WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says there are no gimmicks to grow the economy ? just difficult steps that require Washington's focus.
In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama is promoting a plan he says can break through gridlock. He's calling it a grand bargain for the middle class.
Obama says he's willing to work with Republicans to reform the tax code for businesses. That would mean lowering rates but ending many loopholes and deductions.
But Obama says he'll only do it if money generated is used for infrastructure, training and job growth.
In the Republican address, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says Obama's health care law will cost jobs. She wants to change the law to require companies to provide insurance to employees working 40 hours a week, not 30.
President Barack Obama has the summer blues. Obama is facing a sluggish economy, low job approval numbers and a combative opposition party focused on dismantling Obamacare. While rainy summer days in Washington and lengthy speeches by members of Congress and the president have become the norm, no real progress and no new proposals by the president have been made to help improve the state of the U.S. economy.?
The president gave a one-hour speech last week in Illinois talking about his plans to help boost the economy, and he stated that he would lay out more of his initiatives in the upcoming weeks. Americans have been waiting for too long to see what the president is planning to propose.
The president's ideas and speeches are a repeat of the 2010 "summer of recovery" where he gave campaign-style speeches around the country and yet nothing was accomplished in Washington. In his latest speech, President Obama's grand bargain is clearly a repackaging of two existing proposals that have been stalled in Congress: corporate tax reform and spending more money on infrastructure, education and training.
[Check out our editorial cartoons on President Obama.]
Obama must be depressed and frustrated that his economic proposals have not gained Republican support in Congress.? However, he has made little effort to find a bipartisan solution to jumpstarting the economy. The president is not running again and the likelihood of the Democrats taking over Congress in 2014 is dim, so why not build bipartisan support for economic proposals? Based on his history, compromise is not in the president's vocabulary.
The president's recent shift to the economy is long overdue, yet his long-winded speeches and proposals to nowhere will not help. The economy needs a shot in the arm. Friday's labor report showed disappointing numbers, which is another indication that the economy remains sluggish. The unemployment rate in July did fall from 7.6 percent to 7.4 percent, but that was partly because 37,000 people left the labor force.
Economic indicators are mixed and quite discouraging. Home ownership is at the lowest levels in 18 years. More Americans are working part-time for economic reasons, and 22.2 million Americans remain unemployed, underemployed or have given up looking for work. Hispanic unemployment also rose from 9.1 to 9.4. More young people cannot afford to live on their own and are living with their parents. With the latest job reports, economists have stated that the economy is just not gaining enough traction.
[See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]
President Obama is faced with two challenges: building public approval and GOP support of his economic plans. He will spend the next few weeks giving speeches and talking about his old ideas. It will be a difficult sales pitch considering that millions of discouraged Americans have been waiting a long time to find full-time jobs, and American businesses are preparing themselves for the wrath of Obamacare.?
As in the case of immigration reform, the president may need to look to Congress to work on legislation that both parties can support. Congress is already taking the lead and crafting bipartisan comprehensive tax reform legislation for taxpayers and businesses. It would be wise for the president to jump on board and support their efforts. The president will then have something substantial to talk about during his summer of recovery tour (part two).
Singer Louis Tomlinson of boy band One Direction has signed for English Championship soccer side Doncaster Rovers on a non-contract basis and could play for their development squad this season, the club has announced.
Tomlinson 21, heartthrob to millions of teenaged girls around the world, has also been given squad number 28 which qualifies him to play for the club's first team in the second tier of English soccer, although that is unlikely to happen.
"This has always been a childhood dream for me," said Tomlinson, whose band are one of the biggest in the world and are preparing for a worldwide stadium tour starting next May.
A statement on the club's website (www.doncasterrovers.co.uk) said: "Louis has always been passionate about football and wanted to realise a dream of signing for his home town club where he once worked on match days."
He has also played at the club's Keepmoat Stadium in charity games and his signing for Doncaster is mainly to help raise funds for a local children's charity.
There are numerous links between the worlds of music and soccer but not many pop stars have signed for professional clubs.
Rod Stewart came close and had trials with London side Brentford before embarking on a full-time music career.
$4.6 billion dollars is today's daily digit - the amount Royal Dutch Shell's profits fell by in the second quarter of the year. That's more than $1 billion dollars down on the same time last year. Shell said it was largely due to higher costs and a surge in Nigerian oil thefts, which cost them $700 million. Shell recently has put some of its Niger Delta operations up for sale. But outgoing CEO Peter Voser says it's still committed to Africa.
