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Background: Modeling of human arrhythmias using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes has focused on single cell phenotypes. However, arrhythmias are the emergent properties of cells assembled into tissues, and the impact of inherited arrhythmia mutations on tissue-level properties of human heart tissue has not been reported.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) has indeed been shown as a main complication of hepatectomy, liver transplantation, trauma, and hypovolemic shock. A large number of studies have confirmed that microvascular and parenchymal damage is mainly caused by reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is considered to be a major risk factor for IRI. Under normal conditions, ROS as a kind of by-product of cellular metabolism can be controlled at normal levels. However, when IRI occurs, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation is inhibited. In addition, oxidative respiratory chain damage leads to massive consumption of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and large amounts of ROS. Additionally, mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in various organs and tissues in IRI. On the one hand, excessive free radicals induce mitochondrial damage, for instance, mitochondrial structure, number, function, and energy metabolism. On the other hand, the disorder of mitochondrial fusion and fission results in further reduction of the number of mitochondria so that it is not enough to clear excessive ROS, and mitochondrial structure changes to form mitochondrial membrane permeable transport pores (mPTPs), which leads to cell necrosis and apoptosis, organ failure, and metabolic dysfunction, increasing morbidity and mortality. According to the formation mechanism of IRI, various substances have been discovered or synthesized for specific targets and cell signaling pathways to inhibit or slow the damage of liver IRI to the body. Here, based on the development of this field, this review describes the role of mitochondria in liver IRI, from aspects of mitochondrial oxidative stress, mitochondrial fusion and fission, mPTP formation, and corresponding protective measures. Therefore, it may provide references for future clinical treatment and research.

Purpose -Programming of festivals is more and more becoming a source from which the competitive advantages of the festivals may originate. This study aims to conceptualize the dimensionality of programming quality of festivals and empirically test it and its relationships with the satisfaction and behavioral intention levels of festival visitors. Design/methodology/approach -Structured interviews were conducted with 350 visitors to a cultural festival. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized in the data analysis. Findings -The programming quality of festivals was found to consist of six dimensions, namely diversity, stakeholder balance, incrementality, simultaneity, flexibility and linkage. Meanwhile, the positive effects of festival programming quality on the satisfaction and behavioral intention levels of festival visitors are confirmed. Research limitations/implications -This study is limited for possible inexhaustiveness of the dimensions proposed and examined. Future research is needed to make the current measurement more rigorous, succinct and comprehensive.Practical implications -This study can offer some valuable insights for festival planners and organizers to better design, operate and manage their festival to such an extent that the experiences of festival visitors are maximized, visitor satisfactions are enhanced, and re-visits to future festivals facilitated. Originality/value -This study makes its contribution to better understanding of festival programming quality, where artistic, emotional and technological aspects are integrated. This study aims to delineate the entirety of programming quality of festivals and its relationships to the satisfaction and behavioral intention levels of festival visitors.

Purpose This study aims to explore the influence of psychological empowerment on the career competencies of Generation Y employees and the relationship between empowerment and career satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Generation Y working in the hospitality industry comprised the target population of this study. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 458 valid questionnaires were obtained. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and to test the causal relationships among the constructs. Findings Psychological empowerment was positively related to career competencies and career satisfaction. Moreover, the four dimensions of psychological empowerment, namely, impact, competence, self-determination and meaning, also contributed positively to the career competencies and satisfaction of Generation Y. Findings indicated that empowerment was an important predictor of career management among young employees. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study is the use of convenience sampling method, with participants selected according to their accessibility. Future studies should collect a reasonably broad sample by using probability sampling methods. Practical implications The findings of this study provided useful guidance to manage and empower Generation Y employees. First, the importance of psychological empowerment to enhance the career competencies and satisfaction of young employees was proved. Second, this study provided detailed information on how to empower Generation Y employees. Third, this study may help to retain qualified employees by empowering and supporting their career development. Social implications This study highlighted the importance of empowerment in managing Generation Y employees. Once Generation Y employees are trusted and empowered, they tend to perform well in both their job and career. Findings indicated that the four factors of psychological empowerment had different contributions to careers of the employees. Results suggest that managers should attempt to assign challenging and meaningful tasks to young employees and to increase their responsibility and impact in the organization. To attract and retain qualified young employees, career competences should be enhanced to achieve a level of career satisfaction. Originality/value This study presented new findings on Generation Y and the outcomes of psychological empowerment. Initial evidence on the contribution of empowerment to the career issues of the new generation was proved. The findings outlined detailed information on psychological empowerment by exploring the function of its four factors. The results may serve as a foundation for future research on empowerment and career issues of Generation Y.

Purpose Enlightened by the theoretical framework of adapted protection motivation, this study aims to explore and assess the viability and resilience of hospitality consumption in the ongoing Covid-19 era as embodied in the activity of staycation, which is gaining popularity as a rare escape from the hemming in of the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This study collects data from staycation guests in Hong Kong, which at the time was under semi-lockdown imposing compulsory quarantine for inbound visitors. The data was analyzed through structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings It is revealed by the study results that staycation experiences in Hong Kong are underpinned by a full mediating effect between place attachment and experience quality is performed by sense of presence, together with consolidation of experience quality and psychological detachment as tenable mediators in the research model. Aside from the utilitarian and hedonic values, hospitality and tourism consumption have been engrained with profound socio-cultural implications congenial to the collective identities, recollection and contemplation of a civilized society, with the Covid-19 era and the foreseeable future expected to be no exception. Practical implications The results of this study can serve as reference regarding better planning and development of the staycation product as effective responses against the grave repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic by hotel and hospitality practitioners and destination marketers and managers at large. In particular, the pandemic has inadvertently availed the opportunity for the destinationalization of the hotel and hospitality sector, with rich implications for industrial consolidations and coordination with destination authorities. Originality/value The holistic structural research model derived and empirically examined entails major antecedents and consequences of the experience quality of staycation guests in locked-down Hong Kong, with the incorporation of the variables of place attachment and extended conceptualization of sense of presence accounting for the efficacy factors of the staycation takers in terms of locality and recollection appraisals, respectively. This study enriches theoretical articulations on staycation as the new normal of hospitality consumption in the lingering pandemic era.

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Increasing evidence has shown that specificity protein 1 (Sp1) is abnormally increased in the brains of subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and transgenic AD models. However, whether the Sp1 activation plays a critical role in the AD pathogenesis and selective inhibition of Sp1 activation may have a disease-modifying effect on the AD-like phenotypes remain elusive. In this study, we reported that Sp1 mRNA and protein expression were markedly increased in the brain of APPswe/PS1dE9 transgenic mice, whereas chronic administration of mithramycin A (MTM), a selective Sp1 inhibitor, potently inhibited Sp1 activation in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mice down to the levels of wild-type mice. Specifically, we found that MTM treatment resulted in a significant improvement of learning and memory deficits, a dramatic reduction in cerebral Aβ levels and plaque burden, a profound reduction in tau hyperphosphorylation, and a marked increase in synaptic marker in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. In addition, MTM treatment was powerfully effective in inhibiting amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing via suppressing APP, beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), and presenilin-1 (PS1) mRNA and protein expression to preclude Aβ production in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. Furthermore, MTM treatment strongly inhibited phosphorylated CDK5 and GSK3β signal pathways to reduce tau hyperphosphorylation in the APPswe/PS1dE9 mice. Collectively, our findings provide evidence that Sp1 activation may contribute to the AD pathogenesis and may serve as a novel therapeutic target in the treatment of AD. The present study highlights that selective Sp1 inhibitors may be considered as disease-modifying therapeutic agents for AD.