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Zellers S, van Dongen J, Maes HHM, Ollikainen M, Fang F, Vrieze S, Kaprio J, Boomsma DI. A Bivariate Twin Study of Lifetime cannabis Initiation and Lifetime Regular Tobacco Smoking Across Three Different Countries. Behav Genet 2024; 54:375-385. [PMID: 39078541 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-024-10190-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 07/31/2024]
Abstract
Regular cigarette smoking and cannabis consumption are strongly positively related to each other, yet few studies explore their underlying variation and covariation. We evaluated the genetic and environmental decomposition of variance and covariance of these two traits in twin data from three countries with different social norms and legislation. Data from the Netherlands Twin Register, FinnTwin12/16, and the Minnesota Center for Twin Family Research (total N = 21,617) were analyzed in bivariate threshold models of lifetime regular smoking initiation (RSI) and lifetime cannabis initiation (CI). We ran unstratified models and models stratified by sex and country. Prevalence of RSI was lowest in the Netherlands and prevalence of CI was highest in Minnesota. In the unstratified model, genetic (A) and common environmental factors (C) contributed substantially to the liabilities of RSI (A = 0.47, C = 0.34) and CI (A = 0.28, C = 0.51). The two liabilities were significantly phenotypically (rP = 0.56), genetically (rA = 0.74), and environmentally correlated in the unstratified model (rC = 0.47and rE = 0.48, representing correlations between common and unique environmental factors). The magnitude of phenotypic correlation between liabilities varied by country but not sex (Minnesota rP ~ 0.70, Netherlands rP ~ 0.59, Finland rP ~ 0.45). Comparisons of decomposed correlations could not be reliably tested in the stratified models. The prevalence and association of RSI and CI vary by sex and country. These two behaviors are correlated because there is genetic and environmental overlap between their underlying latent liabilities. There is heterogeneity in the genetic architecture of these traits across country.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Zellers
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, Helsinki, 00014, Finland.
| | - Jenny van Dongen
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Hermine H M Maes
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Psychiatry and Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Miina Ollikainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
- Minerva Foundation Institute for Medical Research, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Fang Fang
- GenOmics and Translational Research Center, Research Triangle Institute International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Scott Vrieze
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Jaakko Kaprio
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, Helsinki, 00014, Finland
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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2
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Hernandez Mejia M, Courtney KE, Wade NE, Wallace A, Baca RE, Shen Q, Happer JP, Jacobus J. The Combined Effects of Nicotine and Cannabis on Cortical Thickness Estimates in Adolescents and Emerging Adults. Brain Sci 2024; 14:195. [PMID: 38539584 PMCID: PMC10967898 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14030195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Early life substance use, including cannabis and nicotine, may result in deleterious effects on the maturation of brain tissue and gray matter cortical development. The current study employed linear regression models to investigate the main and interactive effects of past-year nicotine and cannabis use on gray matter cortical thickness estimates in 11 bilateral independent frontal cortical regions in 223 16-22-year-olds. As the frontal cortex develops throughout late adolescence and young adulthood, this period becomes crucial for studying the impact of substance use on brain structure. The distinct effects of nicotine and cannabis use status on cortical thickness were found bilaterally, as cannabis and nicotine users both had thinner cortices than non-users. Interactions between nicotine and cannabis were also observed, in which cannabis use was associated with thicker cortices for those with a history of nicotine and tobacco product (NTP) use in three left frontal regions. This study sheds light on the intricate relationship between substance use and brain structure, suggesting a potential modulation of cannabis' impact on cortical thickness by nicotine exposure, and emphasizing the need for further longitudinal research to characterize these interactions and their implications for brain health and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margie Hernandez Mejia
- San Diego State University/University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA 92182, USA
| | - Kelly E. Courtney
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Natasha E. Wade
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Alexander Wallace
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Rachel E. Baca
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Qian Shen
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | | | - Joanna Jacobus
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
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3
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Su J, Kuo SIC, Aliev F, Rabinowitz JA, Jamil B, Chan G, Edenberg HJ, Francis M, Hesselbrock V, Kamarajan C, Kinreich S, Kramer J, Lai D, McCutcheon V, Meyers J, Pandey A, Pandey G, Plawecki MH, Schuckit M, Tischfield J, Dick DM. Alcohol use polygenic risk score, social support, and alcohol use among European American and African American adults. Dev Psychopathol 2023:1-13. [PMID: 37781861 PMCID: PMC10985050 DOI: 10.1017/s0954579423001141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/03/2023]
Abstract