Sir Ian Wilmut proposes an alternative method as a possible means of creating a mammoth--or a hybrid. Such research could lead to major biological discoveries and advances
By Ian Wilmut and The Conversation
The Woolly Mammoth exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.Image: Wikimedia Commons/Mammut
Editor's note: The following essay is reprinted with permission fromThe Conversation UK, an online publication covering the latest research.
By Ian Wilmut, University of Edinburgh
It is unlikely that a mammoth could be cloned in the way we created Dolly the sheep, as has been proposed following the discovery of mammoth bones in northern Siberia. However, the idea prompts us to consider the feasibility of other avenues. Even if the Dolly method is not possible, there are other ways in which it would be biologically interesting to work with viable mammoth cells if they can be found.
In order for a Dolly-like clone to be born it is necessary to have females of a closely related species to provide unfertilised eggs, and, if cloned embryos are produced, to carry the pregnancies. Cloning depends on having two cells. One is an egg recovered from an animal around the time when usually she would be mated.
In reality there would be a need for not just one, but several hundred or even several thousand eggs to allow an opportunity to optimise the cloning techniques. The cloning procedure is very inefficient. After all, after several years of research with sheep eggs, Dolly was the only one to develop from 277 cloned embryos. In species in which research has continued, the typical success rate is still only around 5% at best.
Elephant eggs
In this case the suggestion is to use eggs from elephants. Because there is a danger of elephants becoming extinct it is clearly not appropriate to try to obtain 500 eggs from elephants. But there is an alternative.
There is a considerable similarity in the mechanisms that regulate function of the ovaries in different mammals. It has been shown that maturation of elephant eggs is stimulated if ovarian tissue from elephants is transplanted into mice.
In this way it might be possible to obtain a considerable number of elephant eggs over a period of time if ovarian tissue is obtained from elephants that die.
?Am I not woolly enough for you?? ShaneRounce.com
Cells from mammoths are required to provide the genetic information to control development. The suggestion is to recover cells from the marrow of bones emerging from the frozen north of Siberia. However, these cells will degenerate rapidly at the temperature of melting snow and ice. This means that cells in the bones may well become useless for this capacity as they thaw.
The chances of cells being viable would be increased if bones could be recovered from the lowest possible temperature rather than waiting until they emerge from snow. The cells can then be warmed rapidly. Alternatively, the nuclei could be transferred directly into eggs.
The very first stages of embryo development are controlled by proteins that are in the egg when it is shed by the ovary. One for example has a critical role in cell division. Together these proteins have an extraordinary ability to repair damaged nuclei so it may not be strictly necessary for the cells to be viable. It would be best if the mammoth nucleus could be introduced into an egg immediately, by injection of the contents of the damaged cell into the egg.
Research in 2008 found that when nuclei from freeze-dried sheep cells were transferred into eggs, some of the cloned embryos developed for a few days, but not to term. This was a very clear indication of the ability of the egg to repair damaged nuclei. However, freeze-dried cells are likely to be more stable than those that have been frozen with liquid still present. In the case of the mammoth, the cells would likely be killed by large ice crystals formed from the liquid.
Sony Pictures and Tom Rothman, former Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, announced today that they will launch TriStar Production on September 1st. Here's the full press release:
Beginning September 1, 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Tom Rothman will launch TriStar Productions. The new joint venture will augment the studios strong output of motion pictures and television programming, it was jointly announced today by Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment and Chairman and CEO of SPE, and Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of SPE.
Sony Pictures will provide financing for the new entity and retain all distribution rights worldwide. Rothman will serve as Chairman of TriStar Productions and have an equity interest in the venture. He will report directly to Lynton and Pascal.
TriStar Productions will have its own in-house creative production executives and strategic marketing capabilities while relying on Sony Pictures infrastructure. TriStar Productions will be additive to the studios pipeline of filmed entertainment, and is meant to be complementary to titles from Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Animation, Sony Pictures Classics and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. The TriStar Pictures banner will also be used, as it has in the past, for other product, including titles from Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. The newly formed venture will have the ability to take on outside investments as well.
The new unit is slated to produce up to four films per year, all of which will be released under the TriStar Pictures banner. Additionally, TriStar Productions will develop television long form and series programming for Sony Pictures Television.
Commenting on the announcement, Pascal said, Tom is a rare executive who loves movies, loves filmmakers, understands how to make money and has exquisite taste. He has the perfect programming sensibility to add to our slate mix and it will be a thrill to have him as part of our team.
Added Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television, Sony Pictures Television is in business with the best in the business and we couldnt be more excited to have Tom join our family.
