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Greetings!
Annual
Membership Drive: Join Integrity
Research Institute as a member within the next month
and receive a free copy of our IRI Annual Report(40
pages) and either a Breakthrough Energy DVD or a Dr.
Glen Gordon Pulsed Electrotherapy DVD (or any one of
the other five choices on the IRI
membership page-indicate in comment field).
After
being filmed talking about suppressed energy devices for the Sirius
documentary, which comes out this week, I felt
apprehensive about it since the minature mummy prominently featured
in the film isn't what it seems to be according to DNA analysis.
Along the same controversial lines of "disclosure", it
looks like I'll be accepting participation in the Citizens
Hearing at the National Press Club on a Technology
Panel this Friday, May 3rd at the request of copanelist Dr.
Robert Wood, a former McDonnell Douglas engineer and Steve Bassett
the Coordinator. Anyone can webcast the
entire week's broadcast for only $3.80 surprisingly.
We
are happy to promote the next Conference on
Future Energy (COFE6) at the U of Md and hope you
will participate in any way possible. We are planning the ebook Proceedings
of COFE6 to be available online through a major
distributor aiming at reaching libraries and schools. It is likely
the conference will also feature a live cavitation fusion
demonstration from Dr. Max Formichev-Zamilov from
Pennsylvania State University. You may still submit abstracts for
giving a lecture and/or submit a paper.
On
a healthy note, the "most important bioelectromagnetics
meeting" BioEM 2013 will
be held in Thessaloniki, Greece June 10-14, 2013 and early
registration is available.
Our
story #1 is another amazing zero-point energy discovery where
no other physics explains the pyrrole molecular behavior, even though
it ismacroscopic or in other words: big. Zero-point
energy moving within a pyrrole molecule is unexpectedly sensitive to
the exact site occupied by the molecule on the surface. In moving
from one site to another, the 'activation energy' must include a
sizeable contribution due to the change in the quantum 'zero-point
energy'. "Scientists believe the effect is particularly
noticeable in the case of pyrrole because the 'activation energy'
needed for diffusion is particularly small, but that many other
similar molecules ought to show the same kind of behavior."
Remarkably like dark energy, 2/3 of the activation barrier was found
to be due to zero-point energy affecting the molecule. It may not be
too long before my book, Practical
Conversion of Zero-Point Energy becomes required
reading for college physics and chemistry students.
Story
#2 relates an equally important breakthrough: a self-healing
artificial leaf that produces energy. It is also an inexpensive
source of electricity that may work wonders in third world countries.
Story
#3 explains a well-funded Mercurius operation by the Department of
Energy which promises to be a more efficient process, with less
wasted water, for producing cellulosic biofuel for diesel or even jet
fuel.
The
21st century seems to be really here now that a serious
nonprofit organization called Mars One in story #4
has initial funding in place for recruiting four people to make
a one-way trip to Mars within ten years. Of course energy is a
primary part of this story and the second related story interviews a Nobel
prize winner who is endorsing the project by becoming its ambassador.
Get ready for the first citizens of Mars to be born soon afterwards.
Why will this project actually take place? Interplanetary Media Group
has the exclusive broadcasting rights for the event and will pay a
license fee which keeps growing as interest and support grow for the
first Human Mission to Mars.
With
the last story #5, we see the push toward portable solar power for
those on the go with a solicitation for a flexible, stretchable and
hyperelastic PV textile to be developed for the Army. Hopefully we'll
see a spinoff for civilians soon afterwards from the company that
receives the SBIR grant, which may help our good doctor Jacqueline
Panting's Electrotherapeutic
Antioxidant Clothing to be powered as well, although
many microcurrent sources including zinc and copper work very well
already. Soon we will be wearing our antioxidants instead of orally
ingesting them only once in a while.
Sincerely,
Thomas
Valone, PhD, PE.
Editor
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1) Zero Point Energy? Molecule runs
counter to classical physics
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(Phys.org) -New research shows that movement of the
ring-like molecule pyrrole over a metal surface runs counter to the
centuries-old laws of 'classical' physics that govern our everyday
world.
