A viewport is a polygon viewing region in computer graphics. In computer graphics theory, there are two region-like notions of relevance when rendering some objects to an image. In textbook terminology, the world coordinate window is the area of interest (meaning what the user wants to visualize) in some application-specific coordinates, e.g. miles, centimeters etc. The word window as used here should not be confused with the GUI window, i.e. the notion used in window managers. Rather it is an analogy with how a window limits what one can see outside a room. In contrast, the viewport is an area (typically rectangular) expressed in rendering-device-specific coordinates, e.g. pixels for screen coordinates, in which the objects of interest are going to be rendered. Clipping to the world-coordinates window is usually applied to the objects before they are passed through the window-to-viewport transformation. For a 2D object, the latter transformation is simply a combination of translation and scaling, the latter not necessarily uniform. An analogy of this transformation process based on traditional photography notions is to equate the world-clipping window with the camera settings and the variously sized prints that can be obtained from the resulting film image as possible viewports. Because the physical-device-based coordinates may not be portable from one device to another, a software abstraction layer known as normalized device coordinates is typically introduced for expressing viewports; it appears for example in the Graphical Kernel System (GKS) and later systems inspired from it. In 3D computer graphics, the viewport refers to the 2D rectangle used to project the 3D scene to the position of a virtual camera. A viewport is a region of the screen used to display a portion of the total image to be shown. In virtual desktops, the viewport is the visible portion of a 2D area which is larger than the visualization device. When viewing a document in a web browser, the viewport is the region of the browser window which contains the visible portion of the document. If the size of the viewport changes, for example as a result of the user resizing the browser window, then the browser may reflow the document (recalculate the locations and sizes of elements of the document). If the document is larger than the viewport, the user can control the portion of the document which is visible by scrolling in the viewport.
Continuum robot
A continuum robot is a type of robot that is characterised by infinite degrees of freedom and number of joints. These characteristics allow continuum manipulators to adjust and modify their shape at any point along their length, granting them the possibility to work in confined spaces and complex environments where standard rigid-link robots cannot operate. In particular, we can define a continuum robot as an actuatable structure whose constitutive material forms curves with continuous tangent vectors. This is a fundamental definition that allows to distinguish between continuum robots and snake-arm robots or hyper-redundant manipulators: the presence of rigid links and joints allows them to only approximately perform curves with continuous tangent vectors. The design of continuum robots is bioinspired, as the intent is to resemble biological trunks, snakes and tentacles. Several concepts of continuum robots have been commercialised and can be found in many different domains of application, ranging from the medical field to undersea exploration. == Classification == Continuum robots can be categorised according to two main criteria: structure and actuation. === Structure === The main characteristic of the design of continuum robots is the presence of a continuously curving core structure, named backbone, whose shape can be actuated. The backbone must also be compliant, meaning that the backbone yields smoothly to external loads. According to the design principles chosen for the continuum manipulator, we can distinguish between: single-backbone: these continuum manipulators have one central elastic backbone through which actuation/transmission elements can run. multi-backbone: the structure of these continuum robots has two or more elastic elements (either rods or tubes) parallel to each other and constrained with one another in some way. concentric-tube: the backbone is made of concentric tubes that are free to rotate and translate between each other, depending on the actuation happening at the base of the robot. === Actuation === The actuation strategy of continuum manipulators can be distinguished between extrinsic or intrinsic actuation, depending on where the actuation happens: extrinsic actuation: the actuation happens outside the main structure of the robot and the forces are transmitted via mechanical transmission; among these techniques, there are cable/tendon driven actuators and multi-backbone strategies. intrinsic actuation: the actuation mechanism operates within the structure of the robot; these strategies include pneumatic or hydraulic chambers and the shape memory effect. The Actuated Flexible Manifold (AFM), introduced by Medina, Shapiro, and Shvalb (2016), models flexible grid-based robots that approximate smooth manifolds using discrete segments, each contributing one degree of freedom. Their work provides forward and inverse kinematics for planar and spatial configurations, bridging hyper-redundant and continuum robotics. == Advantages == The particular design of