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Mary Heskel

@maryheskel.bsky.social
923 followers 129 following 24 posts

plant ecophysiologist, SLAC professor, studies plants and carbon across scales.

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Reposted by Mary Heskel
Nick Smith @nickgregsmith.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I am hiring a Postdoc on Plant Ecophysiology to join our new group at U Nebraska. The link below has the full ad and instructions for applying. Please share widely! #botany #botanyjobs #ecophysiology #ecophysjobs #globalchange employment.unl.edu/postings/102...
employment.unl.edu
Postdoctoral Research Associate in Plant Ecophysiology
A postdoctoral position examining plant physiological responses to environmental variability is available in the lab of Dr. Nick Smith in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebrask...
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Neil Pederson @yellowbuckeye.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Decoupled carbon assimilation and growth responses to aridity in temperate deciduous oaks Led by @mukund24rao.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Decoupled carbon assimilation and growth responses to aridity in temperate deciduous oaks
Long-term carbon sequestration as woody biomass in oaks is decoupled from photosynthesis and more sensitive to climate change.
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闵娅(Min Ya; Minya) PhD @minyaaa.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
This spring I took over and redesigned the only Gen Ed on plants here #IB103. We walked through every core aspect of plant bio in lectures & labs, but also through art & design. I had a blast, the evaluations are rewarding (4.9/5), the redesign got an award from the college, and a little press too!
screenshots of the press coverage from the siebel center for design. The link to the article will be in the commenta pic of me yapping at the design center
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 30/05/2026
Good job Minnesota 💪🏿
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Starting my department chairship on June 1. Drop/share all your pro-tips, books, essays, hacks, escape hatches, excuses, invisibility cloaks, etc. Thank you!
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Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 27/04/2026
Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data)... • about 490,000 km² below the 2010s mean • about 830,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 1,240,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 1,790,000 km² below the 1980s mean More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...
Line graph time series of 2026's daily Arctic sea ice extent compared to decadal averages from the 1980s to the 2010s. The decadal averages are shown with different colored lines with purple for the 1980s, blue for the 1990s, green for the 2000s, and white for the 2010s. Thin white lines are also shown for each year from 2000 to 2025. 2026 is shown with a thick gold line. There is a long-term decreasing trend in ice extent for every day of the year shown on this graph between March and May by looking at the decadal average line positions.
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
Naming your biology LLM after Rosalind Franklin is… hell is not hot enough
These fuckin chuds
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🌴 Scott Zona, Ph.D. 🌴 @scottzona.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
How wonderful that Cambridge University is offering a botany course based on Henslow's original materials! #Darwin #Cambridge #botany
theguardian.com
Cambridge offers botany course that inspired Darwin after rare archive uncovered
University’s botanic garden will use study materials created by John Stevens Henslow, the naturalist’s mentor, 200 years ago
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
@aiym-bakytbaikyzy.bsky.social profiled by the Bell Museum made my day! Love to see former students do cool research!
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Darren Dahly @statsepi.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Every day is a good day for sharing one of the most useful papers about research data ever written. PLEASE get your people to understand and follow this advice. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Data Organization in Spreadsheets
Karl W. Broman
& Kara H. Woo
Pages 2-10 | Received 01 Jun 2017, Accepted author version posted online: 29 Sep 2017, Published online: 24 Apr 2018

    1. Introduction
    2. Be Consistent
    3. Choose Good Names for Things
    4. Write Dates as YYYY-MM-DD
    5. No Empty Cells
    6. Put Just One Thing in a Cell
    7. Make it a Rectangle
    8. Create a Data Dictionary
    9. No Calculations in the Raw Data Files
    10. Do Not Use Font Color or Highlighting as Data
    11. Make Backups
    12. Use Data Validation to Avoid Errors
    13. Save the Data in Plain Text Files

