The present invention discloses methods of solving mixed integer programs (MIP) in distributed environments, where the number of computers or users involved in the optimization can be extremely high. The proposed methods are designed to be robust in order to cope with all the difficulties in public and heterogeneous environments including load balancing and privacy. The present invention also describes a market on computation power.

Mixed integer programming is a widely accepted method in formulating and optimizing complex business, engineering or any complex discrete optimization problems. Mixed integer programming is a modeling language of optimization, which is general enough to cover a very wide range of optimization problems, however due to its mathematical nature most of the unsolved problems that impede the spread of GRID, cluster and desktop GRID networks can be handled. The current peer-to-peer (P2P) networks may connect an extremely high number of public computers with very heterogeneous computational performance. Mixed-integer program is a restricted form of mathematical program (see A. Holder, editor. Mathematical Programming Glossary. INFORMS Computing Society, http://glossary.computing.society.informs.org/, 2006-2007. Originally authored by Harvey J. Greenberg, 1999-2006, incorporated herein by reference), where some of the variables are required to be integer-valued. Note that, in prior art publications this term implied the mathematical program was otherwise linear. The definition of Mixed-integer programs (MIP) used in the present invention is the following:MIP:Minƒ(x)g(x)≧0
where x are the decision variables (some of or all of the decision variables can take only integer solution), ƒ is a real valued objective function that is a mathematical function on the decision variables, and g are real-valued functions, called constraints. The goal of optimization is to find values for each decision variable such that the objective function is minimal. There are three main groups of MIP:                a. MILP: Mixed integer linear program, where the constraints and the object function are functions of x.        b. MINLP: Mixed integer nonlinear program, where the constraints and the object function can be any functions of x.        c. MIQP: Mixed integer quadratic program, where the constraints are linear functions of x and the object function is in the form of xTQx+cTx.
In terms of complexity all of these problems belong to the NP-hard class, and thus with Karp-reduction the problems can be reduced to each other. Their classical solution method is a tree-search branch-and-bound algorithm in which each tree node represents a program, where the integer constraints are eliminated (called relaxed problem).
The present invention, in one aspect thereof, deals with mixed integer programs that are solved by branch-and-bound or branch-and-cut algorithms.
Solving MIP with Branch and Bound (BB) Algorithm
The branch and bound (BB) algorithm is a recursive search method, where in each step of the recursion the solution space is partitioned into several smaller sub-problems that are either solved or further partitioned into smaller sub-problems in the next step of the recursion. During the recursions a searching tree (called BB tree) is built up until all sub-problems are solved. In MIP solvers each node of the search tree is itself an MIP problem. In the bounding phase, the MIP problem of the node is relaxed (integer constraints are relaxed to simple bound constraints) and the relaxed problem is solved (see Ralph Edward Gomory and Ellis Lane Johnson, "Data Processing System For Finding Optimum Integer-Valued Solutions Of Linear Programs", Great Britain Patent Application GB19720007853, Aug. 7, 1974; Mehrotra; Sanjay; et al., "Generalized branching methods for mixed integer programming", United States Patent Application 20060112049, May 25, 2006; T. K. R., L. Ladányi, and M. J. Saltzman, "Parallel Branch, Cut, and Price for Large-scale Discrete Optimization", Mathematical Programming 98 (2003), 253, incorporated herein by reference). Obviously, the solution of the relaxed problem is a lower bound on the solution of the corresponding MIP. Any feasible integer solution is an upper bound on the cost of the original MIP. The feasible integer solution might be derived from the solution of the relaxed problem with some state-of-the-art heuristics.
In the branching phase, first the solution is tested to determine if the integer constraints can be satisfied. If there is any variable that violates the integer constraints, it is selected to generate two sub-problems in the branching phase each with an extra constraint that precludes the current infeasible solution. Formally, if the integer variable x has a non-integer solution f the constraint x≦└f┘ x≧┌f┐ is added to the original MIP problem forming the two new sub-problems. In such a way all integer solutions are feasible in one of the sub-problems. Obviously branching generates an exponential number of sub-problems that need to be processed in order to solve the original problem. Sub-problems can be discarded (or fathomed) if (1) the sub-problem has an integer solution, (2) the sub-problem is infeasible, or (3) the linear sub-problem has worse objective value than a currently available best integer solution (bounding) (see Qun Chen, Michael Ferris and Jeff Linderoth, "FATCOP 2.0: Advanced features in an opportunistic mixed integer programming solver", Data Mining Institute Technical Report 99-11, Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., 1999, incorporated herein by reference). Every sub-problem, which can not be fathomed and was not solved needs to be processed later, and are each called active nodes of the search tree.
Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP)
Mixed Integer Linear Program is known for its flexibility in formulating combinatorial optimization problems. MILP solvers can solve a great selection of algorithmic problems, even NP-complete (intractable) ones. Obviously the runtime of the MILP solver is thus exponential compared to the size of input. A MILP consists of a Linear Program (LP), which is the minimization of a linear function subject to linear constraints, and some or all of the variables should be integer. Any LP can be solved efficiently (in polynomial computational time). In the MILP solvers LP-based branch and bound algorithms are implemented.
The efficiency of LP-based branch and bound strongly depends on the gap between the solution of the MILP and the relaxed problem (See Ralph Edward Gomory and Ellis Lane Johnson, "Data Processing System For Finding Optimum Integer-Valued Solutions Of Linear Programs", Great Britain Patent Application GB19720007853, Aug. 7, 1974; Mehrotra; Sanjay; et al., "Generalized branching methods for mixed integer programming", United States Patent Application 20060112049, May 25, 2006; T. K. R., L. Ladányi, and M. J. Saltzman, "Parallel Branch, Cut, and Price for Large-scale Discrete Optimization", Mathematical Programming 98 (2003), 253, incorporated herein by reference). The gap is small if the relaxation is tight and the relaxed constraints closely approximate the feasible integer region. The LP relaxations can be tightened by adding inequalities (called cutting planes) that are valid for the original MILP. To improve the efficiency of branch and bound algorithms, they are usually combined with cutting plane methods (and called branch and cut) (See T. K. R., L. Ladányi, and M. J. Saltzman, "Parallel Branch, Cut, and Price for Large-scale Discrete Optimization", Mathematical Programming 98 (2003), 253).
Distributed Systems (GRIDS, P2P, Desktop GRIDS)
Solving computationally very complex problems requires parallel algorithms, run on several computers. Today computer clusters are mainly used for mass computation which consists of a few tens (or hundreds) of private high-performance computers. Cluster computers are mainly designed to work on single (or very few) problems in a parallel manner and, thus, balancing the load among the computers is the key challenge. GRID computers are similar to cluster but geographically distributed, allowing much more high performance computers to be involved. GRID computers are also widely used, providing mass computational power. They key disadvantage of GRID and cluster networks is the difficulty in providing a general tool for parallelizing algorithms, and maintaining a reliable trusted environment for parallel computing.
Another alternative is desktop GRID which tries to utilize the PCs idle cycles around the globe to provide powerful distributed system. Such projects (like Entropia™ network (see A. A. Chien, B. Calder, S. Elbert, and K. Bhatia, "Entropia: architecture and performance of an enterprise desktop grid system," Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, vol. 63, no. 5, pp. 597-610, 2003, incorporated herein by reference), SETI@Home™ (see Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, url: http://boinc.berkeley.edu/, incorporated herein by reference), Folding@Home™ (see Folding@home distributed computing project, url: http://folding.stanford.edu/English/Main, incorporated herein by reference), Parabon's™ Compute-Against-Cancer™ (see Compute Against Cancer program, url: http://www.parabon.com/cac.jsp, incorporated herein by reference), and FightAIDSHome™ (see Fight AIDS At Home Computer Project, url: http://fightaidsathome.scripps.edu/, incorporated herein by reference)) are designed to solve special problems in an offline manner. These desktop GRIDs are based on the unselfish Internet community donating their idle computational power for research purposes. Humans are mainly used to parallelize the algorithms for desktop GRID, unless the GRIDs are not designed for a very specific type of calculation. Although desktop GRID has achieved enormous computational power, currently the computational time of each job takes much more time than any business-like computational application can tolerate. For example, Folding@Home has achieved more than 1000 teraflops at January 2008, which are 1015 floating point operations per second. Following the success of desktop GRID it must be assumed there is a distributed, heterogynous public environment; however the goal is rapid problem solving in order to attract business applications, and allow a more powerful usage of world's idle computational power by establishing a market of computational time. In other words the goal is to provide consideration for the computers involved in the computation.
Meanwhile, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks have achieved the connecting of extremely high number of computers. P2P applications are generally lightweight and easy to install, and their protocols can sneak through firewalls and network address translation (NAT). The main advantage of P2P networks over GRID networks is the simplicity of installation and maintenance. A P2P computer network runs at the application layer and all clients provide computing power. The current P2P networks are typically used for connecting nodes via largely ad hoc connections and are mainly used for sharing content files or real-time data (i.e., audio or video streaming).
P2P networks basically have not been used for sharing computational power. Thus there is a need for a system whereby P2P networks are used for a desktop GRID-like network with prompt problem solving.
The present invention addresses this challenge, facilitated by an application called MIP that has market demand, and can be easily parallelized.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System, method, and computer program for solving mixed integer programs with peer-to-peer applications


A computer implemented business method and process directed to enabling a public works contractor employer who contracts for work on one or more government agency public works projects or who contracts for work on concurrent private and public works projects, in a singlular or plurality of jurisdictions to process payroll on contract-specific bases in order to: generate certified payroll records in accordance with the currently applicable rules and standards for content and format required by a plurality of awarding body or enforcement jurisdictions and at predetermined intervals; provide alerts and reports allowing said contractor to anticipate compliance vulnerability and choose real time manpower adjustments for such management issues as apprentice/journeyman ratio; provide evidence of meeting and exceeding government objectives in order to establish a record and reputation of compliance; and generate reports for managing the assignment of personnel to enhance worker cooperation, spirit, and morale.

