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hataraku-headcanons-blog · 6 years

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What Happens When We Fall Asleep?

A quick repost since I forgot about the read under cut function. Hopefully this makes it nicer!

Also, an FYI about the blood-brain barrier: blood travels along certain vessels, and regulation of blood along these pathways is highly controlled. So in this story, RBC can see the neurons and they can see her, but she cannot leave the path or go up to them really. :)

Without further ado, here’s the story:

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The night shift was starting and the typically quick pace in the internal carotid artery was beginning to slow. While many red blood cells yawned, trudging along the dirt path at as slow a speed as the blood pressure would allow, one red-headed cell seemed to almost light up the darkened vessel with her enthusiasm.

AE-3803 hummed to herself as she pushed her box of oxygen, marveling at the scenery at night time.

“It’s so peaceful,” she murmured, taking in the slightly cooler night air and the way the lights from the windows of the common cells’ houses cast a faint glow along the street.

She followed the straight, wide path up and up and still further up until she reached the entrance to the brain.

She paused, checked her notes and nodded.

“I’m going the right way!” she whispered excitedly, not wanting to be too loud and disturb the serene atmosphere. Taking a deep breath, the red blood cell kept along the path she had written.

3803 stepped into the brain and gasped aloud.

Brain: “A major organ of the body. A control center for coordination of actions and motion, regulation of homeostasis and involuntary bodily functions, and the processing of external information into thoughts, feelings and memories.”

The brain was like nothing she’d ever seen before. A rich forest bloomed before her, tall flowering trees with lights strung along them. The little lights illuminated, one after another, down a row to another tree, then went out. Again and again they flickered and glowed, all up and down the criss-crossing pathways, now an uneven cobblestone.

She was delighted to see the beautiful flowering trees were actually homes- lights flickered from within, and she could see a cell poke his head out of a door, graciously accepting a cup of steaming tea from a yellow-suited man with a floral lapel. AE-3803 could smell the tea as it wafted through the air and her whole body began to feel more relaxed and sleepy.

She shook her head. No time for that- she had a job to do!

3803, from what she had just seen and what her senpai had told her, was pretty sure that the man serving tea was an astrocyte.

Astrocyte: “Maintains homeostatic levels in the brain and central nervous system. Performs a wide variety of tasks such as axon guidance, synaptic support and control of blood flow through the brain. Their role in sleep is not well understood, but it is known that astrocytes produce a hormone called adenosine, which makes us tired. They are called ‘astro’ for their star-like shape.”

The man smiled and bowed his head towards her in greeting, one hand over his heart. 3803 cheerily waved back.

“Hello!” she called out. She waved to the other cell who was just about to go back inside. He blinked and blearily waved back before closing the door.

“Ah, it really is lovely up here!” she sighed, pulling out her notes. “Okay, so there’s a crossroads up ahead… if I take a right, I’ll be in the ophthalmic artery… no wait, is that the cerebral? Maybe I have to take a left? Aaah, I don’t want to get lost! Senpai trusted me with thi-”

She abruptly crashed into something and went flying backwards. The thing grunted and she realized with a jolt that she had collided with an actual person.

“Ahh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Eee, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright,” said a familiar voice. “I- oh. Red Blood Cell.”

“White Blood Cell!” 3803 gasped.

The two got to their feet slowly, 3803 feebly trying to conceal her embarrassment, U-1146 honestly just amazed at the fact that his tea hadn’t gone flying out of his hand.

“I’m really sorry!” 3803 said again.

“Don’t be,” he replied. “No harm done. We sure do bump into each other a lot though. I suppose quite literally now.”

“Ahaha, yeah…”

“I’ve never seen you on a night shift before,” 1146 commented. “Where are you headed?”

“Ah, I have a delivery to a cell above the eye!” 3803 exclaimed, some of the enthusiasm returning to her voice. “My senpai thought I should take the night shift since I’ve been able to navigate better in the day, as a kind of challenge. And it’s my first time this far up in the brain too, but I’ve come prepared!”

She held up her notes and he nodded.

“All I have to do,” she pointed to the left, “is take that path straight up to the supraorbital artery! I’ve got it all planned out!”

