text:
\section{Conclusion}
\label{sec:conclusion}
In this paper, we discussed the need for a blockchain-based accounts payable system that eliminates the process redundancies (accounts payable vs. accounts receivable), enables efficient invoice processing, and reduces the amount of time spent in reconciling disputes between the transacting participants in goods trade (domestic and global). We provided details of our blockchain-based accounts payable system supporting trusted invoice processing and transparent dispute resolution. The claims against a PO are generated under four different categories and aggregated to produce the claim advice. The payment advices for supplier and carriers are generated by using the invoices for supplier and carriers respectively together with the claim advice generated by our accounts payable system and real-time events from TradeLens. The computed CA and PAs go through the reconciliation process before the payment gets processed by the shipper. We have realized the system proposed in this paper using Hyperledger Fabric as the underlying blockchain platform (however any other permissioned blockchain platform can also be used here) and a cloud microservices architecture. We showcased the performance of different smart contract modules (i.e., transactions) supported by our system using a representative goods trade ecosystem. The results show that its practical to deploy one such system in real-world customer environments. We are currently experimenting with the use of the proposed system in collaboration with the participants of the TradeLens platform.

\section{System Design}
\label{sec:design}
Figure \ref{fig:sysArch} represents the architecture of our proposed blockchain-based invoice processing system and the interaction among various system components.

\label{sec:eventprocessor}
{\it Event Processor} (EP) component in the architecture obtains the details of shipments and their real-time tracking events from external shipment tracking systems like TradeLens. EP also provides an adaptor for receiving customized real-time shipment tracking events. All the events associated with a shipment are stored on the blockchain ledger. Only shipments of interest are managed, and their corresponding events are tracked to trigger {\it invoice processing} as the goods delivery to the shipper progresses.

\label{sec:iacchaincode}
{\it Invoice Processor} (IP) is the chaincode component of our system. It implements various smart contract modules to simulate the {\it invoice processing} workflows. Smart contract module {\it computeCA} generates a CA for a given shipment using the EDI documents PO, DA, RA, and supplier invoice which are fetched from the blockchain ledger. Smart contract module {\it computePAs} generates PAs for the supplier and carriers using CA, invoices for supplier and carriers, and real-time shipment tracking events fetched from the ledger. Module {\it manageDispute} implements functions to create/raise a dispute, add comments with supporting documents to a dispute, update a dispute, resolve (accept/reject) a dispute on the CA/PAs generated by our system for each shipment. Module {\it finalizePA} finalizes a PA post which disputes cannot be allowed, while {\it autoApproveCAs} auto approve CAs with no disputes beyond a threshold number of days.

\label{sec:goodsprocessor}
{\it Goods Processor} (GP) component implements a set of REST APIs (with access control policies) for the user to interact with our {\it Accounts Payable} system and few cron jobs that invoke smart contract modules. GP component also maintains a PostgreSQL DB cache to boost the UI access performance. {\it EDI document access APIs} are used for accessing (send to \& retrieve from) EDI documents (PO, DA, RA, invoices for the supplier and carriers) corresponding to each shipment stored on the blockchain ledger. The same set of documents are hosted on Cloudant DB as well for enhancing the API access performance. {\it Query APIs} are used for querying shipments, generated CAs, and PAs from the blockchain ledger. {\it User management APIs} are used to manage the users of each participating organization in the blockchain network. {\it Notification APIs} are used to manage the subscription to the user alert notifications. {\it Status APIs} are used for increased user experience (e.g., transaction status monitoring and connecting with the client ERP systems). Cron job {\it generateClaimAdvices} invokes the smart contract function {\it computeCA} to generate the CA for each shipment. Cron job {\it generatePaymentAdvices} calls the smart contract module {\it computePAs} to generate PAs of each shipment, and cron job {\it CAautoApprove} calls the chaincode module {\it autoApproveCAs} to auto-approve CAs.

\begin{figure}
\centering
\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{figures/architecture.pdf}
\caption{Blockchain based invoice processing system architecture}
\label{fig:sysArch}
\end{figure}

\label{sec:disputemanagement}
{\it Dispute Management} component provides APIs (with access control policies) for the user to create/update a dispute, add comments on an existing dispute, and resolve a dispute (accept/reject). These APIs appropriately call the smart contract module {\it manageDispute} internally. This component also finalizes any PA with no active disputes by calling the smart contract module {\it finalizePA}.

{\it Blochckain Ledger} component stores data related to {\it events} (real-time shipment tracking events), various EDI documents, and {\it bills} (generated CAs and PAs) shared among the blockchain network participants (e.g., shippers, suppliers, and carriers).

\label{sec:bitlui}
{\it Blockchain Accounts Payable UI} component provides an interface for users to interact with our system by calling the GP component REST APIs internally. The module {\it ManageCAs/PAs} provides an interface to view the computed CA and PAs for any shipment of interest to the user, while the module {\it ManageDisputes} provides an interface to raise and manage disputes on CA or PAs of a shipment.

{\it External Data Sources} component is a collection of external entities that interact with our system. The entity {\it Shipments/Events Source} can be any shipment tracking system for goods trade that generates real-time shipment tracking events (e.g., TradeLens). Shipments and events from this entity are consumed by the EP component. The entity {\it Client ERP Systems} feeds EDIs into our system and consumes the generated CA/PAs from our system.
\section{Evaluation}
\label{sec:evaluation}

We simulate the global trade ecosystem using a blockchain platform. We map each ecosystem participant to a membership service provider (MSP) in the blockchain network. Each MSP consists of one or more peers of the blockchain network. Each peer is deployed as a docker container running Hyperledger Fabric version $1.4.1$ on a dedicated SoftLayer ~\cite{softLayer} VM provisioned with 32 core CPU, 64GB RAM and running Ubuntu18.04 OS. The microservices in our system architecture such as {\it Goods Processor} and {\it Invoice Processor} are deployed on the RedHat OpenShift container platform.

We are currently working on the proposed system with couple of anchor clients (companies in consumer goods and retail industries) who have shared anonymized data from their live environments. This data comprises of more than $440 K$ anonymized EDI documents (POs, DAs, RAs, and CIs), which is used to analyze the performance and scalability of our system. In our simulation, each call to the {\it computeCA} transaction generates the CA for a $\langle PO, DA, RA, CI \rangle$ tuple selected at random from the pool of these $440K$ EDI documents.  Subsequently, each call to the {\it computePAs} transaction uses the computed CA to generate the PAs for the associated supplier and carriers. We compute the CA under all the {\it four} claim categories together in our experiments, since evaluating permance meterics for both the passes of CA computation together gives us the minimum performance under each pass (i.e., {\it Pass-1} and {\it Pass-2} in Section \ref{sec:caComputation}) independently. And the {\it computePAs} transaction generates PA for four organizations (supplier, OCM, either origin land carrier or destination land carrier, and ocean carrier) as per the computation logic in Section \ref{sec:paComputation}. For both these transactions {\it computeCA} and {\it computePAs}, we have collected two important metrics: {\it latency} and {\it throughput}. This has been realized with the help of Hyperledger Caliper~\cite{caliper}. Hyperledger Caliper is a blockchain benchmarking tool that allows users to generate performance analysis reports for their blockchain-based implementations. The transactions {\it computeCA} and {\it computePAs} represent different smart contracts and are implemented as chaincode written in Go language. These smart contracts are deployed on all the network peers. The transaction {\it computePAs} is lightweight in comparison to {\it computeCA}. The same is observed in all our experiments, where the transaction {\it computeCA} consistently exhibit lower throughput (and higher average latency) than the transaction {\it computePAs}.

Hyperledger Fabric configuration parameters can be tuned appropriately to achieve optimum performance numbers for a blockchain solution ~\cite{thakkar2018performance}. However, in this paper, we have used the default values for all the configuration parameters of Hyperledger Fabric except that the {\it block size} is set to $100$ transactions and the {\it block timeout} is set to $500ms$.  We have run each experiment $10$ times and submitted a total of $100K$ transactions in each run. We report the experimental results averaged across all these runs.

\subsection{Increase in transaction send rate vs. performance}
\label{sec:evaluationTPS}
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{graphs/plots/4peer4orgSameDCIncTPSCombined.png}
    \caption{Effect of increasing send rate on performance}
    \label{graph:tpsa}
\end{figure}

Figure \ref{graph:tpsa} depicts the impact of increasing transaction send rate on the throughput and latency of {\it computeCA} and {\it computePAs} transactions. It was observed that with the increasing transaction send rate, the {\it latency} for both the transactions increase.  Also, the transaction {\it throughput} initially increases and then saturates around $960$ tps for {\it computeCA} transaction and $\approx1170$ tps for {\it computePAs} transaction.

Note that, this experiment depicts a hypothetical scenario with exorbitantly high transaction rates. Currently, the global trade industry handles $\approx802$ million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) per year \cite{currentGlobalTPS}, which translates to $\approx25$ TEUs per second. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed system easily supports the shipment throughput in the current global trade ecosystem \cite{currentGlobalTPS} and will scale well even for future workloads.

