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Category Archives: Arizona Stem Cells

Arizona Oncology Cancer Center working with NexCore Group on new cancer treatment center – Yahoo Finance

Posted: October 13, 2022 at 2:01 am

State-of-the-art facility will openin September 2023 in Prescott, Ariz.

DENVER, Oct. 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- This past weekend, national health care, life sciences and senior housing real estate developer NexCore Group, in collaboration with Arizona Oncology, broke ground on a state-of-the-art cancer treatment center in Prescott, Ariz. located at 5430 Landmark Lane. Arizona Oncology, one of the largest medical groups in Arizona devoted exclusively to cancer care, and NexCore will develop a new 22,105-square-foot facility anticipated to open in September 2023. Once operational, the Arizona Oncology Cancer Center will offer patients in the region convenient access to the latest cancer treatment services and technologies.

NexCore Group breaks ground on a new facility for the Arizona Oncology Cancer Center in Prescott, Ariz.

The Arizona Oncology Cancer Center is currently located at 3188 N. Windsong Dr.but will relocate once this project is complete. Core services offered will include medical oncology, surgical oncology, breast cancer treatment and diagnostics, urology, radiation therapies (including HDR), diagnostic imaging (CT/PET, CT) laboratory diagnostics, genomic testing and oncology research.

"Arizona Oncology is committed to evolving our practices to best fit the needs of our patients," said Iyad Hamarneh, medical oncologist with Arizona Oncology. "While we've outgrown our current facility, we look forward to growing with the Prescott community. When completed, our cancer center will be the only practice in the quad-city region that will offer medical oncology, radiation oncology and hematology services for our community."

Some of the features Arizona Oncology will have include a 34-chair infusion area with outdoor garden space to the location. It will hire two additional doctors and medical teams, bringing additional collaboration between medical teams and patients. The facility will also include 15 total medical, gynecologic and radiation oncology exam rooms, along with a PET-CT imaging room. The new building design also includes the ability to add up to two medical linear accelerators (LINAC) in the future to target and destroy cancerous cells in a precise area of a patient's body with minimal exposure to the surrounding healthy tissue.

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"Cancer is a tough disease to deal with alone, let alone the difficulties of navigating several different treatments at multiple facilities," said Hamarneh. "This tends to be the 'normal' medical experience for patients. We wanted to change that experience into a more efficient process. In building a new facility, we're able to provide all our services under one roof so patients can experience more collaborative medical care."

Arizona Oncology has been caring for the Prescott community for many years. Physician specialists currently practicing in Prescott who will transfer to the new location include Medical Oncologists and Hematologists Dr. Allan Espinoza, Dr. Iyad Hamarneh, Dr. Alan Langerak and Radiation Oncologist Dr. Marshall Davis.

Additionally, a welcoming staff of lab specialists, pharmacists, nutritionists and other medical professionals will be there to create a seamless patient experience.

"NexCore takes great pride in the development of these specialty centers for cancer care, as everyone has a friend, loved one, or an acquaintance that has suffered from cancer," NexCore Executive Vice President Real Estate Development Nathan Golik said. "Our team is excited to bring an advanced facility to help providers offer that next level of care to Prescott Valley and the surrounding communities."

For the Arizona Oncology Cancer Center, NexCore has assembled a qualified team of professionals including Corgan as the architect and Loven Contracting as the general contractor. NexCore will manage the day-to-day design and construction activities to meet budget, quality, and schedule objectives.

For more information about this project and others from NexCore, visit NexCoreGroup.com. For more information about new and existing locations, visit ArizonaOncology.com.

AboutNexCoreGroup LLC

NexCoreGroup isanationalhealthcarerealestateinvestmentanddevelopmentcompany thatfocusesonacquiring, developing, owning, and managing healthcare facilities including medical office buildings, wellness facilities, ambulatory surgery centers, single and multi-specialty physician buildings, life sciences facilities, seniors housing communities and transitional rehabilitation centers. NexCore partners with top healthcare systems, hospitals, physician groups, and assisted living, memory care and post-acute care operators, and reputable institutional and high net worth investors to develop, acquire and own high quality assets that serve their communities through significant job creation and the provision of quality healthcare services. NexCore is unique in the healthcare development field, specifically with a regard to a singular focus on project strategy and planning. Since 2004, the NexCore teamhas completed$4.7 billioninhealthcare realestatetransactions throughout29 states, developed and acquired over 14.3 million square feet of healthcare properties across the country and currently manages over $2.9 billion of healthcare facilities spanning 6.8 million square feet. The company has been recognized repeatedly as one of the Top Healthcare Real Estate Developers in the U.S. by Modern Healthcare and HREI. NexCore is headquartered in Denver, with regional offices in Bethesda, Md.; Charlotte N.C.; Dallas; Detroit; Houston; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; and Seattle.

About Arizona Oncology

Arizona Oncology is one of the largest medical groups in Arizona. With more than 75 practicing physicians devoted exclusively to providing comprehensive, compassionate and high-quality cancer care, Arizona Oncology specializes in Medical, Gynecologic, and Radiation Oncology, Hematology, Stem Cell Transplant, Research, Genetic Risk Assessment and patient ancillary programs. The physicians and their staff treat patients in many communities throughout the state including: Chandler, Cottonwood, Deer Valley, Estrella, Flagstaff, Glendale, Green Valley, Nogales, Peoria, Phoenix, Prescott Valley, Safford, Scottsdale, Sedona, and Tucson.

Arizona Oncology believes it is beneficial to provide cancer therapies in a community setting, close to patients' homes and support systems. The physicians are supported by a talented clinical team sensitive to the needs of cancer patients and their caregivers. For more information, visit ArizonaOncology.com.

