Interval total colorings of graphs

A total coloring of a graph $G$ is a coloring of its vertices and edges such that no adjacent vertices, edges, and no incident vertices and edges obtain the same color. An \emph{interval total $t$-coloring} of a graph $G$ is a total coloring of $G$ with colors $1,2,\...,t$ such that at least one vertex or edge of $G$ is colored by $i$, $i=1,2,\...,t$, and the edges incident to each vertex $v$ together with $v$ are colored by $d_{G}(v)+1$ consecutive colors, where $d_{G}(v)$ is the degree of the vertex $v$ in $G$. In this paper we investigate some properties of interval total colorings. We also determine exact values of the least and the greatest possible number of colors in such colorings for some classes of graphs.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figur

A gap in the spectrum of the Neumann-Laplacian on a periodic waveguide

We will study the spectral problem related to the Laplace operator in a singularly perturbed periodic waveguide. The waveguide is a quasi-cylinder with contains periodic arrangement of inclusions. On the boundary of the waveguide we consider both Neumann and Dirichlet conditions. We will prove that provided the diameter of the inclusion is small enough in the spectrum of Laplacian opens spectral gaps, i.e. frequencies that does not propagate through the waveguide. The existence of the band gaps will verified using the asymptotic analysis of elliptic operators.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

AUX: A scripting language for auditory signal processing and software packages for psychoacoustic experiments and education

This article introduces AUX (AUditory syntaX), a scripting syntax specifically designed to describe auditory signals and processing, to the members of the behavioral research community. The syntax is based on descriptive function names and intuitive operators suitable for researchers and students without substantial training in programming, who wish to generate and examine sound signals using a written script. In this article, the essence of AUX is discussed and practical examples of AUX scripts specifying various signals are illustrated. Additionally, two accompanying Windows-based programs and development libraries are described. AUX Viewer is a program that generates, visualizes, and plays sounds specified in AUX. AUX Viewer can also be used for class demonstrations or presentations. Another program, Psycon, allows a wide range of sound signals to be used as stimuli in common psychophysical testing paradigms, such as the adaptive procedure, the method of constant stimuli, and the method of adjustment. AUX Library is also provided, so that researchers can develop their own programs utilizing AUX. The philosophical basis of AUX is to separate signal generation from the user interface needed for experiments. AUX scripts are portable and reusable; they can be shared by other researchers, regardless of differences in actual AUX-based programs, and reused for future experiments. In short, the use of AUX can be potentially beneficial to all members of the research community—both those with programming backgrounds and those without

The Precursors and Products of Justice Climates: Group Leader Antecedents and Employee Attitudinal Consequences

Drawing on the organizational justice, organizational climate, leadership and personality, and social comparison theory literatures, we develop hypotheses about the effects of leader personality on the development of three types of justice climates (e.g., procedural, interpersonal, and informational), and the moderating effects of these climates on individual level justice- attitude relationships. Largely consistent with the theoretically-derived hypotheses, the results showed that leader (a) agreeableness was positively related to procedural, interpersonal and informational justice climates, (b) conscientiousness was positively related to a procedural justice climate, and (c) neuroticism was negatively related to all three types of justice climates. Further, consistent with social comparison theory, multilevel data analyses revealed that the relationship between individual justice perceptions and job attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, commitment) was moderated by justice climate such that the relationships were stronger when justice climate was high

The Smoking Paradox in the Development of Psoriatic Arthritis among Psoriasis Patients – A Population-Based Study

