Spec Research Articles

Molecular biological characteristics of Streptococcus pyogenes causing children tonsillitis in Yangfangdian community Haidian District of Beijing from 2011 to 2013

Objective To analyze the molecular biological characteristics of Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS) causing children tonsillitis in Yangfangdian community Haidian district, Beijing between 2011 and 2013. Methods From Apr.2011 to Apr.2013, there were 94 children with tonsillitis treated in outpatient of Beijing Shijitan Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, and 17 strains GAS were isolated from these pediatrician outpatients.Their encoding mature M protein gene (emm gene), 7 pairs of alleles housekeeping gene (gki, gtr, murI, mutS, recP, xpt and yqiL), superantigen speA and speC genes, macrolide-resistance genes ermB, mefA and ermRT were amplified by polyme-rase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR amplified products of emm gene and 7 pairs of alleles housekeeping gene were sequenced.The emm gene sequences were stored in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database.The emm types of GAS were identified.The 7 pairs of alleles housekeeping gene sequences of GAS were sent to the multilocus sequence typing (MLST) website for their iso-allelic sequences to identify their sequence types (ST). The PCR amplified products of superantigen gene speA and speC, macrolide-resistance genes ermB, mefA and ermRT were performed with agar gel electrophoresis.The corresponding qualitative results were obtained. Results Five emm-types were disco-vered: emm12.0 (76.4%), emm1.0(5.9%), emm89.0(5.9%), emm75.0(5.9%)and emm22.0(5.9%); emm12.0 and its subtype strains had the same allelic profiles which belonged to ST36 type; emm1.0 strain belonged to ST28; emm89.0 strain belonged to ST101; emm75.0 strain belonged to ST49; emm22.0 strain belonged to ST46; 94.1% (16/17) strains carried macrolide-resistance gene ermB.None carried macrolide-resistance genes mefA and ermRT.None carried superantigen speA gene.100.0% (17/17 cases) carried superantigen speC gene. Conclusions emm12.0 (ST36) strain was the most common type of GAS causing the children tonsillitis in Yangfangdian community Haidian District, Beijing between 2011 and 2013.These strains mainly carry macrolide-resistance ermB and superantigen speC gene. Key words: Tonsillitis; Streptococcus pyogenes; Child

Characteristics of major virulence of Group A β-hemolytic streptococcus isolated from children

Objective To study the prevalence of superantigens, deoxy ribonuclease(DNase) genes and fibronectin-binding protein encoding (FBP) genes of Group A Streptococci(GAS) isolated from children, and to analyze its relationship with clinical infections and predominant emm type. Methods A total of 112 strains of GAS were collected from three Children's Hospitals during the period from 2008 to 2012, including 72 strains from patients and 40 strains from asymptomatic carriers.Emm, superantigens(speA, speC, speH, speI, speG, speJ, ssa, smeZ, speL, speM, speK and speF), DNase genes (sda, sdn, spd1, spd3 and spd4), phospholipase A2 gene and FBP genes (prtFl、prtF2、fba) were amplified by PCR, and emm was further typed by DNA sequencing. Results A total 7 types were identified, including emm1, emm12, emm22, emm4, emm77, emm86, and stG485.The most common emm type was emm12, which accounted for 68.8% of all isolates in this study.The emm type distribution of the pathogens was accorded with the carrier strains.The prevalence of 12 superantigens, including speA, speC, speF, speG, speH, speI, speJ, speK, speL, speM, ssa, smeZ were 13.4%, 95.5%, 85.7%, 74.1%, 63.4%, 63.4%, 14.3%, 0.9%, 0.9%, 0.9%, 74.1% and 93.8%, respectively.The prevalence of 5 DNase genes, including sda, sdn, spd1, spd3, spd4, was 66.96%, 12.5%, 94.64%, 27.68%, 0.89%, respectively.No sla gene was detected.The prevalence of fibronectin-binding protein, including prtF1, prtF2, fba, was 69.6%, 79.5%, 30.4%, respectively.The carriage rate of speJ, spd3 from invasive or noninvasive infections was higher than that from asymptomatic carriers, however, the positive rate of ssa, speF, speG, prtF1, prtF2 and prtF1/prtF2 was lower than that of asymptomatic carriers.The prevalence of speH, speI, speG, sda, spd1, prtF1, prtF2, prtF1/prtF2 from the emm12 isolates was higher than that from non-emm12 isolates, whereas speA, speJ, sdn, spd3 and fba were more common in non-emm12 isolates. Conclusions Emm12 is the prevalent genotype among S. pyogenes strains isolated from children, followed by emm1 and emm12, which is irrelevant to resources; Strains isolated from infected children and from asymptomatic carriers have different distribution characteristics of virulence genes; The prevalence of emm12 may be associated with the high carrier rate of the certain virulence gene. Key words: Streptococcus pyogenes; Virulence factors; Emm typing

