Constructing graphs with no immersion of large complete graphs

In 1989, Lescure and Meyniel proved, for $d=5, 6$, that every $d$-chromatic graph contains an immersion of $K_d$, and in 2003 Abu-Khzam and Langston conjectured that this holds for all $d$. In 2010, DeVos, Kawarabayashi, Mohar, and Okamura proved this conjecture for $d = 7$. In each proof, the $d$-chromatic assumption was not fully utilized, as the proofs only use the fact that a $d$-critical graph has minimum degree at least $d - 1$. DeVos, Dvo\v{r}\'ak, Fox, McDonald, Mohar, and Scheide show the stronger conjecture that a graph with minimum degree $d-1$ has an immersion of $K_d$ fails for $d=10$ and $d\geq 12$ with a finite number of examples for each value of $d$, and small chromatic number relative to $d$, but it is shown that a minimum degree of $200d$ does guarantee an immersion of $K_d$. In this paper we show that the stronger conjecture is false for $d=8,9,11$ and give infinite families of examples with minimum degree $d-1$ and chromatic number $d-3$ or $d-2$ that do not contain an immersion of $K_d$. Our examples can be up to $(d-2)$-edge-connected. We show, using Haj\'os' Construction, that there is an infinite class of non-$(d-1)$-colorable graphs that contain an immersion of $K_d$. We conclude with some open questions, and the conjecture that a graph $G$ with minimum degree $d - 1$ and more than $\frac{|V(G)|}{1+m(d+1)}$ vertices of degree at least $md$ has an immersion of $K_d$

Progressive or Regressive? A Second Look at the Tax Exemption for Employer Sponsored Health Insurance Premiums

Examines the argument for capping the exemption of health insurance benefits from income tax and its potential effects on those already at risk of losing their coverage. Estimates the regressive impact by firm size, location, risk group, and income level

Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Health Reform

Presents results of a survey of healthcare experts on insurance, payment, and delivery system reforms, including a national insurance exchange with broad authority, a public plan option with a bundled payment system, and a standard benefits package

Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Priorities for the Obama Administration

Presents results of a survey of experts on priorities in healthcare reform and related economic stimulus for the Barack Obama administration, including new regulations, employer financing of coverage, and an insurance exchange with a public option

Health care and hospitalisation costs of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Thailand

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has become a leading cause of death and disability in Thailand due to the unhealthy lifestyle of the populace; triggering high risk of exposure to CVD, increase in the number of hospital admissions year on year. Objectives: The concerns generated by the inflation in the health care expenditure among service providers motivated this study to examine the costs of hospitalisation of inpatients with (CVD) conditions in Thailand, 2009. Methods: Anonymised secondary data of 327,435 CVD inpatients under “Universal Coverage” (UC) health care scheme were obtained from the National Health Security Office (NHSO), Thailand. The data(51.69%- women and 48.31% - men) were classified using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code, of which I20-I25 are Ischemic heart disease (IHD), I60-I69 are stroke and I00- I99areallCVD conditions. Results: Average costs of treatments for all CVD conditions, IHD and stroke were ฿21,921 (£1 = ฿50), ฿32,884 (highest) and ฿25,617.67per patient respectively. Absolute total cost increased with age and the cost of admission of male patients is higher than female. The average (three months) length of stay for stroke patients was found to be the highest. Conclusion: Providers generally spent a total of ฿7,177 million on the treatment of CVD with IHD and stroke taking ฿2,544 million and ฿1,920 million respectivel

Sonic Proxemics and the Art of Persuasion: An Analytical Framework

This paper introduces a framework for the creation and analysis of sonic spatialization and proxemics in audiovisual media. The authors apply the framework to three public service announcements to show how sonic proxemics can be used as a rhetorical device that may be used to strengthen political aims

The Health Insurance Provisions of the 2009 Congressional Health Reform Bills: Implications for Coverage, Affordability, and Costs

Analyzes the House and Senate healthcare reform bills for the number of people likely to gain coverage and the implications for federal financing, families' insurance premium and out-of-pocket costs, employers, and the potential for price competition

Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Health Spending and Reform Implementation

Presents survey responses from healthcare experts about support for the reform law's coverage expansion provisions, payment and delivery system reforms, the budget reduction framework that relies in part on Medicare and Medicaid savings, and other issues