Presently, in the field of government funded construction projects, also known as "Public Works"1 (hereinafter so termed) contractors are required in a variety of jurisdictions to pay mandated minimum wages, also known as "prevailing wages", based on classification of work type and other factors such as geographic location of the construction site, and to provide certified payroll records (hereinafter "CPRs"), among other things. When submitted by the Public Works construction contractor, CPRs are intended to serve as prima facie evidence of the wages paid and any fringe benefit contributions made, to or on behalf of each worker on the project, broken down by craft, type, or classification of work, per hour, and per day, along with various information items related to the project, the awarding body, and the employees working thereupon (herinafter "CPR-criteria"). 1For purposes of this specification, the term "Public Works" is meant to describe work done by a non-governmental entity contractor employer that performs construction, alteration, demolition, installation or repair work consistent with California Labor Code §1720 et. seq., United States Code Davis-Bacon and Related Acts Title 40 U.S.C. §3141 et. seq., and all other similar laws and regulations of any states and any political subdivisions therein. The term "Public Works" as used herein is not to be considered the same as the term as used, for example, as the title name of Title 21 California Code of Regulations which governs such things as the State Architect's Office and the Department of Transportation.
Complicating the matter, depending on the awarding body governmental entity; e.g., municipal, county, state, or federal, the format and specific content requirements of CPRs can vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and there is no universally accepted format or "gold standard" as to the CPR-criteria content of CPRs within the sector. The number and classification, and the method or basis of accounting of these CPR-criteria can vary with significance.
Often, as previously referenced above, a contractor may have work in more than one jurisdiction and therefore be subject to different obligations regarding such things as payroll period duration, payroll detail reporting, and apprenticeship employment requirements. And because much of the pertinent compliance information is readily available online nowadays, there is ever increasing pressure on Public Works contractors, and the awarding bodies commissioning the projects to be cognizant of their respective duties to ensure that proper wages are paid and correct payperiods are used, among other things. Due to technological advances and increasing ease of information gathering and sharing, the standards for Public Works payroll processing, reporting, and enforcement are rising, albeit inconsistently. Distinctions between, and the evolution of, the rules of different jurisdictions are becoming clearer to interested parties including contractors, enforcement authorities, and awarding body agencies due to greater awareness and availability of the pertinent information via the web.
Yet, often it is so within a given jurisdiction, there is no mandate by statute, regulation, or even an agency-generated written instruction or policy regarding the specific elements of payroll CPR-criteria which ought to be reported. Indeed it is difficult to find any CPR format in any jurisdiction which is not susceptible to question or argument as to that which constitutes "best practices" of data configuration and CPR-criteria content because there is such a lack of specificity in the policies, instructions, or law. As previously stated, there is essentially no single standard for CPR-criteria content across all public works in general. In fact, when all CPR formats are combined from all jurisdictions, there are approximately seventy specific elements of CPR-criteria to list. Yet no single jurisdiction requires more than approximately forty-four of these total elements of CPR-criteria to be reported on their version of a CPR. Many jurisdictions require far less than forty-four. The various CPRs are also known in California as "Public Works Payroll Reporting Form A-1-131", in Illinois as "Certified Transcript of Payroll", within the New York School Construction Authority as "Certification of Payroll", under United States Dept. of Labor jurisdiction projects as simply "Payroll" (Form WH-347), and are called by other names elsewhere. However, all the forms and formats, either as integrally complete or in combination with other forms are borne of substantially the same basis of intent and purpose.
Admittedly, a variety of CPR-criteria elements are fairly standard or commonplace in that virtually all payroll of any employment sector must calculate the basic discrete elements, such as: wages, federal, state, and local income tax deductions, federal social security and medicare contribution deductions ("FICA"). For purposes of this disclosure, these standard aspects of payroll processing, however actually accomplished by means of a data processing program, may be referred to as the "core" level of payroll processing. However, it is only in some cases that the elements of core payroll processing employer payments or contributions known as "fringe benefits", such as health insurance premiums or pension fund contributions or other payments for such things as training fund support, are required as elements of the aggregate CPR-criteria to be shown under the rules of a given jurisdiction. Other times, for example as in the case of the Federal Government form WH-347, no breakdown is required for fringe benefits if a certified statement is submitted declaring all proper payments have been, or will be, timely made. In other jurisdictions, these "fringe benefits" may be reported on a separate report as discrete line items showing an hourly-rate to be paid per fringe benefit category for the particular type or classification of work. This report is to be incorporated by reference into each CPR as a separate "fringe benefit statement". Yet even when the required report criteria includes all the aforementioned, there is often a lack of governmental mandate as to how these amounts must be accounted for in relation to such things as the pay period gross wage or the hours worked for the particular public works project. Furthermore, it is required in some jurisdictions that the gross amount earned by the worker on the subject public works project be listed but that also the gross amount earned by the worker for all work during the report period be shown. Also, some jurisdictions require on the report the sex and ethnicity of the individual workers. Yet another disparity between jurisdictions regarding CPR-criteria is whether names, addresses, and social security numbers of workers shall be shown or remain as confidential information. Finally, in some cases the hours worked on all work assignments by the worker during the pay period, regardless of whether or not the worker delivered the work upon the subject CPR project is required. As previously stated, often a contractor may have work in more than one jurisdiction and be subject to different obligations regarding such things as payroll period duration, format of payroll records reporting, and apprenticeship employment.
As described in the preceding paragraphs the standard for CPR format, configuration, and content is not uniformly established. In fact the locally required format may change at any time in any particular jurisdiction depending upon such things as the views of the authority or administration regarding regulation of wages or which portions of the elements of any given payroll breakdown are most useful in the oversight process. The realm of Public Works payroll reporting encompasses everything from the rudimentary to the highly specific and much in between these extremes. This variance causes ongoing confusion, dispute, and inefficiency among participants in the sector whether they be contractors, workers, governmental awarding bodies, union compliance or government compliance personnel or the public in general. Because of these conditions there is no "gold standard" yet established along these lines.
What is needed then is a method of processing payroll for Public Works contractors which has the capability to create CPRs of content of CPR-criteria and in a format which meets or exceeds any given jurisdiction's standards of that day. Furthermore, since possibly an individual contractor, and certainly a payroll service bureau processor, will likely have the task of preparing payroll reports under a plurality of unique jurisdictional mandates, what is needed is a system which can efficiently process payroll and generate reports tailored to each case during the same payroll period and report period doing so concurrently on a "multi-jurisdictional" basis.
A variety of Stand Alone core payroll processing computer programs or engines, (hereinafter "SA's") such as Quickbooks®2 and others have provisions for keeping track of and reporting certain of the more standard criteria found in day to day payroll accounting and reporting common to any employer, but do not have the capability to process the more particularized criteria common to governmental or Public Works projects requiring payroll certification. 2Quickbooks is a registered trademark of Intuit Software, maker of the popular Quicken and Quickbooks personal and business financial tracking software products.
Since the 1950's3 when companies have looked to cut overhead costs or "borrow" or learn from "best practices" of other companies' experience, the trend to "outsourcing" various overhead functions has led to the emergence of core payroll service companies or bureaus (hereinafter "PSB"), which have developed computer processing engines to manage the payroll tracking, computation and function of check issuance, thereby relieving the contractor of internal overhead, variable expenses which may change over time, and for which a reduction in personnel may be achieved by turning such a traditional accounting function over to a company having specialty in such services. These core PSB's are subject to an additional facet of complexity as they perform their function for a number of clients (contractors and non-contractors alike). At present although capable of generating many types of management assistance reports of many configurations based on the data inherent in most, if not all legally recognized employment sectors including Public Works contractor sector payroll, and although also capable of generating CPRS in compliance with only a very limited number of jurisdictional regulations, PSB's cannot fulfill all possible individual governmental entity requirements for CPR criteria on a broad range of Public Works projects, and further, they perform almost no function which could assist the contractor in managing the application of its labor force pro-actively to assure continued compliance on projects. Often, the only option provided a contractor is to operate on a weekly payroll period and accept Federal Public Works CPR-criteria rules as the only option, regardless of whether or not more stringent CPR-criteria are required by the awarding body jurisdiction in which the contractor is involved, and regardless of the potential of being called to task at any time for fully compliant reports with the full volume of that particular jurisdiction's CPR-criteria in it's precisely organized official format. 3Industry Giant ADP began in New Jersey as an outsourced payroll processor in the early 1950's.
Another fundamental cause of complexity stems from not only the aforementioned variations in CPR-criteria requirments but the fact that many contractors may perform work on multiple regulated projects at the same time, and may also concurrently work on non-regulated Public Works or privately funded contracts or other work assignments with the same labor personnel, even during the same payroll period such as driving a vehicle to and from the jobsite. This means that multiple calculations involving varying time and hourly rate of pay may apply for one employee of a customer who has worked on Public Works and private sector projects during the same week and even the same day. PSB's which are either "regional market based" or "national market based" and SA computer programs and systems currently are not set up to meet this complexity and require either custom computer applications maintained internally by the contractor or must be manually tracked and reported by same in order to meet government requirements for creating and submitting CPRs on Public Works projects when CPRs are required at the highest CPR-criteria content standard, while maintaining the flexibility to distinguish between public sector and private works applications of labor.
Because of the complexity faced by regional or national market PSB's in providing specialized tracking and reporting for contractors engaging in both public and private projects and the generic nature and limitations of the aforementioned SA's, many contractors have found it necessary to resort to the implementation of costly and sophisticated payroll processing systems in an attempt to satisfy the regulatory requirements for certifying payroll reports or maintain a costly staff of accounting and payroll personnel to meet their reporting obligations. In many instances, contractors are deficient or inaccurate in their tracking and reporting of necessary CPR-criteria, even in some cases, dummying up reports and certifications in order to satisfy regulatory mandates and thereby acting unlawfully.
Unfortunately, many of the sophisticated systems which do exist in the field today fail to accurately create CPRs which may be certified by the contractor, or to create other management reports for such things as apprentice-to-journeyman utilization and ratio at the necessary CPR-criteria because: 1) a comprehensive understanding of the legislative intent of the statutory requirements and the administrative intent of the regulatory mandates and contractor requirements for the adherence to same, which is highly specific to the Public Works sector, is typically not found in the knowledge base of the executive business leaders, accountants and programmers who create standalone and customized payroll processing engine systems: 2) variations in the opinions of government administrators even in the same jurisdiction related to rule interpretation as to such things as CPR-criteria, as well as regulatory and rules changes made by the various jurisdictions quickly render the SA's and customized programs of PSB's and large contractors inadequate; and 3) most if not all SA's do not provide reporting functions which are generally satisfactory to the reporting requirements and standards of the Public Works construction contracting prevailing wage law and regulation governed employment sector. The contractor which maintains its own payroll calculation and certification or reporting functions must continually train and maintain a knowledgeable payroll and accounting staff and its computerized payroll system at high cost and subject to significant risk if such maintenance of staff and systems is deficient. Such a burden increases general and administrative costs thereby making some contractors less competitive in the marketplace. What is needed is a system or method to support and augment local, regional, or national market PSB's and SA's in the core payroll processing of varied hourly rate labor classifications and other aspects of payroll processing generally unique to the tax-payer funded Public Works construction contractor employment sector, doing so in such a way to maintain adherence to the varied and ever changing regulatory schemes for such things as CPR-criteria at the same time providing for the calculation, tracking, and reporting in certifiable form as needed, various payroll elements and aspects pertaining to multiple employees of contractors working on a combination of Public Works and private sector projects.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,079 B1 issued Jun. 4, 2002 to Kahn et al. describes a System For Web-Based Payroll and Benefits Administration. This reference implements and enforces compliance with a wide variety of core payroll tax-related and employment-related rules across a variety of governmental jurisdictions relating to such core payroll issues as overtime pay, benefit limits, payment frequency and scheduled tax reporting requirements. The system is described as capable of receiving electronic updates automatically to ensure compliance with current rule changes related to core payroll processing. It also states that employers may set up custom policies and the systems can review and validate employees' paychecks as well as print paychecks or submit them to a back-end payroll service. In this reference, a substantive description of the various SA systems, enterprise-level human resource information systems ("HRIS"), and the problem of integrating payroll system functionality with that of a centralized payroll service are discussed.
