Nazaret Caballo De Troya 4 (Caballo de Troya)

Common Ferns and Fern Allies (Mobil New Zealand Nature Series)
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Common Ferns and Fern Allies (Mobil New Zealand Nature Series)
R. J. Chinnock
Manufacturer: Intl Specialized Book Service Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ferns | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 058901367X

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MOBIL NEW ZEALAND NATURE SERIES. COMMON FERNS AND FERN ALLIES [X3]
R. Chinnock
Manufacturer: Reed Methuen Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000WQ3SLK

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Mobil New Zealand Nature Series: Common Ferns and Fern Allies
R.J. Chinnock
Manufacturer: Reed New Zealand
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0474002934

Heraldry;: The story of armorial bearings
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Heraldry;: The story of armorial bearings
Walter Buehr
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007E0658

Book Description

The oceans cover a majority of the Earth's surface; they influence our climate, and provide a valuable source of food. Yet, despite its fundamental impact on our lives, many aspects of the marine environment remain a mystery to us: the deep sea contains habitats which we understand no better than the surface of other planets. Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts offers a carefully balanced, stimulating survey of marine ecology, introducing the key processes and systems from which the marine environment is formed, and the issues and challenges which surround its future conservation. Marine biology is a broad discipline, which examines both the organisms (fishes, plants etc.) which live in marine environments (marine zoology), and the interactions that occur between these organisms and their surrounding environment (marine ecology). In contrast, marine ecology, as a discipline, does not examine the biology of the organisms themselves, but focuses on how they interact DS at the level of individuals, populations, and communities, how marine ecosystems are maintained, and how these systems can be damaged by external influences, including human activity. Opening with an overview of those processes which are central to an understanding of marine ecology, the book goes on to explore the diverse systems from which the marine environment is composed, from estuaries to seabeds, the deep sea to polar regions. The final section examines those human activities that impact upon the marine environment - fisheries, aquaculture, pollution, and global warming - before considering the measures that can be taken to mitigate the adverse effects of man on this complex, fragile environment. The book draws on examples from around the globe to enliven the text and put key concepts and issues in a real world context. It incorporates many detailed case studies to add further levels of depth and insight, and striking illustrations, which include many colour images, to bring visual impact to the material presented. The importance of understanding and conserving the marine environment has never been more apparent. Marine Ecology: Processes, Systems, and Impacts is an essential resource for any student wishing to develop a well balanced, informed understanding of this fascinating subject. Online Resource Centre Features images from the book available to download to make lecture preparation easier, and a web link library of all web sites cited in the text for ease of access by students

Book Description

Concise text introduces numerical analysis as a practical, problem-solving discipline, focusing on fundamentals of functional analysis and approximation theory, the major results of theoretical numerical analysis; and specific topics that illustrate the power and usefulness of theoretical analysis. A knowledge of advanced calculus is assumed. 1979 edition.

Customer Reviews:

a functional analysis framework.......2006-12-12

This book takes the approach of building numerical analysis within the framework of functional analysis. The level of abstraction and rigor are ideal. This book will leave you with a general framework for numerical analysis already partially filled in with both classical results in numerical analysis and more modern topics such as FEM. As a bonus, you get a substantial introduction to both linear and nonlinear functional analysis. Remarkably, this is all done in just over 200 pages, thanks to the abstract approach unifying many topics.

Book Description

In the tradition of Dead Poets Society, an English professor recounts the unique challenges of teaching liberal arts at one of America's premier military schools

"If it's a choice between a gay man with a rifle between me and the enemy or nobody at all, I'd rather have the gay man."—A student's response upon learning that the World War I poet Wilfred Owen was probably gay

What really goes on behind the wall that surrounds the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis? What are all those midshipmen, future officers in the U.S. Naval and Marine Corps and leaders of our society, thinking as they stand in neat ranks at the parades beloved by tourists? What are their professors actually educating them to do?

In Annapolis Autumn, Bruce Fleming, professor of English for nearly two decades at the academy and a prizewinning author, captures the sights, sounds, colors, and conversations of this tradition-steeped institution.

