Bugs may be resistant to genetically modified corn (AP)

One of the nation's most widely planted crops ? a genetically engineered corn plant that makes its own insecticide ? may be losing its effectiveness because a major pest appears to be developing resistance more quickly than scientists expected.

The U.S. food supply is not in any immediate danger because the problem remains isolated. But scientists fear potentially risky farming practices could be blunting the hybrid's sophisticated weaponry.

When it was introduced in 2003, so-called Bt corn seemed like the answer to farmers' dreams: It would allow growers to bring in bountiful harvests using fewer chemicals because the corn naturally produces a toxin that poisons western corn rootworms. The hybrid was such a swift success that it and similar varieties now account for 65 percent of all U.S. corn acres ? grain that ends up in thousands of everyday foods such as cereal, sweeteners and cooking oil.

But over the last few summers, rootworms have feasted on the roots of Bt corn in parts of four Midwestern states, suggesting that some of the insects are becoming resistant to the crop's pest-fighting powers.

Scientists say the problem could be partly the result of farmers who've planted Bt corn year after year in the same fields.

Most farmers rotate corn with other crops in a practice long used to curb the spread of pests, but some have abandoned rotation because they need extra grain for livestock or because they have grain contracts with ethanol producers. Other farmers have eschewed the practice to cash in on high corn prices, which hit a record in June.

"Right now, quite frankly, it's very profitable to grow corn," said Michael Gray, a University of Illinois crop sciences professor who's tracking Bt corn damage in that state.

A scientist recently sounded an alarm throughout the biotech industry when he published findings concluding that rootworms in a handful of Bt cornfields in Iowa had evolved an ability to survive the corn's formidable defenses.

Similar crop damage has been seen in parts of Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska, but researchers are still investigating whether rootworms capable of surviving the Bt toxin were the cause.

University of Minnesota entomologist Kenneth Ostlie said the severity of rootworm damage to Bt fields in Minnesota has eased since the problem surfaced in 2009. Yet reports of damage have become more widespread, and he fears resistance could be spreading undetected because the damage rootworms inflict often isn't apparent.

Without strong winds, wet soil or both, plants can be damaged at the roots but remain upright, concealing the problem. He said the damage he observed in Minnesota came to light only because storms in 2009 toppled corn plants with damaged roots.

"The analogy I often use with growers is that we're looking at an iceberg and all we see is the tip of the problem," Ostlie said. "And it's a little bit like looking at an iceberg through fog because the only time we know we have a problem is when we get the right weather conditions."

Seed maker Monsanto Co. created the Bt strain by splicing a gene from a common soil organism called Bacillus thuringiensis into the plant. The natural insecticide it makes is considered harmless to people and livestock.

Scientists always expected rootworms to develop some resistance to the toxin produced by that gene. But the worrisome signs of possible resistance have emerged sooner than many expected.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently chided Monsanto, declaring in a Nov. 22 report that it wasn't doing enough to monitor suspected resistance among rootworm populations. The report urged a tougher approach, including expanding monitoring efforts to a total of seven states, including Colorado, South Dakota and Wisconsin. The agency also wanted to ensure farmers in areas of concern begin using insecticides and other methods to combat possible resistance.

Monsanto insists there's no conclusive proof that rootworms have become immune to the crop, but the company said it regards the situation seriously and has been taking steps that are "directly in line" with federal recommendations.

Some scientists fear it could already be too late to prevent the rise of resistance, in large part because of the way some farmers have been planting the crop.

They point to two factors: farmers who have abandoned crop rotation and others have neglected to plant non-Bt corn within Bt fields or in surrounding fields as a way to create a "refuge" for non-resistant rootworms in the hope they will mate with resistant rootworms and dilute their genes.

Experts worry that the actions of a few farmers could jeopardize an innovation that has significantly reduced pesticide use and saved growers billions of dollars in lost yields and chemical-control costs.

"This is a public good that should be protected for future generations and not squandered too quickly," said Gregory Jaffe, biotechnology director at the Center for Science and Public Policy.

Iowa State University entomologist Aaron Gassmann published research in July concluding that resistance had arisen among rootworms he collected in four Iowa fields. Those fields had been planted for three to six straight years with Bt corn ? a practice that ensured any resistant rootworms could lay their eggs in an area that would offer plenty of food for the next generation.

For now, the rootworm resistance in Iowa appears isolated, but Gassmann said that could change if farmers don't quickly take action. For one, the rootworm larvae grow into adult beetles that can fly, meaning resistant beetles could easily spread to new areas.

