Abstract: A medical alert system enables an authorized user, such as a doctor, to remotely set selection and limit parameters pertaining to specific medical and geodetic information of an ambulatory patient and thereafter receive updates of that information over a wireless communications network when the parameters have been met. A telemetry device attached to the patient provides an inbound stream of medical and geodetic information to a host computer, which is configured to extract selected portions of that information in response to the parameters provided by a remote processing device via a communications network. Upon completion of the latter process, the host computer transfers the extracted information to the remote processing device over the network, thereby informing the doctor of a medical situation.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for reading data in the form of indicia on a surface of a target, the indicia having a preferred reading direction, including a light source for illuminating a portion of the surface to be read with a laser beam in a scanning pattern at a predetermined scanning angle so as to scan spatially adjacent portions of the surface. A detector and a processor is provided that is operative for detecting at least a portion of the light reflected from the indicia and storing representations thereof, and further determining the angular difference between the preferred reading direction and the scanning angle.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for adding a word to a lexical transducer in a computer system. The invention allows a user of the computer system to specify a word to be added to the lexical transducer database. The lexical transducer represents words as ordered sequences of symbols, i.e., characters and morphological tags. "Upper" and "lower" symbols are associated with arcs. The arcs join states and form a path. Each path determines an upper and lower sequence of ordered symbols. The upper sequence of symbols represents a base form of a word and the lower sequence of symbols represents a surface form of the same word. The user adds a word to the lexical transducer by specifying a "model" word already existing in the lexical transducer, along with a new word that has surface forms analogous to the model word. The new word is added to the lexical transducer by sharing, as much as possible, the existing arcs of the path of the model word.

Abstract: A networked health care and monitoring system (10) capable of providing an updated reliable vital information on the health condition of individuals and adapted to support home health care and maintenance. The system includes testing and measuring instruments (39; 43; 46; 49; 56) associated with certain household appliances such as a toilet system (12) and adapted to monitor the vital information passively in response to the use thereof in connection with routine living activities of the individuals. The system may further include control devices (39; 46; 49; 56) associated with certain household appliances, such as an ergometer (15), having health care and maintenance functions and adapted to control the appliances based on the vital information monitored by the testing and measuring instruments in the system.

Abstract: A short case name generator transforms the long case name of a lawsuit into a short case name format. The text of the long case name is converted to low-level tokens using dictionaries and heuristic rules. Selected tokens are eliminated and other selected tokens are consolidated into higher level tokens. Each of a sequence of stages receives the output tokens from the preceding stage and produce tokens at a higher level of abstraction. Ultimately, the highest level tokens are produced. Selected high-level tokens are deleted and the surviving tokens are broken down to their component tokens, selected ones of which are also deleted. Next, the surviving tokens are converted back into the text they represent. Editing rules are then applied to that text which results in the short case name format.

Abstract: To evaluate by a computer translated sentences obtained from a machine translation system so as to automatically and objectively evaluate quality of the system, a method and an apparatus are provided for automatically evaluating translated sentences. The method includes a first translated sentence analysis step of analyzing sentences resulted from a machine translation, a second translated sentence analysis step of analyzing favorable translated sentences for original sentences, a word/phrase coupling step of analyzing correspondence of words and phrases between the two translated sentences for the same original sentence, and a similarity calculating step of computing similarity between the two translated sentences according to ratios of words and phrases thus related to each other and similarity of the related words and phrases, thereby evaluating the sentences generated through the machine translation.

Abstract: A floor-planning system of the present invention prepares a block diagram showing blocks and the connection status among the blocks. The floor-planning system inputs a block diagram, estimates the block sizes, and estimates the aspect ratio range possible for the blocks. The system refers to the estimated block sizes and the estimated aspect ratios to specify the shapes and the arrangement of the blocks in the layout area. The system displays the block arrangement and the connection status among the blocks. The block layout is stored as layout data and utilized in feasibility judgment for a layout area on an LSI or a PCB.

Abstract: A data service company comprises an integrated database (DB) in which various business data dispersively kept in each part in an apparel industry including plan, manufacture, and sales relating to a dress as a product and textile raw material as material is integrated and a host computer (integrated database management system) including a computer hardware and a software for retrieving data from the integrated DB in accordance with data service to be provided and for outputting data. There is formed a data service network in which the integrated DB of the data service company is provided as the nucleus, and a plurality of sales companies, that of apparel manufacturers, that of sewing companies and that of textile companies are connected to each other.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for computer retrieval of database material which may be text, computer programs, graphics, audio, object classes, action specifications or other material which may be machine stored. Annotations are provided for at least selected database subdivisions, preferably with natural language questions, assertions or noun phrases or some combination/collection thereof. However, the annotations may also initially be generated in a structured form. Annotations are, if required, converted to a structured form and are stored in that form along with connections to corresponding subdivisions. Searching for relevant subdivisions involves entering a query in natural language or structured form, converting natural language queries to structured form, matching the structured form query against stored annotations and retrieving database subdivisions connected to matched annotations.

Abstract: A computerized system receives an input request from the orderer for a retailer, of searching selected wholesalers, and of then comparing these wholesalers to one another so as to provide a desired allocation of resources among these selected wholesalers. The system is preferably capable of searching both the warehouse of a primary wholesaler and the warehouses of a number of secondary wholesalers and of allocating resources so as to meet designated ordering criterion or constraints for the warehouse of the primary wholesaler. The search may be performed, for example, on the basis of net price per unit item or on the basis of net price per unit weight or per unit volume. The system preferably automatically creates an order file which can be transmitted to the selected warehouses to order the selected products but which can be manually edited prior to transmission.