Objectives: Smoking is strongly associated with an increased risk of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in the general population, but not among psoriasis patients. We sought to clarify the possible methodologic mechanisms behind this paradox. Methods: Using 1995-2015 data from The Health Improvement Network, we performed survival analysis to examine the association between smoking and incident PsA in the general population and among psoriasis patients. We clarified the paradox using mediation analysis and conducted bias sensitivity analyses to evaluate the potential impact of index event bias and quantify its magnitude from uncontrolled/unmeasured confounders. Results: Of 6.65 million subjects without PsA at baseline, 225,213 participants had psoriasis and 7,057 developed incident PsA. Smoking was associated with an increased risk of PsA in the general population (RR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.19-1.36), but with a decreased risk among psoriasis patients (RR 0.91; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99). Mediation analysis showed that the effect of smoking on the risk of PsA was mediated almost entirely through its effect on psoriasis. Bias sensitivity analyses indicated that even when the relation of uncontrolled confounders to either smoking or PsA was modest (both RRs = ~1.50), it could reverse the biased estimate of effect of smoking among psoriasis patients (RR=0.9). Conclusions: In this large cohort representative of the UK general population, smoking was positively associated with PsA risk in the general population, but negatively associated among psoriasis patients. Conditioning on a causal intermediate variable (psoriasis) can reverse the association between smoking and PsA, explaining the smoking paradox for the risk of PsA among psoriasis patients

A primary care, multi-disciplinary disease management program for opioid-treated patients with chronic non-cancer pain and a high burden of psychiatric comorbidity

BACKGROUND: Chronic non-cancer pain is a common problem that is often accompanied by psychiatric comorbidity and disability. The effectiveness of a multi-disciplinary pain management program was tested in a 3 month before and after trial. METHODS: Providers in an academic general medicine clinic referred patients with chronic non-cancer pain for participation in a program that combined the skills of internists, clinical pharmacists, and a psychiatrist. Patients were either receiving opioids or being considered for opioid therapy. The intervention consisted of structured clinical assessments, monthly follow-up, pain contracts, medication titration, and psychiatric consultation. Pain, mood, and function were assessed at baseline and 3 months using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale scale (CESD) and the Pain Disability Index (PDI). Patients were monitored for substance misuse. RESULTS: Eighty-five patients were enrolled. Mean age was 51 years, 60% were male, 78% were Caucasian, and 93% were receiving opioids. Baseline average pain was 6.5 on an 11 point scale. The average CESD score was 24.0, and the mean PDI score was 47.0. Sixty-three patients (73%) completed 3 month follow-up. Fifteen withdrew from the program after identification of substance misuse. Among those completing 3 month follow-up, the average pain score improved to 5.5 (p = 0.003). The mean PDI score improved to 39.3 (p < 0.001). Mean CESD score was reduced to 18.0 (p < 0.001), and the proportion of depressed patients fell from 79% to 54% (p = 0.003). Substance misuse was identified in 27 patients (32%). CONCLUSIONS: A primary care disease management program improved pain, depression, and disability scores over three months in a cohort of opioid-treated patients with chronic non-cancer pain. Substance misuse and depression were common, and many patients who had substance misuse identified left the program when they were no longer prescribed opioids. Effective care of patients with chronic pain should include rigorous assessment and treatment of these comorbid disorders and intensive efforts to insure follow up

Immunity status of adults and children against poliomyelitis virus type 1 strains CHAT and Sabin (LSc-2ab) in Germany

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT. Both strains were historically used as oral vaccines, but the Sabin type 1 strain was acknowledged to be more attenuated. In Germany, vaccination against poliomyelitis was introduced in 1962 using the oral polio vaccine (OPV) containing Sabin strain LSc-2ab. The vaccination schedule was changed from OPV to an inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) containing wild polio virus type 1 strain Mahoney in 1998. In the present study, we assessed potential differences in neutralising antibody titres to Sabin and CHAT in persons with a history of either OPV, IPV, or OPV with IPV booster.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Neutralisation poliovirus antibodies against CHAT and Sabin 1 were measured in sera of 41 adults vaccinated with OPV. Additionally, sera from 28 children less than 10 years of age and immunised with IPV only were analysed. The neutralisation assay against poliovirus was performed according to WHO guidelines.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The neutralisation activity against CHAT in adults with OPV vaccination history was significantly lower than against Sabin poliovirus type 1 strains (Wilcoxon signed-rank test P < 0.025). In eight sera, the antibody titres measured against CHAT were less than 8, although the titre against Sabin 1 varied between 8 and 64. Following IPV booster, anti-CHAT antibodies increased rapidly in sera of CHAT-negative adults with OPV history. Sera from children with IPV history neutralised CHAT and Sabin 1 strains equally.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The lack of neutralising antibodies against the CHAT strain in persons vaccinated with OPV might be associated with an increased risk of reinfection with the CHAT polio virus type 1, and this implies a putative risk of transmission of the virus to polio-free communities. We strongly suggest that laboratory workers who were immunised with OPV receive a booster vaccination with IPV before handling CHAT in the laboratory.</p

