1.Regulation of Relevant Signaling Pathways by Traditional Chinese Medicine in Intervention of Pancreatic Cancer: A Review
Quanyou ZHAO ; Conghui ZHAO ; Yu ZHANG ; Yiping FU ; Yuting LIU ; Xiaoran WANG ; Zhanzhan LI ; Mingsan MIAO ; Li BAI
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2026;32(5):280-289
Pancreatic cancer is a highly malignant solid tumor of the digestive system with extremely poor treatment prognosis. Although its incidence rate is low, its mortality rate is extremely high. In recent years, the number of diagnosed cases worldwide has continued to rise, making pancreatic cancer the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths globally. Currently, clinical treatment primarily relies on operation and chemotherapy to suppress tumors. However, these approaches face challenges such as suboptimal efficacy, high postoperative recurrence rates, and severe adverse reactions. Therefore, identifying safe and effective treatment modalities remains a pressing challenge for the medical community. In recent years, research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interventions for pancreatic cancer has increased significantly. Multiple studies have shown that single-herb TCM, TCM formulas, and their derived single compounds can regulate the levels of tumor cell signaling pathways through multiple action targets. They inhibit the development and progression of pancreatic cancer by inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, promoting cell apoptosis, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, reducing cancer cell invasion and migration capabilities, regulating the cell cycle, and modulating the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, TCM has the advantages of significantly enhancing the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapy drugs and causing fewer adverse reactions. However, the specific action mechanisms by which TCM intervenes in pancreatic cancer remain unclear. Further extensive research is still needed to validate the role of regulating classical signaling pathways such as phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Wnt/β-catenin, nuclear transcription factor-κB (NF-κB), notch, and hedgehog in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Therefore, this paper reviewed Chinese and international studies on TCM intervention in pancreatic cancer through relevant signaling pathways in recent years, summarized the potential action mechanisms of TCM in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and provided references for related research in the future.
2.Analysis of Inpatient Mortality Cases in a Tertiary General Hospital in Beijing Based on Diagnosis-related Groups
Yufei ZHANG ; Jiong ZHOU ; Xiaojun MA ; Xiaoran WANG
Medical Journal of Peking Union Medical College Hospital 2025;16(3):697-702
To analyze inpatient mortality cases in a tertiary general hospital in Beijing based on diagnosis-related groups (DRG), with the aim of providing references for healthcare quality management. We retrospectively collected DRG data of hospitalized patients admitted to a tertiary general hospital in Beijing from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2023. Mortality cases were analyzed according to mortality risk stratification, with a focus on the temporal trends, departmental distribution, and DRG composition of low/medium-low mortality risk cases. Among 927 304 DRG-classified hospitalizations, 2346 cases resulted in death (stratified into 130 low-risk, 209 medium-low-risk, 411 medium-high-risk, and 1596 high-risk cases), yielding an overall mortality rate of 0.25%. The mortality rates were 0.02% (130/680 939) in the low-risk group and 0.16% (209/130 449) in the medium-low-risk group. From 2015 to 2023, the mortality rate showed a significant downward trend ( Critical care units accounted for the highest proportion of mortality cases, with surgical patients having complications/comorbidities representing the major DRG-related factors for low/medium-low-risk deaths. Hospitals should prioritize these findings by identifying areas for improvement, implementing multidisciplinary case reviews, and strengthening patient safety measures.
