text:
Welcome to Annelida
Annelida, or segmented worms, is a remarkably diverse group described from marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments. Annelida traditionally only included polychaetes (bristleworms), oligochaetes (e.g. earthworms) and leeches, but it is now widely accepted that this group also includes other marine worms, including Echiura (spoon worms) and the former phyla, Pogonophora (beard worms) and Vestimentifera (tube worms). Annelids exhibit a broad range of ecological adaptations, morphological traits, body plans, and life history strategies and have diversified in nearly in all ecosystems on earth, including lakes, rainforests, coral reefs, the open-ocean, glaciers, deep-sea chemosynthetic environments, even sinkholes in the middle of deserts.
The Annelida Scratchpad was created in 2015 by importing content from two now-discontinued LifeDesks: Annelida (created by Liz Borda) and Polychaetes of the Southern Ocean (created by Geoff Read and Brigitte Ebbe). Higher-level rankings originally followed Rouse and Pleijel's (2001) Polychaetes ("the black book"), but is now based on WoRMS.
The Annelida Scratchpad has many potential purposes, with the common aim of documenting the diversity of the Annelida. For example, Robin Wilson (Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Australia) and other colleagues including Pat Hutchings (Australian Museum, Sydney) and Chris Glasby (Musuem and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Darwin) will be importing to this Scratchpad descriptions of the Australian polychaete fauna and subsequently populating EoL with the same content. An early draft of that can be found at .http://eol.org/collections/99460
If you you would like to contribute taxon pages, please contact one of the maintainers
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Neue wirbellose Thiere beobachtet und gesammelt auf einer Reise um die Erdr [sic] 1853 bis 1857 von Ludwig K. Schmarda. Erster Band. Turbellarien, Rotatorien und Anneliden. Zweite Hälfte.
Sarah Miller - 2015-03-16
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text: Big money. Two trillion dollars. If you could touch it, it would reach…oh, I dunno, I'm not going to tell you how high that stack would go and, actually, the point is, you can't touch it: it's stashed overseas. In corporate bank accounts. But, here's the beauty: if you want to know what it feels when the Fortune 500 fleece the country to the tune of $550 billion in dodged taxes on that $2 trillion hiding in foreign bank accounts, just pull out your billfold…empty…well, that's cuz the tab for that fleecing is on YOU.

subset: commoncrawl


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Rade1911.. Very interesting thing you have there. I really think we should trade Chandler for someone that can play consistently. I think we should try and draft Wayne Ellington from North Carolina. Trade David West and MO pete for Amare stoudmire from Phoenix so he can help with the center position. I think Amare is better than Bosh
I think we should absolutely sign him. He is way better than Antonio Daniels and way better than Mike Brown. He was a contributer all through the season and comes off the bench and runs the offense very well. The whole hornets team choked in the playoffs, so you really can't blame Jannero for one season. Pick up Jannero. Find a dominating Center and maybe some more bench help. GO HORNETS GO!!!!
Jason David will get cut by the end of the season.. I hope and pray that he does. The saints have too much talent right now. I say greer and porter as the cb's. Sharper and Jenkins as safety's. and young and vaughn as the other db's
Well some people are saying rashard jennings for the second round pick if the saints trade down. Well how about shon greene from Iowa... or what about Javon Ringer in the later rounds. I love the Malcom Jenkins pick at no. 14. If Jenkins is not available at 14 then let's trade down and pick up a second round pick...
Achord76.. I agree with you 100%.. Cut Jason David for some cap space to get LT
There is no way that Maualuga will be available at pick #14. .He is that good and will probably be picked up in the top 10.. I agree that the Saints does need to address the Defense big time but if a player like LT caliber comes along you better snatch him.. I think we have a better offensive line then the chargers have and look what LT did in short yardage. He maybe 30 but he sure does not play like he is 30..As far as Deuce goes.. He has had two torn ACL surgeries and my wife is a physical therapist.. It is hard to come back from one ACL and plus he plays a physical sport.. Bottom line is the Saints should pick up LT and try to sign either Sensabaugh or Sharper and draft a safety or the best player available in the draft...
I think it is a good idea to bring him in... If we can somehow trade Pierre Thomas to maybe make room for LT. Just think....... LT,and Bush split back and Evans in the back field with LT and Bush in motion on both sides.. that will open up a whole can....
I agree with Achord 76. Jason David is garbage. Even though he had one or two good games with an interception... He still gets burned every game. Those interceptions he picked off were right in his hands. I could even pick those off. Bottom line is he is garbage and they should definetly trade him or cut him.


text:
I'm a hurricane expert and I will track things when it happens.I'm 17 and I've been tracking weather for six years and tropical weather for five yr@
By: HurricaneAndre , 12:41 AM GMT on June 17, 2013
Brand new invest,sorry so late,I was busy.
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A method and system for air carrier contract management and optimization is disclosed. In particular, the present invention receives and tracks client travel data and air carrier contract data, analyzes this data and configures the data structure to be used in a goal programming algorithm to determine an optimum travel carrier solution.
1. A travel carrier contract management and optimization method, comprising the steps of:
receiving travel contract data relating to a travel carrier contract, wherein said travel contract data includes at least two of volume, segments, volume share, segment index, volume index, contract code, contract description label, contract validity period, referred client code, cost measurement indicia, agency International Air Transport Association (IATA) code, carrier code, booking code, tour type, tour box information, destination country code, fare basis code, ticket currency code, eventual IATA currency country, threshold value, and percentage of corresponding rebate value;
receiving client travel data associated with a client, wherein said client travel data includes at least two of primary ticket number, tour type, travel carrier code, booking code, fare basis code, travel port pair, corporate accounts number, corporate travel ID, ticket date, ticket currency, ticket amount, ticket amount in US dollars, ticket tax amount, IATA code, ticket currency code, ticket credit amount, sequential travel data, travel port description, travel departure, travel arrival, departure country, arrival country, and sub-mileage distance;
matching said travel contract data with said client travel data;
defining a plurality of sectors from said client travel data, wherein said plurality of sectors comprises a travel carrier, travel port pair, ticket origin, and class of service;
determining a sector price for each of said plurality of sectors, wherein a potential price is considered when a number of said plurality of sectors that are assigned exceeds an actual number of sectors and a base price is considered when a number of said plurality of sectors is less than or equal to said actual number of sectors;
generating a constraint from said plurality of sectors, said client travel data and said travel contract data;
wherein said generated constraint comprises at least two of segment data, class of service data, travel port pair data, sector data, travel carrier data, client travel spend, and market share derived from said client travel spend and said sector data;
generating a penalty function constraint based on said travel contract data, wherein said penalty function constraint limits travel carrier values per sector according to travel factors, wherein said travel factors include evaluating a maximum potential capacity per carrier and at least one of carrier seat capacity, flight frequency, quality of service, and availability of direct connections per sector;
performing a spend share shift analysis based on said sector price, said generated penalty function constraint and said generated constraint;
utilizing goal programming to optimize said client travel spend based on said spend share shift analysis; and,
creating a report based on said optimized client travel spend.
