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Author |
Annys, S.; Van Passel, S.; Dessein, J.; Adgo, E.; Nyssen, J. |
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Title |
From fast-track implementation to livelihood deterioration: The dam-based Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project in Northwest Ethiopia |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year  |
2020 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
184 |
Issue |
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Pages |
102909-102913 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Engineering Management (ENM) |
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Abstract |
The 21st century revival of large-scale water resources development projects makes it important to keep assessing their impacts – preferably from an interdisciplinary perspective – in order to not repeat past mistakes and explore whether they could improve livelihood conditions for rural communities. In this study, costs and benefits of the World Bank-funded Ribb Irrigation and Drainage Project (RIDP) were investigated using a unique systems approach. The impact for farmers with different initial farming systems (rainfed – residual moisture – irrigated) was studied using field observations, document analyses, remote sensing, agronomic data and semi-structured interviews (n = 165). Data on project-induced changes to land and water availability, cropping patterns, farming systems and farm-level economics were collected. The results show that dam and dyke construction has reduced flooding, which has resulted in declining rice productivity ( – 42%) and concomitant shifts to lower value cropping systems. Results also reveal that the land redistribution has caused widespread livelihood deterioration as households had to give up 25% of their farmland and the communal grazing land was fully converted into farmland. Due to top-down implementation, nontransparent communication, delayed construction and lagging financial compensation, social resistance has appeared in the command area, impeding the construction works. In addition to these problems, if no rapid change to higher value crops can be realized, 20.5% of the farmers (those who already irrigate) will experience a loss of livelihood, 64.1% of the farmers (those with rainfed and residual moisture cultivation) will be on the verge of livelihood deterioration and only 13.5% of the farmers (those with solely rainfed cultivation) will enjoy RIDP-induced improved livelihoods. The fate of this project stresses the importance of investigating initial farming systems, exploring worthy project alternatives, improving participation, communication and benefit-sharing and strengthening the institutional capacity of implementing authorities. |
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Wos |
000564756600013 |
Publication Date |
2020-08-08 |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
6.6 |
Times cited |
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Open Access |
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Notes |
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Approved |
Most recent IF: 6.6; 2020 IF: 2.571 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:172030 |
Serial |
6927 |
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Author |
Moretti, M.; De Boni, A.; Roma, R.; Fracchiolla, M.; Van Passel, S. |
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Title |
Integrated assessment of agro-ecological systems : the case study of the “Alta Murgia” National park in Italy |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2016 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
144 |
Issue |
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Pages |
144-155 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Engineering Management (ENM) |
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Abstract |
Several indicators and methods are already applied for sustainability assessment in agriculture. The links between sustainability indicators, agricultural management and policies are not well explained. The aim of this study is to combine biophysical and monetary sustainability assessment tools to support agriculture policy decision-making. Three methodological steps are considered: i) the environmental impacts of farms are assessed using terrestrial acidification, freshwater eutrophication, soil and freshwater ecotoxicity as well as natural land transformation; ii) the most relevant indicators of agriculture damages on ecosystems quality are aggregated into an index; iii) the farms' index scores are integrated with farm assets, land and labor, into the Sustainable Value approach (SVA), as indicator of natural resources used by farms. As a case study, the methodology was applied to arable farms with and without animal husbandry of the “Alta Murgia” National Park. The crop farms, in our sample, have a higher sustainable value using their economic and environmental resources. Mixed farms need to improve their resources use efficiency. Although crop farms have lower land-use efficiency compared to mixed farms, our results suggest supporting, by means of policy options, the specialized crop farms that, on average, perform better in terms of ecosystems quality preservation. Finally, we find that Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to soundly measure the environmental impacts clearly enriches the SVA. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Wos |
000373553100014 |
Publication Date |
2016-02-27 |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.571 |
Times cited |
6 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
; We would like to thank the editor and the anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions and insightful comments that have significantly improved the paper. The authors want to thank the “Alta Murgia” Park Authority for the support in this study and all farmers that collaborated with the authors providing data. Moreover, the authors want to thank Dr. Sylvestre Njakou Djomo for the useful discussion and suggestion to build the LCA model. ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.571 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:133254 |
Serial |
6218 |
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Author |
Pacini, G.C.; Merante, P.; Lazzerini, G.; Van Passel, S. |
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Title |