continuum robots offers several advantages with respect to rigid-link robots. First of all, as already said, continuum robots can more easily operate in environments that require a high level of dexterity, adaptability and flexibility. Moreover, the simplicity of their structure makes continuum robots more prone to miniaturisation. The rise of continuum robots has also paved the way for the development of soft continuum manipulators. These continuum manipulators are made of highly compliant materials that are flexible and can adapt and deform according to the surrounding environment. The "softness" of their material grants higher safety in human-robot interactions. == Disadvantages == The particular design of continuum robots also introduces many challenges. To properly and safely use continuum robots, it is crucial to have an accurate force and shape sensing system. Traditionally, this is done using cameras that are not suitable for some of the applications of continuum robots (e.g. minimally invasive surgery), or using electromagnetic sensors that are however disturbed by the presence of magnetic objects in the environment. To solve this issue, in the last years fiber-Bragg-grating sensors have been proposed as a possible alternative and have shown promising results. It is also necessary to notice that while the mechanical properties of rigid-link robots are fully understood, the comprehension of the behaviour and properties of continuum robots is still subject of study and debate. This poses new challenges in developing accurate models and control algorithms for this kind of robots. == Modelling == Creating an accurate model that can predict the shape of a continuum robot allows to properly control the robot's shape. There are three main approaches to model continuum robots: Cosserat rod theory: this approach is an exact solution to the static of a continuum robot, as it is not subject to any assumption. It solves a set of equilibrium equations between position, orientation, internal force and torque of the robot. This method requires to be solved numerically and it is therefore computationally expensive, due to its high complexity. Constant curvature: this technique assumes the backbone to be made of a series of mutually tangent sections that can be approximated as arcs with constant curvature. This approach is also known as piecewise constant-curvature. This assumption can be applied to the entire segment of the backbone or to its subsegments. This model has shown promising results, however it must be taken into account that the segment/subsegments of the backbone may not comply to the constant curvature assumption and therefore the model's behaviour may not entirely reflect the behaviour of the robot. Rigid-link model: this approach is based on the assumption that the continuum robot can be divided in small segments with rigid links. This is a strong assumption, since if the number of segments is too low, the model hardly behaves like the continuum robot, while increasing the number of segments means increasing the number of variables, and thus complexity. Despite this limitation, rigid-link modelling allows the use of the standard control techniques that are well known for rigid-link robots. It has been proven that this model can be coupled with shape and force sensing to mitigate its inaccuracy and can lead to promising results. == Sensing == To develop accurate control algorithms, it is necessary to complement the presented modelling techniques with real time shape sensing. The following options are currently available: Electromagnetic (EM) sensing: shape is reconstructed thanks to the mutual induction between a magnetic field generator and a magnetic field sensor. The most common external EM tracking system is the commercially available NDI Aurora: small sensors can be placed on the robot and their position is tracked in an external generated magnetic field. The validity of this method has been extensively assessed, however its performance is hindered by the limited workspace, whose dimension depends on the magnetic field. Another alternative is to embed the sensors internally in the continuum robot, combining magnetic sensors with Hall effect sensors: the magnetic field is measured at the level of the Hall effect sensors in order to estimate the deflection of the robot. However, it has been noticed that the higher the bending of the manipulator, the higher is the estimation error, due to crosstalk between sensors and magnets. Optical sensing: fiber Bragg grating sensors incorporated in an optical fiber can be embedded into the backbone of the continuum robot to estimate its shape; these sensors can only reflect a small range of the input light spectrum depending on their strain; therefore, by measuring the strain on each sensor it is possible to obtain the shape of the robot. This type of sensor is however expensive and is more prone to breaking in case of excessive strain, and this can happen in robots that can perform high deflections. == Control strategies == The control strategies can be distinguished in static and dynamic; the first one is based on the steady-state assumption, while the latter also considers the dynamic behaviour of the continuum robot. We can also differentiate between model-based controllers, that depend on a model of the robot, and model-free, that learn the robot's behaviour from data. Model-based static controllers: they rely on one of the modelling approaches presented above; once the model is defined, the kinematics must be inverted to obtain the desired actuator or configuration space variables. There are several ways to do this, like differential inverse kinematics, direct inversion or optimization. Model-free static controllers: these approaches learn directly, via machine learning techniques (e.g. regression methods and neural networks), the inverse kinematic or the direct kinematic representation of the con
