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Science and Technology in Congress
October 2010

Articles

Regular Features

 

 

About the Newsletter Editors

Science and Technology in Congress is a newsletter produced by the Center to provide timely, objective information to Congress on current science and technology issues.

To Subscribe: Please send an e-mail with the subject line "Subscribe," your name and address to congress_center@aaas.org.
  • Joanne Padron Carney, Director, CSTC
  • Kasey White, Senior Program Associate


Congress Gives Itself More Time on Appropriations

The President signed the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R.3081) on the last day of the fiscal year (September 30) to extend government operations until December 3, 2010. The continuing resolution (CR) funds most programs at current levels, but funding for some programs was modified. The Weapons Activities program of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) in the Department of Energy received its requested $624 million (9.8%) increase for FY 2011, which brings program's total budget to $7.0 billion with a projected R&D investment of $2.7 billion - a 1.4 percent increase.

This extension gives Congress two weeks after they return from the November elections to enact the FY 2011 budget. However, with an already full legislative calendar and only two of the twelve appropriation bills through the House and no appropriation bills passed by the Senate, another extension of government funding will probably be necessary. The outcome of the elections will likely affect the timing of action on the budget. If the Democrats retain control of both chambers, there is a better chance that the budget will be finished by the end of the calendar year. However, if the Republicans take control of one or both chambers, they will likely delay action on the budget until the new year when they can exercise their new majority. An omnibus bill that would consolidate a number of appropriations bills is also likely under either scenario.

Despite the lag in the federal process, the Obama administration has moved forward on two initiatives to promote R&D in industry. First, in a speech outside Cleveland, Ohio, President Obama announced his proposal for "a more generous, permanent extension of the tax credit that goes to companies for all the research and innovation they do." The President's proposal would raise the base amount of credit from 14 to 17 percent for those companies who choose to calculate their tax credit using the "simpler" formula. The estimated cost of the plan is $100 billion over the next ten years, as opposed to $70.5 billion if the R&D tax credit was simply extended as proposed in the FY 2011 budget request. Second, the President signed S.3839, extending the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs through January 31, 2011. The SBIR and STTR programs administer grants to small businesses and small business–university partnerships for research and development activities.

For the current status and detailed analysis of congressional action on the appropriations bills, see the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program Website.

-- Patrick Clemins

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Stem Cell Research Funding in Jeopardy

After a year of relatively smooth sailing for federally-funded human embryonic stem cell research, another roadblock, this time delivered by a federal judge, has hampered work in the field.

On August 23, U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth issued a preliminary injunction barring NIH from funding the research.

The injunction was in response to a lawsuit involving two scientists, James L. Sherley of the Boston Biomedical Research Institute and Theresa Deisher of AVM Biotechnology in Seattle, who argued that the funding of embryonic stem cell research would cause them "irreparable injury" by increasing competition and therefore potentially taking funds away from adult stem cell research, their area of work. Judge Lamberth agreed. The judge also ruled that embryonic stem cell research was illegal under the Dickey-Wicker Amendment. The amendment, an annual feature in NIH's appropriation bill, prohibits the use of federal funds on research that destroys an embryo. For more than a decade, the government has allowed the use of public funds for research on human embryonic stem cells as long as derivation of the cells—which results in the destruction of an embryo—was carried out with private funds. Judge Lambert disagreed, ruling that it is not possible to disentangle embryonic stem cell research from the derivation of the stem cells, even if the cells are derived using private funds.

For FY 2011, NIH has estimated $358 million of its budget would go toward human non-embryonic stem cell research and $126 million would go toward human embryonic stem cell research.

When the case first came before Judge Lamberth in 2009 he rejected it, saying the plaintiffs did not have standing to file suit. At that time the plaintiffs included not just the two scientists but also the Christian Medical Association, Nightlight Christian Adoptions, two couples seeking to adopt embryos, and "embryos" themselves. A U.S. Appeals Court subsequently ruled that Sherley and Deisher, but not the other plaintiffs, did have standing to file suit and sent the case back to Lamberth for consideration.

The U.S. Justice Department quickly moved to appeal the injunction. Meanwhile, NIH was forced to shut down its intramural human embryonic stem cell experiments and halt any grants or renewals that had not yet been paid out. Research that was already in progress was allowed to continue until at least the next renewal period. Embryonic stem cell scientists faced a sudden and significant disruption to their work.

