My colleague and pal, Megan Bricker, who is ACerS director of marketing and membership, looked up a few things to do while in Chicago. We’ll know where to look if we cannot find her!:

It’s time to make travel arrangements to Chicago for the 4^th International Congress on Ceramics with the 3rd Ceramic Leadership Summit Track. Not only is this conference providing first-class speakers on ceramic and glass issues that are shaping the future of ceramics, but it also is being held in one of the United States’ most popular cities—Chicago.

With its world-renowned museums, parks, shopping, architecture, music and food, Chicago is one destination city you won’t want to miss. Set on the beautiful waters of Lake Michigan, this city offers visitors of all ages plenty to see and do.

And, no one knows Chicago better than those who live there. ACerS member Jorge Ayala of Superior Graphite, Co. lives and works in Chicago. He says it’s simply an amazing city:

“One of my favorite things to do is to take a walk in Millennium Park. The view of the lake is spectacular. And, if you are in Millennium Park, you will be close to the Art Institute of Chicago and the Field Museum. Both are fabulous for visitors of all ages,” said Ayala.

In fact, the ICC4 conference’s closing banquet will be held in the stunning, new modern wing of the Art Institute of Chicago for all attendees and companion registrants.

If you are in the mood for shopping, look no further than Chicago’s famous Michigan Avenue, otherwise known as the “Magnificent Mile.” Chicago is home to more than 400 fashion designers and Michigan Avenue is lined with name brand shops and small whimsical boutiques.

While you are out shopping, take a good look around. You will see why visitors from all over the world come to see the birthplace of modern buildings and are in awe of Chicago’s cityscapes and architectural marvels.

If traveling with children, (and for “kids” of all ages”) I would personally recommend a stop at the Navy Pier to go to Chicago’s Children’s Museum where kids can explore three floors of fun and interactive learning. While there, I also wouldn’t miss the Smith Museum of Stained Glass, which is FREE to all visitors. A perfect night for me would end with delicious Chicago style deep-dish pizza and a drink at one of the amazing blues or jazz clubs.

If discovering the city on your own isn’t for you, then sign-up for one of the conference’s optional tours, one of which is to nearby Argonne National Laboratory.

There is so much to see and do in Chicago, you just might want to pack some extra clothes and stay a few more days. You’ll be glad you did.

As a native Chicagoan myself (even though it’s been a few … decades), here are a few of my favorite destinations not mentioned above:

• The Mueum of Science and Industry, with featured special exhibition, “MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition.
• Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs (faith endures—maybe this is their year!).
• Berghoff’s, a downtown Chicago lunchtime institution and a uniquely Chicago experience.
• Willis Tower, test your faith in the strength glass in the “birdcage” observation decks.

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It’s not often that the life and work of someone who labors in the fields of in materials science and chemistry is profiled in a magazine like The New Yorker—better know for its commentary, criticism and cartoons than for a thoughtful discussion of catalysts and silicon coatings—so it was a little startling to see a six-page story about Daniel Nocera and his “artificial leaf.”

Nocera is a someone I have been following since we began this blog four years ago because he seemed to be making some rapid advancements in understanding how to develop low-cost replacements for platinum as a catalyst in energy reactions. In particular, Nocera seemed extraordinarily confident that that he and his team at MIT would be able to use insights into photosynthesis to map a route to “artificial photosynthesis.” His goal has been simple, if not formidable: to mimic the ability of leaves to make chemical fuels from sunlight and water.

Actually, it seems like Nocera’s roadmap evolved into two parallel tracks. The first was to develop catalysts from earth-abundant materials that will facilitate the electrolysis of water into oxygen and hydrogen in a system wired to a fairly traditional photovoltaic energy technology; the second was to develop a method of applying the catalysts directly to silicon via a system of coatings that both perform the electrolysis and protect the silicon (via a metal oxide layer) in a water environment. In other words, the first part involves proving the ability of his electrolysis system wired to solar panels, and the second part involves eliminating the wires and sandwiching everything into thin units that just needs water and sunlight to work.

