There has been considerable debate about profiling personality pathology when assessing and treating male perpetrators of domestic violence (DV). This study used the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI-III) to explore the severity and diversity of male perpetrator personality pathology and response bias in a group of DV perpetrators being assessed for a treatment program (N = 177). We analyzed the sample using the interpretive guidelines of White and Gondolf (2000); 54% of profiles in our sample fell into categories indicative of a personality disorder, and 37% of the total sample provided profiles indicative of severe personality pathology. These percentages were higher than White and Gondolf's findings but lower than some others. There was considerable diversity of personality pathology as well, supporting the contention that there is no one male DV perpetrator profile. Because of debate concerning the manner of responding on self-report instruments, we paid special attention to response biases in our sample. Twenty-six percent of our sample exaggerated (12%) or minimized (14%) their responses. We also found that response biases on the MCMI-III Modifying Indices were related to self-reported severity of psychopathology. This suggests that assessing severity of psychopathology is inadequate without reference to such biases.

Individuals administered the MCMI-III (Millon, Davis,& Millon, 1997) as part of a custody evaluation have shown elevations on the Desirability (Y), Histrionic (4), Narcissistic (5), and Compulsive (7) scales and low scores on the Debasement (Z) scale (McCann et al., 2001) and all other personality and clinical scales. In this experiment, we instructed participants (N = 138) to look like good parents (fake good) or to answer honestly. The fake-good group scored higher than the honest group on Y, 4, 5, and 7 and lower on scale Z and most other scales. We plotted the mean scale scores of our fake-good group against those of McCann et al.'s custody litigants and found the 2 profiles to be very closely matched and very different from our answer-honestly group's profile. These findings raise the possibility that scale elevations on 4, 5, and 7 by custody litigants are artifacts of faking good rather than pathology in those areas. Assessors should interpret this profile cautiously in custody evaluations.

It is unclear whether symptom validity test (SVT) failure in neuropsychological and psychiatric domains overlaps. Records of 105 patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation, who completed the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), Reliable Digit Span (RDS), and Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III), were examined. TOMM and RDS scores were uncorrelated with MCMI-III symptom validity indices and factor analysis revealed two distinct factors for neuropsychological and psychiatric SVTs. Only 3.5% of the sample failed SVTs in both domains, 22.6% solely failed the neuropsychological SVT, and 6.1% solely failed the psychiatric SVT. The results support a dissociation between neuropsychological malingering and exaggeration of psychiatric symptoms in a neuropsychological setting.

Malingering test accuracy is increasingly a major issue in psychology and law. Integrating results across measures might offset limitations of a single test, but the practical benefits of using several tests depend on the extent to which they misclassify the same individuals. Data from 66 evaluatees were used to assess the degree of overlap and consistency of classification among several commonly used malingering instruments. Although correlative data indicated that measures were highly redundant even across symptom domains, classification accuracy analyses revealed that findings based on conjunctions of these scales may not overlap to the degree that the correlations might suggest.

In this study, we examined the relationship of the MCMI-III (Millon, Davis,& Millon, 1997; Millon, Millon,& Davis, 1994) modifier indices and personality disorder scales to the validity and basic clinical scales of the MMPI-2 (Butcher, Dahlstrom, Graham, Tellegen,& Kaemmer, 1989). The MCMI-III modifier indices highly correlated with all of the MMPI-2 validity scales except for the F(p) scale. Similarly, the MCMI-III personality disorder scales strongly covaried with the MMPI-2 validity and clinical scales except for the F(p) and 5 (Mf) scales. A factor analysis with Promax rotation revealed substantial relationships between the MMPI-2 and MCMI-III. However, the MMPI-2 F(p) scale did not tend to correlate with MMPI-2 or MCMI-III scales, indicating that F(p) scale variance was largely independent of other scales. The results suggest that clinicians should consider the interrelationship between personality characteristics and dissimulation.

This article (a) describes and illustrates the nonredundant and clinically important information that may be obtained from 5 diagnostic validity statistics (DVSs): incremental validities of positive and negative test diagnoses, Cohen's kappas, Cohen's effect sizes, and areas under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and (b) determines values of these DVSs for 24 Million Multiaxial Clinical Inventory III scales from results reported in 1994 and 1997 validity studies. The DVSs for the 1997 study (T. Millon, R. Davis,& C. Millon, 1997) were often more than 3 times larger than corresponding DVSs for the 1994 study (T. Millon, 1994). The author suggests these large differences could reflect not only effects of factors that caused underestimation of validities by DVSs of the 1994 study, but also effects of factors that may have caused overestimation of validities by DVSs of the 1997 study.