As pointed out by the Kahn reference, SA programs are difficult to update on a frequent enough basis to assure continued current compliance with regulatory changes. While such changes can be issued by the software company's updating and maintenance departments, the sophisticated systems described above also require extensive reprogramming in order to update compliance factors to be applied to the appropriate criterion.
Kahn purports to provide full-featured payroll system functionality in a single embodiment on both the client and server side with a "robust user interface via a standard web browser." The system includes a centralized database on the server side to provide constant access to raw data to both the back end payroll service and to the system interface.
In today's world, through the use of relational databases database management systems, and related programming architectures, structures, and methods which create links between various tables by certain common or specialized fields, the same may be accomplished with relative ease.
Kahn further provides custom reports which the system will generate to the appropriate party at "specified reporting interval[s]". However, there is no disclosure in Kahn regarding the non-cutomized, "turn key" Public Works related complete CPR-criteria reporting functionality contemplated in the present invention.
When the employee works on a mix of public or private contracts, or for a plurality of contracts, the employee payroll elements must be treated on an aggregate basis of all work and pay for the pay period, and further brought into a weekly basis to meet the format requirements of most jurisdictions regarding CPR-criteria, and yet further, also be treated on a project specific basis in order to fully comply with the requirements for CPR-criteria for the subject project or projects.
What Kahn does not appear to provide for is the calculation of various when a multiplicity of projects are worked upon by the same employee during a given pay period, and which may also fall under one or more given weekly-basis CPR reporting period which will require the reporting of various portions of the total pay period's payroll criteria.
What is needed then is a Public Works construction sector focused payroll processing, tracking and reporting system and method which addresses, by contract (or project), the payroll elements such that reporting may be complete in CPR-criteria and certifiable based on the requirements of each individual project (contract or subcontract) for a plurality of awarding body jurisdictions. Furthermore, said system and method should be capable of supporting integration with or supporting augmentation of both PSB's and SA's.
Furthermore, to aid a contractor in analyzing whether it is supplying the correct ratio of journeymen to apprentices for a given contract (rather than as in Kahn which provides custom reports only at specified intervals), real time work type or classification ratios should be reportable to said contractors with comparisons to required limits or thresholds to allow the contractor in real time, to increase or decrease manpower by work type or classification as necessary to achieve compliance, and most importantly, to avoid non-compliance.
In a system like the Kahn system, in order for a contractor to be able to so project manage, it would be necessary for the system to print out certain CPR-criteria such as labor classifications and the contractor would need to interpret said results with an eye toward desired ratios for the entire contract.
Kahn does not appear to teach any such project management function. Much of the customized features pertain to financial items such as retirement, direct deposit, pension plans, etc. It does not appear that Kahn contemplates any kind of productivity or classification ratio analysis which would allow a contractor to assure continued compliance with a specific contract.
To have enhanced utility for a Public Works contractor, a payroll processing and reporting system, whether an internal manual system, PSB or SA, should provide means for interpolating or extrapolating real time compliance with regulatory requirements. In order to accomplish such analysis, it is necessary to have a means to input and compare the primarily non-financial overall manhour targets by labor classification for meaningful comparison with actual work performed. Granted, one could track the amount spent by classification to arrive at a specific ratio, but the amount which comprises the denominator in any such calculation is still fundamentally a function of the overall number of target manhours to be allowed or limited. The prior art does not appear to demonstrate in standalone or other dedicated payroll processing programs or systems adequate provisions for tracking the progress of labor classifications against contract targets necessary in meeting minimum apprentice employment requirements, reporting or certification.
What is needed is a system which contains contract specific journeyman and apprentice hour ratio and/or limits in the form of manhours planned or contracted for, in order to alert a contractor when labor classification apprenticeship to journeyman ratios are vulnerable to slipping out of compliance and to enable project management decisions to be made to assure concurrent, continued or final compliance. Such additional system and method would need to include the capacity for ongoing updates for change orders or extra work approved for each project (contract).
Along the lines of reporting vulnerability is the opportunity to also report and take credit for exceeding compliance in such a way to show the management of the contractor in a preferred light to a government agency for demonstrating better results for using for example, minority workers, disabled, and other classifications of workers that the government has indicated it desires to employ on public projects. Such reporting may be used to place the contractor in a better competitive position in future bidding or contracting opportunities with said agency, or may be touted in pre-qualification rounds or in the bid offering submitted to a governmental agency for preferred consideration or evaluation.
What is needed then is additional classification means to identify preferential groups or other criteria to be reported by contractors to demonstrate and communicate an improvement on the objectives of a government agency involved letting contracts.
Similar to the immediately foregoing preference "success" reporting, it is incumbent on the part of contractors to also spread projects across his employee base such that each employee has an opportunity, where possible, to work on particularly good projects, thereby increasing worker morale. This morality factor has significant impact on employee retention, productivity, and soft impacts such as employee spirit and cooperation for example, when requested to work overtime or switch tasks, jobs, or work locations, the employee having confidence that the employer will treat the employee with fairness and integrity. Such workforce morale provides distinct benefits to employees as well as perceived value-added dimensions to the contractors client and customer base, and is believed to contribute to employee productivity.
What is needed then is tracking and reporting means for providing capability to an employer/contractor to manage his workforce over time across his contractual commitments so that distribution of preferred work within the company occurs under a method of objective fairness.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,905 B2 on Feb. 1, 2005 to Kelly for a MODULAR SERVICE PAYROLL SYSTEM.
The Kelly reference provides a payroll system and method for processing payroll for employees for work during a pay period on any of one or more projects. A debit account is provided for the employee in order to allow for "extra time" which the employee works but is not billed to the customer, as well as inexcusable extra time, each potentially being offset to the account of the employee. A "company factor" is also established for manipulation as a function for a "unit rate compensation amount" allowing management review of productivity and overall efficiency of a department of the company.
While these types of measurements are helpful in a general management sense, as taught, the Kelly reference does not lend itself to the realm of contract compliance for Public Works projects. In fact, the nature of prevailing wage laws and provisions prohibit the type of system taught by Kelly because Public Works prevailing wage laws do not comport with schemes such as "piece work" or the crediting back of time on employee accounts and are thereby fundamentally in conflict with such payment policies.
While most contractor based payroll is reported and paid on a weekly basis, some other bases do exist for payroll based primarily on labor hours expended. It is most common in the industry to pay construction workers at the end of a calendar week, or a weekly pay period. Other pay period exist such as bi-weekly (every two weeks), semi-monthly (twice monthly), monthly, etc. It is quite uncommon to have a pay period which would be less than one week, however, it is true that in the case of termination, a worker is entitled to receive his or her pay immediately, or within a specified time after termination, and in fact, some contractors are prepared to pay an employee upon termination a rate for the day or hours worked up to and including the last shift worked.
What is needed then is a method which allows complete flexibility in the reporting of payroll on weekly-basis CPRs (or any other reporting period required by a given jurisdiction), in which the actually calculated core payroll may also be based on variable pay periods, from the hour, to the day, to a standard weekly pay period, a standard bi-weekly period, semi-monthly period, and even a longer period where allowed while maintaining the ability to create a weekly-basis CPR regardless of pay period duration.
Also needed is a method to track, manage and report employee work on a plurality of projects integral to the compliance reporting and management of workers in at least a partial government setting. This is acutely necessary when more than one contract has time applied against it in the same pay period for the same worker or workers.
Other companies or products which currently provide Public Works contractor-focused payroll systems of which Applicant is aware include:
Sunburst Software, an add-on to primary core payroll software processor Quickbooks®, in which the SA desktop user enters data prior to core payroll processing on a payroll report form interface. Sunburst's product then combines the primary core payroll processor's information with job specific criteria for a certified payroll record, or "CPR." However, the added reporting functions which will aid the contractor in changing course during the contract are not included with the Sunburst product, and the real time, daily and, more specifically, hourly nature of reporting and tracking elements over a multiplicity of contracts for a single worker as well as tracking classification-specific hours accrued against estimated hours either do not exist, or are insufficient to meet the various management needs as articulated above for today's Public Works contractor. In addition, the Sunburst Software system must be individually customized by the programmer to match with any given jurisdiction's standards of the day for CPR-criteria (i.e. not all configurations and elements are available to the contractor through the SA software itself); and
American Contractor, a product intended for large contractors which treats an inordinate amount of functions for the contractor from estimating, cost tracking, payroll, company accounting, material purchases, project management and other business and financial matters.
For the contractor who primarily needs a product to satisfy simple certified payroll reporting at, or greater than, any given jurisdiction's possibly unique standard for the elements of same, and real time labor hour management of its relevant contracts, the product is over-capable and seriously cost prohibitive. It is essentially an "all or nothing" commitment. More applicable to the construction business on a seriously large scale, the product is simply a vastly more complex solution than required and the amount of cost, training and time required to become familiar enough and to continue using the product would not be cost or time effective for the anticipated specialized independent government contractor which does not want to run his entire business with such a huge and expensive system, and only needs to track and report labor within regulatory requirements according to specific contracts; and
Paychex "Preview" core payroll processing system which will only create reports with CPR-criteria consistent with Federal Public Works laws (WH-347 form) and not for instance State of California version of CPR (A-1-131). The Paychex "Preview" core payroll processing engine system is also limited to a weekly basis pay period when a contractor wishes to utilize the Federal CPR report function on their payroll.
What is needed then is a method and system which is cost-effective, "user friendly", highly flexible and comprehensive as to variable data element and payroll period configurations, which renders a focused solution to provide complete CPR-criteria certifiable forms as required locally or regionally by government contracting regulations and furthermore, is capable of delivering substantive management supporting reports enabling the contractor to effectively manage his workforce as well as to pro-actively plan for and assure contractual compliance.

