1984 — 1985 |
Gelbart, William |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
International Workshop On Molecular Biology and Developmental Genetics of Drosophila Melanogaster Kolymbari,Crete, Greece, June 24-30, 1984 |
0.915 |
1985 — 2004 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. R37Activity Code Description: To provide long-term grant support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are highly likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. Investigators may not apply for a MERIT award. Program staff and/or members of the cognizant National Advisory Council/Board will identify candidates for the MERIT award during the course of review of competing research grant applications prepared and submitted in accordance with regular PHS requirements. |
Pattern Formation and Gene Organization in Drosophila
growth factor receptors; transforming growth factors; histogenesis; genetic regulatory element; developmental genetics; biological signal transduction; gene expression; genetic recombination; genetic translation; cytogenetics; genetic mapping; gene complementation; gene interaction; genetic enhancer element; transcription factor; gel electrophoresis; Drosophilidae; nucleic acid sequence; molecular cloning; genetic manipulation; site directed mutagenesis; nucleic acid hybridization;
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1 |
1985 — 2001 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
T32Activity Code Description: To enable institutions to make National Research Service Awards to individuals selected by them for predoctoral and postdoctoral research training in specified shortage areas. |
Training Program in Genetics
The Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences Training Grant in Genetics, directed by Professor Nancy Kleckner, currently supports 20 predoctoral students in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology (OEB). The 422,000 net sq.ft. training facilities are located in Cambridge, MA in the Fairchild Biochemistry Building, the Biological Laboratories, the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Herbarium. Graduate programs in the participating Departments involve both course work and research and lead to the Ph.D. degree. These programs provide the promising young scientists who matriculate in these Departments an opportunity to learn and develop in an exciting and challenging scientific environment. The current positions of former trainees attest to the strength and success of the Genetics Training Program in previous years. The specific goal of the Genetics Training Program is to provide predoctoral students with a sophisticated and rigorous training in genetics that enables them to appreciate and to practice genetics as a primary experimental approach to important biological problems. Graduate students in the program are required to take an advanced course in genetics during their first year and to serve for at least one semester as a teaching fellow in a course with a strong genetic component, in addition to fulfilling other graduate training requirements. Students trained in the Program are also expected to integrate genetic approaches with approaches provided by other disciplines. The training faculty for the Genetics Program now numbers 23. Scientific areas of interest represented among these faculty include neurobiology, development, DNA and chromosome behavior, gene expression, cell motility, cellular organization and compartmentalization, sexual differentiation, population biology, ecology and evolution. The core of the training faculty comprises the 14 members of the Genetics Consortium, a newly self- appointed group charged with overseeing the discipline of genetics on the Cambridge campus of Harvard University. Faculty of the Genetics Consortium are responsible for most of the formal course work in genetics on this campus at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The remaining 9 training faculty are members whose current work has a significant genetic component. All faculty of the Genetics Training Program participate as research supervisors for predoctoral trainees. The Genetics Training Program supported by this grant began in 1978. The Program has been drastically restructured within the past year, for the first time since its inception. A series of changes provides greater focus on genetics as a discipline, a strong didactic component in genetics and a number of initiatives that not only enhance the Program specifically but also keep genetics in a position of prominence within the local scientific community as a whole. Support is requested for 16 trainees in each of the next five years.
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1986 — 1987 |
Gelbart, William |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
International Workshop On Molecular & Developmental Biology of Drosophila; Crete, Greece; June 22-29, 1986 |
0.915 |
1988 — 1989 |
Gelbart, William |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Travel Grant For Workshop On Molecular & Developmental Biology of Drosophila, August 28-September 4, 1988, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece
The principal theme of this workshop is the molecular and developmental biology of Drosophila. The various advantages of the fruit fly as an experimental system have made the analysis of Drosophila gene function during development one of the fastest growing fields in biology. One reason for this explosion is the fact that Drosophila offers a singular advantage, namely, the opportunity to approach particular questions using a combination of genetics, embryology, cellular and molecular biology. If we are to gain insight into the rules underlying metazoan development, a multidisciplinary experimental approach has obvious advantages. Yet, such an approach also poses the problem that it is not often the case that a researcher masters completely all those disciplines, or is aware of all the latest advances. Considering these facts, therefore, regular meetings of a diverse group of leading Drosophila workers are crucial. It is the intention of this EMBO workshop, entitled "The Molecular and Developmental Biology of Drosophila", to provide a forum for the free exchange of information and for the establishment of numerous collaborations between representatives of many of the major Drosophila laboratories from around the world. The modest funds provided will provide partial travel costs for approximately ten young American scientists to attend and actively participate in this highly regarded EMBO Workshop. The workshop itself is well-structured to effectively promote interdisciplinary exchange and to foster desirable collaboration. The participation of young U.S. scientists is highly desirable.