In the late 80s, Amy and I worked together for Dawn Steel on the old Columbia Lot in Burbank, said Rothman. I admired her hugely then and I admire her more now - she has a truly exceptional film mind. I have known and respected Michael just as long. Together they run a superb company, loaded with outstanding executives at every level, including Steve Mosko, with whom I share a special heritage. From working with both Fox 2000 and Searchlight for many years, I have seen how effective a diversified filmmaking strategy can be, and the opportunities today in television are obvious. As a fan of Hollywood history, I know TriStar has a noble name. I am honored that Michael and Amy would choose me to try to lead a new chapter in it and look forward to collaborating with all the great people at Sony, a truly terrific studio. It feels like coming home."
Forthcoming films from Sony Pictures include Elysium, starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster from acclaimed writer-director Neill Blomkamp; The Mortal Instruments, directed by Harald Zwart from a screenplay by Jessica Postigo Paquette; One Direction: This Is Us, directed by Morgan Spurlock; Battle of the Year, directed by Benson Lee and written by Brin Hill and Chris Parker; Sony Pictures Animations Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, the mouthwatering sequel to the 2009 hit; Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass from a screenplay by Billy Ray; Carrie, starring Chlo Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore and directed by Kimberly Peirce from a screenplay by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; American Hustle, starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Jennifer Lawrence, directed by David O. Russell and written by Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell; and The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban, Hugh Bonneville, and Cate Blanchett, and directed by Clooney from a screenplay by Clooney & Grant Heslov.
Rothman departed in January as Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment after 18 years at the company, where he oversaw all its filmmaking operations (including TCF, FOX 2000, Searchlight, Blue Sky Animation) and, starting in 2009, Twentieth Century Fox Television. Many of those years set profit records for Fox and his track record includes the two highest grossing films in cinematic history, over 40 billion in worldwide box office, more than 150 Academy Award nominations, three Best Picture winners and multiple Emmys. He previously headed the Samuel Goldwyn Company, worked at Columbia Pictures and was an entertainment lawyer and independent producer. He is the recipient of the IFP Industry Tribute, its lifetime achievement award, and is active in many civic and philanthropic endeavors.
Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.
A roadblock to personalized cancer care?Public release date: 1-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nicole Fawcett nfawcett@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Experts call for more support for tumor biomarker tests; fixing a vicious cycle will lead to tests that better predict treatment success
ANN ARBOR, Mich. There's a major roadblock to creating personalized cancer care.
Doctors need a way to target treatments to patients most likely to benefit and avoid treating those who will not. Tumor biomarker tests can help do this.
The problem, according to a new commentary paper, is that, unlike drugs or other therapies, cancer biomarker tests are undervalued by doctors and patients. The authors say that inconsistent regulatory rules, inadequate payment and underfunded tumor biomarker research has left us in a vicious cycle that prevents development and testing of reliable biomarker tests that could be used to personalize clinical care of patients with cancer.
"Right now biomarkers are not valued nearly to the extent that we see with therapeutics. But if a tumor biomarker test is being used to decide whether a patient should receive a certain treatment, then it is as critical for patient care as a therapeutic agent. A bad test is as dangerous as a bad drug," says Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., clinical director of the breast oncology program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Hayes led a blue-ribbon panel of experts from universities, corporations, insurance and advocacy organizations to outline the issues in a commentary published today in Science Translational Medicine.
Tumor biomarker tests look at the genetic or molecular make-up of a tumor to determine whether the cancer is likely to progress, and if so, if it is likely to respond to treatment. If the test is good, it can help doctors decide when a patient can safely skip further therapy, or it can be used to direct which drug might be most likely to help. The result: "personalized medicine," which means patients get treatments that benefit them specifically and they avoid treatments including their costs and side effects that are not likely to make a difference for them.
The regulatory process, the research funding, the reimbursement, even the standards for journal publications for tumor biomarker tests are all meager compared to the robust support for drug development, the authors say.
This creates a vicious cycle in which researchers and drug companies don't invest in tumor biomarker research, tests are not fully evaluated in clinical trials, and tests with uncertain value in terms of predicting the success of treatment are published. This in turn means that few of these tests are included in evidence-based care guidelines, leaving health care professionals unsure of whether or how to use the test, and third-party payers unsure of how much to pay for them.
The authors outline five recommendations and suggest that all five must be addressed to break the vicious cycle:
Reform regulatory review of tumor biomarker tests
Increase reimbursement for tumor biomarker tests that are proven to help determine which therapies will or are working
Increase investment for tumor biomarker research so it's comparable to new drug research
Increase the rigor for peer review of tumor biomarker publications
Include only proven biomarker tests in evidence-based care guidelines
"These recommendations are not about creating more regulation; they are about creating an even playing field that allows tumor biomarker tests to be developed and proven clinically relevant. We want to stimulate innovation yet hold investigators and clinicians to the highest scientific standards as we now do for therapeutics," Hayes says. "We need to change the way we value tumor biomarkers in this country."
