Friday, April 26, 2013

Jean Lebel: Why Canada Is the R&D World Leader

Jean Lebel: Why Canada Is the R&D World Leader: "Canada is a world leader in research for international development, foreign aid that invests in scientific innovation to find solutions to hunger, to address climate change, to augment the food supply, to alleviate poverty and increase health and well-being in developing countries. Many organizations contribute to Canada's overall development strategy. With the goal of achieving foreign policy objectives, the International Development Research Centre is the leader in partnering for research and an integral part of that effort with organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) and the Canadian research granting councils, to address global issues and change lives, for the better. For greater impact, Canada also collaborates with other governments and aid groups, like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to amplify funding to key development priorities. In the last year alone over 100 million additional research dollars from partner organizations were leveraged for life-saving projects."

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FAO: More funds for new strategies - News: FAO | Devex

FAO: More funds for new strategies - News: FAO | Devex: "Representatives of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization member states gathered in Rome this week to open the debate for the 2014-2015 budget as well as discuss innovative strategies to address food security, with a new role for African countries.

On the table for the debate — to be concluded by June, when the conference of member states will have to approve the budget — are a proposed 1 percent budget increase and reallocations of resources to strengthen technical cooperation and social protection initiatives.

But this is not only a forum but budget negotiations. Also up for discussion are innovative approaches to food security: a reviewed strategic framework, two new plans to engage the private sector and civil society, and a new role for the African countries.

“Based on the reform process, it is a more cohesive and participatory approach,” Ethiopia’s deputy permanent representative to FAO Abreha Aseffa told Devex."

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A vision for sustainable living - Sponsored interview: Karl Hofmann | Devex

A vision for sustainable living - Sponsored interview: Karl Hofmann | Devex: "The crisis of 2008 brought business even more to the foreground. Now there is this enormous force of young and digitally-savvy consumers aggregating themselves. There is an enormous pressure on planetary boundaries with the population increase in the East and South. Then you have a government process that, because of all these shifts, is becoming very difficult. So companies like ours and nongovernmental organizations like PSI are now the glue, and consumer expectations are high.


Our learning was that we have to impact the total value chain. This is not corporate social responsibility anymore; this is taking co-ownership to reverse some of these negative trends and contribute to issues of health and sanitation, of food security, of equitable growth. Partnership is a tremendously important piece that we learn more about each day. We are also tackling the challenge of taking our work to scale. There are tremendous things happening with PSI, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But how can you scale it faster, while continuing to share the same values?"

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allAfrica.com: The AfDB's Compelling Case for Africa's Structural Transformation

allAfrica.com: The AfDB's Compelling Case for Africa's Structural Transformation: "Structural transformation will not materialize unless there is a concomitant investment in skills development in areas that have kept the continent behind other developing regions. In this regard, Africa needs to harness its natural resources to build skills for its youthful population in order to leapfrog development and secure a place in the global value chain. Developing skills will unleash the dynamism of Africa's untapped entrepreneurship potential, creating opportunities for increased job and wealth creation. An enlightened population is also important in Africa's global engagement in trade and commerce.

"The key message is that Africa should accelerate its structural transformation by boosting the potential of its youthful population, investing in science and technology and innovation, speeding up its rate of economic integration, greening the economy and supporting private sector enterprise," the report emphasized."

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Why Breaking Up Was Good for My Finances: 5 True Tales LearnVest

Why Breaking Up Was Good for My Finances: 5 True Tales LearnVest: "But what if the breakup left you better off in other ways?

Say, richer? Or without a significant other who was secretly dipping into your checking account?

That’s just what happened to the five people below. There are many financial red flags in a relationship, and their cautionary tales can help you avoid falling into a relationship you’re—at least fiscally speaking—better off without."

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Carrie Hessler-Radelet: Peace Corps Volunteers Extend Malaria Efforts to Villages and Towns Across Africa

Carrie Hessler-Radelet: Peace Corps Volunteers Extend Malaria Efforts to Villages and Towns Across Africa: "In rural Burkina Faso, Peace Corps volunteer Bridget Roby noticed that though members of her community had life-saving mosquito nets, not everyone was using them. The Global Fund and PMI deliver millions of nets every year, and the vast majority of those are used and cherished. But every net that goes unused is a child unprotected, a chance to do better.

