On vertex coloring without monochromatic triangles

We study a certain relaxation of the classic vertex coloring problem, namely, a coloring of vertices of undirected, simple graphs, such that there are no monochromatic triangles. We give the first classification of the problem in terms of classic and parametrized algorithms. Several computational complexity results are also presented, which improve on the previous results found in the literature. We propose the new structural parameter for undirected, simple graphs -- the triangle-free chromatic number $\chi_3$. We bound $\chi_3$ by other known structural parameters. We also present two classes of graphs with interesting coloring properties, that play pivotal role in proving useful observation about our problem. We give/ask several conjectures/questions throughout this paper to encourage new research in the area of graph coloring.Comment: Extended abstrac

A language index of grammatical gender dimensions to study the impact of grammatical gender on the way we perceive women and men

Psycholinguistic investigations of the way readers and speakers perceive gender have shown several biases associated with how gender is linguistically realised in language. Although such variations across languages offer interesting grounds for legitimate cross-linguistic comparisons, pertinent characteristics of grammatical systems – especially in terms of their gender asymmetries – have to be clearly identified. In this paper, we present a language index for researchers interested in the effect of grammatical gender on the mental representations of women and men. Our index is based on five main language groups (i.e., grammatical gender languages, languages with a combination of grammatical gender and natural gender, natural gender languages, genderless languages with few traces of grammatical gender and genderless languages) and three sets of specific features (morphology, masculine-male generics and asymmetries). Our index goes beyond existing ones in that it provides specific dimensions relevant to those interested in psychological and sociological impacts of language on the way we perceive women and men. We also offer a critical discussion of any endeavour to classify languages according to grammatical gender

Can agentic messages help?: Linguistic strategies to counteract voice‐based sexual orientation discrimination

Gay men who believe to sound ‘gay’ expect to be discriminated against because of their voices and gay-sounding men are discriminated against in the hiring process. We examined whether uttering an agency-based message decreased discrimination expectancy and enactment. In Study 1a (N = 256; gay and bisexual men) and Study 1b (N = 216; gay men), speakers uttered agentic (vs. neutral) messages. We assessed their self-perception as gay sounding, agency self-attribution and discrimination expectancy. Uttering agentic (vs. neutral) messages made the speakers self-perceive as more agentic and this decreased discrimination expectancy. Additionally, self-perception as gay sounding predicted discrimination expectancy. In Study 2 (N = 466), heterosexual participants listened to gay- and straight-sounding speakers uttering either neutral or agentic messages and rated them in terms of agency and employability. Gay-sounding speakers uttering agentic messages were less likely to be discriminated against than when uttering neutral messages. Results show the positive impact of linguistic strategies involving agentic messages to reduce discrimination expectancy and hiring biases.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Extended time Petri nets

In many complex systems that can be modeled using Petri nets time can be a very important factor which should be taken into account during creation and analysis of the model. Time data can describe starting moments of some actions or their duration before their immediate effects start to influence some other areas of the modeled system. Places in a Petri net often describe static components of the system, but they can also describe states. Such a state can have time restrictions, for example, telling how long it can influence other elements in the model. Time values describing some system may be inconsistent or incomplete, which can cause problems during the creation of the model. In this paper, a new extension of time Petri nets is proposed, which allows the creation of models with different types of time data, which previously were possible to be properly used in separate types of well-known time Petri nets. The proposed new time Petri net solves this problem by integrating different aspects of already existing time Petri nets into one unified net

The influence of physical activity on selected biochemical parameters - what do physically active people know about it?

