[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 104 (Wednesday, May 29, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26948-26952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-13344]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Discretionary Cooperative Agreements To Support the Demonstration
and Evaluation of the Patterns for Life Program
AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.
ACTION: Announcement of discretionary cooperative agreements to support
the demonstration and evaluation of the Patterns for Life Program.
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SUMMARY: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
announces the availability of FY 1996 discretionary cooperative
agreements to demonstrate the effectiveness of using health/medical
organizations to establish an infrastructure of credible program
efforts pertaining to child passenger safety, child pedestrian safety
and bicycle helmet safety. This notice solicits applications from
national health and medical related organizations that are interested
in developing and implementing community partnerships with local law
enforcement, fire and rescue, child care providers, state and local
governments, educational institutions, local child safety seat
distributors and trainers to establish an infrastructure of
knowledgeable and skilled partners at the state and local level.
DATES: Applications must be received at the office designated below on
or before July 10, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Applications must be submitted to the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration, Office of Contracts and Procurement
(NAD-30), Attention: Karen S. Brockmeier, 400 7th Street SW., Room
5301, Washington DC 20590. All applications submitted must include a
reference to NHTSA Cooperative Agreement Program Number DTNH22-96-H-
05194, and identify the program approach for which the application is
submitted. Interested applicants are advised that no separate
application package exists beyond the contents of this announcement.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
General administrative questions may be directed to Karen S.
Brockmeier, Office of Contracts and Procurement, at (202) 366-9567.
Programmatic questions relating to this cooperative agreement program
should be directed to Ms. Cheryl Neverman, National Organizations
Division, Office of Occupant Protection, (NTS-11) NHTSA, 400 7th Street
SW., Room 5118, Washington, DC 20590 (202) 366-2696.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The need to establish a community infrastructure that can
accommodate on-going training needs as child transportation technology
and issues change has emerged as a priority for the nation. The
Department of Transportation, NHTSA, is initiating a new program
effort, Patterns for Life, in FY 1996 to provide outreach to state and
local communities on issues focused on child passenger, pedestrian, and
bicycle helmet safety. The goal of this program effort is to establish
lifelong safety habits that set a pattern of safety for children. The
health/medical community is often the first and most continuous contact
that new or expectant parents have when pregnant and during the first
formative years of a child's life. It is at this time that ``patterns''
of behavior are established which may have lasting impact on a child's
lifetime safety habits.
Under this cooperative agreement program, the effectiveness of
using health and medical organizations to conduct child traffic safety
initiatives shall be demonstrated and evaluated to determine the impact
on reducing motor vehicle injuries and associated costs to the
community. Specific objectives for this cooperative agreement are as
follows:
Increasing the public's awareness of the importance of
child passenger, child pedestrian and helmet safety through community
partnerships;
Performing aggressive community outreach service through
dedicated support (e.g. paid advertising) and earned media (e.g.
articles in newspaper, story on evening news);
Maintaining partnerships in order to preserve existing
child safety programs;
Increasing the correct use of child restraints, safety
belts, and bicycle helmets;
Providing comprehensive education and outreach to high-
risk, underserved, and culturally diverse populations using updated
educational materials and new publications;
Encouraging vigorous enforcement of existing child
passenger safety, safety belt, and bicycle helmet use laws;
Encouraging the enactment of bicycle helmet laws and
upgrades of existing laws to cover children in all vehicle seating
positions with correct restraint use;
Increasing public awareness and education of the benefits
and the dangers of air bags; especially as they interact with children
who are unrestrained, improperly restrained, or in rear-facing child
seats;
Measuring program effectiveness and sharing success
stories to encourage public use and support; and
Establishing and maintaining a health/medical
infrastructure at the community level which can serve as an on-going
resource for the community and contact for future educational and
technological messages.