Payroll processing, certification, reporting and project management system and method


The frame for hanging files may be quickly assembled and does not require tools or any type fastening devices. The rails for holding the files are positioned within the channel of a rail housing, that is positioned at the top end of rail supports. A locking bar with a cam head pivots within the rail housing to first bear against the rail and then to hold the rail in position within the channel of the rail housing. Support bars are then used to hold the locking bar in position and to provide stability for the frame.

In modern offices, one of the more popular types of files are the so-called hanging files. These files are of common shape and configuration, except that they have little metal clips on each side, or notched metal or plastic rods, so that the files can be hung or suspended from parallel rails. These parallel rails are arranged in a support frame that may be typically disposed in the file drawer of a desk or cabinet.
There are several problems with the state of the art support frames for hanging files. Many of these frames suffer from stability problems. As a result, the frames wobble from side to side and can be prone to collapse. Another problem is that they typically require screws or bolts or other fasteners and tools and can be quite complicated and time-consuming to assemble.
A frame for hanging files was invented by me and described in my prior U.S. Patent in 1974 (U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,227), but that structure suffers from stability problems. This device includes parallel rails, ones which are inserted into respective grip clips. Locking rods are then rotated into position, so as to grip the grip clips. A cross support bar is then used to provide some stability to the unit. A problem with this device is that it is not sufficiently stable and is prone to rock back and forth. Further, the rails are not held sufficiently securely and the rails can become disengaged and the frame can collapse.
Pendaflex has a simple frame that snaps together, but this assembly is not stable and it can become easily disassembled, and collapse. SteelWorks, Inc. has another type of frame, where the rods and supports fit together. The problem with this frame is that it is not stable and there can be cambering of the rail, which can cause the folders to fall off the rails. Another frame is made by Attitype/Anthes and it provides a frame that snaps together. This frame is not sufficiently strong or stable and is prone to collapse it can also rock back and forth and does not securely hold the file folders.

Quick assembly hanging file folder frame


A housing unit of a display device according to an aspect of the disclosure includes a hinge member, a first housing, a second housing, a first lifter, a second lifter, and shafts. A link groove is provided in the first housing, a link groove is provided in the second housing, and in a state in which the housing unit is open at 180 degrees, the hinge member, the first lifter, and the second lifter are aligned on the same plane.

