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.

The Structure of Information Pathways in a Social Communication Network

Abstract: Social networks are of interest to researchers in part because they are thought to mediate the flow of information in communities and organizations. Here we study the temporal dynamics of communication using on-line data, including e-mail communication among the faculty and staff of a large university over a two-year period. We formulate a temporal notion of "distance" in the underlying social network by measuring the minimum time required for information to spread from one node to another -- a concept that draws on the notion of vector-clocks from the study of distributed computing systems. We find that such temporal measures provide structural insights that are not apparent from analyses of the pure social network topology. In particular, we define the network backbone to be the subgraph consisting of edges on which information has the potential to flow the quickest. We find that the backbone is a sparse graph with a concentration of both highly embedded edges and long-range bridges -- a finding that sheds new light on the relationship between tie strength and connectivity in social networks.

Adjacent level intradiscal pressure and segmental kinematics following a cervical total disc arthroplasty: an in vitro human cadaveric model.

Abstract: Study Design. In vitro investigation of cervical adjacent level intradiscal pressures (IDPs) following a total disc replacement arthroplasty. Objectives. The current in vitro study was undertaken to compare adjacent level IDPs and operative level kinematics following a cervical arthroplasty versus an arthrodesis procedure. Summary of Background Data. Clinical data indicate the incidence of symptomatic transition syndrome to be as high as 3% annually following a cervical interbody arthrodesis. Recent developments in the motion preservation technology should, in theory, minimize transition syndrome at the adjacent levels. Methods. A total of 10 human cadaveric cervical spines were used in this investigation. Following intact analysis, all specimens were sequentially reconstructed at C5–C6 with 1) total disc replacement (TDR), 2) allograft dowel, and 3) allograft dowel + anterior cervical plate. Testing was performed in displacement control under axial rotation, flexion/extension, and lateral bending loading modes. IDPs were recorded at C4–C5 and C6–C7 whereas peak range of motion (ROM) and NZ were monitored at C5–C6 level. Results. Similar IDPs were recorded between the intact condition and a TDR reconstruction at both adjacent levels under all loading modes (P > 0.05). However, the C4–C5 IDP values produced under flexion/extension testing for both arthrodesis treatments were significantly higher than the means obtained for the intact and disc replacement groups (P 0.05). Conclusion. This is a first study to document that a cervical disc replacement arthroplasty procedure maintains adjacent level IDPs and reconstruction level kinematics near the preoperative values. Consequently, total disc replacement may provide an alternative to conventional surgical management of cervical discogenic pathology decreasing the incidence of symptomatic transition syndrome.

Placing flickr photos on a map

Abstract: In this paper we investigate generic methods for placing photos uploaded to Flickr on the World map. As primary input for our methods we use the textual annotations provided by the users to predict the single most probable location where the image was taken. Central to our approach is a language model based entirely on the annotations provided by users. We define extensions to improve over the language model using tag-based smoothing and cell-based smoothing, and leveraging spatial ambiguity. Further we demonstrate how to incorporate GeoNames\footnote{http://www.geonames.org visited May 2009}, a large external database of locations. For varying levels of granularity, we are able to place images on a map with at least twice the precision of the state-of-the-art reported in the literature.

Multimodal interface for mobile messaging

Abstract: A system and method-are directed towards providing a user interface (21) for controlling a communication mode for a client device (103). The interface enables user to set a presence and/or a communicaiton mode, which the client device communicates to other devices directly or via an intermidiary server (106). The presence generally reflects the user's availability, communication capability, desire to communicate, and the like. The presence can be directly or indirectly associated with the communicaiton mode, which can comprise SMS, IM, email, voice, and the like, The interface includes a contact list and enables the user to select a mode to communicate with a contact. The communication modes associated with each contact can also be incorporated into and displayed (21 in an email address book. This interface also indicates the communication mode of each incoming and outgoing (228) message conversations with one or more other client devices.

The validity of the hospital anxiety and depression scale and the geriatric depression scale in Parkinson's disease.

Abstract: We assessed the concurrent validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) against the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Forty-six non-demented PD patients were assessed by a neurologist on the Ham-D. Patients also completed four mood rating scales: the HADS, the GDS, the VAS and the Face Scale. For the HADS and the GDS, Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves were obtained and the positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) were calculated for different cut-off scores. Maximum discrimination between depressed and non-depressed PD patients was reached at a cut-off score of 10/11 for both the HADS and the GDS. At the same cut-off score of 10/11 for both the HADS and the GDS, the high sensitivity and NPV make these scales appropriate screening instruments for depression in PD. A high specificity and PPV, which is necessary for a diagnostic test, was reached at a cut-off score of 12/13 for the GDS and at a cut-off score of 11/12 for the HADS. The results indicate the validity of using the HADS and the GDS to screen for depressive symptoms and to diagnose depressive illness in PD.