Nocera launched a company, Sun Catalytix, to execute the development. Along the way, a number of influential investors and institutions have stepped forward to back him and his company (including ARPA-E and Indian billionaire Ratan Tata) the work is starting to pay off in the form of working prototypes that can literally be dropped into water, including polluted water, and, when exposed to sunlight, immediately start producing bubbles of oxygen and hydrogen.

An extended description of high through-put construction of these artificial leaves is contained in a recent issue of Accounts of Chemical Research. In brief, the paper describes a leaf made “by interfacing a triple junction, amorphous silicon photovoltaic with hydrogen- and oxygen-evolving catalysts made from a ternary alloy (NiMoZn) and a cobalt–phosphate cluster (Co-oxygen evolving complex), respectively. … To stabilize silicon in water, its surface is coated with a conducting metal oxide onto which the Co-OEC may be deposited. The net result is that immersing a triple-junction Si wafer coated with NiMoZn and Co-OEC in water and holding it up to sunlight can effect direct solar energy conversion via water splitting.”

I always love to hear how people discover their love of science and engineering, and The New Yorker adds a lot of interesting color to Nocera’s life. The piece describes his early years as the son of a frequently transferred clothing buyer who learned the hard way that it was easier to invest in his interest in science (especially the legendary Heathkits) instead of temporary friendships. It goes on to describe him as evolving into a Deadhead, who both embraced the Grateful Dead’s music and the group’s philosophical leanings in favor of sharing and decentralization of their recordings (the band was notorious for freely permitting the recording and sharing of its concerts). “What I want to do with energy,” says Nocera, “is not different from what the Dead did with their music. I want to distribute it do everybody.”

More accurately, Nocera is mostly interested in getting energy to the impoverished world. In a recent interview, taped early this month at the Re3 conference, he talks about the artificial leaf technology as a “supercheap” low-tech, low-maintenance innovation that can bring “personalized energy”—gridless and decentralized—to the poorest regions of the world. He admits that by developed-nations’ standards, his systems would be considered minimal. But, he asserts, that the same systems could be transformational for people who have access to virtually no regular (let alone renewable) source of dependable power for illumination, cooking and communication.

Nocera emphasizes that the advantage of the artificial leaf isn’t comparative efficiency with traditional solar, but that particularly the hydrogen can be stored as a fuel, making it more versatile than battery storage.

Near the end of The New Yorker story, Nocera admits that his artificial leaves are, at best, decades away from being a practical solution, but he says the bottom line is stark. He says, “In the next forty years, three hundred and fifty million Indians are going to become energy users. We’ve got to get them energy, and it’s got to be CO₂-neutral, because if they use coal we’re screwed.”

For more on Nocera, see our earlier posts:

With leap in catalytic oxygen production, Nocera predicts new era of ‘personalized energy systems’

ARPA-E promotes Nocera’s simple solar-storage concepts

Daniel Nocera makes more news with electrolysis gains

More about Nocera’s electrolysis catalyst

Catalyst discovery unlocks low-cost solar storage

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New papers that have been accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Ceramic Society are posted to “Early View” on the Wiley website and can be read even before the issue is printed. Below are summaries of selected papers currently available via Early View.

All members of The American Ceramic Society receive free online access to JACerS. To access any of the ACerS journals, or to become a member, visit www.ceramics.org.

Structural models of mullite phases including sillimanite and ι-Al2O3. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Mechanical Properties and Electronic Structure of Mullite Phases Using First-Principles Modeling

Sitaram Aryal, Paul Rulis and Wai-Yim ChingIn

This Feature Article, Aryal, Rulis and Ching from the University of Missouri-Kansas City describe a systematic and detailed theoretical investigation of the structures and properties of the phases in the aluminosilicate series Al_4+2xSi_2-2xO_10-x, where x is 0 to 1. They constructed many stoichiometric supercell models for the four well-known mullite phases in the series (3Al₂O₃∙3SiO₂, 2Al₂O₃∙SiO₂, 4Al₂O₃∙SiO₂ and 9Al₂O₃∙SiO₂) using experimentally reported crystal structures and systematic removal of selected atoms at the partially occupied sites to maintain charge neutrality. Aryal, Rulis and Ching then studied the electronic structure and mechanical properties of the series (as well as sillimanite, where x = 0, and silica-free τ-Al₂O₃, where x = 1) using first-principles calculations. They suggest that the first-principles results explain the experimentally observed structure and properties of mullite phases and their trends with x at the fundamental level.