ABSTRACT

Spreadsheets are widely used software tools for data entry, storage, analysis, and visualization. Focusing on the data entry and storage aspects, this article offers practical recommendations for organizing spreadsheet data to reduce errors and ease later analyses. The basic principles are: be consistent, write dates like YYYY-MM-DD, do not leave any cells empty, put just one thing in a cell, organize the data as a single rectangle (with subjects as rows and variables as columns, and with a single header row), create a data dictionary, do not include calculations in the raw data files, do not use font color or highlighting as data, choose good names for things, make backups, use data validation to avoid data entry errors, and save the data in plain text files.
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Gina Baucom @gbaucom.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
🌿 Postdoc opportunity in plant evolutionary ecology/genetics! My lab in the Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan is recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to start Fall 2026. We study plant adaptation, using weeds as model systems. #Postdoc #EcoEvo Pls RT!
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#1 Lifelong Houston Cougs Fan Brandi 😾 @itsthebrandi.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
It's wild how if fewer than 10 people on the entire planet were removed from power, things would improve by magnitudes. Even factoring in any destabilizing effects. They're that fucking terrible.
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John Lovell @jotlovell.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
I'm super excited to share that this article was published today in Science! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... All made possible by the fantastic group of donors, volunteers and scientists at The American Chestnut Foundation (tacf.org), HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, and our collaborators.
science.org
Genomic approaches to accelerate American chestnut restoration
More than a century after two introduced pathogens killed billions of American chestnut trees, introgression of resistance alleles from Chinese chestnuts has contributed to the recovery of self-sustai...
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 06/02/2026
BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
mprnews.org
DHS has requested expedited deportation proceedings against family of Liam Conejo Ramos
The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.
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Jason Chavez @jchavezmpls.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This morning, federal agents staged at the Powderhorn Park Recreation Center lot and began to throw chemical irritants at observers. They also kidnapped an observer. Our parks are meant for our children, youth, and neighbors. They should never be militarized zones meant to separate families. 1/
Federal agents at powderhorn park
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Natalie Bennett @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
Important education message: "independent research has made clear that technology rarely boosts learning in schools—and often impairs it." A few profit and the most vulnerable pay www.economist.com/united-state...
economist.com
Ed tech is profitable. It is also mostly useless
Independent research identifies few learning gains
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John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
A federal judge, in a published order, so very much on the record: “ICE has likely violated more court orders in January 2026 than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.”
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 27/01/2026
my expectation of democratic senators is that they find 1/10th of the bravery of your average 70 year old lutheran lady following ICE around mpls in her subaru crosstrek
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Last week in Minnesota, I watched ordinary people risk their lives to protect their neighbors. In the process, they not only won a significant—though not final—victory against authoritarianism, they proved virtually every MAGA social theory wrong. (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Every social theory undergirding Trumpism has been broken on the steel of Minnesotan resolve. The multiracial community in Minneapolis was supposed to shatter. It did not. It held until Bovino was forced out of the Twin Cities with his long coat between his legs.