\subsection{Increase in number of peers vs. performance}
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{graphs/plots/IncPeer4orgSameDC1000TPSCombined.png}
    \caption{Effect of increasing number of peers on performance}
    \label{graph:noofpeersa}
\end{figure}

In this experiment, we simulate the increase in the number of participants in the goods trade network by increasing the number of peers in our blockchain network. The transaction send-rate is configured at $1000$ tps, and its impact on {\it throughput} and {\it latency} for the transactions {\it computeCA} and {\it computePAs} is depicted in figure \ref{graph:noofpeersa}. The design of Hyperledger Fabric requires each transaction to collect endorsements from a set of peers in the blockchain network. The number of such peers is governed by the endorsement policy \cite{endorsementPolicy} for the network. Typically, to provide reliability and fault tolerance, the endorsement policy states that a majority of peers should endorse a transaction. Therefore, as the number of peers increases, the number of endorsements collected and validated also increases. This causes transaction latency to increase and throughput to decrease. We observe a similar phenomenon even in our system.

The increase in the number of network peers results in increase of {\it latency} for {\it computeCA} transaction but it has little to no impact on {\it latency} of {\it computePAs} transaction.  Also, the {\it throughput} for {\it computeCA} transaction decreases slightly with the increase in number of peers but we see almost no impact in the case of {\it computePAs} transaction. The reason for this trend is that the transaction send rate ($1000$ tps)  is above the maximum {\it throughput} of {\it computeCA} transaction but well below the maximum {\it throughput} of {\it computePAs} transaction (refer Section \ref{sec:evaluationTPS}).

\subsection{Geographic distribution of peers vs. performance}
\begin{table}
\centering
\caption{Throughput and tatency for 1 DC vs 5 DCs deployments}
    \label{tab:diffDC}
\begin{tabular}{|l|l|l|l|l|}
\hline
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{\multirow{2}{*}{\begin{tabular}[c]{@{}c@{}}\textbf{Transaction}\\ \textbf{Type}\end{tabular}}} & \multicolumn{2}{l|}{\textbf{Throughput(tps)}} & \multicolumn{2}{l|}{\textbf{Average Latency(s)}} \\ \cline{2-5}
\multicolumn{1}{|c|}{}                                                                            & 1 DC           & 5 DCs           & 1 DC           & 5 DCs            \\ \hline
computeCA                                                                                & 973.4          & 238.7         &0.73           & 18.87         \\ \hline
computePAs                                                                             & 977.0          & 323.0         &0.26          & 12.37             \\ \hline
\end{tabular}
\end{table}

Table \ref{tab:diffDC} depicts the impact on throughput and latency as the peers get more distributed over different data centers (DCs). This experiment simulates the scenario where the participants of the global trade network belong to diverse geographies. We considered the setting where blockchain peers were spread across four geographically different data centers and the orderer node was located in a fifth geographic cloud data center. We observe an increase in {\it latency} and decrease in {\it throughput} for both transactions as peers get widely distributed over geography (i.e., as participants from different geographic locations onboard the global trade network).

It was observed that when blockchain nodes were located in the same geographical data center, the ping latency among the nodes was $< 1 ms$, whereas when the nodes were spread across $5$ data centers, the ping latency among the nodes varied between $[50, 130] ms$. Hence, we infer that network latency is the reason behind degradation in performance. The performance in such scenarios can be improved by using a low latency network. However, it is important to note that even without such an optimization, the proposed system can easily support $>10$ times the load of the current global shipping industry\cite{currentGlobalTPS}.
\section{Implementation Details}
\label{sec:implementation}
The implementation details of {invoice processing} in our blockchain-based accounts payable system are presented here.

The notation used in this section is explained below.
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
\item {\it PO.Q:} Purchase order goods quantity.
\item {\it PO.P:} Price for each goods item as per purchase order.
\item {\it DA.Q:} Quantity dispatched by the supplier/quantity received by the shipper.
\item {\it RA.Q:} Quantity accepted by the shipper after the verification by shipper's goods receiving team.
\item {\it CI.Q:} Invoiced goods quantity by the supplier.
\item {\it CI.P:} Price for each goods item as per the supplier invoice.
\end{itemize}

\subsection{Claim Advice generation}
\label{sec:caComputation}
Smart contract module {\it computeCA} auto generates CA for each PO on behalf of the shipper's {\it accounts payable} team as goods delivery progresses by analyzing EDI documents like PO, DA, RA, and supplier invoice (i.e., CI in case of global trade). Claims generated on behalf of the accounts payable team compensate for any damages to the received goods along with discrepancies in terms of goods received quantity or price against the PO. The accounts payable team typically computes the claim amount by exercising a 2-way, a 3-way, or a 4-way matching \cite{payablesMatching, payablesMatching2, payablesMatching3} of the EDI documents. In a 2-way matching, the invoice is matched to the purchase order to validate the {\it two} criteria that $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$ and $CI.P \leq PO.P$. In a 3-way matching, the invoice is matched to the goods received to validate a {\it third} criteria that $CI.Q \leq DA.Q$. In a 4-way matching, the invoice is matched to the goods accepted to validate a {\it fourth} criteria that $CI.Q \leq RA.Q$.

Matching EDI documents ensures that the shipper doesn't pay for goods that is not received or overpay for goods received. The shipper is entitled to pay to the supplier for the quantity of the accepted goods at the agreed price as per the purchase order, which is the amount $RA.Q * PO.P$. However, the payable amount as per the invoice by the shipper to the supplier is $CI.Q * CI.P$. The difference between the amount payable and the amount entitled to be paid is called as the claim amount to the shipper, which is equal to the amount $(CI.Q * CI.P) - (RA.Q * PO.P)$.

There can be price mismatch, or quantity mismatch, or both during the process of matching the EDI documents. We split the claims added by our blockchain-based accounts payable system to the CA document into {\it four} different claim categories.

\subsubsection{Claim categories under the scenario $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$}
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{figures/quantityDiscrepanciesIn4WayMatchShortDelivery.png}
    \caption{Goods quantity discrepancies in a 4-way match when CI.Q $\leq$ PO.Q}
    \label{fig:4wayMatchShort}
\end{figure}
Fig. \ref{fig:4wayMatchShort} depicts the possible goods quantity mismatch discrepancies during a {\it 4-way} match of the EDI documents PO, DA, RA, and CI under the scenario where $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$. The claims added to the CA document can be split into the following claim categories to represent the goods quantity mismatch, or price mismatch, or both.
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
\item {\it SHORT\_DELIVERY:} Difference in the quantity of goods between ordered (PO.Q) and invoiced (CI.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$ implies partial fulfillment, which means that the supplier has not despatched all the goods quantity requested. The claim amount under this category is {\it 0}.
\item {\it PRICE\_DISCREPANCY:} Difference in the goods price between supplier invoiced (CI.P) and ordered by the shipper (PO.P) is captured as a discrepancy under this category. $(CI.P - PO.P)$ attributes to the price change from what is agreed. The claim amount under this category is $(CI.P-PO.P)*CI.Q$.
\item {\it GOODS\_NOT\_DELIVERED:} Difference in the quantity of the goods between supplier invoiced (CI.Q) and received by the shipper (DA.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $CI.Q-DA.Q$ attributes to billed quantity mismatch. The claim amount under this category is $(CI.Q-DA.Q) * PO.P$.
\item {\it TRANSPORT\_DAMAGE:} Difference in the quantity of the goods between despatched by the supplier (DA.Q) and received by the shipper (RA.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $DA.Q>RA.Q$ attributes to the shipper's goods receiving team not accepting the difference in the quantity $DA.Q-RA.Q$ as damaged goods. The claim amount under this category is $(DA.Q-RA.Q)*PO.P$.
\end{itemize}
The claim amount of a CA is the sum of the claim amounts under each claim category above. Thus the total claim amount of the CA is $ 0 + (CI.P-PO.P)*CI.Q + (CI.Q-DA.Q) * PO.P + (DA.Q-RA.Q)*PO.P$ which is equal to $(CI.Q * CI.P) - (RA.Q * PO.P)$.