SEM images of (a) G4 and (b) G6 with the EDS results at the indicated points. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Sn-Based Chalcogenide Composite as a High-Capacity Anode Materialfor Lithium Rechargeable Batteries

Youngmin Lee, Suk-Rok Bae, Bong Je Park, Dong Wook Shin, Woon Jin Chung and Yong-Mook Kang

This team of researchers in Korea synthesized high-capacity anode materials from tin-based chalcogenide composites. The team reports that the tin-germanium-sulfur matrix suppresses the volume expansion that can result from alloying between tin and lithium as well as the grain growth associated with the low melting temperature of the tin.

SEM secondary electron micrographs of surface of La2Ni0.9Cu0.1O4+δ sintered at (a) 1350°C and (b) 1450°C for 3 h. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Synthesis, Sintering, Transport Properties and Surface Exchange of La₂Ni_0.9Cu_0.1O4+δ

Zuoan Li, Truls Norby and Reidar Haugsrud

These researchers from the University of Oslo used a wet chemical method with optimized ratios of citrate to nitrate and sintering to synthesize dense La₂Ni_0.9Cu_0.1O4+δ ceramics. They report that less citrate decreases the required sintering temperature and improves oxygen permeation. They also report that the oxygen self-diffusion coefficient, oxygen chemical diffusion coefficient and surface exchange coefficient show Arrhenius-type behaviors.

Schematic diagram of experimental set-up. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Capacitance Enhancement of Doped Barium Titanate Dielectrics and Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors by aPost-Sintering Thermo-Mechanical Treatment

Olivier Guillon, Jaemyung Chang, Silke Schaab and Suk-Joong L. Kang

This research team from Germany and the Republic of Korea applied a postsintering uniaxial mechanical load to dielectrics and multilayer ceramic capacitors during their cooling to room temperature from either below or above the Curie temperature. The team reports that after load release, the permittivity permanently increased at room temperature by about 8 to 11 percent.

Scanning electron micrograph showing the microstructure of β-eucryptite after etching. An average grain size of about 2 μm is observed. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Determining Activation Volume for the Pressure-Induced Phase Transformation in β-Eucryptite through Nanoindentation

Subramanian Ramalingam, Ivar E. Reimanis and Corinne E. Packard

These researchers from the Colorado School of Mines performed hundreds of low-load nanoindentation tests on polycrystalline and single-crystal β-LiAlSiO₄ to characterize its reversible pressure-induced phase transformation to ε-LiAlSiO₄. They report that higher loading rates suppress the deviation from isotropic elastic behavior-a signature of a thermally activated process-and that reversible hysteretic loops occur in the load-displacement curves-consistent with a reversible process during nanoindentation, namely, the phase transformation.

TMA results for selected K- and Na-activated samples with H2O/Al2O3 = 11. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Effects of Water Content and Chemical Composition on Structural Properties of Alkaline Activated Metakaolin-Based Geopolymers

Maricela Lizcano, Andres Gonzalez, Sandip Basu, Karen Lozano and Miladin Radovic

A team from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas-Pan American evaluated the effects of chemistry as well as curing and aging conditions on water-loss kinetics, porosity and geopolymer (prepared from a metakaolin and potassium or sodium silicate solutions) structure. The team reports that the amount of water in the initial geopolymer mixture is the most dominant factor that affects density and open porosity of geopolymers after curing and aging and that the SiO₂/Al₂O₃ molar ratio has no direct effect on density and open porosity of the geopolymers.

The structure of ZnO/IDT/NKN-ST-based surface acoustic wave devices. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Deposition of Preferred-Orientation ZnO Films on the Lead-Free Ceramic Substrates and Its Effects on the Properties of Surface Acoustic Wave Devices

I-Hao Chan, Jen-Chuan Chang, Chieh-Tze Sun, Mau-Phon Houng and Sheng-Yuan Chu

These researchers from Taiwan used radio-frequency sputtering to grow polycrystalline ZnO films with c-axis orientation on NKN-SrTiO₃ ceramic substrates. They report that the preferred oriented ZnO film is beneficial for improving the electromechanical coupling coefficient of surface acoustic wave devices.