Radio emission from Supernova Remnants

The explosion of a supernova releases almost instantaneously about 10^51 ergs of mechanic energy, changing irreversibly the physical and chemical properties of large regions in the galaxies. The stellar ejecta, the nebula resulting from the powerful shock waves, and sometimes a compact stellar remnant, constitute a supernova remnant (SNR). They can radiate their energy across the whole electromagnetic spectrum, but the great majority are radio sources. Almost 70 years after the first detection of radio emission coming from a SNR, great progress has been achieved in the comprehension of their physical characteristics and evolution. We review the present knowledge of different aspects of radio remnants, focusing on sources of the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds, where the SNRs can be spatially resolved. We present a brief overview of theoretical background, analyze morphology and polarization properties, and review and critical discuss different methods applied to determine the radio spectrum and distances. The consequences of the interaction between the SNR shocks and the surrounding medium are examined, including the question of whether SNRs can trigger the formation of new stars. Cases of multispectral comparison are presented. A section is devoted to reviewing recent results of radio SNRs in the Magellanic Clouds, with particular emphasis on the radio properties of SN 1987A, an ideal laboratory to investigate dynamical evolution of an SNR in near real time. The review concludes with a summary of issues on radio SNRs that deserve further study, and analyzing the prospects for future research with the latest generation radio telescopes.Comment: Revised version. 48 pages, 15 figure

Perturbative computation of string one-loop corrections to Wilson loop minimal surfaces in AdS(5) x S-5

We revisit the computation of the 1-loop string correction to the “latitude” minimal surface in AdS 5 × S 5 representing 1/4 BPS Wilson loop in planar N=4 SYM theory previously addressed in arXiv:1512.00841 and arXiv:1601.04708. We resolve the problem of matching with the subleading term in the strong coupling expansion of the exact gauge theory result (derived previously from localization) using a different method to compute determinants of 2d string fluctuation operators. We apply perturbation theory in a small parameter (angle of the latitude) corresponding to an expansion near the AdS 2 minimal surface representing 1/2 BPS circular Wilson loop. This allows us to compute the corrections to the heat kernels and zeta-functions of the operators in terms of the known heat kernels on AdS 2. We apply the same method also to two other examples of Wilson loop surfaces: generalized cusp and k-wound circle

Transmission patterns of smallpox: systematic review of natural outbreaks in Europe and North America since World War II

BACKGROUND: Because smallpox (variola major) may be used as a biological weapon, we reviewed outbreaks in post-World War II Europe and North America in order to understand smallpox transmission patterns. METHODS: A systematic review was used to identify papers from the National Library of Medicine, Embase, Biosis, Cochrane Library, Defense Technical Information Center, WorldCat, and reference lists of included publications. Two authors reviewed selected papers for smallpox outbreaks. RESULTS: 51 relevant outbreaks were identified from 1,389 publications. The median for the effective first generation reproduction rate (initial R) was 2 (range 0–38). The majority outbreaks were small (less than 5 cases) and contained within one generation. Outbreaks with few hospitalized patients had low initial R values (median of 1) and were prolonged if not initially recognized (median of 3 generations); outbreaks with mostly hospitalized patients had higher initial R values (median 12) and were shorter (median of 3 generations). Index cases with an atypical presentation of smallpox were less likely to have been diagnosed with smallpox; outbreaks in which the index case was not correctly diagnosed were larger (median of 27.5 cases) and longer (median of 3 generations) compared to outbreaks in which the index case was correctly diagnosed (median of 3 cases and 1 generation). CONCLUSION: Patterns of spread during Smallpox outbreaks varied with circumstances, but early detection and implementation of control measures is a most important influence on the magnitude of outbreaks. The majority of outbreaks studied in Europe and North America were controlled within a few generations if detected early