Surprisingly, with pyrrole the
predicted 'activation barriers' were way out, with calculations
"less than a third of the measured value". After
much head scratching, puzzled scientists turned to a purely quantum phenomenon called
'zero-point energy'.
Using
uniquely sensitive experimental techniques, scientists have found
that laws of quantum physics - believed
primarily to influence at only sub-atomic levels - can actually
impact on a molecular level.
Researchers
at Cambridge's Chemistry Department and Cavendish Laboratory say they
have evidence that, in the case of pyrrole, quantum laws affecting the
internal motions of the molecule change the "very nature of the energy landscape"
- making this 'quantum motion' essential to understanding the
distribution of the whole molecule.
The
study, a collaboration between scientists from Cambridge and Rutgers
universities, appeared in the German chemistry journal Angewandte
Chemie earlier this month.
A
pyrrole molecule's centre consists of a "flat pentagram" of
five atoms, four carbon and one nitrogen. Each of these atoms has an
additional hydrogen atom attached, sticking out like spokes.
Following
experiments performed by Barbara Lechner at the Cavendish Laboratory
to determine the energy required for movement of pyrrole across a copper surface,
the team discovered a discrepancy that led them down a 'quantum' road
to an unusual discovery.
In
previous work on simpler molecules, the scientists were able to
accurately calculate the 'activation barrier' - the energy required
to loosen a molecule's bond to a surface, allowing movement - using 'density functional theory', a method
that treats the electrons which bind the atoms according to quantum mechanics but,
crucially, deals with atomic nuclei using a
'classical' physics approach.
Surprisingly,
with pyrrole the predicted 'activation barriers' were way out, with
calculations "less than a third of the measured value". After much head scratching,
puzzled scientists turned to a purely quantum phenomenon called 'zero-point
energy'.
In classical physics, an object
losing energy can continue to do so until it can be thought of as
sitting perfectly still. In the quantum world, this is never the
case: everything always retains some form of residual - even
undetectable - energy, known as 'zero-point energy'.
While
'zero-point energy' is well known to be associated with motion of the
atoms contained in molecules, it was previously believed that such
tiny amounts of energy simply don't affect the molecule as a whole to
any measurable extent, unless the molecule broke apart.
But now, the
researchers have discovered that the "quantum nature" of
the molecule's internal motion actually does affect the molecule as a
whole as it moves across the surface, defying the 'classical' laws
that it's simply too big to feel quantum effects.
'Zero-point
energy' moving within a pyrrole molecule is unexpectedly sensitive to
the exact site occupied by the molecule on the surface. In moving
from one site to another, the 'activation energy' must include a
sizeable contribution due to the change in the quantum 'zero-point
energy'.
Scientists
believe the effect is particularly noticeable in the case of pyrrole
because the 'activation energy' needed for diffusion is particularly
small, but that many other similar molecules ought to show the same
kind of behavior.
"Understanding
the nature of molecular diffusion on metal surfaces is of great
current interest, due to efforts to manufacture two-dimensional
networks of ring-like molecules for use in optical, electronic or
spintronic devices," said Dr Stephen Jenkins, who heads up the
Surface Science Group in Cambridge's Department of Chemistry.
"The balance
between the activation energy and the energy barrier that sticks the
molecules to the surface is critical in determining which networks
are able to form under different conditions."
Related:Superconductivity-like electron pair
formation in molecules discovered
More
information: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201302289/abstract
Journal
reference:Angewandte Chemie
Provided byUniversity of Cambridge
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-04-movement-pyrrole-molecules-defy-classical.html#jCp
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2)
Self-Healing Artificial Leaf Produces Energy from Dirty Water
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By Darren Quick, GIZMAG April
2013
http://www.gizmag.com/worlds-first-practical-artificial-leaf/18247/
The
'artificial leaf' created by Daniel G. Nocera, Ph.D. and his team now
has self-healing capabilities (Photo: Dominick Reuter)
Back
in 2011, scientists reported the creation of the "world's first practical
artificial leaf" that mimics the ability of real
leaves to produce energy from sunlight and water. Touted as a
potentially inexpensive source of electricity for those in developing
countries and remote areas, the leaf's creators have now given it a
capability that would be especially beneficial in such environments -
the ability to self heal and therefore produce energy from dirty
water.
