Thứ Ba, 1 tháng 5, 2012

National Briefing | New England

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Rhode Island: Federal Prosecutors Fight Governor Over Murder Suspect

By JESS BIDGOOD
Published: April 4, 2012
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A federal appeals panel heard arguments on Wednesday over Gov. Lincoln Chafee 's refusal to surrender a murder suspect to federal prosecutors. The suspect, Jason W. Pleau, 34, is accused of shooting a gas station employee in front of a federally insured bank in 2010. He has agreed to plead guilty and serve a life sentence without parole in Rhode Island, which does not have the death penalty. The governor is concerned that Mr. Pleau will face the death penalty if he is tried in federal court. Mr. Chafee is believed to be the first governor to refuse to surrender a suspect to the federal authorities.

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Observatory

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Changes in Social Status Seen in Monkeys' Genes

By SINDYA N. BHANOO
Published: April 9, 2012
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Social stress is known to have adverse health effects on both humans and primates.

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National Primate Research Center

Researchers found they could predict a female macaque's social ranking by looking at its genes.

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Now, researchers report that it also affects the immune system of female rhesus macaques at the genetic level.

"Social stress seemed to have a relatively strong and pervasive effect on the regulation of the genome," said Jenny Tung , an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University and the first author of a study on the monkeys; it appears in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .

She and her colleagues found differences in nearly 1,000 genes in the white blood cells of macaques. They focused on the monkeys' T cells and other white blood cells that play a role in immunity .

"Although all of the monkeys have the same set of genes in their white blood cells, not all of them turn on these genes to the same degree," Dr. Tung said.

Dr. Tung and her colleagues were able to predict the social ranking of a female macaque with 80 percent accuracy simply by looking at the genes.

They worked with 49 macaques at the Yerkes Primate Research Center at Emory University.

They also found that if a macaque's social rank changed, her gene expression did as well.

"If an individual is able to improve their social environment, the genome is pretty plastic, which is kind of optimistic," Dr. Tung said.

She said the results could provide insight into how to manage stress caused by social status in humans.

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Vietnam ranks second at SE Asian Futsal Championships

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Nhan Dan – The Vietnam national futsal squad finished second at the 2012 Southeast Asian Futsal Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, after losing 4-9 to the hosts in the final match on April 27.

Thueanklang gave Thailand the lead with two consecutive goals in the second and fifth minutes, before Quynh Toan narrowed the gap for the guests in the 15th minute.

However, Thailand played very well and netted four more goals to close the first half with a score of 5-1.

Vietnam tried its best in the second half and managed to gain three goals by Van Vu, Trong Thien and Hoang Vinh, but it was not enough and Thailand scored four more goals to win the match.

In the playoff for third place, Indonesia beat Malaysia 4-2 to take home the bronze medal.

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International fireworks performance lights up Da Nang

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Da Nang International Fireworks Competition 2012 kicked off in central coastal Da Nang city on April 29. The competition, the fifth of its kind, themed 'Colours of Da Nang' brought together teams from Canada , China , France , Italy and host Vietnam .

Photo by DTiNews



To begin the first night of the competition, Canada 's 20-minute performance "Lighting up the dark" highlighted the sparkling beauty of the Han River and the modern Da Nang City .

Following was the host Da Nang-Vietnam team presenting a display depicting the pride of being Vietnamese, Vietnamese people's gratitude towards President Ho Chi Minh and the colours of Da Nang city on the path towards modernisation.

To conclude the first day of competition, the team from China delighted the audience with a story of the legendary valley of cherry blossoms, reflecting the hope for a peaceful, happy life with enchanting background music.

The fireworks display will wrap up on April 30.

Besides the firework display, a cultural, cuisine and tourism festival will run until May 2.

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Study Millennials Rejecting Religious Doctrine

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College campuses are among the least religious places in America, largely because people tend to drift away from faith when they are young. But a study focusing on 18-to-24-year-old Americans finds many rejecting religious doctrine and orthodoxy in general.
Woman lights candle at 'night of lights' ecumenical prayer, Erfurt, Germany, Nov. 23, 2011 (file photo).
Photo: AP
Woman lights candle at 'night of lights' ecumenical prayer, Erfurt, Germany, Nov. 23, 2011 (file photo).