Introduction and purpose. Physical activity is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, and the far-reaching benefits of practising it are invaluable. Raising awareness in this regard seems to be a key element in the prevention of civilization diseases. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of amateur athletes about the influence of physical effort on changes in selected biochemical parameters. Material and methods. In the study that was conducted using the questionnaire method and electronically using the proprietary form, one hundred physically active people participated. The survey consisted of single-choice and multiple-choice questions as well as open-ended questions. It collected information on (1) demographic and social characteristics, (2) anthropometric measurements, (3) type and duration of physical activity, (4) frequency and time of the training, (5) existing diseases and (6) knowledge about glucose, insulin, lipid profile, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase. The key questions concerned the influence of physical activity on the studied biochemical parameters. Results. The vast majority of respondents revealed a good knowledge of insulin and insulin resistance, carbohydrate metabolism and creatine kinase. The average results of correct answers amounted to 90%, 79% and 71%. The knowledge of the issues related to the lipid profile, and both ALT and AST was slightly worse. Here the distribution of the proper answers was respectively 62% and 60%. Conclusions. Properly conducted education on the influence of physical activity on selected biochemical parameters could be the best solution to broaden the knowledge on this subject

Neopterin in patients with chronic kidney disease and patients with coronary artery disease

Abstract Neopterin, a marker of stimulated cellular immune response, levels increase during many disorders. A number of different features of neopterin prompted us to study its serum concentration in patients with all stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and patients with coronary artery disease (CARD). To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that evaluates and compares the serum neopterin concentration in those diseases taken together as one study. One hundred and twenty five subjects, divided into five groups, were included in the study. The first three groups consisted of patients with different stages of CKD. CARD patients without CKD and healthy volunteers as controls were also studied. Serum neopterin concentration was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, BRAHMS, Hennigsdorf/Berlin, Germany) according to the manufacturers' instructions. We have found that patients with the most advanced stage of CKD had fifteen times higher serum neopterin than patients from other studied groups. Interestingly, in the CKD1-2, CKD3-4 and CARD patients without CKD, serum neopterin concentrations were similar to those obtained from healthy volunteers. Serum urea and serum ferritin appeared to be significant independent predictors of serum neopterin concentration after adjustment for urea, CA-IMT, peripheral systolic blood pressure, ferritin, hsCRP, HD vintage, BMI and eGFR, explaining 95.89% of serum neopterin variations. In conclusion, it seems that despite the existence of many factors that may influence serum neopterin, those derived from impaired renal function and immunological disturbances coming from hemodialysis treatment are crucial. In this study, we observed that the more impaired the renal function, higher is the increase in serum neopterin concentration

Integrating UAV-Enabled Base Stations in 3D Networks: QoS-Aware Joint Fronthaul and Backhaul Design

The emerging concept of 3D networks, integrating terrestrial, aerial, and space layers, introduces a novel and complex structure characterized by stations relaying backhaul loads through point-to-point wireless links, forming a wireless 3D backhaul mesh. A key challenge is the strategic placement of aerial platform such as drone base stations (DBSs), considering the locations and service demands of ground nodes and the connectivity to backhaul gateway nodes for core network access. This paper addresses these complexities with a two-fold approach: a novel Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (HC) algorithm that optimizes DBS locations to satisfy minimum backhaul adjacency and maximum fronthaul coverage radius requirements; and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) that designs backhaul connections to satisfy the cumulative load across the network and maximize the throughput margin which translates to network resilience to increasing demands. Our results showcase the effectiveness of these algorithms against benchline schemes, offering insights into the operational dynamics of these novel 3D networks

Some aspects of the anemia of chronic disorders modeled and analyzed by petri net based approach

Anemia of chronic disorders is a very important phenomenon and iron is a crucial factor of this complex process. To better understand this process and its influence on some other factors we have built a mathematical model of the human body iron homeostasis, which possibly most exactly would reflect the metabolism of iron in the case of anemia and inflammation. The model has been formulated in the language of Petri net theory, which allows for its simulation and precise analysis. The obtained results of the analysis of the model’s behavior, concerning the influence of anemia and inflammation on the transferrin receptors, and hepcidin concentration changes are the valuable complements to the knowledge following from clinical research. This analysis is one of the first attempts to investigate properties and behavior of a not fully understood biological system on a basis of its Petri net based model