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14. A system configured to facilitate travel carrier contract management, comprising:
a data acquisition component configured to facilitate acquisition of travel contract data and client travel data;
wherein said travel contract data includes at least two of volume, segments, volume share, segment index, volume index, contract code, contract description label, contract validity period, referred client code, cost measurement indicia, agency International Air Transport Association (IATA) code, air carrier code, booking code, tour type, tour box information, destination country code, fare basis code, ticket currency code, eventual IATA currency country, threshold value, and percentage of corresponding rebate value;
wherein said client travel data includes at least two of primary ticket number, tour type, travel carrier code, booking code, fare basis code, travel port pair, corporate accounts number, corporate travel ID, ticket date, ticket currency, ticket amount, ticket amount in US dollars, ticket tax amount, IATA code, ticket currency code, ticket credit amount, sequential travel data, travel port description, travel departure, travel arrival, departure country, arrival country, and sub-mileage distance;
a processing component configured to define a plurality of sectors from said client travel data, wherein said plurality of sectors comprises a travel carrier, travel port pair, ticket origin, and class of service;
said processing component configured to determine a sector price for each of said plurality of sectors, wherein a potential price is considered when a number of said plurality of sectors that are assigned exceeds an actual number of sectors and a base price is considered when a number of said plurality of sectors is less than or equal to said actual number of sectors;
said processing component configured to generate a constraint from said sector, said client travel data and said travel contract data;
wherein the generated constraint comprises at least two of segment data, class of service data, travel port pair data, sector data, travel carrier data, client travel spend, and market share derived from said client travel spend and said sector data;
said processing component configured to generate a penalty function constraint based on said travel contract data, wherein said penalty function constraint limits travel carrier values per sector according to travel factors, wherein said travel factors include evaluating a maximum potential capacity per carrier and at least one of carrier seat capacity, flight frequency, quality of service, and availability of direct connections per sector;
said processing component configured to facilitate a spend share shift analysis based on said sector price, said generated penalty function constraint and said generated constraint;
and configured to utilize goal programming to optimize said client travel spend based on said spend share shift analysis; and,
a reporting component configured to create a report based on said optimized client travel spend.
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The present application claims the benefit of, and priority to, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/285,529 filed Apr. 20, 2001; the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates, generally, to a system and method for contract management and optimization. More specifically, the invention involves systems for tracking and analyzing travel carrier contract and client data; simulating scenarios based, in part, on this contract data; and engaging in goal programming optimization to determine the optimum variables that will achieve the greatest cost savings to clients.
Large companies and organizations typically purchase a significant amount of travel services from a number of different airlines (or travel carriers). A large company (e.g., IBM), with offices and employees located throughout the world, has a significant need for travel services. On any given day, a large company may have hundreds or even thousands of employees traveling from one location to another. Although employees may travel throughout the world, significant travel also takes place between office locations such as the headquarters, manufacturing plants, distribution centers, and the like.
Because of the high volume and frequency of travel, large companies are often able to negotiate special rates and discounts with the travel carriers. Indeed, it is common for any one large company to enter into travel contracts with several travel carriers. These contracts, however, unless properly negotiated and drafted, may not always save the company money. Although a particular contract with a particular carrier may provide a negotiated savings for travel between certain times, to certain locations, and between certain airport hubs, the inconvenience and contractual obligations may result in a net loss in the long run because of, for example, employees missing flights with the negotiated carrier and purchasing last minute flights on non-contract airlines.
Several factors help to determine the net cost savings to the company. Traditionally, companies have attempted to take into account a variety of conditions to optimize their travel needs to negotiate better cost savings. Examples of some of these devices and methods include (1) U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,453 ("Computer System and Method For Determining A Travel Scheme Minimizing Travel Costs for An Organization") issued on Nov. 3, 1998 and assigned to Rosenbluth, Inc.' and (2) U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2001/0034526A1 ("Tool for Analyzing Corporate Airline Bids") published on Oct. 25, 2001; the contents of both are incorporated herein by reference. The '453 Patent, in particular, describes a system and process that attempts to determine a travel scheme to minimize travel costs for an organization. The '453 patent relates to a linear programming model that takes into account various conditions and constraints in an effort to determine the minimum travel costs for any particular company during any particular period of time. The system and method described in the '453 patent is limited, however, in that the programming algorithm uses a simplified linear programming model (e.g., objective function analyzing sets of travel information constraints) and only a few available input parameters. Although this model solves some of the traditional problems in the industry, this over-simplified model does not accurately reflect the complex and real life variables which are common-place in today's travel carrier industry.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for tracking and analyzing travel carrier contract data and client data, performing simulations on this data, and employing a suitable optimization algorithm to analyze multiple variables in order to minimize travel costs for an organization. An exemplary system of the present invention utilizes a data structure comprising client data, contract data, intermediate data based on preceding data set calculations, and an aggregate data set that is appropriately grouped to support multidimensional analysis.
An exemplary method is facilitated by the exchange of information among clients (companies), travel agents, a financial institution and one or more airlines. An exemplary method comprises the steps of importing client data; importing the client exchange rate; importing/exporting contract conditions (e.g., volume, segments, volume share, segment index, volume index, etc.), which take into account, inter alia, various rebates on contracts; configuring goal groups, which are, for example, composite indices of the above contract rebate conditions; and analyzing this data by employing an optimization algorithm.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention are hereinafter described in the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments to be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and figures, wherein like reference numerals are used to identify the same or similar system parts and/or method steps in the similar views, and:
Other aspects and features of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the detailed description that follows.
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments of the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description is intended to provide convenient illustrations for implementing various embodiments of the invention. As will become apparent, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described in these embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present invention is generally directed to a travel carrier contract management and optimization system and method for analyzing and tracking travel carrier information (e.g., client and contract data) and performing an optimization algorithm to optimize travel costs associated with a large company's (or a plurality of companies') purchase of travel services from travel carriers. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the invention facilitates the processing of information in several phases, such as, for example, (1) a data acquisition and management phase, where data is received/retrieved from multiple sources (e.g., clients, travel agents, financial institutions, the travel carriers, and potentially, other third parties); (2) a data quality phase, where a data quality engine ensures the quality and integrity of received data; (3) a data tracking phase, where electronic contracts are matched with client data; and (4) a savings optimization phase, where an optimization algorithm performs a spend share shift analysis based on, for example, the average sector price by carrier, class of service, route and country of ticketing.
The optimization phase is implemented through a goal programming algorithm, where the objective is to minimize the amount a client spends over a fixed period of time subject to contract conditions and a penalty function that takes into account several factors such as, inter alia, carrier seat capacity, flight frequency and direct/indirect flight routes. An exemplary system of the present invention is able to facilitate the processing of over one hundred variables and thousands of linear constraints in only a few minutes on a computer. Another exemplary system further improves the optimization results by using price weighting factors which introduce non-linear programming methods to achieve better results with only a slightly diminished effect on processing speed. Further, when an air carrier share is maximized during the optimization process, an exemplary system may utilize potential prices (prices adjusted to factor in contract rebates) instead of simple base discount prices.
Thus, the present invention effectively and efficiently shares and exchanges client history data and other information between a client, a travel agent, a financial institution, one or more travel carriers (e.g., airlines), or other third parties. The present invention also facilitates streamlining a client's travel routes to create savings plans or discount packages tailored to the airline routes taken. The invention also overcomes the deficiencies of previous devices and methods, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,832,453, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference, by achieving an optimization model that is more accurate and true to real life environments.