While
the leaf mimics a real leaf's ability to produce energy from sunlight
and water, it doesn't mimic the method real leaves rely on, namely
photosynthesis. Instead, as described by Daniel G. Nocera, Ph.D. who
led the research team, the artificial leaf is actually a simple wafer
of silicon coated in a catalyst that, when dropped into a jar of
water and exposed to sunlight, breaks down water into its hydrogen
and oxygen components. These gases can be collected as they bubble up
through the water to be used for fuel to produce electricity in fuel
cells.
Because
bacteria can build up on the leaf's surface and stop the energy
production process, previous versions of the device required pure
water. Now Nocera's team has found that some of the catalysts
developed for the artificial leaf actually heal themselves, meaning
the process can work with dirty water.
"Self-healing
enables the artificial leaf to run on the impure,
bacteria-contaminated water found in nature," Nocera said.
"We figured out a way to tweak the conditions so that part of
the catalyst falls apart, denying bacteria the smooth surface needed
to form a biofilm. Then the catalyst can heal and re-assemble."
Where
similar devices are expensive to manufacture due to the use of rare
and expensive metals and complex wiring, Nocera's artificial leaf
uses cheaper materials and a simple "buried junction"
design that he says would make it cheaper to mass produce.
Additionally, less than one liter (0.25 gal) of water is enough to
produce around 100 watts of electricity 24 hours a day. And while it
isn't necessarily the most efficient form of electricity generation,
Nocera likens the approach to "fast-food energy."
"We're
interested in making lots of inexpensive units that may not be the
most efficient, but that get the job done. It's kind of like going
from huge mainframe computers to a personal laptop. This is
personalized energy.
"A
lot of people are designing complicated, expensive energy-producing
devices, and it is difficult to see them being adopted on a large
scale," he added. "Ours is simple, less expensive, and it
works."
Nocera
believes the artificial leaf is likely to find its first use in
individual homes in areas that lack traditional electric production
and distribution systems. As well as being cheaper than solar panels,
because the artificial leaf doesn't directly generate electricity,
but produces hydrogen and oxygen that can be stored, the electricity
could be generated for use at night.
The
research team hopes to integrate the artificial leaf with technology
for converting the hydrogen into a liquid fuel to power everything
from traditional portable electric generators to cars.
Nocera
described the artificial leaf at the 245th National Meeting &
Exposition of the American Chemical Society that is currently being
held in New Orleans.
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3) New
Ways To Make Cellusoic Biofuels
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Kevin Bullis, April 29, 2013,
New Scientist.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/514206/energy-department-backs-new-way-to-make-diesel-from-corn/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20130429
Within a year, a pilot plant in Indiana will start
converting the stalks and leaves of corn plants into diesel and jet
fuel. The plant will use a novel approach involving acid as well as
processes borrowed from the oil and chemical industry, which its developers
hope will make fuel at prices cheap enough to compete with petroleum.
The plant, which will have the
capacity to process about 10 tons of biomass a day-enough for about
800 gallons (3,000 liters) of fuel per day, will be built byMercurius Biofuels of Ferndale, Washington, with the help
of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy of up to $4.3 million. 
Cellulosic biomass-corn stalks and other matter like
wood chips and grass-are abundant and require less energy and
fertilizer to produce than sugar or corn grain, the main sources of
biofuel now. Because of this, the production of cellulosic biomass is
cheaper and results in less carbon dioxide emissions. But so far it's proved difficult to make
fuel economically from these sources (see "Cellulosic Ethanol
Inches Forward"). One
big problem has been the cost of transporting raw biomass. A solution
is to build small biorefineries that are close to the needed
feedstocks, but smaller facilities tend to be more expensive per
liter of fuel produced.