Arizona Oncology is united in healing with The US Oncology Network, one of the nation's largest networks of integrated community-based oncology practices dedicated to advancing high-quality, evidence-based cancer care. As an affiliate of The US Oncology Network, Arizona Oncology is united with more than 1,000 physicians nationwide. Arizona Oncology participates in clinical trials through US Oncology Research, which has played a role in nearly 60 FDA-approved cancer therapies, nearly one-third of all cancer therapies approved by the FDA to date. For more information, visit http://www.usoncology.com,

News Media Contact:Kirstin Barbour303.293.0693kirstin.barbour@nexcoregroup.com

NexCore Group logo (PRNewsfoto/NexCore Group)

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Senate Passes ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Which Will Likely Make Inflation Worse – Reason

Posted: August 14, 2022 at 1:56 am

The U.S. Senate passed the misleadingly named Inflation Reduction Act on Sunday before senators adjourned until September. The billwhich allocates around $740 billionpassed with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris; it will now head to the House of Representatives, which is expected to vote on it Friday.

Democrats say the bill will curb inflation by lowering energy and health care costs for some Americans. But inflationwhich is now impacting prices across the U.S. economy isn't actually reduced just because the government artificially lowers the consumer cost of a few items. And whether it will even succeed in bringing down things like health care costs is questionable.

An analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the law will have a "negligible" effect on inflation. And more government spending will only make inflation worse in the long run: 230 economists have signed an open letter saying the proposed law will "perpetuate the same fiscal policy errors that have helped precipitate the current troubling economic climate."

"If we want to stop inflation, then the federal government needs to stop excessive spending, and the Federal Reserve needs to stop excessive money creation," tweeted former Rep. Justin Amash (LMich.). "Price controls and subsidies cannot stop or reduce inflation, but they will further harm the economy and make people poorer."

The behemoth bill is full of questionable spending, including $80 billion in increased funding for the IRS. Democrats say more money will mean that the tax agency can focus more of its auditswhich currently disproportionately burden low-income taxpayerson very wealthy Americans. Republicans reply this is spin, and that giving the IRS more money will mean it spends more time snooping on and auditing everyone.

The IRS "is an agency that only succeeded in answering about one out of every 50 phone calls during the 2021 tax season," Sen. John Thune (RS.D.) said last week on the Senate floor. "Yet 4 percent of the $80 billion is going to taxpayer services; 57 percent goes to enforcement, so that the IRS can spend more time harassing taxpayers around this country."

Thune and other Republicansalong with Arizona Democrat Kirsten Sinemaalso objected to a 15 percent corporate minimum tax rate for businesses making more than $1 billion in income annually. (Democrats say this part of the bill will bring in more than $300 billion in revenue for the government.) The Republicans and Sinema succeeded in getting an exemption for some businesses owned by private equity.

The bill contains many components of this administration's previous spending plans. It includes $300 billion for energy- and climate-related programs, and it creates tax credits for individuals buying electric vehicles or making energy efficient home improvements. It extends Affordable Care Act subsidies and introduces a $35 per month price cap on insulin for Medicare recipients.

But it's also missing many items on Democrats' wish list, including funding for child care programsand paid family leave, an extension of the child tax credit, and a cap on insulin prices for private insurance plans.

The package "was far smaller than the party's original $3.5 trillion vision, but larger than the slim health care legislation that lawmakers were considering just two weeks ago," notes Politico. "It's probably the last big party-line bill Democrats will be able to deliver for years, with the House expected to flip to Republicans in the November elections."

A heartbreaking story in The Atlantic looks at forced migrant family separations. These were, it shows, an explicit strategy, no matter how much the Trump administration asserted otherwise. "Separating children was not just a side effect, but the intent," writes Caitlin Dickerson. "Instead of working to reunify families after parents were prosecuted, officials worked to keep them apart for longer."

Indiana has passed an abortion banthat starts at conception.

Madison County, North Carolina, is putting AR-15s in all of its schools.

"Artificial eggs created using skin cells, sperm generated from implanted stem cells, and synthetic embryos are all recent breakthroughs made by different teams of researchers in the field of reproductive science," reports Reason's Ron Bailey. "All of these advances took place in mice, but the researchers believe that their findings can eventually be applied to human reproduction."

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Reds prospect rankings will shift after trade deadline acquisition of 10 players – The Athletic

Posted: August 5, 2022 at 2:29 am

MIAMI Jose Barrero is back in the big leagues, called up before Wednesdays game against the Marlins and in the lineup playing shortstop and batting eighth for the Reds.

Going into each of the last two seasons, Barrero topped the Reds top-prospects list at Baseball America and was widely seen as the Reds shortstop of the future.

Barrero has had two previous big-league stints and struggled to hit both times. His talent kept him atop prospect lists, but he was still seen as the teams shortstop of the future, in part because if it wasnt him, who was it?

Now the answer to that question is difficult, maybe because there are too many options as opposed to not enough.

Barrero started to get some competition, if not directly, but at least in the organization, last year when the team took UCLA shortstop Matt McLain with their first-round draft pick and Elly De La Cruz emerged as the most-talked-about prospect in the system and maybe beyond.

Now? One list had Barrero as the Reds fifth-best prospect and fourth-best shortstop prospect after the addition of four shortstops to the teams farm system at this years trade deadline.

The position was already a strength in the organization with Barrero, De La Cruz, McLain and Jose Torres. Now you can add Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo from the Mariners, Spencer Steer from the Twins and Victor Acosta from the Padres.

I do believe the Reds now have the best collection of shortstops in the minors, Baseball America editor-in-chief J.J. Cooper told The Athletic. Thats important to me because shortstops are the stem cells of a rebuild, since they have the versatility to turn into almost anything you need them to be. Shortstops become third basemen and second basemen, they become center fielders and corner outfielders. I have zero confidence in projecting who will be the Reds MLB shortstop in 2024 because they have so many options, but I have a lot of confidence that the Reds lineup should be filled with ex-shortstops playing other positions.

Seven of Baseball Americas recently updated Top 100 prospects were traded in the week leading up to the trade deadline three went to the Reds, three to the Nationals and one to the Angels. The Reds acquired the most minor-league players of any team with 10.

