Abstract: An automated health benefit processing system. The system includes a database and three processors. The database includes, for each geographic area and for each medical procedures for which a benefit is payable, the benefit payable to an insured if the procedure is prescribed and performed, a list of providers available to perform the designated procedure, and each provider's charge for performing the designated procedure. The first processor generates a treatment plan concerning the insured that specifies the identity of the insured and the medical procedures to be performed on the insured. The first processor also accesses the database to retrieve the information stored in the database under the medical procedures to be performed and to append this information to the treatment plan. The second processor generates a treatment record specifying the medical procedures actually performed by a provider and the provider's actual charge therefor.

Abstract: A 3-dimensional projection system (10) for the rapid back projection of multi-ring Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan data composed of planes (44) of two-dimensional data defining individual Lines Of Response (LOR) (42) into a plurality of image voxels for three-dimensional display on a video screen. The projection system (10) of the preferred embodiment is a Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) based architecture which will support forward and back projection for a 3-dimensional image detected by a multi-ring PET scanner. A selected number of processing engines (20) are included for forward projection and back projection, the number of engines (20) being inversely proportional to the projection time.

Abstract: The character string of a Chinese sentence is input into the memory of a personal computer, and the first six characters of the sentence are taken from that memory and placed in a main buffer. A segment processor fetches the first three of those six characters from the main buffer and puts them into a trio buffer. The segment processor then fetches the first character from the trio buffer to match with the number dictionary. This process is continued until consecutive number characters are identified. If the first character is not a number word, the segment processor uses the three characters in the trio buffer and the segmentation program and logic to search for matched name words and regular words stored in dictionaries within the hard disk memory of the computer. The identified words are treated as candidate words and are successively sent from the computer to the word buffer for further study.

Abstract: In an NMR spectroscopic analyzing method to which the simulated annealing method is applied, each amplitude, decay constant, resonant frequency, and phase of each spectrum component of an FID signal formed by a plurality of spectrum components are used as variables. A perturbation of an estimated value of each variable and a decision of whether the perturbation is accepted or rejected are performed in sequence based on a certain probability depending on a variation amount of a cost function produced from the estimated value. The probability of accepting the perturbation is gradually decreased in the process of repeating the perturbations to obtain estimated values which minimize the cost function.

Abstract: A data acquisition filter for a dual beam CT machine uses two spectral filters for alternately receiving the signal from each detector depending on the state of the x-ray beam. When one filter is filtering the detector signal, the other filter is in a "hold" state where its output and internal values are frozen. Each filter effectively filters only the signal occurring during one beam state without being effected by the signal occurring during the other beam state or by the passage of time during the other beam state The output of the filter in the holding state is constant and may be sampled at any time during this period.

Abstract: A system and method for developing specialized data processing systems for tracking items through a business process. The method allows rapid creation of a specific data processing system based upon a series of generic process rules previously developed and stored in the system. Process activity definitions, activity paths transitions, data access, and operator interaction panels are defined. Based upon the user supplied inputs and generic rules, a complete data processing system is generated. In operation, the generated system operates using a process flow controller to manage the processing steps. Each item being tracked through the system has an associated item status. The controller is conditionally responsive to item state and item data content when determining the activities are available for selection and the processes and their authorized operators.

Abstract: Processing waveform data for compressed display. A parameter to be displayed is measured, digitized, and displayed on a device that does not permit display of all of the data samples; thus, the digitized data is converted to a compressed form. For a compression factor of N input samples for each displayed sample, a displayed sample is taken from each successive group of N input samples. The choice of input sample is as follows: the sample having the maximum value of the group is chosen if all of the samples of the group are greater than or equal to the previous displayed sample; if all of the samples of the group are less than or equal to the previous displayed sample, then the sample having the minimum value is chosen; if the maximum and minimum values of a group straddle the value of the previous displayed sample, then a maximum sample and a minimum sample are chosen from the combination of that group and the next group. The technique can be applied in situations where N is not an integer.

Abstract: Apparatus for x-ray microholography of living biological materials. A Fourier transform holographic configuration is described as being most suitable for the 3-dimensional recording of the physical characteristics of biological specimens. The use of a spherical scatterer as a reference and a charge-coupled device two-dimensional detector array placed in the forward direction relative to the incident x-radiation for viewing electromagnetic radiation simultaneously scattered from both the specimen and the reference scatterer permits the ready reconstruction of the details of the specimen from the fringe pattern detected by the charge-coupled device. Both laser and synchrotron radiation sources are feasible for generating microholographs. Operation in the water window (2.4 to 4.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for processing checks and deposit tickets. The deposit ticket and its corresponding checks are transported through a portion of the apparatus where data representing the monetary amounts displayed on the documents is entered into a computer. The checks are held in a buffer area until all of the checks in the group corresponding to the deposit ticket have had their amounts entered. When the computer indicates that the total of the entered amounts equals the amount on the deposit ticket, the checks are individually withdrawn from the buffer and delivered to an inscriber which encodes or prints monetary data on the checks. By inscribing the checks only after balancing, the need to make corrections to inscribed checks is significantly reduced.

Abstract: A sentence processing device used in a translation machine comprises sentence number input keys by which a block containing a plurality of sentences to be processed can be designated by inputting the sentence number assigned to the respective source sentences. All of the sentences included only in the designated block can be automatically consecutively processed.