Let \( G \) be a connected graph with vertex set \( V(G) \) and edge set \( E(G) \). A (defensive) alliance in \( G \) is a subset \( S \) of \( V(G) \) such that for every vertex \( v \in S \),

\[
|N[v] \cap S| \geq |N(v) \cap (V(G) – S)|.
\]

The alliance partition number, \( \psi_a(G) \), was defined (and further studied in [11]) to be the maximum number of sets in a partition of \( V(G) \) such that each set is a (defensive) alliance. Similarly, \( \psi_g(G) \) is the maximum number of sets in a partition of \( V(G) \) such that each set is a global alliance, i.e., each set is an alliance and a dominating set. In this paper, we give bounds for the global alliance partition number in terms of the minimum degree, which gives exactly two values for \( \psi_g(G) \) in trees. We concentrate on conditions that classify trees to have \( \psi_g(G) = i \) (\( i = 1, 2 \)), presenting a characterization for binary trees.

E. Stickel proposed a variation of the Diffie-Hellman key exchange scheme based on non-abelian groups, claiming that the underlying problem is more secure than the traditional discrete logarithm problem in cyclic groups. We show that the proposed scheme does not provide a higher level of security in comparison to the traditional Diffie-Hellman scheme.

Let \( G \) be a graph with vertex set \( V(G) \) and edge set \( E(G) \), and let \( A = \{0, 1\} \). A labeling \( f: V(G) \to A \) induces a partial edge labeling \( f^*: E(G) \to A \) defined by

\[
f^*(xy) = f(x), \text{ if and only if } f(x) = f(y),
\]

for each edge \( xy \in E(G) \). For \( i \in A \), let

\[
v_f(i) = \text{card}\{ v \in V(G) : f(v) = i \}
\]

and

\[
e_f^*(i) = \text{card}\{ e \in E(G) : f^*(e) = i \}.
\]

A labeling \( f \) of a graph \( G \) is said to be friendly if

\[
|v_f(0) – v_f(1)| \leq 1.
\]

If

\[
|e_f(0) – e_f(1)| \leq 1,
\]

then \( G \) is said to be \textbf{\emph{balanced}}. The \textbf{\emph{balance index set}} of the graph \( G \), \( BI(G) \), is defined as

\[
BI(G) = \{ |e_f(0) – e_f(1)| : \text{the vertex labeling } f \text{ is friendly} \}.
\]

Results parallel to the concept of friendly index sets are pr

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) of the complete graph \( K_n \) by a graph \( G \) is a collection \( \mathcal{G} = \{G_i \mid i=1,2,\dots,n\} \) of spanning subgraphs of \( K_n \), all isomorphic to \( G \), with the property that every edge of \( K_n \) belongs to exactly two members of \( \mathcal{G} \) and any two distinct members of \( \mathcal{G} \) share exactly one edge.

A lobster of diameter five is a tree arising from a double star by attaching any number of pendant vertices to each of its vertices of degree one. We show that for any double star \( R(p, q) \) there exists an ODC of \( K_n \) by all lobsters of diameter five (with finitely many possible exceptions) arising from \( R(p, q) \).

Let \( G \) be a graph with vertex set \( V(G) \) and edge set \( E(G) \), and let \( A = \{0, 1\} \). A labeling \( f: V(G) \to A \) induces an edge partial labeling \( f^*: E(G) \to A \) defined by \( f^*(xy) = f(x) \) if and only if \( f(x) = f(y) \) for each edge \( xy \in E(G) \). For each \( i \in A \), let

\[v_f(i) = |\{v \in V(G) : f(v) = i\}|\]

and

\[e_f(i) = |\{e \in E(G) : f^*(e) = i\}|.\]

The balance index set of \( G \), denoted \( BI(G) \), is defined as

\[\{|e_f(0) – e_f(1)|: |v_f(0) – v_f(1)| \leq 1\}.\]

In this paper, exact values of the balance index sets of five new families of one-point union of graphs are obtained, many of them, but not all, form arithmetic progressions.

For any \( h \in \mathbb{Z} \), a graph \( G = (V, E) \) is said to be \( h \)-magic if there exists a labeling \( l: E(G) \to \mathbb{Z}_h – \{0\} \) such that the induced vertex set labeling \( l^+: V(G) \to \mathbb{Z}_h \), defined by

\[
l^+(v) = \sum_{uv \in E(G)} l(uv)
\]

is a constant map. For a given graph \( G \), the set of all \( h \in \mathbb{Z}_+ \) for which \( G \) is \( h \)-magic is called the integer-magic spectrum of \( G \) and is denoted by \( IM(G) \). In this paper, we will determine the integer-magic spectra of trees of diameter five.

A graceful labeling of a directed graph \( D \) with \( e \) edges is a one-to-one map \( \theta: V(D) \to \{0, 1, \dots, e\} \) such that \( \theta(y) – \theta(x) \mod (e + 1) \) is distinct for each \( (x, y) \in E(D) \). This paper summarizes previously known results on graceful directed graphs and presents some new results on directed paths, stars, wheels, and umbrellas.

For an integer \( l > 1 \), the \( l \)-edge-connectivity of a graph \( G \) with \( |V(G)| \geq l \), denoted by \( \lambda_l(G) \), is the smallest number of edges whose removal results in a graph with \( l \) components. In this paper, we study lower bounds of \( \lambda_l(G) \) and optimal graphs that reach the lower bounds. Former results by Boesch and Chen are extended.

We also present in this paper an optimal model of interconnection network \( G \) with a given \( \lambda_l(G) \) such that \( \lambda_2(G) \) is maximized while \( |E(G)| \) is minimized.

Given an abelian group \( A \), a graph \( G = (V, E) \) is said to have a distance two magic labeling in \( A \) if there exists a labeling \( l: E(G) \to A – \{0\} \) such that the induced vertex labeling \( l^*: V(G) \to A \) defined by

\[l^*(v) = \sum_{c \in E(v)} l(e)\]

is a constant map, where \( E(v) = \{e \in E(G) : d(v,e) < 2\} \). The set of all \( h \in \mathbb{Z}_+ \), for which \( G \) has a distance two magic labeling in \( \mathbb{Z}_h \), is called the distance two magic spectrum of \( G \) and is denoted by \( \Delta M(G) \). In this paper, the distance two magic spectra of certain classes of graphs will be determined.

In this paper, we derive some necessary existence conditions for a bi-level balanced array (B-array) with strength \( t = 5 \). We then describe how these existence conditions can be used to obtain an upper bound on the number of constraints of these arrays, and give some illustrative examples to this effect.