\subsubsection{Claim categories under the scenario $CI.Q > PO.Q$}
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{figures/quantityDiscrepanciesIn4WayMatchExcessDelivery.png}
    \caption{Goods quantity discrepancies in a 4-way match when $CI.Q > PO.Q$}
    \label{fig:4wayMatchExcess}
\end{figure}
Fig. \ref{fig:4wayMatchExcess} depicts the possible goods quantity mismatch discrepancies during a {\it 4-way} match of the EDI documents PO, DA, RA, and CI under the scenario where $CI.Q > PO.Q$. The claims added to the CA document can be split into the following claim categories to represent the goods quantity mismatch, or price mismatch, or both.
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
\item {\it EXCESS\_DELIVERY:} Difference in the quantity of goods between ordered (PO.Q) and invoiced (CI.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $CI.Q > PO.Q$ implies that the supplier has despatched excess quantity than requested. The claim amount under this category is $(CI.Q-PO.Q)*PO.P$.
\item {\it PRICE\_DISCREPANCY:} Difference in the goods price between supplier invoiced (CI.P) and ordered by the shipper (PO.P) is captured as a discrepancy under this category. $(CI.P - PO.P)$ attributes to the price change from what is agreed. The claim amount under this category is $(CI.P-PO.P)*CI.Q$.
\item {\it GOODS\_NOT\_DELIVERED:} Difference in the quantity of the goods between supplier despatched (DA.Q) and ordered by the shipper (PO.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $PO.Q-DA.Q$ attributes to billed quantity mismatch. The claim amount under this category is $(PO.Q-DA.Q) * PO.P$.
\item {\it TRANSPORT\_DAMAGE:} Difference in the quantity of the goods between despatched by the supplier (DA.Q) and received by the shipper (RA.Q) is captured as discrepancy under this category. $DA.Q>RA.Q$ attributes to the shipper's goods receiving team not accepting the difference in the quantity $DA.Q-RA.Q$ as damaged goods. The claim amount under this category is $(DA.Q-RA.Q)*PO.P$.
\end{itemize}
The claim amount of a CA is the sum of the claim amounts under each claim category above. Thus the total claim amount of the CA is $ (CI.Q-PO.Q)*PO.P + (CI.P-PO.P)*CI.Q + (PO.Q-DA.Q) * PO.P + (DA.Q-RA.Q)*PO.P$ which is equal to $(CI.Q * CI.P) - (RA.Q * PO.P)$.

Note that $RA.Q \leq DA.Q$ holds good under both the above scenarios $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$ and $CI.Q > PO.Q$ as depicted in Fig. \ref{fig:4wayMatchShort} and Fig. \ref{fig:4wayMatchExcess} respectively. And the total claim amount computed during the CA document generation under any scenario is the same and is equal to the amount $(CI.Q * CI.P) - (RA.Q * PO.P)$.

Moreover, by referring to Section \ref{sec:introduction}, the EDI documents PO, DA, and CI get ready for access on the supply chain network before the completion of the goods delivery to the shipper. And the EDI document RA gets ready for access only after the completion of the goods delivery to the shipper.

Hence our blockchain-based accounts payable system generates the CA in two passes:
\begin{itemize}[leftmargin=*]
\item {\it Pass-1 using only 3 EDI documents PO, DA \& CI:} Generate claims under the $PRICE\_DISCREPANCY$ and $GOODS\_NOT\_DELIVERED$ categories along with the category $SHORT\_DELIVERY$ (if $CI.Q \leq PO.Q$) or $EXCESS\_DELIVERY$ (if $CI.Q > PO.Q$) as applicable before the goods delivery to the shipper on the occurrence of event like {\it container loaded on truck} from TradeLens shipment tracking system (refer to figure Fig. \ref{fig:supplyChainProcesses}).
\item {\it Pass-2 using all 4 EDI documents PO, DA, CI \& RA:} Updates the CA generated in Pass-1 to add claims generated under the categories $TRANSPORT\_DAMAGE$ after the completion of goods delivery to the shipper post the occurrence of event like {\it container dispatched from truck} from TradeLens shipment tracking system (figure Fig. \ref{fig:supplyChainProcesses}).
\end{itemize}

This approach of breaking the CA generation into two passes in our blockchain-based accounts payable platform has an advantage with respect to letting the users (i.e., suppliers and carriers) access the CA much earlier than when the traditional accounts payable platforms would allow (i.e., where the users can access CA only after goods delivery to the shipper). Our system models the issuance of a CA and subsequent possible dispute (raised by supplier or carriers) workflows at the granularity of claims under each category.

\subsubsection{Additional details on Claim Amount in CA}
We assume that the claim amount can be negative without loss of generality, and a negative claim amount indicates the scenarios where the invoice is billed for fewer goods quantity than accepted by the shipper or billed at fewer goods price than agreed as per the purchase order among other possibilities. Additionally, whenever $DA.Q > PO.Q$, then we set $DA.Q = PO.Q$ as a preprocessing step. This ensures that the shipper never pays for goods quantity over the requested quantity $PO.Q$. And the shipper accepts $0\leq RA.Q \leq DA.Q$ from the entire goods dispatched by the supplier.

\subsection{Payment Advice generation}
\label{sec:paComputation}
The EP component extracts shipments from {\it TradeLens} and tracks them using the tuple $\langle bol, containerNo\rangle$ in our system, where {\it bol} corresponds to the carrier issued bill of lading for the shipment and {\it containerNo} corresponds to the multimodal container number into which the shipper's goods is packed. However, note that the goods against a PO may get shipped using multiple containers. Similarly, a container may ship goods belonging to multiple POs. Hence, a carrier invoice for each container is presented by splitting the invoice amount at $\langle PO, bol\rangle$ granularity by any freight carrier involved in the movement of the container.

Smart contract {\it computePAs} generates a PA for each supplier and carrier associated with a PO. PA for any freight carrier is generated by aggregating the carrier invoice amount (a given PO share only) for each container carrying the goods against a PO. PA for the supplier is generated by deducting the claim amount captured in CA (excluding the claim amount under TRANSPORT\_DAMAGE category) from the supplier invoice. The claim amount for damaged goods is deducted from the PA of either OCM (which is also considered as a carrier) or supplier, based on whoever had done the goods packing into the container (this information is captured by a customized real-time shipment tracking event in TradeLens shipment tracking system). The {\it computePAs} module can include any other custom method to distribute the incurred loss due to goods damage among the supplier and carriers.

\subsection{Claim Advice state management}
The states of claim advice under any of the 4 possible claim categories in our system are determined based on our customers' interactions, which could be adjusted for different business processes. We implement the CA state transition in our system as a finite state machine. Figure \ref{fig:CAstates} depicts the allowed state transitions along with the criteria for each transition. Any CA (irrespective of its {\it claim category}) gets created with state {\it CIP (computation in progress)} as the goods delivery is under progress. Once the computation of claims under any category is complete, the CA under that category gets issued and moves to {\it Open} state. Any shipper, supplier, or carriers associated with the goods trade transaction can access the CA in {\it Open} state. If any of these supply chain participants find some discrepancy in the CA, they raise a dispute which needs to be reviewed by other participants hence CA goes into {\it awaiting resolution (AR)} state (e.g., if the shipper raises a dispute on CA then the supplier must review the dispute). Once the reviewer accepts/rejects the dispute on a CA, the CA moves to {\it manually approved (MA)} state. If a CA in {\it Open} state does not have any dispute within a waiting period (user-configurable), it is moved to {\it auto-approved (AA)} state by the cron job {\it CAautoApprove} of the GP component.
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{figures/claimAdviceStates.png}
    \caption{State transitions for claim advice (CA)}
    \label{fig:CAstates}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Payment Advice state management}
We implement the PA state transition in our system as a finite state machine. Figure \ref{fig:PAstates} depicts the allowed state transitions for PA along with the criteria for each transition. PA first gets created with state {\it computation in progress (CIP)} after the goods delivery to the shipper. PA computation completes once CA is available for a PO, and PA moves into {\it awaiting resolution (AR)} state as it gets issued. The review process for PA is similar to CA. If there are no disputes, the shipper must finalize the PA following which it moves to {\it manually approved (MA)} state. There is no auto-approval support for PA.
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=0.65\columnwidth]{figures/paymentAdviceStates.png}
    \caption{State transitions for payment advice (PA)}
    \label{fig:PAstates}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Claim Advice Dispute Workflow Comparison}
\begin{figure}[ht]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=1.0\columnwidth]{figures/disputeWorkflow.png}
    \caption{CA dispute workflow: traditional vs. blockchain-based}
    \label{fig:disputeWorkflow}
\end{figure}
Figure \ref{fig:disputeWorkflow} depicts the dispute workflow in traditional goods trade environments vs. the blockchain ecosystem for goods trade. In a traditional workflow, the dispute process starts after goods delivery to the shipper, and once the CA gets computed by the EDI documents matching and gets issued. In contrast, since our system computes the claim amount per category and issues claims under each category independently, a user can raise a dispute without the need to wait for the completion of goods delivery to the shipper. This pre-CA preview can be seen as a direct benefit of our blockchain-based ecosystem for goods trade. Another benefit is that, since all the information is available on the blockchain ledger and shared among all the network peers, CA reconciliation is much faster, resulting in quicker dispute resolution.

\subsection{Privacy Considerations}
Since the blockchain ecosystem for goods trade can host multiple shippers, suppliers, and carriers along with members from other organizations, a peer node in the blockchain network represents a member from any of these organizations. Data (EDIs, shipment tracking events, CA, and PAs) is shared among only a subset of the network peers to ensure data privacy. We exploit {\it channels} and {\it private data collections} mechanisms in the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network for this purpose.  Moreover, we have capabilities built in our system to provide access to the shared data on the blockchain ledger based on the user role. Our system also allows the trade participants to update an existing smart contract in mutual agreement and seamlessly apply those changes retrospectively to all the shipments tracked in our system from the desired past date.

