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Amir Porat

@amirporat.bsky.social
256 followers 256 following 9 posts

Red sea pedestrian. Herchel Smith Postdoctoral Fellow @slcuplants.bsky.social 🌱

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Reposted by Amir Porat
Pierre Haas @lepuslapis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
New #preprint: "Discontinuous buckling from cytoplasmic mechanics in vertex models of epithelia" arxiv.org/abs/2610.03239 More buckling from the #PhD work of @chandraniva.bsky.social.
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Meroz Lab @merozlab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
🌱 We introduce Segment Any Plant (SAP) in @jxbotany.bsky.social Alex Abbey developed a framework for plant image segmentation that works without task-specific training 🪩 Building on foundation vision model SAM2, SAP can segment and track growing plants across time and z-stacks tinyurl.com/4uw64paf
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Amir Porat @amirporat.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Heroic effort by @roni-kemp.bsky.social!
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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Live confocal imagining of cellular touch responses upon local quantifiable mechanical stimulation in plant cells www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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bioRxiv Plant Bio @biorxiv-plants.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Cell Geometry and Junction Arrangement Define the Mechanical Robustness of Plant Tissues www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/20…
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Daniel Kierzkowski @kierzkowskilab.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
🌱 Our new paper about growth-derived mechanical conflicts in gynoecium and fruit morphogenesis is now out @currentbiology.bsky.social 🎉Congrats to Binghan Wang and all authors. 📄https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(26)01086-9 @irbv.bsky.social @umontreal-en.bsky.social
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New Phytologist @newphyt.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
✨ Paper spotlight ✨ (🧵 1/7) Proprioception drives tension wood formation for autotropic straightening and postural control in trees nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Fig. 1 Experimental treatments for (a) Tilted tree (T trees) and (b) Tilted-then-Clinostated (TtC) trees.
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Avilash Singh Yadav @morpholosophist.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Very happy to share that our work "Growth directions and stiffness across cell layers determine whether tissues stay smooth or buckle" is now out @currentbiology.bsky.social www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... Special thanks to my postdoctoral mentor @roederlab.bsky.social and all the authors!
sciencedirect.com
Growth directions and stiffness across cell layers determine whether tissues stay smooth or buckle
Nature exhibits organs of various shapes and forms, ranging from smooth to undulated morphologies. How cells coordinate their growth to produce smooth…
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Benoit Ladoux @bladoux.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Happy to share our new study @ijmonod.bsky.social on how surface curvature shapes multicellular organization and function. How curvature controls tissue chirality, patterns distinct architectures, and influences myogenic differentiation? www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Ricard Alert Zenón @ricardalert.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
New preprint! We found an active wetting transition in cell aggregates. We obtain an active Young-Dupré condition, which allows us to capture states of partial and complete wetting. With group members MJ Franco-Oñate and Hanno Hennighausen! arxiv.org/abs/2608.28912
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Pau Formosa-Jordan @pauformosa.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Our article “Time-dependent bistability leads to critical slowing down during floral transition in Arabidopsis” is now published in @natcomms.nature.com. Link: rdcu.be/fBZ3S. What an exciting collaboration with the Coupland lab! @mpipz.bsky.social @ceplas.bsky.social #PlantDevelopment #criticality
Top: Waddington/quasi-potential landscape cartoon illustrating a bistable transition. Bottom: Scheme of a simplified regulatory network underlying floral transition at the Arabidopsis shoot apical meristem. Adapted from Rodríguez-Maroto, Wang et al. (2026). Link: https://rdcu.be/fBZ3S
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Philip Ball @philipcball.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
"The central challenge is no longer building models that reproduce biological behavior, but building models from which causal structure can be inferred." Very sensible paper about not just throwing everything into your simulation or model. arxiv.org/abs/2608.06998
arxiv.org
Simulating is not always understanding: When model complexity obscures biology
In cell biology, computational models of biological systems range from minimal representations with a handful of parameters to whole-cell simulations tracking thousands of molecular species across a c...