3.Data Mining of Professor Zhang Farong's Core Prescription for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Its Clinical Efficacy
Wei FANG ; Jie XU ; Huanping WANG ; Xiaoran ZHANG ; Hongxia ZHU ; Qiu CHEN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2025;31(22):174-182
ObjectiveTo explore the medication patterns of Professor Zhang Farong in treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the clinical efficacy of his core prescription. MethodsClinical case records of T2DM treated by Professor Zhang Farong were collected to establish a prescription database. Frequency statistics, visual analysis, and factor analysis were employed to investigate the characteristics and principle of the prescriptions, and a core prescription was derived. A randomized controlled trial was conducted, enrolling 60 T2DM patients with the dampness-heat syndrome. The patients were allocated into an observation group (core prescription + metformin) and a control group (metformin alone), with both groups undergoing a 12-week treatment course. Changes in TCM symptom scores, glucose metabolism indicators [fasting plasma glucose (FPG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose (2 hPG), and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c)], pancreatic function indicators [fasting C-peptide (FCP), 2-hour postprandial C-peptide (2 hCP), and area under the C-peptide curve (AUCcp)], and lipid profiles were measured before and after treatment. The adverse reactions were observed and recorded. ResultsA core prescription named modified Gegen Qinlian Decoction was formulated, comprising Puerariae Lobatae Radix, Coptidis Rhizoma, Scutellariae Radix, Astragali Radix, Lycii Cortex, Mori Cortex, Jineijin Endothelium Corneum Gigeriae Galli, Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata, Atractylodis Rhizoma, Polygonati Rhizoma, and Pogostemonis Herba. The clinical trial results showed that both groups had significantly decreased FPG, 2 hPG, and HbA1c (P0.05), and the observation group outperformed the control group in recovering the level of HbA1c (P0.05). After treatment, both groups had declined TCM symptoms scores (P0.05), and the declines in the observation group were larger than those in the control group (P0.05). After treatment, the TC and LDL-C levels declined in the observation group (P 0.05), while the lipid levels showed a decreasing trend with no statistically significant difference in the control group. After treatment, both groups showed increases in FCP and AUCcp (P0.05), and the 2 hCP in both groups presented a recovering trend with no statistically significant difference. There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups. ConclusionModified Gegen Qinlian Decoction embodies Professor Zhang Farong's academic philosophy of treating consumptive thirst by tonifying the spleen and kidney, replenishing Qi and Yin, clearing deficiency and heat, unblocking stasis in collaterals, and addressing both deficiency and stasis. The combination of the core prescription with metformin alleviates clinical symptoms in T2DM patients with the dampness-heat syndrome, demonstrating potential effects in restoring pancreatic islet function, regulating blood glucose, and improving lipid profiles. It serves as a therapeutic option for T2DM in the patients with the dampness-heat syndrome under syndrome differentiation, meriting broader clinical application.
4.Impact of parental myopia on myopia in schoolchildren and adolescents in China: A national cross-sectional survey.
Xiaoran YU ; Huan WANG ; Sheng MA ; Yanhui DONG ; Yinghua MA ; Yi SONG ; Jun MA ; Zhiyong ZOU
Chinese Medical Journal 2025;138(23):3168-3175
BACKGROUND:
Parental myopia is an important risk factor for myopia in Chinese children and adolescents. This study aimed to assess the influence of parental myopia and the severity of myopia on offspring and to evaluate whether adopting healthy lifestyles can mitigate the effects of parental myopia on offspring.
METHODS:
This cross-sectional study analyzed data from children and adolescents aged 6-17 years with complete vision assessments and parental history of myopia from six provinces in China during 2013-2014. Parental demographic information, children's outdoor activity time, sleep time, and sedentary time were collected via questionnaire. Parental myopia was classified as no myopia, paternal myopia, maternal myopia, and both. The offspring were categorized into 10 groups based on parental myopia prescription. Associations of the above factors with myopia in children and adolescents were evaluated by logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS:
Among 40,864 children and adolescents (50.3% boys and 49.7% girls), 22,537 (55.2%) were diagnosed with myopia. In comparison to offspring devoid of parental myopia, children with one parent affected by myopia exhibited odds ratio (OR) of 1.75 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.62-1.88) for myopia, while those with both parents affected showed OR of 2.27 (95% CI: 2.02-2.55) after adjusted for lifestyle factors. The likelihood of myopia in offspring increased with increasing severity of parental myopia, with a 3.08-fold increase in risk observed when both parents presented high myopia. Nonetheless, children adhering to two or more healthy lifestyle factors demonstrated a diminished risk of myopia compared with those with fewer than two lifestyle factors, especially among offspring of non-myopic or mildly myopic parents.
CONCLUSIONS
Parental myopia has a dose-dependent association with their offspring. Healthy lifestyles may reduce the impact of parental factors on myopia in offspring. The observed associations suggest that although the genetic burden of parental myopia cannot be ignored, healthy lifestyles and nurturing are also very important.
Humans
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Myopia/epidemiology*
;
Child
;
Male
;
Female
;
Adolescent
;
Cross-Sectional Studies
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China/epidemiology*
;
Parents
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Surveys and Questionnaires
;
Risk Factors
5.Research on multi-scale convolutional neural network hand muscle strength prediction model improved based on convolutional attention module.