In Mercurius's new process, biomass can be converted
into a liquid intermediate chemical at small plants located close to
sources. That liquid takes up much less volume than the original
biomass, making it more economical to ship to a large centralized
facility to be converted to fuel. Mercurius uses acids to break down cellulose and make a
chemical called chloromethylfurfural; the process is based on an
approach developed by Mark Mascal, a professor of chemistry at the University
of California at Davis. Converting
cellulose to this chemical makes more efficient use of the carbon in
cellulose than one of the most common approaches to making fuel from
cellulose: converting cellulose into sugar and fermenting it to make
ethanol. "Fermentation blows out one-third of the carbon as
carbon dioxide," Mascal says. "[Our process] captures all
of the available carbon in biomass."
The chloromethylfurfural, in turn, can be converted into
diesel or jet fuel with industrial processes similar to those used in
the chemicals industry and at oil refineries. "We have processes
that are a lot like petroleum refining processes, so it's scalable
and potentially faster to bring to market," says CEO Karl Seck.
Using acids can be expensive, so one key to the process
is the fact that it will be easy to recycle the acids used. Unlike
sugar, the chloromethylfurfural isn't soluble in water, so it is easy
to separate it from the acid so the acid can be used again, Seck says
(see "Reinventing
Cellulosic Ethanol Production"). He says the process
will also be cheaper than using enzymes to break down cellulose, a
common approach being developed now.
Other companies and academic groups are developing
processes for making biofuels from cellulose. Many of these turn
biomass into gases before converting those gases into fuels. In
contrast, Mercurius's approach makes liquids that are cheaper to
handle, requiring smaller and cheaper equipment.
The new technology is at an early stage. Each part of
the process has been demonstrated, including the final steps of
producing diesel and jet fuel that meet specifications for use in
vehicles. But everything has only been done at a small scale, and the
entire process hasn't yet been linked together. Some other
alternatives are further along.
Kior, for
example, uses a catalytic process to break up cellulose to make a
sort of crude oil that, as with Mercurius's technology, can be
processed into diesel and other fuels (see "Kior 'Biocrude' Plant
a Step Toward Advanced Biofuels").
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4) Big Brother Applicants Wanted for
One Way Mars Trip
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·
17:30 23 April 2013 by Victoria Jaggard New Scientist
·
For similar stories,
visit the Space flight and Exploring Mars Topic Guides
·
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23423-big-brother-applicants-wanted-for-oneway-mars-trip.html
Do
you enjoy the outdoors, need plenty of private time and crave red
meat? If so, you are not going to Mars - at least not with Mars One,
a Dutch non-profit organisation aiming to send humans on a one-way
mission to the Red Planet by 2023. If the scheme ever gets off the
ground.
This week the project's application process for
astronauts officially opened. Although anyone in the world over the
age of 18 is encouraged to apply, the team says
not everyone will be up to the challenge.
"We will be looking for a near-impossible
combination of character traits," says Gerard 't Hooft, a Nobel-winning
physicist and ambassador for the project.
In
addition to meeting fitness and mental health standards, people with
the right stuff for Mars must be resilient, creative and empathetic.
They will have to work well in close quarters with international
crewmates. "If you take things too personally, you aren't the
right person to go," says chief medical officer Norbert Kraft.
"If someone says, 'I need to climb mountains and smell flowers',
they are not the person for this... You should be able to survive in
a hostile environment, and not freak out in a tin can." Meat and
fish will be off the menu, at least at first. "You have to eat
your vegetables," says Kraft.
Most importantly, candidates will have to feel
comfortable being on TV and online almost around the clock. To help
raise $6 billion, Mars One foundersplan to turn the mission into a reality TV show,
with the audience voting in the selection process.
For
round one, applicants will make a brief video. The public will vote
for their favourites, although this won't affect the selection
process. After a second, televised round in which the public will
vote on candidates from their home country, Mars One will choose 20
to 40 aspiring astronauts to become employees and start training in
2015, for seven years.
