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Several Significant Differences (several + significant_difference)
Selected AbstractsWeapons used by juveniles and adult offenders in sexual homicides: An empirical analysis of 29 years of US dataJOURNAL OF INVESTIGATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND OFFENDER PROFILING, Issue 3 2008Heng Choon (Oliver) Chan Abstract Most studies of sexual murderers consist of small samples made up of primarily adult offenders. Accordingly, little is known about similarities and differences between juvenile (under 18) and adult (over 18) sexual murderers. This article is the first to utilise a large sample (n = 3845) that spans almost three decades (1976,2004) of Supplemental Homicide Reports data to analyse juvenile (n = 452) and adult (n = 3393) sexual murderers, particularly in terms of weapons used to kill different victim types. This study underscores the importance of analyses of specific types of murderers. In comparison with homicide arrestees, those arrested for sexual murder were more likely to be male, less likely to be black, and about as likely to be under 18. Consistent with previous literature, sexual murderers in this study were more likely to use personal and close contact weapons than firearms and other more distant methods of killing. Several significant differences emerged in weapons selected to kill different victim types between juvenile and adult offenders. Findings with respect to weapon selection by offender age groups are consistent with Heide's physical strength hypothesis. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Non-random patterns in the Yellowstone ecosystem: inferences from mammalian body size, order and biogeographical affinityGLOBAL ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Judsen E. Bruzgul ABSTRACT Aim, Our aim was to investigate how the environment, species characteristics and historical factors at the subcontinental scale affect patterns of diversity. We used the assembly of the Yellowstone biota over the past 10,000 years as a natural experiment for investigating the processes that generate a modern non-volant mammal species pool. Location, The data represent species from throughout North America with special attention to the non-volant mammals of Yellowstone National Park, USA. Methods, We used digitized range maps to determine biogeographical affinity for all non-volant mammals in the Rocky Mountains, Deserts and Great Plains biogeographical regions of North America. This biogeographical affinity, along with taxonomic order and body size class, was used to test whether non-random patterns exist in the assemblage of Yellowstone non-volant mammals. These characteristics were also used to investigate the strength of non-random processes, such as habitat or taxon filtering, on particular groups of species or individual species. Results, Our results indicated that the Yellowstone fauna is composed of a non-random subset of mammals from specific body size classes and with particular biogeographical affinities. Analyses by taxonomic order found significantly more Carnivora from the Rocky Mountains region and significantly fewer Rodentia from the Deserts region than expected from random assembly. Analyses using body size classes revealed deviations from expectations, including several significant differences between the frequency distribution of regional body sizes and the distribution of those species found within Yellowstone. Main conclusions, Our novel approach explores processes affecting species pool assembly in the Yellowstone region and elsewhere, and particularly identifies unique properties of species that may contribute to non-random assembly. Focusing on the mechanisms generating diversity, not just current diversity patterns, will assist the design of conservation strategies given future environmental change scenarios. [source] Differences in the quantitative and qualitative performance of a calcium-specific food frequency questionnaire across age and sexJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 5 2006F. Magkos Abstract Objective, To examine putative differences in the quantitative and qualitative performance of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for assessing dietary calcium intake across age and sex in the Greek population. Materials and methods, A total of 351 children (189 girls and 162 boys, aged 11.9 ± 1.2 years), 260 adults (192 women and 68 men, aged 29.6 ± 2.7 years) and 390 elderly individuals (317 women and 73 men, aged 68.6 ± 4.6 years) were recruited. Estimates of calcium intake from the 30-item FFQ were compared with those from a multi-pass 24-h recall. Results, The FFQ significantly underestimated mean calcium intake in all age groups and both sexes (P < 0.05). The magnitude of underestimation, however, was greater in adults (,207 ± 344 mg day,1), less in the elderly (,137 ± 310 mg day,1) and even less in children (,74 ± 340 mg day,1; P < 0.025), with no differences between sexes. Calcium intakes by the two methods were positively and significantly correlated in all study groups (r = 0.536,0.739, P < 0.001). Cohen's weighted kappa statistic ranged from 0.39 to 0.57, indicating moderate agreement between the two methods. The 95% limits of agreement were comparably wide across age and sex (boys: ,762, 585 mg day,1; girls: ,747, 624 mg day,1; adult men: ,972, 505 mg day,1; adult women: ,867, 412 mg day,1; elderly men: ,858, 486 mg day,1; elderly women: ,732, 480 mg day,1). A significant association between age, sex and the classification of individuals as true/false positive/negative was detected (P < 0.001), implying that sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the FFQ were not independent of the age