In recent years, as foldable display devices, display devices have been proposed each of which ensures the curvature of a display panel when the display device is folded by configuring the display panel of a folded portion unfixed and providing a space section that allows the display panel of the folded portion to curve and enter when the display device is being folded.
As an example of such a display device, PTL 1 discloses a display device including a housing unit that includes first and second receiving portions rotatably connected to first and second support members with a hinge, first and second rotary levers that move the first and second receiving portions, and a movable support member that rotatably supports the first and second rotary levers. The display device supports the display panel with the movable support member, the first and second receiving portions, and the first and second support members when the housing unit is deployed, while forming, when the housing unit is being folded, a space section for receiving the display panel of a folded portion to bent with the movable support member, the first and second receiving portions, and the first and second rotary levers.
PTL 2 discloses a display device including a housing unit that includes a first housing composed of a plurality of plate-shaped housings connected by a plurality of hinge portions and forming a space for storing a folded portion of a display panel when the housing unit is folded, a plate-shaped second housing and third housing that are connected foldable in opposite directions to each other at both ends of the first housing, and a sliding retention member that fixes the second housing and the third housing when the housing unit is deployed and supports the folded portion of the display panel.


A radar transmitter in which a pseudo-random sequence of pulses are transmitted, each at a different frequency. Prior to the return of the first pulse, a receiver is retuned to the first transmit frequency, then the transmitter is retuned to the second transmit frequency and so on. The return pulses are integrated coherently across the sets at a each frequency to achieve the highest signal level. The pulses are integrated noncoherently within a set over all the frequencies transmitted to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.. The technique of the present invention requires accurate knowledge of the range to the target. In a specific multi-line embodiment, the range calculation is provided by the centerline carrier frequency operating at a medium pulse repetition (prf) frequency. The retuning is then performed with the sidebands operating at a low prf.. The invention offers the advantages of single frequency operation, pulse-to-pulse switching, and simultaneous processing of two different waveforms (medium and low prf). Thus, the radar system of the present invention offers improved fade elimination, interference insensitivity, and range ambiguity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radar and communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to radar and communication systems that are adapted to circumvent interference.
While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional radar systems transmit and receive at a single carrier frequency. As a result, these systems were susceptible to interference. Many schemes have been developed to address this problem, two of which involve frequency hopping and the use of a spread spectrum. Frequency hopping involves the transmission of a block of data at one carrier frequency, "hopping" to another carrier frequency and transmitting another block of data and so on. Unfortunately, when frequency hopping is employed, it is difficult, if not impossible, to coherently add individual pulses together to improved the signal-to-noise ratio. While slow hopping may preserve the (phase) coherency of the pulses, slow hopping is considerably more susceptible to interference.
This problem is obviated somewhat with spread spectrum transmission. To achieve a spread spectrum with a conventional radar, either multiple receivers must be used or a single receiver may be used where the exact range to the target is known. To determine the range to the target, the single receiver systems are tuned to a single carrier frequency at which several pulses are transmitted and received. Any doppler shift in the received signal is detected and used to provided range and velocity measurements.
Unfortunately, single channel receivers suffer from interference and scintillation. The interference may be due to many sources including spurious radiation from another radar or the accidental operation of another radar at the same frequency. Clearly, such interference can seriously impair the performance of single channel systems.
Scintillation occurs when several returns from a target add destructively. The net result is a fading of the target making it difficult to maintain a track on the target.
Finally, the range measurement may be somewhat ambiguous in that conventional systems can not discriminate between multiples of a given distance.
Thus, there is a need in the art to mitigate interference and scintillation problems in connection with the use of single channel radar systems and to eliminate ambiguity in range measurements.


A balance antenna capable of directly receiving an unbalanced signal includes a pair of radiating units symmetrical with respect to a symmetrical axis. Each radiating unit includes a high-frequency radiating part and a low-frequency radiating part. The high-frequency radiating part includes a frame, a feed-in arm extending from the frame and parallel to the symmetrical axis and having a feed-in point at a distal end thereof, and an enhancing arm extending from the frame and incline relative to the feed-in arm. The low-frequency radiating part extends from the frame and partially around the high-frequency radiating part, and is bent toward the feed-in arm. The low-frequency radiating part has a distal free end close to the feed-in point.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional dipole antenna capable of receiving digital television signals includes a pair of monopole antennas 500, and is disposed on a substrate 400. Each of the monopole antennas 500 is made of a metal sheet, and has two radiating parts 510 configured respectively for receiving high-frequency and low-frequency signals, and a feed-in arm 520 coupled to the radiating parts 510. The feed-in arm 520 has a feed-in point 521 disposed at a distal end thereof. With this configuration, the conventional dipole antenna can be designed according to different bandwidth requirements to generate a radiation pattern.
However, the conventional dipole antenna is a balanced antenna, and a coaxial cable that is used to feed the digital television signals to the conventional dipole antenna is an unbalanced type transmission line. If the coaxial cable is directly connected to the conventional dipole antenna, the radiation pattern of the conventional dipole antenna will be affected due to a high-frequency current passing through an outer conducting shield of the coaxial cable and originating from the conventional dipole antenna. Thus, a balun 530 is required to be connected to the feed-in points 521 of the monopole antennas 500 for preventing the coaxial cable from acting as an antenna and radiating power.


A microcomputer comprises a CPU; a nonvolatile memory; a plurality of volatile memories; a system bus; a program transfer bus; a program transfer section; an address conversion section; and a voltage detection section. The volatile memories include a plurality of memories switchable to be used as transfer and execution memories in accordance with a program execution state by the CPU. Where the voltage detected by the voltage detection section is lower than a first voltage, the program transfer section transfers the part of the program stored in the nonvolatile memory to the transfer memory, and the address conversion section converts an address in the nonvolatile memory output from the CPU into an address in the execution memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcomputer with a built-in electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory, and more specifically to a microcomputer operable even when the supply voltage is lower than the lower operating voltage limit of the built-in nonvolatile memory.
2. Description of the Background Art
For performing system development using incorporated microcomputers, microcomputers with a built-in flash EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), which is one type of electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory, are often used in order to facilitate program changes and to shorten the period of development. However, microcomputers with a built-in flash EEPROM are more expensive than microcomputers which do not allow programs thereinto be rewritten (for example, microcomputers with a mask ROM). For this reason, in order to shorten the period of development and also reduce the mass production cost, a microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM is used for program development whereas a microcomputer with a built-in mask ROM is used for mass production in some occasions. In other occasions, in order to start mass production at the earliest possible time, the production of microcomputers with a built-in mask ROM is started when program development is completed, while mass production using a microcomputer with a flash EEPROM is performed until the production of the microcomputers with a built-in mask ROM is completed.
In general, the operating voltage range of a flash EEPROM is narrower than that of a mask ROM. Therefore, system development and mass production using both a microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM and a microcomputer with a built-in mask ROM may cause a problem in that the two types of microcomputers perform different operations due to the different operating voltage ranges.
As a microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM operable even when the supply voltage is lower than the lower operating voltage limit of the flash EEPROM, a microcomputer described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-7374 is conventionally known. In general, the operating voltage range of a RAM is wider than that of a flash EEPROM. Therefore, the microcomputer described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-7374 includes a RAM for storing a part of a program, and is provided with a supply voltage which is lower than the lower operating voltage limit of the built-in flash EEPROM. The microcomputer internally boosts the provided supply voltage and transfers the program stored in the flash EEPROM to the RAM. After the transfer of the program, the microcomputer stops boosting the voltage and executes the program stored in the RAM. Thus, the power consumption of the microcomputer can be reduced.
However, with the above-described conventional microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM, the central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a "CPU") needs to be stopped when transferring the program stored in the flash EEPROM. By contrast, with a microcomputer with a built-in mask ROM, the program does not need to be transferred and so the CPU does not need to be stopped. Therefore, in system development and mass production using both the above-described conventional microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM and a microcomputer with a built-in mask ROM, the operations of the two types of microcomputers cannot be matched although the two types of microcomputers can be operated at the same supply voltage.
With the conventional microcomputer with a built-in flash EEPROM, for rewriting the program stored in the flash EEPROM 20, it is necessary to use the CPU exclusively for that operation. Thus, it is impossible to rewrite the program stored in the flash EEPROM without stopping the CPU.

Microcomputer with built-in electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Methods for generating iPSCs and differentiated cells of interest by reprogramming donor cells that have been obtained in a non-invasive manner. In particular, the donor cells are exfoliated epithelial urine cells. The differentiated cells can be obtained by differentiation of the reprogrammed iPSCs or by direct reprogramming the urine cells.