Findings of the Millennial Values Survey , a joint survey of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), and Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs , indicate that many of the youngest millennials - members of the so called "millennial generation" - are leaving their childhood faith and ending up mostly unaffiliated.

Around one quarter of respondents said they don't identify with any religion, more than twice the 11 percent raised in households without any particular faith.

According to Dr. Robert Jones, PRRI's CEO and one of the study's lead researchers, this group is changing the way Americans view and practice religion.

"Basically all the varieties of Christian religion are in negative territories," said Jones, adding that Catholics and white mainline Protestants saw the largest losses away from childhood religious identification.

A Complicated Relationship
"Millennials kind of have a complicated relationship with religion," said Abigail Clauhs, one of a group of university students from around the country invited to be present at the survey's release.

"In my own personal experience dealing with other millennials my age, there's a lot of those kinds of stories of 'Well, I was raised like this, but I am now this, or I'm not religious at all,'" she said. "There's a lot of shifting, and people don't tend to be as committed to one strict set of doctrines or dogmas, even if they might be spiritual still."

Clauhs, a religion major at Boston University, was raised by a southern Baptist father and a Roman Catholic mother.

"I actually identify as Unitarian Universalist now," she said, explaining with a chuckle that "you're allowed to believe what you want."

Christianity Too 'Judgmental'
Only 23 percent of the survey's respondents said they believe the Bible is the word of God and should be taken literally. And while 76 percent agreed with the statement that Christianity "has good values and principals," more than six in ten said the way the faith is practiced today is "judgmental" and "anti-gay."

Jones said it may not be surprising that millennials are less likely to attend church than older Americans.

"Even on very basic questions like the nature of God, for example, we see millennials much less likely to believe in a personal God that one can have a relationship with, and much more likely to believe in a kind of God as an impersonal force," he said.

Changing the Face of Religion in America
The survey's results also suggest that many millennials aren't looking for spirituality online. Fewer than half of respondents with Facebook accounts, for example, list a religious affiliation on their profile page.

But Jones said results do suggest millennials are seeking spirituality, albeit with less commitment than "the traditional structured church experience."

"A social service opportunity for you to go and do some good in the city, that's going to be connected to the deepest things you believe about reality and God," he said, describing the kind of experience that might appeal to them. "And you know you can come this time, maybe you don't come next time, and you know six months later you'll come again.

"That kind of more free-form engagement, that's something that this generation is really looking for," he said, adding that millennials "really do look to change the face of religion in the country."

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Sudan Fighting Damages Both Sides Oil Industry

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U.S. officials say the most recent fighting between Sudan and South Sudan damaged some of the oil infrastructure on which both countries" economies depend. African Union is working to implement terms of a cease-fire.
Newly appointed U.S. special envoy for Sudan Princeton Lyman attends a meeting with Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti in Khartoum. (File Photo - April 6, 2011
Photo: Reuters
Newly appointed U.S. special envoy for Sudan Princeton Lyman attends a meeting with Sudan's Foreign Minister Ali Karti in Khartoum. (File Photo - April 6, 2011)



During South Sudan's brief occupation of the town of Heglig, there was damage to an oil collection manifold joining pipelines from adjacent oil fields. The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative says satellite imagery can not determine whether the damage came from aerial bombardment or ground action.

Either way, it is another setback for Sudanese oil at a time when both countries are counting on that revenue.

"That's not a very good situation at all," said Princeton Lyman, the U.S. special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. "It will take some time to get that back on track. Both countries are suffering from the crisis in the oil sector. South Sudan lost 98 percent of its budget revenue. Sudan is facing serious foreign exchange shortages, which means they can't import as much food. They have fuel shortages."

Watch related video of exclusive VOA interview with former British PM Gordon Brown

At independence last year, South Sudan took over most of Sudan's oil fields. But Juba shut down production in January after refusing to pay what it said were inflated fees imposed by Khartoum to use northern pipelines and ports.