As the result of high visibility in the media about issues such as
child seat misuse and increased distribution of safety products, such
as the free child seat distribution made possible through the
settlement between General Motors and the Department of Transportation,
the public is seeking more answers to questions about these safety
issues. Similar programs exist for the distribution of free or reduced-
price bicycle helmets. Hundreds of state and local programs have become
distribution sites for these efforts, but little effort has been made
to assure that those involved in the distribution have easy access to
updated training and are able to maintain a source of future
information. Additionally, the strong enforcement of traffic safety
laws and the need to upgrade existing laws or
[[Page 26949]]
implement new laws demands an infrastructure which can provide the
outreach, advocacy and knowledge necessary for success and strong
public support. The health/medical community has been and continues to
be one of the most effective national and community-level leaders in
supporting new legislative efforts. It is also the group that is most
likely to have access to the largest variety of populations, from low-
income to special needs children, especially those considered at high
risk in traffic crashes.
The area of child passenger safety has some unique considerations.
Research has demonstrated that child safety seats, when correctly used,
can reduce fatalities among children less than 5 years of age by 71
percent. This makes child safety seats one of the most effective safety
innovations ever developed. As a result of improvements in the
convenience of the seats, increased availability of free or reduced-
price seats, upgrades and increased enforcement of child passenger
safety laws and public education, the use of child safety seats has
increased dramatically over the past ten years. However, the use rate
for children involved in fatal crashes shows that as many as 40 percent
of these children are still totally unrestrained. Recent studies
confirm the fact that as a child's age increases, the use of any
occupant restraint decreases, as does the use of an occupant restraint
appropriate for a given height and weight. A number of national program
efforts are making child safety seats more available to low-income and
special needs families. Under an agreement with the Department of
Transportation, General Motors will donate a total of eight million
dollars to qualified and selected national organizations to purchase
and distribute child safety seats and ensure that proper use
information is provided to the family recipients. Other community-based
programs featuring free or reduced price child seats offered by
business partners in the local community include the Midas Project Safe
Baby program and Operation Baby Buckle through the SAFE America
Foundation.
In the area of misuse, the degree of compatibility between use of
child restraints and motor vehicles and improper installation are
important in determining the level of effectiveness of the child safety
seat in providing optimum protection in a crash. Even though a child
restraint may perform adequately during compliance testing, if it is
not used properly in or is not compatible with the vehicle seat belts
or seat, its effectiveness in a real crash may be reduced. As
technology changes, the need for maintaining current training for
educators of the public and the media continues to increase.
Educational materials produced just a few years ago may need updating.
The Blue Ribbon Panel on Child Restraint and Vehicle Compatibility, a
group made up of child seat, auto, and equipment manufacturers and
child safety practitioners and advocates, was named by NHTSA
Administrator Ricardo Martinez in 1995 to review child restraint misuse
and compatibility concerns. The Panel announced twenty-seven major
recommendations in June of 1995 including the need to conduct an
intensive educational campaign on correct use and installation of child
safety seats and to make the public aware of emerging incompatibility
issues such as air bags and rear-facing child seats and other common
misuses and compatibility problems. The report encouraged the
government to work collaboratively with groups such as health care and
emergency medical service providers. The efforts are to emphasize
training for child safety professionals who are in a position to reach
out to populations less likely to be reached by a more generic public
information approach.
Public information and education efforts are offered on an on-going
basis through long-time partners such as the American Academy of
Pediatrics. Newer partners, such as Morton, International, an air bag
supplier, have made great strides in developing new educational
materials. New curricula have been developed and training efforts have
been implemented with law enforcement, emergency medical service
providers, child care providers, and child safety advocates such as
local SAFE KIDS coalitions. However, despite many such efforts, the
need remains high to reach out to the local infrastructure and provide
a lasting means of maintaining a network of trainers and educators who
can reach the people who still don't provide proper occupant protection
for their children. In part because of non-use and incorrect use, child
safety seats are not currently saving as many lives as they could save.
Current issues and concerns about safe transportation for children
can be summarized as follows:
--Approximately 40 percent of young children are not protected by child
restraints, with the use rate dropping dramatically as the child grows
older.
--New technology, such as air bags, and compatibility issues resulting
from design changes in vehicle belt and seat systems demand updated
training for those who interact with children and their families.
--Recent studies in patterns of misuse of child seats conform anecdotal
information from advocates conducting child seat clinics and
checkpoints showing misuse rates to be as high as 80 percent. (The
studies did not provide a national misuse rate, nor did they rank the
misuse modes as they would relate to seriousness of potential injury.)
