April 3-8, 2005
29th NASA Software Engineering Workshop
Sponsor: IEEE Computer Society
Place: Greenbelt Marriott, Greenbelt, MD
More Info: See http://sel.gsfc.nasa.gov/website/29ieee.htm.
Contact: Computer Society, Conference Services, 202-371-1013.
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Washington Section Administrative Committee Meeting
Time: Dinner at 6:00 pm; meeting at 6:30 pm
Place: Allie's American Grill, Bethesda Marriott, 5151 Pooks Hill Rd., Bethesda, Md.
Directions: From the north, take 270 South to Route 355 and exit at Wisconsin Ave. From the south, take 495 exit 34 (which is Wisconsin Ave.) to Pooks Hill Rd.
More info: All interested IEEE members are welcome to attend.
Contact: Jackie Hunter 703-803-8701 or nca-admin@ieee.org. Please include the term IEEE in the subject line of your e-mail.
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
The Business of Government: Technical Expertise in Demand
Sponsor: Consultants Network, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter
Speaker: Stanley L. Reid, Strategic Sciences
Time: Dinner at 6:00 pm, speaker at 7:00 pm
Place: Corner 7 Café, Tysons Corner Marriott, 8028 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA
Directions: From the east or I-495, take Route 7 West, turn right on Towers Crescent Drive, then immediately right into the Marriott parking lot. From the west on Route 7, turn right onto Old Gallows Road just opposite the Marriott, proceed around to the left until you have completed almost a full circle, and turn left into the Marriott parking lot. Free parking.
More Info: The government is a vast bureaucracy overseeing a $2 trillion market in which private contractors play a significant operational role. There is a growing need for cutting edge technology and matching technical skill to meet increasingly complex operational needs. How should electrical engineers see themselves fitting into this new morphing market, and what are the opportunities for their skills? Mr. Reid owns Strategic Sciences, a government business development and lobbying firm that helps companies win federal contracts. He has more than 25 years of experience with congress, federal agencies and government contractors.
Contact: Sai Chiang at 703-203-0771 or creativesystem@ieee.org.
Sponsor: Graduates of the Last Decade, Northern Virginia Chapter
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 noon
Place: Parkview Community Center, Recreational Facility, Warder St. and Otis Place NW, Washington, DC
More Info: We are bringing a touch of engineering to some kids in DC who might not normally have that chance. We'll be taking about 30 kids through the development of some basic HTML Web pages, and we could use your help. No programming skills or math required! Just a willingness to help walk the kids through the project and enthusiasm for the task. We'll be coordinating some rides to the location for those who are interested in helping. Come and spend a couple of hours giving some kids an introduction to Web development.
Contact: If you'd like to help, please send an email to Chuck Baldi at cbaldi@ieee.org or Syed Ahmed at syed.f.ahmed@ieee.org, so we can coordinate the number and let you know of any last-minute changes.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Recent Advances in High Performance Communication Modules
Sponsors: Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter; Communications Society, Northern Virginia Chapter and Washington Chapter
Speaker: Dr. Joy Laskar, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA.
Time: Reception 5:30 pm, dinner 6:00 pm (optional, reservations required), lecture 7:00 pm
Place: Mitre Corporation, Building 2, Room 1N100A/B, 7515 Colshire Drive, McLean, VA
Directions: Off Route 123 in Tysons Corner. See http://www.mitre.org/about/locations/mitre2_map.html.
More Info: See Diamond story, below. Additional information is available at http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/mtt-wnva.
Cost: $15 for optional dinner.
Contact: Reservations must be made by Thursday, April 7, by calling Roger Kaul at 301-394-4775 (no email please), or by contacting Fred Seelig at fseelig@mitre.org.
Sponsor: Electromagnetic Compatibility Society, Baltimore Chapter; Communication Society, Baltimore Chapter
Speaker: William G. Duff, IEEE Fellow and EMC Consultant
Time: Reception and refreshments 6:00-6:30 pm; lecture and discussion 6:30-8:00 pm
Place: Historical Electronics Museum, Pioneer Hall, 1745 West Nursery Rd., Linthicum, MD
Directions: Take I-295 to the Nursery Road South exit. The museum is on the left just past the Marriott Hotel. See http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore/Directions/bwi_map.jpg. Free parking.
More Info: See Diamond story, below, and http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/baltimore.
Cost: Free (please RSVP so refreshments can be estimated).