The Athletics Keith Law called the Reds one of the deadlines winners, just after the Padres. He also had three Reds in his updated Top 60 prospect list: De La Cruz at No. 8, Marte at No. 12 and the teams first-round pick, Cam Collier, at No. 29. Law also included Arroyo among 10 honorable mentions on his Top 60 list.

They added a slew of high-upside prospects, and while they wont all work out, theyve acquired so many of those guys at this point that theyre likely to get two or three stars out of the entire system, including the players they already had, Law said. When you add to that the fact that theyve had two very solid drafts in 2021-22, and some of the young players still developing in MLB, they seem like theyre in way better shape going forward than they were even four months ago.

Cooper said Baseball America is working on updating its team Top 30 prospect lists and is having to search for those last five prospects in some systems. For the Reds, there are players he sees as big-league contributors who arent even among the Top 30.

After conferring with scouts, executives and writers, heres a look at the Reds Top 10 prospects before the season from The Athletic and Baseball America and a projected 2023 preseason list taking into account graduations by Barrero, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft:

Reds Top 10 prospects lists

Hunter Greene

Jose Barrero

Elly De La Cruz

Elly De La Cruz

Hunter Greene

Noelvi Marte

Matt McLain

Nick Lodolo

Edwin Arroyo

Jay Allen II

Elly De La Cruz

Spencer Steer

Nick Lodolo

Matt McLain

Cam Collier

Graham Ashcraft

Austin Hendrick

Matt McLain

Mat Nelson

Jay Allen II

Brandon Williamson

Jose Torres

Rece Hinds

Connor Phillips

Rece Hinds

Graham Ashcraft

Andrew Abbott

Andrew Abbott

Bryce Bonnin

Levi Stoudt

Of those top 10, only three were in the system when the previous lists were published. Pitchers Brandon Williamson and Connor Phillips came over this spring in the deal with Seattle that sent Jesse Winker and Eugenio Surez to the Mariners. McLain and Abbott were both drafted in 2021 and De La Cruz wasnt on anyones radar at the start of 2021.

Its nearly a completely different system, but one that should be ranked much higher than it was before.

With that noted, heres a look at the 10 players (not including the player to be named acquired for Tommy Pham) the Reds received at the trade deadline, with information collected from various sources around the game:

SS Victor Acosta (from Padres): Acosta was one of the Padres top international signings a year ago and was with their Arizona Rookie League team. The 18-year-old is seen as a player who can play multiple positions with good defense and a plus arm.

RHP Jos Acua (from Mets): The 19-year-old right-hander made his organizational debut Tuesday night for Single-A Daytona against his old St. Lucie teammates, going five innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits with six strikeouts, no walks and a hit batter.

SS Edwin Arroyo (from Mariners): Arroyo wont be 19 until later this month, but hes already put up a .316/385/.514 slash line with 13 home runs in 87 games at Single-A Modesto. Hes also played a pair of games with the Reds Arizona Complex League team and will report to Daytona soon. One rival team official said his team had Arroyo as the Mariners No. 1 prospect before the deal. A switch hitter and switch thrower, Arroyo is a true shortstop and of the players acquired at the deadline, may have the best chance to stick at short.

3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand (from Twins): A corner infielder, Encarnacion-Strand played at Oklahoma State for Robin Ventura and Matt Holliday. Those two are influences on the way he plays, one source noted. Encarnacion-Strand has big-time power, hitting 20 homers in 74 games at High A and five at Double A in just 13 games.

LHP Steve Hajjar (from Twins): A classic four-pitch lefty, Hajjar averages around 91 mph on his fastball, but it plays up with good carry. His slider, curve and change are all solid average. The Twins believed he had a good chance to start in the big leagues.

SS Noelvi Marte (from Mariners): The highest-ranked prospect, Marte announced his presence with authority Wednesday with a pair of homers for High A Dayton. Overall, hes hitting .274/.360/.473 with 17 home runs and 19 doubles. Some think he may move to third base, but he does have a chance to stick at short. Regardless of where he plays in the field, the bat is his calling card.

RHP Andrew Moore (from Mariners): A 6-foot-5 right-hander, Moore was taken out of Chipola Junior College in the 2014 draft. Moores fastball hits triple digits and has a hard slider. Hes dominated in Single A, where he struck out 58 batters in 32.1 innings, walking 17.

OF Hector Rodriguez (from Mets): The 18-year-old has played in the infield this season with the Mets complex team, but the Reds see him as a pure center fielder, with excellent speed. He had 12 steals in 26 games for the Mets Florida Complex Team and had two in his first two games for the Reds complex team.

SS Spencer Steer (from Twins): Steer could be the first of the players acquired to reach the big leagues. A right-handed thrower and hitter, hes played shortstop but probably projects more as a corner infielder. One scout compared Steer to Brandon Drury, a solid hitter who can play around the infield.

RHP Levi Stoudt (from Mariners): A four-pitch pitcher, Stout has a mid-90s fastball that can get up to 98 mph. He has a hard slider that can be above average, as well as a curveball and changeup. Stout was in Double A for the Mariners and has already reported to Double-A Chattanooga.

(Photo of Spencer Steer: Ed Bailey / Wichita Wind Surge)

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Stem Cell Therapy Pros and Cons – Arizona Pain and Spine Institute

Posted: July 11, 2022 at 2:22 am

Stem Cell Therapy is one of the most exciting advances in modern regenerative medicine. This technology accelerates the bodys natural healing processes. It provides astonishing treatment for all kinds of conditions that doctors did not have good solutions to before.

This emerging health breakthrough, stem cell therapy, can be the right option for specific cancers, heart diseases, and even pain management. However, you may be hesitant to move forward due to the negative attention the media sometimes gives it. On the flip side, there are health authorities on other blogs that promote stem cell therapy use.

We believe it is important to consider the pros and cons of stem cell therapy treatment. Your health matters and potentially life-threatening conditions are in the mix. Before you make any major medical decision, you should always stop to consider the option.

Listed below are some Pros and Cons of stem cell therapy.