When Bridget looked at her community and thought, "We can do better," the solution that jumped out at her was... to take pictures. She asked every mother who was already using her net to pose next to it for a picture, then she posted those on the wall of the health clinic as a public honor and reminder. Soon those who had not been using their nets were approaching Bridget to ask, "Can I have my picture taken? I use my net now." Bridget had helped change the social norm."

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Thursday, April 18, 2013

World Vision to double aid for Pacific and East Timor - In the news: Pacific | The Development Newswire | Devex

World Vision to double aid for Pacific and East Timor - In the news: Pacific | The Development Newswire | Devex: "World Vision is angling to double its aid for East Timor and the Pacific by engaging other major donors in the region.

The Christian humanitarian organization serving nearly 100 countries around the world wants to raise its current $25 million funding for East Timor and the Pacific states of Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu for the next five years, a World Vision spokeswoman told Devex.

Kristy Allen-Shirley, World Vision communications director for South Asia and Pacific, explained that the group has committed to “working collaboratively across borders” by partnering with the Australian and New Zealand governments to deliver aid in the region."

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6 reasons companies fail to reach the bottom of the pyramid - Contributor: Ezequiel Reficco | Devex

6 reasons companies fail to reach the bottom of the pyramid - Contributor: Ezequiel Reficco | Devex: "Early studies on the BoP relied on the premise that large companies, with their financial muscle, distribution channels, technological know-how and managerial sophistication, are best positioned to meet the challenge of serving the poor. This assumption continues to guide the efforts of multilateral agencies, NGOs and development organizations that work on market-oriented solutions to poverty.

In practice, however, large companies have been less than fully enthusiastic when given the chance to engage the low-income segment commercially."

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United Nations News Centre - FEATURE: African nations strive to stem desertification with a ‘Great Green Wall’

United Nations News Centre - FEATURE: African nations strive to stem desertification with a ‘Great Green Wall’: "Stretching from Dakar to Djibouti, a United Nations-backed programme dubbed the ‘Great Green Wall’ brings together 11 countries to plant trees across Africa to literally hold back the Sahara desert with a swathe of greenery, lessen the effects of desertification and improve the lives and livelihoods of communities.

The Wall, an initiative spearheaded by African heads of State, will stretch about 7,000 kilometres from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east and will be about 15 kilometres wide as it traverses the continent, passing through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea."

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Migrant workers shot at by foreman in Greece - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Migrant workers shot at by foreman in Greece - Europe - Al Jazeera English: "At least 20 migrant strawberry pickers were shot and wounded in southern Greece, in a pay dispute after a foreman opened fire on them with a shotgun, police have said.

Wednesday's incident occurred near the village of Manolada, about 260 kilometres west of Athens.

Haralambos Sfetsos, the police captain, said most of the wounded workers were from Bangladesh."

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This Image Should NOT be Seen by the Whole World | How to be an Anthropologist

This Image Should NOT be Seen by the Whole World | How to be an Anthropologist: "The image attached to this meme depicts Chief Raoni in tears and clearly emotional. The description says, “Chief of the Kayapo tribe heard the worst news of his entire life,” implying that the image was taken at a moment of intense grief over the devastation of his home and people. The representation of Chief Raoni shows a man who is sad, powerless, and at the mercy of a powerful President Dilma. This is supported by his hunched posture, his hand attempting to cover his face, and his closed, scrunched eyes. The text enforces this representation by speaking of death, destruction and disappearance. It then puts Chief Raoni in sharp contrast with the reader, by describing the reader as frivolous and superficial and to an extent blaming the reader for the devastation, “it shows the price to be paid for the ‘quality of life’ of our so-called ‘modern comforts.’” The text then ends with a call to action to save Chief Raoni and his people."

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Senegalese ex-leader's son spends first night in cell

Senegalese ex-leader's son spends first night in cell: "The son of former Senegal leader Abdoulaye Wade woke up in a cell Tuesday after spending his first night in custody following his arrest by detectives investigating his vast fortune valued at more than $1 billion.

Karim Wade, who held a number of cabinet posts under his father's presidency, was detained in Dakar in the latest twist in an ongoing legal battle with the current regime over alleged illicit gains from his time in office."