In an exemplary embodiment, the present invention, as shown in
It should be appreciated that the host system may reside with the Financial Institution 14, the Client System 10, the Travel Agency 12, the Travel Carrier 16 or with any other third party. Additionally, the host system of the present invention may exist within a single entity, e.g., the Financial Institution 14, or may distributed between or among several different systems. The host system may include a host server or other computing systems including a processor for processing digital data, a memory coupled to said processor for storing digital data, an input digitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data, an application program stored in said memory and accessible by said processor for directing processing of digital data by said processor, a display coupled to the processor and memory for displaying information derived from digital data processed by said processor and a plurality of databases, said databases including client data, contract data, financial institution data and/or like data that could be used in association with the present invention. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a computer system which may be used herein will typically include an operating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000, Linux, Solaris, etc.) as well as various conventional support software and drivers typically associated with computers. The system computer can be in a home or business environment with access to a network. In an exemplary embodiment, access is through the Internet or other distributed network through any web-browser software or other communication package.
Communication between the parties to the transaction and the system of the present invention is accomplished through any suitable communication means, such as, for example, a telephone network, Intranet, Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), online communications, off-line communications, wireless communications, and/or the like. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons, any databases, systems, or components of the present invention may consist of any combination of databases or components at a single location or at multiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any of various suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes, encryption, de-encryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.
A database, datamart, or data set may include any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Common database products that may be used to implement the databases include DB2, Microsoft Access, MSSQL, or any other database product. Database may be organized in any suitable manner, including as data tables or lookup tables. Association of certain data may be accomplished through any data association technique known and practiced in the art. For example, the association may be accomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic association techniques may include, for example, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a database merge function, for example, using a "key field" in each of the manufacturer and retailer data tables. A "key field" partitions the database according to the high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example, a certain class may be designated as a key field in both the first data table and the second data table, and the two data tables may then be merged on the basis of the class data in the key field. In this embodiment, the data corresponding to the key field in each of the merged data tables is preferably the same. However, data tables having similar, though not identical, data in the key fields may also be merged by using AGREP, for example.
The host system may provide a suitable website or other Internet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. In one embodiment, the Internet Information Server, Microsoft Transaction Server, and Microsoft SQL Server, are used in conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT web server software, a Microsoft SQL database system, and a Microsoft Commerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Intervase, etc., may be used to provide an ADO-compliant database management system. The term "webpage" as it is used herein is not meant to limit the type of documents and applications that might be used to interact with the user. For example, a typical website might include, in addition to standard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, Javascript, active server pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensible markup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), helper applications, plug-ins, and the like.
The present invention may be described herein in terms of functional block components, screen shots, optional selections and various processing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/or software components configured to perform the specified functions. For example, the present invention may employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the software elements of the present invention may be implemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++, Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, extensible markup language (XML), with the various algorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, it should be noted that the present invention may employ any number of conventional techniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, and the like. Still further, the invention could be used to detect or prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, such as JavaScript, VBScript or the like.
"Client," as used herein includes any software, hardware, company, organization, individual or other entity which contracts with travel carriers, directly or indirectly, for travel services. As the term is used herein, "client" may refer to the customer of the financial institution, the travel agency, or the travel carrier; or any entity who desires to optimize travel carrier purchases and contracting. The client's travel services are often negotiated and managed by travel agencies and/or their financial institution. The "financial institution" may, but does not have to, house the host system which receives and analyzes travel data information. Further, the "financial institution," as defined herein, includes any software, hardware, banking, credit, or other business entity that services its clients' financial and/or travel needs. As noted, the "financial institution" may also provide travel services. An example of a financial institution that also provides its clients with travel services is American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. "Travel agency," as defined herein, includes any software, hardware, individual, entity or agency that contracts and negotiates with the travel carriers and/or others on behalf of its clients. As previously noted, it is possible for the travel agency and financial institution to be the same. "Travel carrier" or "air carrier" as those terms are used herein refers to any software, hardware, individual, entity and/or the like the provides or facilitates transportation or travel services, including airlines, bus companies, train companies, and/or the like. Although the present invention is described primarily in terms of an airline travel carrier, one skilled in the art will easily appreciate that the invention is not so limited.
The optimization model, which will be discussed in greater detail later, includes the following industry terms and phrases. A travel "segment," which includes a particular airline (or other travel carrier) route between cities. For example, a flight originating in Phoenix (PHX), which stops in Dallas (DFW), in route to Baltimore (BWI) comprises two segments: namely, (1) PHX-DFW, and (2) DFW-BWI. The phrase "class of service" may also be used in the calculation of an optimal travel solution. "Class of service" includes the various types of service offered by the variety of travel carriers, e.g., first class, business class, coach class, which may be divided further by full and discounted fares. When referring to a "ticket origin," the term includes a currency identifying the country or origin and/or the country where the ticket was purchased. An "airport pair" includes two airports that defines, for example, the point of origin and destination, or the point of origin and stop-over. For example, the segment PHX-BWI is an airport pair. "Client spend" or simply "spend" include the amount of money spent by a particular client for particular travel services. It is an objective of the present invention to minimize or optimize the client spend.
An exemplary embodiment of this invention contemplates particular "sectors" of travel, where each sector is multi-dimensionally defined to include the air carrier, airport pair, ticket origin and class of service. In defining each sector in this manner, the number of sectors can increase rapidly where more than 10,000 sectors may be considered in a typical computational model. This sector definition is different from known optimization methods which have limited "sector" to a function of only the airport pair and the air carrier code. Similar to the "sector" definition, an exemplary algorithm employed by the present invention considers functional constraints on a four-dimensional basis. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, a constraint of the present invention may include that the sum of a series of sectors defined by different airport pairs, air carriers, origins and classes of service be more than a specific number. Similarly, it may factor in the fact that the global spend of a series of sectors be more than a specific amount. In this manner, the number of constraints increases rapidly wherein a typical problem may consider more than 100,000 constraints. Although the sector definitions and mathematical algorithm definitions have described four-dimensional calculations, it should be appreciated that fewer or more constraints and parameters may be employed depending on the particular modeling objective. For example, the present invention may calculate optimal results based on more narrowly or broadly defined sectors and algorithms.
An exemplary algorithm of the present invention does not require that the ticket price be fixed at the start of the algorithm; however, a fixed ticket price is contemplated by another embodiment of this invention. In fact, in an exemplary embodiment, a non-linear programming element is introduced where the price is not fixed, but is a function of the number of tickets assigned to a specific air carrier. That is, it may be equal to the "potential price" instead of the "base price" if the goal programming algorithm maximizes the current air carrier sectors (i.e., the number of assigned sectors are more than the actual number of sectors). Conversely, if the assigned sectors are less than or equal to the actual number of sectors, the "base price" is used instead of the "potential price." This dynamic pricing structure allows consideration of the effect of the rebates/discounts on the average price.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention also contemplates a "penalty function," which includes a maximum potential capacity that is assigned to each air carrier for each sector in order to limit the air carrier with, for example, a low level of service, no direct connections, etc. In an exemplary embodiment, the algorithm is able to accept a specific limit to block the increase of the share of each air carrier. As such, depending on its capacity or "penalty function," an exemplary system of the present invention adds a constraint for each cell to fix the maximum number of tickets that may be assigned to each air carrier.