Five New Spathidiids (Ciliophora: Haptoria) from Caribbean Tank Bromeliads

There is a widespread belief that spathidiids have few morphological features. In contrast, we show a rich morphological diversity in five new species discovered in tank bromeliads from the Caribbean, using live observation; protargol impregnation; morphometry; scanning electron microscopy; and resting cyst morphology, demonstrating lepidosomes (organic scales) for the first time in spathidiid haptoria. Arcuospathidium bromelicola nov. spec. is very similar to the previously described A. muscorum but its resting cyst has conspicuous, pillar-shaped lepidosomes on the surface. Protospathidium lepidosomatum nov. spec. is very similar to the previously described P. muscicola but has outstanding, nipple-shaped (vs. conical) lepidosomes on the cyst surface. Spathidium bromeliophilum nov. spec., whose ontogenesis is highly similar to that of S. turgitorum, differs from similar species by the body length: width ratio, the number of ciliary rows, the shape of the oral bulge, and details of the ciliary pattern. Spathidium bromelicola nov. spec. is similar to S. muscicola (extrusomes bluntly fusiform and 4 mu m long vs. rod-shaped and > 15 mu m long) and S. stammeri (resting cyst wall smooth vs. spinous). Spathidium wolfi nov. spec. has an anterior and a posterior contractile vacuole. It differs from the supposed nearest relative, S. faurefremieti, by body size (on average 135 x 25 mu m vs. 240 x 17 mu m), the shape of the macronucleus (moniliform vs. a long, tortuous strand), and the total number of dorsal brush bristles (on average 47 vs. 72). The bent oral bulge of Arcuospathidium bromelicola and Spathidium bromeliophilum as well as the occurrence of lepidosomes on the cyst surface of Arcuospathidium bromelicola and Protospathidium lepidosomatum are discussed.

Molecular epidemiological research of superantigen genes of group A Streptococci isolated from children in Chaoyang district, Beijing, 2011

Objective To describe the molecular epidemiological characteristics of superantigens of group A Streptococcus (GAS) in Chaoyang district, Beijing, 2011, and to analyze the relationship between superantigen genes, emm types and the diseases caused by GAS. Methods The 71 GASs were isolated from the throat swabs of hospita-lized children with scarlet fever, pharyngitis or tonsillitis.The presence of 8 known superantigens were determined in all the strains by PCR, including the speA, speI, ssa, speC, speJ, speG, speH and SMEZ.The emm genes were amplified from each strain and sequenced to determine the emm types using PCR.Based on the chi-square test, the relationships between superantigen genes, emm types and the diseases caused by GAS were analyzed. Results Eight superantigen genes, including speC, SMEZ, ssa, speG, speH, speI, speA and speJ were found in 100.0%(71/71 cases), 100.0%(71/71 cases), 97.2%(69/71 cases), 95.8%(68/71 cases), 80.3%(57/71 cases), 80.3%(57/71 cases), 15.5%(11/71 cases)and 12.7%(9/71 cases)of all GAS isolates.The most prevalent emm type was emm12.0 (62 isolates), followed by emm1.0 (7 isolates), emm22.0 (1 isolate) and emm75.0 (1 isolate). The speA and speJ gene were detected primarily in emm1.0 strains(all P<0.05), while speI and speH genes were in emm12.0 strains(all P<0.05). The distribution of speH and speI was correlated with the diseases caused by the GAS(all P<0.05). The distribution of diseases caused by the GAS in the emm12.0 and emm1.0 strains had no significant difference. Conclusions The detection rates of the superantigen genes are associated with the region where the GAS are isolated.Conserved superantigen profiles for different emm types, especially the presence or absence of bacteriophage encoded superantigens, support the contention that surface M proteins selectively influence the entry of bacteriophages, including those encoding superantigens.The research also indicates that the presence of superantigen genes is more important for the disease caused by the GAS than emm types. Key words: Group A Streptococcus; Superantigen gene; Emm type