Stem cell research champions in Congress quickly mobilized to ponder legislative strategies for doing away with the injunction, perhaps by overturning or clarifying the language of the Dickey-Wicker Amendment, but were unable to enact any changes before leaving for the October recess.

On September 9, the U.S. Appeals Court for the D.C. Circuit granted the government's request to stay the injunction temporarily until the court could hear oral arguments regarding the injunction. During the roughly two-week period, NIH was able to fast-track some of the grants that had previously been on hold. A three-judge panel heard oral arguments on September 27 and on the following day ruled that federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research could continue while the appeals process moved forward.

-- Erin Heath

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President Signs NASA Reauthorization Act

Late on September 29, the House passed the Senate's version of the NASA Reauthorization Act just in time for the start of the new fiscal year.

House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN), whose original NASA bill was quite different from the Senate version [see STC August 2010], initially bristled at the idea of passing the Senate bill. He was concerned that the bill was "overly prescriptive" in mandating rocket design, that it extended the shuttle program without clarifying how to pay for it, and that it did not provide a timeline for NASA to devise a backup for space access. However, he decided that "for the sake of providing certainty, stability, and clarity to the NASA workforce and larger space community, I felt it was better to consider a flawed bill than no bill at all as the new fiscal year begins."

Many other members, including House Science and Technology Committee Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX), also supported the bill, if reluctantly. The bill passed by a margin of 304 to 118.

The passage of the bill is a victory for some of President Obama's priorities, chiefly the termination of the Constellation program, launched by President George W. Bush to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, and the new emphasis on supporting commercial development of space flight capabilities, albeit at a lower funding level - $1.3 billion over three years - than his request. The authorization bill departed from the Obama plan in mandating the immediate development of a heavy lift launch vehicle.

The bill authorizes $58 billion in NASA funding for three years ($19.0 billion in FY 2011 to $19.96 billion in FY 2013). Under the bill, the life of the International Space Station was extended by five years to 2020 and the shuttle program was extended for an extra flight.

President Obama signed the act into law (P.L. 111-267) on October 11.

-- Erin Heath

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Rare Earth Metals are in Short Supply

The United States is aiming to increase its production of rare earth metals that are used in batteries, magnets, superconductors and various other goods. The metals - elements 21, 39, and 57 – 71 - are often referred to as rare earth elements and are used in a variety of sectors ranging from the automotive to clean energy to national security. Though the United States was once the leading producer of these metals, the nation now imports all of its supply and does not have any active mines.

On September 29, the House passed the Earths and Critical Materials Revitalization Act of 2010, H.R. 6160, sponsored by Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-PA), by a vote of 342 – 92. The bill would create the Rare Earth Materials Program within the Department of Energy to quantify U.S. stocks of rare earth metals and find new ways to collect, utilize, reduce, reuse, and recycle these metals. The Senate has a similar bill sponsored by Senator Murkowski (R-AK): RESTART or the Rare Earths Supply Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2010 (S. 3521).

On September 30, the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Subcommittee on Energy held a hearing to examine rare earth metals and to discuss S. 3521. Senators agreed that disruptions to trade with China, which provides 97 percent of the world's rare earth metals – despite only holding 36 percent of Earth's total rare earth metals – would affect national security because the metals are used in weaponry and satellites. According to Senator Cantwell (D-WA), China recently cut its export quota by 72 percent in order to gain a stronger foothold in the clean energy market and to stifle competition. Also, there have been reports that China cut the supply of the metals to Japan in retaliation for the arrest of a Chinese fishing trawler captain who was operating in disputed waters. The New York Times has reported that this action may garner the involvement of the World Trade Organization.

The speed of the permitting process for rare earth metal mining was a common concern for members at the Senate hearing, but additional hurdles remain. Even if the U.S. could harvest its rare earth metals (something which is expected to occur within the next 2-5 years), it does not currently have the manufacturing expertise to process the metals. As of now, the U.S. would have to ship the metals to China to be processed.

-- Phillip Chalker

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Oil Spill Investigations Continue

Though Congress did not yet enact legislation to reform offshore oil drilling (see August STC newsletter), investigations into the Gulf oil spill and its effects continue. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on seafood safety, and the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling held its second and third meetings. Meanwhile, plans for research and Gulf restoration are beginning.