Increasing the cost-effectiveness of EU agri-environment policy measures through evaluation of farm and field-level environmental and economic performance |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
136 |
Issue |
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Pages |
70-78 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Economics; Engineering Management (ENM) |
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Abstract |
A lot of attention in the debate on the 2014-2020 programming period of the EU CAP and rural development policy revolves around the policy's contribution to enhancing resource use efficiency, decreasing environmental impact, restoring ecosystems and how to ensure more efficient and effective agrienvironmental measures (AEMs). Nevertheless, studies that simultaneously address multiple measures with multiple environmental objectives and targets are underrepresented in the scientific literature. The objectives of the present article are (i) to present an integrated tool-kit for AEM design resulting from the combination of farm modelling with the Sustainable Value Approach (SVA), and (ii) to evaluate the potential of the tool-kit to support AEM design through an application to estimate cost-effective organic agriculture payments for the dairy sector in Mugello, northern Tuscany. Sustainability assessment of organic and conventional farming systems (OFS and CFS, respectively.) under the 2007-2013 EU CAP support schemes and a no EU support scenario show better OFS performances regarding nitrogen leaching (-52% and -47% under the current CAP and the no EU support scenarios, respectively), soil erosion (-24% and -34%), potential pesticide risks (-100%), biodiversity (+13% and +30%). Income foregone for the production of environmental benefits from organic agriculture under a no EU support scenario is equal to 210 Euro/ha. Sustainable value calculations combined with modelling results indicate soil erosion and nitrogen leaching as the environmental processes to be addressed with specific policy measures to further increase the efficiency of organic farming. A new organic agriculture support scheme designed based on such indications further increases the OFS SV and almost closes the GAP with a benchmark farm of the area, featured with ideal performances in terms of environmental and economic indicators. The payment scheme we designed with the support of the integrated tool-kit shows to be more cost-effective and efficient of current AEMs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Wos |
000354503000007 |
Publication Date |
2015-03-18 |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.571 |
Times cited |
12 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
; We wish to thank all participants to the SVAPPAS project for their inspiring contributions and challenging debates. We are furthermore grateful to the financial support from the 6th Framework Programme of the EU (project code: SSPECT – 2006 – DG AGRI). The authors are most grateful to technicians Giovanna Casella and Roberto Vivoli (University of Florence) for their technical contribution. ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.571; 2015 IF: 2.906 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:127537 |
Serial |
6216 |
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Author |
Merante, P.; Van Passel, S.; Pacini, C. |
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Title |
Using agro-environmental models to design a sustainable benchmark for the sustainable value method |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
136 |
Issue |
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Pages |
1-13 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Economics; Engineering Management (ENM) |
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Abstract |
Farms contribute heavily to overall sustainability. To date, various frameworks, approaches, methods and indicators have been developed to appraise how much corporations (firms, farms) contribute to sustainability. Among these, the Sustainable Value (SV) method helps to determine by which economic entity resources should be used in order to achieve the highest contributions to sustainability, by comparing company's efficiency of capital use against the efficiency of a benchmark. In this work we argue that the SV benchmark does not include certain crucial environmental concepts, such as the carrying capacity of an ecosystem or the multiple vital functions provided by ecosystem services. Thus, it is not a suitable reference for companies to evaluate their contribution to sustainability. As an alternative benchmark to standard SV applications, we propose a farm whose resource use productivity is correlated to the fulfilment of pre-determined environmental constraints: the Environmentally Sustainable Farm (ESF). To design this farm, we created an agro-environmental farm modelling framework that includes: (i) methods and approaches to assess indicators concerning specific environmental issues; (ii) an integrated ecological-economic model based on linear programming. This farm modelling framework is employed to determine both the environmental performance and the economic returns of two farming systems, conventional (CFS) and organic (OFS), which are compared using the Sustainable Value approach. Despite the fact that the OFS environmentally outperforms the CFS, none of them reaches the sustainable performances achieved by the ESF, both performing a negative Sustainable Value. The environmental constraints forced the ESF towards management choices that, although decreasing the economic performance, increase its environmental sustainability behaviour. Hence, the ESF is a viable benchmark that can be used to evaluate llllfarms' environmental sustainability. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Wos |
000354503000001 |
Publication Date |
2015-02-25 |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.571 |
Times cited |
6 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
; We wish to thank all participants to the SVAPPAS project for their inspiring contributions and challenging debates. Furthermore, we are grateful to the financial support from the 6th Framework Programme of the EU (project code: SSPECT – 2006 – DG AGRI). The authors thank the technicians Giovanna Casella and Roberto Vivoli (University of Florence) for their technical contribution. ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.571; 2015 IF: 2.906 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:127536 |
Serial |
6275 |