Yihao DU ; Mengyu SUN ; Jingjin LI ; Xiaoran WANG ; Tianfu CAO
Journal of Biomedical Engineering 2025;42(1):90-95
In order to realize the quantitative assessment of muscle strength in hand function rehabilitation and then formulate scientific and effective rehabilitation training strategies, this paper constructs a multi-scale convolutional neural network (MSCNN) - convolutional block attention module (CBAM) - bidirectional long short-term memory network (BiLSTM) muscle strength prediction model to fully explore the spatial and temporal features of the data and simultaneously suppress useless features, and finally achieve the improvement of the accuracy of the muscle strength prediction model. To verify the effectiveness of the model proposed in this paper, the model in this paper is compared with traditional models such as support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), convolutional neural network (CNN), CNN - squeeze excitation network (SENet), MSCNN-CBAM and MSCNN-BiLSTM, and the effect of muscle strength prediction by each model is investigated when the hand force application changes from 40% of the maximum voluntary contraction force (MVC) to 60% of the MVC. The research results show that as the hand force application increases, the effect of the muscle strength prediction model becomes worse. Then the ablation experiment is used to analyze the influence degree of each module on the muscle strength prediction result, and it is found that the CBAM module plays a key role in the model. Therefore, by using the model in this article, the accuracy of muscle strength prediction can be effectively improved, and the characteristics and laws of hand muscle activities can be deeply understood, providing assistance for further exploring the mechanism of hand functions .
Neural Networks, Computer
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Humans
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Hand Strength/physiology*
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Support Vector Machine
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Muscle Strength/physiology*
;
Hand/physiology*
;
Convolutional Neural Networks
6.Characteristics of occlusal force and contact in 20 individual normal occlusion children with mixed dentition.
Xiaoran WU ; Yifan JIN ; Ruisi XIAO ; Peiwen LIAO ; Yuanyuan WANG
Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences) 2025;57(1):154-160
OBJECTIVE:
To measure and analyze the occlusal force and contact in children with mixed dentition, and to preliminarily provide baseline data on the occlusion of individual normal occlusion children with mixed dentition.
METHODS:
A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 20 children with mixed dentition and individual normal occlusion, consisting of 12 boys and 8 girls, aged 6.5-9.8 years. The Dental Prescale Ⅱ occlusal analysis system was used to measure the occlusal force and contact at the intercuspal position, including the maximum occlusal force (N) and the occlusal contact area (mm2) of the entire dentition, and the left and right sides, average occlusal pressure (MPa), maximum occlusal pressure (MPa), and to determine the position of the center of occlusal force. The gender differences in maximum occlusal force, average occlusal pressure, and occlusal contact area were analyzed, the bilateral symmetry of occlusion in children with mixed dentition and individual normal occlusion was compared, and the correlation between occlusal data and age, height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) was analyzed.
RESULTS:
(1) The average maximum occlusal force of the entire dentition in the 20 children with mixed dentition at the intercuspal position was (869.18±106.64) N, the average occlusal contact area was (25.19±2.89) mm2, the average occlusal pressure was (34.37±5.98) MPa, and the maximum occlusal pressure M(P25, P75) was 120 (120, 120) MPa; (2) There was no statistically significant difference in the maximum occlusal force, average occlusal pressure, maximum occlusal pressure, and occlusal contact area between the left and right sides (P>0.05); (3) At the intercuspal position, the average occlusal contact area for 12 boys and 8 girls was (26.71±3.91) mm2 and (21.62±3.08) mm2 respectively, and the average maximum occlusal force was (911.92±145.05) N and (769.47±116.45) N respectively, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in the average occlusal pressure between boys and girls (P>0.05); (4) The maximum occlusal force at the intercuspal position was weakly correlated with age (r=0.219, P=0.046), and strongly positively correlated with the occlusal contact area (r=0.949, P < 0.001), while the average occlusal pressure, maximum occlusal pressure, and occlusal contact area were not correlated with age, height, weight, or BMI; (5) The center of occlusal force in the 20 children with mixed dentition and individual normal occlusion was located in the molar region, with 7 children having the maximum occlusal pressure point only in the first permanent molar region, 10 children having it in both the deciduous molar region and the first permanent molar region, and 3 children having it only in the deciduous molar region.
CONCLUSION
In children with mixed dentition and individual normal occlusion, the maximum occlusal force, occlusal contact area, average occlusal pressure, and maximum occlusal pressure at the intercuspal position show good bilateral symmetry; there are gender differences in the maximum occlusal force and occlusal contact area, with boys having greater values than girls; the maximum occlusal force is positively correlated with the occlusal contact area.