Calculated solvus curve and critical temperature, Τc, of (CaxSr1-x)TiO3 solid solution. Credit: JACerS; Wiley.

Thermochemistry of (Ca_xSr_1-x)TiO₃, (Ba_xSr_1-x)TiO₃, and (Ba_xCa_1-x)TiO₃ Perovskite Solid Solutions

Nissim U. Navi, Roni Z. Shneck, Tatiana Y. Shvareva, Giora Kimmel, Jacob Zabicky, Moshe H. Mintz and Alexandra Navrotsky

This University of California-Davis and Israel research team used high-temperature solution calorimetry in molten 3Na₂O∙MoO₃ solvent to show positive enthalpy of mixing of (Ca_xSr_1-x)TiO₃ and (Ba_xSr_1-x)TiO₃ solid solutions. The team reports the tendency of SrTiO₃ and BaTiO₃ to separate from a CaTiO₃ host matrix, which may be significant in perovskite-bearing nuclear waste ceramics incorporating 90Sr and 137Ba.

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Here is what we are hearing:

Unifrax celebrates 70 years of success with Fiberfrax product line

Unifrax, a leading global producer of high temperature fiber products is celebrating a milestone year in 2012 as it observes the 70th anniversary of its well-known Fiberfrax product line. In 1942, J. Charles McMullen was a research scientist for The Carborundum Co. Fibers Division, later known as Unifrax, when he invented a revolutionary ceramic fiber that was trademarked under the Fiberfrax name. Today, the spirit of innovation continues at Unifrax where over 50 Fiberfrax product forms, as well as Insulfrax and Isofrax soluble fiber products are backed by experienced Unifrax application engineers, customer service team and extensive distributor. “The success of the Fiberfrax product line during the past 70 years is due to the shared expertise, dedication and support of our customers, distributors and employees,” says Unifrax president, David E. Brooks. “We are committed to continuingthe tradition of high quality, innovative products and service that are an integral part of the Fiberfrax brand.”

CoorsTek acquires ANCeram GmbH & Co. KG Technical Ceramics

CoorsTek (Golden, Colo.) has purchased ANCeram GmbH & Co. KG of Bindlach, Germany. Known primarily for its extended range of specialty aluminum nitrides, ANCeram manufactures ceramic substrates, insulators, and structural components for the aerospace, laser, railway, marine, and automotive industries. Established in 1988, the early focus for ANCeram was on creating a superior alternative for environmentally challenging beryllium oxide. Working with several European universities and independent research centers, ANCeram developed their own environmentally friendly aluminum nitride ceramic. In addition to their broad AlN experience, the company offers silicon nitrides, aluminas, copper-to-ceramic brazing capabilities, ceramic-to-metal bonding, and ceramic metallization. Products include components for insulators, coolers, diodes, heat exchangers, power electronics, high-temperature crucibles and boats, and other multimaterial components.

Carbo Ceramics to construct manufacturing plant and create 70 new jobs

Carbo Ceramics Inc. will begin construction on a state-of-the-art ceramic manufacturing plant in Millen, Ga., announced Gary Kolstad, president and CEO. Having received its air quality permit from the State of Georgia, Carbo should commence construction on the first production line by the end of 2012 and operations could begin near the end of 2013. Initial staffing for the plant should create 70 new jobs in Jenkins County. The project will bring up to 300 construction jobs to the area during assembly of the plant. The manufacturing plant will be situated on 450 acres and conveniently located for product distribution by truck or rail. In addition to the distribution flexibility, the site has the ability to expand to four production lines. Ceramic proppant is used in hydraulic fracturing to make oil and gas wells produce better and recover more oil and gas.