"I think this provides an important early warning," Gassmann said.

Besides rotating crops, farmers can also fight resistance by switching between Bt corn varieties, which produce different toxins, or planting newer varieties with multiple toxins. They can also treat damaged fields with insecticides to kill any resistant rootworms ? or employ a combination of all those approaches.

The EPA requires growers to devote 20 percent of their fields to non-Bt corn. After the crop was released in 2003, nine out of 10 farmers met that standard. Now it's only seven or eight, Jaffe said.

Seed companies are supposed to cut off farmers with a record of violating the planting rules, which are specified in seed-purchasing contracts. To improve compliance, companies are now introducing blends that have ordinary seed premixed with Bt seed.

Brian Schaumburg, who farms 1,400 acres near the north-central Illinois town of Chenoa, plants as much Bt corn as he can every spring.

But Schaumburg said he shifts his planting strategies every year ? varying which Bt corn hybrids he plants and using pesticides when needed ? to reduce the chances rootworm resistance might emerge in his fields.

Schaumburg said he always plants the required refuge fields and believes very few farmers defy the rule. Those who do put the valuable crop at risk, he said.

"If we don't do it right, we could lose these good tools," Schaumberg said.

If rootworms do become resistant to Bt corn, it "could become the most economically damaging example of insect resistance to a genetically modified crop in the U.S.," said Bruce Tabashnik, an entomologist at the University of Arizona. "It's a pest of great economic significance ? a billion-dollar pest."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_us/us_biotech_corn_at_risk

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CNN_INS: The crew from M6 France at the #Royal Wedding http://t.co/lIUMEOcA

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Appeals court delays SEC-Citigroup fraud case (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Securities and Exchange Commission won a delay in its securities fraud lawsuit against Citigroup Inc, as the regulator tries to appeal a judge's decision to reject its $285 million settlement with the bank.

The case will be put on hold until a motions panel on January 17 begins considering the SEC's bid for a longer delay so it can pursue an expedited appeal, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said in its order on Tuesday afternoon.

That order was made public 78 seconds before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff, who rejected the Citigroup settlement last month, issued a ruling opposing any delay in the case, court records show. Citigroup supported the SEC's request for a delay.

The rulings come as the SEC tries to ensure it can continue settling enforcement cases without requiring corporate defendants to address whether they did anything wrong.

That practice was called into question when Rakoff on November 28 harshly rejected the proposed settlement with New York-based Citigroup.

He said the SEC's failure to require Citigroup to admit or deny its charges left him no way to know whether the settlement was fair. Rakoff also called the $285 million payout "pocket change" for the third-largest U.S. bank.

But the SEC said that ruling was "legal error," at odds with decades of court decisions allowing such settlements and letting investors get faster recoveries, and could affect its ability to reach similar accords with other companies.

SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment. Citigroup spokeswoman Danielle Romero-Apsilos repeated that the bank disagreed with Rakoff's November 28 decision, and would have "substantial factual and legal defenses" at a trial.

The October 19 settlement was intended to resolve charges that Citigroup sold $1 billion of risky mortgage-linked securities in 2007 without telling investors that it was betting against the debt, and caused more than $700 million of losses.

Citigroup's $285 million payment was to include $160 million of disgorged profit and fees, $30 million of interest and a $95 million civil fine.

IRREPARABLE HARM, OR ILLUSORY HARM?

In a filing on Tuesday morning with the 2nd Circuit, the SEC said the urgency to put the case on hold came after Rakoff in a teleconference this month told Citigroup to answer the charges by January 3, 2012 - or 27 days sooner than federal rules require.

An answer can force Citigroup to deny some or all of the SEC allegations, or seek to dismiss the case entirely.

But this would cause the SEC "irreparable harm" by forcing it to devote substantial resources to the case, and would "disrupt a central negotiated provision" in which Citigroup agreed not to deny the allegations, the regulator said.

In his decision on Tuesday, which the motions panel may choose to follow or not follow, Rakoff said it is "patently clear" there was no statutory basis to appeal his November 28 ruling, and "derail the orderly conduct" of the case.

The judge said this was because the appeal focused on his alleged error in demanding more facts about the case, rather than on the injunctive relief provided by the settlement.

He also said the alleged harm faced by the SEC was "largely illusory" because the regulator is pursuing a related case arising out of the same facts against a Citigroup employee, director Brian Stoker, who contests the regulator's charges.

The SEC has asked Congress for authority to seek larger penalties in corporate cases than the law now allows.

Rakoff has set a July 16, 2012 trial date.