A shipper can place an order for multiple different items (called line items) in a single PO. Each PO line item may get supplied by a different supplier and get associated with the respective supplier invoice. Our system prevents access to CA and PA of other line items within the same PO from the supplier of a given line item by the following two means: (i) by generating CA and PA at the granularity of $\langle PO, lineItem\rangle$, and (ii) by appropriately configuring the privacy mechanisms and access policies discussed in this section.
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:introduction}

\begin{figure*}[h]
	\centering
	\includegraphics[width=0.8\textwidth]{figures/goodsTradeProcesses.png}
	\caption{Various processes in goods trade (domestic or global)}
	\label{fig:goodsTradeProcesses}
\end{figure*}

\begin{figure*}[h]
    \centering
    \includegraphics[width=0.7\textwidth,height=8cm]{figures/supplyChainProcesses.png}
    \caption{Blockchain-based global trade transaction processing}
    \label{fig:supplyChainProcesses}
\end{figure*}

Any trade transaction, be it domestic or global, involves exercising certain processes to complete. Domestic trade is the exchange of goods within country boundaries in contrast to between different countries in global/international trade.

We describe the different processes involved in goods trade using a global trade transaction in figure Fig. \ref{fig:supplyChainProcesses}.
{\it Shippers} initiate a trade transaction by sending a {\it purchase order} (PO) which consists of details of the requested goods to the {\it suppliers}. Suppliers typically package the goods into intermodal containers either by themselves or with the help of {\it Origin Cargo Management (OCM)} team. Suppliers issue {\it despatch advice} (DA) that describes the goods packed details, and {\it commercial invoice} (CI) that describes the terms together with the details of the amount that shipper must pay for the goods supplied. Since global trade involves freight transportation across country borders, a typical freight journey involves multiple modes (e.g., road, rail, or sea) of carriers contributing to the container movement from origin to the destination. Moreover, freight transportation may also involve {\it drayage} providers to move containers a short distance via ground fright (e.g., move containers from truck to a ship).

Once freight reaches the delivery center at destination, the goods receiving team of the shipper verifies if the received goods can be accepted or not. If there are any damages to the received goods or discrepancies in terms of received quantity/price against PO, then the receiving team records the same via {\it receiving advice} (RA). The different carriers involved in freight movement also issue their respective invoices for their services. Once the shipper has access to invoices of carriers and the supplier, its accounts payable team needs to process the invoices. First, the accounts payable team raises a claim for the discrepancies reported in RA in the form of {\it claim advice} (CA). Second, the accounts payable team deducts the amount captured in CA from the appropriate invoice (either from the supplier's invoice or from a carrier's invoice whoever is accountable) and generate {\it payment advices} (PAs), where each PA captures the net amount payable by the shipper either to the supplier or to a carrier.

{\it Payment processing} involves executing a payment method as per the terms captured in the service contracts between trade participants. The most common payment method is {\it open account}, where the goods is shipped and delivered before the release of funds from the shipper within an agreed time frame. There is another payment method which involves {\it financing} facilitated by banks and financial institutions (e.g., {\it letter of credit} \cite{letterOfCredit} for supplier invoices in global trade, {\it factoring} \cite{factoring} for carrier invoices in global trade, and {\it reverse factoring} \cite{reverseFactoring} for supplier invoices in domestic trade). Goods trade can be summarized as the shipper acquiring the goods by paying the bills to the supplier and carriers as captured in figure Fig. \ref{fig:supplyChainProcesses}.

The sequence of processes that get exercised during goods trade is captured in figure Fig. \ref{fig:goodsTradeProcesses}. Different business documents are communicated among the transacting parties electronically in standard document formats known as {\it Electronic Data Interchange} (EDI) during goods trade. E.g., GS1 is one such EDI standard \cite{GS132}. There exist one or more separate freight invoices and one supplier invoice (i.e., CI) in the case of a global trade transaction. In contrast, supplier invoice typically includes freight charges as well in case of domestic trade.

The complexity of goods trade increases with the multiple en route handoffs between different parties involved in the goods movement process. End-to-end shipping visibility becomes significantly challenging to put together. Hence, shippers and other parties involved, try to gather as many details as possible during the execution of various goods trade processes (figure Fig. \ref{fig:goodsTradeProcesses}). Eventually, each organization ends up accruing data with their priorities and results in mistrust of information in the multi-party planning and invoice processing. To address the trust and transparency issues among the competitive and mutually distrusting participants of the supply chain network, blockchain-based the goods trade industry is adopting innovative solutions of late. TradeLens \cite{TLIBM} is a blockchain-based solution to provide visibility into the current status of {\it freight transport} with the help of real-time shipment tracking events originated from different supply chain participants. Generating the invoices for freight carriers (e.g., OCM, Land Carriers, Ocean Carriers, and Drayage) involved in the goods movement from origin to the destination using the real-time container tracking events and the shipment details captured by TradeLens as depicted in figure Fig. \ref{fig:supplyChainProcesses} got carried out in \cite{bitl2020}.
In this paper, we propose a blockchain-based accounts payable system extending the TradeLens platform with capabilities to fulfill the needs of the supply chain network participants related to {\it invoice processing} (generation of CA and PAs) and dispute handling.

Here are the key features of our blockchain-based accounts payable platform. {\it CA} is generated by a blockchain smart contract using the EDI documents PO, DA, RA, and supplier invoice. {\it PAs} for supplier and carriers are generated by a blockchain smart contract using supplier invoice, carrier invoices, and CA. And our system allows the shipper, supplier, and carriers to raise disputes on the generated {\it claim advice} and {\it payment advices} and reconcile before {\it payment processing} with audit trails. Moreover, our system lets the reconciled and approved CA and PAs be sent to the customer's (shipper, supplier, or carrier) existing ERP systems via the API interfaces. Thus, our system is seamlessly integrated with the customer's downstream applications. Our system allows email/SMS {\it alert notifications} to be generated as per user notification settings based on different triggers (e.g., CA is issued or dispute raised).

In the following sections, first, we discuss related work in this domain and its shortcomings (Section \ref{sec:relatedWork}). Next, we present the architectural design of our system, describe various system components (Section \ref{sec:design}) and the implementation notes (Section \ref{sec:implementation}). Finally, we describe the experimental setup used for evaluation of the proposed system along with the performance of different types of transactions (Section \ref{sec:evaluation}) and summarize our contributions (Section \ref{sec:conclusion}).

\section{Related Work}
\label{sec:relatedWork}

Organizations are innovating products to help digitize various processes (Figure \ref{fig:goodsTradeProcesses}) involved in the goods trade industry. TradeLens \cite{TLIBM} is a solution to provide visibility into the current status of {\it freight transport} underpinned by blockchain technology. Producing blockchain-based e-invoices for the freight carriers as part of the {\it invoice generation} process got addressed in \cite{DLTLABS, bitl2020}.
Several blockchain-based solutions exist related to financing during {\it payment processing} \cite{chang2020blockchain, chiu2019blockchain, bogucharskov2018adoption, wt}.