Contact: RSVP by Tuesday, April 12, 2005 to Robert Berkovits, EMC chair, at 410-993-5403 or rberkovits@northropgrumman.com; or John Anderson, vice chair, at 410-573-7502 or janderson@alionscience.com; or Ron Osborn, Communications Society program chair, at 410-854-5535 or wizos2@yahoo.com.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Northern Virginia Section Administrative Committee Meeting
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Corner 7 Café, Tysons Corner Marriott, 8028 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA
Directions: From the east or I-495, take Route 7 West, turn right on Towers Crescent Drive, then immediately right into the Marriott parking lot. From the west on Route 7, turn right onto Old Gallows Road just opposite the Marriott, proceed around to the left until you have completed almost a full circle, and turn left into the Marriott parking lot. Free parking.
More info: All interested IEEE members are invited to attend.
Contact: Jackie Hunter at 703-803-8701 or nca-admin@ieee.org. Please include the term IEEE in the subject line of your e-mail.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Reconfigurable Computing After A Decade:
A New Perspective and Challenges for Hardware-Software Co-Design and Development
Sponsor: Computer Society, Northern Virginia Chapter
Speaker: Dr. Tirumale K. Ramesh, Boeing Company
Time: Reception with food at 6:15 pm; meeting and program 6:45-8:30 pm
Place: Oracle Corporation, 1910 Oracle Way, Reston, VA
Directions: From I-495, take Dulles Toll Road (Route 267) to Reston Parkway (Exit 12). Turn right onto Reston Parkway. At first traffic light, turn right onto Sunset Hills Road, then right onto Oracle Way. Park in any lot and enter through the main lobby. Additional directions available at
www.cigital.com/ieee/directions.html.
More Info: Pre-registration is required due to Oracle security requirements. For more information about the program, see Diamond story, below.
Contact: Please register at
www.cigital.com/ieee/reserve.html.
Sponsors: Capitol College Alumni Advisory Board; Information Theory Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter
Time: 10:00 to 11:30 am
Place: National Cryptologic Museum, adjacent to Ft. Meade, Maryland
Directions: See www.nsa.gov/museum
Cost: Free
Contact: Please register by sending an email to John Ryan at
johnryan@capitol-college.edu.
Sponsors: Northern Virginia and Washington Sections
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Hratch G. Semerjian, Acting Director, National Institute of Science and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
Reception: 6:30 pm
Dinner: 7:30 pm
Place: Grand Ball Room, Tysons Corner Marriott, 8028 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA.
Directions: From the east or I-495, take Route 7 West, turn right on Towers Crescent Drive, then immediately right into the Marriott parking lot. From the west on Route 7, turn right onto Old Gallows Road just opposite the Marriott, proceed around to the left until you have completed almost a full circle, and turn left into the Marriott parking lot. Free parking.
More info: Join us to recognize distinguished IEEE members in the local area for their contributions and hear Dr. Hratch Semerjian's perspective on technology issues.
Cost: $45 per person. Reservations required by April 1.
Contact: Jackie Hunter at 703-803-8701 or
nca-admin@ieee.org for reservations. Please include the term IEEE in the subject line of your e-mail.
Sponsors: Lasers and Electro-optics Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter; Optical Society of America, National Capital Section
Speaker: Dennis W. Prather, University of Delaware
Time: Reception at 6:00 pm; lecture at 6:30 pm
Place: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center, Greenbelt, MD.
Dinner following the lecture at Chef's Secret Restaurant (Thai), 5810 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD.
Directions: From the south, take the Baltimore-Washington Pkway (I-295) to Greenbelt Rd. East (Route 193). Follow Greenbelt Rd. past NASA's main gate. Turn left onto Soil Conservation Rd., then then left at the first opportunity to reach the Visitor Center. See
www.gsfc.nasa.gov/indepth/maps_mapsdirections.html.
Leaving the Vistor Center to go to the restaurant, turn right onto Soil Conservation Rd., then right onto Greenbelt Rd. The restaurant is approx. 4 miles, on the right just after the Beltway Plaza.
More Info: See Diamond story, below. For more information about LEOS activities, go to
http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/wash_nova/leoss
Contact: If you are attending the dinner, reservations are required by 4:00 pm, Monday, April 19. To make reservations or for more information, contact Martin Lahart at lahart@arl.army.mil or 202-767-2749; or Jim Heaney at jheaney@swales.com or 301-902-4531.
Sponsors: Information Technology Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter; Communications Society, Northern Virginia Chapter; Communications Society, Washington Chapter
Time: Reception at 6:00 pm; presentation at 6:30 pm
Location: Capitol College, 11301 Springfield Rd., Laurel, MD
Directions: From the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy. (I-295), take the Powder Mill Rd. exit. At the bottom of the ramp, turn west (left if coming from the south; right if coming from the north) onto Powder Mill Rd., then take the first right onto Springfield Rd. The college is approx. one mile on the right.