Stem Cell research has shown great strides in the ability to treat and even cure certain diseases. Conditions such as heart diseases, spinal cord injury, cancers, Alzheimers, and Parkinsons are degenerative diseases that destroy tissues.

Doctors can repair damaged tissues by retrieving stem cells from other body areas and injecting them into these damaged tissues. For the reward of curing chronic and debilitating diseases, stem cell therapy costs and treatment are certainly worth it.

When injecting anything into the human body, there is always a concern of the body rejecting the foreign substance and causing health concerns.

With the use of our amniotic fluid stem cells, there is little-to-no risk of rejection because the FDA approves them. These originate from human amniotic fluid during the early pregnancy stages, which other researchers have tested on animals, such as rats and sheep, before confirming safe for human regenerative medicine. This type of retrieval ensures that stem cell injections are efficient at delivering the desired results.

The future of stem cell research is vast. Another positive aspect of stem cell therapy is that it opens the door for further research into how human stem cells work. Additionally, drug and developmental research may be conducted on stem cells for observation rather than on human or animal trials, which furthers knowledge and research while eliminating risk to lives.

There is much debate about the ethical nature of some stem cell research. One type of stem cell therapy involves the use of embryonic stem cells from a human embryo. Many American conservatives believe that human life begins at conception and that stem cell research kills living persons.

George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden have gone back and forth on government funding and legislation for stem cell research. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has set moral guidelines for this regenerative treatment, such as that doctors can only extract from approved sources. Our pain management practice uses amniotic fluid stem cells that abide by these ethical codes in our regenerative therapies and uphold the embryos safety at all costs.

Research and development in the realm of stem cell treatments have been very promising. Even so, the technology and research are very young and have not been around for a long period. Doctors still have questions about stem cell therapy, but they know enough to offer it as a safe treatment.

This is positive because the developments available for the regeneration of many diseases are safe and not proven to have adverse side effects. However, the media views stem cell therapys newness in a negative light. There is so much yet to discover, and many diseases do not yet have the ability for treatments.

Because this therapy is still fairly recent, the scientific and healthcare community are still developing the appropriate regulations. It may take time to decipher how much this treatment should be scrutinized and regulated, and therefore it can be confusing for doctors who are using this treatment for healing certain diseases.

At Arizona Pain and Spine Institute, we have extensive experience administering Stem Cell Therapy to treat various pains and diseases. The procedure is non-invasive, and we carry it out in a matter of hours. Most patients can carry out their day-to-day activities within a few days and see improvement in their condition within a few weeks.

If you would like more information about the pros and cons of stem cell therapy or have any other questions, please call our office at 480.986.7246.

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Bone Anatomy | Ask A Biologist – Arizona State University

Posted: July 11, 2022 at 2:22 am

Bone Basics and Bone Anatomy

Have you ever seen fossil remains of dinosaur and ancient human bones in textbooks, television, or in person at a museum? It's easy to look at these and think of bones as dry, dead sticks in your body, but this couldn't be further from the truth. Bones are made of active, living cells that are busy growing, repairing themselves, and communicating with other parts of the body. Lets take a closer look at what your bones do and how they do it.

The skeleton of an adult human is made up of 206 bones of many different shapes and sizes. Added together, your bonesmake up about 15% of your body weight. Newborn babies are actually born with many more bonesthan this (around 300),but many bones grow together, orfuse, as babiesbecome older. Some bones are long and thick, like your thigh bones. Others are thin, flat, and wide, like your shoulder blades.

The adult human skeleton has 206 bones. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Support: Like a house is built around a supportive frame,a strong skeleton is required to support the rest of the human body. Without bones, it would be difficult for your body to keep its shape andto stand upright.

Protection: Bones form astrong layer around some of the organs in your body, helping tokeep them safe when you fall down or get hurt. Your rib cage, for example, acts like a shield around your chest to protect important organs inside such as your lungs and heart. Your brain is another organ that needs a lot of protection. The thick bone layer of your skull protects your brain. For this purpose, being "thick-headed" is a very good thing.

Movement: Many of your bones fit togetherlike the pieces of a puzzle. Eachbone has a very specific shape which often matches up with neighboring bones. The place where two bones meet to allow your body to bend is called a joint.

How many different ways can you move your joints? Some bones, like your elbow, fit together like a hingethat lets you bend your arm in one specific direction. Other bones fit together like a ball and socket, such as the joint between your shoulder and arm. This type of jointlets you rotate your shoulder in many directions, or swing it all the way around in a circle like softball pitchersdo.

The movement of our bodies is possible because of both joints and muscles. Muscles often attach to two different bones, so that when the muscle flexes and shortens, thebones move. This allows youto bend your elbows and knees, or pick up objects. A skeleton has plenty of joints, but without muscles, there is nothing to pull the bones in different directions. More than half of the bones in your body are actually located in your hands and feet. These bones are attached to many little muscles that give you very exact control over how you move your fingers and feet.

Examples of the different kinds of joints in your body.

Blood Cell Formation: Did you know that most of the red and white blood cells in your body were created inside of your bones? This is done by a special group of cells called stem cells that are found mostly in the bone marrow, which is the innermost layerof your bones.

Storage: Bones are like a warehousethat storesfat and many important minerals so they are available when your body needs them. These minerals are continuously being recycled through your bones--deposited and then taken out and moved through the bloodstream to get to other parts of your body where they are needed.

Cross section of a bone.

Now that you know what bones do, let's take a look at what they're made of and their anatomy.

Each bone in your body is made up of three main types of bone material: compact bone, spongy bone, and bone marrow.

Cross section showing osteons. The large dark spots are passages for blood vessels and nerves. The little black spots are osteocytes.

Compact Bone

Compact bone is the heaviest, hardest type of bone. It needs to be very strong as it supports your body and muscles as you walk, run, and move throughout the day. About 80% of the bone in your body is compact. It makes up the outer layer of the bone and also helps protect the more fragile layers inside.

