The kk-Dominating Graph

Given a graph $G$, the $k$-dominating graph of $G$, $D_k(G)$, is defined to be the graph whose vertices correspond to the dominating sets of $G$ that have cardinality at most $k$. Two vertices in $D_k(G)$ are adjacent if and only if the corresponding dominating sets of $G$ differ by either adding or deleting a single vertex. The graph $D_k(G)$ aids in studying the reconfiguration problem for dominating sets. In particular, one dominating set can be reconfigured to another by a sequence of single vertex additions and deletions, such that the intermediate set of vertices at each step is a dominating set if and only if they are in the same connected component of $D_k(G)$. In this paper we give conditions that ensure $D_k(G)$ is connected.Comment: 2 figure, The final publication is available at http://link.springer.co

Benefits of health care beyond health: an exploration of non-health outcomes of health care.

Recent interest in identifying and measuring health outcomes represents an advance in our understanding of how health care for individuals should be evaluated. However, the concept of health outcomes has mainly focussed on improvements in health status. Non-health outcomes of health care may also be important to patients. In this thesis, four tasks were undertaken with the aim of identifying non-health outcomes and establishing the extent of their relevance and importance to patients. First, the illness experience literature was reviewed to identify potential non-health outcomes. Seven categories of non-health outcomes were identified: information, being treated with dignity, being able to trust the health care provider, having distress recognised and supported, participating in decision making, legitimation and reassurance. Second, to gain an in-depth understanding of these concepts, topic-specific literature was reviewed and synthesised. Third, in order to confirm how relevant and important the concepts were to patients, a qualitative study was conducted with each of two different groups of health service users. Broadly, patients considered that all the non-health concepts were relevant, although the extent to which they were important varied. Fourth, to test the relative importance of the seven concepts, a Stated Preference Discrete Choice experiment in the context of general practice was conducted. This study showed that most people thought their GP demonstrated behaviour likely to result in the production of non-health outcomes. The results showed that although all the non-health outcomes were, to some extent, preferred by respondents, trust was most important, followed by legitimation and recognition of and support for emotional distress. Once again, these results point to the importance of context in the evaluation of health care from the patient's perspective. While still being perceived as positive aspects of health care, the provision of information and acting autonomously or participating in decisions about their health care were the non-health outcomes considered least important by patient

Triangle-free Uniquely 3-Edge Colorable Cubic Graphs

This paper presents infinitely many new examples of triangle-free uniquely 3-edge colorable cubic graphs.  The only such graph previously known was given by Tutte in 1976

Triangle-free Uniquely 3-Edge Colorable Cubic Graphs

This paper presents infinitely many new examples of triangle-free uniquely 3-edge colorable cubic graphs. The only such graph previously known was given by Tutte in 1976

Single crystal growth of BaFe2−x_{2-x}Cox_xAs2_2 without fluxing agent

We report a simple, reliable method to grow high quality BaFe$_{2-x}$Co$_x$As$_2$ single crystal samples without using any fluxing agent. The starting materials for the single crystal growth come from well-crystallized polycrystalline samples and the highest growing temperature can be 1493 K. The as-grown crystals have typical dimensions of 4$\times3\times$0.5 mm$^3$ with c-axis perpendicular to the shining surface. We find that the samples have very large current carrying ability, indicating that the samples have good potential technological applications.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetis

Characterizing Sparse Graphs by Map Decompositions

A map is a graph that admits an orientation of its edges so that each vertex has out-degree exactly 1. We characterize graphs which admit a decomposition into k edge-disjoint maps after: (1) the addition of any ℓ edges; (2) the addition of some ℓ edges. These graphs are identified with classes of sparse graphs; the results are also given in matroidal terms

N-Glykosylierung von T Helfer Zell-Populationen bei Patienten mit Multipler Sklerose

