Archive for August, 2022

Interview with Michael Wood

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Q: Where did your interest in Shakespeare begin? Was there a particular line, play, or sonnet that hooked you?

A: At Manchester Grammar School – the school dramatic society was very active and we did the Tempest in my first year, aged 11. I played assorted goddesses, dogs and demons!  I was completely hooked.  Around the same time we saw the Olivier films – especially Hamlet with Jean Simmons.

The ghost scene with William Walton’s music was just mind-blowing. To someone brought up in Wythenshawe, it was the gripping stories and the other-worldly power of the language. I’ll always be grateful to our wonderful and inspiring teachers Bert Parnaby and Brian Phythian, who directed us in plays, took us on trips to Stratford to see Shakespeare, and generally were the spirit guides to our younger selves.

“To someone brought up in Wythenshawe, it was the gripping stories and the other-worldly power of the language. I’ll always be grateful to our wonderful and inspiring teachers…”

Q: What do you believe was the single biggest influence on a young Shakespeare? How does it manifest itself in his work? 

A: That’s a long story and there’s no one answer. That’s what I’ll be talking about in my lecture!

First: Family: As with anyone family is really important – his mother and father, his father’s rise to become mayor of Stratford only to be ruined financially;

Second: Religion – he’s born at a crucial point in the Protestant Reformation. In the twenty years, or so, before he was born there had been four official changes of religion: His parents obviously were born and brought up Catholic. He was born on the cusp of the new world and had a foot in both. The way forward wasn’t really resolved till the 1590s, so his generation are part of the change; the target generation.

The third is politics, national and local. Warwickshire was a battleground for the struggle between the old Catholic community of the shire and the new Elizabethan powers that be; especially Elizabeth’s favourite, the Protestant enforcer Robert Dudley. This struggle touched William’s family.

Fourth is school, through which he discovered poetry. He had probably decided he wanted to be a poet before he left Stratford at some point in the 1580s.

Q: How has our understanding of Shakespeare changed over the past few decades?  Have older models of literary analysis — New Criticism, Textual, maybe even Biographical — been eclipsed? How do you personally prefer to contextualize his work? 

A: Older models have not been superseded. I think they’ve all given something to the mix which these days is very rich indeed. Some terrific biographies have come out over the last twenty years.

And the documentary discoveries continue. I’ll be mentioning twenty new documents concerning his father’s various crises. They are not published in full yet but a summary came out in a new book this year. In terms of personal preference, I’m a historian so my approach is historical.  He’s made by his times and cannot be understood except through history – and that of course includes the twenty years or so before he was born. He’s a late Elizabethan.

“He’s made by his times and cannot be understood except through history – and that of course includes the twenty years or so before he was born.”

Q: As the English literary canon is constantly morphing, what case would you put forward that Shakespeare should continue to be taught throughout educational institutions? 

A: A big question!

It is after all an extraordinary thing that where, say, the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible have been modernised, his plays remain as 16th-century texts in the forefront of public culture.  Things are gradually being cut back now, even in university English courses (e.g. Old and Middle English, Langland and Chaucer, etc.) but he’s so important to our literary culture that I think he will stay at the centre of it for some time yet. His ‘difficulty’ (language, ideas etc.) after all is part of what makes him fascinating to study.

And in today’s world of Me Too, BLM, LGBT, his texts are still capable of endless reinvention, although they are 16th-17th texts. I saw a production of Measure for Measure at the Donmar the week Brett Kavanaugh was being vetted for the Supreme Court and the scene with Angelo and Isabella said it all in the space of a few minutes.

Q: Are you currently working on any new projects? What have you got planned for 2022? 

A: I’ve been working in China since 2013 where we have made a dozen films. My last Shakespeare contributions were more recent: a chapter on his mother for Shakespeare’s Circle (Cambridge 2015) and an introduction to Finding Shakespeare’s New Place (2016).

Our last film was on the Chinese poet most compared with Shakespeare – Du Fu (China’s Greatest Poet, BBC 2020 with Sir Ian McKellen doing the readings). And I am currently writing a little travelogue with lovely photos and maps, following Du Fu’s life journey – especially the last fifteen years when he was constantly on the move with his family as a refugee in time of war.