In other classes, the cadets learn how to assemble guns, control armored vehicles, man battleships, and kill other human beings. Nothing is ever less than "outstanding, sir!" In English class, however, Fleming introduces his students to nuance and subtext, to the gay poets of World War I, and to the idea that not every piece of literature is designed to be "motivational." Sharing stories from his twenty years at the academy, Fleming explores questions about teaching, the labels "liberal" and "conservative," and the ultimate purpose of higher education—issues made all the more gripping at a time when many of his students will graduate from the classroom to the battlefield.

Customer Reviews:

Scary double standard.......2006-04-28

Amidst many informative and entertaining pages about Annapolis, Prof. Fleming reveals two very shocking facts. One: About 50% of midshipmen do not meet the USNA minimum academic requirements, but are let in anyway, because of perceived needs in athletics and affirmative action. Two, clearly unqualified midshipmen, even those with serious psychological disablities, are allowed to graduate and assume potentially disastrous command positions because to prevent their graduation would reflect badly on the decision to admit them in the first place. Sounds like Catch 22, but it is unfortunately not fiction. There may be some broader social value in weighing factors other than character and ability in civilian schools, but in the military, I would think we would want the very best making command decisions, and not someone there for any other reason. When war is upon us, and lives are at stake, does anything else really matter?

The gift of thinking outside the military box.......2006-02-25

In Annapolis Autumn, Professor Bruce Fleming gives the reader a rare look into Naval Academy culture with dignity, humor, and occasionally, the kind of candor that makes the brass blush. Having been not only a student, but as well, a staff member at Annapolis, I can tell you that Fleming hits the nail on the head.

Fleming points out that while the US Naval Academy at Annapolis is a fine institution with a rich heritage, there are some glaring warts that could be easily removed, yet political pressure, stereotypes, and conformity all conspire to maintain a status quo beneath the brilliantly polished veneer. Considering the environment he operates, his courage in pointing out the proverbial emperor's new clothes is laudable, yet in my mind he has, without doubt, given something far more praiseworthy: the challenge of critical thought to his midshipmen - students who are indoctrinated daily into a military gung-ho dogma.

Annapolis Autumn is not an exposé and although Fleming is not a dissident, his opinion periodically takes exception with the administration's official stance. He encourages today's military leaders to consider facets of culture and society that might have otherwise in the past been merely academic. Fleming pushes midshipmen to think outside their Academy boxes and use their highly developed minds to be better people on the whole as well as the exceptional naval officers the Academy is famed to produce.

As an alumnus, I genuinely enjoyed Annapolis Autumn. As a free-thinking veteran, I applaud Bruce Fleming's willingness to speak his mind. Well written, eloquently supported, and easily digested, Fleming's book was a both a challenge and a pleasure.

Thought provoking.......2006-02-06

An interesting book. Despite his critics, Prof Fleming provokes some thought about the how and why of the Naval Academy, and in the process, he puts some interesting, fundamental questions out in the open. Is it enough that the Academy churns out Military officers? And if it were enough, why isn't it simply reduced to an extended Officer Training / Basic Training "curriculum"?

In an on-going period of "battle hardening," it is commendable for an "insider" to continue to challenge a notion of single-mindedness in the context of the Naval Academy curriculum. While there is a conservative / liberal pendulum that is currently (and clearly) leaning toward the conservative side, simply accepting that the curriculum (and training) "is what it is" only promotes (and exacerbates) the notion that there is a single solution for producing an Officer. A Military Commission mandates an Officer's fidelity to the Constitution and its principles. It is beneficial for the individual to understand the reasons why this is the case as well as what those principles are. Without that understanding, we could quickly diverge into the blind leading the blind (for an enlistment demands the individual's obligation to those Officers). While some of the criticisms have merit and deserve consideration, it is a good thing that Prof Fleming is able to cogently articulate his opinions and bring to light the necessity of the midshipmen's complete development - rather than adhere to a one size fits all, single solution.

