Backbone colorings along perfect matchings

Given a graph $G=(V,E)$ and a spanning subgraph $H$ of $G$ (the backbone of $G$), a backbone coloring for $G$ and $H$ is a proper vertex coloring $V\rightarrow \{1,2,\ldots\}$ of $G$ in which the colors assigned to adjacent vertices in $H$ differ by at least two. In a recent paper, backbone colorings were introduced and studied in cases were the backbone is either a spanning tree or a spanning path. Here we study the case where the backbone is a perfect matching. We show that for perfect matching backbones of $G$ the number of colors needed for a backbone coloring of $G$ can roughly differ by a multiplicative factor of at most $\frac{4}{3}$ from the chromatic number $\chi(G)$. We show that the computational complexity of the problem ``Given a graph $G$ with a perfect matching $M$, and an integer $\ell$, is there a backbone coloring for $G$ and $M$ with at most $\ell$ colors?'' jumps from polynomial to NP-complete between $\ell=3$ and $\ell=4$. Finally, we consider the case where $G$ is a planar graph

Toughness and hamiltonicity in kk-trees

We consider toughness conditions that guarantee the existence of a hamiltonian cycle in $k$-trees, a subclass of the class of chordal graphs. By a result of Chen et al.\ 18-tough chordal graphs are hamiltonian, and by a result of Bauer et al.\ there exist nontraceable chordal graphs with toughness arbitrarily close to $\frac{7}{4}$. It is believed that the best possible value of the toughness guaranteeing hamiltonicity of chordal graphs is less than 18, but the proof of Chen et al.\ indicates that proving a better result could be very complicated. We show that every 1-tough 2-tree on at least three vertices is hamiltonian, a best possible result since 1-toughness is a necessary condition for hamiltonicity. We generalize the result to $k$-trees for $k\ge 2$: Let $G$ be a $k$-tree. If $G$ has toughness at least $\frac{k+1}{3},$ then $G$ is hamiltonian. Moreover, we present infinite classes of nonhamiltonian 1-tough $k$-trees for each $k\ge 3

Prevalence of airflow limitation in outpatients with cardiovascular diseases in Japan.

Background and objectives: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) commonly coexist and share common risk factors. The prevalence of COPD in outpatients with a smoking history and CVD in Japan is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of Japanese patients with a smoking history being treated for CVD who have concurrent airflow limitation compatible with COPD. A secondary objective was to test whether the usage of lung function tests performed in the clinic influenced the diagnosis rate of COPD in the patients identified with airflow limitation. Methods: In a multicenter observational prospective study conducted at 17 centers across Japan, the prevalence of airflow limitation compatible with COPD (defined as forced expiratory volume (FEV)1/FEV6 <0.73, by handheld spirometry) was investigated in cardiac outpatients ≥40 years old with a smoking history who routinely visited the clinic for their CVD. Each patient completed the COPD Assessment Test prior to spirometry testing. Results: Data were available for 995 patients with a mean age of 66.6±10.0 years, of whom 95.5% were male. The prevalence of airflow limitation compatible with COPD was 27.0% (n=269), and 87.7% of those patients (n=236) did not have a prior diagnosis of COPD. The prevalence of previously diagnosed airflow limitation was higher in sites with higher usage of lung function testing (14.0%, 15.2% respectively) compared against sites where it is performed seldom (11.1%), but was still low. Conclusion: The prevalence of airflow limitation in this study indicates that a quarter of outpatients with CVD have COPD, almost all of whom are undiagnosed. This suggests that it is important to look routinely for COPD in CVD outpatients

The relationship between the COPD Assessment Test score and airflow limitation in Japan in patients aged over 40 years with a smoking history.

BACKGROUND: A large number of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Japan remain undiagnosed, primarily due to the underuse of spirometry. Two studies were conducted to see whether the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) in primary care has the potential to identify those patients who need spirometry for a diagnosis of COPD and to determine whether patients with cardiovascular disease had airflow limitation, which could be detected by CAT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two multicenter, noninterventional, prospective studies (studies 1 and 2) were conducted across Japan. Patients in both studies were ≥40 years old with a smoking history. Those in study 1 were seen in primary care and had experienced repeated respiratory tract infections, but had no diagnosis of COPD. Patients in study 2 were identified in cardiovascular disease clinics when routinely visiting for their cardiovascular disease. All patients completed the CAT prior to lung-function testing by hand-held spirometry. The presence of airflow limitation was defined as a forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/FEV6 ratio<0.73. RESULTS: A total of 3,062 subjects completed the CAT (2,067 in study 1, 995 in study 2); 88.8% were male, and the mean age (±standard deviation) was 61.5±11.6 years. Airflow limitation was found in 400 (19.4%) patients in study 1, and 269 (27.0%) in study 2. The CAT score in patients with airflow limitation was significantly higher than in patients without airflow limitation in both studies: 8.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.9-9.2) versus 7.4 (95% CI 7.1-7.6) in study 1, and 8.3 (95% CI 7.5-9.2) versus 6.4 (95% CI 6.0-6.8) in study 2 (both P<0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the CAT has the potential to identify patients with cardiovascular disease or a history of frequent chest infections who need spirometry to diagnose COPD