“Um. Well,” 1146 said quietly, trailing off.

She pointed to the right.

“It’s the other way, isn’t it.”

He nodded.

She just sighed and pushed her trolley along to the right.

In a few moments, the neutrophil had caught up, keeping pace beside her.

“Wait, are we going the same way?” 3803 asked, puzzled.

“Just patrolling,” he replied, sipping his tea. “I thought we could walk together for a bit.”

“Sure!” she agreed, beaming.

They walked in silence for a bit, both taking in the beautiful lights that slowed in their progress as they traveled.

A bright stream of light suddenly went coursing above their heads and out of the brain, lighting the street below almost as though it were day.

AE-3803 shrieked, ducking down and instinctively covering her head.

“What was that?!”

“Just a strong electrical signal sent by the neurons. Probably triggering the hypnagogic jerk. Nothing to be afraid of.”

The red blood cell slowly rose to her feet, and sensing no danger, she continued along the opthalmic artery, the neutrophil following alongside. AE-3803 grabbed her notes.

“Hypnagogic jerk…” she muttered, flipping through the pages.

U-1146 narrowed his one visible eye curiously.

“Ah, it’s when the muscles twitch as sleep starts!” AE-3803 exclaimed. “It’s a normal thing; it happens during stage one sleep!”

“That’s right,” 1146 said, with mild surprise. “Where did you learn that?”

“Oh,” she smiled. “My senpai wanted me to be prepared so she told me what she knows. I took lots of notes, see?”

She flipped through the pages rapidly and U-1146 nodded appreciatively.

“Would you tell me what you know?”

“Eh? Um,” 3803 hesitated, suddenly a little self-conscious. “Don’t you already know these things?”

“I do,” he replied evenly. “But I’m not as familiar with the role of red blood cells at night. I may learn something.”

“Well…” she trailed off, then shook her head, beaming. “Okay! I’ll tell you what I know!”

At that moment, static crackled from his transceiver.

“Ah, one moment, Red Blood Cell.”

“Sure, sure!”

The neutrophil removed the transceiver and spoke into it clearly.

“This is U-1146. No activity to report from the ophthalmic artery. Will continue patrolling through to the supraorbital and continue to report at regular intervals.”

“Cool,” came U-4989′s reply, crackling out from the speaker. “We’ll both end up in the same vein on the way back; guess I’ll see you later!”

“Later,” 1146 replied, then he put away the transceiver. “Sorry, Red Blood Cell. You can start now.”

“Oh it’s no problem!”

1146 took a sip of his tea as she began.

“So,” she said, looking around. “Things seem to have settled down, so I think we’re done with stage 1 sleep and are on to stage 2!”

He nodded.

“This is the time the neurons help make memories! They take the events of the day and decide from there what should be kept and what can be forgotten. Some of them will encode the memories for later.”

She pointed at a neuron, who was feeding a thick cable through a hole in the wall that led inside his house.

“That’s probably what he’s doing right now!”

The two blood cells continued walking, unaware of the bewildered blinking neuron behind them.

“Why was she pointing at me? What am I doing?” he mumbled, sleepy from the chamomile tea. After a moment of confusion, he shrugged and got back to work.

“I believe that neuron was also rearranging the connections between him and his neighbours,” 1146 added.

“He was?”

“Yes. That’s one of the main principles of how neuroplasticity works.”

Neuroplasticity: “The brain’s ability to rearrange and form new neuronal connections in response to learning, experience or injury.”

“So what’s your role in this?” 1146 asked.

“I deliver oxygen and take away carbon dioxide, like usual,” 3803 smiled. “But the blood flow is slower at night, so it’s not as rushed.”

She briefly checked her notes and nodded.

“While I’m up here, I’m supposed to also gather up any loose hormones that didn’t get used today. After I circulate around the heart and lungs, I’ll take what I’ve collected to the liver for the hepatocytes to get rid of.”

A crackling static sound and 1146, briefly apologizing, reported into his transceiver again. A dainty sounding female voice replied and the conversation came to a close.

“You sure are using that a bit more than usual White Blood Cell,” 3803 commented, tilting her head.