More Info: A presenation about RFID by Barcoding Inc., Baltimore MD.
Contact: To register, contact Jackie Hunter at 703-803-8701 or
nca-admin@ieee.org. For more information, contact Jerry Gibbon at j.t.gibbon@ieee.org.
Sponsor: Aerospace and Electronic Systems Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter
Speaker: Mr. Jaime Esper, Space Exploration Systems Engineer, NASA
Time: 5:00 pm
Place: General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, 4121 Wilson Blvd., Suite 302, Arlington, VA
Directions: Less than a block from the Ballston Metro station (Orange line). Or, if driving from the East on I-66, exit onto Glebe Road South, turn left on Fairfax Drive (East towards Rosslyn), OR, from the west on I-66, exit at Fairfax Drive (East). Then turn right on Randolph St., right on Wilson Blvd., and right into building 4121's underground parking garage. Alternate parking is across the street at the Ballston Common Mall Garage.
More Info: See http://ewh.ieee.org/r2/wash_nova/aess.
Contact: Roger Oliva at axe@computer.org or 703-573-6887.
Sponsor: Electron Devices Society, Northern Virginia and Washington Chapter
Speakers: Dr. Jesko von Windheim, Nextreme Thermal Solutions; and Dr. Markus Wohlgenannt, University of Iowa
Time: Registration begins at 4:00 pm; program begins at 4:30 pm
Location: Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis, L.L.P., Suite 500, 1737 King Street, Alexandria, VA
Directions: See www.burnsdoane.com/alex.html.
More Info: See Diamond story, below.
Cost: Free
Contact: For more information, send mail to nano@burnsdoane.com.
lease register using the RSVP link at www.atlanticnanoforum.org,
or send an email to
nano@burnsdoane.com.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Deployed in the City of Manassas
Sponsors: Power Engineering Society, Northern Virginia and Washington Chapter; Industry Applications Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter
Speaker: John D. Hewa, P.E., Director of Utilities, City of Manassas
Time: Social hour at 5:45 pm; snacks at 6:00 pm, speaker at 6:30 pm
Place: KEMA Consulting, 4400 Fair Lakes Court, Fairfax, VA
More info: Refreshments will include assorted sandwiches, potato chips, dessert, coffee, tea and soda.
Read more about the Manassas BPL project in a Compterworld article,
Plugged In: Broadband Over Power Lines Goes Live.
Cost: Free for members (including student members), $10 for guests
Contact: RSVP by April 20 at 5:00 pm to Sirak Belayneh at sbelayne@ieee.org
Speaker: Chia-Ling Chien, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University
Sponsors: Magnetics Society, Washington and Northern Virginia Chapter; Electron Devices Society, Northern Virginia and Washington Chapter; Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Washington University
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: George Washington University, Academic Center, Phillips Hall, Room T-640, 801 22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC
Directions: One block from the Foggy Bottom Metro station (Blue and Orange lines)
More Info: IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecture Series 2005. Professor Chien is a world renowned expert in magnetic nanostructures. His talk is of interest to a broad audience in engineering, physics and materials. See Diamond story, below.
Cost: Free, open to the public.
Contact: C. Korman at
korman@gwu.edu.
Diamond Stories
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Recent Advances in High Performance Communication Modules
The networks of the future require functional improvement along each of the important transmission media: wireless and wired (optical and copper). However, an even more daunting challenge is the integration and coexistence of these technologies in both function and form. We present several important enabling technologies for future integrated multifunctional systems. The System-on-Package (SOP) paradigm provides a highly integrated, microminiaturized, multi-functional systems technology that optimizes the IC and the package implementation. This presentation will review the evolutionary trends in IC and module integration and how these trends are bounded by advanced communication applications. We consider the development of new module technologies for applications to millimeter wave gigabit wireless nodes and for active isolation in wireless systems.
Joy Laskar was born in Kharagphur, India and raised in Clemson, SC. He earned a B.S. degree in 1985 from Clemson University. He joined IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center and then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering in 1989 and 1991.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech in 1995, Dr. Laskar held faculty positions at the University of Illinois and the University of Hawaii. At Georgia Tech, he is currently the chair for the Electronic Design and Applications technical interest group, the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) Research Leader for Broadband Access Hardware, and the Packaging Research Center thrust leader for RF and Wireless. Dr. Laskar has established a prolific research program at Georgia Tech: over 150 publications, numerous invited papers, two spin-out high tech companies and several distinctions from professional societies. He is currently a Distinguished Microwave Lecturer for the IEEE MTT Society.
