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2025, Volume 43 Issue 4  Published:15 April 2025
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  • The potential career impact of large language models on researchers
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 683-693.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Large Language Models (LLMs), represented by ChatGPT, have found applications in certain research fields, raising interest in their impact on the careers of researchers. This paper uses GPT-4 to assess the potential career impact of large language models and LLM-driven systems on researchers, exploring the relationship between career characteristics and career impact in terms of knowledge, skills, education levels, and salary levels. The results indicate that researchers in different fields are affected by LLMs and LLM-driven systems to varying degrees. From a task perspective, LLMs have a significant impact on standardized and regulated tasks but less on non-standardized and specific operational tasks. In terms of knowledge, LLMs influence the humanities and sciences more than mechanical engineering disciplines. Regarding skills, LLMs have a greater effect on logical reasoning skills but less on interpersonal communication and mechanical operation skills. Additionally, LLMs tend to impact roles with higher education levels and salary levels more significantly. This demonstrates that LLMs can be utilized as productivity tools by researchers, helping to enhance labor efficiency and further accelerate the research process.
  • The Social Re-embedding of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Balancing the Paradox between Formal Rationality and Substantive Rationality
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 703-711.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Algorithmic decision-making is deeply embedded in socioeconomic activities, creating substantial value. Major global tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meituan, and ByteDance have established extensive platform ecosystems within their respective industries, leveraging their technological advantages. The widespread influence of these platforms on socioeconomic activities far surpasses typical corporate behavior. However, the improper use of algorithms has led to phenomena such as algorithmic discrimination, collusion, and monopolization, significantly distorting the initial purpose of algorithms in serving socioeconomic development. The root cause of improper algorithm use lies in the asynchronous development of AI-related technologies and the gradual nature of human cognition and its adherence to social norms—a phenomenon referred to as the “social disembedding” of algorithmic decisions. Traditional regulatory measures and legal norms tend to lag, unable to ly address the technological variations brought about by the self-evolving nature of algorithms. This lag in regulation and the rapid pace of technological change create a disconnect that can lead to significant social and economic issues. This paper identifies the core issue of social disembedding in algorithmic decision-making as the asynchronous development between iterative advancements in artificial intelligence technology and the gradual nature of human cognition. To address this, the paper explains the social disembedding problem of algorithmic decisions through the paradoxical relationship between formal rationality and substantive rationality. Specifically, the paper re-examines algorithmic decisions based on human cognitive abilities, focusing on the intrinsic connections between algorithms and human cognition. This approach aims to enable algorithmic decisions to more accurately perceive human needs, thereby facilitating the proper resolution of real-world issues. On one hand, human cognitive abilities can compensate for the purely data-driven nature of algorithmic decisions and improve the interpretability of algorithmic outcomes. On the other hand, algorithms can overcome the limitations of theoretical logic induction and empirical deduction in human decision-making processes, alleviating cognitive pressure. Building on this foundation, the paper develops a cognitive enhancement algorithm framework. This framework introduces the concepts of algorithmic space and cognitive space. The cognitive enhancement algorithms within the algorithmic space manifest in two primary functions: first, by utilizing advanced algorithmic logic to map and analyze complex real-world problems, translating these issues into meaningful patterns and relationships through digital representation. Second, through algorithmic optimization and artificial intelligence technologies, these patterns and relationships are transformed into forms of knowledge that are comprehensible and usable by humans. The cognitive space, on the other hand, evolves around different stages of human cognitive development, constructing an ethical and value system surrounding algorithm application. Within the cognitive enhancement algorithm decision-making framework, algorithmic space and cognitive space develop both independently and interdependently. The cognitive enhancement algorithm framework proposed in this paper organically integrates technological capabilities with human cognitive abilities to reconcile the paradox between formal rationality and substantive rationality. This integration is crucial for creating a harmonious relationship between advanced algorithms and the society they serve. By addressing the disconnect between the rapid iteration of AI technologies and the slower pace of human cognitive and normative development, this framework aims to foster a more balanced and ethical application of algorithms in socioeconomic contexts. Ultimately, this integration facilitates the social re-embedding of algorithmic decision-making, ensuring that these technologies contribute positively to societal development while mitigating the risks associated with their misuse.