One of the biggest investors in oil infrastructure on both sides of the border is China. Beijing is playing a more active diplomatic role in the dispute, hosting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir this week on a state visit.

Ambassador Lyman travels to China next week along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

"They have a stake in the oil sector," said Lyman. "But they have a larger stake in their relations between Sudan and South Sudan, and their relations with Africa in general. And I think they have increasingly recognized that if the political issues in Sudan and between Sudan and South Sudan are not resolved, neither the oil nor their other interests can be served."

In an interview Friday with VOA, Lyman said Juba and Khartoum need to formalize their cease-fire and act on an already agreed upon system to demilitarize and monitor their border. That, he says, should help resolve longstanding security concerns that Khartoum is backing raids into the south and southern forces are helping rebels in the Sudanese provinces of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

"I think a political process there will decrease the problem of southern support to that conflict," added Lyman. "But the government of Sudan has to stop sending arms or other kinds of support to militia in South Sudan to try and weaken the government there."

Lyman says the strength of this week's African Union resolution to stop the fighting reflects the gravity of the conflict's threat to the region.

"They realize that a breakdown in peace in Sudan will spill over in every country - whether it is Uganda, whether it is Kenya, whether it is Ethiopia, whether it is Egypt," he said. "So all the countries in the region are affected if you have widespread conflict in Sudan."

The Arab League has joined the African Union and United Nations in a plan to open humanitarian corridors in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Lyman says Khartoum is still studying the proposal and has concerns about how some parts of the plan will be carried out.

Aid officials say more than 140,000 people have already left Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile and are now refugees in South Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.

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Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 4, 2012

Party leader to visit Cuba, Brazil

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Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong will pay an official friendship visit to Cuba and a State-level visit to Brazil in the near future.



According to the Commission for External Affairs of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, the visits will be made at the invitations of the First General Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Cuban State Council and Council of Ministers, and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.-VNA
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NOAA Scientists Confirm BP Oil Spill Harms Dolphins and Deep-Sea Corals

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U.S.-based marine scientists say bottlenose dolphins and deep-sea corals in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred two years ago this April, are showing signs of severe stress from their prolonged exposure to the polluted water.
A Barataria Bay dolphin is photographed by researchers, April, 2011.
Photo: NOAA
A Barataria Bay dolphin is photographed by researchers, April, 2011.



The dolphins' ailments include low body weight, anemia, low blood sugar, and symptoms of liver and lung disease, according to biologists working on a post-spill, natural resource health assessment for NOAA , the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They report that nearly half of the dolphins they tested in the summer of 2011 have abnormally low levels of the hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune function.

The scientists physically examined 32 live dolphins in the Gulf's Barataria Bay.  One of the aquatic mammals was found dead this past January.  The researchers fear more of the dolphins will die of illnesses related to the 2010 oil spill, the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.  During the accident, a damaged British Petroleum well, located on the seabed 80 kilometers off the Louisiana coast, gushed nearly five million barrels of crude oil into Gulf waters before being capped.

Another new NOAA study identifies the BP spill as the source of the contamination that is slowly killing numerous colonies of deep-water corals.  A detailed chemical analysis found a match between oil from the ruptured seafloor well and oil found coating colonies of slowly dying corals, 11 kilometers from the spill site.

The corals the scientists examined were covered in a fluffy, brown, mucus-like substance, and showed signs of tissue damage and severe stress.

The marine biologists note that in 10 years of research in the Gulf of Mexico, they have never seen deep-water coral dying in this manner.

Deep-water coral species usually are not harmed in an oil spill, but not even creatures living at depths of more than 1,200 meters were spared the unprecedented magnitude of the BP oil disaster.  However, the scientists say communities of deep-water corals 20 kilometers from the ruptured oil well were clean and thriving.

NOAA released the preliminary results of the dolphin study on Monday.

The study of the deep-water corals is published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was an environmental and economic catastrophe.  Not only did it kill or threaten the region's vast assortment of flora and wildlife, but the disaster also devastated the livelihoods of many thousands of people who work in fisheries and other businesses dependent on Gulf of Mexico resources.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.

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Q A

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Q. A doctor told me that you don't need daily vitamin supplements if you eat right, and that they don't dissolve anyway. Is he correct?