Studies on three diverse Frontonia species (Ciliophora, Peniculida), with brief notes on 14 marine or brackish congeners

Living observation and silver impregnation methods were used to investigate the morphology and infraciliature of three Fronto- nia ciliates (F. guangdongensis spec. nov., F. ocularis Bullington, 1939 and F. schaefferi Bullington, 1939) that were isolated from coastal waters of the South China Sea. Frontonia guangdongensis spec. nov. may be recognized by the combination of the following characteristics: cells about 160 × 35 μm in vivo; elongated body with right margin depressed in anterior third; length to width ratio 4:1 to 5:1; three or four vestibular and four or fi ve postoral kineties; peniculi 1 and 2 each with four rows of kineties, peniculus 3 with two rows; one contractile vacuole in mid-body region right of cell median; brackish water habitat. A key based on morphological data for fourteen marine or brack- ish water Frontonia species found in China is also provided. In addition, the small subunit (SSU) rDNA gene was sequenced for F. ocularis Bullington, 1939. Our phylogenetic analyses support the contention that the genus Frontonia is not monophyletic.

Taxonomic studies on three marine ciliates from China, including a new species (Ciliophora, Cyrtophorida)

The present work investigates the living morphology and infraciliature of three marine cyrtophorid ciliates, which were isolated from Qingdao, China. Compared with its congeners, Orthotrochilia sinica spec. nov. can be distinguished by a combination of features: body slender and elliptical in outline, size about 50–60 × 20–25 μm in vivo, 18–21 somatic kineties, the length of the left perioral kinety treble the length of the right one, two ventrally located contractile vacuoles on the right side, and 25–32 nematodesmal rods. Based on current observations and the previous description, the diagnosis of Trochilioides tenuis (Deroux, 1976) Chen et al. 2011 is improved: cell size 30–40 × 20–35 μm in vivo, oval shaped in outline; consistently three right kineties, four left kineties and seven postoral kineties; a single contractile vacuole; marine habitat. A second species of Trochilioides, T. recta (Kahl, 1923) Chen et al. 2011 is re-described based on a Chinese population. Furthermore, a key to the identification of species of the genus Trochilioides whose infraciliature data are available is supplied, and Chlamydonyx trivialis (Fenchel, 1965) comb. nov. [basionym: Trochilioides trivialis Fenchel, 1965] is suggested.

(Eds.). Colonial grievances, justice and reconciliation [spec. iss.

(Eds.). Colonial grievances, justice and reconciliation [spec. iss.

Redefinition and Reassignment of the 18-cirri Genera Hemigastrostyla, Oxytricha, Urosomoida, and Actinotricha (Ciliophora, Hypotricha), and Description of One New Genus and Two New Species

The morphology, the infraciliature, and two stages of physiological reorganization of Hemigastrostyla elongata spec. nov., isolated from the Yellow Sea near Qingdao (China), are described. The new species differs from the type H. stenocephala, inter alia, by the length of the dorsal bristles and the position of the pretransverse ventral cirri; from H. enigmatica by the number of caudal cirri; and from H. para-enigmatica spec. nov. - established for the H. enigmatica populations from the Yellow Sea - by the arrangement of the postoral ventral cirri and the cortical granulation. A key to the Hemigastrostyla species and some other 18-cirri hypotrichs is provided. Hemigastrostyla szaboi is fixed as type species of Heterooxytricha gen. nov. because the type population lacks the extra cirri which are characteristic for Hemigastrostyla. In addition, Oxytricha geleii is assigned to this new genus, whose species have, like many oxytrichids, 18 frontal-ventraltransverse cirri, but a Gonostomum dorsal kinety pattern. The old, large, and difficult genus Oxytricha is briefly reviewed, mainly on the basis of the dorsal kinety pattern. Very likely, only species with the Oxytricha pattern belong to this genus. Oxytricha marcili and O. pseudofurcata, which have the Urosomoida kinety pattern (i.e. kinety 3 fragmentation lacking), are transferred to Urosomoida which is, inter alia, defined by a more or less distinctly reduced number of ventral and transverse cirri. Some other Oxytricha species with this kinety pattern (O. islandica, O. lanceolata, O. pseudosimilis, O. setigera) are not transferred to Urosomoida, but preliminarily classified as incertae sedis in Oxytricha, because they have the full set of 18 cirri. The available molecular data on O. lanceolata indicate that this type of 18-cirri hypotrichs likely needs a genus of its own because O. lanceolata does not cluster with O. granulifera, type of this genus. The marine Actinotricha saltans, classified for a very long time in Oxytricha, seems to be a non-dorsomarginalian hypotrich according to molecular data, justifying the reactivation of the old genus Actinotricha. Oxytricha shii has a multiple dorsal kinety 3 fragmentation, three dorsomarginal rows, and the undulating membranes arranged in the Cyrtohymena pattern, strongly indicating that it is a member of the subgenus Cyrtohymena (Cyrtohymenides). This brief review is a further step to unravel the complicated systematics of the old, but still little-known genus Oxytricha. The following new combinations are made in this paper: Cyrtohymena (Cyrtohymenides) shii (Shi et al., 1997) comb. nov.; Heterooxytricha szaboi (Wilbert and Song, 2005) comb. nov.; Heterooxytricha geleii (Wilbert, 1986) comb. nov.; Urosomoida marcili (Paiva and Silva-Neto, 2004) comb. nov.; Urosomoida pseudofurcata (Berger, 1999) comb. nov.

