— The significance of radical Catholic movements among the urban poor in Latin American cities has been the subject of much debate over recent years, though Mexican cases have received less attention. This paper argues that their practical, material objectives cannot be understood in isolation from the holistic religious and moral community in which participants project for themselves. It is also argued that the social justice sought within the base communities is as much a product of a long, if varied, radical, Christian tradition as it is of the particular circumstances of political and economic marginalisation in contemporary Mexican cities.

Inside Mexico: Living, Traveling, and Doing Business in a Changing Society

Partial table of contents: A MESTIZO NATION: The Blending of Two Cultures. THE FAMILY: Stability in the Midst of Change. RELIGION: Catholicism, Mexican Style. MEN AND WOMEN: On the Cusp Between Tradition and Change. WORKING AND LIVING: Seeking a Balance. BUSINESS AS USUAL: Working in and Around the System. DRESS AND APPEARANCE: Always a Sense of Dignity. THE ART OF MANNERS: Our Do's and Don'ts Are Different. MEALTIME: A Daily Highlight. LEISURE TIME: Relaxing, Mexican Style. HOLIDAYS: A Fiesta for Every Occasion. ART AND MUSIC: Beauty in Daily Life. CONCLUSION: Becoming Better Neighbors. Appendix. Selected Bibliography. Index.

CONSERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL DECORATION OF MISSION SAN XAVIER DEL BAC, TUCSON, ARIZONA

The Mission of San Xavier del Bac, located seven miles south of Thcson, Arizona, on the San Xavier Tohono O'odham (Papago) Indian Reservation, is considered to be the finest example of Spanish colonial architecture in the United States. The interior of the church is almost entirely decorated in a late Mexican baroque style, comprising wall paintings as well as polychromed and gilded sculptural and architectural elements. Dating from the late eighteenth century, this·decoration is of a very high standard and is surprisingly intact. The mission ~hurch is a living monument, served daily by Franciscan fathers whose order constructed the present church c .1778-97, with the help of the indigenous Tohono O'odham Indians. The east transept chapel of 'La Madre Dolorosa' (Sorrowing Mother) contains polychromed architectural relief work and wall paintings. The latter portray La Nuestra Senora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), La Virgen Nitla (The Young Virgin Mary), and mourning figures of the Sorrowing Mother and St John the Evangelist on either side ofthe central Crucifixion. The niches and oval medallions contain relief and free-standing sculptures of Franciscan saints. The wall paintings are executed on a very fine buff-coloured and water-sensitive preparation layer applied over a lime-sand plaster. The pigments have been applied a secco with an aqueous tempera binder which is fairly sensitive to moisture. The relief decoration is composed of painted plaster moldings and cornices, th~ finest of which is the highly ornate frame of the central crucifix which consists of a stylized floral band and scalloped channels coloured with transparent glazes applied over metallic leaf. Examination of cross:-sectional samples taken from this area reveals the following stratigraphy: lime-sand stucco overlaid with two gesso preparation layers, a coarse layer covered by a finer one, both containing calcium sulphate anhydrite. Madder lake and copper resinate glazes have been applied over silver leaf on a red coloured bole. This has been overlaid with a 61i-thick varnish layer. In addition to natural earths, the pigments employed in the wall decoration include: Prussian blue, vermilion and orpiment. Although there is some minor evidence of rising damp and hygroscopic salts,. except for the areas where it is clear that there have been infiltrations of rainwater in the past (the vault), moisture does not seem to have been a major agent. of deterioration. Extremely low relative humidity, .high temperature fluctuations and high natural' and ultraviolet light levels appear to be the primary causes of the localized detachment of the painted and relief decoration. The original polychromy is largely obscured by thick layers of dust, candle soot, and bird and bat excrement as well as by the hardened nests of mud dauber wasps (Sceliphron caementarium) . During some previous effort at restoration, possibly early in the twentieth century, a fixatiye was liberally applied to the surfaces. The intention seems to have been to revitalize the original colours. The fixative, which appears to have:darkened and turned orangebrown, encouraged contraction of the paint and preparatory layers at low levels of relative humidity and resulted in the separation of these layers from their support. Analysis of the fixative using Fourier transform infrared analysis shows that it is a n.atural tree resin, possibly from the plesquite tree (Prosopis juliflora). Very unsightly filling oflacunae,'oone in 1968, is evident in the scene of the Virgen Nina. The incompatible filling material, which

Evaluation of APHA and AOAC Methods for Phosphatase in Cheese

Varieties of market cheese were analyzed for alkaline phosphatase by the modified rapid colorimetric method of the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the official AOAC method, 16.304-16.306. In the APHA method, 5 g cheese (pH less than 7.0) is macerated with 2 mL 1:1 carbonate buffer, or 2 mL water (for cheese with pH greater than 7.0). Addition of 0.1 mL magnesium acetate (1 mg magnesium) to test portions of cheese extracts yielded reproducible and quantitative recovery of added phosphatase. In the AOAC method, macerating 0.5 g cheese with 1 mL borate buffer before adding milk phosphatase improved recovery among cheeses. Addition of magnesium ion increased phosphatase activity in some cheeses. Phosphatases in blue mold-ripened and Swiss cheeses were inactivated by heat faster than was milk phosphatase, yet milk phosphatase added to various soft cheeses was completely inactivated at 60 degrees C for 10 min. The lability of phosphatase was due to the heat-denaturing effect of NaCl present in finished cheeses. Some Mexican style soft cheeses contained both heat-labile and heat-stable phosphatases. These data suggest that the phosphatase test to differentiate milk and microbial phosphatases on the basis of repasteurization and analysis of cheese is no longer valid.

J-Education, Mexican Style

J-Education, Mexican Style

Home Remedies Mexican Style

Home Remedies Mexican Style