Let $G$ be a graph. The minimum number of colors needed to color the edges of $G$ is called the chromatic index of $G$ and is denoted by $\chi'(G)$. It is well-known that $\Delta(G) \leq \chi'(G) \leq \Delta(G)+1$, for any graph $G$, where $\Delta(G)$ denotes the maximum degree of $G$. A graph $G$ is said to be Class $1$ if $\chi'(G) = \Delta(G)$ and Class $2$ if $\chi'(G) = \Delta(G) + 1$. Also, $G_\Delta$ is the induced subgraph on all vertices of degree $\Delta(G)$. Let $f:V(G)\rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ be a function. An $f$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a coloring of the edges of $E(G)$ such that each color appears at each vertex $v\in V(G)$ at most $f (v)$ times. The minimum number of colors needed to $f$-color $G$ is called the $f$-chromatic index of $G$ and is denoted by $\chi'_{f}(G)$. It was shown that for every graph $G$, $\Delta_{f}(G)\le \chi'_{f}(G)\le \Delta_{f}(G)+1$, where $\Delta_{f}(G)=\max_{v\in V(G)} \big\lceil \frac{d_G(v)}{f(v)}\big\rceil$. A graph $G$ is said to be $f$-Class $1$ if $\chi'_{f}(G)=\Delta_{f}(G)$, and $f$-Class $2$, otherwise. Also, $G_{\Delta_f}$ is the induced subgraph of $G$ on $\{v\in V(G):\,\frac{d_G(v)}{f(v)}=\Delta_{f}(G)\}$. Hilton and Zhao showed that if $G_{\Delta}$ has maximum degree two and $G$ is Class $2$, then $G$ is critical, $G_{\Delta}$ is a disjoint union of cycles and $\delta(G)=\Delta(G)-1$, where $\delta(G)$ denotes the minimum degree of $G$, respectively. In this paper, we generalize this theorem to $f$-coloring of graphs. Also, we determine the $f$-chromatic index of a connected graph $G$ with $|G_{\Delta_f}|\le 4$.

We prove that for every $k>1$, there exist $k$-fold coverings of the plane (i) with strips, (ii) with axis-parallel rectangles, and (iii) with homothets of any fixed concave quadrilateral, that cannot be decomposed into two coverings. We also construct for every $k>1$ a set of points $P$ and a family of disks $\cal D$ in the plane, each containing at least $k$ elements of $P$, such that, no matter how we color the points of $P$ with two colors, there exists a disk $D\in{\cal D}$ all of whose points are of the same color.

The Four Color Theorem says that the faces (or vertices) of a plane graph may be colored with four colors. Vizing's Theorem says that the edges of a graph with maximum degree $\Delta$ may be colored with $\Delta+1$ colors. In 1972, Kronk and Mitchem conjectured that the vertices, edges, and faces of a plane graph may be simultaneously colored with $\Delta+4$ colors. In this article, we give a simple proof that the conjecture is true if $\Delta \geq 6$.