Candidates will spend three months each year in a
simulated Mars base so selectors can watch how they interact and weed
out anyone who is not adjusting well. "Everyone is going to have
some vulnerabilities," says Mathias Basner of the University
of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, who is not part
of the Mars One team. On-Earth simulations, he adds, are much cheaper
than endangering the success of a real mission to Mars.
Basner studied sleep habits in the Mars500 project, which saw six
men spend 520 days in a mock spaceship. All six had been screened for
psychiatric and health disorders. "The tests have a value in
predicting certain behaviours," says Basner. "But these
missions are so extreme, the right tools have not been developed
yet."
In Mars500, insomnia and depression manifested within the
first few weeks. Tests showed that researchers could not
have predicted who would have suffered these effects. So even if the
Mars One mission doesn't take off, says Basner, crew selection and
training might tell us something unanticipated about the people who
will eventually travel to Mars.
The
Mars One set-up is unprecedented, says Basner. "Obviously, the
fact that you have to stay there, and that this is probably going to
be a TV show, could create a bias in the people we are going to
see."
And
what are the chances that the mission will be pulled off? "I
have no idea," he says.
Nobel physicist: Give people a one-way ticket
to Mars
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21729100.200-nobel-physicist-give-people-a-oneway-ticket-to-mars.html
Govert Schilling, New Scientist,
April 6, 2013
- How did you get
involved with a project that sells one-way tickets to Mars?
The concept fits in with my own ideas about human exploration of
space, which I described in my book, Playing with
Planets. In fact, the co-founder and general director of
Mars One, Bas Lansdorp, once attended one of my lectures. When
he asked me to become an ambassador for Mars One, my first
reaction was that it will take much longer and cost much more
than they currently envision. However, after learning more about
the research they had carried out I became convinced that human
flights to Mars could become a reality within 10 years. So in
the end, I said yes. (...more online)
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5) Flexible Stretchable and
Hyperelastic Photovoltaic Textile Wanted
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SBIRSOURCE, 13.2 / Army / A13-076 , Pre Solicitation Opened: 04/24,
Proposals Accepted: 05/24 - 06/26 http://sbirsource.com/grantiq#/topics/87837
OBJECTIVE
Develop
a robust, flexible, stretchable and hyperelastic, efficient,
photovoltaic textile (solar textile) suitable for incorporation in
both infrastructure and weapon systems.
DESCRIPTION
Energy solutions for forward basing and
associated war fighting operations are moving toward hybrid and
integrated energy/power systems. Through the increased use of
indigenous energy sources dependence on traditional sources can be
supplemented, thus reducing the operational logistics/supply burden.
Additionally, this helps free up resources to further support
mission. This topic specifically focuses on the development of a
flexible, stretchable, and hyperelastic photovoltaic textile that is suitable
for integration into multiple applications. The textile must be able
to produce electricity using sunlight, be flexible/stretchable/hyperelastic
and conformal, be robust and able to survive harsh treatment and a
range of natural environments, and be at least efficient enough to
economically justify widespread use. This work will require the
development/improvement of the photovoltaic textile, and
incorporation into at least one prototype application. Within the
EQ/I business area infrastructure applications for forward basing
will be favored. However, potential applications for use with weapon
systems are also widespread and will need to influence dual use
related development decisions.
PHASE I
Develop and fabricate at least ten
flexible/stretchable/hyperelastic photovoltaic fabric power
solution prototypes. The prototypes shall have an unstretched
macro-scale size with a surface area within the range of 25 to 1,000
cm2. The minimum current output for simulated natural conditions
shall be 0.5 mA/cm2 (unstretched). More is better. While small scale,
multi-separate, rigid unit attachment to a flexible substrate is an
approximate solution, a lighter and fully integrated (i.e., all
definable continuous and contiguous regions and sub-regions able to
stretch) is strongly preferred. Characterization shall include
quantitative characterization of stretchable characteristics, and
electrical contact durability against rapid fatigue failure. Produced
flexible samples shall be characterized for performance (to include
conversion efficiency and durability). Identical samples shall also
be provided for testing and evaluation. The Phase I design will be
prototyped and further evaluated and improved in Phase II. Phase I
reporting shall include the textile designs scientific and technical
merit and feasibility, while also addressing the overall business
case viability. Business considerations typically include production
scale up plans, projected costs per unit area as produced, and all
within the context of one or more projected markets.