Humans
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Child
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Male
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Bite Force
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Female
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Dentition, Mixed
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Cross-Sectional Studies
;
Dental Occlusion
7.Nanomedicine-driven tumor glucose metabolic reprogramming for enhanced cancer immunotherapy.
Chenwei JIANG ; Minglu TANG ; Yun SU ; Junjie XIE ; Qi SHANG ; Mingmei GUO ; Xiaoran AN ; Longfei LIN ; Ruibin WANG ; Qian HUANG ; Guangji ZHANG ; Hui LI ; Feihu WANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(6):2845-2866
Tumors exhibit abnormal glucose metabolism, consuming excessive glucose and excreting lactate, which constructs a tumor microenvironment that facilitates cancer progression and disrupts immunotherapeutic efficacy. Currently, tumor glucose metabolic dysregulation to reshape the immunosuppressive microenvironment and enhance immunotherapy efficacy is emerging as an innovative therapeutic strategy. However, glucose metabolism modulators lack specificity and still face significant challenges in overcoming tumor delivery barriers, microenvironmental complexity, and metabolic heterogeneity, resulting in poor clinical benefit. Nanomedicines, with their ability to selectively target tumors or immune cells, respond to the tumor microenvironment, co-deliver multiple drugs, and facilitate combinatorial therapies, hold significant promise for enhancing immunotherapy through tumor glucose metabolic reprogramming. This review explores the complex interactions between tumor glucose metabolism-specifically metabolite transport, glycolysis processes, and lactate-and the immune microenvironment. We summarize how nanomedicine-mediated reprogramming of tumor glucose metabolism can enhance immunotherapy efficacy and outline the prospects and challenges in this field.
8.Mechanism of Cnidii Fructus in the treatment of periodontitis with osteoporosis based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation.
Miaomiao FENG ; Xiaoran XU ; Ningli LI ; Mingzhen YANG ; Yuankun ZHAI
West China Journal of Stomatology 2025;43(2):249-261
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to explore the active components, potential targets, and mechanism of Cnidii Fructus in the treatment of periodontitis with osteoprosis through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulation technology.
METHODS:
The main chemical constituents and targets of Cnidii Fructus were screened using the TCMSP and SwissTargetPrediction databases, as well as literature reports. Targets of periodontitis and osteoporosis were predicted using different databases. The intersection targets of Cnidii Fructus, periodontitis, and osteoporosis were obtained using Venny 2.1. The protein-protein interaction network was formed on the STRING platform. Cytoscape 3.9.1 was used to construct the active component-intersection target interaction network, perform the topological analysis, and screen key targets and core active components. Furthermore, the Metascape database was used to perform gene ontology (GO) function and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis on the intersection targets. The top five key targets and core active components were selected as receptor proteins and ligand small molecules. Discovery Studio 2019 was used to dock ligands and receptors and visualize the docking results. Molecular dynamics simulation was conducted using Gromacs2022.3 to assess the stability of the interactions between the core active components and the main targets.
RESULTS:
A total of 20 potential active ingredients of Cnidii Fructus were screened, and 116 targets of Cnidii Fructus were obtained for treating periodontitis and osteoporosis. GO and KEGG analyses of the 116 targets showed that Cnidii Fructus may play a therapeutic role through the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-Akt) and advanced glycation end products-receptor for advanced glycation end products (AGE-RAGE) signaling pathways. Molecular docking showed that the core constituents were well bound to the main targets. Molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the stability of the Diosmetin-AKT1 complex system.
CONCLUSIONS
The preliminary discovery of the potential molecular pharmacological mechanism of Cnidii Fructus extract in the targeted treatment of periodontitis with osteoporosis through a multi-component, multitarget, and multi-pathway approach can serve as a theoretical foundation for future drug-development research and clinical application.
