No Justice, No Peace: An Examination of the Conditions of the George Floyd Protests to Determine How to Facilitate Successful State Legislative Outcomes

This thesis examines the relationship between the conditions of the George Floyd protests from May to August of 2020 to the impact they had state on policing reforms within state legislatures. I examine protests in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, looking at those protests’ size, media coverage, and violence and compare that to the degree of policy change achieved within each state. I find that, contrary to expectations, protest size was not associated with policy change, but that the party control of the state government was a strong predictor of how states responded to protests. Within some state subgroups, the presence of violence and media coverage of violence had a statistically significant effect in shaping policy change. These findings help us understand what conditions are needed to create a successful protest

Synthesis, stereocontrol and structural studies of highly luminescent chiral tris-amidepyridyl-triazacyclononane lanthanide complexes

The configuration of the remote amide chiral moiety determines the helicity of the metal complex in Ln(III) complexes of nonadentate N6O3 ligands based on triazacyclononane. Solution NMR studies revealed the presence of a dominant isomer whose proportion varies from 9 : 1 to 4 : 1 from Ce to Yb and X-ray crystallographic studies at 120 K of the Yb and two enantiomeric Eu complexes confirmed the configuration as S-Δ-λ in the major isomer. Global minimisation methods allowed magnetic susceptibility and electronic relaxation times of the lanthanide ions to be estimated by analysis of variable field longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) data sets. A set of four europium complexes, containing different para-substituted pyridinyl-aryl groups, exist as one major isomer (15 : 1), and absorb light strongly via an ICT transition in the range 320 to 355 nm (ε = 55 to 65 000 M−1 cm−1). The two examples absorbing light at 332 nm, possess overall emission quantum yields of 35 and 37% in aerated water, making these systems as bright as any Eu complex in solution

Synthesis and Catalytic Activity of (3,4-Diphenylcyclopentadienone)Iron Tricarbonyl Compounds in Transfer Hydrogenations and Dehydrogenations

Four (3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone)iron tricarbonyl compounds were synthesized, and their activities in transfer hydrogenations of carbonyl compounds and transfer dehydrogenations of alcohols were explored and compared to those of the well-established [2,5-(SiMe3)2-3,4-(CH2)4(η4-C4C═O)]Fe(CO)3 (3). A new compound, [2,5-bis(3,5-dimethylphenyl)-3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone]iron tricarbonyl (7), was the most active catalyst in both transfer hydrogenations and dehydrogenations, and compound 3 was the least active catalyst in transfer hydrogenations. Evidence was found for product inhibition of both 3 and 7 in a transfer dehydrogenation reaction, with the activity of 3 being more heavily affected. A monomeric iron hydride derived from 7 was spectroscopically observed during a transfer hydrogenation, and no diiron bridging hydrides were found under reductive or oxidative conditions. Initial results in the transfer hydrogenation of N-benzylideneaniline showed that 3 was a significantly less active catalyst in comparison to the (3,4-diphenylcyclopentadienone)iron tricarbonyl compounds

Routine childhood immunisation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa: a benefit-risk analysis of health benefits versus excess risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

BACKGROUND: National immunisation programmes globally are at risk of suspension due to the severe health system constraints and physical distancing measures in place to mitigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to compare the health benefits of sustaining routine childhood immunisation in Africa with the risk of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection through visiting routine vaccination service delivery points. METHODS: We considered a high-impact scenario and a low-impact scenario to approximate the child deaths that could be caused by immunisation coverage reductions during COVID-19 outbreaks. In the high-impact scenario, we used previously reported country-specific child mortality impact estimates of childhood immunisation for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniae, rotavirus, measles, meningitis A, rubella, and yellow fever to approximate the future deaths averted before 5 years of age by routine childhood vaccination during a 6-month COVID-19 risk period without catch-up campaigns. In the low-impact scenario, we approximated the health benefits of sustaining routine childhood immunisation on only the child deaths averted from measles outbreaks during the COVID-19 risk period. We assumed that contact-reducing interventions flattened the outbreak curve during the COVID-19 risk period, that 60% of the population will have been infected by the end of that period, that children can be infected by either vaccinators or during transport, and that upon child infection the whole household will be infected. Country-specific household age structure estimates and age-dependent infection-fatality rates were applied to calculate the number of deaths attributable to the vaccination clinic visits. We present benefit-risk ratios for routine childhood immunisation, with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) from a probabilistic sensitivity analysis. FINDINGS: In the high-impact scenario, for every one excess COVID-19 death attributable to SARS-CoV-2 infections acquired during routine vaccination clinic visits, 84 (95% UI 14-267) deaths in children could be prevented by sustaining routine childhood immunisation in Africa. The benefit-risk ratio for the vaccinated children is 85 000 (4900-546 000), for their siblings (60 years) is 96 (14-307). In the low-impact scenario that approximates the health benefits to only the child deaths averted from measles outbreaks, the benefit-risk ratio to the households of vaccinated children is 3 (0-10); if the risk to only the vaccinated children is considered, the benefit-risk ratio is 3000 (182-21 000). INTERPRETATION: The deaths prevented by sustaining routine childhood immunisation in Africa outweigh the excess risk of COVID-19 deaths associated with vaccination clinic visits, especially for the vaccinated children. Routine childhood immunisation should be sustained in Africa as much as possible, while considering other factors such as logistical constraints, staff shortages, and reallocation of resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. FUNDING: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Critical analysis of the limitations of Bleaney's theory of magnetic anisotropy in paramagnetic lanthanide coordination complexes