If you were to look at a piece of compact bone without the help of a microscope, it would seem to be completely solid all the way through. If you looked at it through a microscope, however, you would see that it's actually filled with many very tiny passages,or canals,for nerves and blood vessels. Compact bone is made of special cells called osteocytes. These cells arelined up inrings around the canals. Together, a canal and the osteocytes that surround it are called osteons. Osteons are like thick tubes all going the same direction inside the bone, similar to a bundle of straws with blood vessels, veins, and nerves in the center.

Looking at the osteons in bone (A) under a microscope reveals tube-like osteons (B) made up of osteocytes (C). These bone cells have long branching arms (D) which lets them communicate with other cells.

Spongy Bone

Close up view of spongy bone.

Spongy bone is found mostly at the ends of bones and joints. About 20% of the bone in your body is spongy. Unlike compact bone that is mostly solid, spongy bone is full of open sections called pores. If you were to look at it in under a microscope, it would look a lot like your kitchen sponge. Pores are filled with marrow, nerves, and blood vessels that carry cells and nutrients in and out of the bone.Though spongy bone may remind you of a kitchen sponge,this bone is quite solid and hard, and is not squishy at all.

Bone Marrow

The inside of your bones are filled with a soft tissue called marrow. There are two types of bone marrow: red and yellow. Red bone marrow is where all new red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets aremade. Platelets are small pieces of cells that help you stop bleeding when you get acut.Red bone marrow isfound in the center of flat bones such as your shoulder blades and ribs. Yellow marrow is made mostly of fat and is found in the hollow centers of long bones, such as the thigh bones. It does not make blood cells or platelets. Both yellow and red bone marrow have many small and large blood vessels and veins running through them to let nutrients and waste in and out of the bone.

When you were born, all of the marrow in your body was red marrow, whichmade lots and lots of blood cells and plateletsto helpyour body grow bigger. As you got older, more and more of the red marrow was replaced with yellow marrow. The bone marrow of full grown adults is about half red and half yellow.

The Inside Story

Bones are made of four main kinds of cells: osteoclasts, osteoblasts, osteocytes, and lining cells. Notice that three of these cell type names start with 'osteo.' This is the Greek word for bone. When you see 'osteo' as part of a word, it lets you know that the word has something to do with bones.

Osteoblasts are responsible for making new bone as your body grows. They also rebuild existing bones when they are broken. The second part of the word,'blast,' comes froma Greek word that means 'growth.' To make new bone, many osteoblasts come together in one spot then begin making a flexible material called osteoid. Minerals are then added to osteoid, making it strong and hard. When osteoblasts are finished making bone, they become either lining cells or osteocytes.

Osteocytes are star shaped bone cells most commonly found in compact bone. They areactually old osteoblasts that have stopped making new bone. As osteoblasts build bone, they pile it up around themselves, then get stuck in the center. At this point, they are called osteocytes.Osteocytes have long, branching arms that connect them to neighboring osteocytes. This lets them exchange minerals and communicate with other cells in the area.

Lining cells are very flat bone cells. These cover the outside surface of all bones and are also formed from osteoblasts that have finished creating bone material. These cells play an important role in controlling the movement of molecules in and out of the bone.

Osteoclasts break down and reabsorb existing bone. The second part of the word, 'clast,' comes from the Greek word for 'break,' meaning these cells break down bone material. Osteoclasts are very big and often contain more than one nucleus, which happens when two or more cells get fused together. These cells work as a team with osteoblasts to reshape bones. This might happen for a number of reasons:

It's not completely understood how bone cells in your body are able to work together and stay organized, but pressure and stress on the bone might have something to do with it.

The smallest bone in the human body is called the stirrup bone, located deep inside the ear. It's only about 3 millimeterslong in an adult.

The longest bone in the human is called the femur, or thigh bone. It's the bone in your leg that goes from your hip to your knee. In an average adult, it's about 20 inches long.

References:

Marieb. E.N. (1989) Human Anatomy and Physiology, CA: Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc

Heller, H.C., Orians, G.H., Purves, W.K., Sadava, D. (2003) Life: The Science of Biology, 7th Edition. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, Inc. & W. H. Freeman and Company

Skeleton Image: By Lady of Hats - Mariana Ruiz Villarreal, via Wikimedia Commons.

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No, "Top Gun" isn’t an anti-woke success story, but rather a tribute to aging Tom Cruise and balls – Salon

Posted: June 4, 2022 at 2:04 am

Explaining the success of "Top Gun: Maverick" isn't tough. All that's required is having some inkling of what we the people enjoy. We adore watching Tom Cruise in action flicks, for one thing, proven by his long track record of bankability.

Fast vehicles are high on our list of likes, too. Put Tom Cruise's Navy Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell inside a fighter jet, show him exercising his need for speed through challenging terrain, and guess what? People will plunk down money to see that on as large of a screen as possible.

But do you know what Americans really love? Balls. That affair transcends political affiliation and tribalism. The angry red balls in need of scientifically proven medication tend to get the most attention, but let's not count out our frustrated blue balls and the tricky, harder-to-pin-down purple ones. They're out there too, ready to bounce off their couches and into theaters.

Everyone's feeling a little deflated these days, and Cruise and "Top Gun: Maverick" director Joseph Kosinski know this. Who can forget the 1986 originalwhen a 25-year-old Cruise and his co-star Val Kilmer, each in their oiled-up prime, took to the beach to flex and play . . . what was it? Volleyball? Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention to the sport part.

RELATED: The lost meaning of "Top Gun"

This time around there's a female ace pilot in the mix, Lt. Natasha "Phoenix" Trace (Monica Barbaro), and the game is touch football. Cruise's Maverick, their instructor, envisions the game as having a purpose beyond posturing. It's about team building, he explains to his short-tempered boss Vice Admiral Beau "Cyclone" Simpson (Jon Hamm).

Sure enough, the younger guns all learn to pass the ball, defend the ball, and have fun with the ball.

But the audience knows the teamwork exercise isn't the reason the "Top Gun" sequel includes this scene. Its secondary purpose, the one that rings truer, is to remind us yet again that 59-year-old Cruise is still as ripped as his decades-younger co-stars.

