False Beliefs About Asylum Seekers to Australia: The Role of Confidence in Such Beliefs, Prejudice, and the Third Person Effect

There has been much controversy about the treatment of asylum seekers in Australia in recent years, with the Australian Government continuing to enforce a very hard-line stance on asylum seekers who arrive to Australia by boat. The present study examined attitudes towards asylum seekers using 164 Australian community members during June 2015 by way of questionnaire. Our primary research question involved how five variables predicted false beliefs about asylum seekers. Specifically, we measured prejudice, the third-person effect, and confidence in the answers given to false beliefs about asylum seekers. Regression results indicated that the main predictors of false beliefs were right-wing political orientation, prejudice, confidence in espousing false beliefs, and the third-person effect (politicians). Furthermore, most of our community participants accepted a large number of false beliefs as being true, with approximately two-thirds of our participants scoring above the midpoint. This reflects similar findings over the last decade or so. Our results indicate that, if one believes in bottom-up change, a more nuanced approach needs to be undertaken with community anti-prejudice interventions

Including Material Cost and Strength Constraints in Heat Exchanger Design

This project extends analysis of heat exchanger design tradeoffs in response to two emerging trends: 1) demands for increasing thermal performance while reducing material costs are beginning to raise structural issues; and 2) new manufacturing technologies are enabling designs that lie outside the envelope of existing empirical databases and performance correlations. Optimization methods are used to explore both conventional and unconventional designs in this broader parameter space, dealing explicitly with material- and manufacturing-related constraints. New semi-empirical correlations for heat transfer and friction factor are developed and used for analyzing flat- and round-tube plain fin heat exchangers. The role of structural constraints is illustrated by focusing on condenser optimization using a residential air conditioning model, but the analysis yields insights that applicable to other components and applications. Ways of avoiding some of these constraints are discussed in some detail.Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Project 18

Designing Systems to Use Simpler Expansion Devices

This report analyzes a broad spectrum of strategies for actively or passively controlling the inlet state of fixed-geometry expansion devices such as capillary and orifice tubes, to match compressor mass flow rates with minimal performance degradation in an efficient R410A a/c system. A TXV system was selected as the baseline for an exhaustive series of design options, including from heat exchanger sizing to use of receivers, internal heat exchangers, bladder accumulator and simple air flow modulation. Results yielded insights that can be generalized to other refrigerants and systems. Orifice tubes were found to produce higher efficiency than capillary tubes across the entire range of operating conditions, although the difference can be mitigated by proper choice of the latter???s length and diameter. Only one configuration appears to be capable of matching TXV system performance across a wide range of operating conditions: a short tube orifice with low side receiver and internal heat exchanger.Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Project 18

Progress in cardiac research : From rebooting cardiac regeneration to a complete cell atlas of the heart

Altres ajuts: Hatter Cardiovascular Institute; British Heart Foundation (PG/18/44/33790, RG/19/10/34506); Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) 'Una Manera de Hacer Europa'; University of Genova ('Curiosity Driven' grant); Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON2014-RECONNECT, CVON2017-ARENA PRIME).We review some of the important discoveries and advances made in basic and translational cardiac research in 2020. For example, in the field of myocardial infarction (MI), new aspects of autophagy and the importance of eosinophils were described. Novel approaches, such as a glycocalyx mimetic, were used to improve cardiac recovery following MI. The strategy of 3D bio-printing was shown to allow the fabrication of a chambered cardiac organoid. The benefit of combining tissue engineering with paracrine therapy to heal injured myocardium is discussed. We highlight the importance of cell-to-cell communication, in particular, the relevance of extracellular vesicles, such as exosomes, which transport proteins, lipids, non-coding RNAs, and mRNAs and actively contribute to angiogenesis and myocardial regeneration. In this rapidly growing field, new strategies were developed to stimulate the release of reparative exosomes in ischaemic myocardium. Single-cell sequencing technology is causing a revolution in the study of transcriptional expression at cellular resolution, revealing unanticipated heterogeneity within cardiomyocytes, pericytes and fibroblasts, and revealing a unique subpopulation of cardiac fibroblasts. Several studies demonstrated that exosome- and non-coding RNA-mediated approaches can enhance human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) viability and differentiation into mature cardiomyocytes. Important details of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter and its relevance were elucidated. Novel aspects of cancer therapeutic-induced cardiotoxicity were described, such as the novel circular RNA circITCH, which may lead to novel treatments. Finally, we provide some insights into the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the heart

Expression of small leucine rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) in bovine synovial fluid and nasal cartilage

<b>Objective:</b> Increasing evidence implicates serine proteinases in pathologic tissue turnover. The aim of this study was to assess the role of the transmembrane serine proteinase matriptase in cartilage destruction in osteoarthritis (OA). <br></br> <b>Methods:</b> Serine proteinase gene expression in femoral head cartilage obtained from either patients with hip OA or patients with fracture to the neck of the femur (NOF) was assessed using a low-density array. The effect of matriptase on collagen breakdown was determined in cartilage degradation models, while the effect on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) expression was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. ProMMP processing was determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis/N-terminal sequencing, while its ability to activate proteinase-activated receptor 2 (PAR-2) was determined using a synovial perfusion assay in mice. <br></br> <b>Results:</b> Matriptase gene expression was significantly elevated in OA cartilage compared with NOF cartilage, and matriptase was immunolocalized to OA chondrocytes. We showed that matriptase activated proMMP-1 and processed proMMP-3 to its fully active form. Exogenous matriptase significantly enhanced cytokine-stimulated cartilage collagenolysis, while matriptase alone caused significant collagenolysis from OA cartilage, which was metalloproteinase-dependent. Matriptase also induced MMP-1, MMP-3, and MMP-13 gene expression. Synovial perfusion data confirmed that matriptase activates PAR-2, and we demonstrated that matriptase-dependent enhancement of collagenolysis from OA cartilage is blocked by PAR-2 inhibition. <br></br> <b>Conclusion:</b> Elevated matriptase expression in OA and the ability of matriptase to activate selective proMMPs as well as induce collagenase expression make this serine proteinase a key initiator and inducer of cartilage destruction in OA. We propose that the indirect effects of matriptase are mediated by PAR-2, and a more detailed understanding of these mechanisms may highlight important new therapeutic targets for OA treatment