The origins of the breakdown of Bleaney's theory of magnetic anisotropy are described, based on an analysis of eleven different complexes of the second half of the 4f elements that form isostructural series. An examination of the chemical shift and relaxation rate behaviour of resonances located at least four bonds away from the paramagnetic centre was undertaken, and correlated to theoretical predictions. The key limitations relate to comparability of ligand field splitting with spin–orbit coupling, variation in the position of the principal magnetic axis between Ln complexes and the importance of multipolar terms in describing lanthanide ligand field interactions

National mitigation potential from natural climate solutions in the tropics.

Better land stewardship is needed to achieve the Paris Agreement's temperature goal, particularly in the tropics, where greenhouse gas emissions from the destruction of ecosystems are largest, and where the potential for additional land carbon storage is greatest. As countries enhance their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement, confusion persists about the potential contribution of better land stewardship to meeting the Agreement's goal to hold global warming below 2°C. We assess cost-effective tropical country-level potential of natural climate solutions (NCS)-protection, improved management and restoration of ecosystems-to deliver climate mitigation linked with sustainable development goals (SDGs). We identify groups of countries with distinctive NCS portfolios, and we explore factors (governance, financial capacity) influencing the feasibility of unlocking national NCS potential. Cost-effective tropical NCS offers globally significant climate mitigation in the coming decades (6.56 Pg CO2e yr-1 at less than 100 US$ per Mg CO2e). In half of the tropical countries, cost-effective NCS could mitigate over half of national emissions. In more than a quarter of tropical countries, cost-effective NCS potential is greater than national emissions. We identify countries where, with international financing and political will, NCS can cost-effectively deliver the majority of enhanced NDCs while transforming national economies and contributing to SDGs. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change and ecosystems: threats, opportunities and solutions'

Long COVID risk and pre-COVID vaccination in an EHR-based cohort study from the RECOVER program

Long COVID, or complications arising from COVID-19 weeks after infection, has become a central concern for public health experts. The United States National Institutes of Health founded the RECOVER initiative to better understand long COVID. We used electronic health records available through the National COVID Cohort Collaborative to characterize the association between SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and long COVID diagnosis. Among patients with a COVID-19 infection between August 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022, we defined two cohorts using distinct definitions of long COVID—a clinical diagnosis (n = 47,404) or a previously described computational phenotype (n = 198,514)—to compare unvaccinated individuals to those with a complete vaccine series prior to infection. Evidence of long COVID was monitored through June or July of 2022, depending on patients’ data availability. We found that vaccination was consistently associated with lower odds and rates of long COVID clinical diagnosis and high-confidence computationally derived diagnosis after adjusting for sex, demographics, and medical history., The extent to which COVID-19 vaccination protects against long COVID is not well understood. Here, the authors use electronic health record data from the United States and find that, for people who received their vaccination prior to infection, vaccination was associated with lower incidence of long COVID

Genomic comparisons reveal biogeographic and anthropogenic impacts in the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus): a dietary-specialist species distributed across heterogeneous environments

The Australian koala is an iconic marsupial with highly specific dietary requirements distributed across heterogeneous environments, over a large geographic range. The distribution and genetic structure of koala populations has been heavily influenced by human actions, specifically habitat modification, hunting and translocation of koalas. There is currently limited information on population diversity and gene flow at a species-wide scale, or with consideration to the potential impacts of local adaptation. Using species-wide sampling across heterogeneous environments, and high-density genome-wide markers (SNPs and PAVs), we show that most koala populations display levels of diversity comparable to other outbred species, except for those populations impacted by population reductions. Genetic clustering analysis and phylogenetic reconstruction reveals a lack of support for current taxonomic classification of three koala subspecies, with only a single evolutionary significant unit supported. Furthermore, similar to 70% of genetic variance is accounted for at the individual level. The Sydney Basin region is highlighted as a unique reservoir of genetic diversity, having higher diversity levels (i.e., Blue Mountains region; AvHe(corr)-0.20, PL% = 68.6). Broad-scale population differentiation is primarily driven by an isolation by distance genetic structure model (49% of genetic variance), with clinal local adaptation corresponding to habitat bioregions. Signatures of selection were detected between bioregions, with no single region returning evidence of strong selection. The results of this study show that although the koala is widely considered to be a dietary-specialist species, this apparent specialisation has not limited the koala's ability to maintain gene flow and adapt across divergent environments as long as the required food source is available