The cases are SEC v Citigroup Global Markets Inc, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-05227; and U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-07387.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Gary Hill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/bs_nm/us_citigroup_sec

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Consumer confidence perks up, house prices sag (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Improving labor market conditions lifted U.S. consumer confidence to an eight month high in December, but persistently weak house prices remain an obstacle to faster economic growth.

The sharp rise in sentiment reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday offered hope for a pick-up in consumer spending after an anemic performance in November.

"It suggests there is some real improvement in the economy. Consumer confidence really boils down to how people feel about the labor market," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence rose to 64.5 this month from 55.2 in November, beating economists' expectations for a reading of 58.3.

A separate report from Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller showed house prices in 20 major metropolitan areas declined 1.2 percent on an unadjusted basis in October after falling 0.7 percent the prior month.

Other data offered a mixed picture of manufacturing this month, with the Dallas Federal Reserve saying factory activity weakened in its region.

But manufacturing in the central Atlantic region firmed after being flat in November as new orders and shipments increased, offsetting a modest decline in employment, the Richmond Fed said.

Still, consumers are increasingly upbeat. The Conference Board's present situation index jumped to a three-year high, with the expectations index the highest in seven months.

Last month's rise in consumer confidence largely reflects a better tone in the labor market. The unemployment rate dropped to a 2-1/2 year low in November and applications for first-time jobless benefits are the lowest since April 2008.

Despite the show of resilience, the debt crisis in Europe continues to cast a shadow over the U.S. economy.

"This good news is likely to be tested in the new year by slowing global growth and ongoing risk from Europe," said Eric Green, chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

"Still, the stronger momentum going into year-end is for real and at face value puts the economy in better position to withstand what is sure to be stronger headwinds to growth in the first half of 2012."

Stocks on Wall Street ended little changed in light trading, while U.S. Treasury debt prices rose. The dollar weakened marginally against a basket of currencies.

DEMAND FOR HOUSING PICKING UP

Despite the persistent drop in prices, housing is becoming less of a drag on the economy. Demand for housing is picking up and home sales volumes have increased in recent months.

Builders have been breaking more ground on new residential projects and home construction is expected to add to U.S. gross domestic product next year. If so, it would be the first increase since the second quarter of 2010.

"While some other housing indicators have improved over the past few months, we have yet to see most house prices measures pick up," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan in New York.

With the labor market improving, housing could get some support. In the Conference Board survey, consumers' outlook of job market conditions brightened significantly.

The share of consumers viewing jobs as "plentiful" rose to 6.7 percent this month from 5.6 percent in November. The proportion of those viewing jobs as "hard to get" slipped to 41.8 percent from 43 percent in November.

These are the best readings for both components since January 2009.

"Households are beginning to perceive an improvement in the labor market," said Carl Riccadonna, a senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank.

"This could provide an important contribution to what we think may be a burgeoning positive feedback loop of improving confidence, rising consumption, expanding output and additional income growth."

The share of consumers anticipating more jobs in the months ahead rose to 13.3 percent from 12.4 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs declined to 20.2 percent from 23.8 percent.

More consumers are expecting their incomes to increase, with that proportion rising to 17.1 percent from 14.1 percent in November.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Padraic Cassidy and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111227/bs_nm/us_economy

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Foxconn expanding iPhone production capabilities for 2012

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Foxconn, the company that assembles many of the mobile devices for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung, is dramatically expanding its factory in Zhengzhou, which currently produces up to 200,000 iPhones a day. When the expansion is complete, the plant would be the largest of its kind in the world, with 95 production lines capable of outputting a total of 400,000 iPhones per day.

It?s not known whether the entire expansion will be dedicated to iPhone production ? Foxconn prefers to maintain the flexibility to change product lines quickly in response consumer demand ? the Zhengzhou plant is the main iPhone production plant at the moment, and if iPhone demand continues to raise it is likely that manufacturing would be centered in the same plant.

Foxconn has become a true manufacturing behemoth, employing 1.2 million people. The expansion of the Zhengzhou plant is expected to allow Foxconn to generate $20 billion in revenue from that plant alone. And it should help ensure that consumers get their tech toys in sufficient quantities for at least another couple of years.

source: ChinaDaily via AllThingsD

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/phonearena/ySoL/~3/MRD5YhGDPtw/Foxconn-expanding-iPhone-production-capabilities-for-2012_id25104

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USO welcomes troops for the holidays

The United Service Organization has been welcoming troops at the Pensacola International Airport throughout the holidays.