  • Research on the Formation and Evolution of Multilayer Networks under the Cross border Integration of Emerging Technologies
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 751-762.
  • Abstract ( )
  • The new round of technological revolution presents new characteristics such as breakthroughs in multiple fields, disciplines, and groups. Innovative entities absorb and integrate heterogeneous innovation resources across boundaries such as technology and organization, achieve the integration of technologies, and emerge innovative points at the intersection of technology fields, driving the formation of cross-border innovation in emerging technologies. By analyzing the cross-border integration of technology and the cross-border cooperation of innovative entities, an emerging technology cross-border integration network was constructed with cooperation sub networks, technology sub networks, and auxiliary sub networks. The mechanism of emerging technology cross-border integration was deeply analyzed, and the cross-border integration of 5G technology and AI technology was taken as the research object. Patent data was used to empirically analyze the emerging technology cross-border integration network. Research has found that with the cross-border integration of 5G technology and AI technology, the number of innovative entities and technology fields increases, and the cooperative relationship between innovative entities tends to stabilize; The degree of integration between technological fields has increased, and the breadth and depth of cross-border cooperation among innovative entities and technology integration have increased; Universities and technology-based enterprises are the main forces driving the cross-border integration of 5G technology and AI technology; The cross-border integration of 5G technology and AI technology is mainly concentrated in the fields of electrical communication and computing, accelerating the development of technology applications such as intelligent vehicles.
  • The role of public cognition and emotion in behavioral engagement in science communication—A comparative analysis between scientists and citizen scientists
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 763-774.
  • Abstract ( )
  • The rise of social media has brought science communication into the context of multi-agent creation, especially making it more convenient for scientists and citizen scientists to use social media for science communication, and enabling the public to participate in science and interact with each other on an equal basis. However, it is not clear whether the two subjects will lead to different modes of public participation, which is particularly lacking in the current science communication background that emphasizes dialogue participation. Previous studies on social media public participation were more inclined to analyze surface participation indicators such as likes, comments and sharing, and less in-depth into public cognitive and emotional participation. Based on the theory of cognitive engagement and the theory of emotional intelligence, this study conducted an in-depth analysis of public comments on popular science videos of scientists and citizen scientists, in order to reveal the differences in the effects of cognitive engagement and emotional response on behavior of the public when watching the two types of videos. At the level of research design, python was used to collect 150 popular science videos from well-known scientists and citizen scientists on the Bilibili platform, and 644,011 comment samples were collected. A supervised machine learning text classification model was constructed based on the cognitive participation theory to conduct cognitive classification of public comments. Then, the emotional dictionary was used to calculate the emotional intensity of the public, and social media participation was defined as low cost and high cost. Then, multiple linear regression was used to analyze the influence of cognition and emotion on behavior. The results showed that the public who watched the videos of both scientists and citizen scientists tended to engage in in-depth thinking and discussion, but the high public perception of watching the videos of scientists was more conducive to improving behavioral engagement, while the public deviation from cognition of watching the videos of citizen scientists had a greater positive impact on low-cost behavior. The "shock" emotion has been proved to be the key emotion to promote public behavior participation in the scientist videos. On the contrary, the emotional response in the citizen scientist videos has a more diverse impact on behavioral participation. Different emotions play a unique role in the impact of behavioral participation, reflecting the importance of mixed expression of emotions to stimulate a variety of behavioral participation. In terms of responding to theories, cognitive engagement theory presents a different logic in online science communication. Scientists are authoritative, objective and formal representatives, and the high public cognition of watching science popularization videos of scientists has more positive effects on behavior, indicating that cognitive participation theory has more conventional theoretical persuasion in formal knowledge learning. The "Citizen Scientist" video shows that learning in informal Settings challenges the applicability of traditional cognitive engagement theories in formal learning Settings. In terms of emotional influence, the emotional experience formed by public interaction will have different effects on the behavior of viewers watching the videos of scientists and citizen scientists, which indicates that the fluidity of video modes and emotional intelligence affect the diversity of behaviors. Based on research findings, recommendations are made for online science communication activities of scientists and citizen scientists to promote public participation in science. In the strategy of the scientist video, it is necessary to reflect and encourage interactive communication, introduce dialectical knowledge to arouse high cognitive participation of the public, and arouse surprise emotion through novel scientific knowledge to promote public participation in science. In the strategy of citizen scientist video, it is necessary to take into account both reflectivity and entertainment to improve behavioral participation. At the emotional arousal level, the key is to adopt content stratification strategy and appropriate emotional regulation. This means mixing different emotional expressions in a video to trigger diversified audience responses and enhance participation.