Exemplary input data sets include the following:
Client "flight data," which includes the actual number of purchased tickets by sector forecasted to the future. The sum of purchased tickets for the sectors defined by the same Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service is to be considered as the future client demand of trips.
"Ticket prices" are obtained by considering (1) the published fares which may be collected by an external data provider, and (2) the savings and rebates computed by considering the specific contract agreement established between the air carriers and the client. Savings and rebates, which are used, in part to define the price of a ticket, are considered as function of the number of sectors. In fact, many air carriers define periodical rebates that are function of the number of tickets or of the client spend level. As such, the system of the present invention is configured to consider at least two prices for each cell: (1) a "base price" equal to the actual discounted price obtained without a specific rebates, and (2) a "potential price" equal to the ticket price obtainable by maximizing the spend on the current Air Carrier to maximize the periodic rebate. The "potential price" is equal to the "base price" plus the obtained rebate divided by the maximum number of tickets which can be "shifted" to the current Air Carrier.
An air carrier potential capacity ("penalty function") is computed from a complete Flight schedule data set. The Air Carriers with low level of service, in terms of number of seats and number of flights, or without direct connection, are limited with a Penalty Function. This Penalty Function is useful to guarantee a good level of service and an optimal flight plan realistically applicable.
The present invention has the capability and flexibility of being configured to take into account additional specific constraints that may be added by an analyst, such as market share constraint, specific contract thresholds, etc., or, to the contrary, to block the decrease of a specific air carrier in each cell. In another exemplary embodiment, an upper and/or lower limit may be added to a group of cells comprising more than one air carrier.
The present invention performs the travel optimization analysis by receiving, inter alia, one or more of the various input parameters described above, which relate to a client's travel needs and historical usage. As such, the system of the present invention operates using client information collected from one or more sources. For example, this client information may include (i) the types of travel carrier tickets to purchase, (ii) ways and currencies of payment, (iii) available airline companies, (iv) geographic areas of departure and arrival, and/or the like.
The host application performs an optimization analysis by utilizing linear or nonlinear analytical models and processes to evaluate input data and generate optimization output data.
By way of general background, it should be noted that the linear and/or non-linear programming methods implemented herein use mathematical algorithms. The analytical programs are a class of problems with an objective that is a function of a set of decision variables that is to be optimized (maximized or minimized) subject to constraints on those decision variables. These problems may be categorized by the structure of the objective function and the structure of the constraints.
There are many applications of mathematical programs ranging from simple problems (e.g., finding a minimum cost assignment of objects in one set to objects in another set) to complex problems (e.g., finding the schedules for a set of tasks that have resource requirements). The art of modeling real world situations as mathematical programs is typically called "formulating" the mathematical program or formulation. Many situations can be modeled as mathematical programs, and it is difficult to characterize all of them because, in general, these problems may be hard to formulate, large, and hard to solve. For additional background on mathematical modeling and complex solution solving, see SAS (1990-2000) "SAS/OR� User's Guide," SAS Institute, Inc., Winston, W., Operation Research, Wasworth 1998, which is incorporated herein by reference. Indeed, specialized algorithms for solving mathematical programs have been developed that exploit the structure in the problem, thereby simplifying finding a solution. The procedures that focus in this area are defined by the structure of the mathematical program that they solve.
As previously discussed, an exemplary aspect of the present invention involves goal programming optimization, where the objective is to determine the optimal solution for clients contracting with air carriers to minimize cost. A goal optimization algorithm is generally described below which (1) illustrates the algorithm from a process flow perspective (
The following non-exclusive exemplary data input parameters may be utilized in the optimization model: (1) data set with tracking data and potential data, (2) Data set with filter data; (3) a default maximum potential allowed for a single Air Carrier on a single route; (4) a maximum potential allowed per each single Air Carrier on a single route; (5) air carriers to fix upper limits; (6) air carriers to fix lower limits; (7) flag of integer or real computation (allowing for fraction of flight sectors); (8) number of minimum sectors and spend to allow cell optimization; (9) flag to print detailed reports and/or the like. From the input parameters, exemplary output variables from the optimization process include: (1) a data set with final solution details; (2) data set with multiple records due to possible data input errors; (3) a series of data sets with benchmarking information between original and optimal solution in order to compute incremental savings and/or the like.
An exemplary goal programming model of the present invention utilizes an automated optimization program that is capable of facilitating linear or non-linear mathematical modelling methods, such as, for example, processing available with the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) (module SAS/OR). Although the SAS system is currently a software component known to provide suitable analytical capabilities, other analytical software solutions, known and yet to be developed, such as SPSS, STATA, MINITAB, Matlab, Mathematica and the like may be suitably employed. An exemplary system and method of the present invention is capable of providing travel clients with an optimal strategy relating to flight distribution parameters.
A mathematical construct which may be employed in carrying out the goal programming and optimization process involves considering "x," which is the vector of all the number of sectors defined by the four dimensions described above. In an exemplary embodiment, the optimization process is subject to one or more of the following functions.
Minimize p′x: This equation is the function to minimize "price" (vector p) multiplied by the number of sectors (vector x). Where the price is a not a constant vector but a vector of values which are a function of the number of sectors, (1) the price is equal to the "base price" if the number of assigned sectors is equal or less than the actual number of sectors, and (2) the price is equal to the "potential price" if the number of assigned sectors is more than the actual number of sectors.
Ax≧a: This equation is a constraint to avoid the reduction of some air carriers. The constants matrix A and the constants vector a include that the tickets for some sector defined by the Air Carrier, Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service remains at least the same as the actual value.
Bx≦b: This equation is a constraint to avoid the increase of some air carriers. The constants matrix B and the constants vector b include that the tickets for some sector defined by the Air Carrier, Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service are limited to the actual value.
Cx=c: This equation is a constraint to verify that the sum of sectors for each flight cell remains equal to the actual demand of tickets. The constants matrix C and the constants vector c include that the sum of tickets for sectors defined by the same Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service remains the same as the actual demand value.
Dx=d: This equation is a constraint to avoid the variation of cells with an insignificant economic value. The constants matrix D and the constants vector d include the tickets for some sector defined by the Air Carrier, Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service remain the same of the actual value. This is included for all the sectors defined by the Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service when the global number of demanded tickets or the global price value are under some fixed low thresholds. This constraint is useful to avoid the building of an optimal plan requiring the client to shift insignificant amount of tickets.
Ex≧e: This is a set of user added constraints to the minimum number of sectors assigned to a specific air carrier near a specific area. The constants matrix E and the constants vector e include that the sum of tickets for a group of sectors be more then a specific value.
p′Fx≧f: This is a set of user added constraints to the minimum spend value of sectors assigned to a specific air carrier near a specific area. The constants matrix F and the constants vector f include that the sum of tickets for a group of sectors multiplied by the prices be more then a specific value.