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0.915 |
1988 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
R01Activity Code Description: To support a discrete, specified, circumscribed project to be performed by the named investigator(s) in an area representing his or her specific interest and competencies. |
Mobile Elements and Transformation in Drosophila
Transposable elements represent an important cause of spontaneous mutations in every organism that has been carefully examined. It is clear that genetic and environmental factors modulate the frequency of excision, insertion and rearrangement of these elements. This application proposes to study and manipulate a family of mobile elements called hobo in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. These elements have molecular and genetic properties which suggest many parallels with the P element family found in the same species. Hobo elements can be mobilized in certain genetic backgrounds. The hypothesis that these backgrounds share the presence of full length hobo elements which contribute a trans-acting transposase activity to mobilize defective hobo elements in the genome will be tested by germ- line transformation experiments. Other cis and trans factors controlling the mobilization of hobo elements will be characterized. Genetic properties associated with hobo element mobilization, such as suggestions of hybrid dysgenesis in the progeny of certain outcrosses, will be investigated. These studies are aimed at elucidating the mechanisms governing mobilization of this family of transposable elements, at understanding the relationship of the hobo elements to other dispersed mobile elements in Drosophila, and to develop techniques for exploiting hobo as a mutagen for generating transposon insertions into genes of interest, and as a vector system for hobo-mediated germ-line transformation. Ultimately, these studies will aid in understanding the regulation and effects of mobile element transpositions. Because such mobile elements are natural mutagenic and oncogenic agents which are resident in the human genome, the understanding of the biology of such elements has important medical implications. In addition, if a hobo-mediated transformation system can be developed, it might be able to operate in heterologous systems, providing a possible vector system for transformation in mammals as well as flies.
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1992 — 1995 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Flybase--a Drosophila Relational Database
The goal of this project is to develop a database of the Drosophila genome as a resource for the scientific community. The great utility and special advantages of Drosophila as an experimental system has been reflected in its choice as one of the few model organisms for the Human Genome Initiative. The information available on Drosophila genetics and molecular biology is already overwhelming, and new global research projects, such as those supported by the Human Genome Office promise to make huge amounts of new data available to the community. In the past, databases have been prepared as flat file catalogs of existing information on some aspects of the Drosophila genome. It is the view of this proposal that it is now essential to the continued exploitation of Drosophila as a model system to develop a continuously curated database of the most important information on the Drosophila genome. In this multi-site collaboration, we propose to develop a research resource which will meet this need. 1. We will develop a relational database structure, which we will call FlyBase, for the Drosophila genome. 2. We will set up a curatorial system for continuously incorporating new information on the Drosophila genome, with assigned responsibilities for the various data tables. at four university locations. 3. We will develop structures, query systems and front ends for the retrieval of information from FlyBase. 4. We will distribute FlyBase to the community in several fashions. It will be accessible on-line, by distribution by CD-ROM or other electronic media, and by occasional hard copy excerpts comprising issues of the Drosophila Information Service (DIS).
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1993 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P01Activity Code Description: For the support of a broadly based, multidisciplinary, often long-term research program which has a specific major objective or a basic theme. A program project generally involves the organized efforts of relatively large groups, members of which are conducting research projects designed to elucidate the various aspects or components of this objective. Each research project is usually under the leadership of an established investigator. The grant can provide support for certain basic resources used by these groups in the program, including clinical components, the sharing of which facilitates the total research effort. A program project is directed toward a range of problems having a central research focus, in contrast to the usually narrower thrust of the traditional research project. Each project supported through this mechanism should contribute or be directly related to the common theme of the total research effort. These scientifically meritorious projects should demonstrate an essential element of unity and interdependence, i.e., a system of research activities and projects directed toward a well-defined research program goal. |
Molecular and Developmental Genetics of Drosophila
We are involved in studying the structure and regulation of eukaryotic genes, using Drosophila as an experimental object. Although we come from diverse background (genetics, molecular biology, developmental biology, population genetics, cell biology), we intersect in our common interest: to use the genetically most favorable higher organism, Drosophila, and the current techniques of molecular and cellular biology, to illuminate how the genes of higher are organized, evolve, and are regulated during development and during the cell cycle. Indeed, a strength of our group is that it represents complementary and yet overlapping approaches. In the context of the program project, we intend to: (a) Test by genetics the in vivo function of transcription factors putatively involved in the developmental regulation of chorion genes, and isolate additional components involved in chorion regulation using enhancer trap method. (b) Study and manipulate the hobo mobile elements, including characterization of the transposase transcript and the mechanism of transposition of the element in the germ line; develop novel transformation vector and procedures. (c) Characterize DNA polymorphism and evolution of the decapentaplegic gene in populations of D. melanogaster and D. pseudoobscura, to obtain the first data on selective constraints on amino acid sequences, message structure and cis-regulatory elements for a gene controlling basic morphogenetic processes. (d) Use genetic approaches to understanding the control of embryonic muscle cell commitment and differentiation, focusing on the nau gene that encodes basic and helix-loop-lelix domains similar to those of vertebrate myogenic regulatory factors. (e) Study the in vitro properties and in vivo function of the products of two genes, ned and nod, which belong to the kinesin superfamily and movements of microtubules in the meiotic and mitotic spindle apparatus.
