Yahoo!

About: Yahoo! is a company organization based out in London, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Web search query. The organization has 26749 authors who have published 29915 publications receiving 732583 citations. The organization is also known as: Yahoo! Inc. & Maudwen-Yahoo! Inc.

Biologically Inspired Object Tracking Using Center-Surround Saliency Mechanisms

Abstract: A biologically inspired discriminant object tracker is proposed. It is argued that discriminant tracking is a consequence of top-down tuning of the saliency mechanisms that guide the deployment of visual attention. The principle of discriminant saliency is then used to derive a tracker that implements a combination of center-surround saliency, a spatial spotlight of attention, and feature-based attention. In this framework, the tracking problem is formulated as one of continuous target-background classification, implemented in two stages. The first, or learning stage, combines a focus of attention (FoA) mechanism, and bottom-up saliency to identify a maximally discriminant set of features for target detection. The second, or detection stage, uses a feature-based attention mechanism and a target-tuned top-down discriminant saliency detector to detect the target. Overall, the tracker iterates between learning discriminant features from the target location in a video frame and detecting the location of the target in the next. The statistics of natural images are exploited to derive an implementation which is conceptually simple and computationally efficient. The saliency formulation is also shown to establish a unified framework for classifier design, target detection, automatic tracker initialization, and scale adaptation. Experimental results show that the proposed discriminant saliency tracker outperforms a number of state-of-the-art trackers in the literature.

Berberine and its derivatives: a patent review (2009 – 2012)

Abstract: Introduction: Berberine, a protoberberine alkaloid, and its derivatives exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. It has been used in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicin...

Enabling rent/buy redirection in invitation to an online service

Abstract: A system and method are directed towards enabling a user to access a client service such as a client game program that interacts with an online service such as a multiplayer game. A client probe detects execution of the client service on a first client device, and sends an instant message with address information to a second client device. A messaging service on the second client device, displays a presence of the first client and provides a selectable button to initiate the client service. If not already installed, the messaging service requests the client service from a remote online service such as a portal that may be independent from the online game service. The remote online service may provide options to freely try, rent, or buy the client service. The second client device downloads the client service and uses the address to connect to the same online multiplayer game.

Crafting Information Technology Governance

Abstract: The Blind Men and the Elephant (Saxe, 1872) retells an ancient Indian fable of six blind men who visit the palace of the Rajah and encounter an elephant for the first time. The first blind man put out his hand and touched the side of the elephant: “How smooth, an elephant is like a wall.” The second blind man put out his hand and touched the trunk of the elephant: “How round, an elephant is like a snake.” The third blind man put out his hand and touched the tusk of the elephant: “How sharp, an elephant is like a spear.” The fourth blind man put out his hand and touched the leg of the elephant: “How tall, an elephant is like a tree.” The fifth blind man reached out his hand and touched the ear of the elephant: “How wide, an elephant is like a fan.” The sixth blind man put out his hand and touched the tail of the elephant: “How thin, an elephant is like a rope.”

Fuzzy relation equations (I): the general and specialized solving algorithms

Abstract: In this article, we develop a new method and an algorithm to solve a system of fuzzy relation equations. We first introduce a solution-base-matrix and then give a tractable mathematical logic representation of all minimal solutions. Next, we design a new universal algorithm to get them. Two simplification rules are found to simplify the solution-base-matrix. We show that a polynomial time algorithm to find all minimal solutions for a general system of fuzzy relation equations simply does not exist with expectation of P=N P. Hence, the problem of solving fuzzy relation equations is an N P-hard problem in terms of computational complexity. Our universal algorithm is still useful when one does not solve a large number of equations. In many real applications the problem of solving fuzzy relation equations can be simplified in polynomial time problems. In this article, we will discuss several cases of practical applications which have such polynomial algorithms.