1≦x≦u is a constraint to the range of the number of sectors, from vector 1, practically none of the tickets can be moved, but at least one remains in each cell, to the maximum number of a sector reachable by each air carrier considering its air carrier potential capacity.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention comprises a processing structure that assigns a maximum potential capacity (penalty function) to each Air Carrier per each sector defined by Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service which assign a penalty to non-direct flights. This penalty reduces the number of sectors assigned to an air carrier with no direct connection.
An exemplary system and method of the present invention: (1) blocks the shift of tickets for sectors with an insignificant amount of spend or number of sectors; (2) may block the increase or decrease of the share of specific Air Carriers; (3) assigns a penalty to an air carrier with low level of services due to low number of seats or flights, or not-direct connections; (4) considers the rebate effect introducing a non-linear function price (step-function); and (5) includes at least one ticket per route in the final optimal solution.
An exemplary system of the present invention, as previously noted, comprises a processing structure which: (1) represents the client data in a multidimensional datamart where each sector is defined by four dimensions: Air Carrier, Airport Pair, Ticket Origin and Class of Service. In this way the number of sectors increases rapidly, wherein the present system can consider more than 10,000 sectors. Further, the present invention accounts for a constraint defined on a free four-dimensional structure. In other words, for example, a constraint may include that the sum of a series of sectors defined by different Airport Pairs, Air Carries, Origins and Classes of Service are more than a specific number. In this way the number of constraints increases rapidly. As such, a real problem can consider also more than 100,000 constraints. Also, in the present invention, unlike other known programming modalities, the price is not fixed and is a function of the number of tickets assigned to a specific Air Carrier; thus, it is equal to the "potential price" if the number of assigned sectors are more than the actual number of sectors and the programming structure is configured to optimize the current air carrier sector; and it is equal to the "base price" otherwise. This dynamic pricing structure factors in the effect of the rebates on average price.
Data Organization
Data organization is a part of an exemplary system of the present invention. In an exemplary embodiment, as depicted in
An exemplary client data directory 204 comprises the desired client data to perform the travel carrier analysis. Preferably, each client 10 has a unique dataset which is generated with the same name as a client code. The client code is reference code unique to a particular client. As shown in Table 1 and generally described above, the client data directory 204 may include, among other indicia, one or more of the following:
With respect to an exemplary contract directory 206, which contains a relational database, each contract is inputted into different data sets 202. The records in these data sets 202 are logically connected to a univocal key represented by the contract code. As previously noted, a contract code is an identifier that is unique to any particular travel carrier contract. In a preferred embodiment, a condition code and a cell code are used to allow the classification of all the contract's conditions, where each condition corresponds to a single cell. Two exemplary data sets, for example, contain (1) general information about the contract and (2) the heading of the single condition. The first exemplary data set contains the general data of the contract, e.g., the contract code, the label on the contract description, the validity period of the contract and the client code to which it refers. Another exemplary data set contains the data relating to the cost measurement indicia, such as ticket price, ticket currency, percentage of discount, etc. Other exemplary data sets can be configured to take into account: the agency IATA code, the air carrier code, the booking code, the tour type and the tour box information, the destination country code, the fare basis code, the ticket currency code, the eventual IATA currency country, the threshold value and the percentage of the corresponding rebate value. Although a number of contract data set 206 indicia are noted above, this list is not an exclusive list nor does the contract data set 206 necessarily include every indicia listed above. Indeed, the present system is configurable to take into account various programming goals and user preferences.
The contracts directory 206 may also comprise data sets relating to, inter alia, data about the exchange rate for a particular country, with validity data and air ticket currency, data relating to the description of the IATA agency, data relating to country code, description, airport code and area of belonging, data relating to airline company description; booking code description, a data set providing booking code description per class of group on the air companies, and the area description.
Data Acquisition, Correction and Management
With respect to the data structure 202 described above, one aspect of this invention involves data management devices for collecting, redistributing and correcting the data. As shown in
During the quality control phase, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is programmed to carry out a series of data correction and/or distribution events. For example, when a "ticket" variable contains a value corresponding to an "open ticket," the variable is updated with one of the five class codes that frequently appear in the client data information. Other correction and quality control features may factor in currency origin, taxes, airport pairs, and/or the like.
During the client class of service classification phase, which, in an exemplary embodiment is found in a "data management menu," variables such as "country pair" and "region pair" may be added to the client data set 204 to facilitate analysis and reporting.
Data quality control in the present invention allows the reporting of error frequency and an estimation of missing data. In an exemplary embodiment, the quality control routine may be carried out either (1) automatically at the time the client data is input, or (2) manually, after the data is acquired.
In an exemplary embodiment, a number of common user interface devices may be used. For example, the interface in a SAS system object oriented programming is organized in user-friendly frames and the outputs are in the form of character based listing, interactive graphics, HTML pages, and data interfaces exportable to Excel.
Simulation and Optimization
After the requisite data sets 202 (
Upon selecting the run button 324 (
Goal Programming Optimization
The goal programming optimization frame 340, illustrated in
In an exemplary embodiment, the goal programming optimization frame 340 also contemplates four additional fields. The client code 350 is the same code carried over from the contract tracking analysis. The default potential 352 is the maximum percentage of client flights covered by a single air carrier within each cell where there are at least two different air carriers. The inner program considers air carrier coverage built over a flight schedule data set, and then limits the obtained value to this maximum potential parameter. Reducing this parameter, the user reduces the possible air carrier global spend. By increasing these parameters, the air carrier coverage does not automatically increase; it increases only if its maximum coverage built over the flight schedule is more than these parameters. The starting and ending date 356 is the starting and ending date of the period used to run the contract tracking analysis. The "integer constraint" check box 354 activates an integer goal programming algorithm that avoids solutions with a fraction of some sectors.
As just shown, the present invention is described herein with reference to screen shots, block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g., systems), and computer program products according to various aspects of the invention. It will be understood that each functional block of the block diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
The goal programming optimization algorithm uses and produces various tables in developing the client's optimal solution. For example, an exemplary embodiment comprises three process control tables which include (1) a last contract tracking details table, (2) an air carrier distribution table, and (3) a solution summary table. The last contract tracking details table is a data set comprising most of the information used by the goal programming optimization algorithm. For each single cell defined by the airport pair, ticket currency, class group and air carrier, the data table shows information fields obtained by the contract tracking analysis.
The air carrier distribution table is a secondary data table obtained from the optimization which describes some fields regarding the solution and aggregated with respect to air carrier, class group, and ticket currency.
The "solution summary" table is a technical data table which controls the amount of spend in the obtained solution. It is reduced by the system to take into account a situation where a potential rebate may be reached only when the air carrier spend increases.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the goal programming optimization algorithm produces four result data tables: (1) a benchmark summary table, (2) an air carrier summary table, (3) a benchmark table, (4) a solutions table.
The "benchmark summary" table includes a data set that presents the final solution results with respect to the actual client spend. The principal fields are the "global USD amount," which includes the client's actual spend; and, the "final Optimal USD "amount" which is the client spend obtained from the proposed solution and the difference between these two fields. This table also shows "actual average price" and the "optimal solution average price" and the difference between these two fields. The total spend amount obtained here does not necessarily correspond to the real client spend if the origin and destination data feed is not used.