More than 2,500 military men and women have passed through the USO in the last month, either on leave or deployment.

It's NAS swim instructor, 2nd Class Petty Officer Berk Tarleton,and his wife Kelly's first Christmas with their infant daughter Rylee.

They plan to visit Berk's parents in Reno.

"It's a time for us to relieve some stress and not worry about anything. I don't have to do anything when I'm at my mom's. So, that's nice," said Berk.

Kelly said it's nice to get to spend so much time with her husband.

"It's definitely a blessing, there aren't many military wives that get to do that. It was great to open presents with him and just lay on the couch watching movies," Kelly said. "Doing those things with him and my daughter is definitely a miracle in itself."

Volunteers at the USO stay around the clock, helping the troops with whatever they may need.

Private Timothy Moore came to serve in the Marine Corps at NAS Pensacola.

He said he recently found out that he and his fianc?e may be expecting.

"I found out I may be a father. It's thrilling and motivating. But, at the same time, I won't be there for the kid," said Moore.

He said this is the first time he's been away from family for the holidays.

"Everything I grew up with is away from me now. And I feel out of my place, but I know it's the right thing to do," said Moore.

Officials with the USO said other organizations and individuals throughout Northwest Florida and? Mobile donated food to feed troops.

According to the USO website , the organization's goal is to be wherever the troops are and to always support them.

Source: http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/news/local_news/pensacola/uso-welcomes-troops-for-the-holidays

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Kim Jong Il's son strengthens power with new post (AP)

PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea identified Kim Jong Il's son as head of a top ruling party body Monday, a post that gives him authority over political matters in addition to the military control attributed to him in recent days.

Kim Jong Un has rapidly gained prominence since the death of his father on Dec. 17, with the state media showering new titles on him almost daily.

On Saturday, state media referred to the younger Kim as "supreme leader" of North Korea's 1.2 million-strong armed forces and said the military's top leaders had pledged their loyalty to him. On Monday, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper described him as head of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party ? a post that appears to make him the top official in the ruling party.

Kim Jong Il, who ruled North Korea for 17 years, wielded power as head of three main state organs: the Workers' Party, the Korean People's Army and the National Defense Commission. His father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung remains the nation's "eternal president" long after his 1994 death.

The Kim family has extended its control over the country of 24 million people to a third generation with Kim Jong Un, who is in his late 20s and was revealed last year as his father's choice among three sons for successor.

He was named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party, but was expected to ascend to new military and political posts while being groomed to become the next leader.

Monday's reference to his new title was in commentary in the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the mouthpiece of the Workers' Party, urging soldiers to dedicate their lives "to protect the party's Central Committee headed by respected Comrade Kim Jong Un." The editorial called on the people to become "eternal revolutionary comrades" with Kim Jong Un, "the sun of the 21st century."

The language echoed slogans used years ago to rally support for Kim Jong Il, and made clear the son is quickly moving toward leadership of the Workers' Party, one of the country's highest positions, in addition to the military.

North Korea refers to Kim Il Sung as the "sun" of the nation and his birthday is celebrated as the "Day of the Sun," and state media have sought to emphasize Kim Jong Un's role in carrying out the Kim family legacy throughout his succession movement.

His titles are slight variations of those held by his father, but appear to carry the same weight. It was unclear whether the nation's constitution had been changed to reflect the transfer of leadership as when Kim Jong Il took power after his father's death.

A day earlier, state TV showed footage of Kim Jong Un's uncle and key patron, Jang Song Thaek, in a military uniform with a general's insignia. It was the first time that Jang, who was promoted last year to vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party along with Kim Jong Un, was shown on state TV in military garb.

Mourning continued, meanwhile, despite frigid winter weather, in the final days before Kim Jong Il's funeral is set to take place Wednesday and a memorial Thursday.

People continued lining up Monday in central Kim Il Sung Square, where a massive portrait that usually features Kim Il Sung has been replaced by one of Kim Jong Il, to bow before his smiling image and to lay funereal flowers. Heated buses stood by to give mourners a respite from the cold, and hot tea and water were distributed from beverage kiosks.

South Koreans were among the mourners in Pyongyang. The widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, who held a landmark summit with Kim Jong Il in 2000, and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, whose late husband had ties to the North, each led delegations that drove across the heavily fortified border to Pyongyang.

They were greeted by North Korean officials during a stop at a factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, according to footage from AP Television News in North Korea. North Korea sent delegations to Seoul when the women's husbands died.

