Abstract: A coil assembly for utilization in a vapor deposition system is described herein that includes at least one subject coil having a length, a height, an inside edge, an outside edge and a thickness, wherein the thickness of the subject coil is measured as the distance between the inside edge and the outside edge and wherein at least part of the thickness of the subject coil is reduced by at least 20% as compared to a reference coil. A coil assembly is also described herein for utilization in a vapor deposition system that includes at least one subject coil having a length, a height, an inside edge, an outside edge, and a thickness, wherein the thickness of the subject coil is measured as the distance between the inside edge and the outside edge and wherein at least part of the height of at least part of the subject coil is reduced by at least 20% as compared to the height of a reference coil.

Abstract: A method is provided for a medical risk stratification system. The method may include establishing a medical risk process model indicative of interrelationships between a plurality of medical risks and a plurality of health parameters and obtaining a set of values corresponding to the plurality of health parameters. The method may also include calculating the values of the plurality of medical risks simultaneously based upon the set of values corresponding to the plurality of health parameters and the medical risk process model and presenting the values of the plurality of medical risks.

Abstract: An efficient organizer of companion guide rules is created by a validation application from the common set of rules among an industry's implementation guide and the rulebooks, such as companion guides of one or more entities, such as payers. The organizer of companion guide rules creates an inventory of all rules and a profile for each companion guide and stores each profile in metadata storage. Each profile contains pointers to code in the inventory for all the rules employed by the corresponding companion guide. After an EDI document reaches the validation application, a runtime checker engine checks metadata storage for a current rule set for the payer. A rule set is created the first time a profile is accessed during the validation process and whenever the profile is updated. The runtime checker engine attempts to validate the EDI document by comparing it to the current rule set for a payer's companion guide.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a system and method to facilitate data mining applications and automated evaluation of models for continuous variable data. In one aspect, a system is provided that facilitates decision tree learning. The system includes a learning component that generates non-standardized data that relates to a split in a decision tree and a scoring component that scores the split as if the non-standardized data at a subset of leaves of the decision tree had been shifted and/or scaled. A modification component can also be provided for a respective candidate split score on the decision tree, wherein the above data or data subset can be modified by shifting and/or scaling the data and a new score is computed on the modified data. Furthermore, an optimization component can be provided that analyzes the data and determines whether to treat the data as if it was: (1) shifted, (2) scaled, or (3) shifted and scaled.

Abstract: Methods, systems and apparatus for modeling a target system includes defining a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP) that characterizes the target system in terms of a set of variables, each having a respective input domain, and initial constraints applicable to the variables. The variables are partitioned into at least first and second sets. An abstract solution is found to the CSP, including a given assignment of the variables in the first set. A reduced domain of at least one of the variables in the second set is computed, so as to be compatible with the abstract solution. A redundant constraint on the abstract solution is determined responsively to the reduced domain. A concrete solution to the CSP is then found, using the abstract solution and the redundant constraint.

Abstract: The invention relates to an evolutionary optimization method. First, an initial population of individuals is set up and an original fitness function is applied. Then the offspring individuals having a high evaluated quality value as parents are selected. In a third step, the parents are reproduced to create a plurality of offspring individuals. The quality of the offspring individuals is evaluated selectively using an original fitness function or an approximate fitness function. Finally, the method returns to the selection step until a termination condition is met. The step of evaluating the quality of the offspring individuals includes grouping all offspring individuals in clusters, selecting for each cluster one or a plurality of offspring individuals, resulting in altogether selected offspring individuals, evaluating the selected offspring individuals by the original fitness function, and evaluating the remaining offspring individuals by means of the approximate fitness function.

Abstract: An electrode arrangement for creation of corona over an area, and for treating electrically-conductive surfaces which might otherwise experience arcing from the electrode arrangement to the surface. The arrangement includes an electrode, and an electrically insulative shroud for the electrode. A source of nitrogen gas is provided for creating a non-arcing atmosphere. The electrode is stationary or rotatable with the shroud.