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High Schooler Protests 'Slut-Shaming' Abstinence Assembly

High Schooler Protests 'Slut-Shaming' Abstinence Assembly: "Campbell’s complaints about her high school reflect a problematic trend across the country. There are serious consequences when figures like Stenzel repeatedly tell young Americans that contraception isn’t safe. Partly because of the scientific misinformation that often pervades abstinence-only curricula, an estimated 60 percent of young adults are misinformed about birth control’s effectiveness — and some of those teens choose not to use it because they assume it won’t make any difference. Predictably, the states that lack adequate sex ed requirements are also the states that have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and STDs."

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The Saudi Marathon Man : The New Yorker

The Saudi Marathon Man : The New Yorker: "What made them suspect him? He was running—so was everyone. The police reportedly thought he smelled like explosives; his wounds might have suggested why. He said something about thinking there would be a second bomb—as there was, and often is, to target responders. If that was the reason he gave for running, it was a sensible one. He asked if anyone was dead—a question people were screaming. And he was from Saudi Arabia, which is around where the logic stops. Was it just the way he looked, or did he, in the chaos, maybe call for God with a name that someone found strange?"

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Wednesday, April 17, 2013

“She’s just the cleaning lady”: Reflecting on gender norms | WorldFish

“She’s just the cleaning lady”: Reflecting on gender norms | WorldFish: "A few days later, the research assistants we are working with to implement the study were struggling to learn one particular research tool. One of the few women in the group bravely attempted to facilitate the session but it was not an easy task. Smirking, one of the men observing the exercise pointedly said to us, “this is what you get as a result of affirmative action”, as if the failure of the exercise was her fault and an obvious consequence of involving women in the research.

The irony that both of these incidents occurred as we conducted training for a study investigating power relations between and among men and women was not lost on me.

The study we are embarking on is entitled “Gender inequality: A barrier to household climate adaptation behavior” and is funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security."

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United Nations News Centre - Genetic resources play crucial role in food security – UN agricultural agency

United Nations News Centre - Genetic resources play crucial role in food security – UN agricultural agency: "“[Genetic resources] for food and agriculture play a crucial role in enabling crops, livestock, aquatic organisms and forest trees to withstand climate change-related conditions,” Mr. Gustafson added.

According to FAO, there are as many as 30,000 edible terrestrial plant species in the world. However, only 30 crops account for 95 per cent of human food energy needs, with rice, wheat, maize, millet and sorghum amounting to 60 per cent of these.

About 75 per cent of crop genetic diversity was lost in the last century as farmers worldwide switched to genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties and abandoned multiple local varieties."

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A Welcome Half Loaf on Food Aid Reform | Center For Global Development

A Welcome Half Loaf on Food Aid Reform | Center For Global Development: "The Obama administration’s proposal for food aid reform is evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, but it is still a big step in the right direction. Overall, the administration estimates that the proposal would allow roughly the same level of funds for food aid to reach an additional 4 million people, and do so more quickly in emergencies. "

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U.S. Food Aid Should Focus on Combating Hunger and Malnutrition in Poor Nations

U.S. Food Aid Should Focus on Combating Hunger and Malnutrition in Poor Nations:


U.S. law requires most P.L. 480 food assistance be purchased from U.S. producers and shipped on U.S.-flagged vessels. This policy of purchasing food in the U.S. and shipping it thousands of miles to a crisis location is inefficient, costly, and shortsighted. Citing studies by Cornell University, Lancet medical journal, and the Government Accountability Office, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah noted that “buying food locally—instead of in the United States—costs much less—as much as 50 percent for cereals and as much as 31 percent for pulses. That’s because the average prices of buying and delivering American food across an ocean has increased from $390 per metric ton in 2001 to $1,180 today.”[2]
Reform Needed
Reform of U.S. food assistance programs would improve efficiency and allow the U.S. to do more with less. Requiring USAID to purchase and ship U.S. food is shortsighted because it undermines agricultural markets in destination or neighboring countries, discouraging agricultural investment and development. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, “The empirical evidence shows that food prices almost invariably fall in local markets immediately after a food aid distribution.”[3]


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Tuesday, April 16, 2013

About Us | Girls Who Code

About Us | Girls Who Code: "OUR MISSION + VISION
MISSION: Girls Who Code works to educate, inspire, and equip young women with the skills and resources to pursue academic and career opportunities in computing fields.

VISION: Girls Who Code’s vision is to reach gender parity in computing fields. We believe this is paramount to ensure the economic prosperity of women, families, and communities across the globe, and to equip citizens with the 21st century tools for innovation and social change. We believe that more girls exposed to computer science at a young age will lead to more women working in the technology and engineering fields."