--While all states have primary child passenger safety laws, a number
of states have significant gaps in their child passenger safety and
safety belt laws, allowing children to ride unprotected without threat
of citation.
--As more new vehicles with dual air bags enter the market, there are
increased concerns about children who are riding unrestrained,
incorrectly restrained, or in rear-facing child seats in the front seat
of passenger-side air bag equipped vehicles.
The importance of pedestrian and bicycle safety issues must not be
overlooked when developing community traffic safety initiatives.
Children become pedestrians with their very first step, and their first
mode of transportation is usually a bicycle.
In 1994, 5,472 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes in the
United States. Of these deaths, 1,082 were young people under the age
of twenty. On average, pedestrians are killed in traffic crashes every
ninety-six minutes. Furthermore, the fatality rate for bicyclists is
just as tragic. More than one-third of the bicyclists killed in traffic
crashes were children between five and fifteen years old.
Educating young people about pedestrian and bicycle safety rules,
including always using a certified bicycle helmet, could prevent some
of these tragedies. Few schools provide quality pedestrian safety and
street crossing training, even though the material is readily
available. Increasing age-specific bicycle helmet laws can also prevent
needless deaths and injuries. In fact, as of July 1995, thirteen states
and more than twenty jurisdictions had enacted age-specific bicycle
helmet laws. The stage is set. It is up to those working within the
community infrastructure to establish an outreach system that
incorporates education and training to help young people set a lifelong
pattern of healthy traffic safety habits. This is one of the agency's
greatest concerns.
Community outreach centers were identified and the first training
and
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community outreach materials were provided. Each community center was
provided with basic instruction to enable it to effectively perform its
role as a community child safety seat educator and distribution point.
Concurrent training and outreach programs were conducted among the
national networks of law enforcement, fire and rescue, and health and
safety advocates to prepare local affiliates of these groups to become
partners in community child safety coalitions. Peer-to-peer outreach
programs were established within the law enforcement and fire and
rescue communities to promote participation in Patterns for Life
training and outreach activities. Linkages between these community
partners and the child seat distribution points were initiated.
As these training and outreach efforts were being implemented, new
and updated educational materials were developed. New training
materials include an updated comprehensive child safety seat technical
manual and a complete set of manufacturers' instructions for correct
use of child safety seats. New public information materials include
information on child pedestrian safety and bicycle helmet safety.
Community outreach was further enhanced through cooperative
agreements with several national health and medical organizations.
These agreements provided additional community partnerships and
resources by mobilizing the organizations' state and community
affiliates to directly support local child safety program efforts or to
contribute indirect support, such as endorsement of strong traffic laws
and aggressive law enforcement.
FY 1996 Program
In FY 1996, NHTSA intends to establish cooperative agreements with
national health and medical organizations that have mechanisms to reach
constituencies that can address the program approaches described below.
One cooperative agreement will be awarded for each of these three (3)
program approaches. An applicant organization could be awarded
cooperative agreements for two program approaches, if qualified in both
and based upon submitting two separate applications and budgets. More
than one agreement could be awarded for a program approach if
additional funding becomes available. Following is a description of the
program approaches:
1. Economically Disadvantaged Populations
To achieve NHTSA's goal of educating all American consumers about
the benefits of correctly using child safety seats and bicycle helmets,
and teaching pedestrian safety, additional emphasis is being placed on
reaching individuals who have been identified as being at higher than
average risk of suffering the effects of non-use or incorrect use of
protective devices. Death rates of motor vehicle occupants are greatest
in geographic areas with lowest per capita income. Income, education
and other variables form profiles called socio-economic status (SES).
Recent surveys conducted by NHTSA support previous findings that
individuals who fall into lower SES profiles are less likely to
practice safe transportation habits, which in turn affects their
children's use and misuse levels.
The goal of this program is to identify and develop community
partnerships which can have a significant impact on effectively
reaching these populations with traffic safety education and access to
safe equipment. The program further seeks to explore the means to
maintain this level of community education, awareness, and advocacy as
an on-going effort. This includes identifying how child transportation
safety issues can fit into a health/medical organization's overall
mission, and exploring innovative and long lasting delivery mechanisms.