The "air carrier summary' includes a data table which reports a summary relating to the air carriers. This table presents fields as "final optional sectors," air carrier USD sectors" and their difference. It also shows final optional amount," actual "air carrier USD amount," and their difference; and "potential air carrier sectors" and the "potential air carrier amount."
The "benchmark" data table includes a more detailed data table showing the proposed solution aggregated by airport pair, ticket currency, and class group, excluding the air carrier. This table presents fields as "final optimal sectors," actual "global USD sectors" and their difference. This table also shows "final optimal USD amount," actual "global USD amount" and their difference. Two additional fields, "savings rank" and "first 80% of savings," select the main cells whose savings cover at least 80% of the global savings, and are sorted in order of importance.
The "solution" table represents the final solution proposed by the system of the present invention. This table comprises "potential" and "selected price in the optimal phase" results. The "potential" result is the potential obtained from a flight schedule data set and is limited by the "potential" field. The "selected price" is the price used during the optimization phase which takes into account the potential maximum rebate of the air carrier.
With reference to
Moving to
Referring to
Referring to
Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Further, no element described herein is required for the practice of the invention unless expressly described as "essential" or "critical".
It should be appreciated that the particular implementations shown and described herein are illustrative of the invention and its best mode and are not intended to otherwise limit the scope of the present invention in any way. Indeed, for the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, application development and other functional aspects of the systems (and components of the individual operating components of the systems) may not be described in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown in the various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplary functional relationships and/or physical couplings between the various elements. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships or physical connections may be present in a practical electronic transaction system.
Patent Citations
Non-Patent Citations
Referenced by
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Constitutional right
A constitutional right is a legal right of its citizens (and possibly others within its jurisdiction) protected by a sovereignty's constitution.
United States[edit]
Federal constitution[edit]
The United States Constitution has several articles and amendments that establish constitutional rights.
The provisions providing for rights under the Bill of Rights were originally binding upon only the federal government. In time, most of these provisions became binding upon the states through selective incorporation into the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. When a provision is made binding on a state, a state can no longer restrict the rights guaranteed in that provision.
Examples of provisions made binding upon the states are the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution which was made "fully applicable" by being Incorporated with the 14th Amendment in 2010, see, McDonald vs. City of Chicago; Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution|6th Amendment]]'s guarantee of a right to confrontation of witnesses, known as the Confrontation Clause, and the various provisions of the 1st Article, guaranteeing the freedoms of speech, the press, government and assembly.
For example, the Fifth Article protects the right to grand jury proceedings in federal criminal cases. However, because this right was not selectively incorporated into the due process clause of the 14th amendment, it is not binding upon the states. Therefore, persons involved in state criminal proceedings as a defendant have no federal constitutional right to grand jury proceedings. Whether an individual has a right to a grand jury becomes a question of state law.
State constitutions[edit]
Each of the United States has its own governing constitution. State constitutions cannot reduce legal protections afforded by the federal charter, but they can provide additional protections. California v. Ramos, 463 U.S. 992, 1014, 103 S.Ct. 3446, 77 l.Ed.2d 1171 (1983). Even where the text of a state constitution matches verbatim that of the federal constitution, the state document may be held to provide more to the citizen. State constitutional rights can also include those entirely unaddressed in the federal constitution, such as the right to adequate education or the right to affordable housing.
Other Nations[edit]
|This section requires expansion. (February 2012)
Many other democratic nations have followed the US model in enshrining certain rights in their constitutions. Countries whose written constitutions include a bill of rights include Germany, India and Japan.
The United Kingdom, as it has an uncodified constitution, does not have a constitutional bill of rights, although the Human Rights Act 1998 fulfills a similar role.
The European Convention of Human Rights applies in those nations which are members of the Council of Europe. Persons who have experienced Convention-infringing human rights violations on the territory of ECHR-signatory nations can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
In authoritarian regimes there are generally few or no guaranteed inalienable rights; alternatively, such rights may exist but be unobserved in practice (as was generally the case in the former Francoist Spain).
See also[edit]
- Civil rights
- Constitutional law
- Constitutionalism
- Human rights
- Inalienable rights
- Natural rights
- Rule of law
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Constitutional rights.


text:
August 3, 2015
NEW YORK (AP) - Madonna is parting with an abstract French painting she's owned for more than 20 years to support educating girls in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. It's expected to bring $5 million to $7 million.
Fernand Leger's "Three Women at the Red Table" will be offered May 7 at Sotheby's auction house. All proceeds will benefit the Ray of Light Foundation.
The pop diva says she wants "to trade something valuable for something invaluable" in countries where female education is rare or nonexistent.
She purchased "Three Women" at Sotheby's in 1990.
Leger created the work in 1921 as part of a series depicting women with still-life compositions.
Other examples from the series are in the Dallas Museum of Art and the Beyeler Foundation in Switzerland.
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text:
|Apple Notebooks Apple's notebook computers including MacBook Pro, MacBook, MacBook Air, PowerBook, and iBook.
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Member Since: Nov 05, 2013
Posts: 1
Sometimes it will not turn on at all and I have to do an SMC reset to get it to power on.
Sometimes when it is on, it just randomly turns off, even though it has plenty of battery.
Sometimes the screen flickers like theres a problem with the graphics.
I have sent it off to Apple and they send it back saying they couldn't find any issues with it and turned it on after an SMC reset.
Any ideas what this could be? I am going to send it off to Apple again, but I cannot risk them sending it back, saying there is no fault & then it not turning on for 2 days again, as I use it for work.
Thanks in advance
|QUOTE Thanks
Member Since: Jan 23, 2008
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 44,719
Mac Specs: 27" iMac i5, 3.2 GHz, iPad 3, iPhone 5c, 3 iPods, Yosemite
Sorry I can't be of any help with that problem. The only advice I have is that since it's still covered by Apple Care is to let Apple deal with it.
Good luck with it and let us know how it went.
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text:
We finally caught up with Ochocinco: The Ultimate Catch's lighting rod Lisa, who talks below about leaving the show on account of her grandfather's cancer, her frequent arguments in the house and why she still thinks she's the best girl for Chad.
How was your time on the show?
Short-lived. I felt like I should have and could have stayed a lot longer. It was a lot of fun. I would definitely do it again. I would love to come back and see those girls a second time, after seeing what I've seen and hearing them in their interviews.
You left the show because of your grandfather's cancer. How is he doing?
It's funny how God works. My grandfather is still living, but my grandmother fell last week and she passed away. So even though my grandfather's still alive, I feel like I was still supposed to leave the show because, for whatever reason, it was my last chance to spend time with my grandmother. It's really bittersweet.
What did you think about Ericka and Tara cheering when they found out you were leaving the show?
It disgusts me how phony and fake Ericka and Tara are. When I made the announcement to Jasmine that I was going home and I was getting in the car to leave, Tara started singing, "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye." I ran up the steps to confront them, like, "How dare you say those things to me at this time when someone in my family is sick?" It didn't surprise me that they went on to cheer when Chad told everyone I left. I'd love to see them again and let them know how I feel.
The fact that you were in a rival clique, though, couldn't have made their antagonizing too surprising.