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Explosions rock finish of Boston Marathon; 2 killed and scores injured - U.S. News

Explosions rock finish of Boston Marathon; 2 killed and scores injured - U.S. News: "With thousands of runners still on the course, two bombs exploded at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, killing two people, injuring scores more and turning the city’s most celebrated event into a grisly spectacle of shattered glass, blood and screams.
One of the dead was an 8-year-old child, a law enforcement official told NBC News.
Video from the scene showed people fleeing and an enormous cloud of white smoke after two blasts went off about 20 seconds apart. Emergency personnel carried bloody spectators away."

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Friday, April 12, 2013

allAfrica.com: Africa: Is the Bank's Attitude Towards Participatory Development Changing?

allAfrica.com: Africa: Is the Bank's Attitude Towards Participatory Development Changing?: "Looking at quantitative evaluations of various participatory development projects (both within and outside the Bank) that are touted to help reduce poverty and inequalities, improve service delivery and build capacity for collective community action, Mansuri and Rao not only push the World Bank to accept what is not working in their approach and admit mistakes, but also bring to the fore key challenges and possible solutions.

In their report, Mansuri and Rao distinguish between "induced" and "organic" participation, where one is driven by external agents (by pumping in money/resources), while the other occurs 'naturally' (arising out of the needs and initiative of the community).

Recognition of this difference is important, given that the World Bank alone has invested over $85 billion on development assistance for participation.

For such induced participation to be effective and sustainable, the World Bank and other external agents need to change their approach to development- to one that is long-term, context sensitive, accepts failure and learns from mistakes. The reasons behind this are:"

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In need of reform: USAID's agriculture programs - Contributor: Richard Tinsley | Devex

In need of reform: USAID's agriculture programs - Contributor: Richard Tinsley | Devex: "It would be nice if the U.S. Agency for International Development took advantage of sequestration to substantially review it programs to make certain they are effective and fully appreciated by the intended beneficiaries.

This is particularly important for rural development projects emphasizing the cooperative business model and value chains. Such a review might quickly recognize that while these programs can be socially desirable, they are also often too administratively cumbersome and to inconvenient to attract widespread participation on the part of beneficiaries.

Instead, smallholder farmers wisely take the bulk of their business elsewhere, leaving projects with negligible overall contribution to the communities they intend to serve."

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International Development - USAID's controversial new food aid strategy

International Development - USAID's controversial new food aid strategy: "The proposal’s main casualty is the Food for Peace program, which in 2012 received about $1.46 billion, according to USAID. Money for the program, which involves the buying of U.S. surplus crops and shipping them abroad, would be redirected toward international disaster and development assistance as well as the new CEFACF.

In a speech to defend the budget proposal on Wednesday, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah insisted that the agency is not planning to end U.S. food aid.

“In fact — we’re doing the opposite. The president’s proposal commits to a more rapid, cost-effective, and life-saving food aid program that pairs the continued purchase of American food aid with a diverse set of tools, including local procurement and food vouchers,” he said.

Shah reiterated that the U.S. government commits to continue purchasing American commodities, but was now “increasing our focus on the higher value, more nutritious products that are so critical to improving child nutrition and saving lives,” and promised continued support for the shipping industry."

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Monsanto’s Dirty Dozen | GMO Awareness

Monsanto’s Dirty Dozen | GMO Awareness: "When you take a moment to reflect on the history of product development at Monsanto, what do you find? Here are twelve products that Monsanto has brought to market. See if you can spot the pattern…"

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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…and How to Correct Them

Three Huge Mistakes We Make Leading Kids…and How to Correct Them: "Psychologists in Europe have discovered that if a child doesn’t play outside and is never allowed to experience a skinned knee or a broken bone, they frequently have phobias as adults. Interviews with young adults who never played on jungle gyms reveal they’re fearful of normal risks and commitment. The truth is, kids need to fall a few times to learn it is normal; teens likely need to break up with a boyfriend or girlfriend to appreciate the emotional maturity that lasting relationships require. Pain is actually a necessary teacher. Consider your body for a moment. If you didn’t feel pain, you could burn yourself or step on a nail and never do something about the damage and infection until it was too late. Pain is a part of health and maturity."

