Structural, relative, and absolute agreement between parents' and adolescent inpatients' reports of adolescent functional impairment

This study assessed agreement between parents' and adolescent inpatients' scores on caretaker and self-report versions of the Functional Impairment Scale for Children and Adolescents (FISCA and FISCA-SR). Self-report data describing impairment in eight domains were collected from 375 inpatients (M age = 15.0 years, 55% females), with parent data available for 233 (62%). Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated structural congruence between a hypothesized, three-factor model, based on a prior study of the parent FISCA, and an observed model, based on responses to the FISCA-SR (GFI = .95). Correlations (measuring relative agreement) and paired comparisons of means (assessing absolute agreement) generally identified stronger agreement in "public" than "private" domains of impairment, and greater relative than absolute agreement in covert, antisocial domains.

Determinants of thymotropism in Kaplan radiation leukemia virus and nucleotide sequence of its envelope region

Radiation leukemia viruses (RadLVs) are a group of murine leukemia viruses which are induced by radiation and cause T-cell leukemia. Viral clones isolated from the BL/VL3 lymphoid cell line derived from a thymoma show variable tropism and leukemogenic potential. We have constructed chimeric viruses by in vitro recombination between two viruses, a RadLV that is thymotropic and an endogenous ecotropic virus that is nonthymotropic. We show here that, in contrast to thymotropism determinants identified previously, which lie in the long terminal repeat (LTR), it is the envelope region that is responsible for the thymotropism of BL/VL3 RadLV. The nonthymotropic virus which we have rendered thymotropic by transfer of the env region of RadLV in the present study has been shown previously to become thymotropic when the LTR of another thymotropic virus is inserted in its genome. Thus, the LTR and envelope gene may be involved in complementary action to lead to thymotropism.

Direct continuous measurements of thermal expansion coefficients of liquids and solids using flow microcalorimetry

A differential heat capacity flow microcalorimeter is used to monitor in a continuous mode the thermal expansion of a sample during a programmed temperature scan. The sample may consist of liquids, suspensions, or bulk solids in a confining liquid and the typical temperature scanning rate is of the order of 1 K/min. The technique has a precision better than 1% and a detection limit of 10(-6) ml s(-1). In contrast to conventional dilatometers, this technique offers variable sensitivity and is not limited by the magnitude of the total volume change during the experiment. Various expansibility data obtained in the temperature range 10-55 degrees C are reported for several systems, namely water, benzene, carbon tetrachloride, and aqueous solutions of sodium chloride. The volume changes for the thermal transition of Teflon and the phase separation of 2-butoxyethanol/water mixtures further illustrate the possibilities of this new technique.