The journey describes a great arc from the Yellow River Plain up to Xi’an and Qinzhou, over the mountains south to Chengdu. Then all the way down the Yangze through the Gorges to Changsha and Pingjiang where he died. A labour of love I guess you could call it. Needless to say, distant as he is in time and place, there will be comparisons with Shakespeare!

Everything for me comes back to Shakespeare!

Thank you to Michael for taking the time to answer our questions.

Interview with Keir Giles

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

*This online event took place in January 2021, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Q: You have devoted a large amount of your professional career to studying Russia. When did your interest begin?

A: I started learning Russian at school, and then in France, Finland, and eventually Moscow shortly before the end of the USSR. Since then, yes, I’ve spent 30 years working with or on Russia in one way or another.

Q: Naturally, people will always compare the current political tensions* to the Cold War. Is this a fair comparison, or is it outdated?

A: It’s true that there are some features of what is happening today that remind us of the Cold War. But that risks being a misleading comparison because there are key differences.

Toward the very end of the Cold War, relations between Moscow and the West were at least relatively stable and predictable – but we should also think of the decades before that, full of proxy wars and dangerous confrontations.

Russia’s idea of how it needs to deal with the rest of the world, with hostility and aggression in any domain where it thinks it will bring an advantage, is once again a major challenge to peace and stability not only in Europe but wherever Moscow feels an ambition to expand its power and reach.

“Russia’s idea of how it needs to deal with the rest of the world, with hostility and aggression in any domain where it thinks it will bring an advantage, is once again a major challenge to peace and stability…”

Q: If the West views Russia as unpredictable and irrational, how does the Kremlin view the White House?

A: Watching the Russian attitude toward Donald Trump has given a case study in how Russia understands, or often misunderstands, politics in Western democracies.

“Watching the Russian attitude toward Donald Trump has given a case study in how Russia understands, or often misunderstands, politics in Western democracies.”

Trump’s image swung between being Moscow’s puppet in the White House, to a figure of fun. But underlying it all was the persistent Russian belief that Western leaders have more power than they really do – that as in Russia, they can disregard democratic processes and order change or new policies.

The success of the US government at maintaining rule of law and frustrating some of Trump’s more extreme and dangerous initiatives confirmed not only his own suspicions about the “deep state”, but also deepened Moscow’s conviction that the West is fundamentally untrustworthy.

Q: Can you recommend any reading material—either by yourself or someone else—for anyone with an interest on the topic?

A: One of the most striking things I found when researching my own book, Moscow Rules: What drives Russia to confront the West, was how consistently past descriptions of Russia still ring true today. Again and again I found diagnoses of the Russia problem from past centuries that could be repeated word for word today.

One of the best explanations of Russia comes from the 1970s: Tibor Szamuely’s The Russian Tradition. There is also anything by Edward Crankshaw, including Russia and the Russians.

Among the many, many present-day authors covering the topic I’d recommend Angela Stent.

Thank you to Keir for taking the time to answer our questions.

Interview with Emma Marigliano

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Q: When did your interest in Dante and the Divine Comedy begin?

A: I wanted to do a postgraduate degree many years ago and, as I wanted it to be on book illustration, a colleague suggested Dante – with me being Italian.

I looked for something original and decided to work on two completely different artists who had completed all 3 canticles of the Divine Comedy since the 18th century. John Flaxman and Gustave Doré were the only ones. They couldn’t be more different from each other! Researching them, though, took me to many more interesting Dante illustrators and the rest is history, as they say.

As a result of that tangent I think I may have one of the best – maybe even the best – post 18th century collections of illustrated Dante.

Q: Which illustrated version of Dante is your personal favourite? Is there a particular edition in your collection that you find yourself returning to more than others? And what makes it so special?

A: Each has something that I really like or really don’t like. I discover something new and love it (or not), but each design or style fits a moment or mood. I like being able to pluck a Dante book off the shelf because something has reminded me of it and I look again through the illustrations. I don’t always think that the artist gets it but I might like the style.

There’s so much out there and there are ones I’d really love but my budget doesn’t allow. When I was Librarian at The Portico Library I would get asked which was my favourite book – and I couldn’t answer that either. Those I loved had different qualities but they were invariably illustrated and that’s what drew me to them.