Micronutrient Insurance

By C. CLAIBORNE RAY
Published: April 2, 2012
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A. Probably not, on both counts. Even those few who consistently eat well "may have dysfunctions that create special needs for micronutrients," said Dr. Sheldon S. Hendler, an editor of "The PDR for Nutritional Supplements," the standard reference.

For example, Dr. Hendler said, low levels of a class of carotenoids are correlated with age-related macular degeneration . These micronutrients are found in spinach, mustard greens and collard greens, which are not a large part of the typical American diet .

As for the problem of supplements that fail to dissolve, Dr. Hendler said, the situation has changed in recent decades. The Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act of 1994 requires quality control for supplements, he said, and "reputable companies adhere to government standards of content, disintegration and dissolution."

Absorption, which does not occur until the dissolved material reaches the small intestine, is another matter, Dr. Hendler said. But it, too, can be improved with adequate dissolution and disintegration.

There is less of an absorption problem with hydrophilic, or water-soluble vitamins . Fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E and K, are better absorbed when taken with a meal that includes fats.

C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Readers may submit questions by mail to Question, Science Times, The New York Times, 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018, or by e-mail to question@nytimes.com.

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Letter

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Autism, now diagnosed in 1 in 88 American children, is an epidemic and a national health emergency. The increase in prevalence is real, only partly explained by a broadening of the diagnosis, improved detection and heightened awareness.

Growing Cases of Autism

Published: April 2, 2012
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To the Editor:

Re " Diagnoses of Autism on the Rise, Report Says " (news article, March 30):

Approximately half of the increase remains unexplained. We must aggressively invest in research and develop a comprehensive national action plan that coordinates efforts between the public and private sectors. We need to find the answers to autism now.

There are real people behind these increases who need better access to autism screening, diagnosis and treatments. And the growing adult population needs employment and housing assistance. We must act, collectively and urgently.

MARK ROITHMAYR
President, Autism Speaks
New York, March 30, 2012

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James Endler, Who Oversaw Construction of World Trade Center, Dies at 82

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James R. Endler, an engineer who helped manage some of the biggest construction projects of the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, including the World Trade Center, Epcot Center at Walt Disney World, and the Renaissance Center in Detroit, died on Saturday in Manhattan. He was 82.

By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: March 29, 2012
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James Endler

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The cause was neuroendocrine cancer, his daughter, Julianne Heckert, said.

Mr. Endler brought his experience as an Army engineer to managing projects, like the trade center, for the Tishman Realty and Construction Company. He later worked on Disneyland Paris and Olympia & York’s Canary Wharf project in London for Lehrer McGovern Bovis, an international construction management firm. He was Tishman’s project executive for Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey broke ground on the trade center on Aug. 5, 1966, with the on-site engineer Rino M. Monti as construction manager. In his book "Men of Steel: The Story of the Family that Built the World Trade Center" (2002), Karl W. Koch III wrote that Tishman representatives originally served on the construction advisory committee and that the company then became the general contractor. Mr. Endler was Tishman’s vice president during that time.

After the destruction of the trade center towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Mr. Endler told The Putnam County News and Recorder that they had been "built as safe as any building could be built."

James Richard Endler was born on Jan. 25, 1930, in Passaic, N.J., and was accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. He was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers and served in the Korean War. After entering the private sector he joined Tishman in 1961 and worked on the new Madison Square Garden atop Pennsylvania Station. He retired from Tishman in 1983 as president, chief operating officer and vice chairman. He then ran his own real estate development firm for four years before joining Lehrer McGovern Bovis .

In the early 1980s, Mr. Endler was instrumental in building a Jewish chapel at West Point , where there had long been only Roman Catholic and Protestant chapels. He remembered long marches as a cadet to attend Jewish services in a funeral chapel at the academy cemetery, an experience he likened to Moses’ "wandering in the desert."

In 1999, Mr. Endler published "Other Leaders, Other Heroes: West Point’s Legacy to America Beyond the Field of Battle." It told how West Point graduates had improved the country’s infrastructure, building railroads, bridges and the like. Booklist said the book "fills a niche in American historiography."