Those who can, do. As for those who can't, forget it. Maverick isn't the type.

That takes stones along with, I'm guessing, many hours of physical effort guided by the best personal trainers in the world, a strict diet, and a supplement regimen that may or may not include alien stem cells. Any mortal may follow that plan and still lack the fortitude to show their vintage pecs to the sun.

Not Tom Cruise. Maverick's got it like that. Those who can, do. As for those who can't, forget it. Maverick isn't the type. The younger pilots may be elite, but it's understood that the chiseled veteran is going to run the ball into the end zone.

No wonder the right-wing is lurching to claim the box office record-breaking success of "Top Gun: Maverick" as a tribute, they say, to "anti-wokeness." Several Fox News hosts crowed about this in the days following the movie's release, echoing Breitbart column headlines. Meghan McCain was the last to jump on the wagon with her Wednesday column in that All-American news rag, The Daily Mail. "Hollywood must wake up to the reality that 'go woke, go broke' is real," she wrote.

The Arizona sage went on to praise "Top Gun: Maverick" for having all the qualities of the typical summertime blockbuster. "The movie isn't overly political, it isn't depressing, it isn't focusing on the flaws of the United States of America and why we suck and why our flag and national anthem aren't worth honoring."

Well, duh. Cruise isn't remaking "Born on the Fourth of July." Clearly this movie is not that one.

Besides, none of the three highest-grossing movies of 2022 "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," "The Batman" and "Spider-Man: No Way Home" gripes about America's flaws or disrespects the flag. Why on Earth would they?

However, "Top Gun: Maverick" does something those films don't, in that it comforts a demographic that may harbor grave concerns about its impending obsolescence, its waning influence, and declining potency.

In short, this movie validates the viability of old balls of every size and sort, from raisins to apricots.

Paramount's own demographics breakdown backs this up. It indicates that 55% of the opening weekend's audience was over the age of 35. We're talking elder Millennials, Generation Xers, and Boomers many of whom watched the original "Top Gun" back in the '80s and may be feeling the 36 years that have transpired since.

Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in "Top Gun: Maverick" (Paramount Pictures / Skydance / Jerry Bruckheimer Films)"Top Gun: Maverick" was made for that crowd even as it bridges generational gaps by emphasizing spectacle over any message, and certainly none deeper than, "Look at Tom Cruise, still keepin' it tight."

For emotional flavor it tosses in some father-son healing between Maverick's father figure and his surrogate child Lt. Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of his dead best friend Goose, by way of a "Behind Enemy Lines" fly-by.

But the main hooks are theroaring flight sequences that vibrate the theater's walls, with visuals reminiscent of Death Star's trench in "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope," only brought to life by scenes filmed in F/A-18s flown by top pilots.

"Top Gun: Maverick" is a two-hour, 11-minute Cialis ad.

Long before all of that kicks in, though, we see Maverick being cut down to size by Ed Harris' leathery Rear Admiral Chester "Hammer" Cain, who is keen to replace the likes of our hero with drone technology. "The future is coming, and you're not in it," he growls before adding, "The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction!"

Once you understand that part of the equation, you may get why conservatives are desperate to claim this as their movie.

To that portion of the audience, "Top Gun: Maverick" is a two-hour, 11-minute Cialis ad, starring a guy with flexible hips who can still climb a ladder to clean his own roof gutters.

Maverick represents that aging audience's ideal self. He blasts down the road on his All-American Kawasaki motorcycle, refusing to wear a helmet or play by the rules. His motto is, "Don't think, just do." His three-and-a-half decades-long friendship with Iceman, now known as four-star Admiral Tom "Iceman" Kazansky, ensures he'll never suffer any consequences for, say, disobeying orders and destroying a prototype aircraft that's probably worth the equivalent GDP of a small nation.

He teaches the next generation of the world's best fighter pilots to fly a mission that he ends up leading anyway. Because the world needs Maverick. He's that exceptional.

Is this evidence of intentional "anti-wokeness"? Not so fast. Consider that the sequel also introduces the local bar as a gathering place for men and women in uniform that's run by Maverick's love interest Penny Benjamin (Jennifer Connelly), the "Admiral's daughter" Maverick got in trouble with way back when.

Jennifer Connelly plays Penny Benjamin and Tom Cruise plays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in "Top Gun: Maverick" (Paramount Pictures / Skydance / Jerry Bruckheimer Films)In the 1986 flick, the first female presence is introduced by an anonymous actor's thigh poking out from under her skirt. In 2022, a woman makes the bar's rules and has the ovaries to get Maverick physically tossed from the place.

"Top Gun: Maverick" evolves with the times in other ways, too. Maverick's inclusive squad includes Barbaro's Phoenix and her Weapon Systems Officer Lt. Robert "Bob" Floyd (Lewis Pullman), the least aggro male in the class, along with Jay Ellis' Lt. Reuben "Payback" Fitch and Danny Ramirez's Lt. Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia.

The candidate class also includes other non-white faces, a step up from the 1986 class, which includes two Black men, only one of whom had any lines . . . and was passed over for the final mission so Maverick could fly with a WSO from his old squad.

This doesn't change what "Top Gun" or "Top Gun: Maverick" are at their core. The franchise was born in the middle of the Reagan era. Then, and now, it is a militaristic fantasy upholding the concept of white American exceptionalism. Even now, in Maverick's inclusive team, non-white characters are flanking him, rooting for him, but none rise high enough to steal his spotlight.

Like before, the mission involves the Americans taking on faceless pilots flying ambiguously identified "fifth-generation aircraft" for an unidentified rogue nation. The target is conveniently in the middle of nowhere, far enough away from any urban centers to head off distracting moralizing about civilian deaths and other collateral damage.

It's a story that very much wants to have it all ways, appealing to the broadest audience possible.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

But it's been a rough couple of years, and everyone's hungry for a bombastic summer flick that tickles the onions. Cruise and Kosinski target this low-key yearning by populating the movie with callbacks to the original "Top Gun," knowing how much Gen X loves its Easter Eggs and nostalgia that reminds us of our youth.