Morgan Thermal Ceramics offers refractory monolithic material for high temperature applications

Morgan Thermal Ceramics announces the availability of its high-strength, low-cement range of refractory monolithic lining materials ideal for demanding, high temperature applications in the metals, incineration, power generation and minerals processing markets. The full range of products includes Tri-Mor Morflo low cement castable and Tri-Mor Higun low cement gunning materials. They offer excellent resistance to chemical attack and abrasion, combining the traditional high performance qualities of high fired brick with the ease of installation of a refractory castable. These advanced materials are ideal for use in forge furnaces, rotary kilns, rotary hearths, pusher furnaces, skid kid pipe protections and troughs for molten copper. The availability of the full range of products offers significant benefits, as walls and floors can be lined with the Morflo castable material, while roofs can be gunned with the complementary Higun material.

Sasol expands ultrahigh purity aluminas capacity

Sasol Ltd.’s Olefins & Surfactants Division (headquarters in Hamburg, Germany) announced it will expand in a first step its capacity to produce ultrahigh purity aluminas by at least 3,000 metric tons per year. Construction will begin immediately at Brunsbuettel, the company’s Germany manufacturing site on a process to supply Sasol North America’s Ceralox alumina production facility in Tucson, Arizona with ultrahigh purity alumina precursor. Sasol Olefins & Surfactants, a provider of ultrahigh purity alumina materials for sapphire and other applications for more than 20 years, will then convert the Brunsbuettel alumina precursor into tailored products for customer specific applications. Of particular focus to Sasol are the increasing raw material requirements of single crystal sapphire producers due to rapidly growing LED applications.

Heraeus continues on record course in 2011

The Hanau-based Heraeus precious metals and technology Group in 2011 once again surpassed the previous year’s record results, tallying the most successful year in the company’s history. This was announced by the Heraeus Holding GmbH Board of Management at a press conference on annual results held in Frankfurt on May 10. With product revenues of EUR4.8 billion, Heraeus surpassed the previous year’s level by 19 percent. Operating results (EBIT) also increased by 23 percent to reach a total of €489 million. Precious metals trading revenue reached €21.3 billion, topping the €20 billion threshold for the first time. This represents an increase of 19 percent over the previous year’s level. The outlook for 2012 is good, too.

Babcock and Wilcox executives see bright prospects in coal power plants despite natural gas competition

Via the Akron Beacon Journal —Prolonged low natural gas prices in the United States likely will hurt some of Babcock & Wilcox’s coal power plant-related business, the company’s top executives said Thursday. But any impact that reduces coal power plant usage in the U.S. can be minimized in part because B&W expects to gain business through its technology and services that make coal-fired plants environmentally cleaner, they said in an earnings conference call with industry analysts. In addition, B&W sees strong demand for coal-fired plants elsewhere in the world, particularly Asia, where natural gas prices are not as low as in the United States, they said.

New Harper webinar series: Designing for energy efficiency in thermal processing

Harper International is proud to present new webinars from our seasoned experts focused on maximizing the production economics of your thermal processing system. In our multi-part series, you will get access to the know-how of Harper’s industry-leading experts, with decades of experience in thermal processing for a variety of advanced materials and expertise in helping customers grow their thermal processing lines successfully. The first webinar will be June 5, 2012, at 11 a.m. (Eastern Time). The webinar will be led by Robert Blackmon, vice president of integrated systems, and Doug Armstrong, process technology engineer. This webinar will explore how to optimize high temperature processes; considering efficiency early during development of advanced material processes; reuse of furnace outputs to drive down utilities costs; batch vs. continuous processing; pragmatic retrofits to apply to existing systems; and carbon fiber as a case study example.

Harrop increases toll firing capacity at Columbus facility

Harrop Industries has recently commissioned two new electrically-heated elevator kilns in its toll firing facility in Columbus, Oh, to fulfill the ongoing demand from our clients. Harrop now operates 17 electric and gas-fired periodic kilns and ovens with temperature capabilities up to 1,700°C and atmosphere control. With the wide variety of equipment available, Harrop can tailor a solution to meet our clients’ needs in both product development and supplemental production. Founded in 1919, Harrop has been and continues to be a leader in custom designed industrial kilns for the ceramics industry. Our breadth of knowledge in thermal processing equipment has also allowed us to supply custom heat treating systems in other industries as well. Our focus is to build relationships with our clients and provide a system that is custom designed for their process.