An approximately 350-nucleotide residue RNA replicates in association with tobacco ringspot virus (TobRV) and becomes encapsidated in TobRV coat protein. Here we show by electrophoretic analyses that this small satellite RNA, RNA S, is the most abundant and most rapidly migrating of a series of at least ten encapsidated RNAs with RNA S sequences. A largely double-stranded RNA fraction from infected tissue, when denatured, gave a similar series of up to 12 zones that contained both RNA S sequences and sequences that hybridized to RNA S. Analysis of the mobilities suggests a weight increment between each zone corresponding approximately to the size of RNA S. Thus the more slowly migrating zones appear to contain covalent multimers of RNA S or, for tissue RNA, both multimers of RNA S and multimers of the complement of RNA S sequences. Neither terminal structure of TobRV genomic RNAs was found in the satellite RNA. RNA S lacks detectable polyadenylate or oligoadenylate. Covalently linked protein was not detected in RNA S or its more slowly migrating forms, and satellite RNA biological activity, unlike that of the TobRV RNAs, was not protease sensitive. Polynucleotide kinase catalyzed the phosphorylation of satellite RNAs, indicating free 5'-hydroxyl groups.

Previously, a protein has been reported to be associated with the RNAs of cowpea mosaic virus. Here we present evidence for genome-associated proteins of other comoviruses: squash mosaic virus, Echtes Ackerbohnemosaik-Virus, and another strain of cowpea mosaic virus. Although the proteins and protein-oligonucleotide complexes derived from the RNAs of these viruses showed similar patterns of electrophoretic mobility, two-dimensional chromatograms of their tryptic peptides were distinct. Chromatograms of peptides from preparations of cowpea mosaic virus that were isolated from two hosts were very similar, indicating that the genome-associated protein may be virus specified. Upon digestion with ribonuclease T1, RNAs from the viruses gave rise to a distribution of large oligonucleotides that is consistent with the presence of polyriboadenylate.

Antigenic patterns of BHV-1 isolates from Argentina, Chile and Brazil were examined with a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) generated with BHV-1.1 and BHV-1.3 strains. Among the Argentinian isolates, 7/8 neurological cases showed BHV-1.3 characteristics and 10/12 non-neurological cases from all countries exhibited BHV-1.1/2 pattern. All viral isolates from genital infections showed BHV-1.1/2 characteristics. Chilean isolates exhibited BHV-1.1/2 pattern and one among 3 Brazilian viruses was defined as belonging to BHV-1.3. Results of the characterization using MAbs, were confirmed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of representative isolates. A total correlation was observed between the reactivity with MAbs and the SDS-polyacrylamide analysis. Based on the data presented, it is concluded that the type 1.3, most frequently obtained from the brain of neurological cases, is present in Argentina and Brazil and coexists with BHV-1.1/2.

Bovine macrophage and non-macrophage cultures were infected with either virulent or attenuated canine distemper virus (CDV). Macrophages were resistant to virulent CDV; however, they supported growth of the attenuated virus. Non-macrophage cultures supported growth of both virus variants in a persistent, non-lytic manner. Major differences between these two systems of in vitro viral persistence were seen in the host cell spectrum of progeny virus and the outcome of cocultivation experiments with Vero cells. Results obtained indicate that in vivo virulence of CDV is not linked to maturation in a macrophage, but rather, propagation in a given cell culture system results in selective growth of virulent or attenuated viral mutants. It is further concluded that in vivo virulence and in vitro growth potential of CDV are disparate properties of the virion.

Virulence of canine distemper virus (CDV) adapted to in vitro growth in Vero or bovine cells was determined by inoculation into CDV-susceptible neonatal gnotobiotic dogs. When compared with dogs given virulent R252-CDV, Vero R252-CDV was attenuated at passage level 14. In contrast, dogs inoculated with bovine R252-CDV at the same passage level experienced rapid fatal neurological disease. Virulence was not linked to ability to infect or replicate in canine pulmonary macrophage cultures. Retention of virulence by bovine R252-CDV is unique and worthy of further study.

Plasma samples from gnotobiotic pups infected with R252 canine distemper virus at 7 days of age contained free infective virus when titrated on canine pulmonary macrophage cultures. Virus was detected 7 days after infection and increased thereafter. Platelets may be involved in leukocyte-free viremia. The present study indicated that the method of dissemination of the virus in vivo involves plasma and canine distemper virus-infected leukocytes.