The secret fear of the morally depraved is that virtue is actually common, and that they’re the ones who are alone. In Minnesota, all of the ideological cornerstones of MAGA have been proved false at once. Minnesotans, not the armed thugs of ICE and the Border Patrol, are brave. Minnesotans have shown that their community is socially cohesive—because of its diversity and not in spite of it. Minnesotans have found and loved one another in a world atomized by social media, where empty men have tried to fill their lonely soul with lies about their own inherent superiority. Minnesotans have preserved everything worthwhile about “Western civilization,” while armed brutes try to tear it down by force.
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
This is a really incredible piece. Share it widely 🎁https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/01/minneapolis-uprising/685755/?gift=C-rzmQ8PsUHt15odxTKJDn7xrpPNxSpotkNz_P27oI0
theatlantic.com
Welcome to the American Winter
In the frozen streets of Minneapolis, something profound is happening.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 25/01/2026
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 25/01/2026
tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors. i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare. thank you. thank you.
standwithminnesota.com
Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory
Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.
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Joe @joealv.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Just saw on KARE 11 that this boy was sent to a detainment facility in Texas and that his family didn't know his whereabouts for almost 24 hours.
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Minnesota: "School officials say the [5-year-old] child was used as bait. They say [ICE] agents made little Liam knock on the door to ask to be let in in order to see if anyone else was home."
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ashley fairbanks @ziibiing.com · 20/01/2026
minnesotans are prepping for a massive statewide protest on friday, a day where it will be -10. that’s how much we hate ICE.
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Beronda L. Montgomery @berondam.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
One week countdown When Trees Testify Science Wisdom History and America's Black Botanical Legacy debut (@henryholtbooks.bsky.social / @macmillanpubusa.bsky.social ) Jan. 20, 2026! Pre-order your copy today & have it hand in seven days: us.macmillan.com/books/978125... I'm excited beyond measure!
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
This is two blocks from my workplace. Those apartments in the background are off-campus student housing.
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Eric Schmeltzer @ericschmeltzer.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
ICE has murdered an American citizen in Minneapolis. They're claiming self defense but witnesses say the woman they killed was complying with their orders to get her car out of their way. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
mprnews.org
Live updates: ICE says agent, ‘fearing for his life,’ kills woman in south Minneapolis
ICE officials say the woman was shot and killed Wednesday morning in south Minneapolis after attempting to run over agents with her car. Witnesses dispute ICE’s version of what happened. Mayor Jacob F...
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Rosie Fisher @rosieafisher.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
The beautiful idea of NCAR, to improve understanding of our planet through a cooperative, shared and open intellectual team effort, is literally what has got me out of bed every morning for nearly two decades. This cannot, CANNOT be allowed to happen. eu.usatoday.com/story/news/p...
eu.usatoday.com
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
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Maria Popova @mariapopova.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Emily Dickinson's herbarium – a forgotten treasure at the intersection of poetry and science www.themarginalian.org/2017/05/23/e...
themarginalian.org
Emily Dickinson’s Herbarium: A Forgotten Treasure at the Intersection of Science and Poetry
An elegy for time and the mortality of beauty, composed with passionate patience and a sensuous cadence.
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
The USDA's shutdown messages are increasingly unhinged. I discovered this looking up lecture materials & the banner blamed the "Radical Left Democrats". Today's is much worse. Other agencies have a simple, uncharged heading.
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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
An important paper - just out in @natureportfolio.nature.com documenting a decline in net C uptake by Australian rainforests. Eventually the same will occur in other rainforests - a reminder that we need to get to net zero ASAP. @biologyanu.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Aboveground biomass in Australian tropical forests now a net carbon source - Nature
A transition from carbon sink to source for the aboveground woody biomass of moist tropical Australian forests has occurred, driven by increasingly extreme climate anomalies.
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Eric Holthaus @ericholthaus.com · 04/10/2025
Looks like Minneapolis hit 90°F today, October 4th — the latest 90-degree day in city history.
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Christopher Krieg 🌿 @ckrieg.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
🚨 1 Week Left to Apply! 🚨 The Krieg Lab is hiring a Research Professional in Plant Ecophysiology & Evolution. 📅 Deadline: October 1, 2025 📧 Sending materials (Cover Letter, CV, References) to: kriegc[at]wfu.edu
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Great post-bacc opportunity to work with @stotra.bsky.social and do field work in Kenya!
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GBIF Morpho 🦋 @gbifmorpho.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
High tree diversity exposed to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions even under minimal an…... by @bjenquist.bsky.social @jcsvenning.bsky.social published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences using @gbif.org mediated data: #CiteTheDOI: ✅ doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2420059122
pnas.org
High tree diversity exposed to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions even under minimal anthropogenic climate change | PNAS