At the August 19 House hearing, which was held while the House was out of session, Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) was the only representative to attend. Rep. Markey cited reports from the Food and Drug and Administration that found there is little chance for bioaccumulation of dispersants in seafood but note this is only for short-term exposure. Markey stated that it is not known what long-term exposure will do to seafood nor is it known if dispersants will increase other toxic compounds in seafood. Dr. Ian MacDonald of Florida State University spoke to future declines in many seafood species. He predicted that the Gulf leak will cause a depression of 10-15% in ecosystem productivity, but this will be difficult to quantify. He stated the decline will push some species past the tipping point and said tuna, shrimp, fiddler crab, and a type of clam could be the most affected. He called for a multi-year Gulf monitoring program to determine the oil's effect. Seafood safety was also debated at the September 27 Commission meeting. Dr. Bill Walker, Director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, noted that no seafood has been deemed contaminated, but Dr. Murawski of NOAA defended the temporary closures of fishing areas to safeguard public health.

Drilling safety was the topic of the second Oil Spill Commission meeting, held on August 25. At the meeting, the commission examined how the federal government granted exceptions to environmental impact statements. Tyler Priest, University of Houston, stated that because of legal requirements that force approval or rejection of a drilling site within in 30 days, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) - now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement - would offer categorical exclusions and conduct regional environmental review as opposed to conducting site specific analysis. MMS did not have the time nor the resource to meet the 1978 30-day, pre-deep water drilling regulation.

At the Commission's third meeting on September 27-28, speakers highlighted key research needs. Dr. Kinner of the University of New Hampshire stated that prior to the leak, oil spill R&D was under-funded and future funds should be targeted to Arctic and deepwater environments and further monitoring of the Gulf ecosystem. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson cited the need for research on dispersants.

In addition to threatening over 1,000 miles of coast line and 38 species protected under the Endangered Species Act, the oil spill has shed light on the need to repair the Gulf ecosystem which has lost land area the size of Delaware during the past 50 years. The dams and levees along the Mississippi River that hold back sediment are the main culprits of the erosion.

A Gulf Coast restoration plan, written by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, recommends that Congress dedicate a significant portion of any penalties for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill into a Gulf Coast Recovery Fund to address long-term Gulf recovery and restoration efforts. The report recommends the establishment of a Gulf Coast Recovery Council to manage the funds, coordinate recovery projects, and engage local governments and citizen stakeholders. As he awaits congressional action on the plan, President Obama issued an Executive Order to create an intergovernmental advisory body, the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force chaired by EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, as a bridge to the Recovery Council to begin restoration efforts.

Some research plans are also moving ahead. BP announced plans for the implementation of its $500 million Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GRI) to study the environmental and public health impacts of the spill. The fund will be managed by a board of scientists from academic institutions, who will be appointed by BP and the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, a partnership of the Gulf states.

Research will be focused in five areas: physical distribution and ultimate fate of contaminants; chemical and biological degradation of the contaminants; environmental impacts and ecosystem recovery; technology developments for oil spill detection, mitigation, and remediation; and human health.

Funds will be primarily directed to academic institutions in the region, but partnerships with institutions based outside the Gulf are encouraged. A press release noted, "All GRI-funded research will be independent of BP, and the results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals with no requirement for BP approval."

BP has already provided $30 million for research at universities in the Gulf region and $10 million in research on human health at the National Institutes of Health.

-- Meagan Biwer, Phillip Chalker, and Kasey White

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Export Control Reforms Announced

In late August, the Obama Administration provided its recommended framework for a proposed reform of the nation's export control system. Earlier this year, the President had commissioned an interagency review of export controls based on an Executive Order issued at the end of the Bush Administration.

The Obama Administration's proposed reforms would attempt to harmonize and simplify the two major export control systems. One system is run by the Department of State that controls the export of weapons and weapons components, and one is run by the Department of Commerce that controls commercial exports that might have a military application.

Although these dual systems both attempt to control the inadvertent release of sensitive technologies overseas, they continue to be implemented in a very dissimilar fashion. This point was raised by the National Research Council's Committee on Science, Security and Prosperity, which published a report in 2009, Beyond Fortress America, that criticized the existing export control regime as being an antiquated artifact of the Cold War.

The Commerce Department's control list, for example, is written in very narrow terms and specifies precise technical parameters to determine whether an item is controlled or not. The State Department's list follows very broad categories and whether or not an item is controlled depends on whether it falls into one or more category.

For universities that conduct fundamental research in a range of engineering fields (e.g., aerospace), these export rules make it difficult to determine whether basic research projects that involve foreign students or collaboration with international universities violate export laws.