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Probabilistic context-free grammar
In theoretical linguistics and computational linguistics, probabilistic context free grammars (PCFGs) extend context-free grammars, similar to how hidden Markov models extend regular grammars. Each production is assigned a probability. The probability of a derivation (parse) is the product of the probabilities of the productions used in that derivation. These probabilities can be viewed as parameters of the model, and for large problems it is convenient to learn these parameters via machine learning. A probabilistic grammar's validity is constrained by context of its training dataset. PCFGs originated from grammar theory, and have application in areas as diverse as natural language processing to the study the structure of RNA molecules and design of programming languages. Designing efficient PCFGs has to weigh factors of scalability and generality. Issues such as grammar ambiguity must be resolved. The grammar design affects results accuracy. Grammar parsing algorithms have various time and memory requirements. == Definitions == Derivation: The process of recursive generation of strings from a grammar. Parsing: Finding a valid derivation using an automaton. Parse Tree: The alignment of the grammar to a sequence. An example of a parser for PCFG grammars is the pushdown automaton. The algorithm parses grammar nonterminals from left to right in a stack-like manner. This brute-force approach is not very efficient. In RNA secondary structure prediction variants of the Cocke–Younger–Kasami (CYK) algorithm provide more efficient alternatives to grammar parsing than pushdown automata. Another example of a PCFG parser is the Stanford Statistical Parser which has been trained using Treebank. == Formal definition == Similar to a CFG, a probabilistic context-free grammar G can be defined by a quintuple: G = ( M , T , R , S , P ) {\displaystyle G=(M,T,R,S,P)} where M is the set of non-terminal symbols T is the set of terminal symbols R is the set of production rules S is the start symbol P is the set of probabilities on production rules == Relation with hidden Markov models == PCFGs models extend context-free grammars the same way as hidden Markov models extend regular grammars. The Inside-Outside algorithm is an analogue of the Forward-Backward algorithm. It computes the total probability of all derivations that are consistent with a given sequence, based on some PCFG. This is equivalent to the probability of the PCFG generating the sequence, and is intuitively a measure of how consistent the sequence is with the given grammar. The Inside-Outside algorithm is used in model parametrization to estimate prior frequencies observed from training sequences in the case of RNAs. Dynamic programming variants of the CYK algorithm find the Viterbi parse of a RNA sequence for a PCFG model. This parse is the most likely derivation of the sequence by the given PCFG. == Grammar construction == Context-free grammars are represented as a set of rules inspired from attempts to model natural languages. The rules are absolute and have a typical syntax representation known as Backus–Naur form. The production rules consist of terminal { a , b } {\displaystyle \left\{a,b\right\}} and non-terminal S symbols and a blank ϵ {\displaystyle \epsilon } may also be used as an end point. In the production rules of CFG and PCFG the left side has only one nonterminal whereas the right side can be any string of terminal or nonterminals. In PCFG nulls are excluded. An example of a grammar: S → a S , S → b S , S → ϵ {\displaystyle S\to aS,S\to bS,S\to \epsilon } This grammar can be shortened using the '|' ('or') character into: S → a S | b S | ϵ {\displaystyle S\to aS|bS|\epsilon } Terminals in a grammar are words and through the grammar rules a non-terminal symbol is transformed into a string of either terminals and/or non-terminals. The above grammar is read as "beginning from a non-terminal S the emission can generate either a or b or ϵ {\displaystyle \epsilon } ". Its derivation is: S ⇒ a S ⇒ a b S ⇒ a b b S ⇒ a b b {\displaystyle S\Rightarrow aS\Rightarrow abS\Rightarrow abbS\Rightarrow abb} Ambiguous grammar may result in ambiguous parsing if applied on homographs since the same word sequence can have more than one interpretation. Pun sentences such as the newspaper headline "Iraqi Head Seeks Arms" are an example of ambiguous parses. One strategy of dealing with ambiguous parses (originating with grammarians as early as Pāṇini) is to add yet more rules, or prioritize them so that one rule takes precedence over others. This, however, has the drawback of proliferating the rules, often to the point where they become difficult to manage. Another difficulty is overgeneration, where unlicensed structures are also generated. Probabilistic grammars circumvent these problems by ranking various productions on frequency weights, resulting in a "most likely" (winner-take-all) interpretation. As usage patterns are