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Author |
Meul, M.; Van Middelaar, C.E.; de Boer, I.J.M.; Van Passel, S.; Fremaut, D.; Haesaert, G. |
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Title |
Potential of life cycle assessment to support environmental decision making at commercial dairy farms |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
131 |
Issue |
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Pages |
105-115 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article; Engineering Management (ENM) |
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Abstract |
In this paper, we evaluate the potential of life cycle assessment (LCA) to support environmental decision making at commercial dairy farms. To achieve this, we follow a four-step method that allows converting environmental assessment results using LCA into case-specific advice for farmers. This is illustrated in a case-study involving 20 specialized Flemish dairy farms. Calculated LCA indicators are normalized into scores between 0 and 100, whereby a score of 100 is assumed optimal, to allow for a mutual comparison of indicators for different environmental impact categories. Next, major farm and management characteristics affecting environmental performance are identified using multiple regression and correlation analyses. Finally, comparing specific farm and management characteristics with those of best performing farms identifies farm-specific optimization strategies. We conclude that this approach complies with most of the identified critical success factors for the successful implementation of LCA as a decision support system for farmers. Key aspects herein are (i) the flexibility and accessibility of the model, (ii) the use of readily available farm data, (iii) farm advisors being intended model users, (iv) the identification of key farm and management characteristics affecting environmental performance and (v) the organization of discussion sessions involving farmers and farm advisors. However, attention should be paid (i) to provide sufficient training and guidance for farm advisors on the use of the applied LCA model and the interpretation of results, (ii) to evaluate the correctness of the used data and (iii) to keep the model up-to-date according to new scientific insights and knowledge concerning LCA methodology. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Wos |
000343955300011 |
Publication Date |
2014-09-15 |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.571 |
Times cited |
25 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
; ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.571; 2014 IF: 2.906 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:127540 |
Serial |
6238 |
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Author |
van Winsen, F.; de Mey, Y.; Lauwers, L.; Van Passel, S.; Vancauteren, M.; Wauters, E. |
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Title |
Cognitive mapping : a method to elucidate and present farmers' risk perception |
Type |
A1 Journal article |
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Year |
2013 |
Publication |
Agricultural Systems |
Abbreviated Journal |
Agr Syst |
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Volume |
122 |
Issue |
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Pages |
42-52 |
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Keywords |
A1 Journal article |
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Abstract |
Assumptions on the perceptions of risks, made in agricultural economics literature, are recognized to be over-simplistic. For example most studies assume that risks are independent and static, while in reality most risks are interlinked and dynamic. We propose an alternative method to identify and present risk perception, closer to the actual comprehension of risk by farmers. Grounded theory is used to investigate the perceptions of risk by farmers while avoiding prior assumptions. Main findings are: (i) farmers have difficulty to rank or score probability and impact of risks in a (semi)quantitative manner; (ii) farmers attach different meanings to risk, when the focus shifts between, uncertain event, probability or value at stake and; (iii) farmers perceive risks as being interrelated. Based on these findings, we propose that farmers' risk perception can be best understood as a network of interrelated notions of uncertain events, their effects and uncertain outcomes. Furthermore, cognitive mapping is suggested to elucidate and present these networks. We test cognitive mapping, exploring dairy farmers' risk perception, and demonstrate the appropriateness of this methodology for capturing the complexity and context of perceived risk. Advantages are: (i) the qualitative approach, (ii) the focus on interrelations and context, (iii) the applicability at farm level, (iv) the farmer-driven rather than researcher-driven perspective, and (v) the elucidation of the polyvalent use of the risk concept. Cognitive maps can be used as a communication tool, a risk management tool, and a tool to stimulate bi-directional learning amongst farmers, policy makers, researchers and extension agents. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. |
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Wos |
000326910500005 |
Publication Date |
2013-09-12 |
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Series Editor |
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Abbreviated Series Title |
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Series Volume |
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Series Issue |
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Edition |
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ISSN |
0308-521x |
ISBN |
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Additional Links |
UA library record; WoS full record; WoS citing articles |
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Impact Factor |
2.571 |
Times cited |
27 |
Open Access |
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Notes |
; We would like to acknowledge the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology of the Flemish Government (IWT) for funding this research. Furthermore we would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable input. ; |
Approved |
Most recent IF: 2.571; 2013 IF: 2.453 |
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Call Number |
UA @ admin @ c:irua:112765 |
Serial |
6168 |
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