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Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Ultra Wideband (UWB) Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)
This presentation will describe results of electromagnetic interference (EMI) tests performed on a selected set of receivers to determine their ultra wideband (UWB) EMI characteristics. The UWB EMI testing was performed in support of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program for Networking in Extreme Environments (NETEX). The goal of the NETEX program is to create wireless networking technology that enables robust connectivity in harsh environments and to support its integration into new and emerging sensor and communication systems. The NETEX program is focused on the development of an improved physical layer for networked communications based on a family of new ultra-wideband (UWB) devices that have the potential to perform useful communication and sensing functions that make them very appealing for a number of applications.
Specific EMI tests were designed to characterize the susceptibility of selected legacy communication, navigation, and radar receivers to various UWB transmitters and the effects of legacy systems on UWB receivers. Results of the test program provided information that may be used to evaluate the potential for UWB devices to coexist with legacy systems without causing or experiencing EMI, and help to define UWB system parameters that are required for EMC.
Dr. William G. Duff is an independent consultant, and works part time for SENTEL. His 45 years of experience include the development and application of EMC analysis, modeling and simulation techniques for evaluating intersystem and cosite EMC. He has written more than 40 technical papers and four books on EMC. He also teaches seminar courses on EMC. He has received several IEEE awards including the Lawrence G. Cumming Award for Outstanding Service, the Richard R. Stoddard Award for Outstanding Performance, and a “Best Paper” award.
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Thursday, April 14, 2005
Reconfigurable Computing After A Decade:
A New Perspective and Challenges for Hardware-Software Co-Design and Development
Over the last decade, the focus of reconfigurable computing has dramatically shifted from academic research into industrial applications, especially in supporting and accelerating high-data stream applications in commercial and military applications. There are still hurdles such as not having an easy programming model to facilitate high-level programmers in hardware-software co-design and development for embedded systems. This presentation will cover architectural shifts over the last decade, the tools and methodologies challenges for hardware-software co-design and development, and the near and long-term future for its growth.
Tirumale K Ramesh is a Boeing Associate Technical Fellow and a Senior Engineer/Scientist at The Boeing Company. He has more than 20 years of professional experience with expertise in the area of parallel processing, high performance reconfigurable architecture and networks, and related chip level architectures. Prior to joining Boeing, Ramesh worked at the Indian Space Research Center in India, for Lockheed Martin Corp., where he successfully led a product development group and developed system specifications and architecture for advanced missile launching systems. As a senior scientist at IBM, he lead an ASIC system design solution development team.
He has a BSEE from India, an MSEE from Mississippi State University in VLSI and a Ph.D Degree in Computer Systems Engineering from Oakland University in Michigan. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and co-chair of the Northern Virginia chapter of the IEEE Computer Society.
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Millimeter waves exist in the electromagnetic spectrum with wavelengths in the range of 1cm to 1mm. As such, they have frequencies that span 30-300 GHz, which is located just between the microwave and infrared portions of the spectrum. Because of their unique ability to penetrate fog, dust, smoke, blowing sand, and light-rain, MMW imaging systems are very attractive for many civilian and military applications as they provide a unique alternative in visible and IR blind conditions. To this end, they turn poor climate and imaging conditions in to a significant advantage for reconnaissance and surveillance missions. However, their use in commercial systems to date has been limited due to the lack of suitable technologies that meet or exceed realistic performance criteria, e.g., resolution, sensitivity, size, weight and cost. In this presentation, we will present our effort to overcome these limitations by developing a MMW focal plane array based on a nano-photonic approach sensor technique. Preliminary results will be shown.
Dennis Prather is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Delaware. He leads the university's Laboratory for Nanoscale and Integrated Photonic Systems, which focuses on both the theoretical and experimental aspects of active and passive nano-photonic elements and their integration into optoelectronic sub-systems. To achieve this, his lab develops and refines computational electromagnetic tools for both the analysis and synthesis of photonic devices. In addition, they also develop nano-fabrication and integration processes necessary for their integration into functional sub-systems. Devices of particular interest include subwavelength structures, photonic crystal devices, diffractive optical elements, and optical waveguides for application in next generation opto-electronic systems.
Dr. Prather received B.S.E.E., M.S.E.E., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Maryland in 1989, 1993, and 1997, while working as a senior research engineer for the Army Research Laboratory's Optics Branch. He is an associate editor for physical optics for the Journal of Optical Engineering, and former topical editor of diffractive optics for the Applied Optics Journal of the Optical Society of America. He is an elected Fellow of the Society of Photo-Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) and the Optical Society of America (OSA).