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Zoe Nemec Venza @zoenv.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Out now in @currentbiology.bsky.social the improved version of our paper! I am very proud of this work with @ckirchhelle.bsky.social, @nathan-german.bsky.social, Annamaria Kiss, @moritznowack.bsky.social and others! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Plant cells at the organ surface use mechanical cues to activate a specific growth-control program
During morphogenesis of multicellular organs, cells in distinct positions need to meet specific functional requirements to form the appropriate tissue…
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Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
📢 We’re hiring in APPLIED MATHEMATICS at the OXFORD UNIVERSITY Mathematical Institute. We seek candidates using modern theoretical and computational methods to study physical, biological, medical and information sciences. Deadline: 28 Sept. Info: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/81913 #AppliedMath
maths.ox.ac.uk
Associate Professor (or Professorship) in Applied Mathematics | Mathematical Institute
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Anja Geitmann @geitmannlab.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Plant performance involves physical processes - from mechanical load bearing and water transport to heat, light, and gas diffusion. Finite-element modeling combined with microCT-imaging allows linking cell-scale architectural details to organ-scale function. Review article: doi.org/10.1111/tpj....
MicroCT image of a section of leaf mesophyll reconstructed in 3D and converted to a finite element model that allows simulating the distribution of forces upon external load application. 
www.plantbiomechanics.net
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Laboratory of Plant Morphodynamics @plantmorpho.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Our new Nat Plants paper introduces WALLΦ, a genetically encoded cell wall pH sensor, and reveals that root developmental zonation is independent of local cell wall pH. Wall pH supports growth at the organ level, but local growth patterns are governed by other mechanisms. doi.org/10.1038/s414...
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Luiselotte Rausch @luiselotterausch.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Now in @jxbotany.bsky.social ! Check out our opinion piece on Atomic Force Microscopy #afm in Plant Biomechanic Research: A powerful tool that needs careful handling, interpretation & more research! @Klaus Harter, @moscabiomeclab.bsky.social at @zmbp-tuebingen.bsky.social doi.org/10.1093/jxb/...
doi.org
Validate User
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Nature Plants @natplants.nature.com · 22/07/2026
New OA Letter: "Root developmental zonation is independent of cell wall pH" rdcu.be/fu1LZ A cell wall-anchored pH sensor shows that the cell elongation profile does not correlate with cell wall acidification in Arabidopsis roots. #PlantScience
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Anja Geitmann @geitmannlab.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Why do primary plant tissues hold their shape? We are told it's because of turgor pressure—but how does that work mechanically? We investigated how pressurized cylindrical structures support themselves. Read here: doi.org/10.1039/d6sm... Funded by @hfspo.bsky.social www.plantbiomechanics.net
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Arif Ashraf @aribidopsis.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
🍀🔬 Force-responsive symmetric cell divisions orient stomata along global tissue axes @pnas.org from Andrew Muroyama's lab. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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Adrienne Roeder Lab @roederlab.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Ever stretch a plastic bag until it wrinkled? Keeping a thin sheet flat while it rapidly expands is surprisingly difficult. So how do growing plant leaves remain flat as they rapidly grow? Check out our new @currentbiology.bsky.social review, How to Grow a Flat Leaf www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
How to grow a flat leaf
Peng et al. review mechanisms driving lamina expansion, including gene expression, auxin-mediated proliferation, and microtubule-directed growth, linking disrupted coordination to morphological defect...
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RDP lab @rdplab.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
✨ Mark your calendars! ✨ The Plant Computational Biology Workshop 🌱💻 is back—10th edition! 🎉 Sept 7–11 | Lyon, France | FREE ✓ Registration mandatory Limited to 70 researchers (spots filling fast!) Learn more & Register : pcbw.inria.fr
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Sebastián Moreno-Ramírez @sebamorenor.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Excited to share that our work on single-nucleus RNA-seq of the shoot apical meristem — the shoot stem cell niche — has found a home. #Plantascience #scRNAseq #stemcells www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Single-nucleus transcriptomics resolves multiple fate dynamics between inflorescence meristem and primary stem
snRNA-seq reveals shoot stem cell heterogeneity and traces their differentiation into primary stem cell types.
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Amir Porat @amirporat.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
🥑 Torture the Avocado - A plant tropisms simulator poratamir.github.io/Torture-the-...
poratamir.github.io
Torture the Avocado 🥑
Interactive 3D plant tropisms simulator. Rotate the pot, move the light, and watch the stem respond. Based on Porat et al. (2020) Frontiers in Robotics and AI.
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Volcani Institute @volcaniinstitute.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Congratulations to the Wolf Prize Laureates! Prof. Caroline Dean, Prof. Venkatesan Sundaresan, Prof. Elliot M. Meyerowitz, Prof. Brian J.Staskawicz, Prof. Jonathan D.G Jones, and Prof. Jeff Dangl.