It wasn't surprising that they would act that way toward me, but I was shocked they acted that way about my grandfather, and were laughing about it. No matter how much you dislike somebody, it's surprising when anyone is capable about that sort of thing. I can't even say how much it angers me.
You referred to yourself as "Mussolini" at one point during the show. Did you feel like you were running the house?
I know I was running the house. What they show on TV in the short amount of time versus how things really went down is completely different. I know that I ran that house. Girls would start to bring up things to confront people and I would shut them down. I know that no one had the upper hand over me. They would talk about me behind my back, but they would never say anything to my face.
It seemed like every episode you were arguing with somebody. Was that stressful?
I wasn't stressed out the entire time — only at the end when I got news about my grandfather. All of the fights I got into were from sticking up for myself. A lot of the girls thought they could come together and crack jokes and be cute and funny, and that's just not me. I'm nice to everybody until you piss me off. It wasn't stressful, it was necessary and second nature to stand up for myself, and I wasn't going to back down.
Any thoughts on your argument with Angela?
I don't have any kind words for her. From the time I met her, she was showing her true personality. She'd talk about money a lot and how she was rich. She would talk with contempt toward Jasmine and myself. She's just a s***ty person. She obviously grew up with a sliver spoon in her mouth, and I wasn't raised like that. I can't relate to that and I don't have tolerance for people like that. The fight that we got into I knew was going to happen. It was just a matter of time. I don't like her. I don't like her as a person. I would never be her friend. People like that make me sick.
What about Rubi?
Rubi was very phony. I'm a smoker, and so is Rubi. She was smoking at the Rose Bowl, but as soon as we got in the house, she quit smoking and was talking so much s*** about me and Candice for smoking. When the cameras weren't around, she was very approachable and nice, and when the cameras were around and she got with her little posse, she thought she'd crack jokes and be funny, and I saw right through that. I wasn't intimidated by her being No. 1. I never looked at the board one time. I paid no attention that board. That was all done on first impressions. She was just another girl in the house who was phony.
What about the avocado-throwing argument you had with her?
You're not gonna sit there and talk about my surgery or talk about me not being a lady without me sticking up for myself. She tried to say I had a weave in my hair and my hair clearly isn't phony or fake, so I had to stick up for myself there. They didn't show that on TV. There was a bunch of s*** that just kind of piled up and then I exploded. They said I was a lush or drunk. I can only hear that so many times before I get frustrated and lose my temper. And it took a long time from the time the argument about the avocado to about 13 minutes later when I poured the stuff on her. They just kept antagonizing me and finally I just lost it.
Any thoughts on Chad?
I think Chad wasn't in it the whole time. I think he'd recently been with Cheryl Burke and his feelings were with her. I think that he is a nice person, but when the cameras weren't on, he would not talk to us. We'd say, "Bye, Chad!" as he was walking out the mansion door and he wouldn't even turn around. He'd just throw his hand up in the air and walk away. I'm not saying he's a bad person, I think this was bad timing.
At one point you said you were the best girl for him. Do you still think that's true?
Yeah. I am the best girl for him. I'll stand by that. Maybe not in a relationship, but I think I could relate to him the most, but I think those girls are phony and they'd reveal their true colors eventually. I had a talk with Chad and we were on the same page about being yourself no matter what. If we were in a room and there wasn't the pressure of the TV show and no one was trying to date anybody, I think he and I would get along the best.
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India is one of the most wonderful & beautiful tourist locations& is a land of mystical charm in the world. India wons the natural beauty with beautiful hills, many wild lives, natural sceneries and the beaches, the cultural and historical attraction
New Delhi, India Vacations - Travel guide to New Delhi, India accommodations and vacation packages. Visit New Delhi, India for getaways and adventure travel. Plan your New Delhi, India vacation today.


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Plan DescriptionTraditional style and a brick and siding façade deck the exterior of this duplex house plan. A covered stoop opens to the entry of each unit. Inside, the dining room, with built-in hutch, and a great room, with a 10 ceiling, combine creating a flexible and open living space. The kitchen features a snack bar and pantry as it adjoins the cheerful breakfast nook, just right for coffee and the morning paper. A jazzy master suite boasts a box bay window, 9 raised ceiling and deluxe bath complete with whirlpool tub and walk-in closet. Ideal for those who work at home, the den offers a peaceful space for an office and easily converts to an extra bedroom. A two-car garage with storage shelves and laundry room entry completes each dwelling of this multi-family house plan.
Unit A: 1516 sf, 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2-car garage
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16 CFR 1.11 - Commencement of a rulemaking proceeding.
(a) Initial notice. A trade regulation rule proceeding shall commence with an initial notice of proposed rulemaking. Such notice shall be published in the Federal Register not sooner than 30 days after it has been submitted to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate and to the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce of the House of Representatives. The initial notice shall include:
(1) The text of the proposed rule including any alternatives which the Commission proposes to promulgate;
(4) An invitation to all interested persons to propose issues which meet the criteria of § 1.13(d)(1)(i) for consideration in accordance with § 1.13 (d)(5) and (d)(6);
(6) A statement of the manner in which the public may obtain copies of the preliminary regulatory analysis.
(b) Preliminary regulatory analysis. Except as otherwise provided by statute, the Commission shall, when commencing a rulemaking proceeding, issue a preliminary regulatory analysis which shall contain:
(2) A description of any reasonable alternatives to the proposed rule which may accomplish the stated objective of the rule in a manner consistent with applicable law;
(3) For the proposed rule, and for each of the alternatives described in the analysis, a preliminary analysis of the projected benefits and any adverse economic effects and any other effects, and of the effectiveness of the proposed rule and each alternative in meeting the stated objectives of the proposed rule; and
(4) The information required by the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, and the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520, if applicable.
[46 FR 26288, May, 12, 1981, as amended at 50 FR 53303, Dec. 31, 1985; 63 FR 36340, July 6, 1998]
Title 16 published on 2015-01-01.
No entries appear in the Federal Register after this date, for 16 CFR Part 1.


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Raider Detention
We've all done it. The more you raid, the more likely you'll have an oops and cause a hilarious wipe. My most recent Pally!Fail was an attempt to put Hand of Sacrifice on our Tank in phase 3 of Putricide… and hitting DI instead.
What if, upon being the source of Epic Fail, we were then required to (a la elementary school detention) write out our failures on the chalkboard a certain number of times?
- I will not DI the tank.
- I will not death grip the boss.
- I will not stand in the raid and get them all iceblocked.
- I will not stand in the Yeti.
- I will not move when Flame Wreath is cast.
- I will not tank in my Frost Resist gear.
- I will not tank in Blood Presence.
- I will not do an entire progression raid in my RP hat. (or my Chef hat)
- I will not misdirect the kitty druid.
- I will not tricks the fury warrior on the pull.
- I will not throw the Tainted Core to the person kiting Striders.
- I will not use Cleanse on Grobbulus.
- I will not facepull with half the raid outside.
- I will not die on the elevator boss.
What would YOU be writing?


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Hung Up Hinge Wallet
The 'Hung Up' Hinge Wallet or 'clutch' features a telephone attached to a noose. The rest of the design features skulls and broken hearts. The band name is printed in red.