2. Community-Based Child Passenger Safety
The national promotion of child passenger safety presents unique
program challenges. The rapid turnover of the child passenger safety
audience and educators demands that public education efforts be
intensive and consistent. Each day, new parents (and other child
caretakers) enter the audience and need to be reached with the child
passenger safety message. New technology and emerging issues require
maintaining an on-going means of educating the trainers. It is
essential that we reach each parent quickly and effectively to ensure
that the child is best protected while traveling.
Parents (and other caretakers) need to understand risks and
potential consequences of both non-use and misuse of child occupant
protection. They need to receive education concerning proper seat
selection and specific technical advice pertaining to child seat
compatibility with vehicle belts and seats.
NHTSA has found that health care providers are among the most
credible of educators for parents and the ones most likely to reach the
new parent and to have continued contact through well-child contacts.
Health care providers also serve well as prominent support for
upgrading child passenger safety laws and supporting enhanced
enforcement of these laws.
The goal of this program is to develop a community-based child
passenger safety education and training campaign. The specific
objectives include: Facilitating parent education in health/medical
settings; providing training for patient educators; developing or
adapting appropriate program materials for dissemination through the
organizational network; designing a program effort which encourages the
institutionalization of these educational activities; and providing for
strong advocacy efforts which support legislative and enforcement
goals.
3. Safe Communities Partnerships for Child Transportation Safety
Local community partnerships, formed by public and private sector
groups under the strong leadership of the health/medical community, can
be an effective means of establishing a lasting infrastructure which
will provide on-going educational and advocacy efforts for child
transportation safety issues. Other organizations in the community
would benefit by the health/medical leadership in identifying needs at
the community level and working together to fill gaps in education and
in availability of proper safety devices at an affordable level, in
showing solidarity in legislative and enforcement support, and in
providing access to ongoing, current technological information.
The goal of this program approach is to form lasting community
partnerships to work together to reduce injuries and deaths related to
child passenger, bicycle and pedestrian safety. The specific objectives
are: to establish or work to enhance a local coalition of community
leaders who will collaborate on efforts to prevent child injuries and
fatalities in motor vehicle crashes; to find innovative means at the
local level to maintain the training needs of the local child safety
educators; to develop effective child transportation safety campaigns
that serve the individual needs of the community, to develop or modify
existing materials as appropriate; to expand the outreach of health/
medical professionals to incorporate traffic safety education and
awareness programs; and to measure the
[[Page 26951]]
effectiveness of local efforts on reducing child injuries.
Innovative Approaches
Applicant organizations are encouraged to develop and propose
innovative strategies within these program approaches that are
appropriate for their constituencies. Some examples of activities
follow that have been conducted in the past by national organizations
and others involved in the occupant protection program. These examples
are provided only to stimulate thinking and should not be viewed as
required activities: identify members of the organization (and their
family members) that qualify for ``Saved By the Child Seat/Helmet
Club'' recognition and publicize these survivor stories in
organizational publications; identify materials needed to conduct the
project (this could include handbooks, manuals, brochures, posters,
audio-visuals, etc.); publish articles in organizational newsletters,
magazines, and/or journals; encourage and assist organizations in
adopting a national policy resolution for child transportation safety.
NHTS Involvement
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Office
of Occupant Protection (OOP), will be involved in all activities
undertaken as part of the cooperative agreement program and will:
1. Provide a Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR)
to participate in the planning and management of the cooperative
agreement and to coordinate activities between the organization and
OOP;
2. Provide information, educational materials and curricula, and
technical assistance from government sources within available resources
and as determined appropriate by the COTR;
3. Provide liaison with other government/private agencies as
appropriate; and
4. Stimulate the exchange of ideas and information among
cooperative agreement recipients through periodic meetings.