Q: At the time of writing The Divine Comedy, was Dante responding to the political climate within Florence? Is there a clear ideological motivation behind the poem, or do you encourage a different reading?

A: I do think that Dante responded to the political and religious climate around him, particularly as it resulted in his permanent exile. He was part of a continually warring faction within a faction, so one wonders if we only know about his exile because of successive fame with the Divine Comedy.

“I do think that Dante responded to the political and religious climate around him, particularly as it resulted in his permanent exile. He was part of a continually warring faction within a faction…”

But I think he also wrote it for other reasons – showing off his intellect (I suspect he was quite vain), to take his revenge the best way he could on those who harmed him, angered or hurt him. And, of course, to feed his obsession with a woman that we know so amazingly little of – if she ever existed as anything other than the woman who filled Dante’s head. This isn’t to say that he didn’t feel that he had reached a juncture of self-questioning, one that required him to go on a spiritual journey through his writing.

Q: James Joyce said that: “I love my Dante as much as the Bible,” adding: “He [Dante] is my spiritual food, the rest is ballast.” What was it about Dante that caught the glances of Modernist writers?

A:  Joyce did speak of “the Divine Comic Denti Alligator” in his Finnegans Wake and both that and Ulysses is based on the Divine Comedy, however loosely. Joyce also said that Dante inspired him to invent a new language. Dante didn’t invent a new language, though. He simply wrote in the language he and those around him commonly spoke – his Tuscan dialect. Which, to the rest of Italy at that time, I suppose, was like a new language.

Dante inspired T S Eliot’s poetry. Lines from his poems are borrowed from Inferno and Purgatory, for instance. The Italian novelist, Curzio Malaparte, was fond of projecting Dantescapes from Inferno into his films.

Even though I don’t know that much modernist writing I do think that Modernist writing would have tried to address questions of existentialism. Dante’s journey and the questions he poses to us in the 20th and 21st centuries would have touched cords. He goes deep into souls and this is why he doesn’t stop being relevant to pretty much anyone who meets him.

“He goes deep into souls and this is why he doesn’t stop being relevant to pretty much anyone who meets him.”

Q: Your talk focuses on Dante’s influence on popular culture. Do you continue to be surprised by his impact? Where is the unlikeliest place where Dante’s influence has appeared?

A: No, I’m not surprised by his influence, although some of the places he appears make me laugh!

I will show this in the talk, but a Dante body painting competition is one that struck me as slightly unlikely – it’s how relevant it keeps to Dante though that’s the thing…

Q: What are you currently working on? Are there any other projects that you would like to tell us about?

A: There are aspects of Dante illustration that have not been explored – not even by the academics, who are often more concerned by the textual analysis. And I intend to see what I can do about that – without giving anything more away. Just a question of watch this space…

Thank you to Emma for taking the time to answer our questions.

Interview with Professor Alice Larkin

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Q: To begin, could you briefly describe your motivations behind entering climate science?

A: I was a keen star gazer as a child, and enjoyed maths, so ended up studying physics with astrophysics. I always also had a great passion for the outdoors. So, when thinking about future careers, I was keen to apply my skills to focus on this planet, rather than the ones I would star gaze as a child. I chose to do a PhD in climate modelling, which linked up my two interests, as the study was about the sun’s natural variability – how the solar cycles influenced the composition and circulation of the atmosphere.

Q: Starting at home, what do you believe are the day-to-day changes people can make to help combat the climate crisis?

A: Firstly, having a think about the kinds of things you typically do. We are all different. Some people will spend more time travelling either at home or abroad than others. Some may find they like their home to be a very warm environment, others cooler. Others may be fans of shopping, always wanting the latest gizmo. Different people’s lives will have different amounts of greenhouse gases associated with them – so using one of the available online carbon calculators to firstly understand which elements of your life might be making the biggest contribution, is a useful start. It is also the case that on average, the more disposable income you have, the higher your emissions will be. For example, most people don’t fly much, but some fly a lot. Flying is the most carbon intensive thing most of us do as individuals, so if this is you, then the quickest way to make a big dint in your emissions is to reduce the number of times you fly, and/or the distance you travel.