Tree species worldwide face increasing exposure to unprecedented macroclimatic conditions due to anthropogenic climate change, which may trigger bi...
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
Hi All! I'm back from sabbatical and teaching Plant Ecophys again - a class near and dear to my heart! In the past, I've welcomed grad students and post-docs to share their research with students and their stories about how they got into the field.....
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Also a statistics position is open at Macalester as well, also linked here. www.macalester.edu/provost/posi...
macalester.edu
Position Openings
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
🧬 🧪 🧬 Tenure-track position in Molecular Genetics at @macalestercollege.bsky.social 🧬 🧪 🧬 Applications due Sept 15! Please share and feel free to reach out to me via email or DM about working at Macalester/living in MN/etc! careers.insidehighered.com/job/3365525/...
careers.insidehighered.com
Biology - Assistant Professor - Molecular Genetics - Saint Paul, Minnesota job with Macalester College | 3365525
The Biology Department at Macalester College invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position at the level of Assistant Professor in the ...
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Karolina Heyduk @kheyduk.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
The PLANTS program (funded by NSF) at @botsocamerica.bsky.social was a cornerstone of the conference each year, bringing together new-to-science scholars with more experienced mentors. It helped provide community, support, and connection to new scientists. The grant was terminated last week.
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Rich Phillips @richphillipslab.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
This took a minute but excited to share it now link.springer.com/10.1007/s004... Trees get N by resorbing from foliage & foraging in soil - but are the two coordinated? We tested hypotheses about relationships between resorption & root production for 12 spp in mature forests & 9 spp in a garden.
link.springer.com
Assessing carbon and nitrogen economics in temperate forests through the relationship between foliar nutrient resorption and root production - Oecologia
Plants both respond to and influence their immediate soil environment, which can yield divergent predictions regarding plant economics and trait coordination. Tree species with high foliar nitrogen (N...
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 05/05/2025
I have an advisee who is switching over from econ to environmental science/ecology who is awesome and would be a great summer researcher! He would love to get field experience and is open to all kinds of opportunities. Thanks!
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
There’s some inaccurate NSF information spreading and causing extra panic. New increments on existing awards are paused. But: to the best of my knowledge, drawdown (reimbursement) on existing increments is not paused. ACMS is still accessible. Could change at any moment, though. Please share.
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Stephanie Pau @stephpau.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
How does #hyperspectral leaf reflectance vary with functional traits, site, and evolutionary lineage in #grasses? New paper, part of a special issue "Advancing Spectral Biology to Understand Plant Diversity Across Scales", check it out: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
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Victor Galaz @vgalaz.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
Would it be possible to sue major fossil fuel companies for the resulting climate damage using climate attribution science? This paper says 'yes'. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Carbon majors and the scientific case for climate liability - Nature
A transparent and reproducible scientific framework is introduced to formalize how trillions in economic losses are attributable to the extreme heat caused by emissions from fossil fuel companies, whi...
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Owen Atkin @owenatkin.bsky.social · 23/04/2025
Great to work with Bruhn et al. on an article on RQ's (i.e. respiratory CO2 efflux:O2 uptake ratio) in plants. Typically we assume the fluxes to be in balance, but in many cases, they are not, with implications for C modeling. @pplplantarum.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Importance of the leaf respiratory quotient
Rates of leaf respiratory CO2-release (RCO2) are important for terrestrial biosphere models that estimate carbon exchange between plants and the atmosphere. Hitherto, models of RCO2 have primarily be...
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Mary Heskel @maryheskel.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
@li-corenv.bsky.social - Please share the inspiration and behind the scenes of this 6800 vs 6400 photoshoot. It's giving distracted boyfriend meme.
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Sean Michaletz @seanmichaletz.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Fully funded PhD in Plant Ecophysiology at UBC in Vancouver 🍁! Possible topics include leaf physiology, thermal ecology, microclimates, scaling, tree physiology, forest ecology & more. Start Jan/May/Sept 2026. michaletzlab.org Please share! #PlantEcoPhys #Ecology #Botany #PhDposition #GradSchool
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AoB Plants @aobp.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
🌱Exciting Opportunity! AoB PLANTS is looking for a new Chief Editor as Professor Tom Buckley steps down this summer. This is your chance to lead a top-tier, open-access plant science journal. ✅ Download full job details 👉 wp.me/pdRZhH-lJv Apply by 17 March!
AoB PLANTS is looking for a new Chief Editor as Professor Tom Buckley steps down this summer. This is your chance to lead a top-tier, open-access plant science journal.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
The most iconic figure in the environmental sciences is the Keeling Curve, the CO₂ record from Mauna Loa, Hawaii. @noaa.gov had a wonderful site where you could visualize and download these data, and now it's just gone. These data belong to us and we should not let this happen!
A line graph showing atmospheric CO2 levels at Mauna Loa Observatory from 1955 to 2025. The y-axis represents CO2 mole fraction in parts per million (ppm), ranging from 320 to 420 ppm, while the x-axis is years.
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