Period of Support
Subject to the availability of funds, satisfactory performance and
continued demonstrated need, cooperative agreements may cover a total
project period of up to two (2) years. An application should be
submitted for an initial funding period of 12 months and should address
what will be accomplished during that initial period. The application
and budget for the initial project period should cover only the first
12 months of effort. To obtain funding after the initial 12 month
period, an updated application must be submitted for approval for any
subsequent year. The updated application will not be subjected to
competitive review, but must demonstrate that the continuation effort
will effectively and efficiently continue to fulfill program
objectives.
Anticipated funding level for FY 1996 projects will be $66,000.00
for each of the three program approaches. Federal funds should be
viewed as seed money to assist organizations in the development in
traffic safety initiatives. Monies allocated for cooperative agreements
are not intended to cover all of the costs that will be incurred in the
process of completing the projects. Applicants should demonstrate a
commitment of financial or in-kind resources to the support of proposed
projects.
Eligibility Requirements
In order to be eligible to participate in this cooperative
agreement program, a national health and medical organization must meet
the following requirements:
Have exclusive membership within the health and medical
professional field; provide medical care and/or advice to patients and
educate members.
Have an established membership structure with state/local
chapters in all regions of the country; and
Have formal organizational communication mechanisms
established for use in informing and motivating members and other
constituents to become involved in child safety at the state and local
levels. Such communication mechanisms may include organizational
newsletters, journals, quarterly reports, and scheduled conferences/
conventions.
Application Procedure
Each applicant must submit one original and two (2) copies of its
application package to NHTSA, Office of Contracts and Procurement (NAD-
30), Attention: Karen S. Brockmeier, 400 7th Street SW., room 5301,
Washington, DC 20590. Submission of two additional applications will
expedite processing but is not required. Applications must be typed on
one side of the page only. Applications must include a reference to
NHTSA Cooperative Agreement Program Number DTNH22-96-H-05194 and
identify the program approach for which the application is submitted.
Applicants may apply for more than one program approach, however, a
separate application and budget must be submitted for each program area
approach. Only complete applications received on or before July 10,
1996, shall be considered.
Application Content
1. The application package must be submitted with OMB Standard Form
424 (Rev. 4-88, including 424A and 424B), Applications for Federal
Assistance, with the required information filled in and the certified
assurances included. While Form 424-A deals with budget information,
and Form 424B identifies Budget Categories, the available space does
not permit a level of detail which is sufficient to provide for a
meaningful evaluation of the proposed costs. A supplemental sheet shall
be provided which presents a detailed breakdown of the proposed costs,
as well as any costs which the applicant indicates will be contributed
by the organization or its local affiliates and partners.
2. Applications shall include a program narrative statement which
addresses the following in separately labeled sections:
a. Technical Approach: A description of the organizational
membership and purpose, demonstrating the need for the assistance, and
stating the principal goals and subordinate objectives of the project,
as well as the anticipated results and benefits. This section shall
describe any unusual features, such as design or technological
innovations, reductions in cost or time, or extraordinary social/
community involvement. Supporting documentation from concerned
interests other than the applicant can be used. Any relevant data based
on planning studies should be included or footnoted. (Evaluation Factor
#1)
b. Implementation Plan: A description of the program approach,
including a plan of action pertaining to the scope and detail of the
proposed work. This section shall include the reasons for taking this
plan of action as opposed to others. The Implementation Plan shall
include a presentation at one or more national meetings (e.g. Moving
Kids Safely, Lifesavers or others.) (Evaluation Factor #2)
c. Project Management and Staffing: Quantitative projections of the
accomplishments to be achieved, if possible, or lists of activities in
chronological order to show the schedule of accomplishments and their
target dates. This section shall list each organization, corporation,
consultant or other individuals who will work on the project along with
a short description of the nature of the individual's effort or
contribution and relevant experience. (Evaluation Factor #3)
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d. Evaluation Plan: A description of the kinds of data to be
collected and maintained and the criteria to be used to evaluate the
results. This section shall explain the methodology that will be used
to determine if the needs identified and discussed are being met, and
if the results and benefits identified are being achieved. (Evaluation
Factor #4)
Evaluation Criteria and Review Process
Initially, all applications will be reviewed to confirm that the
applicant is an eligible recipient and to assure that the application
contains all of the information required by this notice. Each complete
application from an eligible recipient will then be evaluated by an
Evaluation Committee. The Evaluation Committee will include one non-
NHTSA staff specialist from the Children's Safety Network. The
application will be evaluated using the following criteria:
1. Understanding of the Problem and the Relationship to the Health/
Medical Community (40%). The extent to which the applicant has
demonstrated an understanding of the child transportation safety
issues. The extent to which the applicant is knowledgeable about data
sources, community linkages, the need for a coordinated approach to
controlling child traffic injuries using the health/medical field as
leaders, and his demonstrated the organization's affiliate's
willingness to commit to and participate in the program. The extent to
which the applicant has access to the potential target populations in
the community.