  • Social Innovation in the Digital Era: Theoretical Framework and Policy Implications
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 775-786.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Digital technology, characterized by its high penetration and wide coverage, exerts a disruptive influence on the operation of the entire social system. While social innovation exhibits a comprehensive trend of transformation, it also brings about governance challenges, necessitating the construction of a systematic analytical framework to elucidate the interactive evolution mechanisms and impact pathways between digital technology and social innovation. This is essential for better promoting the digital transformation of social innovation. This paper, grounded in the social-technical paradigm, constructs a theoretical framework for social innovation in the context of digitalization from the perspective of the integrated development of digital technology and social systems,, elucidating the evolutionary path of social innovation digitization, which can provide references for future related research. This paper finds that: (1) The high penetrability of digital technologies triggers comprehensive changes in social innovation. The widespread societal applications of digital technology inventions drive the transformation of social interaction modes, reshape the operation modes of public services to promote the realization of social system functions, and stimulate changes in social decision-making modes and institutional environments. Social innovation in the digital context is mainly reflected in three aspects: innovation in social organizational forms, innovation in social service models, and innovation in social decision-making mechanisms. (2) Based on the perspective of interaction among social system entities, social organizational forms in the digital context continuously transform towards platformization, sharing, and onlineization. Digital platforms accelerate information exchange, aggregation, and transmission, promoting efficient collaborative cooperation among entities; sharing improves the efficiency of asset utilization, promoting the circulation of social elements; onlineization accelerates the resourceization of big data, promoting social information sharing, resource collaboration, and management. (3) Based on the perspective of realizing social system functions, digital technology innovates social service supply models, promoting the equalization, experientialization, universalization, precision, personalization, intelligence, efficiency, and greening of public services such as education, healthcare, elderly care, and transportation. (4) Based on the perspective of social system institutional construction, digital technology drives social governance transformation, reconstructs social decision-making mechanisms, promotes the connectivity of government decision-making systems, the scientificization of government decision-making methods, and the democratization of public decision-making systems. (5) Under the digital backdrop, governance of social innovation necessitates the establishment of a digital ecosystem supporting the application of social innovation scenarios, enhancing the capacity for social governance within the digital technology context, and constructing a digital social governance mechanism that coordinates security and development. The contribution of this paper mainly lies in the following aspects. First, by introducing the social-technical paradigm to analyze the transformation mechanism of social innovation in the digital context, the article systematically elaborates the collaborative evolutionary paths of digital technology and social systems at micro, meso, and macro levels, constructs a theoretical framework for social innovation in the digital context, and fills the gap in existing research focusing on specific areas lacking an overall perspective. Second, it profoundly reveals the inherent impact mechanism and path of digitalization on social innovation transformation, proposing that the key to social innovation digitization lies in the transformation of social organizational forms, social service models, and social decision-making mechanisms, thereby expanding the research ideas of existing social innovation. Third, in response to the current situation of social innovation application and governance practices in the digital context, it provides policymakers with strategies for digital transformation, which is of great practical value.
  • Digital Transformation, R&D Investment and Innovation Performance of Multinational Enterprises
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 787-798.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Digital transformation is a new engine for multinational enterprises to break through innovation. From the perspectives of resource-based theory and transaction cost theory, based on the panel data of 1588 multinational companies listed on China’s A-share market from 2012 to 2021, it uses empirical methods such as panel fixed effects regression and two-stage least squares regression to explore the direct impact of digital transformation of multinational enterprises on their innovation performance, as well as the moderating effect of digital transformation of multinational enterprises on the relationship between their R&D investment and innovation performance. The results indicate that the digital transformation of Chinese multinational enterprises has a significant positive promoting effect on their innovation performance; and digital transformation has strengthened the positive impact of R&D investment on innovation performance. Heterogeneity testing also found that the digital transformation of multinational enterprises in high-tech industries and large multinational enterprises has a stronger positive impact on innovation performance; the innovation effect of digital transformation of state-owned multinational enterprises is higher than that of non-state-owned ones.