“We neutrophils have to at night,” he replied. “There are less of us circulating, but we communicate more to compensate. The other white blood cells; the macrophages and dendritic cells also communicate more, with each other and with us. That was Macrophage just now.”

“I see!”

“Hey,” called a cell from the right. “You, red blood cell!”

“Yes?” she answered, startled.

“Could you take these for me?” he asked, holding up three file folders. “I didn’t use them and they’re just kind of lying around.”

“Oh, of course!” 3803 agreed, taking the folders from him and plopping them on top of her box of oxygen.

“Thank you for your hard work!” the cell said, returning to his house.

“Thank you for yours!” 3803 called out cheerfully after him.

AE-3803 held up the file folders for U-1146 to see.

“These are the hormones I was telling you about. My first collection!”

She looked positively jubilant about the whole thing, even though it was just another job in the life of a red blood cell. U-1146 tipped his hat slightly as the pair continued to meander up the tree-lined arterial pathway.

——————-

“Delta sleep is beginning now,” AE-3803 commented, watching the neurons catch a few zzz’s while their computers’ delta programs ran lazy waves up and down the strings of lights.

“Mm,” 1146 agreed.

A few red blood cells ran by, carrying red and white striated file folders labelled “Growth”.

“They’re taking growth hormone to the muscles in the body, White Blood Cell,” 3803 told him. She sighed wistfully. “I almost wish I’d had that job instead. I’d love to see how the muscle cells repair themselves.”

“Next time?” 1146 suggested.

“I hope so!”

AE-3803 suddenly jolted, her head alert. U-1146 instantly tensed, his fingers itching to grab his knife.

“What happened?”

“I just realized- where are all the T-cells?” she gasped. “There’s usually at least one squad that jogs by, but I haven’t seen any!”

“Ah, they barely circulate in the bloodstream at night,” 1146 told her, releasing some of his tension.

“Where do they go?”

“Actually… no one’s completely sure.”

“Eh?!?” AE-3803 glanced around her with wide eyes, as if a killer T-cell was going to jump out of nowhere all of a sudden.

“They probably go back to the lymph ducts,” 1146 added quickly. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“It’s still kind of scary…” she muttered.

“…it is,” the neutrophil agreed.

“We’re almost there!” 3803 realized, bouncing on her feet excitedly. “The capillary I need should be right up here-”

A rumbling echoed from behind the duo, growing steadily louder.

“Uhh…” the two uttered, hesitantly turning their heads in sync and blanching when they saw what was happening.

Red blood cells raced towards them in a mass of hats, jackets, and trolleys of oxygen.

“W-White Blood Cell?! What’s happening?!”

“It’s-”

AE-3803 screeched as the mass of cells overtook them.

“Ahh! I lost White Blood Cell!” she shrieked, racing just to keep up with the other cells and keep her footing. “White Blood Cell! What’s going on?”

“REM sleep!” a red blood cell on her right shouted.

“REM sleep?”

REM sleep: “Stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement, increased pulse and breathing, and muscle paralysis. This is the stage in which dreams take place.”

“Oh, of course!” the red blood cell exclaimed. “The blood flow increases during this stage!”

Running through the supraorbital, packed in with other busy red blood cells, AE-3803 marveled at the way the trees seemed to come to life again, lighting strings along the path, swooping from tree to tree in sparks of light. Slowly, monitors folded down from the branches, acting as projector screens, capturing the light from the neuron’s homes like a feature film.

The dream ran across the projectors like a kaleidoscope of thought, memory and colour as AE-3803 pushed her oxygen along, gazing upwards and all around at the dazzling display.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” a red blood cell shouted as her trolley very nearly collided with his own.

“Aah! Sorry!”

————-

AE-3803 breathed a sigh of relief. REM sleep over, next sleep cycle beginning, oxygen delivered, carbon dioxide and hormones picked up- she was ready to circulate through the heart and lungs again.

Back in the veins, things were a bit quieter, so she had time to do one extra thing before she headed off.

“U-4989!”

The neutrophil whirled around suddenly, speaking around the dumpling he was carrying in his mouth. His hands were occupied with fastening his knife to a large rock.

“Oh, hey Red Blood Cell!”