There are instances where the use of blockchain technology for accounts payable (receivable) got discussed \cite{ipbyap, bcforap, bcinar}. Similarly, the possibility of carrying out matching (e.g., 3-way matching) of EDI documents on blockchain during {\it invoice processing} is also discussed \cite{bctoreplacesi}. However, all these proposals typically initiate {\it invoice processing} after the goods delivery to the shipper. The blockchain-based {\it invoice processing} system in our paper breaks down the {\it claims generation} into claims under different categories where claims under certain categories can be generated and issued before the goods delivery to the shipper. The advantages of this approach are two-fold: {\it invoice processing} gets accelerated since the dispute process can take place before the goods delivery to the shipper, and dispute reconciliation becomes easier since disputes are handled at the granularity of claims under a category resulting in faster dispute resolution. Hence, it is crucial to explore systems like the one proposed in this paper that enhance the effectiveness of blockchain-based accounts payable systems in {\it invoice processing}. Such a solution also helps organizations to build end-to-end blockchain-based platforms providing visibility across the various processes of goods trade.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Morning stiffness is a hallmark of RA, making it hard to get out of bed. Learn about relieving RA stiffness and improving mobility.
Do your RA symptoms greet you at the start of every new day? Morning stiffness, a sign that your rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is active, makes it hard to move your joints. Joint stiffness can affect any joint, but you're most likely to feel it in your hands, feet, hips, knees, and spine. Most problematic is that it can keep you feel achy for the first hour of your morning, making many people dread the dawn.
In fact, morning stiffness has such an impact on daily life that a British study, published in the Journal of Medical Economics, found that easing this single RA symptom leads to significant improvement in quality of life. And yet, ironically, there's no research to show just how pervasive the problem is. But if you have morning stiffness from RA, you probably don't need a study to tell you that you're in distress and that improving mobility is an RA must-do.
The cause of morning stiffness from RA isn't fully understood, but there's a chain reaction that goes something like this: Joint inflammation causes swelling in the joint, which increases when the joint is immobile; this results in limited mobility and tightening of muscles around the joints. It makes sense that the stiffness is often worse when the joint has been at rest, like when you've been sleeping or sitting for a long time. Though you might feel too achy too move, this stiffness improves with activity.
Start with gentle movements. Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH, a professor who chairs the physical therapy department at Northeastern University in Boston, suggests slowly moving the affected joints through their range of motion in bed before standing. This means taking a joint through its full arc of motion without pulling or stretching. Dr. Iverson recommends improving your mobility with RA by doing wrist, neck, and shoulder circles and bending and extending fingers, elbows and knees.
To decrease stiffness, begin by stretching the stiff joint. Stretch each joint that is stiff two to three times, holding the stretch for 20 to 30 seconds.
Move slowly; do not force movement. Fast, jerky movements will make a tight, stiff joint feel worse.
Move the joint just until you feel a stretch. This should not cause pain. It's important to not overstretch.
Consider working with a physical therapist to get your own personalized exercise program, recommends Patience H. White, MD, vice president of public health at the Arthritis Foundation and a professor of medicine and pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C.
Try heat therapy. Soothe joints while still in bed with a heated blanket or, as soon as you get out of bed, take a warm bath or shower, Dr. White says.
Do a few minutes of exercise. "You will feel better when you move because the swelling decreases," White explains. Just five minutes of movement can ease discomfort. Combine two tips by doing your range-of-motion exercises in the shower, or gently pedal on a stationary bicycle at a comfortable pace to relieve RA stiffness in the ankles, hips, and knees.
Take your meds from bed. Medications can help to control morning stiffness from RA by reducing the inflammation. Some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , or NSAIDs, are sold over-the-counter, but stronger ones are available by prescription only. These drugs help to ease arthritis pain and inflammation, White says. NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), ketoprofen (Nexcede), and naproxen sodium (Aleve), among others. If you have had or are at risk for stomach ulcers, your doctor may prescribe celecoxib (Celebrex), a type of NSAID called a COX-2 inhibitor, which is designed to be safer for the stomach. Keep your meds on your nightstand, along with water, so that they're within reach when you wake.
Rub in a joint cream. Products such as diclofenac gel (Voltaren Gel) may help relieve RA pain and stiffness. Note that diclofenac is an NSAID, and too many NSAIDs are not a good thing. If you take an oral NSAID, you should check with your doctor before adding an NSAID gel to your RA toolkit.
Be sure to get enough vitamin D and calcium. Corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory medications given orally or by injection), can affect bone strength, and calcium and vitamin D are important nutrients for bone health. Ask your doctor or nutritionist about your nutrient needs to keep bones healthy and keep you moving.
Consult with an occupational therapist. If you get morning stiffness from RA in your hands or wrists, this medical professional can give you splints that will keep your hands in a good position overnight. "When you start your day, your hand will not be in a tight fist," White says. "By having your hand in an open, resting position, it will be easier to get it moving in the morning."
A German study published in the journal Rheumatology found that the more severe their morning stiffness, the more likely people were to think about early retirement — a situation that you might not be financially or emotional ready for. The researchers concluded that any morning stiffness should be managed as early and effectively as possible so that you can continue in your career.
Talk to your employer about small but helpful accommodations to help you stay productive on the job. Having a flexible work schedule could get you the extra time you need to get moving in the morning. Also try to modify your posture during work. For example, if you sit a lot, try standing occasionally. Use a footstool to change your lower back position. Also, take frequent breaks to move around as joint stiffness isn't limited to the morning.


The Work Holiday Programme (WHP) has been updated in December 2012 to ensure that it helps qualified young foreign students and graduates to take up internships in Singapore.
Who is eligible for the WHP?
University undergraduates and graduates aged between 18 and 25 years old may work in Singapore under the WHP for up to six months.
Undergraduate applicants must be resident and full-time students of the university for at least 3 months before making the WHP application.
Graduates must be former resident and full-time students of the university.
Work Holiday Pass holders are not restricted to specific types of work. However, existing licensing, registration or accreditation requirements (e.g. medicine or law) will apply. Since this is a short work stint, there would not be any minimum salary requirement.
Foreign students who do not meet the above criteria can consider applying for the Training Employment Pass.
In addition, the WHP now has a capacity for 2,000 applicants at any one point in time and applicants must not hold a WHP within 12 months from the submission of an application.
What documents are required to apply under the WHP?
Interested in our Work Holiday Pass application services?
We are a licensed employment agency registered with the Ministry of Manpower and offer a full spectrum of work pass services. Call us at +65 6320 1888 or contact us now for a free consultation.


text:
namespace GameServer
{
    namespace Fixes
    {
        void CPlayerUnit::load()
        {
            enable_hook(&ATF::CPlayer::pc_UnitDeliveryRequest, &CPlayerUnit::pc_UnitDeliveryRequest);
        }

        void CPlayerUnit::unload()
        {
            cleanup_all_hook();
        }

        Yorozuya::Module::ModuleName_t CPlayerUnit::get_name()
        {
            static const Yorozuya::Module::ModuleName_t name = "fix.player.unit";
            return name;
        }

        void WINAPIV CPlayerUnit::pc_UnitDeliveryRequest(
            ATF::CPlayer* pPlayer,
            char bySlotIndex,
            ATF::CItemStore * pStore,
            bool bPayFee,
            float * pfNewPos,
            int bUseNPCLinkIntem,
            ATF::Info::CPlayerpc_UnitDeliveryRequest1995_ptr next)
        {
            UNREFERENCED_PARAMETER(pfNewPos);
            next(pPlayer, bySlotIndex, pStore, bPayFee, pPlayer->m_fCurPos, bUseNPCLinkIntem);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Eap Optometry prides itself on providing quality eye care for the whole family. In 1994, Dr. Stephen H. Eap opened our doors to the greater Long Beach communities and quickly established a reputation as a caring and respected optometrist. Our goal is to exceed patients' expectations in eye care as to improve quality of life through vision.
Eap Optometry has a wide selection of stylish eye wear, ophthalmic and sunglasses, with the name brands you come to recognize for their comfort and latest fashion design. Our staff is very helpful and highly knowledgeable in eye wear fashion. We will help you to be seen!!! If you are considering contact lenses, either to see and/or to change your eye color, we have a variety of clear and colored contact lenses for you to choose from.
A new patient without vision insurance? or Just looking for affordable eyeglasses? Click on Special Offers for money-saving coupons.


text:
Paul Kimball
Filmmaker, Citizen, Progressive, Historian
The Next Progressive Conservative Leader
Jamie Baillie announced this week that he was stepping down as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. He has been a fine public servant, and would have made a good Premier. I was honoured to run as a member of the PC team under his leadership in the provincial election earlier this year.
The party will move forward with a leadership campaign, and folks are already speculating about who will run. Sitting MLAs are the obvious and easy choice for the pundits (and there are good people in the expanded caucus that came together under Baillie's leadership), as are longtime party insiders. Indeed, moving in that direction would be the traditional choice, and maybe this time it will be the right one again.
But we're in an era where tradition isn't all that it was once cracked up to be. What we need is not just another leader with plenty of party ties or experience in Province House, but rather someone who can bring a truly fresh perspective and some open-minded innovation and imagination to the political process in this Province, moving us beyond the narrow partisanship and often too-cozy self-interest that has held us back for far too long.
We need transformative leadership, not just transactional leadership. That's the kind of visionary who will make the Progressive Conservative Party worthy of government as we move further into the 21st century. Maybe that person is a sitting MLA or party insider, but maybe not. The field is wide open.
So, what qualities should this new leader possess? Here are the key points that will determine who I support in the forthcoming leadership campaign:
A commitment to meaningful community engagement.
A willingness to transcend partisanship and work with the other parties whenever possible for the common good, on the understanding that no one party has a monopoly on good ideas.
An understanding of the challenges that face Nova Scotia, and a commitment to the real progressive change that is required to solve them.
A commitment to decision-making based on facts.
As the new leader will also spend at least a couple of years as Leader of the Opposition, they must have a commitment to not just criticizing the government when it errs, but also to offering a concrete plan of our own. It's easy, for example, to say we have a health care crisis in Nova Scotia. It's much harder to actually put together a plan to address that crisis. Rebuild the economy? Sure, we can all get behind that. But how will you do it? Which sectors, for example, will you prioritize? The new leader must offer more than platitudes and wedge-style politics – he or she must present Nova Scotians with real alternatives.
A commitment to reforming the civil service, so that it serves as an instrument to implement the change we need, as opposed to an impediment that will frustrate those efforts.
A commitment to a green future built upon sustainable and environmentally-responsible economic development.
A commitment to collective bargaining.
A commitment to engaging a new generation of voters to get involved in creating a better future for Nova Scotia, and a plan for making it happen.
An understanding of where the last Progressive Conservative campaign failed, but also where it succeeded, and a commitment to correct the errors we made while building on the things we got right.
A commitment to attracting the best candidates for the next election. We need to convince the best and the brightest Nova Scotians – men and women of achievement, intellect, and drive – to step away from their own path in order to work for the common good. That entails sacrifice, which in turn requires a leader who can inspire them to make that sacrifice, and who will be willing to work with them as the primus inter pares of a truly representative and responsible party, and government.
Most important, I want a candidate who will take to heart the leadership motto that I employ in my work as a filmmaker, and would have used as an MLA if I had been elected:
Listen, Learn, Lead.
These are the qualities that I am looking for because I believe they are absolutely necessary for the good and progressive governance that Nova Scotia so desperately needs.
paulandrewkimball November 4, 2017 November 4, 2017 Politics No Comments
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Citizen.
Filmmaker, author, blue sky thinker, historian, progressive.
Worker bee for change.
The First-Past-The-Post Electoral System Needs to Go
The Love You Take Is Equal To The Love You Make
Former NDP candidate Linda Power endorses Paul Kimball in Clayton Park West
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
MC Leozinho, nome artístico de Leonardo Freitas Mangeli de Brito (Niterói, 6 de maio de 1977), é um cantor e compositor de funk melody brasileiro. Fez muito sucesso com a canção "Ela Só Pensa em Beijar", podendo então lançar seu primeiro CD solo no primeiro semestre de 2006.