  • The mechanism of network routines iterative reconfiguration and effect on catch-up and leapfrog ——A theoretical framework based on optimal distinctiveness
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 799-809.
  • Abstract ( )
  • With the requirements of the Chinese path to modernization and the goal of building a world scientific and technological power, the routines reconfiguration has become the key mechanism to build sustainable competitive advantage to catch up. In order to uncover the strategic choice dilemma of ‘to be different, or to be the same’ in the face of the leading firms’ exemplar-based routines, it finds that network organizations have multiple distinctiveness needs of network configuration and knowledge base with the leading firms. The continuous balance of optimal distinctiveness is the basis of innovation catch-up and leapfrog. Not only the optimal distinctiveness strategies of imitation isomorphism, integrative orchestration and compensatory orchestration but also the network stability/disturbance and external search/reuse promote the process of network routines iterative reconstruction in digital context based on the role of reconstruction. Digitalization intensifies the need for reshaping of network routines for organization. The routines iterative reconfiguration support for the construction of digital agility capability and digital collaboration capability, and drives the evolution process of them. Digital capabilities promote the realization of progressive and leapfrog for catch-up goals, which not only rely on the continuous upgrading of leading products and the controllable innovation of core technologies, but also need to break through the opportunity windows and asymmetric relationships. This study constructs the theoretical framework of ‘optimal distinctiveness strategy - routines reconfiguration – digital capability - catch-up and leapfrog’ based on the view of optimal distinctiveness. The research conclusions are of great significance for Chinese enterprises to benchmark world-class enterprises and achieve catch-up.
  • Technology accumulation, policy coordination, and technology convergence: A case study of digital green technology
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 810-822.
  • Abstract ( )
  • The digital and green transitions are key drivers of the new wave of global technological, energy, and industrial revolutions. In recent years, the Chinese government has emphasized the coordinated development of digital and green technologies. Promoting their convergence is a significant challenge for countries aiming to advance twin transitions in the two areas. As technological issues become more complex and interconnected, technology convergence is emerging as a major feature of contemporary technological development. Compared to other converging technologies, digital green technologies exhibit stronger knowledge spillovers and environmental benefits, highlighting importance of effective policy incentives. Additionally, digital technology, a general-purpose technology, and green technology, specific-contextual technology, differ significantly in their development mechanisms. This necessitates precise policy measures to understand and facilitate their convergence. Effective convergence of digital green technologies requires attention to the impacts of technological accumulation and cross-domain policy coordination. This study uses the convergence of digital green technology in China as a case study, hypothesizing that technological accumulation and policy coordination are the core factors influencing technology convergence. Provincial policy texts in China are coded to construct a Policy Coordination Index from the dimensions of content coordination and departmental coordination. The study measure the degree of digital green technology convergence through co-IPC codes of the two technical fields. A provincial panel dataset is constructed, and a Poisson fixed-effect model is used to reveal the influence of technological accumulation and policy coordination on technology convergence. Results indicate that policy coordination positively affects technology convergence. Interestingly, green technological accumulation, rather than digital technology, emerges as a key driver, emphasizing the importance of contextual knowledge in the convergence process. Policy coordination also plays a constructive moderating role in the relationship between green technological accumulation and technology convergence. These findings offer new perspectives and empirical evidence on policy coordination in understanding technology convergence and provide valuable policy insights for optimizing digital green technology convergence in China. Based on the conclusions, this study offers the following policy suggestions. The impact of technological accumulation on technology convergence varies by technical fields. It is essential to understand the characteristics and driving forces of different technologies. The government should exert efforts from both content and departmental coordination, highlighting the convergence between different technical fields in policy texts and encouraging more departments to promote the integration of digital and green technologies. This study contributes to the existing literature in three main ways. First, it highlights the significant driving role of policy coordination in technology convergence by constructing an explanatory framework of technological accumulation and policy coordination, providing a new analytical perspective on the mechanisms of technological convergence. Second, it expands the analysis of technological accumulation in technology convergence by focusing on technology types. It shows that green technology that is specific to a certain context plays a more crucial role compared to general-purpose digital technology in advancing technology convergence. Finally, it measures content coordination in policy coordination by using the position and word volume related to cross-domain technologies, thereby more effectively measuring the degree of policy content coordination.