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Daniel Kierzkowski @kierzkowskilab.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
🍃 Growing a flat leaf 🍃 Check out our new review to learn how plants generate, maintain, and modulate flatness. A pleasure to put this together with Alexis De Carufel, Elvis Branchini, in collaboration with Marja Timmermans 🙏 👉 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
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Jean-Marie Frachisse @jm-frachisse.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
An introduction to plant biomechanics kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...
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Joel Marthelot @joelmarthelot.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Fresh off the press! Jeongeun and Yoël’s work on the lightning-fast actuation of the Venus flytrap. 🪴⚡ No muscles. No nerves. So what powers the trap? Cutting the trap suppresses its mechanical amplifier, the snap-through instability, and reveals the active motion. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Science Magazine @science.org · 11/06/2026
New research in Science reveals that the Venus flytrap's snap is triggered by a rapid softening of the epidermal cell walls, uncovering the physical mechanism behind this remarkable movement. Learn more in this week's issue: scim.ag/4fXQ9sn
A Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) leaf closes around a trapped fly. Photo: Alex Hyde/NPL/Minden Pictures
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Nathan German @nathan-german.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
What is an edge? Why is this geometrical domain so crucial during plant morphogenesis? Read our review, co-written with Antoine Chevalier and @ckirchhelle.bsky.social to find out! authors.elsevier.com/c/1nAnf4tPF4...
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Arif Ashraf @aribidopsis.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
🍀🔬 Temporal changes in surface tension guide microtubule organization and accurate asymmetric division of Arabidopsis zygotes @natcomms.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University (SLCU) @slcuplants.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Mechanical forces & cell shape guide how plant stomata form🥬👄 @leoserra.bsky.social & Euan Smithers from @robinsonsci.bsky.social's team uncover how the interplay between cell shape & mechanical stress influences the orientation of stomata doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... www.slcu.cam.ac.uk/news/mechani...
Time-lapse images of adaxial side of PM-YFP cotyledons showing new stomatal divisions occurring between 1 and 2 days after germination (DAG). Newly formed stomata are highlighted in magenta at 2DAG. Imaging by Leo Serra.
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Alain Goriely @alaingoriely.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I am looking for a Post-doc in Oxford to work with me on morphogenesis at the cellular scale, with particular emphasis on growth processes and their mechanical and dynamical consequences. Please circulate my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... This bristle is created by a single cell! Let's model it.
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Vishwadeep Mane @vishwadeep-mane.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
How do different clonal layers interact to make a leaf flat? How do they integrate genetic and mechanical cues to achieve this remarkable feat? That is precisely what we answered through our work! Special thanks to all contributors! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
biorxiv.org
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Natanella Illouz-Eliaz @natanellae.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Excited to share that I will be opening my lab this fall at the @weizmanninstitute.bsky.social in the Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences! I am looking for postdocs interested in plant biology, stress biology, and single-cell technologies. #PlantBiology #SingleCell #Epigenomics #Postdoc
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Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska @routierlab.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Interested in 3D biological image analysis with #MorphoGraphX? We created a beginner-friendly online workshop with step-by-step YouTube tutorial and accompanying training datasets: zenodo.org/records/1982...
zenodo.org
PCA Imaging Workshop Webinar Series: introduction to 3D image analysis with MorphoGraphX
This webinar is the second in a series organized by the Plant Cell Atlas (PCA). It introduces basic functions in MorphoGraphX, an open-source software platform for 3D image analysis in biological appl...
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Mechanics of Life Leverhulme Doctoral Scholarship Programme @mechanicsoflife.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska @routierlab.bsky.social presents our final #ForceTalk this year "The apical hook paradox: how to make an organ grow while keeping its shape" 📅 13 May 2026 🕒 15:00 - 16:00 BST Online & open to all 👉 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/force... #mechanobiology @kingsnmes.bsky.social
Background of DNA strand with logos of King's College London and the Leverhulme Trust and text 13 May 2026 The apical hook paradox: how to make an organ grow while keeping its shape Professor Anne-Lise Routier-Kierzkowska University of Montreal Force Talks Mechanics of Life Leverhulme DSP seminar series
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Oded Rechavi @odedrechavi.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
We built an AI that will tell you what will get your grant rejected. It’s a tough critique, but it’s better to know when you can still do something about it 👇 @qedscience.bsky.social
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Steffen Rulands @rulands.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
New paper out in Nature Physics: we show that the embryonic epigenome forms according to universal physical rules. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
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Meroz Lab @merozlab.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Plants are everywhere 🌳 but rarely thought of as computing. New review (preprint 🪩 lnkd.in/d5KwzzPN): plants sense, compute, and move without a brain - via growth, combining physical computation, embodied intelligence & functional noise. A physics view of decentralized behavior in living matter 🌱
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Michael Wrzaczek @mwrzaczek.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Congratulations to Ivan Kulich from IPMB, Biology Centre CAS for his new paper in Science looking at calcium, ROS and root growth @MOLIPEC www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Science | AAAS
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Xavier Trepat @xaviertrepat.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Our latest work on shape-programmable tissues is out in @science.org. By positioning topological defects in cellular nematics, we encode frustrated 2D force fields that relax into predictable 3D shapes. Collaboration with Marino Arroyo’s lab, led by @pauguillamat.bsky.social at @ibecbarcelona.eu.