Reflections on a Week in Oxford

When Bob asked me a couple of days ago to give this talk, he said it should be “pithy and wise.” When I spoke to Aris the next day he said it should be “informal and funny.” Then Elizabeth spoke to me and said it would be great if it was “controversial and challenging.” I mentioned to Aris just before dinner that I had put a talk together, and he said “Oh, you've written a talk—I thought it would be something more spontaneous!” Faced with an obviously impossible spec, I did what any reasonable programmer would do and rewrote the spec myself. So what I'm going to talk about this evening is a reflection on my week in Oxford.

Morphological Studies on Five Trachelocercids from the Yellow Sea coast of China, with a Description of Tracheloraphis huangi spec. nov. (Ciliophora, Karyorelictea)

The morphology and infraciliature of five trachelocercid ciliates: Tracheloraphis huang i spec. nov., T. colubis (Kahl, 1933) comb. nov., T. phoenicopterus (Cohn, 1866) Dragesco, 1960, T. oligostriata (Raikov, 1962) Foissner and Dragesco, 1996 and Trachelocerca incaudata Kahl, 1933, isolated from the intertidal zone of a beach at Qingdao, China, were studied in live and protargol impregnated specimens. Tracheloraphis huangi spec. nov. was distinguished from its congeners mainly by its single nuclear group composed of 25–30 round macronuclei and 29–37 somatic kineties. The poorly known T. colubis is redescribed including for the first time information on its infraciliature. An improved diagnosis is also provided. In light of its infraciliature, T. colubis is transferred to Tracheloraphis from the genus Trachelocerca . Additional data on other three species is supplied based on the Qingdao populations.

The Diversity of Scuticociliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora): A Report on Eight Marine Forms Found in Coastal Waters of China, with a Description of One New Species

Eight marine scuticociliates, Pseudoplatynematum denticulatum (Kahl, 1933) nov. comb., Protocyclidium sinica nov. spec., Histiobalantium marinum Kahl, 1933, Porpostoma notata Mobius, 1888, Philaster hiatti Thompson, 1969, Parauronema longum Song, 1995, Uronemella parafilificum Gong et al., 2007, and Paranophrys magna Borror, 1972, collected from Chinese coastal waters, were investigated using live observations and silver impregnation methods. Investigations of a Chinese population of Platynematum denticulatum (Kahl, 1933) reveal that it has a highly strengthened pellicle and distinct spines and thus corresponds well with the definition of Pseudoplatynematum Bock, 1952. A new combination, Pseudoplatynematum denticulatum (Kahl, 1933) nov. comb., is therefore proposed and an improved species diagnosis is supplied. Protocyclidium sinica nov. spec. is characterized by: small body size with buccal field approximately 60% of body length; extrusomes present; 13 or 14 somatic kineties; somatic kinety 1 comprising approximately 24 densely arranged kinetids; somatic kinety n shortened posteriorly; single macronucleus. Additional information is documented on the morphology of six other species of scuticociliates based on the China populations.