  • Review and Implementation of the Technology Information Dissemination Function of the Patent Disclosure System
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 856-863.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Promoting the dissemination of technical information is an important pathway for the patent system to support comprehensive innovation. In recent years, there has been intense debate in academia about whether the patent disclosure system has (fully) realized the function of disseminating technical information. Multiple empirical evidence from the field of social sciences shows that the patent disclosure system has not fully realized the expected function of technology information dissemination. The main reasons for this phenomenon are: first, the existing application rules for “reduction to practice” requirement and prophetic examples are not perfect. Second, the existing review system lacks resources and capabilities to ensure the quality of information disclosure; third, the expression paradigm of existing patent disclosure texts is seriously disconnected from conventional technical information literature. To better realize the function of the patent disclosure system, it is necessary to further improve the application rules related to “reduction to practice” and prophetic examples; innovate and optimize the patent examination system ; and standardize the expression and information organization paradigm of specifications in a way that facilitates reading by R&D personnel.
  • Antitrust and the entry of technology start-ups: Causal inference based on double machine learning
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 864-875.
  • Abstract ( )
  • Technological innovation is a crucial support for achieving high-quality economic development, with technology enterprises being the main agents of such innovation. Encouraging the entry of technology start-ups is a vital measure to stimulate technological innovation and complete the transformation of the economic dynamics from old to new energy. Therefore, in the current situation where external technological blockades are becoming increasingly severe, how to promote the entry of technology start-ups has become key to China’s breakthrough in overcoming the critical core technology “bottleneck” dilemma. Based on the matching data of the national industrial and commercial enterprise registration information database and the city level data from 2004 to 2020, this paper takes the implementation of Antitrust Law in 2008 as a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the double machine learning model to identify the impact of antitrust on the entry of technology start-ups and its internal mechanism. This paper finds that the implementation of Antitrust Law significantly promotes the entry of technology start-ups, and the above promotion effect is more significant in east cities, developed cities and cities with better transportation infrastructure. Mechanism analyses show that Antitrust Law promotes the entry of technology start-ups by improving the innovation ecosystem, optimizing the business environment and boosting the level of venture capital. Further analyses show that the entry of technology start-ups brought about by the implementation of Antitrust Law can drive high-quality economic development in cities. The above conclusions can provide enlightenment for policy guidance on cultivating technology start-ups and achieving high-quality economic development. The marginal contributions of this paper are as follows: First, this study enriches the research on the microeconomic consequences of the Antitrust Law. The economic consequences of competition policy have always been a hot topic in academia. Existing literature has mostly focused on the impact of the Antitrust Law on internal business decisions of enterprises, while research on enterprise dynamics such as the entry of technology start-ups is relatively scarce. Second, this paper employs cutting-edge methods to enhance the effectiveness of policy evaluation. Existing literature often uses parametric methods to assess policy effects, inevitably facing the “curse of dimensionality” and model specification bias issues. This paper leverages the advantages of machine learning algorithms in high-dimensional, non-parametric prediction, using a double machine learning method for causal inference. This approach not only better mitigates endogeneity issues but also overcomes the regularization bias of machine learning methods, thereby more accurately assessing the microeconomic effects of the Antitrust Law. Third, this paper deeply analyzes the impact mechanism of the Antitrust Law on the entry of technology start-ups. Specifically, this paper reveals the internal mechanisms by which the Antitrust Law affects the entry of technology start-ups from three aspects: improving the innovation ecosystem, optimizing the business environment, and enhancing the level of venture capital, which helps to deeply understand the channels through which the Antitrust Law affects the dynamics of technology start-up entry.