An age-related canine distemper virus-associated cardiomyopathy characterized by multifocal myocardial degeneration necrosis and mineralization with minimal inflammatory cell response was found in gnotobiotic Beagle pups. Of the 30 dogs infected experimentally at 5 to 7 days of age with virulent R252 strain of canine distemper virus, 11 had gross or microscopic cardiac involvement as early as 16 days post-infection. The 25 dogs similarly infected at 10 to 21 days of age, the uninfected age-matched controls, and pups infected at 5 to 7 days of age with avirulent R252 canine distemper virus had no cardiac lesions. Although the lesions are attributed to a direct viral effect, they occur against a background of other canine distemper virus-related changes including immunosuppression, anemia and encephalomyelitis. All these factors may have a modifying role in the development of this age dependent susceptibility to virus-associated myocardial necrosis.

The present study used criterion groups validation to determine the ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) modifier indices to detect malingering in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients with TBI who met criteria for malingered neurocognitive dysfunction (MND) were compared to those who showed no indications of malingering. Data were collected from 108 TBI patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation. Base rate (BR) scores were used for MCMI-III modifier indices: Disclosure, Desirability, and Debasement. Malingering classification was based on the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson (1999) criteria for MND. TBI patients were placed in one of three groups: MND (n = 55), not-MND (n = 26), or Indeterminate (n = 26).The not-MND group had lower modifier index scores than the MND group. At scores associated with a 4% false-positive (FP) error rate, sensitivity was 47% for Disclosure, 51% for Desirability, and 55% for Debasement. Examination of joint classification analysis demonstrated 54% sensitivity at cutoffs associated with 0% FP error rate. Results suggested that scores from all MCMI-III modifier indices are useful for identifying intentional symptom exaggeration in TBI. Debasement was the most sensitive of the three indices. Clinical implications are discussed.

The objective of this research was to determine the sensitivity and specificity of a commercially available computer-aided detection (CAD) system for detection of lung nodule on posterior-anterior (PA) chest radiograph in a varied patient population who are referred to computed tomographic angiogram (CTA) of the chest as a reference standard. Patients who had a PA chest radiograph with concomitant CTA of the chest were included in this retrospective study. The PA chest radiograph was analyzed by a CAD device, and results were recorded. A qualitative assessment of the CAD results was performed using a 5-point Likert scale. The CTA was then reviewed to determine if there were correlative nodules. The presence of a correlative nodule between 0.5 cm and 1.5 cm was considered a positive result. The baseline sensitivity of the system was determined to be 0.707 (95% CI = 0.52-0.86), with a specificity of 0.50 (95% CI = 0.38-0.76). Positive predictive value was 0.30 (95% CI = 0.24-0.49), with a negative predictive value of 0.858 (95% CI = 0.82-0.95), and accuracy of 0.555 (95% CI = 0.40-0.66). When excluding nodules that were qualitatively determined by a thoracic radiologist to be false positives, the specificity was 0.781 (95% CI = 0.764-0.839), the positive predictive value was 0.564 (95% CI = 0.491-0.654), the negative predictive value was 0.829 (95% CI = 0.819-0.878), and the accuracy was 0.737 (95% CI = 0.721-0.801). The use of CAD for lung nodule detection on chest radiograph, when used in conjunction with an experienced radiologist, has a very good sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy.

Common rates employed in classificatory testing are the true positive rate (TPR), false positive rate (FPR), positive predictive power (PPP), and negative predictive power (NPP). FPR and TPR are estimated from research samples representing populations to be distinguished by classificatory testing. PPP and NPP are used by clinicians to classify test takers into populations. PPP and NPP depend on the base rate (BR) of population members in the clinician's sample. The authors introduce the test validation summary (TVS) as a means to report within a single graph the FPR and TPR and the ranges of PPP and NPP across all potential sample BRs for any chosen cut score. The authors investigate how the TVS has other applications, including the estimation of local BR for the condition of interest and the estimation of standard errors for FPR and TPR when estimated across multiple independent validation studies of the classificatory test.

The present study used a known-groups design to examine the accuracy of the Portland Digit Recognition Test (PDRT) in the detection of malingering in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Data were derived from 262 TBI patients who were classified as not malingering, possibly malingering, and malingering based on the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson (1999) criteria. The original PDRT cutoffs detected between 20 and 50% of malingering TBI patients with a false positive error rate of 5% or less. When the false positive error rate was held at 5%, across all item sets, sensitivity was as high as 70%. The results show that the original PDRT cutoffs are conservative and that higher scores detect more MND patients without causing the false positive error rate to become unacceptably high. Clinical application and future research needs are discussed.