A fine-grained runtime power/performance optimization method for processors with adaptive pipeline depth

Recently, a method known as pipeline stage unification (PSU) has been proposed to alleviate the increasing energy consumption problem in modern microprocessors. PSU achieves a high energy efficiency by employing a changeable pipeline depth and its working scheme is eligible for a fine control method. In this paper, we propose a dynamic method to study fine-grained program interval behaviors based on some easy-to-get runtime processor metrics. Using this method to determine the proper PSU configurations during the program execution, we are able to achieve an averaged 13.5% energydelay-product (EDP) reduction for SPEC CPU2000 integer benchmarks, compared to the baseline processor. This value is only 0.14% larger than the theoretically idealized controlling. Our hardware synthesis result indicates that the proposed method can largely decrease the hardware overhead in both area and delay costs, as compared to a previous program study method which is based on working set signatures.

SPEC MPI2007an application benchmark suite for parallel systems using MPI

The SPEC High-Performance Group has developed the benchmark suite SPEC MPI2007 and its run rules over the last few years. The purpose of the SPEC MPI2007 benchmark and its run rules is to further t...

OCTAGON, A NEW SPONTANEOUS MUTATION OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Drosophila melanogaster eye is an intricate neurocrystalline lattice of ap proximately 800 cylindrical units known as ommatidia, that radi ate from the optic lobe of the brain and end at the surface were they appear as an array of hexagonal lenses of facet. Minor perturbations in ommatidial development can be easi ly detected, making it a very sensitive system for functional genomic screenings (Brennan and Moses, 2000). After four years of regular survey, we identified a mong individuals from vestigial strain a new mutation affecting eye shape and color; it wa s subsequently named octagon. In the octagon strain w + allele expression is not detectable in all ommatidi a and is specifically abolished at the eye boundaries. The eyes are also rough, reduced in size and have a drop‐like shape. Our primary goal was to find in which chromosome resides this spontaneous mutation. We used genetic analyses techniques and carried out crosses between females from octagon strain and males from different balancer lines spec ifically designed for the first (X), second and third chromosomes. In octagon line the specific abolishment of the eye’s ommatid ial array is probably connected to a recessive mutation located in the third chromosome. Flies with phenotypic defects such as small eyes or occas ionally missing eyes, along with the loss of microchaete near the dorsal midline and a defect ive thorax, were isolated in an experiment concerning ectopic expression of osa gene (Collins et al ., 1999). Octagon mutants occasionally manifest other abnormal phenotypes such as irregular pattern of abdominal cuticle, thoracic defects, dev elopmental abnormalities of legs; these mutations could not be stabilized (they are probabl e somatic mutations), but their resemblance with the mutations generated by osa misexpression is striking. Hence, one hypothesis a bout octagon mutation is that it could appear in vivo as a consequence of an abnormal spontaneous genetic interaction between osa and brahma genes from the trithorax complex. Another possible explanation is that the gene for pigment d istribution is specifically inhibited by a defective diffusible factor that normally acts with in D. melanogaster eye boundaries. Octagon strain could be an excellent tool for the detectio n of fundamental mechanisms that underline defects of fruit fly sight, as well as their interference with homeotic genes.

Eine neue Art der Gattung Macremphytus MACGILLIVRAY, 1908. (Hymenoptera, Tenthredinidae)

The key of the nearctic Macremphytus-species is given and Macremphytus albitegularis spec. nov. is described as new.

Three-dimensional radiocarbon modeling: A tool to assess the last glacial ocean circulation and radiocarbon chronologies