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Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Someone you know ill? Watch what you say, and to whom - latimes.com

Someone you know ill? Watch what you say, and to whom - latimes.com: "Ring Theory.

Draw a circle. This is the center ring. In it, put the name of the person at the center of the current trauma. For Katie's aneurysm, that's Katie. Now draw a larger circle around the first one. In that ring put the name of the person next closest to the trauma. In the case of Katie's aneurysm, that was Katie's husband, Pat. Repeat the process as many times as you need to. In each larger ring put the next closest people. Parents and children before more distant relatives. Intimate friends in smaller rings, less intimate friends in larger ones. When you are done you have a Kvetching Order. One of Susan's patients found it useful to tape it to her refrigerator.

Here are the rules. The person in the center ring can say anything she wants to anyone, anywhere. She can kvetch and complain and whine and moan and curse the heavens and say, "Life is unfair" and "Why me?" That's the one payoff for being in the center ring.

Everyone else can say those things too, but only to people in larger rings."

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Critical Thinking Is Best Taught Outside the Classroom: Scientific American

Critical Thinking Is Best Taught Outside the Classroom: Scientific American: "Museums and other institutions of informal learning may be better suited to teach this skill than elementary and secondary schools. At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, we recently studied how learning to ask good questions can affect the quality of people's scientific inquiry. We found that when we taught participants to ask “What if?” and “How can?” questions that nobody present would know the answer to and that would spark exploration, they engaged in better inquiry at the next exhibit—asking more questions, performing more experiments and making better interpretations of their results. Specifically, their questions became more comprehensive at the new exhibit. Rather than merely asking about something they wanted to try (“What happens when you block out a magnet?”), they tended to include both cause and effect in their question (“What if we pull this one magnet out and see if the other ones move by the same amount?”). Asking juicy questions appears to be a transferable skill for deepening collaborative inquiry into the science content found in exhibits."

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Why Americans Are So Ignorant -- It's Not Only Fox News, There Are Some Understandable Reasons for it | Alternet

Why Americans Are So Ignorant -- It's Not Only Fox News, There Are Some Understandable Reasons for it | Alternet: "To put it another way, the majority of any population will pay little or no attention to news stories or government actions that do not appear to impact their lives or the lives of close associates. If something non-local happens that is brought to their attention by the media, they will passively accept government explanations and simplistic solutions.

The primary issue is “does it impact my life?” If it does, people will pay attention. If it appears not to, they won’t pay attention. For instance, in Shenkman’s book unfavorable comparisons are sometimes made between Americans and Europeans. Americans often are said to be much more ignorant about world geography than are Europeans."

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Thursday, April 4, 2013

Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Let's Move the Lean In Debate Forward

Jennifer Siebel Newsom: Let's Move the Lean In Debate Forward: "What's the lesson here? If you feel Lean In excludes a certain segment of the female population, it has at least contributed to a national and international dialogue reminding us how vast the problem really is. While we as a gender need to push harder and further to ensure our own personal success, we need to tackle the social, political and economic barriers that hinder that success -- however subtle -- as a group, as well as individually. We need to look at the big picture. And, we aren't going to make much progress if men aren't taking a look as well."

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Brain Initiative will draw on Bay Area - SFGate

Brain Initiative will draw on Bay Area - SFGate: "Bay Area scientists who already have led remarkable efforts to explore and describe the complex depths of the human brain will play a critical role in the $100 million brain-mapping project announced by President Obama on Tuesday.

The so-called Brain Initiative, which is being touted as similar in scope to the Human Genome Project, initially will seek new technologies to study brain activity and the trillions of neural connections that rule every human action and behavior."

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Monday, April 1, 2013

BBC News - The price of land development in Cambodia

BBC News - The price of land development in Cambodia: "For the first time in its history Phnom Penh's skyline is being pierced by modern high-rise towers, offering new office space and luxury apartments. Land prices are soaring, and developers are constantly seeking out new possibilities for construction.

One area they targeted was the city's largest lake, Boeng Kak. A company owned by a senator from the ruling Cambodian People's Party, Shukaku, was given a 99-year lease to drain and build on the lake in 2007."

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BBC News - South Korea pledges strong response against North

BBC News - South Korea pledges strong response against North: "North Korea said on Saturday that it was entering a "state of war" with South Korea.

On Sunday, the US sent stealth fighters to South Korea, as North Korea pledged to build up its nuclear arsenal."

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