Noise Enhanced Stability in Fluctuating Metastable States

We derive general equations for the nonlinear relaxation time of Brownian diffusion in randomly switching potential with a sink. For piece-wise linear dichotomously fluctuating potential with metastable state, we obtain the exact average lifetime as a function of the potential parameters and the noise intensity. Our result is valid for arbitrary white noise intensity and for arbitrary fluctuation rate of the potential. We find noise enhanced stability phenomenon in the system investigated: the average lifetime of the metastable state is greater than the time obtained in the absence of additive white noise. We obtain the parameter region of the fluctuating potential where the effect can be observed. The system investigated also exhibits a maximum of the lifetime as a function of the fluctuation rate of the potential.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. E vol. 69 (6),200

Pattern formation of reaction-diffusion system having self-determined flow in the amoeboid organism of Physarum plasmodium

The amoeboid organism, the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum, behaves on the basis of spatio-temporal pattern formation by local contraction-oscillators. This biological system can be regarded as a reaction-diffusion system which has spatial interaction by active flow of protoplasmic sol in the cell. Paying attention to the physiological evidence that the flow is determined by contraction pattern in the plasmodium, a reaction-diffusion system having self-determined flow arises. Such a coupling of reaction-diffusion-advection is a characteristic of the biological system, and is expected to relate with control mechanism of amoeboid behaviours. Hence, we have studied effects of the self-determined flow on pattern formation of simple reaction-diffusion systems. By weakly nonlinear analysis near a trivial solution, the envelope dynamics follows the complex Ginzburg-Landau type equation just after bifurcation occurs at finite wave number. The flow term affects the nonlinear term of the equation through the critical wave number squared. Contrary to this, wave number isn't explicitly effective with lack of flow or constant flow. Thus, spatial size of pattern is especially important for regulating pattern formation in the plasmodium. On the other hand, the flow term is negligible in the vicinity of bifurcation at infinitely small wave number, and therefore the pattern formation by simple reaction-diffusion will also hold. A physiological role of pattern formation as above is discussed.Comment: REVTeX, one column, 7 pages, no figur

Compensation of the Crossing Angle with Crab Cavities at KEKB

Crab cavities have been installed in the KEKB B--Factory rings to compensate the crossing angle at the collision point and thus increase luminosity. The beam operation with crab crossing has been done since February 2007. This is the first experience with such cavities in colliders or storage rings. The crab cavities have been working without serious issues. While higher specific luminosity than the geometrical gain has been achieved, further study is necessary and under way to reach the prediction of simulation.Comment: Submitted to Particle Accelerator Conference 2007, MOZAKI01, Albuquerqu

Short photoperiod-induced decrease of histamine H3 receptors facilitates activation of hypothalamic neurons in the Siberian Hamster

Nonhibernating seasonal mammals have adapted to temporal changes in food availability through behavioral and physiological mechanisms to store food and energy during times of predictable plenty and conserve energy during predicted shortage. Little is known, however, of the hypothalamic neuronal events that lead to a change in behavior or physiology. Here we show for the first time that a shift from long summer-like to short inter-like photoperiod, which induces physiological adaptation to winter in the Siberian hamster, including a body weight decrease of up to 30%, increases neuronal activity in the dorsomedial region of the arcuate nucleus (dmpARC) assessed by electro physiological patch-clamping recording. Increased neuronal activity in short days is dependent on a photoperiod-driven down-regulation of H3 receptor expression and can be mimicked in long-day dmpARC neurons by the application of the H3 receptor antagonist, clobenproprit. Short-day activation of dmpARC neurons results in increased c-Fos expression. Tract tracing with the trans-synaptic retrograde tracer, pseudorabies virus, delivered into adipose tissue reveals a multisynaptic neuronal sympathetic outflow from dmpARC to white adipose tissue. These data strongly suggest that increased activity of dmpARC neurons, as a consequence of down-regulation of the histamine H3 receptor, contributes to the physiological adaptation of body weight regulation in seasonal photoperiod

Long-lived neutral-kaon flux measurement for the KOTO experiment

The KOTO ($K^0$ at Tokai) experiment aims to observe the CP-violating rare decay $K_L \rightarrow \pi^0 \nu \bar{\nu}$ by using a long-lived neutral-kaon beam produced by the 30 GeV proton beam at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. The $K_L$ flux is an essential parameter for the measurement of the branching fraction. Three $K_L$ neutral decay modes, $K_L \rightarrow 3\pi^0$, $K_L \rightarrow 2\pi^0$, and $K_L \rightarrow 2\gamma$ were used to measure the $K_L$ flux in the beam line in the 2013 KOTO engineering run. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the detector acceptance for these decays. Agreement was found between the simulation model and the experimental data, and the remaining systematic uncertainty was estimated at the 1.4\% level. The $K_L$ flux was measured as $(4.183 \pm 0.017_{\mathrm{stat.}} \pm 0.059_{\mathrm{sys.}}) \times 10^7$ $K_L$ per $2\times 10^{14}$ protons on a 66-mm-long Au target.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures. To be appeared in Progress of Theoretical and Experimental Physic

Microscopic elasticity of complex systems

Lecture Notes for the Erice Summer School 2005 Computer Simulations in Condensed Matter: from Materials to Chemical Biology. Perspectives in celebration of the 65th Birthday of Mike Klein organized by Kurt Binder, Giovanni Ciccotti and Mauro Ferrari