While I'm still not sure I agree with all aspects of the book / Prof Fleming's thoughts (I plan to read it again), it is at least worth the discussion(s) necessary to see all sides of these arguments.
USNA '96

True (Unfortunately).......2006-01-30

I graduated from the Academy in 73 and it seems as if it hasn't changed a bit. It is as accurate a picture of what goes on inside that an outsider can have. If I didn't know better I would have thought that he was a graduate himself. I recommend it highly; not only for the picture that it gives of the Academy and the Midshippeople (I DON'T CARE IF IT IS A RANK) but because it is an accurate portrayal of much that is going on in this country today.

Now I understand!.......2006-01-14

I have a female mid at the Academy and this book has really opened my eyes and allowed me to see things from a totally different perspective. I think I understand her better now and what she is experiencing. Bruce Fleming is a tad cynical but so many of his thoughts are very thought provoking and important to read. Take the time to sit with it, don't pre-judge and just think about what is said. One can not forget that these are HIS thoughts and we need not agree with everything. Nonetheless, there are some things in the book that bear consideration but to do so, we must take off our blinders and step out of our 'comfort zone'...... I recommend you give it a try.

Amazon.com

Newspaper columnist, writer and NPR commentator Patricia Raybon admits that she hated whites for years. She even tried unsuccessfully to whip up a similar rage in her parents. But anger got her nowhere. Eventually, in the philosophies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, she found an alternative: forgiveness. The first part of the book is a series of essays on the life experiences of herself and her father, and the racial history of the country; it ends with "Letter to My First White Friend," a grateful acknowledgment of a white girl at her mostly white high school. In part two of the book, further essays explore the process of moving beyond hate, and the new world it has opened up for Raybon.

Customer Reviews:

Couldn't Read This Book Fast Enough!!.......2005-11-28

I couldn't put this book down!! I love her writing style. Easy to read, easy to get into, but not easy to put down. I liked the sharing of other people's lives and struggles that she included such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King. I must admit, I have a few other pages to read before I'm finished, but I want to buy a copy for several of my friends for a Kwanzaa gift, so came online to order. This is a good book for anybody to read. And I strongly recommend it to any 'haters'. Hopefully your viewpoint will change too!

My First White Friend: Confession on Race,Love & Forgiveness.......2005-08-06

I brought this book because I couldnot put her other book. This book is interesting because it deals with issues in my own life.
It lends it self to a therapy session everytime you pickup the book. I am not Afro- American but I am Hispanic and have dealt with alot of the same issue that Pat has. But not to the extend she has. She has a way of writing that by the time you finish the chapter you have really gotten to the core of the matter being spoken about.
I will continue to look for books by this author she is great!

great understanding of race relations.......2002-03-25

My first white friend tells the life of Patricia Raybon, an African American women growing up in Colorado. Through her life, she felt on the outside because of her race and did not fully trust Caucassions and held a lot of hostility towards them. However, as she grows and matures, Raybon begins to become friends with a white women in high school. Through her life, she is faced with challenges dealing with her race like people questioning her credential when she teachs college. Through her life, Raybon is able to reflect and come with a better understanding of race relations. She begins to realize that the racial hostility she had can be overcome and that we can all get along.

This book is a great book to read regardless of your race or experiences with other races. We can all gain from a book like this.

Excellent book for anyone needing to forgive.......2002-01-02

At first, I wasn't sure I wanted to read this book because of the title. But, I had an occasion to interview the author so I decided I should read the book before I went. I found the book to be exceptional in both the writing and keeping my interest.

This book also helped me in some of my own healing because I related to so many challenges that Patricia speaks about that were directly related to her family. The book was about forgiveness and how one woman decided it was time to move on with her life.

Because I work with women regularly who are attempting to do the same, I will recommend this book to many.

Diana Hart, MA, Career and Life Coach, Hart to Heart Communications, Inc.

You HAVE to read this book. Have to........2000-12-17

I've belatedly begun studying African-American culture and history, and stumbled across this marvelous book. It's not a fast read, because you savor her language--each phrase, each paragraph is rich. But it is a compelling, raw, and honest look at race relations in America, and a very well-written book with beautiful, poignant prose. It should be on _everyone's_ required reading list. I'll try to explain why I feel this way, as this book moved me very deeply.

