The Roussos-Stout (1996) multidimensionality-based DIF analysis framework emphasizes a substantively-informed selection of items for both the matching and studied subtest based on the dimensions suspected of underlying the test data. By contrast, standard DIF practice encourages an exploratory search for matching subtest items based on purely statistical criteria, such as a failure to display D...

Differential item functioning (DIF) indicates the violation of the invariance assumption for instance in models based on item response theory (IRT). For item-wise DIF analysis using IRT, a common metric for the item parameters of the groups that are to be compared (e.g. for the reference and the focal group) is necessary. In the Rasch model, therefore, the same linear restriction is imposed in ...

A previous report described an intracellular factor (differentiation-inducing factor I, or DIF-I) that seems to play a role in erythroid differentiation in mouse erythroleukemia (MEL) cells. We have detected another erythroid-inducing factor in cell-free extracts from dimethyl sulfoxide- or hexamethylenebis(acetamide)-treated MEL cells, which acts synergistically with DIF-I. The partially purif...

Background The aim of this study was to test the General Oral Health Assessment Index Questionnaire (GOHAI) items for differential item functioning (DIF) according to demographic characteristics (gender, age) and mental health status (schizophrenic disorders versus general population) using Rasch analysis. Methods This is a cross-sectional study using aggregated baseline data from a validatio...

Survival of all animals depends on effective protection against infection. In Drosophila, opportunistic infection kills larvae if they lack the Rel/NF-kappaB proteins Dorsal and Dif. We have used tissue-specific expression of Dif and Dorsal to reveal that these Rel proteins act in three different tissues to defend larvae from infection. Dif and Dorsal act in circulating blood cells, where they ...

Expression of the gene encoding the antifungal peptide Drosomycin in Drosophila adults is controlled by the Toll signaling pathway. The Rel proteins Dorsal and DIF (Dorsal-related immunity factor) are possible candidates for the transactivating protein in the Toll pathway that directly regulates the drosomycin gene. We have examined the requirement of Dorsal and DIF for drosomycin expression in...

The history of blood pressure (BP) waveform analysis is almost as undulatory as the waveform itself. The development of the sphygmograph in the mid-19th century led to a relatively brief, albeit intense, interest in the interpretation of the BP waveform. This was perhaps more an art than a science, and interest in the sphygmograph and the waveform declined after the introduction of the cuff-bas...

Over the past years the percentage of female entrepreneurs has increased, yet it is still far below of that for males. Although various attempts have been made to explain differences in mens' and women's entrepreneurial attitudes and intentions, the extent to which those differences are due to self-report biases has not been yet considered. The present study utilized Differential Item Functioni...

BACKGROUND Little is known about cross-language measurement equivalence of the job content questionnaire (JCQ) PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to assess the extent of cross-language differential item functioning (DIF) of the 27 JCQ items in six languages (French, Dutch, Belgian-French, Belgian-Dutch (Flemish), Italian, and Swedish) from six European research centers and to test whether...

The use of longitudinal data for studying cross-time changes is built on the key assumption that properties (e.g., slopes and intercepts) of the repeatedly-used items remain unchanged over time. True changes in the latent variables are indistinguishable from item-level changes when items exhibit differential item functioning (DIF) across time points. To date, no research has extended the modifi...