altered in diachronic shifts, these probabilistic rules can be re-learned, thus updating the grammar. Assigning probability to production rules makes a PCFG. These probabilities are informed by observing distributions on a training set of similar composition to the language to be modeled. On most samples of broad language, probabilistic grammars where probabilities are estimated from data typically outperform hand-crafted grammars. CFGs when contrasted with PCFGs are not applicable to RNA structure prediction because while they incorporate sequence-structure relationship they lack the scoring metrics that reveal a sequence structural potential == Weighted context-free grammar == A weighted context-free grammar (WCFG) is a more general category of context-free grammar, where each production has a numeric weight associated with it. The weight of a specific parse tree in a WCFG is the product (or sum ) of all rule weights in the tree. Each rule weight is included as often as the rule is used in the tree. A special case of WCFGs are PCFGs, where the weights are (logarithms of ) probabilities. An extended version of the CYK algorithm can be used to find the "lightest" (least-weight) derivation of a string given some WCFG. When the tree weight is the product of the rule weights, WCFGs and PCFGs can express the same set of probability distributions. == Applications == === RNA structure prediction === Since the 1990s, PCFG has been applied to model RNA structures. Energy minimization and PCFG provide ways of predicting RNA secondary structure with comparable performance. However structure prediction by PCFGs is scored probabilistically rather than by minimum free energy calculation. PCFG model parameters are directly derived from frequencies of different features observed in databases of RNA structures rather than by experimental determination as is the case with energy minimization methods. The types of various structure that can be modeled by a PCFG include long range interactions, pairwise structure and other nested structures. However, pseudoknots can not be modeled. PCFGs extend CFG by assigning probabilities to each production rule. A maximum probability parse tree from the grammar implies a maximum probability structure. Since RNAs preserve their structures over their primary sequence, RNA structure prediction can be guided by combining evolutionary information from comparative sequence analysis with biophysical knowledge about a structure plausibility based on such probabilities. Also search results for structural homologs using PCFG rules are scored according to PCFG derivations probabilities. Therefore, building grammar to model the behavior of base-pairs and single-stranded regions starts with exploring features of structural multiple sequence alignment of related RNAs. S → a S a | b S b | a a | b b {\displaystyle S\to aSa|bSb|aa|bb} The above grammar generates a string in an outside-in fashion, that is the basepair on the furthest extremes of the terminal is derived first. So a string such as a a b a a b a a {\displaystyle aabaabaa} is derived by first generating the distal a's on both sides before moving inwards: S ⇒ a S a ⇒ a a S a a ⇒ a a b S b a a ⇒ a a b a a b a a {\displaystyle S\Rightarrow aSa\Rightarrow aaSaa\Rightarrow aabSbaa\Rightarrow aabaabaa} A PCFG model extendibility allows constraining structure prediction by incorporating expectations about different features of an RNA . Such expectation may reflect for example the propensity for assuming a certain structure by an RNA. However incorporation of too much information may increase PCFG space and memory complexity and it is desirable that a PCFG-based model be as simple as possible. Every possible string x a grammar generates is assigned a probability weight P ( x | θ ) {\displaystyle P(x|\theta )} given the PCFG model θ {\displaystyle \theta } . It follows that the sum of all probabilities to all possible grammar productions is ∑ x P ( x | θ ) = 1 {\displaystyle \sum _{\text{x}}P(x|\theta )=1} . The scores
Tokken
Tokken is a payment system and mobile app most known for being a legal and secure option for businesses transactions within the cannabis industry, because of its compliance with bank requirements. The startup company was created by Lamine Zarrad, a former regulator at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. == Operability == In order for a person to start using the app, they need to provide evidence, in the form of bioidentification data and mobile carrier records, that they can legally purchase weed. After they have been verified, customers can pay directly through the app at any dispensary that is using Tokken. Tokken turns credit card transactions into a digital token, which can be exchanged back for money that can later be deposited into a bank account. All transactions are logged publicly through a blockchain leger, making the process both anonymous and verified. === Banking services === Tokken has a "pay taxes" function which enables dispensaries to pay their taxes directly to the department.
European Association for Machine Translation
The European Association for Machine Translation is the European branch of the International Association for Machine Translation Archived 2010-06-24 at the Wayback Machine. It is a non-profit organisation and organises conferences and workshops on the subject of machine translation. It was registered in 1991 in Switzerland and is the only organisation of its type in Europe.