As a white but "color-blind" American, I feel my life has been vastly enriched by reading this book. I feel I understand so much better what it means to be Black in America from reading Ms. Raybon's words and her heart-wrenching life experiences. I never quite understood racial hatred, posessing none of my own, and through her eyes I began to comprehend the pain many individuals go through every day in this country. I was so unaware, so oblivious to this. My lack of awareness has been a crime. I will never again look at life the same way as I did before reading this book, and for that I am extremely grateful.

As an author myself, and a critical reader, I don't hand out such high praise easily. This book is an absolute must-read for _all_ Americans. Her theme of forgiveness is truly the only way to heal the terrible scars of not only the evils of racism but all human wounds. I would like to thank Ms. Raybon for having the courage to publish this book, and encourage everyone, of all backgrounds, to read it.

My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness
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My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness
Patricia Raybon
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ18O4

Customer Reviews:

White Siberia: The Politics of Civil War.......2001-02-08

This is an outstanding piece of scholarship and very well written. It is required reading for anyone interested in the Russian Civil War.

Dr. Pereira explains the intricacies of the political struggles that took place amongst the anti Bolshevik groups who took part in the Civil War in Siberia. This is a complex story, but it was the determinant factor in deciding the outcome to the Civil War.

My only dissent is that Pereira is too uncritical of Kolchak and Co. If they had been less rightwing they might have held together a broad political spectrum of anti-Bolshevik fighters and won the Civil War. Pereira chooses to view Kolchak with understanding rather than critically analysis.

Still this is the best book on the Russian Civil War in Siberia, which is where the Civil War was decided. It must be read by anyone interested in this subject.

Book Description

Andrei Codrescu takes us cross-country through the withered, yet alluring American urban landscape, visiting New York, Baltimore, New Orleans, Little Rock, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Portland, Oregon. He discovers that cities are at the very center of the forces determining our future, in this major work by one of America's most gifted social critics.

Customer Reviews:

Great insights into great American cities and places.......2001-10-23

Andrei Codrescu's sharp observational wit is put to good use in this insightful book. Mr. Codrescu, as always, looks under the rocks most of us don't even see, and then he finds gem after gem. I am from San Antonio, covered in the book, and next time I go back, I'm definitely looking under some of the rocks Mr. Codrescu did. The book is funny, witty, appreciative of the places he visits and really contains great historical and social information. I would especially recommend it if you're moving to one of the places covered in the book. It'll give you a leg up on the city your moving to or visiting.

Droll Humor.......2000-08-23

Review of the book: "Hail Babylon! !: NPR's road scholar goes in the search of the American city." by Andrei Codrescu Picador USA Paperback Edition: June 1999 Review written August 22, 2000, Encino, California by Ileana Costea, Ph.D., Professor, California State University, Northridge (CSUN) icostea@csun.com

If you like to travel, or if you do not and only like to read about places on this world while on an armchair in your living room; if you like the US or dislike it; if you think high about the East Coast or the West Coast, or vice-versa, read this most recent book by Andrei Codrescu: Hail Babylon!: NPR's road scholar goes in the search of the American city." You will like it. Well, but I worn you, you must have a good sense of humor to enjoy it and not be easily shocked by pictures like the one on page 39, taken in the streets of New Orleans during Mardi Gras. (The book also contains some beautiful or intriguing photos by Walker Evans and David Graham and others...)

For many years (about 30) since my arrival in the US I kept asking myself what is the best way to describe our sense of humor, that of people from Romania (because yes, Andrei Codrescu is from the city Sibiu in Transylvania, and he mentions it in the introduction to his book, and I also come from Dracula country) or other Eastern European countries. Now I have my answer for I found it well expressed on the front cover of the book, in the statement made by John Berendt, author of the "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil": irreverent and droll. In this book, says John Berendt, Andrei Codrescu is his usual self, informative, irreverent and droll. The same Andrei that travells in a red convertible limousine through the US in the movie he made some time ago, called "Road Scholar" (same sense of humor, same powerful way of perceiving things ...)