PAGES News • Vol.16 • No 2 • April 2008 Sp ec ia l S ec tio n: D at aM od el C om pa ri so n during the LIA. Again, these changes can be attributed to shifts of the SHWs. Additionally, lacustrine investigations (Haberzettl, 2006; Stine and Stine, 1990) indicate lower temperatures and wetter conditions in Patagonia during the LIA. Pollen-based results point to vegetation-type changes from dry to wet species. The latter can also be attributed to shifts in the SHWs (Mayr et al., 2007). Further, the analysis of glaciers and moraines in Patagonia show extensive glaciation during the LIA (Harrison et al., 2006, Koch and Kilian, 2005, Thompson et al., 1986). Therefore, the comparison between proxy-based reconstructions and results from the GCM simulation show that both, model and proxy data indicate a climatically anomalous period between the mid16th and 19th century over southern South America. This suppors the hypothesis that the LIA, as indicated in proxy based and modeled northern hemispheric temperatures, is also reflected in hydrological variables over parts of the southern hemisphere. References Harrison, S., Glasser, N., Winchester, V., Haresign, E., Warren, C. and Jansson, K., 2006: A glacial lake outburst flood associated with recent mountain glacier retreat, Patagonian Andes, The Holocene, 16(4): 611-620. Lara, A. and Villalba, R., 1993: A 3620-Year Temperature Record From Fitzroya cupressoides Tree Ring in Southern South America, Science, 260: 104-1106. Mayr, C. et al., 2007: Holocene variability of the Southern Hemisphere westerlies in Argentiniean Patagonia (52°S), Quaternary Science Reviews, 26: 579-584. von Storch, H., Zorita, E., Jones, J., Dimitriev, Y., Gonzalez-Rouco, F. and Tett, S., 2004: Reconstructing past climate from noisy data, Science, 306: 679-682. Wagner, S., Widmann, M., Jones, J., Haberzettl, T., Lucke, A., Mayr, C., Ohlendorf, C., Schabitz, F. and Zolitschka, B., 2007: Transient simulations, empirical reconstructions and forcing mechanisms for the Mid-Holocene hydrological climate in Southern Patagonia, Climate Dynamics, 29: 333-355.

AGRICULTURAL LAND AND BANK CREDITS

When granting credits, commercial banks can take a gricultural land as guarantee. Because the three components of agricultural farm a re land, work and capital, we consider that evaluation of agricultural land is of extreme importance when accepting it as a guarantee for the solicited credits for agricultural use. Agr icultural customers prefer to offer land as guarantee for mortgage instead of personal houses o r apartments for real estate mortgage. In Romania after 1990, commercial banks have been reticent in accepting agricultural land as guarantee upon granting credits for agriculture, du e to difficulties that have appeared in the process of applying legislation in this domain. Thi s attitude of the banks has also been motivated by the following reasons (Harangus, 2004): - lack of a functional land market; - non-existence, up to 1998, of a complete and cohere nt legal framework concerning selling and owning agricultural land; - late procurement of title deeds by agricultural lan d owners; - difficulty in establishing the value of agricultura l land that could be taken into consideration as credit guarantee; - difficulty of the bank to establish the value of th e land of a debtor because of the pre-emption right upon alienation of any of the agr icultural lands . In 1998, Law nr. 54/1998 regarding juridi cal circulation of land established a juridical framework for the land market. The difficulty in ev aluating the land of agricultural lands consisted also in the evolution of the number of ho useholds and their small surfaces. Evaluation of agricultural land is an extremely dif ficult task as the evaluator has to take into account and to analyse information regarding indica tors specific for a particular cultural area (Mertz, Wadley & Christensen, 2005). Such information can be obtained from the centres for agricultural consultancy and from agricultural spec ialists. Because of the complexity of methodologies for evaluation of agricultural land, namely the six new standard methods of evaluation of agricultural lands, the banks have di fficulties in establishing the value of the collaterals that can be considered as guarantees fo r credits granted to agricultural customers. REFERENCES

Non-additive geometry

We develop a language that makes the analogy between geometry and arithmetic more transparent. In this language there exists a base field $\mathbb{F}$ , ‘the field with one element’; there is a fully faithful functor from commutative rings to $\mathbb{F}$ -rings; there is the notion of the $\mathbb{F}$ -ring of integers of a real or complex prime of a number field $K$ analogous to the $p$ -adic integers, and there is a compactification of $\operatorname{Spec}O_K$ ; there is a notion of tensor product of $\mathbb{F}$ -rings giving the product of $\mathbb{F}$ -schemes; in particular there is the arithmetical surface $\operatorname{Spec} O_K\times\operatorname{Spec} O_K$ , the product taken over $\mathbb{F}$ .

Acupuncture for Major Depression: No Benefit?

Complementary and alternative medicine treatments are increasingly used by patients across the U.S. Several studies suggest that depressed individuals are particularly likely to turn to such treatments. In this randomized, controlled trial, researchers compared specific acupuncture (SPEC; using specific acupuncture points to treat each individual’s depressive symptoms), nonspecific acupuncture (NSPEC; using valid but nonspecific acupuncture points), and a wait-list condition in 151 moderately ill adults …

Spectral Analysis of the Supreme Court

(2006). Spectral Analysis of the Supreme Court. Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 79, No. 5, pp. 340-346.