Durante o ano de 2009, MC Leozinho realizou diversas apresentações na TV, principalmente no SBT, nos programas dominicais de Celso Portiolli e Silvio Santos. Em 15 de novembro de 2009, MC Leozinho passou a fazer parte do grupo de participantes da segunda temporada do reality show A Fazenda que é exibido pela Rede Record. MC Leozinho foi o 10º eliminado da competição, com 53% dos votos no dia 24 de janeiro de 2010.

Em 2015, MC Leozinho participou da quarta temporada do talent show Super Chef Celebridades, que é exibido como um quadro do programa Mais Você, ao lado de outros participantes daquela temporada que foram: Bianca Rinaldi, Totia Meireles, Julio Rocha, Fiuk, Miá Mello, Giba e Fernando Ceylão. MC Leozinho acabou ficando em  5.º lugar na competição.

Discografia

Ligações externas
 Sítio pessoal
 Revista VEJA: MC Leozinho é a nova estrela do funk
 Clipe Patricinha da Favela MC Leozinho

Músicos de funk carioca
Músicos de funk melody
Naturais de Niterói
Participantes de A Fazenda
Participantes de reality shows do Brasil

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


From custom designed processors with Armv8 compliant CPU cores to multi-sector macro and micro BTS, Marvell enables an array of highly flexible, and scalable embedded processors for networking, enterprise, storage, and high-computing applications.
While the relentless increase in data traffic and rates impact how future cellular networks are deployed, radio networks are increasingly using higher frequency bands. Marvell Octeon® processors are targeted for multi-sector macro BTS, micro BTS and intelligent remote radio heads as well as enterprise and microcell LTE base station designs.
Marvell OCTEON® processors are targeted for use in a wide variety of OEM networking and storage equipment, including routers, switches, unified threat management (UTM) appliances, content-aware switches, application-aware gateways, triple-play gateways, WLAN and 3G/4G/5G access and aggregation devices.
Marvell® ARMADA embedded processors are custom designed to deliver optimal performance, low power, and high levels of integration. Our Armv8 compliant CPU cores are the most advanced implementations of industry standard Arm architecture delivering exceptional processing performance.


text:
Home » Film, TV »
Awards In Brief: Oh wins Golden Globe, Dorians nominate Schitt's
Plus: Which Canadian film and TV industry faces were named to Chatelaine's Women of the Year list?
Sandra Oh nabs Golden Globe for Killing Eve
Canadian actor Sandra Oh has won the Golden Globe for best actress in a TV drama for her performance in the BBC America series Killing Eve. With the win, Oh, who last year starred in Mina Shum's Canadian feature film Meditation Park, became the first actress of Asian descent to win more than one Golden Globe. Her previous win came more than a decade ago for her portrayal of the character Cristina Yang in the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy.
Also vying for a prize at the 76th annual edition of the event was Canadian actor Stephan James, who was nominated for best actor in a TV drama for his performance in the Amazon series Homecoming. The category was ultimately won by Richard Madden for his role in the British series Bodyguard.
And although the Jean-Marc Vallée-directed and eOne-produced HBO drama Sharp Objects was also left out of the winners' circle, Patricia Clarkson won best performance by a supporting actress in a series for her role in the miniseries. In her acceptance speech, Clarkson thanked Canadian director Vallée. "You demanded everything of me, except sex, which is exactly as it should be in our industry," said Clarkson. Sharp Objects was also among five series nominated for best limited TV series, with The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX) claiming the prize.
Catherine Tait among Châtelaine's 2018 Canadian Women of the Year list
Châtelaine's 2018 Canadian Women of the Year list was filled with familiar faces if you follow the world of Canadian film and TV. Among those was CBC head Catherine Tait, filmmaker Jennifer Baichwal and the on-screen quartet that fronts Baroness Von Sketch Show. Other additions to the list are Tsilhqot'in filmmaker Helen Haig-Brown (Edge of the Knife), Soulpepper's artistic director Weyni Mengesha and actor Sandra Oh. Châtelaine's annual list recognizes women that have "helped put Canada on the world stage."
Canadians receive nominations for 10th Dorian Awards
The nominations continue to mount up for Schitt's Creek. The half-hour CBC comedy, produced by Not A Real Company Productions, has been nominated for a prize at the 10th Dorian Awards. Schitt's was nominated alongside Barry, Glow, The Good Place and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel in the best TV comedy category. As well, Schitt's actor Noah Reid was nominated in the category for best musical TV performance for his rendition of "Simply the Best." Elsewhere, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, starring Canadian-American Samantha Bee, was nominated for best current affairs show and Sandra Oh was nominated for best performance in a TV series for her role in Killing Eve. The U.S.-based Dorian Awards is run by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. This year's ceremony takes place on Jan. 12.
Catherine Tait, Châtelaine, eOne, Sandra Oh, Schitt's Creek, Sharp Objects
Menteur crosses $1M in opening week
Denis Cote's Wilcox to world premiere at Locarno
Incendo builds Glass Houses in Montreal
Bell Media, Melbar team for David Foster: Off The Record
Hot Sheet: Top 10 films July 5 to 11, 2019
2019 WIFTV Spotlight Awards Gala - Encore Vancouver VP of sales Suzanne Thompson was the recipient of WIFTV\'s the Integral Artists Wayne Black Award.


text:
Карту́ш ( — «орнаментальная окантовка в виде свитка со свёрнутыми углами», от  «бумажный свёрток, кулёчек, мешочек для порохового заряда», что восходит к  — бумага) — в архитектуре и декоративном искусстве — мотив в виде обрамлённого завитками щита или «полуразвёрнутого, часто с надорванными либо надрезанными краями рулона бумаги, свитка», на котором может помещаться герб, эмблема или надпись.

История
Картуши возникли в эпоху Возрождения на рубеже XV—XVI веков. В ренессансной Италии такой мотив называли tirate (букв. «тянучка») — сложное переплетение лент; во Франции — бандероль, в мусульманском искусстве — унван.

В эпоху барокко и рококо картуши приобретают более сложные, часто асимметричные, динамичные формы. Вопреки изначальному значению слова картушами стали называть самые разные декоративные элементы, несущие маскароны, девизы, даты, геральдические щиты с гербами и эмблемами. Ещё одна разновидность названия — картель (, также от  — бумага, мотив, напоминающий полуразвёрнутый рулон бумаги, но часто с причудливо надорванными и загнутыми углами. В эпоху рококо такие картели соединяли с рокайлями, отчего возникло распространённое определение: «искусство рокайлей и картелей». Сложность, однако, состоит в том, что словом «картель» во Франции XVIII века называли настенные и напольные корпусные часы с маятником, оформленные рокайльным орнаментом.

Картуши можно встретить и в более позднее время в архитектуре эклектики, модерна, неоклассицизма. Распространившиеся в XVI—XVIII веках картуши украшают парадные входы во дворцы, престижные особняки и административные здания.

Картуши размещали над парадными входами в здания и оконными проёмами, в тимпанах фронтонов, в интерьерах зданий, на монументах, надгробных плитах и документах. Подобные изображения в овальном или круглом обрамлении именуются медальонами. На гравюрах и географических картах картуши, как правило, несут сопровождающий текст.

