Parental Conflict in the Context of Multiethnoracial Relationships

The percent of families with parents from different racial or ethnic backgrounds has risen exponentially in the last decades. Approximately 14% of children were born into multiethnoracial (MER) families in the United States in 2015, more than double the rate from 1980 (Bialik, 2017). Studies show that MER couples are more likely to separate or divorce than their monoethnoracial (MoER) counterparts, perhaps due to greater conflict stemming from differing values, coping strategies, and conflict management styles and decreased access to family and community support (Fu, Tora, & Kendall, 2001; Zhang & Van Hook, 2009). With the growing rates of MER couples, there has been increased interest and research addressing the unique benefits and challenges of being in a MER relationship. It is likely that the challenges that arise in MER families peak across the transition to parenthood when couples must negotiate how to merge their respective values, behaviors, and beliefs into a new family unit. The proposed study examines how the ethnoracial composition of couples (i.e., same versus different racial/ethnic backgrounds) predicts levels and increases in coparental conflict across early parenthood; and, in addition, the role of familial support as both a mediator and moderator of this relationship. Identifying the processes linking couples’ ethnoracial composition to the quality of family relationships could help inform parent interventions to better support MER parents across the transition to parenthood

Analyses of the cloud contents of multispectral imagery from LANDSAT 2: Mesoscale assessments of cloud and rainfall over the British Isles

The author has identified the following significant results. It was demonstrated that satellites with sufficiently high resolution capability in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum could be used to check the accuracy of estimates of total cloud amount assessed subjectively from the ground, and to reveal areas of performance in which corrections should be made. It was also demonstrated that, in middle latitude in summer, cloud shadow may obscure at least half as much again of the land surface covered by an individual LANDSAT frame as the cloud itself. That proportion would increase with latitude and/or time of year towards the winter solstice. Analyses of sample multispectral images for six different categories of clouds in summer revealed marked differences between the reflectance characteristics of cloud fields in the visible/near infrared region of the spectrum

Strategies to improve BCG-mediated protection from <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i>

Background: Host resistance to pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with the induction of IFN-y secreting T cells in the lung. Recombinant viruses used in heterologous prime-boost immunisation regimens can evoke powerful T cell immune responses and are promising candidates for novel tuberculosis vaccines. In this thesis, the immunogenicity and protection protective efficacy of viral vectors expressing the immunodominant antigen, 85A were investigated in murine and macaque models of tuberculosis disease.Results: Recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara, expressing the Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 85A (MVA85A), strongly boosted BCG-induced antigen 85A specific- CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. A comparison of intranasal and parenteral immunisation of BCG showed that whilst both routes elicited comparable T cell responses in the spleen, only intranasal delivery elicited specific T cell responses in the lung lymph nodes and these responses were further boosted by intranasal delivery of MVA85A. Following aerosol challenge of BALB/c with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, intranasal boosting of BCG with either BCG or MVA85A afforded unprecedented levels of protection in both the lungs (2.5 log) and spleens (1.5 log) compared to naive controls. Protection in the lung correlated with the induction of antigen 85A specific IFN-y secreting T cells in the lung lymph nodes. In rhesus macaques, aerosol delivery of BCG induced comparable kinetics and frequencies of T cells in the peripheral blood compared to intradermal BCG without producing abnormal pathology. MVA85A vaccination induced low level Ag85A-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in the blood. Further vaccination with another attenuated poxvirus, Fowlpox expressing antigen 85A significantly increased 85A-specific T cell response in 5 of 6 outbred macaques. Analysis of lymphocytes in broncheo-alveolar lavage showed that vaccination with either BCG or M.85A/F.85A induced high frequencies of 85A-specific T cells in the respiratory compartment.Conclusions: These findings support further evaluation of mucosally targeted prime-boost vaccination approaches for tuberculosis