We call a simple \(t-(v,k)\) trade with maximum volume a maximal trade. In this paper, except for \(v = 6m+5\), \(m \geq 3\), maximal \(2-(v, 3)\) trades for all \(v\)’s are determined. In the latter case a bound for the volume of these trades is given.

Balanced ternary and generalized balanced ternary designs are constructed from any \((v, b, r, k)\) designs. These results generalise the earlier results of Diane Donovan ( 1985 ).

A graph is called \(K_{1,r}\)-free if it does not contain \(K_{1,r}\) as an induced subgraph. In this paper we generalize a theorem of Markus for Hamiltonicity of \(2\)-connected \(K_{1,r}\)-free (\(r \geq 5\)) graphs and present a sufficient condition for \(1\)-tough \(K_{1,r}\)-free (\(r \geq 4\)) graphs to be Hamiltonian.

Minimum degree two implies the existence of a cycle. Minimum degree \(3\) implies the existence of a cycle with a chord. We investigate minimum degree conditions to force the existence of a cycle with \(k\) chords.

Let \(T = (V, E)\) be a tree on \(|V| = n\) vertices. \(T\) is graceful if there exists a bijection \(f : V \to \{0,1,\dots, n-1\}\) such that \(\{|f(u) – f(v)| \mid uv \in E\} = \{1,2,\dots,n-1\}\). If, moreover, \(T\) contains a perfect matching \(M\) and \(f\) can be chosen in such a way that \(f(u) + f(v) = n-1\) for every edge \(uv \in M\) (implying that \(\{|f(u) – f(v)| \mid uv \in M\} = \{1,3,\dots,n-1\}\)), then \(T\) is called strongly graceful. We show that the well-known conjecture that all trees are graceful is equivalent to the conjecture that all trees containing a perfect matching are strongly graceful. We also give some applications of this result.

Let \(D\) be an acyclic digraph. The competition graph of \(D\) has the same set of vertices as \(D\) and an edge between vertices \(u\) and \(v\) if and only if there is a vertex \(x\) in \(D\) such that \((u,x)\) and \((v,x)\) are arcs of \(D\). The competition-common enemy graph of \(D\) has the same set of vertices as \(D\) and an edge between vertices \(u\) and \(v\) if and only if there are vertices \(w\) and \(x\) in \(D\) such that \((w,u), (w,v), (u,x)\), and \((v,x)\) are arcs of \(D\). The competition number (respectively, double competition number) of a graph \(G\), denoted by \(k(G)\) (respectively, \(dk(G)\)), is the smallest number \(k\) such that \(G\) together with \(k\) isolated vertices is a competition graph (respectively, competition-common enemy graph) of an acyclic digraph.

It is known that \(dk(G) \leq k(G) + 1\) for any graph \(G\). In this paper, we give a sufficient condition under which a graph \(G\) satisfies \(dk(G) \leq k(G)\) and show that any connected triangle-free graph \(G\) with \(k(G) \geq 2\) satisfies that condition. We also give an upper bound for the double competition number of a connected triangle-free graph. Finally, we find an infinite family of graphs each member \(G\) of which satisfies \(k(G) = 2\) and \(dk(G) > k(G)\).

A \(k \times v\) double Youden rectangle (DYR) is a type of balanced Graeco-Latin design where each Roman letter occurs exactly once in each of the \(k\) rows, where each Greek letter occurs exactly once in each of the \(v\) columns, and where each Roman letter is paired exactly once with each Greek letter. The other properties of a DYR are of balance, and indeed the structure of a DYR incorporates that of a symmetric balanced incomplete block design (SBIBD). Few general methods of construction of DYRs are known, and these cover only some of the sizes \(k \times v\) with \(k = p\) (odd) or \(p+1\), and \(v = 2p + 1\). Computer searches have however produced DYRs for those such sizes, \(p \leq 11\), for which the existence of a DYR was previously in doubt. The new DYRs have cyclic structures. A consolidated table of DYRs of sizes \(p \times (2p +1)\) and \((p +1) \times (2p +1)\) is provided for \(p \leq 11\); for each of several of the sizes, DYRs are given for different inherent SBIBDs.

Some sufficient conditions for non-Hamiltonicity of graphs are compared.

Block-intersection graphs of Steiner triple systems are considered. We prove that the block-intersection graphs of non-isomorphic Steiner triple systems are themselves non-isomorphic. We also prove that each Steiner triple system of order at most \(15\) has a Hamilton decomposable block-intersection graph.

A directed graph \(G\) is primitive if there exists a positive integer \(k\) such that for every pair \(u, v\) of vertices of \(G\) there is a walk from \(u\) to \(v\) of length \(k\). The least such \(k\) is called the exponent of \(G\). The exponent set \(E_n\) is the set of all integers \(k\) such that there is a primitive graph \(G\) on \(n\) vertices whose exponent is \(k\).