“Flying is the most carbon intensive thing most of us do as individuals, so… the quickest way to make a big dint in your emissions is to reduce the number of times you fly.”

But it isn’t all about individual action. We all live and work in communities and wider society. We influence each other’s choices and decisions. This might be through inviting someone to a hen party overseas, or simply having a chat about how you travel to work. It might also be that you have influence in your job – so teachers can influence pupils, I can influence students and staff etc. If you are in a position that has influence within an organisation, you may also be able to develop or support policies that cut emissions. This can be very powerful – not just thinking of ourselves as individuals is key to radically cutting emissions on a large scale.

Q: Do you feel enough is being done to combat the damaging effects that flying has on the climate? Is the industry evolving – or is it the responsibility of the consumer?

A: No, not enough is being done. We are practically still in the position we were in when I started researching this in 2003. Technologies to cut CO2 in aviation are few and far between, and with aircraft lasting 20-30 years, progress and change will always be slow. Consumer pressure is very important. Not just in relation to reducing our own flying activities, but also influencing policymakers to make difficult decisions, such as stopping the expansion of our airports, or bringing in prices such that the pollution that is produced by aircraft is taxed more fairly. At the moment there are exemptions on fuel used for international flights.

“Consumer pressure is very important. Not just in relation to reducing our own flying activities, but also influencing policymakers to make difficult decisions, such as stopping the expansion of our airports.”

Writing to your local MP shouldn’t be underestimated. Matters that voters contact MPs about do have traction, and it doesn’t take many letters on the same topic to prompt further discussion in parliament.

Q: What are some of the more shocking statistics that you think people should be aware of in terms of the damaging effect that flying has on the environment?

A: Travelling on a long-haul first-class flight can be over 130 times worse in terms of CO2 emissions than travelling by international rail. Most people compare sources of emissions in terms of CO2, but aircraft cause more warming than other modes due to other emissions released at altitude. Estimates vary on how much more damaging this is, but estimates are that 3 times more warming has been caused by aircraft than would have happened if the only emission was CO2.

Q: The damage flying has on the climate is widely publicised – whereas the effects of shipping perhaps less so. How do the two industries differ in relation to negative impact on the environment, and which industry is making greater progress in terms of safeguarding our future?

A: This is a difficult question – I could write a long essay here!

They both have quite a similar impact globally in terms of CO2. But one is principally used for leisure and by a small proportion of the population. Whereas the other is principally used for freight, and serves people all over the world with food, energy, manufactured goods and raw materials. In terms of options to cut emissions, shipping has many more options available, including slowing down – which may sound odd, but actually with just modest speed reductions, CO2 emissions drop significantly. Shipping now has a target to cut CO2 by 50% by 2050. This isn’t sufficient to align the sector with the Paris Climate Agreement but is more ambitious that the aviation sector, which continues to rely on offsetting schemes and action by industry but without a sector-wide agreed target.

Q: What are you currently researching and working on? Are there any exciting projects you’d like to alert us to?

I’m current focused on shipping more than aviation.  We are quantifying some of the impacts of fuel changes on ship patterns, as well as further work on how to decarbonise ships using wind propulsion with route optimisation. Another project I’m involved with is trying to see what role ammonia or hydrogen might have as a shipping fuel, and whether or not connections between fuel supply chains for aviation and shipping might influence each other.  I’d like to be working on more projects but unfortunately, most of my job is focused on more managerial tasks as the moment – as Head of the Engineering School. As such, I rely heavily on a great team of researchers in the Tyndall Centre in Manchester to keep me up to date.

Thank you to Alice for taking the time to answer our questions.

Interview with Professor Eleanor Stride

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Q: Your CV is littered with qualifications and awards — a Philip Leverhulme Prize, The Royal Society Interface Award, an Engineering Medal at the Parliamentary Science, Engineering & Technology for Britain awards — but which part of your success are you the proudest of?

A: For me it’s the work that we’ve been doing that we’re now translating into the clinic – specifically for the treatment of pancreatic cancer and chronic infection.  The first time we saw a beneficial effect in human volunteer was incredibly exciting!

Q: How long have we been studying the use of microbubbles in cancer treatment? Have we realised the potential of this technology yet — or have we only scratched the surface?