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are cells derived from blastocysts obtained from in vitro fertilization that have the potential to self-renew and to differentiate into any mature cell type of a mammalian, e.g. human, body (this property is know as "pluripotency"). Under specific tissue culture conditions, ESCs can be maintained undifferentiated for prolonged periods of time without loosing their pluripotent characteristics. Because of these properties, ESCs have aroused enormous interest in regenerative medicine. Potentially, tissues derived from ESCs could be used for clinical treatment of humans (either acute conditions or genetic and degenerative diseases). ESCs could also be used for drug screening, for example to study tissue-specific susceptibility to treatments, and to model genetic diseases in vitro. However, severe ethical and practical (the risk of immune rejection) limitations have seriously hampered application of ESCs in the clinic and, in many countries, also the research.
The recent discovery that somatic cells can be transformed into iPSCs by means of exogenous factors (this method has also been termed "nuclear reprogramming by exogenous factors" (Takahashi and Yamanaka, Cell 2006; 126:663-76) has the potential to change the current perception of personalized medicine and can also provide valuable in vitro models of human diseases (Yamanaka and Blau, 2010; Nature 465, 704-712; Lian et al., 2010; Thromb Haemost 104, 39-44).
Remarkably, iPSCs are similar to ESCs and have the potential to be used in patient-specific treatments, thus avoiding the risk of immune rejection. Because of these characteristics, iPSCs have received great attention worldwide. The generation of iPSCs requires the collection of tissue from the donor, the expansion of the donor cells in vitro, and the exposure of the cells to a cocktail of exogenous factors that are provided to the cell as purified proteins, protein extracts, RNA molecules, non-integrating plasmids, viruses (e.g. retroviruses, lentiviruses, adenoviruses, Sendai viruses), with or without chemical cocktails and with variations in the cell culture conditions.
Application of these factors has the effect that colonies with an ESC-like morphology progressively emerge. These colonies represent iPSC colonies that can be picked and subsequently expanded and characterized to verify that their behavior is similar to ESCs.
So far, human iPSCs have been generated using donor cells from skin (fibroblasts and keratinocytes), amniotic fluid, extra-embryonic tissues (placenta and umbilical cord; (Cai et al., 2010; J Biol Chem 285, 11227-11234) cord blood, periosteal membrane, dental tissue, adipose tissue, neural stem cells, hepatocytes, amnion-derived mesenchymal stem cells and peripheral blood cells (Ye and Cheng, 2010; Regen Med 5, 521-530; Cai et al., 2010; J Biol Chem 285, 11227-11234). Reprogramming of cells from these tissues has been achieved with varied frequencies, indicating that the cell of origin ("donor cell") matters. Due to the heterogeneity of the donor cells currently used for iPSC generation, it is difficult to set standards for performing comparative tests with iPSCs and ESCs and to draw meaningful conclusions from the test results.
The ideal donor cell type for generating iPSCs should be easily accessible, easily reprogrammable, and universal (any age, sex, ethnic group, and body condition). Nowadays, dermal fibroblasts are among the most frequently used cell sources for reprogramming, but they require not only an uncomfortable biopsy that needs to be performed in an aseptic environment by a specialist, but also prolonged expansion prior to use. They also have risk of somatic cell mutations due to exposure to light and radiation, and the procedure is contraindicated in severe skin diseases or burns. Recently, three research groups achieved reprogramming of peripheral blood cells without need of CD34+ cell mobilization was reported (Loh et al., 2010; Cell Stem Cell 7, 15-19; Seki et al., 2010; Cell Stem Cell 7, 11-14; Staerk et al., 2010; Cell Stem Cell 7, 20-24). Brown et al., 2010, PloS ONE, 2010, 5, 6, 1-9, describe the generation of T lymphocyte-derived iPSCs from peripheral blood. Since these procedures are minimally invasive, require small blood quantity and do not need prolonged cell culture, they represent a significant advance inspite of the fact that their efficiency is very low. However, the main donor cells used according to these reports are mature T-cells that bear specific T-cell receptor rearrangements, which is undesirable for certain potential clinical applications. Also, T-cells do not carry the complete genetic information that is required for unlimited differentiation into any cell type.
Besides, in rare cases, receiving/donating blood is not exempt from ethical concerns, for example because of religious beliefs, and may not be feasible in patients with infectious diseases, blood diseases, or immunodepression. In the latter context, conditions are to be considered that affect coagulation (e.g. hemophilia), leukemia and genetic or acquired (e.g. cancer and AIDS) immunodepression.
In search for reprogramming of new tissues, iPSCs have also been produced from mouse meningeal membrane (Qin et al., 2008; J Biol Chem; 283, 33730-33735) and mammary epithelial cells (Li et al., 2010; Cell Stem Cell 7, 51-63), and in humans from periosteum and adipose stem cells (Esteban et al., 2010; Cell Stem Cell 6, 71-79), umbilical cord matrix and placenta (Cai et al., 2010; J Biol Chem 285, 11227-11234).

Method of generating induced pluripotent stem cells and differentiated cells

Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health


An apparatus for viewing an object through falling liquid includes structure defining a chamber for at least partially containing the object. At least one transparent or translucent member further defines the chamber. A conduit defines at least one hole positioned such that the transparent or translucent member is between the falling water and the chamber. The object is thus viewable by an observer through the falling liquid, and the member protects the object from the falling liquid.

The sound and appearance of flowing water is often considered desirable. For example, many find the sound and appearance of flowing water to be relaxing or inspiring. Small fountains for home or office use employ a pump to recirculate water over real or artificial stones to provide the sound and appearance of flowing water indoors from a small, portable device.

Device for viewing media through falling liquid


A water circulation unit includes an ejector (142), a convergent, and a pipe (146) which is arranged in the extension of the convergent. The ejection axis practically merges with the symmetry axis of the convergent, the two axes forming a common axis of the unit, and the distance between the water outlet of the ejector (142) and the downstream section of the convergent is between 0.4 and 1.6 times the length of the convergent. A guiding region is located just upstream of the upstream section of the convergent following the common axis, at least up to the water outlet of the ejector (142) when the outlet is located outside the convergent, the region ensuring that the water is essentially symmetrically guided around the common axis during the operation of the ejector. In a filter unit, a cartridge (154) is arranged around the water circulation unit.

Attempts have already been made to use a flow-multiplier effect by projecting a flow of water directed towards a nozzle, an orifice, or a cone for the purpose of entraining water and thus obtaining a high flow rate for water circulation.
Thus, document U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,659 describes an appliance for circulating water in a swimming pool so as to enable the water to be filtered. As shown in accompanying FIG. 1, which reproduces a figure of that document, the top portion of the appliance comprises a filter and the bottom portion of the appliance is connected to a supply of water under pressure and includes a nozzle assembly directed towards an outlet opening in a facing wall. A converging portion or spout may be placed facing the ejector. It is located towards the bottom of the appliance. Water that has passed through the filter approaches the ejector from one side thereof and changes in direction in order to pass into the spout. The flow-multiplication factor that is obtained is relatively small, and it never exceeds 2.5.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,826,591 also describes a swimming pool filter installation, as shown in accompanying FIG. 2, which reproduces a figure of that document, in which installation a pump causes a flow of swimming pool water to circulate through a filter. Before returning to the swimming pool, the water passes through an ejector or restricted nozzle placed in front of a converging portion or entrainment nozzle so that the water which has come through a basket connected to a skimmer is sucked in by the converging portion. In that system, the flow obtained by multiplication is not used for circulation through a filter, but only through a basket for stopping debris such as leaves. As in the preceding document, the ejector and the converging portion are placed close to a bottom surface of a space whose top portion houses the basket. As indicated by arrows, the water moves down towards the inlet of a converging portion disposed horizontally, where it changes direction. Although the body of that document does not specify the multiplication ratio obtained with such a system, the values given for the various dimensions correspond to a multiplication factor that is small, certainly not exceeding 2.5.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,846 also describes an installation, as shown in accompanying FIG. 3, which reproduces a figure of that document, in which installation a pump feeds an ejector that projects a flow of water towards a duct facing it and in alignment therewith and disposed in a chamber that defines a rounded converging portion leading to the inlet of the duct. The suction effect created by the ejector in the converging portion is used for sucking in water that has passed through a filter and that arrives via a duct opening out into the side of the chamber surrounding the ejector. As shown in that figure, the flow of water coming from the filter arrives on one side of the ejector and is subjected to a change in direction through 90° in order to be entrained towards the outlet duct. Although the document gives no value for the flow-multiplication factor, the highly asymmetrical water inlet certainly puts a limit on the flow-multiplication factor at well below 2.5.
Document WO 02/086259 describes a flow-multiplier water circulation assembly, part of which is shown in accompanying FIG. 4 which reproduces one of the figures of that document, which assembly gives a multiplication factor greater than 2.5, and that can even exceed 3. That flow-multiplier assembly comprises a converging portion, a throat, and a diverging portion, and water under pressure is injected in a direction that is parallel to the inside surface of the throat through a slot disposed at the periphery of the throat. That system is limited to injecting water into the throat, and given the great length of the slot formed around the throat, the slot must be very narrow; in practice, it is found that it is easily clogged, unless appropriate precautions are taken to ensure that it does not become clogged.
Document WO 03/062561 which in the context of the present invention should be taken into consideration only under EPC Article 54(3) [prior filing date], describes an improvement to the system disclosed in the preceding document. As shown in accompanying FIG. 5, which reproduces one of the figures of document WO 03/062561, that system comprises an assembly having a converging portion, a throat, and a diverging portion including a first ejector disposed at the inlet to the converging portion, and a second ejector disposed in the throat. That system thus combines two injections, firstly via an ejector on the axis of the converging portion, the throat, and the diverging portion, and subsequently by the throat ejector. In addition, that document states that the upstream ejector placed on the axis of the converging portion may be located inside a Kaplan bend so as to enable a high flow-multiplication ratio to be obtained. As indicated in the figure, a flow at a rate of 10 cubic meters per hour (m3/h) inserted half into the upstream ejector and half into the throat ejector gives an outlet flow at a rate of 30 m3/h, i.e. that the flow-multiplication ratio is equal to 3.