  • Research on the Contradiction between Business Operations and Legal Identity Attributes of New R&D Institutions and Its Impact
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 876-886.
  • Abstract ( )
  • This article focuses on the contradiction between the business operation and legal identity of new R&D institutions, and constructs a theoretical analysis framework of “legal identity-action environment-organizational behavior-organizational performance” to explore the internal mechanism of the contradiction’s impact on the operational performance of institutions. The article uses the data from the Ministry of Science and Technology’s survey of 2412 new R&D institutions nationwide in 2022 to empirically test the theoretical analysis conclusions. Overall, new R&D institutions, based on the diverse business operation requirements defined by the “Law of Scientific and Technological Progress,” have the attributes of public welfare and market hybridity, while based on the provisions of the “Civil Code” regarding legal identity, they only have a single attribute of public welfare or market. There exists a contradiction between the two. This contradiction constrains the development of the diverse business of new R&D institutions, and may lead to the possibility of these institutions deviating from their original functional positioning and returning to a single-functional attribute organization. The government should focus on the long-term, healthy, and sustainable development of the new R&D institutions, carry out institutional innovation, and construct targeted regulatory norms and systematic support policies based on the functional positioning and the consideration of the public welfare and market attributes of these institutions.
  • Research on Influencing Factors of Entrepreneurial Bricolage Behavior of New Generation Migrant Workers ——Based on Evidence from Survey Experiments
  • 2025 Vol. 43 (4): 887-896.
  • Abstract ( )
  • As an important force in China's socio-economic transformation, the new generation of migrant workers have great potential and prospects. Advocating and supporting their independent entrepreneurship will not only help solve their own employment problems, but also indirectly create employment opportunities for others, and further promote the high-quality development of China's economy and the stable progress of society. However, the new generation of migrant workers is often faced with a huge resource constraint, and it is often difficult for them to obtain sufficient support in terms of capital, technology, market, and other key resources in the start-up stage. The lack of resources makes the entrepreneurial path of the new generation of migrant workers fraught with uncertainty and increases the risk of failure. Based on the theory of entrepreneurial bricolage, it is known that entrepreneurial bricolage is an important means for entrepreneurs to get rid of resource constraints and develop new opportunities. Therefore, in order to promote the new generation of migrant workers to get rid of resource dilemmas and achieve successful entrepreneurship, it is necessary to identify the various factors that influence and stimulate their entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour. This study investigates the effects of opportunity innovation and resource constraints at the level of entrepreneurial context, as well as risk preference and opportunity cognitive beliefs at the level of individual characteristics, on the entrepreneurial scrambling behaviours of new-generation migrant workers through a survey experiment. The study selected and collected survey data from 295 new-generation migrant workers, conducted reliability and validity tests using data analysis software, and tested the research hypotheses using hierarchical linear regression analysis. The results showed that (1) opportunity innovation and the degree of resource constraints in the entrepreneurial context have a significant effect on the entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour of new generation migrant workers; (2) opportunity cognitive beliefs in individual characteristics significantly affect the entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour of new generation migrant workers, while risk preference has no significant effect on the entrepreneurial patchwork behaviour of new generation migrant workers; (3) both high opportunity innovation and more opportunity cognitive beliefs promote the entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour of the entrepreneurial patchwork behaviour of the new generation of migrant workers, while strong resource constraints inhibit the entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour of the new generation of migrant workers. The study enriches and deepens the research on the antecedents of entrepreneurial scrambling behaviour, and provides references and suggestions for the entrepreneurial scrambling practices of new generation migrant workers. For the government, (1)Optimize the innovation environment and create a social atmosphere that encourages innovation. (2) Optimize the resource environment and alleviate the resource constraints on entrepreneurial bricolage behaviour. (3) Optimize the entrepreneurial environment and stimulate the entrepreneurial enthusiasm and creativity of the new generation of migrant workers. For the new generation of migrant workers, (1) Improve innovative thinking and bring into play the positive impact of opportunity innovation. (2) Promote the use of resources and constantly explore new resource utilization models. (3) Enhance the awareness of opportunities and learn to identify and make use of them.
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