###
Additional authors: Jeff Allen, Friends of Cancer Research; Carolyn Compton, Critical Path Institute; Gary Gustavsen, Health Advances; Debra G.B. Leonard, University of Vermont College of Medicine; Robert McCormack, Veridex; Lee Newcomer, United Health Care; Kristin Potheir, Health Advances; David Ransohoff, University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Richard L. Schilsky, American Society of Clinical Oncology; Ellen Sigal, Friends of Cancer Research; Sheila E. Taube, ST-Consulting; Sean R. Tunis, Center for Medical Technology Policy
Disclosure: Hayes is a consultant for Oncimmune LLC, Inbiomotion, and Biomarker Strategies and has received research funding from Novartis, Veridex (Johnson & Johnson), and Janssen R&D, LLC (Johnson & Johnson). He is a co-inventor on a patent for a method for predicting progression-free and overall survival in metastatic breast cancer patients using circulating tumor cells; and has applied for patents for a test for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and for circulating tumor cell capturing techniques and devices.
Reference:Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 196, July 31, 2013
Resources:
U-M Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, http://www.mcancer.org
Clinical trials at U-M, http://www.mcancer.org/clinicaltrials
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
A roadblock to personalized cancer care?Public release date: 1-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nicole Fawcett nfawcett@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Experts call for more support for tumor biomarker tests; fixing a vicious cycle will lead to tests that better predict treatment success
ANN ARBOR, Mich. There's a major roadblock to creating personalized cancer care.
Doctors need a way to target treatments to patients most likely to benefit and avoid treating those who will not. Tumor biomarker tests can help do this.
The problem, according to a new commentary paper, is that, unlike drugs or other therapies, cancer biomarker tests are undervalued by doctors and patients. The authors say that inconsistent regulatory rules, inadequate payment and underfunded tumor biomarker research has left us in a vicious cycle that prevents development and testing of reliable biomarker tests that could be used to personalize clinical care of patients with cancer.
"Right now biomarkers are not valued nearly to the extent that we see with therapeutics. But if a tumor biomarker test is being used to decide whether a patient should receive a certain treatment, then it is as critical for patient care as a therapeutic agent. A bad test is as dangerous as a bad drug," says Daniel F. Hayes, M.D., clinical director of the breast oncology program at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Hayes led a blue-ribbon panel of experts from universities, corporations, insurance and advocacy organizations to outline the issues in a commentary published today in Science Translational Medicine.
Tumor biomarker tests look at the genetic or molecular make-up of a tumor to determine whether the cancer is likely to progress, and if so, if it is likely to respond to treatment. If the test is good, it can help doctors decide when a patient can safely skip further therapy, or it can be used to direct which drug might be most likely to help. The result: "personalized medicine," which means patients get treatments that benefit them specifically and they avoid treatments including their costs and side effects that are not likely to make a difference for them.
The regulatory process, the research funding, the reimbursement, even the standards for journal publications for tumor biomarker tests are all meager compared to the robust support for drug development, the authors say.
This creates a vicious cycle in which researchers and drug companies don't invest in tumor biomarker research, tests are not fully evaluated in clinical trials, and tests with uncertain value in terms of predicting the success of treatment are published. This in turn means that few of these tests are included in evidence-based care guidelines, leaving health care professionals unsure of whether or how to use the test, and third-party payers unsure of how much to pay for them.
The authors outline five recommendations and suggest that all five must be addressed to break the vicious cycle:
Reform regulatory review of tumor biomarker tests
Increase reimbursement for tumor biomarker tests that are proven to help determine which therapies will or are working
Increase investment for tumor biomarker research so it's comparable to new drug research
Increase the rigor for peer review of tumor biomarker publications
Include only proven biomarker tests in evidence-based care guidelines
"These recommendations are not about creating more regulation; they are about creating an even playing field that allows tumor biomarker tests to be developed and proven clinically relevant. We want to stimulate innovation yet hold investigators and clinicians to the highest scientific standards as we now do for therapeutics," Hayes says. "We need to change the way we value tumor biomarkers in this country."