This is why nobody was expecting the opening scene of "Top Gun: Maverick" to show the title character, say, doddering around his ailing daylily farm. Cruise has a few years ahead of him before he heads the way of "The Mule," proven by the pre-movie teaser for his next great cinema conquest, 2023's "Mission ImpossibleDead Reckoning Part One."

He will be at least 60 when it comes out, and still holding the standard for refusing to age out of greatness. That fantasy doesn't belong to any party or political tribe. Claiming otherwise is simply nuts.

"Top Gun: Maverick" is now playing in theaters.

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Maine health care workers to appeal order to disclose their names in vaccine mandate lawsuit – Lewiston Sun Journal

Posted: June 4, 2022 at 2:04 am

Nine plaintiffs who anonymously sued Gov. Janet Mills over a COVID-19 mandate for health care workers will appeal a U.S. District Court judges decision requiring them to disclose their names by June 7.

The group filed its complaint in federal court last August, before the vaccine mandate for employees of designated Maine health care facilities went into effect Oct. 29.

Using pseudonyms, the health care workers argued that it was their religious right to refuse the vaccine overtheir belief that fetal stem cells from abortions were used to develop it. The state mandate does not allow for religious exemptions.

The Portland Press Herald, Kennebec Journal, Morning Sentinel and Sun Journal filed a motion in November challenging the groups right to file the complaint anonymously.

In his 13-page ruling Tuesday, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Jon D. Levy said he at first allowed the group to withhold their names because they argued they were afraid of the public passions concerning mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations, and that they were at a heightened risk of severe social stigma and worse if their identities were revealed.

In the final analysis, however, there is a near total absence of proof that their expressed fears are objectively reasonable, Levy wrote Tuesday. The Plaintiffs privacy interests have not been shown to outweigh the public interest associated with the presumption of openness that applies to civil proceedings.

Attorneys for the unnamed health care workers did not respond to requests Wednesday afternoon to discuss their appeal. They are represented by Maine attorney Steve Whiting, and lawyers from Liberty Counsel, a conservative, religious law firm based in Florida that has participated in several lawsuits against Maine and other states over COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions. Nationally, the firm also has opposed safe and legal access to abortions and same-sex marriage, and the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified the firm as a hate group.

Before filing the notice to appeal, a spokesperson for Liberty Counsel told the Portland Press Herald on Tuesday night that the firm would not speak with reporters about Levys ruling because of the papers involvement in the lawsuit.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, attorney Sigmund Schutz, who represents the newspapers, said he plans to vigorously defend Levys order.

Chief Judge Levys decision vindicates the bedrock principle of the American justice system that courts operate in secret only in exceptional circumstances, Schutz wrote.

Shannon Jankowski, staff attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, has joined Schutz as co-counsel. Jankowski said Wednesday that this is the only case the committee is involved in related to vaccine mandates, but that there are several court cases around the country in which people using pseudonyms have tried to challenge mandates. Jankowski said hundreds of other people around the country have filed complaints concerning vaccine mandates in their own names.

In Arizona in January, a judge denied a federal employees motion to anonymously sue President Biden over the U.S. governments vaccine mandate. At about the same time in Colorado, a judge agreed to let a group of university employees anonymously challenge their employers mandate.

These plaintiffs are attempting to invalidate a vaccine mandate that applies throughout the state of Maine, Jankowski said of the anonymous plaintiffs in the Maine lawsuit. This is something that has broad-ranging impacts on all citizens of Maine, and the public has the right to know who these plaintiffs are, what role they play in the health care system. Its important information for the public to be able to assess for themselves whats going on in this case.

Levy is still considering the lawsuit against the vaccine mandate. Meanwhile, federal judges have refused to block the mandate, which has been in effect since last Oct. 29. The states major health care providers reported at the time that most workers chose to get the shots and keep their jobs.

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BioEclipse Therapeutics Awarded Almost $8 Million Grant by California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to Fund Ongoing Phase 1 CRX100 Cancer…

Posted: May 2, 2022 at 2:01 am

-- Program supports BioEclipse's study of CRX100 in patients with advanced solid tumors-- Grant is part of CIRM fundsupporting clinical-stage candidate stem cell treatments that demonstrate scientific excellence

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ --BioEclipse Therapeutics, Inc (BioEclipse), a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company with a proprietary platform for developing next-generation cancer immunotherapies, announcedtoday it has been awarded a $7,999,689.00 grant by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) to support its ongoing clinical study: A Phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation study of CRX100 in patients with advanced solid tumors.

BioEclipse is performing a Phase 1 clinical study evaluating the safety and tolerability of CRX100, a first-in-class immunotherapy that pairs the power of an oncolytic virus with the tumor-locating ability of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells. These immune cells naturally locate and destroy cancer cells and when combined with our oncolytic virus create a powerful cancer immunotherapy to treat patients who are resistant to standard of care treatments and have recurring disease.

BioEclipse President and CEO Pamela Reilly Contag, Ph.D. and Principal Investigator of the grant, said, "We believe the best way to cure cancer is by developing new, multi-mechanistic therapies that are safe, effective, and accessible to diverse populations. Our technology harnesses two distinct methods of actionusing immune cells loaded with a cancer-killing virus that targets cancer tissue but spares healthy tissue. Immunotherapies such as CRX100 are an extremely powerful approach to give oncologists another tool to improve outcomes, while giving the body tools to fight a relapse and recurrence. We extend our sincerest appreciation to CIRM. Their support has validated our technology and expertise, and we welcome opportunities with partners and investors moving forward as we work towards achieving our goals."

Oliver Dorigo, M.D., Ph.D., Principal Investigator of the clinical trial and Director of the Gynecologic Cancer Service at Stanford University, said, "CRX100addresses a significant unmet medical need in fatal conditions for which there are limited treatment options. CRX100, which migrates to the tumor site, targets tumor cells and delivers the cancer-destroying virus, has the potential to significantly help those with chemotherapy-resistant or refractory solid tumorsincluding colorectal cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, and osteosarcoma." The trial locations also include HonorHealth Research Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in La Jolla, California.

