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The early and effective treatment of wounds is vital to ensure proper wound closure and healing with appropriate functional and cosmetic outcomes. The use of human amnion membranes for wound care has been shown to be safe and effective. However, the difficulty in handling and placing thin sheets of membrane, and the high costs associated with the use of living cellularized tissue has limited the clinical application of amniotic membrane wound healing products. Here, we describe a novel amnion membrane‐derived product, processed to result in a cell‐free solution, while maintaining high concentrations of cell‐derived cytokines and growth factors. The solubilized amnion membrane (SAM) combined with the carrier hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel (HA‐SAM) is easy to produce, store, and apply to wounds. We demonstrated the efficacy of HA‐SAM as a wound treatment using a full‐thickness murine wound model. HA‐SAM significantly accelerated wound closure through re‐epithelialization and prevented wound contraction. HA‐SAM‐treated wounds had thicker regenerated skin, increased total number of blood vessels, and greater numbers of proliferating keratinocytes within the epidermis. Overall, this study confirms the efficacy of the amnion membrane as a wound treatment/dressing, and overcomes many of the limitations associated with using fresh, cryopreserved, or dehydrated tissue by providing a hydrogel delivery system for SAM. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2017;6:2020–2032 Time‐course images from in vivo wound healing study. A 2 × 2 cm full‐thickness wound was created on the back of nude mice and received one of three treatment options; (A): Untreated other than standard bandaging; (B): HA‐gel only or; (C): HA‐SAM gel.

Objective #1: Biochar is a sustainable, carbon rich material that can be utilized for several applications including ionizing radiation protection. In this work, a high electron dense fluorine-doped biochar-based carbon material was developed by treating biochar with fluorine-based catalysts. Its application as a composite additive created several radiation protection materials was explored and compared to industry standards. It was found that the biochar composites were able to compete with the industry standards in both alpha radiation and gamma radiation, showing no significant difference between the materials and industry standards (p-value >.99), effectively performing as well as the industry standards. Lead was the most effective material at blocking beta radiation due to its high area density (about 1200 mg/cm2 ), but the biochar composites were able to reduce beta radiation by over 80 % in some composites, performing exceptionally well relative to their lower area densities (less than 200 mg/cm2 ). In general, the results indicated that the newly developed biochar composite materials have excellent shielding performance and can be used as an effective replacement for the industry standards ranging from lead to concrete. Objective #2: Biochar is emerging as a versatile eco-friendly material, that is known for its bioremediation abilities. By activating and applying pyrrolic and fluoric functional groups to the surface, the biochar becomes a low-cost carbon dioxide adsorbent. The activated biochar proved capable of absorbing over 12 wt.%, in a 1-hour time period, compared to 7.5 wt.% by conventional activated carbon. The activated biochar readily adsorbed and desorbed carbon dioxide at 50 degrees and 150 degrees Celsius respectfully. The activated biochar showed a slight decrease about 2 wt. % per continuous cycle, reducing to as low as 3.71 wt. % on the sixth cycle. To display the regenerablility of the activated biochar, the sample was allowed to reach equilibrium overnight and was able to capture about 11 wt. % carbon dioxide. Higher temperatures showed a reduction in the carbon dioxide capturing potential reducing the potential to 8.93 wt. % and 4.37 wt. % at 350 and 450 degrees Celsius. Longer residence times improved the carbon capturing potential of the activated biochar reaching as high as 15 wt. % with a residence time of 4 hours. Activated biochar showed the potential to become an industry leader in carbon dioxide adsorption and help improve the global landscape.

Purpose of Review Organoids are an emerging technology utilizing three-dimensional (3D), multi-cellular in vitro models to represent the function and physiological responses of tissues and organs. By using physiologically relevant models, more accurate tissue responses to viral infection can be observed, and effective treatments and preventive strategies can be identified. Animals and two-dimensional (2D) cell culture models occasionally result in inaccurate disease modeling outcomes. Organoids have been developed to better represent human organ and tissue systems, and accurately model tissue function and disease responses. By using organoids to study SARS-Cov-2 infection, researchers have now evaluated the viral effects on different organs and evaluate efficacy of potential treatments. The purpose of this review is to highlight organoid technologies and their ability to model SARS-Cov-2 infection and tissue responses. Recent Findings Lung, cardiac, kidney, and small intestine organoids have been examined as potential models of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Lung organoid research has highlighted that SARS-CoV-2 shows preferential infection of club cells and have shown value for the rapid screening and evaluations of multiple anti-viral drugs. Kidney organoid research suggests human recombinant soluble ACE2 as a preventative measure during early-stage infection. Using small intestine organoids, fecal to oral transmission has been evaluated as a transmission route for the virus. Lastly in cardiac organoids drug evaluation studies have found that drugs such as bromodomain, external family inhibitors, BETi, and apabetalone may be effective treatments for SARs-CoV-2 cardiac injury. Summary Organoids are an effective tool to study the effects of viral infections and for drug screening and evaluation studies. By using organoids, more accurate disease modeling can be performed, and physiological effects of infection and treatment can be better understood.