Alcohol use is influenced by genetic and environmental factors. We examined the interactive effects between genome-wide polygenic risk scores for alcohol use (alc-PRS) and social support in relation to alcohol use among European American (EA) and African American (AA) adults across sex and developmental stages (emerging adulthood, young adulthood, and middle adulthood). Data were drawn from 4,011 EA and 1,274 AA adults from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism who were between ages 18-65 and had ever used alcohol. Participants completed the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism and provided saliva or blood samples for genotyping. Results indicated that social support from friends, but not family, moderated the association between alc-PRS and alcohol use among EAs and AAs (only in middle adulthood for AAs); alc-PRS was associated with higher levels of alcohol use when friend support was low, but not when friend support was high. Associations were similar across sex but differed across developmental stages. Findings support the important role of social support from friends in buffering genetic risk for alcohol use among EA and AA adults and highlight the need to consider developmental changes in the role of social support in relation to alcohol use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinni Su
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Sally I-Chun Kuo
- Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Fazil Aliev
- Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Jill A Rabinowitz
- Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Belal Jamil
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Grace Chan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Howard J Edenberg
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Meredith Francis
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Victor Hesselbrock
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA
| | - Chella Kamarajan
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA
| | - Sivan Kinreich
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA
| | - John Kramer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Donbing Lai
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Vivia McCutcheon
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Jacquelyn Meyers
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA
| | - Ashwini Pandey
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA
| | - Gayathri Pandey
- Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, USA
| | | | - Marc Schuckit
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jay Tischfield
- Department of Genetics, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Danielle M Dick
- Rutgers Addiction Research Center, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
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Kutzner J, Elam KK, Ha T. Genetic influences on the interplay between obsessive-compulsive behavior symptoms and cannabis use during adolescence. J Adolesc 2023; 95:427-436. [PMID: 36443914 PMCID: PMC10588756 DOI: 10.1002/jad.12125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Revised: 10/05/2022] [Accepted: 11/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION There are overlapping biological origins and behaviors associated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and cannabis use. There is also evidence that OCS and cannabis use are associated over time. Thus, we investigated polygenic predisposition for OCS as predictive of OCS and cannabis use from age 17 to 19. We hypothesized that greater genetic risk for OCS would predict both OCS and cannabis use. METHODS The current study used participants from the Project Alliance 1 study, a US-based sample, for whom genomic, OCS, and cannabis use data were available (n = 547). Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were formed via a meta-genome-wide association study on OCS and examined as a predictor of OCS and cannabis use at age 17 and 19. The sample was diverse (52.4% male; 45% European American, 30% African American, 14% multiracial, 5% Hispanic/Latino, 4% Asian American, and 2% other groups). Sensitivity analysis was performed by gender for European American and African American subsamples. RESULTS Across the whole sample, the greater polygenic risk for OCS was negatively associated with cannabis use at age 17 and positively associated with OCS at 19. Cannabis use at age 17 was positively associated with OCS at age 19. The association between polygenic risk for OCS and cannabis use at age 17 was replicated in European American males, whereas the association between cannabis use at age 17 and OCS at age 19 was replicated in African American males. CONCLUSIONS Cannabis use may exacerbate OCS through adolescence, and genetic predisposition for OCS may be associated with lower cannabis use in efforts to avoid exacerbation of OCS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jodi Kutzner
- Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Kit K. Elam
- Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Thao Ha
- Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
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5
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Kember RL, Hartwell EE, Xu H, Rotenberg J, Almasy L, Zhou H, Gelernter J, Kranzler HR. Phenome-wide Association Analysis of Substance Use Disorders in a Deeply Phenotyped Sample. Biol Psychiatry 2023; 93:536-545. [PMID: 36273948 PMCID: PMC9931661 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Revised: 06/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Substance use disorders (SUDs) are associated with a variety of co-occurring psychiatric disorders and other SUDs, which partly reflects genetic pleiotropy. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) and phenome-wide association studies are useful in evaluating pleiotropic effects. However, the comparatively low prevalence of SUDs in population samples and the lack of detailed information available in electronic health records limit these data sets' informativeness for such analyses. METHODS We used the deeply phenotyped Yale-Penn sample (n = 10,610 with genetic data; 46.3% African ancestry, 53.7% European ancestry) to examine pleiotropy for 4 major substance-related traits: alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, smoking initiation, and lifetime cannabis use. The sample includes both affected and control subjects interviewed using the Semi-Structured Assessment for Drug Dependence and Alcoholism, a comprehensive psychiatric interview. RESULTS In African ancestry individuals, PRS for alcohol use disorder, and in European individuals, PRS for alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, and smoking initiation were associated with their respective primary DSM diagnoses. These PRSs were also associated with additional phenotypes involving the same substance. Phenome-wide association study analyses of PRS in European individuals identified associations across multiple phenotypic domains, including phenotypes not commonly assessed in phenome-wide association study analyses, such as family environment and early childhood experiences. CONCLUSIONS Smaller, deeply phenotyped samples can complement large biobank genetic studies with limited phenotyping by providing greater phenotypic granularity. These efforts allow associations to be identified between specific features of disorders and genetic liability for SUDs, which help to inform our understanding of the pleiotropic pathways underlying them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel L Kember