###
Additional authors: Jeff Allen, Friends of Cancer Research; Carolyn Compton, Critical Path Institute; Gary Gustavsen, Health Advances; Debra G.B. Leonard, University of Vermont College of Medicine; Robert McCormack, Veridex; Lee Newcomer, United Health Care; Kristin Potheir, Health Advances; David Ransohoff, University of North Carolina School of Medicine; Richard L. Schilsky, American Society of Clinical Oncology; Ellen Sigal, Friends of Cancer Research; Sheila E. Taube, ST-Consulting; Sean R. Tunis, Center for Medical Technology Policy
Disclosure: Hayes is a consultant for Oncimmune LLC, Inbiomotion, and Biomarker Strategies and has received research funding from Novartis, Veridex (Johnson & Johnson), and Janssen R&D, LLC (Johnson & Johnson). He is a co-inventor on a patent for a method for predicting progression-free and overall survival in metastatic breast cancer patients using circulating tumor cells; and has applied for patents for a test for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer and for circulating tumor cell capturing techniques and devices.
Reference:Science Translational Medicine, Vol. 5, No. 196, July 31, 2013
Resources:
U-M Cancer AnswerLine, 800-865-1125
U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center, http://www.mcancer.org
Clinical trials at U-M, http://www.mcancer.org/clinicaltrials
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Across Europe, the summer vacation is sacred. Less than two weeks? Rarely (most, in fact, take off the entire month of July or August). Work on the road? Never.
But with record unemployment, slashed benefits, and no end in sight to the eurocrisis, many European citizens have had to forgo their cherished annual ritual.
This year, according to polling group Ipsos for the insurance group Europ Assistance, only 54 percent of those surveyed across France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Austria reported plans to go on summer vacation ? a 12-point drop from 2011.
On one hand, the survey provides a map of who is hurting economically and who is not. But a deeper look also reveals the different cultural battles under way in Europe, the "ways of life" that are being discussed, dissed, and embraced as the eurozone crisis rages and divides.
Germany, for example, is doing the best in Europe economically. Unemployment is around 5 percent, compared with the European Union average of more than 12 percent. Germans like to say they're doing so well because they "did their homework." But Germans are also prudent and pragmatic ? perhaps the reason that they sit below the European average for vacations this year, with only 52 percent saying they will be going away.
At the same time, Germans might look frustratingly at the figures for France, where 62 percent say they are going away this year. That does represent an eight-point drop from last year, but summer trips are still on the agendas of more French people than any of the other nationalities surveyed, despite a stubbornly high unemployment rate of more than 10 percent and few major economic reforms on the horizon. The Germans might, as they do in other aspects, bemoan an unwillingness of the French to "give up the good life."
By the "good life," they mostly refer to the generous pensions, early retirements, and short weeks that define French working culture. But Victor Roquin, a French consultant in sustainable development, counts vacations on the list of rights the French hold dear.
Across Europe, citizens average 25 to 30 days of vacation per year, according to an Expedia 2012 survey. But nowhere is a month off more ingrained than in France. There's even a verb to describe the act of returning home from summer holidays and back to school: rentrer. "Vacations are a part of our culture. We fought a lot to obtain paid vacation," says Mr. Roquin, who grew up going away each July or August to his family's summer home on the French coast.
It's a custom he has carried on in his adult life, and continues today, because he hasn't been touched by crisis, nor have the friends around him. At the start of August he will pack up his car and head south to a friend's family's summer home; then head to the coast of France; and then on to northern Spain before returning to Paris. "I only have two weeks off this year," he says, and then he laughs at the word "only" ? he knows he's talking to an American.
But he doubts that even a looming economic crisis would keep travelers from the roads.
"Holidays, especially summer holidays, are sacred. You can't touch them," he says. "No matter what the economic situation is, people will keep on going on vacation."
WHO SPENDS THE MOST ON TRAVEL?
1 China ($102 billion) 2 Germany (83.8) 3 United States (83.7) 4 Britain (52.3) 5 Russia (42.8) 6 France (37.2) 7 Canada (35.2) 8 Japan (27.9) 9 Australia (27.6) 10 Italy (26.2)
Editor's note: The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation UK, an online publication covering the latest research.
?Am I not woolly enough for you?? ShaneRounce.com
Beginning September 1, 2013, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) and Tom Rothman will launch TriStar Productions. The new joint venture will augment the studios strong output of motion pictures and television programming, it was jointly announced today by Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Entertainment and Chairman and CEO of SPE, and Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of SPE.![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uZ5iXIjoFBWHsmAu6dbMwCsNLKCjr7a0p3LASjVWhieePmLWDTACTBCEjZ3JMw6tws90w-N4RkXKhJCDJSgcbNPDpwdLN5WrK3u78FRuY=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 1-Aug-2013
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