I updated 2 previously developed randomness scales for the Jesness Inventory (Jesness, 1983)-the Jesness Variable Response Inconsistency scale (J-VRIN) and the Variable Response scale (J-VR)-for the Jesness Inventory-Revised (Jesness-R; Jesness, 2003). I investigated efficacies for those 2 scales and a 3rd randomness scale described in the Jesness-R manual, the Randomness scale (J-RR), by comparing 76 protocols of delinquents, ages 13 to 17 years, screened for probable randomness with a matched-pair MMPI-Adolescent (Butcher et al., 1992) or a Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (Millon, Millon,& Davis, 1993), with 100 all-random protocols, and 40 partially random protocols. J-VRIN and J-VR in conjunction successfully detected 98% of the all-random protocols and 83% of the partially random protocols. J-RR successfully detected 19% and 10%, respectively. I report predictive power and overall effectiveness for base rates of .10 and .20.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of the Rarely Missed Index (RMI) to detect cognitive exaggeration in 78 nonlitigant patients (i.e., Mixed Clinical group) and 158 personal injury litigants (i.e., 20 Suspected Exaggerators, 12 Borderline Exaggerators, 126 Genuine Responders). The base rate for probable malingered neurocognitive dysfunction in the litigant sample was 12.7%. The false positive error rate of the RMI in the Genuine Responder and Mixed Clinical group ranged from 5.4% to 8.6%. Positive RMI scores were found in 25% and 41.7% of the Suspected Exaggerator and Borderline Exaggerator groups respectively. The clinical utility of the RMI to identify Suspected Exaggerators versus individuals in the Genuine Responder and Mixed Clinical groups revealed low sensitivity (sensitivity =.25), very high specificity (range =.91 to .95), moderate positive predictive power (range =.50 to .71), and moderate to high negative predictive power (range =.68 to .83). These results do not support the use of the RMI as a reliable predictor of cognitive exaggeration.

The operating characteristics and base rate effects of tests and indexes in the Halstead Russell Neuropsychological Evaluation System-Revised (HRNES-R) were obtained to determine its accuracy in assessing brain damage. Since operating characteristics and base rate problems are not well understood they were discussed in some detail. The operating characteristics of Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive Predictive Power, Negative Predictive Power and Overall Predictive Power along with base rate effects were obtained for 2 HRNES-R indexes, 10 index tests and 3 other Halstead Reitan Battery (HRB) tests. The indexes were found to be as accurate as the most accurate indexes from other HRB studies. The accuracy of the various tests were high but varied according to their function and design.

This study investigated the ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory--Third Edition (MCMI-III) to discriminate students malingering psychopathology (n = 106) from bona fide psychiatric inpatients (n = 202). Students were randomly assigned to a fake-bad or an honest-responding condition. Analyses investigated the ability of the modifier indices to discriminate fake-bad group participants from the psychiatric inpatients. Scale X raw cutoff score > 178 yielded a positive predictive power (PPP) of 0.0, a negative predictive power (NPP) of 63.1, and a hit rate of 63.1%. Optimal cutoff scores were developed. Scale X Base Rate (BR)> 84 provided a PPP of 55.6, an NPP of 72.1, and a hit rate of 65.2%. Scale Y BR < 26 yielded a PPP of 52.5 and a hit rate of 64.8%. Receiver operating characteristic analyses found that Scale X best classified malingerers. Overall, the MCMI-III modifier indices were of minimal clinical utility in distinguishing college student malingerers from bona fide psychiatric inpatients.

The effectiveness of the MCMI-III Validity scale, Scale X, and the Clinical Personality Pattern scales to detect random responding is put to the test. The binomial expansion and Monte Carlo techniques were used. If the examiner is willing to interpret tests of questionable validity, then 50% of the random responders will not be detected. Scale X and the Clinical Personality Pattern scales were useless in detecting random responders.

This study assessed the effectiveness of Greiffenstein's Reliable Digit Span (RDS) score for the detection of malingered neurocognitive dysfunction. Participants were 54 traumatic brain injury patients referred for neuropsychological evaluation. Twenty-four met the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson criteria for at least probable malingered neurocognitive dysfunction. The control group was composed of 30 patients without external incentive and who thus did not meet the Slick criteria. All patients completed the digit span test as part of either the WAIS-R or WAIS-III. The RDS scores were calculated, and sensitivity, specificity, and predictive power were examined for several cutoffs. Classification accuracy for the RDS was excellent. Issues related to the clinical application of this technique are discussed.