Abstract: Provided is a blast-free alternative tool for breaching operations for the intended purpose of cutting metal, including rebar, steel cables, I-beams, thin walled containers, welding doors, and the like. The apparatus includes a flexible and cuttable tube containing metal oxide/metal (thermite) mixture, capable of being formed around a target material and of NONEL ignition. The apparatus can be used to cut, weld, or ignite target material. Protective caps are included with provisions to insert shock tube or time fuse to transmit ignition to first fire mix. A fire proof or flame retardant flexible outerwrap with adhesive (such as hydrogel) or malleable retention wires covers the cutting ribbon for heat and slag retention. In the preferred embodiment, the apparatus is issued/manufactured in rolls or precut lengths.

Abstract: Provided is a blast-free alternative tool for breaching operations for the intended purpose of cutting metal, including rebar, steel cables, I-beams, thin walled containers, welding doors, and the like. The apparatus includes a flexible and cuttable tube containing metal oxide/metal (thermite) mixture, capable of being formed around a target material and of NONEL ignition. The apparatus can be used to cut, weld, or ignite target material. Protective caps are included with provisions to insert shock tube or time fuse to transmit ignition to first fire mix. A fire proof or flame retardant flexible outerwrap with adhesive (such as hydrogel) or malleable retention wires covers the cutting ribbon for heat and slag retention. In the preferred embodiment, the apparatus is issued/manufactured in rolls or precut lengths.

Abstract: A campfire reflective barrier for protecting a user from exposure to wind while concurrently providing heat reflection from a campfire or other associated energy sources is provided. The campfire reflective barrier includes a first panel affixed to an adjacent second panel via a hinge. The panels form a heat reflecting and wind deflecting shield. Each panel includes a first side having a heat reflecting element that can reflect heat and a second side for deflecting wind. In one embodiment, the heat reflecting element is formed in a bubble arrangement to provide a highly reflective surface so as so reflect the heat generated by the campfire. In some embodiments, the panels are reconfigurable and joinable with other campfire reflective barriers to form a continuous shield.

Abstract: A computing device schedules and processes a plurality of optimization tasks in parallel by creating a scheduling table. A group size is a number of factor variables divided by two. A set of variable pairs is assigned to each group of a plurality of groups. The group size defines a number of variable pairs included in each set of variable pairs. Each unique pair of unordered factor variables is assigned to a single set of variable pairs of the groups. Each set of variable pairs includes each factor variable once. A scheduling table is created for a plurality of iterations by consecutively assigning each pair of variables from the set of variable pairs assigned to each group of the groups based on a number of threads. A pair of variables is assigned to a thread of the plurality of threads to execute the optimization until each pair is assigned once.