Abstract: Deflection apparatus is shown for high perveance ion beams, operating at 20 Hz fundamental and substantially higher order harmonics, having a magnetic structure formed of laminations with thickness in range between 0.2 and 1 millimeter. Additionally, a compensator is shown with similar laminated structures with resonant excitation circuit, operating at 20 Hz or higher, in phase locked relationship with the frequency of the previously deflected beam. Furthermore, features are shown which have broader applicability to producing strong magnetic field in magnetic gap. Among the numerous important features shown are special laminated magnetic structures, including different sets of crosswise laminations in which the field in one lamination of one set is distributed into multiplicity of laminations of the other set of coil-form structures, field detection means and feedback control system, cooling plate attached in thermal contact with number of lamination layers.

Abstract: A focused electron/bombarded hybrid photomultiplier tube comprising a photocathode, focusing electrodes, and a collection anode disposed in a detector body. The collector anode includes a diode for receiving the focused output electron beam from the photocathode. The current gain between the photocathode output current and the detector output signal from the diode is over 1000 at a tube operating voltage of 7 kV. The noise factor has been determined to be 1.1. A hybrid photomultiplier tube includes a photocathode, a photodiode for collecting and multiplying electrons emitted by the photocathode and providing an output signal and electrodes for focusing the electrons on the photodiode. A vacuum envelope encloses a vacuum region between photocathode and the detector. A conductor disposed on or adjacent to a sidewall of the vacuum envelope reduces the effect of electrical charges on the inside wall of the vacuum envelope on the trajectories of the electrons.

Abstract: A pair of lenses for an ion beam deposition device permit the formation of an ion beam with good beam characteristics and the variation of ion energy over an extremely wide range and at high perveance. An ion extractor is provided with a shield with a shape closely corresponding to the extraction electrode aperture to avoid sputtering and the introduction of contaminants into the material deposition process at low beam energies at the extractor. A three electrode deceleration lens allows high current beams to be decelerated to an energy of 25 eV for deposition, under some conditions. The combination of lenses allows the ion energy in the beam to be changed at particular regions along the beam so that optimal energies for focussing, mass analysis and deposition can be obtained.

Abstract: A low cost, minimum weight cask for the storage of fuel assemblies is disclosed herein, along with a method for the construction thereof. The cask generally comprises a wall assembly for defining a cask interior that is complementary in shape to a rectangular array of radioactive fuel assemblies that is formed from four flat, metallic wall plate members having mutually parallel side edges which are adjoined be welds that penetrate only part way through the thicknesses of the wall plate members. The cask further includes a floor plate attached to the bottom of the wall assembly, and a lid that is detachably connectable to the top of the wall assembly. A basket assembly formed from parallel and uniformly spaced plates of borated aluminum interconnected in "egg crate" fashion is disposed in the rectangular interior of the cask. To minimize weight, each of the corners of the wall assembly is truncated.

Abstract: When a hand-held visible-light curing unit is used in air to cure dental restorative material, a thin layer of soft, uncured surface material ordinarily remains and is removed by grinding. In the invention, the surface of the restorative material is fully cured by the simple expedient of using a hand-held light curing unit whose lightguide has a hollow tube having at least one orifice that is substantially colinear with the lightguide. An inert gas such as nitrogen is gently blown through the orifice and across the surface of the restorative material while the material is being cured by light from the light curing unit.

Abstract: A method for pretreatment of a photoresist layer adhered to a semiconductor wafer prior to charged particle beam processing. The method includes bombarding the photoresist layer with ions which are electrically inactive with respect to the wafer. Suitable ions include ions of the noble gases. The pretreatment method causes rapid photoresist outgassing and carbonization without altering the electrical properties of the wafer. Outgassing during subsequent processing is thereby reduced. The pretreatment method is particularly applicable to ion implantation wherein dose measurement errors resulting from photoresist outgassing are reduced. The pretreatment method is performed at high current to minimize the effect on system throughput.

Abstract: Method of and apparatus for scanning a charged particle beam over a semiconductor wafer in a prescribed pattern. A triangular waveform, including alternating positive and negative ramp portions of constant slope and controllable time durations, is applied to a horizontal deflection system and produces horizontal scanning of the beam. The time durations of the ramp portions determine the length of the horizontal scan lines and are controlled according to a predetermined sequence so as to provide the prescribed pattern. The triangular waveform is provided by an integrator which receives a square wave from a frequency source of controllable frequency. The predetermined sequence is stored in a read only memory which controls the frequency of the frequency source. At the completion of each ramp portion, a voltage applied to a vertical deflection system is incremented so as to step the beam vertically up or down.