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Dr. Jesko von Windheim, CEO, Nextreme Thermal Solutions, Inc., will discuss the next generation of thermoelectrics for applications requiring extreme thermal management solutions. Based on its unique, thin-film superlattice technology, Nextreme Thermal Solutions is developing the next generation thermoelectrics for applications that require extreme thermal management solutions. The technology has the potential to dramatically improve thermal management for the next generation of microprocessors and other integrated circuits. Other applications include refrigeration, personal heating/cooling, power generation, cooling microprocessors, fiber-optics. For more information, please visit www.nextremethermal.com.
Dr. von Windheim spun Nextreme out of RTI International, where he was entrepreneur in residence and vice president of commercialization. Prior to joining RTI, he was responsible for numerous spin-offs from MCNC Corp. (also a research organization), the most recent of which was Cronos Integrated Microsystems which was sold to JDS Uniphase. At Cronos, he was vice president of marketing and business development, and later her ran the business unit as general manager for JDS Uniphase. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics, a master's degree and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry, and an M.B.A. from the Kenan-Flagler business school.
Dr. Markus Wohlgenannt, specializes in the field of organic semiconductor devices. He is an assistant professor in the department of physics & astronomy at the University of Iowa, and the director of the organic semiconductor device research group at the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories.
Dr. Wohlgenannt will discuss organic Pi-conjugated semiconductors OSEC). These are usually divided into the classes of small molecular weight compounds and macromolecular polymers, and have been used to manufacture promising devices such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), photovoltaic cells and field-effect transistors. While studying semi-conducting polymer and small molecule sandwich devices, Dr. Wohlgenannt's team discovered a large and intriguing magneto resistance (MR) effect, which they dubbed organic magneto resistance (OMAR). OMAR reaches up to 10 percent at room temperature for small fields of B =10 mT. OMAR is therefore amongst the largest of MR effects of any bulk material. Devices can be manufactured cheaply on flexible substrates, and may also be transparent.
Dr. Wohlgenannt received his M.S. degree in physics from the Technical University of Graz in Austria, and his Ph.D. degree in condensed matter physics from the University of Utah at Salt Lake City. He had previously worked as a research assistant professor in condensed matter physics at the University of Utah, conducting research in the spectroscopy of organic electronic materials, photonic crystals, and also fabrication of organic sandwich devices. His main research interests include spectroscopy and transport in pi-conjugated polymer films and devices, and also extend into molecular physics and physics of low-dimensional semiconductors.
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The exploration of magnetic nanostructures in recent years has resulted in a string of discoveries such as interlayer coupling, giant magnetoresistance (GMR), exchange bias, and tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR). Some of these effects were utilized as read-heads in high-density magnetic recording and non-volatile magnetic storage only a few years after the original discovery. In this talk, Dr. Chien will describe two new topics in magnetic nanostructures from inception to realization to potential applications.
Since electrons have spin in additional to charge, a spin-polarized current carries angular momentum. For a large current density, the angular momentum can exert a substantial torque onto a receiving magnetic entity to excite spin waves or even to switch its magnetization. The spin torque effects are accomplished in the absence of an external magnetic field. The salient aspects of the spin torque effects in different contexts, such as switching and magnetic recording without a magnetic field, will be described.
Nanorings are small entities with special attributes. A magnetic nanoring can support vortex state despite its very small size. The two chiralities of the vortex state can be exploited for magnetic recording purposes. Multilayered nanoprings have also been proposed as vertical random access memory (VRAM) units. However, fabrication of nanorings using e-beam lithography has considerable limitations in the number of rings, ring size, and areal density. We have developed a new method with which a large number (109) of small (100 nm) rings can be fabricated with a very areal density of 45 rings per square micrometer. The magnetic and other characteristics of such arrays of nanorings will be described.
Chia-Ling Chien received a B. S. in physics from Tunghai University in Taiwan in 1965, and a Ph. D. in physics from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1972. He has been a faculty member in the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy of Johns Hopkins University since 1976, where he is the Jacob L. Hain Professor in Arts and Sciences. He currently directs the Material Research Science and Engineering Center on Nanostructured Materials at Hopkins. His recent research focuses on magnetic nanostructures including magnetic granular solids, nanowires, multilayers, and arrays of rings and dots, and the exploration of GMR, exchange bias, half-metals, spin torque effects, Andreev reflection, and point-contact spectroscopy.
Dr. Chien has written more than 300 journal articles and holds several patents. He is one of the ISI 1120 most cited physicists. He has served as Meeting Chair and Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Conference on Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. He has been awarded honorary professorships at Nanjing, Lanzhou, and Fudan universities in China. He has been a Fellow and the 2004 recipient of the David Adler Award of the American Physical Society.
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