About BioEclipse TherapeuticsBioEclipse Therapeutics is an emerging, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company using a novel platform that combines immune cells and an oncolytic virus to expand treatment options for patients with refractory solid tumors. Our focus is currentlyon the treatment of recurringcancers with our unique multi-mechanistic approach that could address cancers believed to be untreatable. BioEclipse Therapeutics has started a Phase 1 clinical trial with CRX100, a patented, first-in-class, intravenously delivered, targeted immunotherapy against solid tumors. CRX100 is being developed to deliver potentially curative treatment to patients over a broad range of tumor types, including some rare pediatric cancers.For more information, visitwww.bioeclipse.com. For more information on the trial see https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04282044.

Contacts:Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc.Bill Bordenbborden@tiberend.com

Rosalyn Christianrchristian@tiberend.com

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Right to Try 2.0: Ahwatukee family pushes for proposed law after getting medical treatment abroad – FOX 10 News Phoenix

Posted: April 6, 2022 at 2:42 am

Right to Try 2.0: Arizona family pushes for proposed law after getting medical treatment abroad

An Ahwatukee family is pushing for a proposed law called 'Right to Try for Individual Treatments' after they had to travel abroad to get medical care for their daughter who suffers from a rare disease. FOX 10's Stephanie Olmo reports.

AHWATUKEE, Ariz. - Life for the Rileys has been nothing short of challenging these past two years. Having to travel to Italy to get a lifesaving treatment for their daughter, but they're hoping to soon get help here at home.

"Everything was upside down in the world, and then we had this personal situation happening," said Kendra Riley, who has three daughters. Two of them, Olivia and Keira, have a rare genetic disease called metachromatic leukodystrophy.

"It affects the mileage (blank) of the brain, it affects the nerves so really quickly our daughter Olivia lost her ability to walk, talk, she can no longer eat on her own and the average life span is age 6 ."

Sadly, there is no cure for people who are symptomatic like Olivia, but 2-year-old Keira, who was a newborn at the time she was diagnosed, there was a chance as she was not showing symptoms. But the only way to get specialized treatment to save her life was to move the family to Milan, Italy for six months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There were appointments like the process of Leukapheresis where you pull out the stem cells in order to take them to the lab fix them essentially and put them back into her body but after Leukapheresis she has to go to chemo for 4 to 5 days after the chemo they put the renewed stem cells back in her body just through an IV."

Keira received an individualized treatment that FDA regulations block access to in the states. Kendra and others are trying to change that and through their efforts, Arizona is now considering the Right to Try for Individualized Treatments.

"These are tailored made for the individual. Individualized treatments in the states has all but stifled, it is difficult to get these yet in other countries they are really popular. We see that this truly is the next wave of medicine," said Jenna Bentley, Director of Government Affairs for the Goldwater Institute.

If the new piece of legislation becomes law in Arizona, no family will have to go through what the Rileys have endured. The bill is currently awaiting a floor vote in the Arizona House.

Online: https://righttotry.org

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Inside the real life Noahs Ark designed to save mankind after the apocalypse with a back up vault on t… – The US Sun

Posted: January 5, 2022 at 2:37 am

SCIENTISTS have hatched mankind's ultimate insurance plan - involving the moon and LOTS of sperm.

Dubbed the "global insurance policy", the project is planning on sending seeds, sperm and ovaries to the Moon.

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A solar-powered ark would then cryogenically store the frozen samples from some 6.7 million species underground.

Taking inspiration from Noah's Ark, experts fear that Earth may not be safe enough to ensure the survival of the human race - or any species.

Prof Jekan Thanga, of University of Arizona, who proposed the idea in a paper earlier this year, says the human race must safeguard to world against global catastrophes.

He said: "Earth is naturally a volatile environment.

"As humans, we had a close call about 75,000 years ago with the Toba supervolcanic eruption, which caused a 1,000-year cooling period and, according to some, aligns with an estimated drop in human diversity.

"Because human civilisation has such a large footprint, if it were to collapse, that could have a negative cascading effect on the rest of the planet."

The scientist highlighted climate change, a global pandemic and nuclear war as possible causes of catastrophic disasters.

There is a similar project on Earth - the Svalbard Seedbank in Norway, dubbed the "doomsday vault" - which holds hundreds of thousands of seed samples.

But Thanga believes storing samples on our own planet is too risky.

The near-seven million samples would be sent to the moon in multiple payloads and then stored below the surface in vaults, CBS news reports.

The ark would be stored within a network of lava tubes - discovered in 2013 - formed after molten streams flowed beneath the lunar surface billions of years ago.

Experts believe these tubes could provide protection from solar radiation as well as meteors and other hazards on the surface.

And the moon's harsh environment "makes it a great place to store samples that need to stay very cold and undisturbed for hundreds of years at a time," the project team said.

Speaking on Room 104 earlier this year, Thanga said: "Hopefully when the costs of space travel comes down, we can start making moves on this, but we really need to start sending samples to the moon within the next 30 years or so."

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Thanga believes transporting the millions of seeds - totalling 335m samples - would take around 250 rocket launches.

By comparison, the International Space Station took 40 launches to build.

The ark would involve solar panels on the lunar surface for electricity which would be used to power features such as elevator shafts down into the vaults.

The seeds would be cooled to -292 degrees Fahrenheit and the stem cells to -320 degrees Fahrenheit.

The team has also proposed using robots on magnetic tracks to move around the facility.

More research needs to be done on the impact of a lack of gravity on seeds, reports say.

lvaro Daz-Flores Caminero, a University of Arizona student, said: "What amazes me about projects like this is that they make me feel like we are getting closer to becoming a space civilisation, and to a not-very-distant future where humankind will have bases on the moon and Mars.

"Multidisciplinary projects are hard due to their complexity, but I think the same complexity is what makes them beautiful."

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