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Daniel Kierzkowski @kierzkowskilab.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Do you want to know how to build an organ from a single cell? Check out our paper about phyllid development in moss by Weney Lin @irbv.bsky.social Colaboration with Yoan Couder @ensdelyon.bsky.social and and Richard Smith @johninnescentre.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
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Mateusz Majda @matmajda.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Happy to see this out! Big congratulations to @nicolatrozzi.bsky.social and all involved! doi.org/10.1038/s443...
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Pierre Haas @lepuslapis.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Now #published @physreve.bsky.social: "Elasticity and plasticity of epithelial gap closure" doi.org/10.1103/qtcv-gk3y #PhD work of Maryam Setoudeh, a model of cell intercalations during epiboly as elastoplastic deformations of a surface. @mpipks.bsky.social @mpi-cbg.de @csbdresden.bsky.social
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Meroz Lab @merozlab.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Preprint 🌱 Plants build nonlinear vectorial representations of light patterns! Surprising results: Opposing cues cancel, so plants grow towards a weaker tie-breaker light. Plants respond to sum of transduced signals, not physical sum of light: optical “illusions”! 🪩 tinyurl.com/44f83xh8
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Meroz Lab @merozlab.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
New preprint 🌱 Segment plants in time-series images using foundation model SAM2 - without training a model 🪩. Magician Alex Abbey! 💡SAP works across species, scales, and even z-stacks. From single cells to whole plants→ quantitative growth & dynamics . tinyurl.com/3raedtvm @biosofttau.bsky.social
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Meroz Lab @merozlab.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
🌱 “To twine or not to twine?” Preprint 🪩 Plants use inherent circular movements (circumnuations) for active sensing of support mechanical stability (eg whisking 🐭), twining occurs at a torque threshold. Heroic experiments by Amir Ohad, fancy simulations @amirporat.bsky.social: tinyurl.com/2syh4ny3
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Oliver Jensen @oeskildjensen.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Viewing the vertex model through the lens of exterior calculus to investigate monolayer ablation doi.org/10.1007/s002...
doi.org
Harmonic fields and the mechanical response of a cellular monolayer to ablation - Journal of Mathematical Biology
Multicellular tissues, such as the epithelium coating a developing embryo, often combine complex tissue shapes with heterogeneity in the spatial arrangement of individual cells. Discrete approximation...
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Michael Raissig @michaelraissig.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Our first study on how the leaf succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora makes stomatal subsidiary cells is finally peer-reviewed & out - and it made the cover! 🌵 🧬 🔬 doi.org/10.1126/scia... Despite 150 years of evolution, grasses and Crassulacean succulents use the SAME gene to make subsidiary cells! 🤯
ONLINE COVER: Leaves of Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, a member of the Crassulaceae family of succulents also containing Kalanchoë laxiflora. Stomata, otherwise known as plants’ breathing pores, allow gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere, but little is known about how succulent stomata are formed or move. Cheng et al.’s investigation into K. laxiflora revealed that subsidiary cells can support the opening and closing of stomata and that the transcription factor MUTE, which drives stomatal development, also facilitates additional rounds of asymmetric division needed to generate subsidiary cells. Their work provides insight into succulent development and could be applied in agricultural contexts to engineer water conservation strategies.

Credit: Rob Tilley / MindenExcessive activation of the MUTE gene switch leads to unrestricted asymmetric cell divisions in the leaf surface of the succulent Kalanchoë laxiflora.
© Miro LäderachThe MUTE gene switch is active in all cells of the developing stomata. Gene activity is visible through a weak signal (in blue) in the future helper cells and a strong signal (in green) in the mother cell of the guard cells.
© Michael Raissig
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