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
| | - Emily E Hartwell
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Heng Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - James Rotenberg
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Laura Almasy
- Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Department of Genetics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| | - Hang Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut
| | - Joel Gelernter
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Connecticut; Departments of Genetics and Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Henry R Kranzler
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Barr PB, Driver MN, Kuo SIC, Stephenson M, Aliev F, Linnér RK, Marks J, Anokhin AP, Bucholz K, Chan G, Edenberg HJ, Edwards AC, Francis MW, Hancock DB, Harden KP, Kamarajan C, Kaprio J, Kinreich S, Kramer JR, Kuperman S, Latvala A, Meyers JL, Palmer AA, Plawecki MH, Porjesz B, Rose RJ, Schuckit MA, Salvatore JE, Dick DM. Clinical, environmental, and genetic risk factors for substance use disorders: characterizing combined effects across multiple cohorts. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:4633-4641. [PMID: 36195638 PMCID: PMC9938102 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01801-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Substance use disorders (SUDs) incur serious social and personal costs. The risk for SUDs is complex, with risk factors ranging from social conditions to individual genetic variation. We examined whether models that include a clinical/environmental risk index (CERI) and polygenic scores (PGS) are able to identify individuals at increased risk of SUD in young adulthood across four longitudinal cohorts for a combined sample of N = 15,134. Our analyses included participants of European (NEUR = 12,659) and African (NAFR = 2475) ancestries. SUD outcomes included: (1) alcohol dependence, (2) nicotine dependence; (3) drug dependence, and (4) any substance dependence. In the models containing the PGS and CERI, the CERI was associated with all three outcomes (ORs = 01.37-1.67). PGS for problematic alcohol use, externalizing, and smoking quantity were associated with alcohol dependence, drug dependence, and nicotine dependence, respectively (OR = 1.11-1.33). PGS for problematic alcohol use and externalizing were also associated with any substance dependence (ORs = 1.09-1.18). The full model explained 6-13% of the variance in SUDs. Those in the top 10% of CERI and PGS had relative risk ratios of 3.86-8.04 for each SUD relative to the bottom 90%. Overall, the combined measures of clinical, environmental, and genetic risk demonstrated modest ability to distinguish between affected and unaffected individuals in young adulthood. PGS were significant but added little in addition to the clinical/environmental risk index. Results from our analysis demonstrate there is still considerable work to be done before tools such as these are ready for clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter B Barr
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
- VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
| | - Morgan N Driver
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Sally I-Chun Kuo
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Mallory Stephenson
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Fazil Aliev
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Rutgers Addiction Research Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | | | - Jesse Marks
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Division, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Andrey P Anokhin
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Kathleen Bucholz
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Grace Chan
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Howard J Edenberg
- Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Alexis C Edwards
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Meredith W Francis
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Dana B Hancock
- Biostatistics and Epidemiology Division, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, Durham, NC, USA
| | - K Paige Harden
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Chella Kamarajan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Jaakko Kaprio
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sivan Kinreich
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - John R Kramer
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Samuel Kuperman
- Department of Psychiatry, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Antti Latvala
- Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jacquelyn L Meyers
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- VA New York Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Abraham A Palmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Martin H Plawecki
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Bernice Porjesz
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Richard J Rose
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Marc A Schuckit
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jessica E Salvatore
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Danielle M Dick
- Department of Psychiatry, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
- Rutgers Addiction Research Center, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
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