If the sight confused her at all, then AE-3803 said nothing of it.

“Have you seen White Blood Cell- U-1146? We got separated during REM sleep…”

U-4989 let out a short bark of laughter.

“Yeah, I can take you to him.”

The neutrophil weaved through the red blood cells, the girl close behind him.

“There he is!” U-4989 said, gesturing.

“White Blood Cell! …oh.”

On a bench off to the side of the vessel, U-1146 sat, his head having since bobbed back to allow his tired body to relax.

AE-3803 blinked to ensure she was seeing things right. U-1146… had fallen asleep! Then again, she thought, he must’ve needed the rest after all the work he did.

“Out like a neuron’s signal,” 4989 shrugged, winking.

AE-3803 smiled at the sleeping neutrophil, then patted him on the shoulder.

“Good night, White Blood Cell,” she said softly. She returned to her pathway and hurried off, calling out over her shoulder to 4989 briefly.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

———————————————————————-

Disclaimers:

This series, Hataraku Saibou, was not written by me but by Akane Shimizu.

**RBCs do not actually carry hormones; they are transported through the blood plasma… but since nutrients were represented as being carried by the RBCs (they are also in the plasma), then I think it’s fine.

**The length of time of a sleep cycle is much longer than the time it takes for a blood cell to circulate the body; this was changed merely to give the two main characters a chance to talk for a bit and explain what’s happening.

#hataraku saibou #hatarakusaibou #what happens when we fall asleep #i can learn how to use tumblr i swear #rbc #wbc #red blood cell #erythrocyte #white blood cell #neutrophil #ae-3803 #u-1146 #u-4989 #have i used too many tags???

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hataraku-headcanons-blog · 6 years

Text

What Happens When We Fall Asleep?

AE-3803 hummed to herself as she pushed her box of oxygen, marveling at the scenery at night time.

“It’s so peaceful,” she murmured, taking in the slightly cooler night air and the way the lights from the windows of the common cells’ houses cast a faint glow along the street.

She followed the straight, wide path up and up and still further up until she reached the entrance to the brain.

She paused, checked her notes and nodded.

“I’m going the right way!” she whispered excitedly, not wanting to be too loud and disturb the serene atmosphere. Taking a deep breath, the red blood cell kept along the path she had written.

3803 stepped into the brain and gasped aloud.

She shook her head. No time for that- she had a job to do!

3803, from what she had just seen and what her senpai had told her, was pretty sure that the man serving tea was an astrocyte.

The man smiled and bowed his head towards her in greeting, one hand over his heart. 3803 cheerily waved back.

“Hello!” she called out. She waved to the other cell who was just about to go back inside. He blinked and blearily waved back before closing the door.

“Ah, it really is lovely up here!” she sighed, pulling out her notes. “Okay, so there’s a crossroads up ahead... if I take a right, I’ll be in the ophthalmic artery... no wait, is that the cerebral? Maybe I have to take a left? Aaah, I don’t want to get lost! Senpai trusted me with thi-”

She abruptly crashed into something and went flying backwards. The thing grunted and she realized with a jolt that she had collided with an actual person.

“Ahh! I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Eee, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright,” said a familiar voice. “I- oh. Red Blood Cell.”

“White Blood Cell!” 3803 gasped.

The two got to their feet slowly, 3803 feebly trying to conceal her embarrassment, U-1146 honestly just amazed at the fact that his tea hadn’t gone flying out of his hand.

“I’m really sorry!” 3803 said again.

“Don’t be,” he replied. “No harm done. We sure do bump into each other a lot though. I suppose quite literally now.”

“Ahaha, yeah...”

“I’ve never seen you on a night shift before,” 1146 commented. “Where are you headed?”

She held up her notes and he nodded.

“All I have to do,” she pointed to the left, “is take that path straight up to the supraorbital artery! I’ve got it all planned out!”

“Um. Well,” 1146 said quietly, trailing off.

She pointed to the right.

“It’s the other way, isn’t it.”

He nodded.

She just sighed and pushed her trolley along to the right.

In a few moments, the neutrophil had caught up, keeping pace beside her.

“Wait, are we going the same way?” 3803 asked, puzzled.