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Endler, who lived in Garrison, N.Y., is survived by his wife of 57 years, the former Myra Lynette Thayer; his son, Peter; his sister, Sheila Kiviat; and two grandsons.

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Syrian Troops Fire Across Turkish Border in Clash Near Refugee Camp

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BEIRUT, Lebanon — The deadly confrontation between Syria and opposition groups spilled into Turkey for the first time on Monday as Syrian forces fired across the border near a refugee camp, casting a further pall over prospects for a United Nations peace plan due to be put into effect this week.

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and SEBNEM ARSU
Published: April 9, 2012
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Syrian refugees watched the border Monday from Kilis, Turkey.

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Border shootings were deadly in Turkey and in Lebanon.

The shooting killed two Syrian refugees and wounded at least 23 people, including a Turkish police officer, near the southern Turkish town of Kilis.

Residents of the camp reached by telephone said bullets had ripped through their prefabricated shelters, shattering windows and spreading panic. "Even the camp isn't safe anymore," said Ahmad, a refugee who used only one name out of concern for repercussions in Syria.

A senior Turkish Foreign Ministry official said Syria's ranking diplomat had been summoned and given a harsh message about Turkey's "irritation" with the episode. There was no immediate comment from Syria.

"It is not sufficient reason for military action by itself," said Cengiz Candar, the dean of Turkish analysts of Arab affairs. "But the likelihood of Turkish military action is not as dim as it was a week ago." The shooting will undoubtedly be used to buttress Turkey's call for a buffer zone inside Syria to protect civilians.

Turkey was once one of the closest allies of President Bashar al-Assad's Syrian government. But Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became an early and harsh critic of Syria's crackdown on protesters last year, and Turkey has since taken in thousands of fleeing Syrians — as well as rebel leaders and members of ragtag militias that have gathered under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.

On a broader front, diplomatic efforts also faltered. After agreeing to a peace plan negotiated under United Nations auspices, the Syrian government on Sunday announced new conditions for withdrawing its forces from major population centers by Tuesday and carrying out a cease-fire by Thursday. The conditions boiled down to written guarantees from rebel groups and their main backers — Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia — that the opposition would be dismantled first.

Pressure from Moscow, which publicly endorsed the truce and is Syria's crucial international patron, was considered critical to the survival of the peace plan, which was negotiated by Kofi Annan, the special envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League. Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, was scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday.

China, which has also vetoed international efforts to isolate Syria, criticized the new conditions. Syria has undermined every truce plan it ostensibly accepted since the uprising started in March 2011.

Mr. Annan considered the plan still alive and was waiting to see what Syria did this week, said Ahmad Fawzi, his spokesman. "To say now that you want written guarantees is a condition that was never in the agreement," Mr. Fawzi said. "The deadline is still valid, and the plan is still on the table."

Mr. Annan was scheduled to head to Turkey on Tuesday to visit some of the nearly 25,000 Syrian refugees there, several thousand of whom arrived in recent days, before moving on to Iran to try to persuade another important Syrian ally to back his plan. Senators John McCain of Arizona and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut were also scheduled to meet with refugees in Turkey on Tuesday.

The Syrian National Council, the main opposition umbrella group, said it was ready to respect a cease-fire.

"The opposition, including the Free Syrian Army, says it will comply if the regime does," said Bassma Kodmani, a member of the Syrian National Council's executive committee, adding that opposition groups within Syria were ready to put a cease-fire into effect on Tuesday and not wait until Thursday. She called the government's actions "clearly not a sign of their intention to cooperate in good faith."

In another ominous sign, deadly violence has intensified in the days leading up to the cease-fire deadline, with opposition groups reporting scores killed on Monday alone in besieged cities and towns across Syria. In Aleppo, which has been less turbulent than much of the country, 10 security officers were shot dead quelling a demonstration and 11 were wounded, along with several civilians, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported. It said 25 security men were buried nationwide Monday.

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Neil MacFarquhar reported from Beirut, and Sebnem Arsu from Ankara, Turkey. Hala Droubi contributed reporting from Beirut.

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