and sex of the participants. Gross misclassification by the FFQ ranged from 0% to 4.2%, whereas 75.3,87.3% of the subjects were correctly classified. In this respect, the FFQ performed similarly across the study groups (P = 0.065). Without controlling for age, however, gross misclassification appeared to be higher in females than in males (3.2% versus 0.7%, respectively, P = 0.048). Conclusions, There may be several significant differences in the quantitative and qualitative performance of a calcium-specific FFQ across age and sex. This should be taken into account when attempting to evaluate dietary calcium intake in men and women or in different age groups, as some of the differences between study groups may actually be due to the different response of these groups to the FFQ. [source] Putative heterotopic ossification progenitor cells derived from traumatized muscle,JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 12 2009Wesley M. Jackson Abstract Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a frequent complication following combat-related trauma, but the pathogenesis of traumatic HO is poorly understood. Building on our recent identification of mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs) in traumatically injured muscle, the goal of this study was to evaluate the osteogenic potential of the MPCs in order to assess the role of these cells in HO formation. Compared to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a well-characterized population of osteoprogenitor cells, the MPCs exhibited several significant differences during osteogenic differentiation and in the expression of genes related to osteogenesis. Upon osteogenic induction, MPCs showed increased alkaline phosphatase activity, production of a mineralized matrix, and up-regulated expression of the osteoblast-associated genes CBFA1 and alkaline phosphatase. However, MPCs did not appear to reach terminal differentiation as the expression of osteocalcin was not substantially up-regulated. With the exception of a few genes, the osteogenic gene expression profile of traumatized muscle-derived MPCs was comparable to that of the MSCs after osteogenic induction. These findings indicate that traumatized muscle-derived MPCs have the potential to function as osteoprogenitor cells when exposed to the appropriate biochemical environment and are the putative osteoprogenitor cells that initiate ectopic bone formation in HO. © 2009 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 27:1645,1651, 2009 [source] Differential Adaptations in GABAergic and Glutamatergic Systems During Ethanol Withdrawal in Male and Female RatsALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2005P E. Alele Background: There are significant and consistent sex differences in recovery from ethanol withdrawal in our animal model of ethanol dependence. We have also observed significant and varied sex differences in subunit protein levels of ,-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) and the N-metheyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptors occurring with ethanol dependence and withdrawal. Considering the major role of these two systems as targets of ethanol, we wanted to explore additional possible mechanisms underlying changes in GABAergic and glutamatergic responses after chronic ethanol exposure. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to examine GABAergic- and glutamatergic-associated proteins at three days of ethanol withdrawal, when female rats appear to have largely recovered but male rats still display robust signs of withdrawal. Methods: Male and female rats were fed 6% ethanol in a nutritionally complete liquid diet for 14 days according to a pair-fed design; withdrawal was initiated by replacement of the diet with chow. At three days of withdrawal, the cerebral cortex and hippocampus were dissected for use in Western blot analysis. The paired design was maintained throughout all experimental procedures. Results: At three days of ethanol withdrawal, we found region-specific and sex-selective alterations in levels of GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase, GABA synthetic enzyme), GABA and glutamate transporters, and the synapse-associated proteins HSP70, PSD-95, and synaptophysin. There were also several significant differences in transporter function at this time that varied between males and females. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings show differential adaptations of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission between female and male rats that are associated with withdrawal recovery. This suggests that selective withdrawal-induced neuroadaptations in regulation of these systems' activities underlie, at least in part, sex differences in withdrawal recovery between male and female rats. [source] Who Are Ethnic Entrepreneurs?JOURNAL OF SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2002A Study of Entrepreneursapos; Ethnic Involvement, Business Characteristics This article proposes that the term "ethnic entrepreneur" should be defined by the levels of personal involvement of the entrepreneur in the ethnic community instead of reported ethnic grouping. It hypothesizes that significant differences in personal and business characteristics will surface between the most community-involved and least community-involved ethnic entrepreneurs. T-tests were done on 112 Asian and Latino entrepreneurs split into top and bottom quartiles on the personal involvement scale. Results showed several significant differences between the two groups on variables relating to the entrepreneurs' background characteristics, business-related goals, cultural values, business strategies, and business performance. [source] | |||||||||||||