After the interagency review the Administration announced the results of an intensive scrub of the categories on the State Department's Munitions List and reported that it found that of 12,000 items listed under only one category, approximately 32 percent of the items within that category could be decontrolled entirely. Furthermore, it reported that 26 percent within that same category could be moved to the less-stringent Commerce Control List.

The Administration's statement foreshadows a major simplification of the export control process. The White House has requested that the remainder of the Munitions List be reviewed, and both State and Commerce are to develop new criteria for determining what should remain on the control lists. For example, the Administration asked that the agencies create a "tiered" system to determine items that should receive "stricter or more permissive levels of control" based on their ultimate destination, end-use, and end-users. Furthermore, it recommends that a "bright line" be created between the two existing control lists in order "to clarify jurisdictional determinations and reduce government and industry uncertainty" on whether an item falls under the control of the State Department or the Commerce Department.

The ultimate goal is to work toward developing a single export control list, but reactions to the proposed changes have been mixed.

Robert Berdahl, president of the Association of American Universities, lauded the announcement as "an important first step toward achieving meaningful and sensible export control reform," saying that the reforms would "protect national security without disrupting university research" and that they were "intended to ensure that the world's best talent can participate openly in that research." Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, on the other hand, criticized the proposed reforms, saying that "we have already reduced controls to the bone."

-- Joanne Carney

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Congress In Brief

Quick status reports to keep you up to date on recent S&T bills and hearings.

  • On October 5, President Obama signed into law the "Improving Access to Clinical Trials Act of 2009" (S. 1674) that is intended to facilitate participation in clinical trials for rare diseases. It would exclude up to $2,000 a year in compensation for participating in such trials from income calculated to determine eligibility for Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid.

  • Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) introduced a bill (S. 3813) to establish a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). The legislation would require sellers of electricity to obtain 15 percent of their supply from renewable energy resources by 2021. The bill is similar to language in the American Clean Energy Leadership Act (S. 1462) that passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last year but was never voted on by the full Senate.

  • The House Science and Technology Committee passed the Nuclear Energy Research and Development Act (H.R. 5866) in an effort to strengthen the nuclear industry and improve long-term waste management.

  • The Senate moved to bring three bills to a cloture vote after the election, meaning the bills would need 60 votes to pass. One of the bills is a long stalled but popular food safety bill.

  • The Senate's conflict-of-interest watchdog, Charles Grassley (R-IA), has introduced legislation to amend Senate rules to require witnesses in Senate hearings to disclose potential conflicts of interest. The bill is called the Witness Sunshine Resolution.

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Agency Updates

  • A panel of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) released a report on how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could best organize its climate science and service activities within a newly proposed Climate Service. The NAPA panel strongly supported the creation of the Climate Service. In related news, the draft NOAA Climate Service Strategic Vision and Framework has also been released and is open for public comment until October 18.

  • In August, the government announced a $1.9-billion initiative to reform the system for identifying and manufacturing drugs and vaccines needed for public health emergencies. The proposed strategy is the result of a Department of Health and Human Services report on medical countermeasures. Meanwhile, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released its plan for improving the nation's vaccine response. In addition, the Pentagon shifted $1.07 billion out of its nuclear, biological and chemical defense programs to help underwrite the White House focus on vaccine development, according to a news report by Global Security Newswire.

  • The Environmental Protection Agency has taken several actions recently to examine hydraulic fracturing or "fracking," which is a method used to recover natural gas from sources such as coalbeds and shale gas formations. EPA sent letters to nine drilling companies requesting detailed information about the chemicals contained in fluids used during hydraulic fracturing. EPA has also held several meetings in advance of designing a long-term scientific study of the effects of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water and public health.

  • The National Institutes of Health's Scientific Management Review Board, which is charged with examining NIH's organizational structure, has voted to advise Director Collins to merge two institutes: the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. If Collins agrees to the merger, Congress would have 180 days to weigh in before it could go forward.

  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology has realigned its laboratories from the discipline-based structure of the past two decades to a structure organized around the agency's missions. The realignment is intended to "allow more day-to-day operational decisions to be made by the major laboratory units" and to improve the agency's interdisciplinary research capabilities. A description of the new structure and its rationale, including organization charts, can be found on NIST's web site.

  • The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule stating the safety information that must be reported during clinical trials of investigational drugs and biologics (drugs made from a living organism or its products). The new required information includes any findings from studies that suggest a serious risk to trial participants.

  • The Food and Drug Administration has released a white paper outlining its plan of action for its regulatory science initiative, which involves using science to enhance the agency's capabilities to determine whether the food, drugs, and other products it regulates are safe and effective. It plans to put $25 million toward the initiative in FY 2011.

