1,267 research outputs found
Cycles in Oriented 3-graphs
An oriented 3-graph consists of a family of triples (3-sets), each of which
is given one of its two possible cyclic orientations. A cycle in an oriented
3-graph is a positive sum of some of the triples that gives weight zero to each
2-set.
Our aim in this paper is to consider the following question: how large can
the girth of an oriented 3-graph (on vertices) be? We show that there exist
oriented 3-graphs whose shortest cycle has length : this
is asymptotically best possible. We also show that there exist 3-tournaments
whose shortest cycle has length , in complete contrast
to the case of 2-tournaments.Comment: 12 page
Improved Bounds for the Graham-Pollak Problem for Hypergraphs
For a fixed , let denote the minimum number of complete
-partite -graphs needed to partition the complete -graph on
vertices. The Graham-Pollak theorem asserts that . An easy
construction shows that ,
and we write for the least number such that .
It was known that for each even , but this was not known
for any odd value of . In this short note, we prove that . Our
method also shows that , answering another open problem
A Note on Hamiltonian-Intersecting Families of Graphs
How many graphs on an -point set can we find such that any two have
connected intersection? Berger, Berkowitz, Devlin, Doppelt, Durham, Murthy and
Vemuri showed that the maximum is exactly of all graphs. Our aim in
this short note is to give a 'directed' version of this result; we show that a
family of oriented graphs such that any two have strongly-connected
intersection has size at most of all oriented graphs. We also show that
a family of graphs such that any two have Hamiltonian intersection has size at
most of all graphs, verifying a conjecture of the above authors.Comment: 5 page
A collection of open problems in celebration of Imre Leader's 60th birthday
One of the great pleasures of working with Imre Leader is to experience his
infectious delight on encountering a compelling combinatorial problem. This
collection of open problems in combinatorics has been put together by a subset
of his former PhD students and students-of-students for the occasion of his
60th birthday. All of the contributors have been influenced (directly or
indirectly) by Imre: his personality, enthusiasm and his approach to
mathematics. The problems included cover many of the areas of combinatorial
mathematics that Imre is most associated with: including extremal problems on
graphs, set systems and permutations, and Ramsey theory. This is a personal
selection of problems which we find intriguing and deserving of being better
known. It is not intended to be systematic, or to consist of the most
significant or difficult questions in any area. Rather, our main aim is to
celebrate Imre and his mathematics and to hope that these problems will make
him smile. We also hope this collection will be a useful resource for
researchers in combinatorics and will stimulate some enjoyable collaborations
and beautiful mathematics
Robust and Task-Independent Spatial Profile of the Visual Word Form Activation in Fusiform Cortex
Written language represents a special category of visual information. There is strong evidence for the existence of a cortical region in ventral occipitotemporal cortex for processing the visual form of written words. However, due to inconsistent findings obtained with different tasks, the level of specialization and selectivity of this so called visual word form area (VWFA) remains debated. In this study, we examined category selectivity for Chinese characters, a non-alphabetic script, in native Chinese readers. In contrast to traditional approaches of examining response levels in a restricted predefined region of interest (ROI), a detailed distribution of the BOLD signal across the mid-fusiform cortical surface and the spatial patterns of responses to Chinese characters were obtained. Results show that a region tuned for Chinese characters could be consistently found in the lateral part of the left fusiform gyrus in Chinese readers, and this spatial pattern of selectivity for written words was not influenced by top-down tasks such as phonological or semantic modulations. These results provide strong support for the robust spatial coding of category selective response in the mid-fusiform cortex, and demonstrate the utility of the spatial distribution analysis as a more meaningful approach to examine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data
Genome-wide regulation of innate immunity by juvenile hormone and 20-hydroxyecdysone in the Bombyx fat body
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insect innate immunity can be affected by juvenile hormone (JH) and 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), but how innate immunity is developmentally regulated by these two hormones in insects has not yet been elucidated. In the silkworm, <it>Bombyx mori</it>, JH and 20E levels are high during the final larval molt (4 M) but absent during the feeding stage of 5<sup>th </sup>instar (5 F), while JH level is low and 20E level is high during the prepupal stage (PP). Fat body produces humoral response molecules and hence is considered as the major organ involved in innate immunity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A genome-wide microarray analysis of <it>Bombyx </it>fat body isolated from 4 M, 5 F and PP uncovered a large number of differentially-expressed genes. Most notably, 6 antimicrobial peptide (AMP) genes were up-regulated at 4 M versus PP suggesting that <it>Bombyx </it>innate immunity is developmentally regulated by the two hormones. First, JH treatment dramatically increased AMP mRNA levels and activities. Furthermore, 20E treatment exhibited inhibitory effects on AMP mRNA levels and activities, and RNA interference of the 20E receptor <it>EcR</it>-<it>USP </it>had the opposite effects to 20E treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taken together, we demonstrate that JH acts as an immune-activator while 20E inhibits innate immunity in the fat body during <it>Bombyx </it>postembryonic development.</p
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