The inside of the clutch is red and has two main pockets for all you cash, a zipper pocket for your spare change and plenty of space for your cards and IDs. The clutch shuts with a snap. Then just press the silver button to open it up again.


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Student at the University of Florida since 2005.
I've been here for all the recent national championships, including the 2006 basketball, 2006 football, 2007 basketball, and 2008 football titles.
It's great to be a Florida Gator!
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There are some common injuries that can be caused by work and daily activities, including:
What is it?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome occurs when the median nerve is compressed at the point where it passes through the carpal tunnel (Figure 1). The carpal tunnel is a narrow canal formed by the wrist bones and ligaments at the base of the palm. The finger and wrist flexor tendons also pass through the tunnel. The median nerve connects impulses from the brain to the arm, thumb, first 2 fingers, and half of the ring finger and controls many muscles of the hand, wrist, and forearm.
What causes it?
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome occurs when the median nerve is squeezed as it passes through a narrow tunnel of bone and ligament in the palm area of your hand.
Any increase in fluid pressure within the narrow compartment can compress the median nerve. Repeated up and down movements at the wrist and fingers, especially combined with gripping, can irritate the structures in the tunnel and cause swelling. Other causes such as pregnancy, diabetes, and thyroid disorders can create fluid retention and lead to median nerve compression.
What are the warning signs?
Tendons attach muscle to the bone. Microscopic tears in a tendon can occur if the tendon is overused, leading to inflammation of the tendon, or tendonitis. Once injury occurs, the body produces scar tissue in order to heal the area of trauma. The injured tissue is often thicker and painful to the touch. Each time the muscle is used, it pulls at the injured tendon, causing more pain and more scar tissue formation. The chemicals that cause the swelling can irritate the tendon further.
Many tendons in the wrist and hand are enclosed in sheaths with lubricant that protects them (similar to the pistons firing in the engine of a car). If the tendon and the sheath rub and develop too much friction, irritation, overproduction of fluid, and swelling result. This is called tenosynovitis.
Common upper extremity tendonitis
These all can occur as a result of the same problems and can become a "vicious cycle." Causes such as using a mouse repetitively with an outstretched arm, slouching and weak shoulder and upper back muscles can irritate the shoulder tendons. When a tendon becomes irritated and swollen, it can get pinched between the bony structures of the shoulder joint. This is called impingement.
The 2 most common structures that become "pinched" are the biceps and rotator cuff tendons. Pain can be felt in the shoulder when lifting the arm forward or out to the side. Weakness results from disuse and pain inhibits proper muscle function. Weakness of the shoulder muscles causes impingement to worsen, due to muscle imbalance, and impingement causes further pain and swelling in the tendon.
Your Lumbar curve, which bears the most of the strain of sitting, needs constant support.
The natural curves of the spine should be maintained as much as possible throughout daily activities to avoid unnecessary wear and tear on the spine. The spine consists of 7 neck (cervical) vertebra, 12 upper and mid back (thoracic) vertebra, and 5 low back (lumbar) vertebra that enclose and protect the spinal cord (Figure 2). Between the vertebra are the discs, the shock absorbers of the spine. Ligaments connect the vertebrae and provide stability, but are non-elastic. The muscles attaching to the spine control spine movement and are elastic. Nerves branch off the spinal cord at each vertebral level and travel from the neck to the arms and from the low back to the legs. Also at each vertebral level are facet joints, one on each side, connecting adjacent vertebrae to one another. The facet joints create movement in the spine, much like other joints in the body.
Certain structures in the spine are more "forgiving" than others to injury. Muscles are elastic and heal quickly if injured. Discs, joints, and ligaments are not elastic, take much longer to heal and don't recover their strength as well when injured, leaving a person more susceptible to reinjury. Nerves have some elastic properties but are extremely sensitive and take a very long time to heal.
Using improper posture and body mechanics make muscles have to work harder and puts undesirable forces on the discs, joints, and ligaments. Once the muscles supporting the spine fatigue, the discs, nerves, and joints become more vulnerable to injury.
Warning signs
Lower back:
Neck and upper back:
The contents of this health site are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition.
© 1996 - 2015 MediResource Inc.
When it comes to arthritis pain, age has nothing to do with it. Even young people can get... more >>


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Pittsfield Man Poses For Mug Shot In Shirt With Photo Of Old Mug Shot
He must have really liked the first photo.
On Aug. 8, Robert Burt, 19, of Pittsfield, was booked into the Somerset County Jail to serve a two-day sentence for operating under the influence. His choice of attire? A shirt with the booking photo from his June arrest on it!


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Sunshine and spring greens
"It's a blessing" said Rafe Rivers, talking about the warmth and sunshine, at Saturday's Burlington Farmers Market. Rivers works at Jericho Settlers Farm; because of his outdoor work, he was especially pleased for the spell of warm, dry weather that … Continue reading
Goodie gumdrops! – OK, goodie turnips! – CSA eats to start again
A trip to the supermarket is over due in our household, but I'm spared the chore because Saturday I will pick up our groceries at the Burlington Farmers' Market winter market, held every other week at Memorial Auditorium. That's the … Continue reading
As money comes in, Pete says he'll 'pay forward'
The Bid for the Barn (www.bidforthebarn.org) is an online auction to raise money to help Pete's Greens Craftsbury farm rebuild after a devastating barn fire. The auction, put together quickly in the days immediately after the Jan. 12 fire, has … Continue reading
Baked onions, and CSA connections
In late October, at the start of the fall/winter share at Pete's Greens CSA in Craftsbury, I started to eat primarily from our weekly farm share. This means when we were eating at home – which is almost always – … Continue reading
Beer-braised veal with root vegetables (in less than an NFL quarter)
Usually we set the table before eating, but tonight I'm blogging – a celebration of the meal I threw together early in the fourth quarter of tonight's Steelers-Ravens playoff game. The score was 21-21 early in the fourth quarter when … Continue reading
Fundraisers for Pete's; got an excavator?
In the aftermath of the fire at Pete's Greens in Craftsbury, the farm has received an outpouring of offers of assistance – from carpenters who want to help build a new barn to local restaurants hosting fundraisers. Efforts include a … Continue reading
Knocked low by a fire on the farm, "an awful loss"
I'm knocked low today, and I'm guessing it's a feeling shared by the 368 other members of Pete's Greens CSA in Craftsbury, an organic vegetable farm that delivers produce and other locally produced food, including meat, poultry, eggs and cheese, … Continue reading
Missing black beans, and a shout-out for plant-based diet
Someone took my black beans, or maybe they fell out of the back of the truck on the drive from Craftsbury. MIA black beans is not a major issue – unless you're living primarily on weekly bags of root vegetables … Continue reading
Traveling for the holidays? BYOE – bring your own eggs
Last week I wrote an article about a Burlington woman, Adele Dienno, who bakes Italian Christmas cookies every year – many varieties – and often doesn't measure her ingredients. This was nice news for me – because this is how … Continue reading
Potatoes for breakfast, pilfered peanut butter
Today's menu, some of which I've already consumed Breakfast: a baked potato, a nicola potato, which I only recently heard of (from Pete's Greens). This is a golden-skinned potato, and kind of gold on the inside, too – with great … Continue reading