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1994 — 1996 |
Donoghue, Michael (co-PI) [⬀] Lewontin, Richard (co-PI) [⬀] Hartl, Daniel [⬀] Gelbart, William Pierce, Naomi (co-PI) [⬀] |
N/AActivity Code Description: No activity code was retrieved: click on the grant title for more information |
Acquisition of An Automated Dna Sequencer
9317625 Hartl Five senior faculty at Harvard University are applying for an Applied Biosystems Model 373A-01 Automated DNA Sequencer with associated hardware and software. Harvard is in a unique position to lead a new synthesis of molecular biology and evolutionary biology because of its long tradition of excellence in both fields. Indeed, among the priorities for academic growth and development in the life sciences is the overlap between molecular biology and evolutionary biology. The Department of Organismic and evolutionary Biology (OEB) at Harvard is already expanding with new faculty representing this type of integration. Among the five OEB faculty participating, four (Hartl, Donoghue, Kellogg, and Pierce) are new to Harvard, and three (Hartl, Donoghue, and Pierce) are senior appointments. The need for automated DNA sequencing in the participating groups is immediate and acute. There is no automated DNA sequencer available for shard use. Among the applicants, no group alone is large enough or its needs extensive enough to justify purchase, maintenance, and exclusive use of an automated sequencer. However, in the aggregate, the groups can make use of an automated sequencer essentially to full capacity (estimated sequencing needs approximately 1 million bp per year). The automated DNA sequencer will be set up in the Hartl laboratory, which is centrally located among the participating users, and will be supervised by Dr. Elena Lozovskaya, a member of the Hartl group who has extensive practical experience in automated DNA sequencing. Most of the participating groups have already had relevant experience using automated DNA sequencers and their projects are funded and ready to be implement. Therefore, the automated DNA sequencer is a familiar piece of equipment that will be set up in a central location among the users, supervised by an experienced investigator, and used immediately to essentially full capacity. OEB will contribute to the purchase of the instrument and support of the major portion of the recurring service contract. at Harvard University are applying for an Applied Biosystems Model 373A-01 Automated DNA Seq ! F $ $ ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial " h E E E + < ! = abstract Deseree King, BIR Deseree King, BIR
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0.915 |
1996 — 1998 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Flybase: a Drosophila Relational Database
The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is one of the premier model organisms for many aspects of modern biological research. The unparalleled genetic tools available in this fly, among other advantages, have made D. melanogaster an invaluable research system, and hence it has been selected as one of the model systems to receive intensive genomic analysis as part of the human genome initiative. In support of that effort, we initiated a project to provide the genomic and Drosophila communities with access to a core set of genetic information in a Research Resource that we call the FlyBase database. There is so much information on Drosophila that it cannot be grasped by any one individual; this negatively affects productivity in the field. The availability of a core Drosophila database is a necessary and cost-effective tool to maximize the productivity of the research community. FlyBase was originally funded as a 3 year prototype, and this proposal is for renewed funding as a full- fledged production database. FlyBase information is obtained by active and timely curation of the literature, from parsing and bulk-loading of information from previous catalogs and databases, and from bulk contributions from genome projects, particularly the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP; PI, G. Rubin) and the European Drosophila Genome Project (EDGP; PI, F. Kafatos). The data are stored in a central relational database, configured for a data model that provides the many interrelationships necessary for a robust representation of the Drosophila genome. The data are available electronically at IUBio (ftp.bio.indiana,edu) through a variety of network protocols, including Gopher+, WWW, WAIS and FTP. Hardcopy excerpts of the data are produced as special issues of the Drosophila Information Service (DIS). A FlyBase- BDGP collaboration will develop an integrated graphical user interface to all FlyBase and BDGP data using the ACeDB software. The resulting product, the Encyclopedia of Drosophila, will be available in several network modes and by Macintosh-compatible CD-ROMs. FlyBase members will continue to work with other groups to provide merged views of FlyBase and other genomic databases and to integrate FlyBase into other front ends. Using these various modes of electronic access, FlyBase provides users with powerful query and browsing tools for recovering relevant information. Mechanisms will continue to be implemented for user input in the design, curation and editing efforts, and for substantial user support.