So, if you saw that movie made by Andrei Codrescu, a feature-length documentary (mentioned in his book on page 177) about strange Americans and you liked it, you will also love this book. If you missed the movie, read the book, it looks at American people, places and "phenomena" with the same eyes. The "Rhode Scholar" becomes the "Road Scholar" (note the pun!) who travels throughout the US not taking the things, people and places he sees too seriously, as he does not take himself too seriously (a mistake that many people from the "Ivory Tower" do, for which "not laughing" = "seriousness".) For me, orginally from the same country as Andrei, the book and the movie seem so very familiar, for I would have most probably observed the same things, and looked at them with the same sense of perception and "strange" humor and LOL (to use a computer jargon term meaning "Lots of Laughter").

If you want to have a good taste of the book before buying it I suggest spend a few minutes to read a very short story ("Christina of Pasadena," two-pages long, pp.165-167) in a bookstore sipping from a cup of coffee... ). It will give you the flavor of the book. In this short story the author looks at Southern California as a God abandoned Heaven (one point of view, the East Coast one, but you can understand the subtleties pro and con this view in a book by David Rieff - Los Angeles, Simon and Schuster, 1991). Andrei is irreverent about the West as he is about the East Coast, and about Paris, France (a city I love, but I would also be the first not to disagree with Andrei that the Parisians let you humiliate yourself for an hour before you find out directions in the street from them, p. 234). However, what Californian can disagree with Andrei's statement that after ten in most places there is no soul to see in the streets, and driving around greater Los Angeles area, "SoCal malls look like badly glued postage stamps about to be blown away any minute by Santa Ana". (I never said it to myself this way, but now that he did, I am sure I felt it very much this way all along ...) I thought the way the author describes the French-accented girl he met in a small Greek restaurant as "suffering from happiness" (as many Californians do...LOL), and his amusing observation at discovering her predestinate first name was Christina ("God made Her sign") were hilarious. (All women will enjoy this!) Of course the author had to insert some verse too as to remind us that he is a professor of English at Louisiana University, and a poet, which sum the story up:

"On a faux-Greek restaurant near Pasadena Alit the Christ of Happiness Christina."

This is not his only poetry in the book, for one of the chapters ("Boston") is a poem, and there too he ties his American experiences with thinking about Romania (the driver of a car in which Andrei hitchhiked to Longan Airport was working for an organization who "could and did" parachute former nationals back behind the Iron Curtain where they earned a hefty paycheck for blowing up bridges". But well, Andrei preferred to get back to his bed in California. At least then, for later he went to Romania and wrote his view on the events December '89 in a book called "The Whole in the Flag:An Exile's Story of Return and Revolution."

The author is indeed a gifted social critic, as he is presented on the back cover of the book. However, he does it in a better way than most, for rather than making a lengthy boring analysis he presents it all by sharp droll observations. In "Hail Babylon!," as well as in his movie, "Road Scholar," Andrei Codrescu gives us the perspective of the ex-foreigner, who ends up in becoming a keener chronicler of the American spirit than many born in this country. With his last short story, "New York" he clearly shows that foreigners know this country better than the natives. He finds himself in New York, on an assignment by Conde Nast Traveller which commissioned hordes of investigators to various cities on the planet to determine rudeness levels (p. 233). Andrei selects an odd-shaped, strange-looking landmark, the Flairton Building, completed in 1902 from plans drawn by Burham & Company, which he believes captures all the humor and the pathos of the metropolis. He starts asking people in the streets if they know where this building is, by showing them a photograph of it. All the people he met but one knew well where it was, a woman from Kiev, and Algerian shop owner, a Chinese, a Frenchman, a Haitian... But he insisted to find a New Yorker, and when he did, well, this one did not have the faintest idea where the building was (pp. 231-240).