Meanwhile, a South Korean activist was also in Pyongyang to pay respects to Kim Jong Il but without South Korean government permission, her colleagues said in a statement. For South Koreans, making unauthorized trips to North Korea is punishable by up to three years in prison, according to Seoul's Unification Ministry.

The Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because the three-year Korean war ended in a truce in 1953, not a peace treaty.

___

Associated Press writers Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim and Jiyoung Won in Seoul, South Korea, and AP Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea coverage at twitter.com/newsjean and twitter.com/APKlug.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_as/as_kim_jong_il

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Bees Appear to Experience Moods

Grumpy? Giddy? According to some measures, bees appear to experience moods. Image: Charles Krebs/Corbis

If you have never watched bees carefully, you are missing out. Look closely as they gently curl and uncoil their mouthparts around food, and you will sense that they are not just eating but enjoying their meal. Watch a bit more, and the hesitant flicks and sags of their antennae seem to convey some kind of emotion. Do those twitches signal annoyance? Or something like enthusiasm?

Whether bees really experience any of these emotions is an open scientific question. It is also an important one, with implications for how we should treat not just bees but the great majority of animals. Recently studies by Melissa Bateson and her colleagues at Newcastle University in England have rekindled the debate over these issues by showing that honeybees may experience something akin to moods.

Using simple behavioral tests, Bate?son?s team showed that honeybees under stress tend to be pessimistic. Other tests have demonstrated that monkeys, dogs and starlings all tend to react similarly under duress and likewise see the proverbial glass as half empty. Although this finding does not?and cannot?prove that bees experience humanlike emotions, it does give pause. We should take seriously the possibility that insects, too, have emotions.

Beeline to the Brain
First, a little bit about bees. They are members of the diverse group of animals lacking backbones?indeed, more than 95 percent of all animal species are invertebrates. Despite the varied and often nuanced behaviors they can exhibit, invertebrates are sometimes regarded as life?s second string, a mindless and unfeeling band of alien critters. If that seems somewhat melodramatic, just consider our willingness to boil some of them alive.

Those judgments tend to arise from arguments about invertebrates? failure to demonstrate the behaviors we usually associate with a pain response. Whereas the yelps and grimaces of other mammals are familiar to us as announcements of hurt, invertebrates can appear to take their injuries in stride. Insects are commonly observed using their crushed limbs with undiminished force when walking, for example, and a locust will reportedly carry on with a meal while it is being eaten by a mantis.

Other attempts to draw a dividing line between creatures that feel and those that do not are rooted in comparative brain anatomy. Invertebrates lack a cortex, an amygdala and many of the other major brain structures routinely implicated in human emotion. Their nervous systems are quite minimalist compared with ours: we have roughly 100,000 bee brains? worth of neurons in our head. Some invertebrates, however, including insects, do possess a rudimentary version of our stress response system. So the question remains: Do they experience emotion in a way that we would recognize, or do they simply react to the world with an elaborate set of reflexes?

To gain some traction on this fascinating question, Bateson?s team followed the lead of recent investigations on ?pessimistic biases? in animals. In humans, the pessimistic bias refers to our well-known tendency to perceive threats or anticipate negative outcomes more frequently when we are feeling anxious or depressed. For example, in tests where people are shown ambiguous statements such as ?the doctor examined little Emily?s growth,? anxious individuals are less likely than others to conclude that Emily is fine and only her height was being checked.

Although the link between bad moods and negative judgments may not be terribly surprising, this correlation is still useful. We rely on it in our daily lives to make informed guesses about how people are feeling by observing their actions and choices. Scientifically, we can use it to study the emotions of creatures unable to tell us directly how they feel. The key here is to set up a controlled situation where animals encounter an ambiguous stimulus?think of it as a nonverbal version of the Emily statement.


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=acb4d650aa480f9dcc023d395d236800

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ta_shepard: Huh. There's a sports bar in Phoenix owned by Randy Johnson and Alice Cooper. Adding that to the list of stuff to do.

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Transaction Analysis: Gio Dealt to Washington by R.J. Anderson and Kevin Goldstein

December 23, 2011

by R.J. Anderson and Kevin Goldstein

Re-signed LHP John Danks to a five-year deal worth $65 million [12/21]

Kenny Williams, ya?ll. The most unpredictable general manager in the game strikes again. After uttering the term ?rebuilding? earlier this offseason and trading his team?s closer, Williams decides against dealing the team?s most attractive starting pitcher and opted instead to give him a five-year extension at market value. The deal itself is fine. Danks is a good pitcher with adjusted-Fair Run Averages over the last four seasons of 117, 95, 108, and 108.

Source: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15728

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