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1 |
1999 — 2003 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Flybase--a Drosophila Genomic and Genetic Database
The fruit fly, Drosophila, is one of the most important model organisms for many aspects of modern biological research, especially for issues regarding the biology of metazoa. Comparative studies have clearly demonstrated that the metabolic, cellular, and developmental regulatory networks are highly conserved within the animal kingdom, and in many cases, even to other taxa. Particularly because of the sophisticated genetics of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, the best-studied drosophilid species, it has led the way in elucidating many of the pathways. Much work in mammalian systems, especially the mouse and humans, has been completely based on the strong foundation that Drosophila research has provided. We are now at the point were we are beginning to understand the physiological roles of many of the roles that, when mutated, contribute to human disease. In many cases, the insights emerge largely from work on the Drosophila cognates of these genes. To take maximum advantage of the information of the information available for Drosophila, both for the Drosophila, both for the Drosophila researcher and for scientists working on other organisms, it is essential that data on the fly be organized and accessible to the broad biological community. This is the role of the Flybase Consortium. In this application, FlyBase requests 5 years of funding to continue its effort to provide the scientific community with the essential genomic and genetic information on D. melanogaster, and other drosolipids. This information will continue to be readily accessible on-line through the Flybase WWW server, mirrored at several sites throughout the world. An important new aspect of the project is the merger of the public informatics teams of the Berkeley and European Drosophila Genome Projects with the original FlyBase group to become an expanded FlyBase Consortium. This new FlyBase Consortium will provide the community with a completely unified view of all Drosophila genetic and genomic data from the whole organism and population structure information down to the sequence level. The expanded project will involve close coordination among the 5 participating sites of data capture, management, organization and presentation. Important features for the research community will be a re-organization of the WWW server and a implementation of a variety of new tools, including many Java-based graphical displays. One issue for the biological databases to address is how to interconnect effectively among themselves. Issue of interconnectivity are crucial, as only a fraction of the relevant biology can be housed in a single repository. FlyBase will continue in its historic leadership role in promoting interconnections: through working with other groups to produce software that will permit data exchange between databases, and generally through contributing to a joint effort to address the needs of the scientific community.
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1 |
2002 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Flybase: a Drosophila Genomic &Genetic Database
The fruit fly, Drosophila, is one of the most important model organisms for many aspects of modern biological research, especially for issues regarding the biology of metazoa. Comparative studies have clearly demonstrated that the metabolic, cellular, and developmental regulatory networks are highly conserved within the animal kingdom, and in many cases, even to other taxa. Particularly because of the sophisticated genetics of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, the best-studied drosophilid species, it has led the way in elucidating many of the pathways. Much work in mammalian systems, especially the mouse and humans, has been completely based on the strong foundation that Drosophila research has provided. We are now at the point were we are beginning to understand the physiological roles of many of the roles that, when mutated, contribute to human disease. In many cases, the insights emerge largely from work on the Drosophila cognates of these genes. To take maximum advantage of the information of the information available for Drosophila, both for the Drosophila, both for the Drosophila researcher and for scientists working on other organisms, it is essential that data on the fly be organized and accessible to the broad biological community. This is the role of the Flybase Consortium. In this application, FlyBase requests 5 years of funding to continue its effort to provide the scientific community with the essential genomic and genetic information on D. melanogaster, and other drosolipids. This information will continue to be readily accessible on-line through the Flybase WWW server, mirrored at several sites throughout the world. An important new aspect of the project is the merger of the public informatics teams of the Berkeley and European Drosophila Genome Projects with the original FlyBase group to become an expanded FlyBase Consortium. This new FlyBase Consortium will provide the community with a completely unified view of all Drosophila genetic and genomic data from the whole organism and population structure information down to the sequence level. The expanded project will involve close coordination among the 5 participating sites of data capture, management, organization and presentation. Important features for the research community will be a re-organization of the WWW server and a implementation of a variety of new tools, including many Java-based graphical displays. One issue for the biological databases to address is how to interconnect effectively among themselves. Issue of interconnectivity are crucial, as only a fraction of the relevant biology can be housed in a single repository. FlyBase will continue in its historic leadership role in promoting interconnections: through working with other groups to produce software that will permit data exchange between databases, and generally through contributing to a joint effort to address the needs of the scientific community.
