Abstract: A spiral wound gasket (10) with increased resistance to an inward buckling while sealing flanges at low stress levels, in which an outer guide ring (14) for positioning the gasket within the bolt circle of a bolted flange connection connects to a sealing element (12) having a core (16) that contributes to gasket recovery and made of a spirally wound, chevron-shaped band overlaid by a layer (20) of sealing material covering at least a portion of opposing sides of the core to conformably seal contact faces of flanges to be sealed.

Abstract: The present invention is directed towards an interactive web-based database for use by one or more hiring facilities in a particular industry and associated with temporary staffing professionals to coordinate the availability of the staffing professionals with the temporary staffing requirements of the hiring facilities. The database, and access thereto, is designed to permit the hiring facilities to more easily schedule temporary staffing professionals while giving the professionals greater freedom in selecting their assignments. Hiring facilities will be permitted to search the database for potential temporary staff, post available temporary positions, notify qualified professionals of temporary positions, maintain data files of qualified professionals, and communicate with large groups of staffing professionals through broadcast e-mail messaging.