Abstract: A negotiable instrument dispensing system wherein the dispenser is located at the point-of-sale and coupled to a cash register through which an operator can ring up the sale of the negotiable instrument, such as a money order, on the cash register which commands the dispenser to issue the instrument in the proper amount. If the instrument issuer and the agent for the issuer are two separate entities, a first computer controls the dispenser to limit the liability of the issuer while the second computer continuously informs the agent of its instantaneous liability.

Abstract: An electronic cash register includes a means for storing information having respective discount prices corresponding to customer discount levels (customer levels), a code input means for entering codes of goods to be purchased, a memory for storing unit prices for each customer level of those goods subject to customer level discounts, and a reading means for reading a unit price of goods by reviewing the stored unit prices for the goods code entered by the code input means. If a key designating a customer level is depressed, the unit price of the goods designated by the subsequently entered goods designation codes for the entered customer level is read out from the memory and registered for every entry of the goods code.

Abstract: A data error-checking system including a transmitting cash register and a receiving cash register, connected to each other in series in a loop formation. Its operation includes the serial transfer of data from the transmitting cash register to the receiving cash register simultaneous with data transfer from the receiving cash register to the transmitting cash register, and comparison of the data transferred from the transmitting cash register with the corresponding data transferred back from the receiving cash register to the transmitting cash register.

Abstract: A computer software security and billing system is disclosed in which the application program is enciphered in accordance with an algorithm driven by a numeric key. The user's computer is provided with a hardware security module and a removable billing module, both of which carry unique codes. A security program accesses the application program and also writes information about billing into the billing module. The billing module is periodically replaced so the user can be charged based on amount of usage of the software.

Abstract: A volume data transmission system for transmitting volume data consisting of voxel data through a communication line includes a projection data generating section, a data selecting section, and a data transmitter section. The projection data generating section generates binary projection data from the volume data in accordance with whether predetermined significant data is included in any of voxel data along a plurality of predetermined directions in a 3-dimensional space. The data selecting section selects only voxel data having significant data corresponding to any of the binary projection data on the basis of the binary projection data. The transmitter section transmits the binary projection data and the selected voxel data.

Abstract: A method for constructing a data base in a medical image filing system comprises the steps of recording information indicating the time at which each medical image is recorded and a rank of importance for each medical image as image retrieval signal data for image signals corresponding to each medical image; recording the number of times the image signals corresponding to each medical image have been retrieved as image retrieval signal data and incrementing said number each time the image signals are retrieved; and when the data base is full of image retrieval signal data, deleting the image retrieval signal data corresponding to the image signals of the medical image in which at least (i) the time at which said medical image was recorded earlier than a predetermined time and (ii) the rank of importance of the medical image is lower than a predetermined value.

Abstract: The management of a set of tasks is aided graphically by a technique in which a quantity associated with each task is represented by a geometric object of at least two dimensions whose geometric area or volume is indicative of the quantity, each geometric object is displayed on a display device, and information about dependencies in the performance of the tasks are indicated graphically on the display.

Abstract: An electronic dictionary has a keyboard for entering words, which words are displayed along with a set of synonyms divided into subsets, each subset having a displayed common core meaning. The original word entered by the user for which synonyms and related words are sought is put into a history list. The user can select any of the synonyms or any of the words from the core meaning presented, or can independently enter any desired word and add those entered words to the history list. In this fashion, the user can build up a history list which can be reviewed by the user and any word in the history list re-accessed, so that the user can track through the history list and explore any desired complex arrangement of concepts, ideas, and relationships. As the history list becomes full, the earliest additional entry words are deleted in sequence.

Abstract: An information retrieval system is adapted to carry out information retrieval by entering an inquiry sentence in natural language, executing semantic analysis of the natural language inquiry sentence by a semantic analysis unit, and producing a retrieval condition from a result of the semantic analysis. The information retrieval system is provided in its semantic analysis unit with an undefined word processing unit which classifies an undefined word in the inquiry sentence in accordance with a process of producing a retrieval condition from the semantic analysis of other words contained in the inquiry sentence, the undefined word being defined as a word unregistered in a dictionary provided therein and incapable of direct semantic analysis, and displays a result of processing for the undefined word classified. The undefined word processing permits operation of information retrieval to be done without discontinuation.

Abstract: The inclusion of computer capability to process Workers' Compensation claims wherein a complexity of administrative rules determine maximum allowable benefits, the processing of which is not feasible for manual processing. The rules are converted to computer computations entered into the computer's memory. A computer process is devised to systematically examine the rules as they apply to a specific billing. In particular, the various modifiers that affect the allowable pay out are determined through this computer processing. Pre-stored information on prior billings for the same injury is considered for further modification of the allowable billing amount.

Abstract: In an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) apparatus, MR (magnetic resonance) images of a subject for animation-display are acquired in accordance with a predetermined timing. The timing is obtained by measuring a signal representing a biological phenomenon, for example, an electrocardiogram signal. The acquired MR images are corrected. An ROI (region of interest) for the MR images is set and standard MR image is designated among the acquired MR images. An average image value of the MR images in the ROI is calculated based on a difference in average image value between the designated standard MR image and other MR images in the ROI. The other MR images are corrected in accordance with the difference of the average image value.