Union Process introduces DMQX bead mill

Union Process, Inc., known globally as a leading manufacturer of size reduction and dispersing equipment for a broad range of industrial applications, has launched the DMQX horizontal bead milling system. The DMQX mill features an enhanced disc/rod design that significantly improves grinding efficiency. The new design dramatically increases milling effectiveness resulting in shorter milling time and lower shaft speeds. The result is less wear on seal faces and other wear parts, which in turn results in significant cost savings. The unique design of the mill allows for a fast and efficient solution for producing materials in the single micron and even nanometer range, all with the cost-effective advantages of circulation grinding. Union Process is the inventor and developer of attritor technology, and manufactures wet and dry grinding mills as well as horizontal bead mills.

Remtec expands DBC substrate capabilities, provides fast prototyping and delivery of low/medium volume DBC substrates

Remtec, a leading manufacturer of substrates and packages with Plated Copper On Thick Film, has significantly expanded its activity in the design and fabrication of DBC ceramic products for military and commercial applications in small to medium production volumes with fast prototyping and economic pricing. This capability is supported by close cooperation with Rogers Corp. to provide Remtec with its standard Curamik brand mastercards. Remtec facilitates fast turnaround by keeping an extensive stock of the most commonly used 5.5″ x 7.5″ alumina and aluminum nitride DBC configurations ready for production. Remtec utilizes the well-known quality of Curamik DBC substrates coupled with high quality Remtec plating typical of its PCTF products. Remtec offers its customers versatile surface finish options such as selective gold, gold tin plating, and ENEPIG. These processes along with various solder mask options allow for high reliability, low cost solutions suitable for any assembly technique.

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The theme of the second session of the Brown University town meeting on the Materials Genome Initiative was “Materials for energy storage.” The speaker from industry was A123’s principal scientist, Antoni Gozdz, and MIT’s Gerbrand Ceder presented an academic perspective. Ceder was the first to coin the term “materials genome.” Yue Qi, research scientist from General Motors moderated the session. Credit: Brown University; YouTube.

At the end of March, Brown University held a town meeting, which they called “Industry/University Collaborations and the Materials Genome Initiative.” Just this week they uploaded videos of the sessions, which are linked below. The videos are in the range of 30-75 minutes.

The March 29 event was comprised of a plenary address, five topical sessions and a closing panel discussion. Each topical session featured a speaker from industry and one from academia. Each session also had a discussion leader, so presumably, this was intended to be an open conversation about the challenges and progress-to-date on genomic approaches to materials development.

In the opening remarks, Clyde Briant, vice president of research at Brown, says the idea for the conference grew out of a conversation he had with Cyrus Wadia last fall. Brown’s dean of the school of engineering, Larry Larson, succinctly put the MGI into context, saying, “Materials are at the heart of the modern industrial economy.”

Larson shared that meeting the speakers and talking with them, left him “struck by the real breadth of intellectual disciplines that forms the core of materials science,” and specifically mentioned chemistry, physics, energy storage and metallurgy. The five topical sessions reflected the diversity of disciplines that the MGI seeks to corral and the applications that will benefit. They were (with links to video):

• Data management and distribution
• Materials for energy storage
• Materials design for aerospace applications
• Materials design for biomedical applications
• Materials design for automotive applications

The theme of the panel discussion was “Program Agency Visions for the MGI” and was led by Cyrus Wadia from the White House’s OSTP. Panelists included Julie Christodoulou from the Office of Naval Research and Martin Dunn from the National Science Foundation.

Christodoulou was recently appointed a co-deputy chair of the interagency subcommittee, the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee for the Materials Genome Initiative by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. According to an ONR press release, the other co-deputy chairs are Charles Ward from the Air Force Research Laboratory and Ian Robertson of the National Science Foundation. Wadia is the subcommittee’s chairman.

About half of the speakers gave Brown their slide decks, and they can be viewed through links here. I took a peek at Gerbrand Ceder’s presentation (pdf), and it provides a good overview of a genome approach to materials development and what the goals and capabilities of the approach are (or just watch the video above). Halfway through he leads his audience through the example of finding new cathode materials for Li-ion batteries, which he cleverly introduces as “Volta meets Schrödinger: Li-ion Batteries.”

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