“Just patrolling,” he replied, sipping his tea. “I thought we could walk together for a bit.”

“Sure!” she agreed, beaming.

They walked in silence for a bit, both taking in the beautiful lights that slowed in their progress as they traveled.

A bright stream of light suddenly went coursing above their heads and out of the brain, lighting the street below almost as though it were day.

AE-3803 shrieked, ducking down and instinctively covering her head.

“What was that?!”

“Just a strong electrical signal sent by the neurons. Probably triggering the hypnagogic jerk. Nothing to be afraid of.”

The red blood cell slowly rose to her feet, and sensing no danger, she continued along the opthalmic artery, the neutrophil following alongside. AE-3803 grabbed her notes.

“Hypnagogic jerk...” she muttered, flipping through the pages.

U-1146 narrowed his one visible eye curiously.

“Ah, it’s when the muscles twitch as sleep starts!” AE-3803 exclaimed. “It’s a normal thing; it happens during stage one sleep!”

“That’s right,” 1146 said, with mild surprise. “Where did you learn that?”

“Oh,” she smiled. “My senpai wanted me to be prepared so she told me what she knows. I took lots of notes, see?”

She flipped through the pages rapidly and U-1146 nodded appreciatively.

“Would you tell me what you know?”

“Eh? Um,” 3803 hesitated, suddenly a little self-conscious. “Don’t you already know these things?”

“I do,” he replied evenly. “But I’m not as familiar with the role of red blood cells at night. I may learn something.”

“Well...” she trailed off, then shook her head, beaming. “Okay! I’ll tell you what I know!”

At that moment, static crackled from his transceiver.

“Ah, one moment, Red Blood Cell.”

“Sure, sure!”

The neutrophil removed the transceiver and spoke into it clearly.

“This is U-1146. No activity to report from the ophthalmic artery. Will continue patrolling through to the supraorbital and continue to report at regular intervals.”

“Cool,” came U-4989′s reply, crackling out from the speaker. “We’ll both end up in the same vein on the way back; guess I’ll see you later!”

“Later,” 1146 replied, then he put away the transceiver. “Sorry, Red Blood Cell. You can start now.”

“Oh it’s no problem!”

1146 took a sip of his tea as she began.

“So,” she said, looking around. “Things seem to have settled down, so I think we’re done with stage 1 sleep and are on to stage 2!”

He nodded.

She pointed at a neuron, who was feeding a thick cable through a hole in the wall that led inside his house.

“That’s probably what he’s doing right now!”

The two blood cells continued walking, unaware of the bewildered blinking neuron behind them.

“Why was she pointing at me? What am I doing?” he mumbled, sleepy from the chamomile tea. After a moment of confusion, he shrugged and got back to work.

“I believe that neuron was also rearranging the connections between him and his neighbours,” 1146 added.

“He was?”

“Yes. That’s one of the main principles of how neuroplasticity works.”

Neuroplasticity: “The brain’s ability to rearrange and form new neuronal connections in response to learning, experience or injury.”

“So what’s your role in this?” 1146 asked.

“I deliver oxygen and take away carbon dioxide, like usual,” 3803 smiled. “But the blood flow is slower at night, so it’s not as rushed.”

She briefly checked her notes and nodded.

A crackling static sound and 1146, briefly apologizing, reported into his transceiver again. A dainty sounding female voice replied and the conversation came to a close.

“You sure are using that a bit more than usual White Blood Cell,” 3803 commented, tilting her head.

“I see!”

“Hey,” called a cell from the right. “You, red blood cell!”

“Yes?” she answered, startled.

“Could you take these for me?” he asked, holding up three file folders. “I didn’t use them and they’re just kind of lying around.”

“Oh, of course!” 3803 agreed, taking the folders from him and plopping them on top of her box of oxygen.

“Thank you for your hard work!” the cell said, returning to his house.

“Thank you for yours!” 3803 called out cheerfully after him.

AE-3803 held up the file folders for U-1146 to see.

“These are the hormones I was telling you about. My first collection!”

-------------------

“Delta sleep is beginning now,” AE-3803 commented, watching the neurons catch a few zzz’s while their computers’ delta programs ran lazy waves up and down the strings of lights.