I liked the book for many reasons apart from its sense of humor and for recognizing myself in it as an Eastern European observer of America. Because it is breathing knowledge, by mentioning names of people and phenomena I knew about (Milan Kundera, the Czech novelist living in France, Ionescu, who "wasn't French for nothing. And, of course, he was Romanian," Brasaii, a famous photographer, said to be of Romanian origin too, Erza Pound, Walt Withman, Louis Mumford, the Dada movement, etc). Because I learned about others whom (shame on me) I had no idea about, like Walker Evans. (To find out more about this photographer's work of America of the Depression years, and Cuba, I browsed through a wonderful big-format book in the Midnight Bookstore on The 3rd Street promenade in Santa Monica and I will definitely go and see the collection at the J. Paul Getty museum just five minutes by car from my house). Because it shows the America I so differently imagined when I came here in 1973 in Los Angeles, when I could not find the skyscrapers I saw in the movies of my childhood, and that most people from that part of the world have such an unreal image wonderfully suggested by the author's mentioning the question that he recalls his uncle asked long ago: "How could there be a Depression in America when there are so many cars?" Because the author's observations about our urban landscapes (and I have an interest in urbanism from my background in architecture from then the only Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in Romania, "Ion Mincu") makes us think that it is time to reevaluate them. Because you will discover or find cities you know or read about in the light you think about them or a new one: "Boston is a kind of Rome. Only colder" (p. 225). "New Orleans is a creature of the river, much as Egypt (before the Aswan Dam) used to be a creature of the Nile" (p. 4). "New Orleans is in many ways the opposite of Jerusalem. It is most definitely not a holy city" (p. 5). "San Antonio in microcosm mirrors America" (p.95). "Oxford, Mississippi, the town of writers - I did not know that ... (of which the most famous was William Falkner) (p. 57). The fascinating city of Las Vegas where the card dealer the author meets is Polish. And, I was about to forget, because of the fact that at times I recognize the Romanian way of writing, which I miss in English books, permitting to start sentences with the "interdicted" "And" (or at least this is my laic perception!) Two sentences start with "And" (p. 233) and I find it so pleasant to read the continuation ... his way, my way, the familiar way...

This is a book by the only person from Romania that my colleagues "in the Ivory Tower" have heard about

Book Description

Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Utah-Colorado border near Wyoming. It attracted little attention and few visitors until plans to dam the Green River and flood picturesque Echo Park Valley sparked public opposition in the early 1950s.

Echo Park Dam would have threatened part of this national monument, a prospect that alarmed the National Park Service. In July 1950 the writer Bernard DeVoto published his essay,"Shall We Let Them Ruin Our National Parks?" in the "Saturday Evening Post" and spurred nationwide opposition. Soon the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, and other organizations embraced preservind Echo Park. By the spring of 1956 the coalition of wilderness enthusiasts and conservation organizations had faced down the dam's proponents and force Congress to cancel its construction.

As Professor Harvey makes clear, the battle to save Echo Park marked the first major clash between preservationists and developers after World War II, a conflict that replays itself in the West with greater intensity each decade.

Customer Reviews:

A milestone for the wilderness movement.......2005-04-02

Thankfully, the days are long gone when anyone could seriously propose to build huge dams in a national park or a wilderness area, but as recently as 40 years ago this actually happened -- twice! In this book Professor Mark Harvey tells the story of the US Bureau of Reclamation's proposal in 1949 to build Echo Park Dam in the magnificent canyons of Dinosaur National Monument (Utah), and how concerned citizens got organized and persuaded the US Congress to say No. (There was a repeat ten years later with proposed dams in the Grand Canyon.)

Professor Harvey analyzes the diverse political forces that clashed in this first big campaign of the wilderness movement. He traces how citizens' groups unaccustomed to controversy got their act together and seized the attention of the national public, at a time when few people had even heard of the wilderness idea. He shows how eloquent citizen leaders such as Howard Zahniser and David Brower collaborated, and how a few courageous legislators took up the cause on Capitol Hill.

There were many legislative battles like this one in the years that followed, but this was the first big one, and Mark Harvey tells the story well.

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