Statistical comparisons between different groups of specimens are presented in Table 2. Two sample t-tests of the arcsin-transformed percent change among limb elements in subadult and adult ostriches had varied outcomes.
Differences in geographical distribution were also observed between the two groups of specimens.
t tests comparing metabolite levels between the three groups of specimens; normal breast, estrogen receptor (ER) + cancers, and ER- cancers.
If there is a clonal relationship between the two groups of specimens, the occurrence of an aberration in the primary would alter the expectation of its presence in the LNM, thus McNemar's test was applied to evaluate the significance of the individual aberrations.
A similar analysis was conducted between groups of primary breast cancer specimens and axillary lymph node metastases.
We identified a significant positive correlation between CL1 and CL2 of both groups of specimens (specimens with D. galeata mtDNA: r = 0.4244, P < 0.0064; specimens with D. dentifera mtDNA: r = 0.6759, P < 0.0001; Figure 4A), and a significant negative correlation between BL and CL2 of specimens with D. galeata mtDNA (r = -0.571, P < 0.0002) [see Additional file 3].
Allele frequency of RFLP pattern C2 was high in both groups of specimens in Japan, while those of RFLP patterns B and C1 were quite different between the two groups: specimens with D. galeata mtDNA (B: 23.4%, C1: 0.8%, C2: 64.5%); specimens with D. dentifera mtDNA (B: 13.4%, C1: 9.4%, C2: 73.5%).
Meanwhile, there was a significant negative correlation between the UCS and the FER from the same group of specimens.
This is reflected in publications of studies that generally consist of comparisons between a disease group of specimen(s) and a control group(s) leading to the discovery of biomarker candidates that seem promising but that need to be further pursued to determine their relevance.