“Mm,” 1146 agreed.

A few red blood cells ran by, carrying red and white striated file folders labelled “Growth”.

“Next time?” 1146 suggested.

“I hope so!”

AE-3803 suddenly jolted, her head alert. U-1146 instantly tensed, his fingers itching to grab his knife.

“What happened?”

“I just realized- where are all the T-cells?” she gasped. “There’s usually at least one squad that jogs by, but I haven’t seen any!”

“Ah, they barely circulate in the bloodstream at night,” 1146 told her, releasing some of his tension.

“Where do they go?”

“Actually... no one’s completely sure.”

“Eh?!?” AE-3803 glanced around her with wide eyes, as if a killer T-cell was going to jump out of nowhere all of a sudden.

“They probably go back to the lymph ducts,” 1146 added quickly. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“It’s still kind of scary...” she muttered.

“...it is,” the neutrophil agreed.

“We’re almost there!” 3803 realized, bouncing on her feet excitedly. “The capillary I need should be right up here-”

A rumbling echoed from behind the duo, growing steadily louder.

“Uhh...” the two uttered, hesitantly turning their heads in sync and blanching when they saw what was happening.

Red blood cells raced towards them in a mass of hats, jackets, and trolleys of oxygen.

“W-White Blood Cell?! What’s happening?!”

“It’s-”

AE-3803 screeched as the mass of cells overtook them.

“Ahh! I lost White Blood Cell!” she shrieked, racing just to keep up with the other cells and keep her footing. “White Blood Cell! What’s going on?”

“REM sleep!” a red blood cell on her right shouted.

“REM sleep?”

REM sleep: “Stage of sleep characterized by rapid eye movement, increased pulse and breathing, and muscle paralysis. This is the stage in which dreams take place.”

“Oh, of course!” the red blood cell exclaimed. “The blood flow increases during this stage!”

The dream ran across the projectors like a kaleidoscope of thought, memory and colour as AE-3803 pushed her oxygen along, gazing upwards and all around at the dazzling display.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” a red blood cell shouted as her trolley very nearly collided with his own.

“Aah! Sorry!”

-------------

AE-3803 breathed a sigh of relief. REM sleep over, next sleep cycle beginning, oxygen delivered, carbon dioxide and hormones picked up- she was ready to circulate through the heart and lungs again.

Back in the veins, things were a bit quieter, so she had time to do one extra thing before she headed off.

“U-4989!”

The neutrophil whirled around suddenly, speaking around the dumpling he was carrying in his mouth. His hands were occupied with fastening his knife to a large rock.

“Oh, hey Red Blood Cell!”

If the sight confused her at all, then AE-3803 said nothing of it.

“Have you seen White Blood Cell- U-1146? We got separated during REM sleep...”

U-4989 let out a short bark of laughter.

“Yeah, I can take you to him.”

The neutrophil weaved through the red blood cells, the girl close behind him.

“There he is!” U-4989 said, gesturing.

“White Blood Cell! ...oh.”

On a bench off to the side of the vessel, U-1146 sat, his head having since bobbed back to allow his tired body to relax.

AE-3803 blinked to ensure she was seeing things right. U-1146... had fallen asleep! Then again, she thought, he must’ve needed the rest after all the work he did.

“Out like a neuron’s signal,” 4989 shrugged, winking.

AE-3803 smiled at the sleeping neutrophil, then patted him on the shoulder.

“Good night, White Blood Cell,” she said softly. She returned to her pathway and hurried off, calling out over her shoulder to 4989 briefly.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimers:

This series, Hataraku Saibou, was not written by me but by Akane Shimizu.

**RBCs do not actually carry hormones; they are transported through the blood plasma... but since nutrients were represented as being carried by the RBCs (they are also in the plasma), then I think it’s fine.

**The length of time of a sleep cycle is much longer than the time it takes for a blood cell to circulate the body; this was changed merely to give the two main characters a chance to talk for a bit.

#hataraku saibou #hatarakusaibou #redbloodcell #whitebloodcell #erythrocyte #neutrophil #ae-3803 #u-1146 #u-4989 #sleep #what happens when we sleep #i'd like to find out #i need sleep

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