PHASE II
Produce flexible/stretchable/hyperelastic
photovoltaic textile material with improved properties as compared to
Phase I. The current output shall be within the range of 1 - 5 mA/cm2
(unstretched) or better. Proceed to integrate this material, along
with energy storage capability, into a chosen infrastructure
prototype application (e.g., integrated balloon or inflatable kite
PV, parachutes/parasails, protective and charging covers, inflatable
domed structures with integrated PV, etc.). Characterize the
infrastructure prototype performance. Quantitative characterization
testing and evaluation is to include at minimum: energy and power
outputs, reliability, durability, quantitative stretchable
capabilities, systems integration effectiveness and interoperability
(as applicable), and all for a variety of expected environments. The
ability to provide effective, undiminished power production for a
minimum of two years is also required. Additional testing and
evaluation of key prototype characteristics is also encouraged and
will be factored into the selection evaluation process. The use of
CBITEC (Contingency Basing Integration Technology Evaluation Center,
located at Fort Leonard Wood, MO) or similar real-world test
environments for final prototype evaluation will be required.
PHASE
III
DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Various military and
civilian applications/use of this technology are envisioned.
Commercialization could be through direct sales and/or via
sub-component supply to larger integrated system suppliers. Wider
commercial applications for infrastructure use could involve A/E
(Architect and Engineer) firm specification, inclusion in design
guides and criteria, or other innovative and duel use applications.
REFERENCES
1. Bedeloglu,
A., Demir, A., Bozkurt, Y., Sariciftci, N., 2010, A Photovoltaic
Fiber Design for Smart Textiles, Textile Research Journal, 80(11),
pp. 1065-1074
2. Bedeloglu,
A., Koeppe, R., Demir, A., Bozkurt, Y., Sariciftci, N., 2010,
Development of Energy Generating Photovoltaic Textile Strucutres for
Smart Applications, Fibers and Polymers, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 378-383
3. Lee,
J., Wu, J., Shi, M., Yoon, J., Park, S., Li, M., Liu, Z., Huang, Y.,
Rogers, J., 2011, Stretchable GaAs Photovoltaics with Designs that Enable
High Areal Coverage, Advanced Materials, 23, pp. 986-991.
4. Kylberg,
W., Araujo de Castro, F., Chabrecec, P., Sonderegger, U., Tsu-Te Chu,
B., Nuesch, F., Hany, R., 2011, Woven Electrodes for Flexible Organic
Photovoltaic Cells, Advanced Materials, 23, pp. 1015-1019
5. Bedeloglu,
A., Demir, A., Bozkurt, Y., Sariciftci, N., 2009, A flexible Textile
structure based on polymeric photovoltaics using transparent cathode,
Synthetic Metals, 159, pp. 2043-2048.
OFFICIAL
SOLICITATION
This
material is pulled from the official solicitation released by the
government. For official updates, solicitation rules and regulations,
and submission instructions, please consult the official
documentation
TECHNICAL CONTACTS
Army
Army
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- Scott Kelsey, Missouri State, explaining Rejuvamatrix, Pulsed EMF
therapy to increase the length of DNA telomeres, which directly
affect our lifespan.
- Max Formitchev-Zamilov, Penn State, discussing Cavitation Induced
Fusion, that will soon provide power generation and heat
production.
- Christopher Provaditis, from Greece, explaining Inertial
Propulsion and who teamed up recently with Boeing for their space
satellites.
- PJ Piper of QM Power, discussing the motor invented by
Charles Flynn, with a revolutionary parallel path that gives
double and triple efficiency.
- Dr Thorsten Ludwig from Germany (GASE) discussing
the mysterious Hans Coler motor that WWII British Intelligence
researched.
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