Molecular Docking Simulation
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Molecular Dynamics Simulation
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Network Pharmacology
;
Periodontitis/complications*
;
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry*
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Osteoporosis/complications*
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Humans
;
Protein Interaction Maps
;
Cnidium/chemistry*
9.Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific T-cell responses are induced in people living with human immunodeficiency virus after booster vaccination
Xiuwen WANG ; Yongzheng LI ; Junyan JIN ; Xiaoran CHAI ; Zhenglai MA ; Junyi DUAN ; Guanghui ZHANG ; Tao HUANG ; Xin ZHANG ; Tong ZHANG ; Hao WU ; Yunlong CAO ; Bin SU
Chinese Medical Journal 2024;137(22):2734-2744
Background::T-cell-mediated immunity is crucial for the effective clearance of viral infection, but the T-cell-mediated immune responses that are induced by booster doses of inactivated severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLWH) remain unclear.Methods::Forty-five PLWH who had received antiretroviral therapy (ART) for more than two years and 29 healthy controls (HCs) at Beijing Youan Hospital were enrolled to assess the dynamic changes in T-cell responses between the day before the third vaccine dose (week 0) and 4 or 12 weeks (week 4 or week 12) after receiving the third dose of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Flow cytometry, enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot), and multiplex cytokines profiling were used to assess T-cell responses at the three timepoints in this study.Results::The results of the ELISpot and activation-induced marker (AIM) assays showed that SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses were increased in both PLWH and HCs after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, and a similar magnitude of immune response was induced against the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant compared to the wild-type strain. In detail, spike-specific T-cell responses (measured by the ELISpot assay for interferon γ [IFN-γ] release) in both PLWH and HCs significantly increased in week 4, and the spike-specific T-cell responses in HCs were significantly stronger than those in PLWH 4 weeks after the third vaccination. In the AIM assay, spike-specific CD4 + T-cell responses peaked in both PLWH and HCs in week 12. Additionally, significantly higher spike-specific CD8 + T-cell responses were induced in PLWH than in HCs in week 12. In PLWH, the release of the cytokines interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and IL-22 by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) that were stimulated with spike peptides increased in week 12. In addition, the levels of IL-4 and IL-5 were higher in PLWH than in HCs in week 12. Interestingly, the magnitude of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses in PLWH was negatively associated with the extent of CD8 + T-cell activation and exhaustion. In addition, positive correlations were observed between the magnitude of spike-specific T-cell responses (determined by measuring IFN-γ release by ELISpot) and the amounts of IL-4, IL-5, IL-2 and IL-17F. Conclusions::Our findings suggested that SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses could be enhanced by the booster dose of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines and further illustrate the importance of additional vaccination for PLWH.
10.Efficacy of navel application of Jianpiwenyang Gel for chronic diarrhea of spleen and stomach weakness type:a randomized controlled trial and analysis of the mechanism
Yixin CUI ; Decai WANG ; Dongqing XIE ; Haiming WANG ; Ruixin XU ; Xiaoran TANG ; Yin ZHANG
Journal of Southern Medical University 2024;44(2):217-225
Objective To investigate the efficacy of Jianpiwenyang Gel(SSWYG)for treating chronic diarrhea and explore its therapeutic mechanism.Methods Eighty patients with chronic diarrhea of spleen and stomach weakness type were randomized into two groups for interventions with lifestyle adjustment and treatment with bifid triple viable capsules(control group,n=40)or naval application with SSWYG(treatment group,n=40)for one week,after which symptoms of chronic diarrhea were evaluated.The Chinese medicine system pharmacology analysis platform(TCMSP),GeneCards,NCBI,OMIM database and GEO database(GSE14841)were used to obtain the active ingredients and target proteins of SSWYG and chronic diarrhea-related targets.The key targets were obtained by topological analysis for Gene Ontology(GO)and KEGG analyses.The affinity and binding characteristics of SSWYG for specific targets were verified by molecular docking using AutoDock software.Results In both groups,gastrointestinal symptom rating scale(GSRS),Bristol Scale and TCM syndrome scores significantly improved after the treatments(P<0.05),and better effects were observed in the treatment group(P<0.05).Sixty-eight targets of SSWYG in treating chronic diarrhea were obtained,and 33 most probable ones were screened out by topological analysis.GO and KEGG analyses identified several chronic diarrhea-related pathways including the TNF and IL-17 pathways.Molecular docking study showed good affinity of the core components of SSWYG for the key targets CASP3,JNK,IL1B,IL6,and AKT1.JUN and CASP3 had the lowest binding energy and the highest stable binding energy with multiple major active ingredients of SSWYG.Conclusion SSWYG can significantly improve clinical symptoms of chronic diarrhea possibly by regulating the TNF and IL-17 as well as other pathways via CASP3 and JUN,suggesting a complex therapeutic mechanism of SSWYG involving multiple ingredients and targets and coordinated regulation of multiple pathways.

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