A: We’ve definitely only scratched the surface!  The first paper published on using ultrasound to enhance drug delivery was published in 1981 and it’s only in the last 5 years that this method has started being tested clinically.

There’s still a huge amount that we need to understand better in terms of fundamental science and that’s vital to make sure we’re using bubbles as safely and effectively as possible. The range of potential applications though is absolutely huge, encompassing neurological diseases, stroke and bacterial infections.

“There’s still a huge amount that we need to understand better in terms of fundamental science and that’s vital to make sure we’re using bubbles as safely and effectively as possible.”

Q: What are the advantages of using microbubbles for targeted drug delivery? And does the process have any drawbacks? 

A: Microbubbles enable us to be much more precise in how we control when and where a drug is delivered because we can destroy them using focused ultrasound at a target site in the body. This greatly reduces the risk of side effects. We can image them non-invasively to check that they’re in the right place. And the movement of the bubbles when we hit them with ultrasound helps to increase the depth to which the drug penetrates, which means we can use much lower doses. There is also increasing evidence that bubbles may stimulate the immune system which could be extremely important in a range of different applications.

The drawbacks of microbubbles are that they are quite fragile so we don’t have very long to complete the treatment. Also, because we have to use ultrasound, the procedure is more complicated than standard chemotherapy and that makes it more expensive.

Q: In 2016, you were recognised as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering. Is the engineering industry now more diverse, or is there still work to be done? If so, what should be done to increase accessibility for women who want to work in engineering?

A: There have definitely been improvements in some areas, certainly the number of female students applying to do Engineering. But it’s far from 50:50 and we still have significant problems both in terms of attracting new engineers and losing them after they complete their first degree or even a PhD.

I think there are several things that need to happen. The first is looking at how science is taught in schools and making sure we do a better job of explaining what engineering actually is.

A lot of people still think it’s something do with engines and “for boys.” There are lots of really fantastic initiatives out there, but we need to keep up the momentum. The problem of retaining talented engineers really worries me. A lot of my students (male and female) look at the work/life balance, salary and working conditions offered by jobs in Engineering and turn away. I find that really surprising given the incredible job satisfaction that Engineering has to offer and the very high pressures that, for example, lawyers or bankers have to work under. But there’s clearly a big problem and we need to fix it.

Engineers are going to become more and more important as we tackle global issues such as climate change and we need to make it something that talented young people want to do.

“Engineers are going to become more and more important as we tackle global issues such as climate change and we need to make it something that talented young people want to do.”

Q: What do you have planned for the future? What are you currently researching?

A: We’re very much hoping to run several clinical trials in the next couple of years. We’ve been badly set back by COVID but hopefully we’ll be back on track soon. We’ve also recently started a major new program on developing new antimicrobial therapies.

Thank you to Eleanor for taking the time to answer our questions.

“I danced here on other peoples’ dreams”

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

How can we build a more diverse, respectful and inclusive society?

Award-winning author, journalist, broadcaster and academic, Professor Gary Younge, shares his personal journey. From growing up as a child in a single parent home to becoming an author and professor.

He reflects on the collective struggles of those that have gone before him. And how it was only through those struggles that opportunities were created for others.

Gary writes:

The diverse, inclusive, respectful society that we wish to build does not exist yet; it is constantly in the making.  We are in some senses closer than we were; although what is gained in one quarter is often conceded in another.  But in almost every sense we are not even close to where we need to be.

The COVID pandemic laid bare both our vulnerabilities and potential.  It exposed the inequalities and precarities that are the fault lines of societal unrest and global inequities.  It has also made the case, as no politician can, that there is such a thing as the common good, that we have a collective responsibility for our common wellbeing and that we are capable of adapting to meet the challenge. We all suffered and we all made sacrifices; we did not, however suffer or sacrifice equally.

But in order to build that diverse, inclusive, respectful world we must first imagine it.  That is precisely what oppressed people have been doing for centuries as they fought for rights that seemed impossible and a world they could not see.  Whatever diversity, inclusivity and respect we have attained thus far has not been the inevitable product of decency, natural evolution or time and tide; it is the product of struggle by generations of people who waged battles they were unlikely to win for a world they did not know was possible.  People who fought not because victory was plausible but because not fighting ensured defeat.