Die Oberflächenglykosylierung beeinflusst wesentlich die Interaktion von Zellen des Immunsystems und deren Regulation. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde ihre Bedeutung in der Aktivierung und Differenzierung der T Zellen, welche eine zentrale Rolle in der Pathogenese der Multiplen Sklerose spielen näher untersucht. Dazu wurden Immunzellen aus dem Blut gesunder Probanden und von Patienten mit Multiple Sklerose durchflusszytometrisch mittels Fluoreszenzantikörpern spezifiziert. Anschließend wurde die Intensität verschiedener Glykosylierungen ihrer Oberflächenproteine mit Hilfe von Lektinen analysiert. Eine weitere Fragstellung war, inwieweit sich die Oberflächenglykosylierung durch in-vitro Stimulation verändert. Weiterhin wurde die Auswirkung auf die β 1,2 N-Oberflächenglykosylierung auf regulatorischen T Zellen durch spezifische Inhibition der α 1,2 Mannosidase untersucht. Bei der Untersuchung der Effektor T Zellen und regulatorischen T Zellen zeigte sich, dass sich die α2,3 und die α2,6 Sialylierung sowie auf Effektor T Zellen und regulatorischen T Zellen sowohl bei gesunden Probanden als auch bei Patienten unter Natalizumabtherapie nicht wesentlich unterscheidet. Anders verhält es sich bei der α1,2 Glykosylierung, die bei Patienten mit Multipler Sklerose unter Natalizumabtherapie deutlich erhöht ist. Im Gegensatz hierzu stellte sich heraus, dass die in dieser Arbeit erstmals auf humanen T Zellen untersuchte N-Oberflächenglykosylierung sich in ihrer Ausprägung signifikant auf den einzelnen T Zell Subpopulationen unterscheidet. So konnte gezeigt werden, dass aktivierte T Zellen und regulatorische T Zellen stärker n-glykosyliert sind, als nicht aktivierte T Helfer Zellen. T Helfer Typ 17 Zellen waren stärker n-glykosyliert als T Helfer Typ 2 Zellen. Die Ausprägung unterscheidet sich auf den vergleichbaren Subpopulationen zudem zwischen gesunden Probanden und MS Patienten unter Natalizumabtherapie. So ist die ß 1,6 N Glykosylierung auf T Helfer Typ 1 und T Helfer Typ 17 Zellen bei MS Patienten erniedrigt und auf T Effektor Zellen erhöht. In unseren in-vitro Versuchen konnten wir weiterhin nachweisen, dass die N-Oberflächenglykosylierung durch spezifische Stimulation zunimmt und eine Hemmung der intrazellulären n-glykosylierenden Prozesse die suppressive Funktion regulatorischer T Zellen steigert. Damit scheint eine effiziente Oberflächenglykosylierung kritisch für die immunregulatorische Funktion von regulatorischen T Zellen zu sein. In unseren Untersuchungen ergeben sich Hinweise darauf, dass die immunologische Funktion von T Zellen mit der Intensität ihrer Oberflächenglykosylierung korreliert und dass die Oberflächenglykosylierung von Immunzellen bei Patienten mit Multipler Sklerose verändert ist und sich unter Therapie mit dem Integrin-Inhibitor Natalizumab verändert

An unsymmetric ligand framework for noncoupled homo- and heterobimetallic complexes

We introduce a new unsymmetric ligand, PDIpCy (PDI = pyridyldiimine; Cy = cyclam), that offers two distinct, noncoupled coordination sites. A series of homo- and heterobimetallic complexes, [Zn2(PDIpCy)(THF)(OTf)4] (1; THF = tetrahydrofuran and OTf = triflate), [Ni2(PDIpCy)(THF)(OTf)2](OTf)2 (2), and [NiZn(PDIpCy)(THF)(OTf)4] (3), are described. The one-electron-reduced compounds, [Zn2(PDIpCy)(OTF)3] (4), [Ni2(PDIpCy)(OTf)](OTf)2 (5), and [NiZn(PDIpCy)(OTf)3] (6), were isolated, and their electronic structures were characterized. The reduced compounds are charge-separated species, with electron storage at either the PDI ligand (4) or at the PDI-bound metal ion (5 and 6)