  • The Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a public meeting on November 2-3 to gather input on its implementation of the part of the healthcare reform law that authorized the creation of a regulatory pathway for generic biologics.

  • Nearly forty countries launched a new Global Methane Initiative that aims to reduce emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change and also has human health, environmental, and economic impacts. The United States is pledging $50 million over the next five years to the Global Methane Initiative and is seeking similar pledges from other developed countries to support implementing methane emissions reduction projects and technologies. EPA estimates that an enhanced global effort to reduce methane emissions could reduce more than 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent – about the same as the annual emissions from more than 280 million cars. The new initiative builds upon the Methane to Markets Partnership, an international partnership launched in 2004.

  • The Federal Communications Commission has quietly dropped from its website a longstanding recommendation that consumers concerned about the health effects of cell phones can buy models with lower levels of radiation emissions. The agency now says that any phone it approves has passed the relevant safety tests.

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Reports and Publications

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Other

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AAAS News and Notes

Albert Teich, director of AAAS' Science and Policy Programs, joined three other witnesses in testifying before the House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on NSF's Science of Science and Innovation Policy program. Teich testified about "building a community of practice among researchers in the many disciplines engaged in the study of science and innovation policy and its conscious effort to build bridges between this community and the practitioners in the federal government."

AAAS issued comments on a proposed scientific integrity policy for the Department of the Interior. AAAS applauded the Department "for recognizing the importance of protecting the integrity of science," but expressed concern that the draft policy "lacks detail on how scientific information is communicated and used in the policy process.” The Department subsequently withdrew the draft policy and issued a revised policy.  Among other things, the policy states that the department "will not tolerate misconduct in the performance of scientific activities or in the application of the products of scientific activity to decision making."

AAAS Center for Science, Technology and Congress Launches Twitter Feed
To get up-to-date science policy news, follow us at http://www.twitter.com/aaas_cstc

Mark your Calendar:

Synthetic Biology: What is it? What challenges does it pose to ethics and public policy?
Thursday, October 28, 2010
4:30 pm Coffee, 5:00 pm Lecture, 6:30 pm Reception
AAAS Auditorium, 2nd floor (1200 New York Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.)

The Third Annual AAAS-Hitachi Lecture on Science and Society will feature an address by Thomas H. Murray entitled "Synthetic Biology: What is it? What challenges does it pose to ethics and public policy?" Thomas H. Murray is President and CEO of The Hastings Center. Dr. Murray was formerly the Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, where he was also the Susan E. Watson Professor of Bioethics. RSVP online

Science & Society: Global Challenges
No PowerPoint. No notes. Just candid conversations with leading science and policy experts, hosted by award-winning NPR reporters Richard Harris, David Kestenbaum, and Jon Hamilton.

The events will be held every other Monday night – October 18 and November 1, 15-- this fall from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm in the AAAS Auditorium at 1200 New York Avenue. A reception will start at 5:00 pm. Sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the Georgetown University Program on Science in the Public Interest.

October 18: Challenge: Reducing the Risks of Nuclear Terrorism
Experts: Laura Holgate, National Security Staff, White House; Eric Loewen, GE-Hitachi; and Lucy Walker, Director/Writer of Countdown to Zero (invited)
Host: David Kestenbaum
Please RSVP online

November 1: Challenge: Coming to the Table on Food Safety (Bisphenol A and Beyond)
Experts: Sarah Vogel, Johnson Family Foundation; and Christopher Borgert, University of Florida, Gainesville
Host: Jon Hamilton
Please RSVP online

November 15: Challenge: Climate and Energy Policy in the New Congress
Experts: Jon Krosnick ; Stanford University; Robert Simon, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; and David Conover, Bipartisan Policy Center
Host: Richard Harris
Please RSVP online

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Frontiers in Science

Scientists in Germany have produced genetically-modified fruit flies that can smell blue light. By activating single receptor neurons in fly larvae, the researchers document that the flies -- which usually prefer darkness -- are drawn to blue light by a "tasty" banana smell. How does this happen? The activated neurons send an electrical signal to the part of the brain that governs olfactory perception when stimulated by blue light at a wavelength of 480 nm. Researchers now plan to test this mechanism on mice.

Bellmann D., Et al., "Optogenetically induced olfactory stimulation in Drosophila larvae reveals the neuronal basis of odor-aversion behavior," Frontiers in Neuroscience Behavior, 2010; 4 (27) DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00027

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