Water circulation unit with increased throughput for swimming pools, and filter unit comprising the same


The present invention provides: a biological electrode composition formable a living body contact layer for a biological electrode which is excellent in conductivity and biocompatibility, as well as light in the weight thereof and producible at a low cost, and in addition, which does not cause a significant decrease in the conductivity thereof regardless of under a water-wet condition and a dry condition; a polymer compound which can be suitably used for the biological electrode composition; a polymerizable monomer suitable as a raw material of the polymer compound; a biological electrode having a living body contact layer formed of the biological electrode composition; and a method for producing the same; and wherein, the polymerizable monomer is represented by the following general formula (1).

In recent years, with growth of IoT (Internet of Things), development of a wearable device is advancing. Typical examples thereof are a clock and an eye glass that can be connected to an internet. In a medical field and a sport field, too, a wearable device that can always monitor a body's condition is wanted; and thus, this is a growing field from now on.
In a medical field, for example, as in the case of electrocardiogram measurement with which the heart movement is detected by an electric signal, a wearable device that can monitor the condition of a body's organ by sensing a weak electric current is being studied. In electrocardiogram measurement, the measurement is carried out by attaching to a body an electrode applied with a conductive paste, but this is for only one measurement with a short measurement time. On the other hand, the wearable device for medical treatment as mentioned above aims development of a device with which a health condition can be always monitored for several weeks continuously. Accordingly, the biological electrode to be used in the wearable device for medical treatment is required not to change in conductivity even for a long period of usage as well as not to cause an allergy to a skin. In addition to these, the biological electrode is also required to be light in the weight thereof and producible at a low cost.
With regard to the wearable device for medical treatment, there are a body-attachment type and a cloth-incorporation type. With regard to the body-attachment type, a biological electrode using a water-soluble gel, which is the above-mentioned conductive paste material including water and an electrolyte, is proposed (Patent Literature 1). The water-soluble gel includes, as the electrolyte, sodium, potassium, and calcium in a water-soluble polymer to hold water therein, whereby converting a change of the ion concentration from a skin to electricity. On the other hand, with regard to the cloth-incorporated type, a method to use an electrode which has a silver paste or a conductive polymer such as PEDOT-PSS (poly-3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene-polystyrenesulfonate) incorporated into a cloth is proposed (Patent Literature 2).
However, in the case that the water-soluble gel including water and the electrolyte is used, there has been a problem that the conductivity is lost when water is lost by drying. On the other hand, in the case that a metal having a high ionization tendency such as copper is used, there is a problem of a risk to cause a skin allergy depending on a person; and also in the case that the conductive polymer such as PEDOT-PSS is used, there has been a problem of a risk to cause a skin allergy because acidity of the conductive polymer is high.
Also, use of a metal nanowire, a carbon black, a carbon nanotube, and or like as the electrode material is being studied because these materials have an excellent conductivity (Patent Literatures 3, 4, and 5). The metal nanowire has a high probability of contact among the wires themselves so that the energization can take place with a small addition amount thereof. However, because the metal nanowire is a material having a sharp and fine edge, it can cause a skin allergy. For the same reason, the carbon nanotube can irritate a living body. The carbon black is not as harmful as the carbon nanotube, but it still has a little bit of skin irritation. Therefore, even if the material itself does not induce an allergy reaction, biocompatibility can be deteriorated because of the shape and irritation property of the material; and thus, it has been difficult to satisfy both the conductivity and the biocompatibility at the same time.
It may be presumed that a metal film can function as an excellent biological electrode because it has a very high conductivity, but it is not necessarily the case. It is not a very weak electric current that is discharged from a heart beating; but those that are discharged are a sodium ion, a potassium ion, and a calcium ion. Therefore, it is necessary to convert the change in concentration of these ions to an electric current; but noble metals are poor in efficiency to convert these ions from a skin to an electric current because they are sluggish in ionization. Therefore, the biological electrodes using noble metals have high impedance so that energization with a skin is highly resisted.
On the other hand, a battery added with an ionic liquid are being studied (Patent Literature 6). The ionic liquid has characteristics of high thermal and chemical stabilities as well as excellent conductivity, and thus, the application thereof is extending to the use in battery. However, the ionic liquids such as those described in Patent Literature 6 have small molecular weights so that they are soluble in water; and thus, when the biological electrode added with the ionic liquid is used, this is extracted from a skin by a sweat. Therefore, this causes not only deterioration of conductivity but also a rough skin due to penetration of the ionic liquid into a skin.
The biological electrode cannot receive information from a body when it is departed from a skin. In addition, even a change in a contact area can cause a change in an electric amount of energization thereby causing the change in a base line of the electrocardiogram (electric signal). Therefore, in order to obtain a stable electric signal from a body, it is necessary that the biological electrode be always contacted to a skin and that the contact area thereof does not change. For this reason, it is preferable that the biological electrode has adhesiveness. In addition, the biological electrode needs to have elasticity and flexibility so as to follow the skin's expansion and contraction as well as the change in bending thereof.

Polymerizable monomer, polymer compound, biological electrode composition, biological electrode, and method for producing biological electrode


An access network comprises a first network interface device coupled to a customer network and configured to provide an interface between the access network and the customer network. The access network also comprises a second network interface device coupled to a core network and configured to provide an interface between the access network and the core network. The first network device is configured to insert a Status Type Length Value (TLV) element into a Continuity Check Message (CCM) to form a modified CCM and to transmit the modified CCM to the second network interface device. The Status TLV element includes fields for at least one of a dying gasp indication from a customer premise equipment or performance monitoring data. The second network interface device is configured to store data from the Status TLV in a database entry associated with an identification number of the first network interface device.

In order to provide telecommunications services, such as internet access, plain old telephone service, etc., a customer device is typically coupled to the core network of a service provider via an access network. The access network can implement various standards and protocols. Management of the end-to-end network can be divided into various domains, such an operator domain for the access network and a service provider domain which spans multiple access networks.

Propagating link status across a network


A system is provided for securely downloading content to a mobile telecommunications device. The system includes a mobile application to enable the mobile telecommunications device to send a request for content identified on a telecommunication provider system. The system includes a content application maintained by the content provider to retrieve content and promote delivery of the content to the mobile telecommunications device. The system also includes a challenge component and a response component, the response component communicates with the mobile application and encodes a challenge data. The challenge component communicates with the content application. The challenge component sends the challenge data to the mobile application and decodes the challenge data received from the mobile application to validate the response for delivery of the content to the mobile application.

Users of mobile telecommunications devices can download content for their devices such as ring tones, screen savers, games, and other applications. These items might reside on computing equipment maintained by a provider of the telecommunications service. Alternatively, the telecommunications provider might wish to make content provided by third parties available to its customers. As used herein, the term 'content provider' can refer to either a telecommunications provider providing its own content or a third party making its content available to customers of a telecommunications provider.
Under current procedures for a content provider making content available to customers, the content provider might load the content into a content catalog, such as an electronic media application for presenting the offerings of the provider. The catalog would be accessible to customers through their mobile telecommunications devices so that customers could download content from the catalog to their mobile telecommunications devices (also known as handsets).
A content provider might wish to restrict access to its content so that only legitimate customers are allowed to download content. Therefore, it might be desirable to authenticate customers who attempt to download content to ensure that the customers are allowed to receive the content. Many commercially available authentication systems, such as public key infrastructure (PKI), require a great deal of computing capacity and memory. Such systems typically cannot be efficiently implemented on mobile telecommunications devices where computing capacity and memory might be limited.

System and method for securing system content by automated device authentication


A two-phase type heat transfer device (10) for heat sources operating at a wide temperature range. The heat transfer device (10) includes an evaporator (21) collecting heat from a heat source, a condenser (21) providing heat to a cold sink by a first working fluid passing through liquid and vapor transport lines (25, 27) that connect the evaporator (21) and the condenser (23). The evaporator (21) is arranged inside a saddle (31) configured for avoiding that the temperature of the first working fluid in the evaporator (21) is greater than its critical point. The invention also refers to aircraft ice protection systems using the heat transfer device (10).

