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Heart diseases are leading cause of death around the world. Given their unique capacity to self-renew and differentiate into all types of somatic cells, human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) hold great promise for heart disease modeling and cardiotoxic drug screening. hPSC-derived cardiac organoids are emerging biomimetic models for studying heart development and cardiovascular diseases, but it remains challenging to make mature organoids with a native-like structure in vitro . In this study, temporal modulation of Wnt signaling pathway co-differentiated hPSCs into beating cardiomyocytes and cardiac endothelial-like cells in 3D organoids, resulting in cardiac endothelial-bounded chamber formation. These chambered cardiac organoids exhibited more mature membrane potential compared to cardiac organoids composed of only cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, a better response to toxic drugs was observed in chamber-contained cardiac organoids. In summary, spatiotemporal signaling pathway modulation may lead to more mature cardiac organoids for studying cardiovascular development and diseases.

Augmented reality (AR) interfaces increasingly utilize artificial intelligence systems to tailor content and experiences to the user. We explore the effects of one such system — a recommender system for online shopping — which allows customers to view personalized product recommendations in the physical spaces where they might be used. We describe results of a [Formula: see text] condition exploratory study in which recommendation quality was varied across three user interface types. Our results highlight potential differences in user perception of the recommended objects in an AR environment. Specifically, users rate product recommendations significantly higher in AR and in a 3D browser interface, and show a significant increase in trust in the recommender system, compared to a web interface with 2D product images. Through semi-structured interviews, we gather participant feedback which suggests AR interfaces perform better due to their ability to view products within the physical context where they will be used.