Abstract: A machine translation system capable of performing translation at a high processing speed with improved disambiguation rate in the parsing by applying grammar rules in dependence on the domains to which texts to be translated belong, objects of the texts and rules of sentences in the same text. The machine-translation system for translating a first language to a second language uses a grammer memory for storing grammar rules of the first or second language and a main memory for storing a variety of information, wherein the grammar rules stored in the grammar memory are prepared in groups at least on the basis of the domains to which texts to be translated belong and individual parts in the text.

Abstract: The statistical properties of a biological signal intermittently obscured by a relatively independent biological process are estimated by noting the time intervals during which the obscuring process is occurring. From the time intervals, a windowing function is constructed which makes a transition from one towards zero as the process obscures the signal and a transition towards one as the process terminates. Thereafter, a statistical characterization is performed in which the windowing function is used to weight the relative contributions of corresponding segments of the biological signal. In preferred embodiments, the statistical properties include the autocorrelation function and power spectrum of biological signals such as heart rate and blood pressure.

Abstract: An original analog signal is supplied to A/D converter 2 through analog LPF 1. LPF 1 has a cutoff frequency of fa/2 (fa is the frequency of a clock pulse supplied to A/D converter 2). LPF 1 limits a frequency band determined by filter characteristics. An output from A/D converter 2 is supplied to sample circuit 4 through maximum filter 3. An output from sample circuit 4 is supplied to a circuit of the next stage as final output Dout. Maximum filter 3 can arbitrarily set the number of sampling interval data (filter width). Maximum filter 3 is a nonlinear filter for outputting a maximum value of input data within a set filter width as a representative value of the width. The clock pulse of frequency fa is also supplied to maximum filter 3 so that input/output operation of data is synchronized with the clock pulse. The filter width of maximum filter 3 is determined in accordance with fa/fb (fb is the frequency of a clock pulse supplied to sample circuit 4 , and fa.gtoreq.fb).

Abstract: When medical image data is acquired by imaging equipment of modality, modality outputs an image data transfer request command to a data base, via a network. After a memory area of a TMD (temporal magnetic disc) of the data base is secured, the acquired image data is transferred from modality to the TMD. When an image data retrieval request command is input from a WS (work station) of a console to data base through network, retrieval of the image data stored in the data base is performed, the retrieved data is transferred to the WS, and is displayed. The operator requests data base to read out image data by retrieval result. Data base is searched memory address of the requested image data. When the requested image data is stored in OD (optical disc), image data stored in OD is transferred to TMD. Image data stored in TMD is transferred to WS, and is displayed.

Abstract: A distribution of an image signal read from a stimulable phosphor sheet and bearing a transmitted radiation image of a human body is determined along a horizontal direction across the image. Signal values of the distribution along the direction are accumulated, and the rate of change of the accumulated values is determined to find the imaged posture of the image. Alternatively, the separation or the average value of the distribution is determined, or the pattern of the distribution is compared with a plurality of reference signal distribution patterns. The derivative of second order of a function approximated by the distribution pattern may be checked for its sign, or the distribution pattern may be checked to determine whether it is of a one-valley form or a two-valley form.

Abstract: Tomographic imaging of an inanimate object in which a fan-shaped beam of radiation is generated and divided into fan ray elements which are directed through a planar section of the object and detected by a set of detectors. Each detector produces a signal representative of the intensity of the radiation of a detected fan ray element and selected coordinates defining a cross-sectional image of the object are determined from the intensity signals of the detectors. The coordinates are stored and displayed on a display device. The detectors include a scintillation crystal which is provided with a half-solid cylinder of lead disposed on a side of the crystal.

Abstract: A knowledge base having particular utility as a medical/pathology knowledge base contains textual and pictorial information on various diseases. The knowledge base includes user-selectable designations of diagnostic features which are characteristic of respective conditions to be diagnosed. These features comprise a case record and several case records are stored and retrieved for subsequent display of the features therein and of one or more pictorial images of those features. The pictorial images preferably are stored on a device such as an optical disk; and these pictorial images are linked to case records which may be stored in other storage devices, such as magnetic disk, whereby the retrieval of a case record accesses the linked pictorial images, whereby those pictorial images and features of the case record are displayed.

Abstract: A process for processing a dipmeter curve is shown in the preferred embodiment. In a curve, line segments are drawn between curve minima, a second set of line segments are drawn between minima in the first segments, and this is repeated to desired number of levels. When finished, line segments are numbered and become a branched tree. This tree is reorganized to form an event tree which is easily coverted into a stored digital value and is processed for correlation with other curves. The events are reduced in number by using area and length criteria. Correlation is limited to a selected range of shift centered on either zero dip or dip from nearby formation information.

Abstract: There is disclosed herein a system for rapid processing of the data records of many moving and nonmoving objects on a playfield only part of which is displayed and for determining collisions between objects. A search pipeline using a synchrounous state machine searching a linked list of the records organized by approximate position on the playfield implements the search function. A lookahead cycle in the state machine is provided to continue searching for the next object which is to be visible while the graphic data from a previously found object is being loaded into a line buffer. Multiple stamp motion object graphics arrays are used to store the graphics data for each motion object. Special addressing circuitry calculates the appropriate stamp number for the portion of graphic data to retrieve and display for each motion object that is determined to be completely or partially visible in a window or displayed portion of the larger playfield.