The two-phase thermal transport technology consists of transporting heat from a hot source to a cold sink through cyclical evaporation/condensation processes of a working fluid without any external contribution of energy. A heat transfer device based in this technology is also known as a heat transfer device of a Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) type.
Typically, a Loop Heat Pipe includes a working fluid, an evaporator section and a condenser section. The working fluid is vaporized at the evaporator section (due to the heat source extraction). The vapor is received at the condenser section, whereupon the vapor is condensed to form a liquid working fluid. Capillary action returns the condensed working fluid to the evaporator section, thereby completing a cycle.
LHP type heat transfer devices are being used in spacecraft and computers to cool internal devices. The heat generated by the internal devices is absorbed by the evaporator and released at the condenser, thus allowing the temperature of the internal devices to be controlled. Because no mechanically driven parts are used, the heat transfer devices can be stably used for long periods in unmanned spacecraft and computers.
European Patent Application EP 2 157 391 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,550,150 B2 describe LHP type heat transfer devices particularly applicable to computers.
In order to avoid damages to electronic equipment caused by heat cycles due to temperature variations, Variable Conductance Heat Pipes (VCHP) have been proposed with a non-condensable gas in an interior of the heat pipe. The non-condensable gas resides in passages adjacent to the condenser section. As the heat load from a heat source increases or as the evaporator temperature increases, the vapor pressure of the working fluid increases which forces the non-condensable gas to compress and expose more of the condenser area. The dense vapor of the working fluid can then reach the exposed condenser surface for vapor condensation. On the other hand, when the evaporator is at a low temperature, the volume of the non-condensable gas increases, thereby increasing the blocked part of the condenser. The working fluid has a low vapor pressure allowing the component to warm up before the heat is removed. Due to the low vapor pressure, a relatively high volumetric flow rate would be needed to achieve a given amount of heat transfer. This high vapor flow rate can in turn facilitate maintaining the heat source at a relatively constant temperature despite a variation in the heat pipe's operating temperature.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/029936 A1 describes a VCHP including an example for a heat source of a 22° C. to 50° C. temperature range.
Applicants do not know any aircraft ice protection system based on the above mentioned two-phase thermal transport technology.
The ice protection systems used by the aeronautic industry are focused in maintaining the aircraft wet surfaces (mainly leading edges of lifting surfaces, engine air inlets and propeller leading edges) at high temperature to avoid the water accumulation and even to evaporate the water. Different technologies are used for ice protection systems in the aeronautic industry, including:                (i) Hot air systems. These systems have low efficiency (maximum around 40%) because the air must maintain very high temperature to heat the external surfaces.        (ii) Heated blanket systems. They have problems with erosion and electrical power distribution.        (iii) Antifreeze fluid systems based on glycol to protect wings and leading edges of propellers. The main disadvantage is the high quantity of fluid to be stored. These systems are very complicated and they have high energy requirements with a maintenance burden.
Aeronautic ice protection systems using the above mentioned technologies are energy consuming systems.

Two-phase type heat transfer device for heat sources operating at a wide temperature range


A substrate processing system includes a processing chamber including a substrate support to support a substrate. A coil is arranged around the processing chamber. A first RF source provides first RF power at a first magnitude and a first frequency. A first pulsing circuit applies a duty cycle to the first RF source. A tuning circuit receives an output of the first pulsing circuit, includes a first variable capacitor, and has an output in communication with the coil to generate plasma in the processing chamber. A controller includes a data acquisition module to generate feedback. A feedback control module controls at least one of the first frequency and the first variable capacitor based on the feedback and a gain value. The controller selects the gain value based on at least one of the first frequency and the duty cycle.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Substrate processing systems are typically used to etch thin film on substrates such as semiconductor wafers. Etching usually includes either wet chemical etching or dry etching. Dry etching may be performed using plasma generated by inductively-coupled plasma (ICP). The inductively-coupled plasma may be generated by coils arranged outside of a processing chamber adjacent to a dielectric window. Process gas flowing inside the processing chamber is ignited to create plasma.

Systems and methods for transformer coupled plasma pulsing with transformer coupled capacitive tuning switching


A roller door is provided with a flexible door leaf, wound on a winding roller which is mounted rotatably above the door opening. Fast with the winding roller is at least one drum on which there is wound, in contrary direction to the door leaf, a flexible traction member (belt, rope, chain) which is loaded with a counterweight for balancing the weight of the door leaf. In order also to tauten the door leaf, with a separation of the functions of weight compensation and tautening of the door leaf, there is integrally rotatably connected with the winding roller at least one second drum on which is wound, in contrary direction to the door leaf, a further flexible traction member (belt, rope, chain) guided around a guide roller, which is mounted stationarily at the base of the door opening, and connected with the door leaf, and a tensioning roller presses with a transverse force against the portion of the further traction member which runs between its drum and the guide roller.

In roller doors with a flexible door leaf and with a winding roller for the door leaf, mounted rotatably above the door opening, there has to be provided means for compesating the weight of the door leaf and tensioning means acting on the lower end of the door leaf to tauten the door leaf.
Weight compensation means alone can be provided in a very simple manner, by a drum on one or both sides, connected with the winding roller, rotating integrally therewith and on or from which a traction member winds up or down, in contrary direction to the door leaf on the winding roller, the traction member being loaded with the counterweight to the door leaf. The counterweight can also be suspended on the traction member by means of an idle roller, and the end of the traction member may be connected with the lintel of the door opening (CH-PS 89 785).
For tautening the door leaf it is known to guide the traction member, on which the counterweight is suspended by means of an idle roller, via a guide roller which is mounted rotatably on the lintel of the door opening and via another guide roller which is mounted at the base of the door opening, and to connect said traction member with the door leaf or with a strip which reinforces the lower edge of the door leaf. By way of the limbs of the traction member which run from the idle roller, the weight which is suspended on the idle roller acts on the one hand as the traction force which tautens the door leaf, and on the other hand, via the drum of the traction member, with a torque which is dependent upon the torque which is exerted by the door leaf, with the particular winding radius in question, on the winding roller (DE-PS 23, 41 328). The arrangement of one loose roller on each of the two sides, at the height of the door opening, with a deflection roller at the lintel and a further deflection roller at the base of the door opening, replaces the one loose roller provided in another known arrangement (U.S. Pat. No. 262,398) which is arranged underfloor and pulled downwards by resilient force, and removes the disadvantage which the underfloor arrangement of the roller entails. Irrespective of the arrangement of the loose roller at the height of the door opening or underfloor, and whether or not a weight loading or spring loading of the loose roller is provided, it is difficult to balance out the weight of the door leaf. In U.S. Pat. No. 262,398 the drum for the traction member is of conical shape and has a screw thread for guiding the traction member, whereby in each case the corresponding winding diameter of the door leaf on the coil of the winding-up roller corresponds to the of the traction member on the drum, so that the tensioning roller does not have to balance-out any noteworthy differences of the free length of the traction member. In particular when flat belts are used as traction members because of their long life, there is no possibility of a helical winding because of the drum width thereby occasioned. During the winding of the traction member in layers one over the other--which takes place with inverted tendency in relation to that in the winding of the door leaf--corresponding length-differences have to be balanced out, with corresponding dimensioning of the tensioning device. In so far as comparatively large differences of length have to be compensated, otherwise a free roller which is under weight force or spring force is used or else a constructionally expensive winding device is used, so that therefore it is partially necessary to have a further deflection of the traction member over a fixed roller, to the height of the drop of the door, and a long traction member is necessary, (European patent specification 0276045).
According to German Utility Model 82 06 622, there is additionally provided a spring which is arranged in the winding roller, and which becomes tensioned when the door leaf is being wound up, and which is intended to act simultaneously as a safety device to prevent the door leaf from dropping down. The arrangement of the spring in the winding roller, however, is constructionally expensive and makes maintenance more difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,602 discloses a roller door without weight compensation, in which the door leaf is tensioned by springs housed in the door leaf at its foot and connected to traction members wound on the door shaft, extending downwards to guide pulleys and then up to the springs. In this construction the travel of the door leaf and/or the tensioning means are severely restricted.
In German patents 32 45 009, 33 45 016, the weight compensation device and the device for tautening the door leaf were separated from one another, without the constructional expenditure having been reduced and without maintenance having been rendered easier.
An object of the invention is to obtain a robust construction and easier maintenance for the door leaf tautening means, whilst separating the functions of weight compensation and tautening of the door leaf.

Labex GmbH Import-Export Industrieanlagen und Foerdertechnik