Галерея

Примечания

См. также
 Бандельверк
 Рольверк
 Кнорпельверк
 Ормушль

Литература

Архитектурные элементы
Рельеф (скульптура)
Геральдика


UNIVERSITY places could be on offer in Wiltshire by 2028, after a bid to launch a higher education establishment in the county was revealed.
The £300m,multi campus suite could be based in Corsham, Swindon or Salisbury and would focus on science, technology, engineering and maths subjects to fit a gap in the industry. Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership is currently the only one in the whole country that does not have a university in its area.
The University of Wessex is the proposed name for the institution.


text:
'Climategate' shows unethical promotion of global warming, reader says
When the government picks winners and sends grant money, it has the expected effect of promoting a specific conclusion.
In "Climategate: Follow the Money," e-mails from top grant-receiving researchers show how data can be twisted and outright misrepresented to create the appearance of the desired outcome when the actual data shows the opposite. These e-mails, where the scientists repeatedly talk of "hiding the decline" and how to discredit other research, show how money can trump ethics — even in the supposedly objective area of science.
According to the Wall Street Journal — Dec 1, 2009 — Phil Jones, the director of Climate Research Unit, one of the premier global-warming research centers and the sponsor of the hugely misleading hockey-stick graph for global warming, received a total of $19 million in grants from 2000 to 2006.
As the WSJ's Bret Stephen says, "Vested interests are the enemy of sound science."
Virginia Ashpole
Sam Page should volunteer medical skills for reproductive health
Reversal of Roe v. Wade is one step in protecting life, gun control is another
ECM Construction deserves recognition for respect, says reader
Stay connected to community with The Call
Reader gives reminder that no matter who you are, everyone pays taxes
Supreme Court's duty is to interpret Constitution's 'original' meaning
MotoMart is not a good use of a vacant property, says letter writer
Deacon says that abortion bans take the lives of both mothers and babies
Driver would like to see better roads, streets in St. Louis County
Erin's Edit: Annual Fall Sports Preview highlights importance of community newspapers


Filipinos just love posting their #blessed and #thankful moments with friends and family by means of a #selfie. As this trend becomes increasingly popular, Samsung introduces the best selfie device which offers the best-in-class upgraded selfie experience.
Given that the Philippines is home of fun-loving Filipinos who treat every single life event as an occasion worth celebrating and documenting. In fact, the Philippines is known as the selfie capital of the world. Selfies correspond to stories we want to tell the world— memories we want to preserve at its finest. Nevertheless, our best attempts could still fall short.
It usually takes about five failed selfie shots before a woman settles for the sixth to be shared in social media. Men are just as concerned about getting that perfect snap as they settle only after the fourth attempt.
Admit it or not, a post-worthy slash like-worthy selfie requires a great deal of time and effort. It takes a good number of minutes looking for decent lighting, finding a good background, getting a right angle, and finally selecting a filter before hitting the share button. Sometimes, you settle with one that's too dark or a bit blurred or has someone cropped out of the frame. Now the question is: how do you best capture selfie-worthy moments at an arm's length?
Samsung Electronics Philippines Corporation unveils the Galaxy J Series – Samsung's best-in-class smartphones that upgrade your selfies to perfect J-Fies. With a 5MP front camera equipped with LED Flash, multiple J-Fie features and large super AMOLED screen, the 5.0" Galaxy J5 and 5.5" Galaxy J7 definitely set the bar high in the selfie arena. The days of so-so selfies will soon be gone as the new Samsung Galaxy J Series usher in the new age with an upgraded J-Fie experience.
The special J-Fie features make it effortless to achieve a flawless shot whenever and wherever. You can take your J-Fies in dark conditions with the LED Front Flash, make the whole gang fit with the wide angle selfie feature, make sure that no fingers are blocking the photo and that challenging angles are made easy by using the palm selfie feature, and instantly touch up and look fab by simply sliding various beauty face options. Out in the sun or inside a cave, during a party or while at a workout session, your Galaxy J Series will yield nothing but exceptional J-Fies.
Now you never have to worry when you run into a celebrity, or go out on a trip with the family, or simply pose for a #ootd. Go ahead and upgrade your so-so selfies into no-fail J-Fies with the new Samsung Galaxy J-series! Capture life's best with only the best.
Try out the new Samsung Galaxy J Series at a Samsung Experience Store near you. Get updates on products and launches through Samsung Mobile Philippines on Facebook, @samsungph on Twitter, or visit www.samsung.com.ph.


text:
/**
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var express = require('express');
var router = express.Router();
var assert= require("assert");
var employeesDAO= require("../models/dao/EmployeesDAO");
var commonOperations = require("../utils/ImssPayment");
var moment= require("moment");
var pdf = require('phantom-html2pdf');
var jade = require("jade");
var escape=require("escape-html");
var htmlToPdf=require("html-to-pdf");
var conversion = require("phantom-html-to-pdf")();
var calculatePay= require("../utils/CalculatePay");

router.get("/",function(req,res,next){
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  var employees= employeesDAO.findAll(function (error, employees){
    if(error){

    }else{
      res.render("dashboard/index",{employees:employees});
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router.post("/",function(req,res,next){
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module.exports = router;


text:
Police say security guards should not wear Christmas costumes
November 9, 2018 Trends by AimeeLeave a Comment on Police say security guards should not wear Christmas costumes
Geez, po-po must be Grinch during this holiday season.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) Security and Investigation Bureau Oversight Office (SOSIA) told security agencies yesterday that their mall and hotel security guards are not allowed to wear Santa Claus clothing or any clothing during their duties.
The television broadcast network UNTV reported that the order was arrested on the guards of the Quezon City Shopping Center on Sunday for wearing clothing.
GMA News 'Balitambayan said that the security agency at Quezon City Mall will have to pay a fine of 400,000 Philippine pesos (US$7,599.84), such as violation of uniform regulations, overdue tax rules, and licenses for the industry without a security industry.
A detailed order on duty is a written order issued by a senior official stating the duties of a private security guard.
The head of Jaime Santos, who is in charge of PNP-SOSIA, said that this approach poses a security risk and can lead to confusion, especially in emergencies.
"When an emergency occurs, people don't approach them (security guards) and think they might be ordinary employees," he quoted Filipino in ABS-CBN News.
The report adds that if they wear clothing, these security personnel may also lose guns.
Santos also said that the security guards' job is to ensure people's safety, not to entertain them.
Well, this is definitely a frustration. You can do two things at the same time, right?
United Nations Television also reported that criminal groups may follow suit and wear clothing to do a variety of criminal activities within the enterprise.
With the influx of shoppers, the presence of PNP will be more substantial during this holiday season. They will deploy patrols outside the mall to respond quickly to the team as crimes occur.
New in the Western Shopping Mall Christmas
Should you already start Christmas shopping?


Install 2 x heated towel rails, 7 x light fittings, 4 x light switches, 9 x power sockets, fused spur for garage door additional information: the job. Discover features videos and webinars about commusoft software. Homeowners and establishment owners will be the ones liable for flaws and problems when they do not hire a certified electrician this is not only bothersome but expensive electrical installation st johns wood as well since they are bound to pay fines for not hiring licensed electricians for the job this makes hiring certified professionals worthwhile. When you need a commercial, domestic or emergency electrician in stockton, call on the dedicated team at s&s electrics to expertly and safely assist you. Hi my name is hugh ,i am available for industrial and domestic work that i have been working on in glasgow and the surrounding area, showers,kitchen rewires security lights etc so if you need a quote give me a call,i charge the keenest rates around. Using plastic overseas? always pay in euros even if it says 0% commission . Serving rohnert park and the surrounding area. The registered electrical certifier must be informed in advance of any proposed work they will be employed to certify before it begins the work will need to be inspected by the registered electrical certifier at first fix and second fix, and to undergo final testing.
Taylor electrical and plumbing services is an niceic part p registered company based in barnet north london we offer a complete range of electrical and plumbing services. Disclaimer: all opinions posted on these message boards are the opinion solely of the poster and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of eye on spain, its servants or agents. Products liability insurance provides cover for your business against damages awarded if a product that you make or supply causes personal injury or damage to property. Receptacles, plugs, wallsockets need to be installed throughout the house in locations where power will be required in many areas the installation must be done in compliance with standards and by a licensed or qualified electrician power points are typically located where there will be an appliance installed such as, telephone, computers, television, home theater, security system, cctv system. After you have dug the trench to the proper level, the cable can now be installed it is usually a good idea to run the cable through pvc conduit instead of just throwing it in the ditch once the wire is in the trench, you need to have it inspected to conform to the electrical codes, you will have to have your job inspected at three different intervals they will come and make sure that you have the ditch to the proper depth and make sure that the cable is laid in correctly. We do our best to make sure that our customers are completely satisfied and that's evident by our 99.8% satisfaction rating on checkatrade and a 100% record of charging our customers exactly the price that we originally quoted we realise how important it is to provide a quote and stick to it there's no hidden extras with us.


