What's the difference between distinction and hairsplitter?

Distinction

Definition:

(n.) A marking off by visible signs; separation into parts; division.
(n.) The act of distinguishing or denoting the differences between objects, or the qualities by which one is known from others; exercise of discernment; discrimination.
(n.) That which distinguishes one thing from another; distinguishing quality; sharply defined difference; as, the distinction between real and apparent good.
(n.) Estimation of difference; regard to differences or distinguishing circumstance.
(n.) Conspicuous station; eminence; superiority; honorable estimation; as, a man of distinction.

Example Sentences:

(1) Phospholipid methylation in human EGMs is distinctly different from that in rat EGMs (Hirata and Axelrod 1980) in that the human activity is not Mg++-dependent, and apparent methyltransferase I activity is located in the external membrane surface.
(2) The populations of Asia-Oceania have some features of the class II RFLPs in common, which are distinctly different from Caucasoids.
(3) From the biochemical markers in follicular fluid, cyclic adenosine monophosphate has a distinct predictive value in regard to pregnancy in in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer cycles.
(4) Nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNAs for asparagine synthetase (AS) of Pisum sativum has uncovered two distinct AS mRNAs (AS1 and AS2) encoding polypeptides that are highly homologous to the human AS enzyme.
(5) Recognition of the distinctive morphology of MH and the performance of ancillary studies on cytologic preparations should facilitate the rapid diagnosis and early treatment of this aggressive disease.
(6) It has been found that the epidermal staining pattern for ICAM-1 in each of these diseases in distinctive and different in each disease.
(7) We identified four distinct clinical patterns in the 244 patients with true positive MAI infections: (a) pulmonary nodules ("tuberculomas") indistinguishable from pulmonary neoplasms (78 patients); (b) chronic bronchitis or bronchiectasis with sputum repeatedly positive for MAI or granulomas on biopsy (58 patients, virtually all older white women); (c) cavitary lung disease and scattered pulmonary nodules mimicking M. tuberculosis infection (12 patients); (d) diffuse pulmonary infiltrations in immunocompromised hosts, primarily patients with AIDS (96 patients).
(8) [125I]AaIT was shown to cross the midgut of Sarcophaga through a morphologically distinct segment of the midgut previously shown to be permeable to a cytotoxic, positively charged polypeptide of similar molecular weight.
(9) Three distinct G-proteins have been found in mammalian heart sarcolemma: Gi (alpha i = 40 kDa, beta = 36 kDa, and lambda less than 14 kDa), Gp (alpha p = 23 kDa, beta = 36 kDa, and lambda less than 14 kDa), and Gs (alpha s = 42 kDa).
(10) Two lectins, wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) and peanut agglutinin (PNA), were used to compare domains within the interphotoreceptor matrices (IPM) of the cat and monkey, two species where the morphological relationship between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptors is distinctly different.
(11) The second protein could represent either an allozymic form of the enzyme or the product of a distinct locus.
(12) Chromatographic separation revealed that the bulk (85%) of the mitogenic activity in SSV-transformed NRK cells was not due to p28v-sis but rather two distinct endothelial cell growth factors that eluted off heparin-Sepharose between 1 and 2 M NaCl.
(13) The shape of the nucleus changes from ovoid to a distinctive, radially splayed lobulated structure.
(14) Three distinct antigenic regions of bovine somatotropin (bST) were identified on the basis of the ability of a set of monoclonal antibodies to bind to proteolytic fragments and deletion variants of recombinant bST (rbST) in Western blot analyses.
(15) A rapid and simple method has been developed for the nondestructive distinction between aflatoxin B1 and the feed antioxidant, ethoxyquin.
(16) Each of the phospholipid classes displayed a distinctive fatty acid pattern which was the same in all fractions and in whole platelets.
(17) Two human B-cell differentiation antigens, Bp35 and Bp50, apparently play distinct roles as signal receptors in B-cell activation.
(18) The region is distinctive in that the sequence is absent from the homologous domain of the erythroid alpha chain and diverges from the normal internal repeat structure observed throughout other spectrins.
(19) Therefore, a mortality analysis of overall survival time alone may conceal important differences between the forces of mortality (hazard functions) associated with distinct states of active disease, for example pre-remission state and first relapse.
(20) Ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma has distinctly different clinical behavior compared to serous carcinoma and should be regarded as an aggressive epithelial histologic type.