2. Goals, Objectives, and Implementation Plan (40%). The extent to
which the applicant's goals are clearly articulated and the objectives
are time-phased, specific, measurable and achievable. The extent to
which the Implementation Plan will achieve an outcome oriented result
that will reduce child-related traffic injuries and deaths. The
Implementation Plan will be evaluated with respect to its feasibility,
realism, and ability to achieve the desired outcomes.
3. Project Management and Staffing (10%). The reasonableness of the
applicant's plan for accomplishing the objectives of the project within
the time frame set out in this announcement. The skill and experience
of proposed staff, including project management and program staff and
proposed affiliates, and ability to accomplish the program objectives.
4. Evaluation Plan (10%). The extent to which the proposed methods
for measuring the processes and outcomes of the proposed interventions
(countermeasures) will assess the effectiveness of the use of the
Health/Medical Community in reaching the desired target populations.
Special Award Selection Factors
While not a requirement, applicants are strongly urged to consider
the use of other available organizational resources, including other
sources of financial support. Preference may be given, for those
applicants that are evaluated as meritorious for consideration of
award, for those who show commitment on the part of the Health/Medical
organization by committing other organizational resources or seeking
additional outside partners (cost-sharing strategies).
Terms and Conditions of the Award
1. Prior to award, each recipient must comply with the
certification requirements of 49 CFR Part 20, Department of
Transportation New Restriction or Lobbing, and 49 CFR Part 29
Department of Transportation Government-wide Department and Suspension
(Nonprocurement) and Government-wide Requirements for Drug-Free
Workplace (Grants).
2. Performance Requirements and Deliverables:
(a) The grantee shall arrange to meet with the Contracting
Officer's Technical Representative (COTR) within 2 weeks of the award
of the cooperative agreement to discuss the implementation plan,
including milestones and deliverables.
(b) The grantee shall supply Quarterly Progress Reports every
ninety days, in a format to be determined at the time of award.
Quarterly Progress Reports are to include a summary of the previous
quarter's activities and accomplishments, as well as proposed
activities for the upcoming quarter. Any decisions and actions required
in the upcoming quarter should be included in the report.
(c) Draft Final Report. The grantee shall prepare a Draft Final
Report that includes a description of the intervention strategies,
program implementation, and findings from the program evaluation. It is
important, for purposes of future programs, to know what worked and did
not work, under what circumstances, and what can be done to avoid
potential problems in replicating similar programs. The grantee shall
submit the Draft final report to the COTR 30 days prior to the end of
the performance period. The COTR will review the document and provide
comments within 2 weeks of receipt of the document.
(d) Final Report. The grantee shall revise the draft final report
to reflect the COTR's comments. The revised document shall be delivered
to the COTR on or before the end of the performance period. The grantee
shall supply the COTR on computer disk copy in WordPerfect format, and
four additional hard copies of the revised document.
3. Meetings and Briefings. The grantee shall plan for the initial
planning meeting in Washington, DC with the COTR, as well as an interim
briefing approximately midway through the project, a final briefing at
the end of the project period, and a presentation at one or more
national meetings, (e.g. Moving Kids Safety, Lifesavers or other).
4. During the effective performance period of cooperative
agreements awarded under this announcement, the agreement shall be
subject to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's General
Provisions for Assistance Agreements.
Issued on: May 22, 1996.
James Hedlund,
Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs.
[FR Doc. 96-13344 Filed 5-28-96; 8:45 am]
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