text:
president@pmilebanonchapter.org +961 1 411 251
PMI Lebanon Chapter
Chapter Policies and Procedures
Chapter By Laws
Monthly Talks
How to become a sponsor
R.E.P.s
PMI Lebanon Chapter > About PMI
Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world's leading not-for-profit professional membership association for the project, program and portfolio management profession. Founded in 1969, PMI delivers value for more than 2.9 million professionals working in nearly every country in the world through global advocacy, collaboration, education and research. PMI advances careers, improves organizational success and further matures the profession of project management through its globally recognized standards, certifications, resources, tools, academic research, publications, professional development courses, and networking opportunities.
PMI offer a comprehensive credentialing program for project practitioners of all education and skill levels. PMI offers six certifications that recognize knowledge and competency, including the Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential held by more than 370,000 practitioners worldwide. Salaries and career opportunities for credential holders show that employers recognize the value delivered by trained practitioners. PMI credentials are rigorously developed, globally accredited and easily transferable across borders and industries. Regardless of where you are in your career, PMI has a certification for you to demonstrate your expertise and your commitment to the profession.
Global Standards
Global standards are crucial to the project management profession because they ensure a basic project management framework is applied consistently worldwide. For 25 years, PM's global standards have helped establish the Institute as the premier authority in project management, helping it mature into the global organization it is today. In fact, the American National Standards Institute has recognized PMI as a Standards Development Organization.
PMI's standards for project, program and portfolio management are the most widely recognized standards in the profession – and increasingly the model for project management in business and government. They are developed and updated by thousands of PMI volunteers with experience in every type of project, and provide a common language for project management around the world.
Chapters and Communities of Practice
Most of PMI's activity takes place in more than 250 geographic chapters and 30 industry- or interest- based communities of practice. These communities, open to PMI members and led by volunteers, support the knowledge sharing and professional networking that are central to our mission.
Coaching and Soft Skills: The missing link in Project Management by Eng. Naji Shelala
Lebanon Chapter
All right reserved. PMI Lebanon Chapter 2004 - 2015. Website by talentmethods.org


text:
John Fowles
I learned about Fowles' death from Mrs. Bookworld's rather cheeky (and, as always, correct) rebuttal to the BBC. (The BBC took UK bloggers to task for not dropping everything and immediately blogging about his death; Mrs. Bookworld notes that the purpose of her—of most—litblog is to record personal obsessions and enthusiasms and opinions and not necessarily to commemorate every worthy's passing.) (Mark Sarvas collects reminscences here.)
It wasn't until I read Jenny's great post on the rather horrifying misogyny of his journals that I decided to write a post of my own. Like many, I came to the wonderful French Lieutenant's Woman through the film. Those were the days in which Streep and Irons could do no wrong and that haunting hooded cape, those great misty shots, moved me. I turned to the book—my father had it in his library—and read it, confused by the contemporary interchapters which, frankly did not interest me much. It as the first book of that sort I'd read.
In 1994, Twentieth Century Literature, a quarterly out of Hofstra, published my first academic article (on, surprise, surprise, A Room of One's Own). It came out in the issue that also announced the annual award for the best article of the year. The judge had been John Fowles. Of the twenty or so articles he had to choose from, he mentioned mine as one he'd almost chosen but had decided against because he'd always found Woolf so terrifying. In the end, he plumped for an article (also on Woolf) by a man. I was—and still am—frankly kind of amazed that an academic journal runs a contest judged by fiction writers and that John Fowles actually skimmed (and seems to have kind of liked) something of mine. But there was something odd in the kind of honorable mention status he gave my piece that confused me: it felt unfair to be passed over because he was unable to read Woolf and his inability sounded like a pedestrian male, British anti-Woolf reaction, not a thoughtful "she's not for me." Further, it seemed weird then to give the prize to another piece on Woolf (though I have no way of judging whether or not it was "better" than mine).
I'm sad that the journal entries—the Guardian (via Jenny) quotes one on the general superfluity of women—offer such an easy and reductive explanation for the odd tone. He just didn't like women (nor did he find them very necessary—perhaps he and Maureen Dowd could have had a pow-wow).
Elsewhere, on Paris, Moorishgirl notes a chilling little racist lapse in the Times--referring to the rioters as "second- and third-generation immigrants." As she notes, aren't the immigrants the ones who have arrived from elsewhere? In fact, for all its failings, France does confer citizenship on people born in France (and then leaves them to figure out the rest for themselves in huge, isolated, inhuman highrises).
Jenny D said...
Fascinating. But I still think it's super-cool that Fowles read your article!
Thanks. It is kind of cool. Trippy.
Julia Briggs's new biography of Woolf
Women Carrying Sticks: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
Time for a new Room
Paris is Burning
Overheard, Soho Edition
Stamina & Coffee Shop Competition


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Columbia Business Report	Bank emphasizes mission on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday
Jan 20, 2020 • By Melinda Waldrop
Columbia Business Report	Ground broken on another hotel near Lexington Medical Center
Jan 17, 2020 • By Renée Sexton
Columbia Business Report	Title of historic Babcock building transferred to developer
Tweets by @CRBR
Mixed-use development proposed for Devine Street
A developer is seeking a special exception to City of Columbia zoning regulations so it can build a mixed-use development that includes apartments and retail space in the 2800 block of Devine Street in the Shandon neighborhood.
The developer, Devine Station LLC, submitted its proposal to the Board of Zoning Appeals, which meets Tuesday.
The three-story former Continental American/Aflac insurance office building at 2801 Devine would be incorporated in the development. Aflac, which acquired Columbia-based Continental American in 2009, moved workers out of the Devine Street location to the company's downtown campus on Huger Street.
A one-story office building consisting of about 14,500 square feet is located at 2835 Devine, according to the documents.
Plans show a multistory building consisting of four and five stories with retail on the ground floor to be built separately from the Aflac building.
The application notes that the site is near other multifamily residential units such as 700 Woodrow, a 61-unit, seven-story apartment building at the corner of Woodrow and Devine.
The proposed Devine Street complex also is near GranDevine, a 51-unit luxury condo complex at 705 Maple St. The condo complex is the former Schneider School building, which was restored and renovated.
The area around the proposed project includes 60 shops and services.
A separate site plan review for a new building would be submitted with the city panel greenlights rezoning of the site.


As the team leader looked across the room at each of the individuals assembled, however, the thing that most heavily sat in his brain was the team's next step after getting through this immediate fire. He realized that even though getting through the attack was the immediate problem, it was really just a symptom of the real underlying problem.
Most of the guys on this team had slept very little, if at all. They remained focused, inquisitive, forward thinking, and full of humor (sometimes the only thing you can do to stay sane is laugh, after all). They were also tired, pissed off, and hungry.
Pointing fingers doesn't move you forward. Nor does hiding the dirty laundry from your team, management, and any stakeholders.
IT departments that stay together during crisis, succeed. Together, though, does not mean keeping the dirty, ugly truth within the department.
Whenever a major incident occurs, a post-mortem is the most valuable tool in the IT arsenal because anything can be improved and every situation can be learned from.
Those organizations that reflect constructively and adjust accordingly, even after the immediate crisis has passed, achieve growth. And organizations which manage to establish this mindset outside of just the IT department achieve excellence.
But this is only true if transparency and continuous improvement are embraced from the top down and a ruthless tempering of finger pointing is practiced. This doesn't mean that there is no accountability. Good management can tell the difference between a reasonable mistake or an oversight versus gross incompetence. And either way, there's an opportunity to learn and to improve.


Welcome to the Los Angeles Valley College Health Science Department. We offer award-winning programs in Nursing and Respiratory Therapy. If you are a compassionate, responsible person who seeks a care-giving career in the medical field that offers personal reward as well as financial stability, Nursing or Respiratory Therapy are viable options.
The Registered Nursing Program at Los Angeles Valley College began as a project of the UCLA School of Nursing on July 1, 1959. The Concept of an Associate Degree in Nursing was the current "hot topic" and the Kellogg Foundation funded four research sites across the nation to determine if nursing could be effectively taught at the Associate Degree level. The first class of 30 students was admitted in September of 1960 and all graduated in June of 1962. Our Nursing Program is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing (CABRN) and accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN). National accreditation is a prestigious accomplishment for the nursing program at Los Angeles Valley College. National accreditation and State continuing approval holds the Nursing Program at a high standard and assures a program of excellence.
Our Respiratory Therapy Program Began in 1974 and quickly developed a reputation of excellence in education. Our Advanced Level Respiratory Therapy Program is accredited by the Committee of Accreditation of Respiratory Care (CoARC). In 1995, our Respiratory Therapy program was awarded the "Outstanding Vocational Education Program in California" award. This honor means that our program was considered the best vocational program of all of the vocational programs in all of the community colleges in Calrifornia.
Located in a new, State-of-the-Art facility in the Allied Health & Sciences Building. For general questions, please enjoy our website or call (818)947-2559. For Nursing questions, please enjoy our Nursing Program website or call (818)947-2559 or (818)947-2570. For Respiratory Therapy questions please enjoy our Respiratory Therapy Program website or call (818)947-2845. We look forward to providing you with an outstanding education in the medical field.