That is also the story of my own unlikely journey from a single parent migrant home to being an author and professor.  But while it is my personal story, it’s not just my personal achievement.  It was the collective struggles of others that have gone before me that made that journey possible.  That suggests that there are myriad other journeys, yet to be made to destinations unknown, that we can make possible through our struggles today.

Looking inside volcanoes

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Volcanoes are big, hot, loud, and scary.  Because of this, we know little of their internal structure or underlying ‘plumbing system’, despite them representing a global natural hazard.

In this talk, Professor Christopher Jackson shows how new 3D seismic imaging techniques – essentially X-ray scanning of the Earth – can be used to illuminate the structure of volcanoes and the evolution of their underlying ‘hot rocks’.

Christopher is passionate about communicating science to the public and was one of the Royal Institution Christmas lecturers in 2020 for the series ‘Planet Earth – a user’s guide’, focussing on how we can achieve a sustainable future.

He has also appeared in ‘Expedition Volcano’ a BBC2 series with a team of international volcanologists visiting two of the world’s most volatile and spectacular volcanoes – in DRC and Rwanda.  He released a very well-received Audible podcast ‘The Grown Up’s Guide to Planet Earth’.

Christopher is keen to inspire young people in science, particularly from under-represented groups, aiming for a future geoscience community that is far more diverse and inclusive.

What drives Russia to confront the West?

Posted on: August 15th, 2022 by mlpEditor

*This online event took place in January 2021, before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The relationship between Russia and the West is once again deep in crisis. Russia’s actions since 2014 have removed all doubt in Europe and North America on the nature of the challenge from Moscow. But why does Russia behave like this and what are the driving factors for its clear enmity towards the West?

The answer can be found in seeing the world as it looks from Moscow.  Through Western eyes, Russia appears unpredictable and irrational.  Yet Russian leaders from the czars to Vladimir Putin have followed a consistent internal logic when dealing with their own country and the world outside.

In fact, what surprises some Western observers so much about Moscow’s current behaviour is simply Russia reverting to type.  But this also gives the West pointers for how to behave — and how not to — to rebuild a working relationship with Russia.

Hopes for a better relationship with Moscow must not be based on the assumption that Moscow will change in the short term.  Instead, the fundamental requirement for a stable and realistic relationship is recognition that Russia is not, and never has been, part of the West. And it does not share its assumptions, goals, values or interests.

Climate change: the urgency for action now

Posted on: August 11th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Policy positions and interventions show global warming is still underestimated, or misunderstood. Can we still win back the chance of surviving and thriving?

In this talk, Professor Sir David King argues that ‘climate repair’ offers a scalable, safe recipe for future climate stability.  The strategy applies immediate climate repair measures: very rapid progress to net zero global emissions; additional reduction of the volume of atmospheric greenhouse gases; and halting the heating of the Earth and its oceans. ‘Climate repair’ will refreeze Earth’s poles and the glaciers of the Himalayas. It will stabilise sea level and break feedback loops that relentlessly accelerate global warming.

Net zero emissions exist as a target for about 70% of the world’s economies, over a range of timescales.  This target offers an important starting point for climate repair.  But emissions reductions must become more rapid than current proposals. And combined with speedy expansion of carbon sinks to create negative growth of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs).

‘Net-zero’ alone is insufficient. Net-negative emissions will provide foundations for shifting current dangerous GHGs back towards pre-industrial levels that underpinned stable, hospitable climate patterns for millennia.

We can choose our future

Posted on: August 11th, 2022 by mlpEditor

Would you change your flying habits or aspirations to combat climate change?

Anthropogenic climate change is the greatest challenge that humanity has ever faced.  Yet the fact that we know humans created this challenge can be empowering. It means that we have some control over how much future climate change we will all need to adapt to.

In richer countries, our per person emissions are very high and will need to be cut significantly. Our choices also have an influence over others’ futures, where per person emissions are very low. And these tend to be places where climate impacts will be most keenly felt.

Professor Alice Larkin’s talk focusses on the scale of the climate change challenge and why it matters that we make different choices now.  In particular, it will use aviation and shipping to highlight some of what needs to change, and how to influence it.

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