Abstract: The present invention provides an interneuron crossrelation identification technique and an interneuron connection-structure estimation technique for inferring a connection-structure and the strengths of the connectivities among a plurality of neurons required for constructing a neural network model, by obtaining crossrelations among time-course data of neurons.

Abstract: In a bar code reader, a field of view which includes a symbol to be read is imaged upon a light-responsive array such as a CCD imager device. The output of this array is transferred to a memory array to provide a bit-mapped type of binary representation of the image including the symbol. The memory is scanned (instead of the field of view itself being mechanically scanned) to recognize and decode the symbol. Because the angular orientation of the symbol is variable, this binary representation may be interpreted to determine how the memory array is to be scanned to recognize the bar code symbol. For example, the distinctive patterns of characters used in bar codes may be found by scanning the memory and the relative positions of these patterns interpreted to determine the position, size and shape of the symbol in the memory, thereby defining at what angular displacement the memory array need be addressed to traverse the rows of the bar code symbol.

Abstract: Presented is a process for use in the area of geophysical data processing, for computing a three dimensional grid of traveltimes from a three dimensional grid of velocities. The process involves a finite-difference solution to the eikonal equation in spherical coordinates, with refinements which increase the stability of the calculation and cope with numerical roundoff error as well as turned ray problems. The resulting three dimensional grid is not only useful in itself in providing information regarding the subsurface, but also can be used in depth migration, velocity analysis (especially three dimensional tomography) and in raytracing (leading to modeling of synthetic seismograms, three dimensional traveltime inversion, and map migration). This method is preferably executed on a computer, and can be performed either on a mainframe or on a massively parallel processor.

Abstract: A method for locating the position of endogenous, in vivo activities in an examination volume of a subject, by identifying the location in the examination volume of current dipoles generating an equivalent magnetic and electrical field, includes the formation of a probability density function on the basis of a objective function for one dipole model. From the probability density function, the dipole location is then calculated on the basis of a standardized anticipated position value, making use of the method of least squares. In this type of calculation, the structure of the objective function in the entire region of interest is taken into consideration. This prevents, in the method of least squares, the erroneous identification of local minimums instead of a global minimum. Moreover, the probability density function and the statistical variance supply useful additional information for interpreting the results.

Abstract: The apparatus analyzes and compares surfaces of fired bullets. A microscope obtains and amplifies optical signals representative of the characteristics of the surfaces, and the optical signals are converted, first to electrical signals and then to electrical coded digital representations. The coded digital representations are stored in an electronic memory. The coded digital representations of one bullet can then be computer compared to the coded digital representations of another bullet to determine if there is a match between the bullets.

Abstract: Sentences from a source language having first rules of grammar are translated into a target language having second rules of grammar; the resulting sentences are meaningful but ungrammatical. The ungrammatical sentences are changed into grammatical sentences by a method that includes identifying grammar markers and grammar marker patterns in the translated put ungrammatical sentence. A first database includes grammar rules and is consulted for each grammar marker that appears in the ungrammatical sentence. A second database includes self-correction rules and is consulted for each grammar marker pattern that appears. The grammar rules and self-correction rules are applied by a correction scheme. The resulting sentences are substantially perfectly grammatical.

Abstract: A method of translating a command into natural language is comprised of the steps of: storing compressed words of the language once as either a word or subset of a word or group of adjoining words in a memory; storing a numeric indicator of each group of tokens which form a natural language string, with position locators; looking up the position locators in response to the command; accessing the memory to retrieve the compressed words; and providing a string of the tokens as a natural language string.

Abstract: An optical-disk playback apparatus plays back an optical-disk on which control programs defining the operations of the optical-disk playback apparatus and other information are recorded. Such optical-disk playback apparatus is operable by a combination of an optical-disk, such as a laser disk or CD, and printed materials on which barcodes are printed. Predetermined programs are recorded defining the operation of the optical-disk playback apparatus corresponding to the barcodes. As a result, variable, complex and yet flexible optical-disk playback operations which are not fixed at the initial system designing stage can be accomplished by simply tracing the printed barcode. The operation of the optical-disk playback apparatus is controlled by the control programs recorded in the optical disk. Difficulties which might occur when an optical-disk and barcode of different systems are combined can be prevented since a one-to-one correspondence between the barcode and the optical disk code is established beforehand.

Abstract: A merchandising system for conducting a control of article display positions that are generally changed by the customers includes a method of obtaining article display positions based on the present display state. In this system, when selecting coordinate items to be suitably combined with an article, the display positions thereof can be easily determined, which advantageously helps the customer to search the store or floor for the desired items.

Abstract: A system is set forth which is particularly adapted for use in drive-through, fast food establishments by which a patron make his/her own selections and pay for the order with a credit card. The system includes a panel having a plurality of touch responsive switches each or several corresponding to a particular item, e.g., food, to be selected. The system recognizes the patron's credit card and account and, thereafter, the patron enters his/her selections at the panel. The selections are reproduced at, for example, the main building for filling of the order and may also be displayed at the panel for verification of the selections by the patron. After the order is complete, a credit voucher and receipt are generated at the panel and are provided to the patron, and the account is debited in the amount of the order. The patron signs the voucher accepting the credit terms represented thereby and presents the signed voucher in exchange for the order.