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1 |
2002 — 2006 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
T32Activity Code Description: To enable institutions to make National Research Service Awards to individuals selected by them for predoctoral and postdoctoral research training in specified shortage areas. |
Training Program in Genetics and Genomics |
1 |
2004 — 2008 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. |
Flybase: a Drosophila Genomic &Genetic Database
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): FlyBase is a database of the core genetic and genomic information on the major genetic model organism, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and related organisms of the family Drosophilidae. D. melanogaster has been, and continues to be the pioneering organism in understanding the intricate interplay of genes and their encoded products to drive complex biological processes such as the formation of the body plan of an embryo or the wiring of the nervous system. The evidence that such complex biological events has an ancient origin, predating the split of the insect and vertebrate lineages, means that the fundamental studies on complex biological processes that are carried out in D. melanogaster directly impact on our understanding of comparable processes in human biology and disease. Indeed, the majority of human genes associated with disease have closely related genes in Drosophila. The very vibrant Drosophila research community continues to carry out a great deal of fundamental research, and it is imperative to the progress of the scientific community as a whole that there is a central resource that captures, organizes and presents this information in a way that is readily accessible not only to experts in the fly, but to the broader research community. FlyBase serves that role, and captures the primary information on the DNA sequence of the D. melanogaster genome and related genomes, as well as its encoded transcripts and proteins, classical and transgenic mutations, phenotypes, strain collections, etc. These data can be accessed as a public resource, without restriction, by means of the Internet or as bulk downloads, and are organized so that complex queries of the Drosophila literature and genome projects can be carried out. Specific goals for the next 5 years of the FlyBase project, based on information garnered from the scientific literature and from large-scale data producers, will include capture, organization and presentation of: (1) a comprehensive set of annotations attached to the Drosophila genomic sequence, both in terms of the encoded products as well as the sites on the DNA that mediate regulation of gene expression and the architecture of chromosomes, (2) information on the basic genetics of genes and their mutant alleles, and (3) the relationship of the fundamental genetic/genomic objects described in items 1 and 2 to each other, e.g., their location on chromosomal and sequence maps, their interactions to produce the regulatory circuitry of cells, tissues and whole organisms, their anatomical distribution, both spatially and temporally, and their variation in populations and phenotypic classes.
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2009 — 2014 |
Gelbart, William Martin |
P41Activity Code Description: Undocumented code - click on the grant title for more information. U41Activity Code Description: To support biotechnology resources available to all qualified investigators without regard to the scientific disciplines or disease orientations of their research activities or specifically directed to a categorical program area. |
Flybase: a Drosophila Genomic and Genetic Database
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): FlyBase is the core genomic / genetic Model Organism Database (MOD) for the important biomedical model, Drosophila melanogaster and related species of flies. Drosophila is one of the premiere animal research systems and can be used very cost-effectively to help understand the etiology of human genetic diseases and is the closest experimental model that care provide insights into the biology of insect vectors of human disease (such as mosquitos that carry major infectious diseases such as malaria. West Nile Virus. The goals are twofold: (1) to provide a centralized resource for Drosophila genetic/genomic data and experimental reagents in order to enable Drosophila research to advance as rapidly as possible and (2) to provide these results to the broader biomedical research community to further their own research. FlyBase captures data from the primary scientific literature and from large-scale genome analysis and functional genomics community resource projects through annotation by FlyBase curators, direct user submissions and automated text-mining. FlyBase and collaborating informatics resources extensively share data thereby leveraging the output of each group. These heterogeneous data are organized into coherent datasets and integrated in a central database according to a series of ontology organizing systems. On a bi-monthly basis, these data are extracted from the central FlyBase database and served to the entire scientific community through a freely accessible FlyBase website, which is accessed millions of times each month. In addition to providing the research community to ttie corpus of FlyBase-captured data in ways that can be readily interrogated and browsed, FlyBase also maintains millions of links to other biomedical websites providing other relevant information. Over the proposed 5-year grant period, FlyBase expects to contribute to the enhancement of MOD interoperability and to work with a broad range of informatics resources and journal publishers to provide as rich a set of data and data-mining tools as possible to the biomedical research community. RELEVANCE: FlyBase provides crucial data and informatic infrastructure to accelerate the pace of Drosophila research and for the broader biomedical sciences community to leverage these discoveries to further their own research. Drosophila is now a well-accepted experimental model for human disease research and is the closest genetic / genomic experimental model system for research on the insect vectors that carry human diseases.
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