Applying Dickey-Fuller time series techniques in tandem with intuitive plot-displays, we examine recent trends in girls' violence and the gender gap as reported in four major sources of longitudinal data on youth violence. These sources are arrest statistics of the Uniform Crime Reports,victimization data of the National Crime Victimization Survey (where the victim identifies sex of offender) and self-reported violent behavior of Monitoring the Future and National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. We find that the rise in girls' violence over the past one to two decades as counted in police arrest data from the Uniform Crime Reports is not borne out in unofficial longitudinal sources. Several net-widening policy shifts have apparently escalated girls' arrest-proneness: first, stretching definitions of violence to include more minor incidents that girls in relative terms are more likely to commit; second, increased policing of violence between intimates and in private settings (for example, home, school) where girls' violence is more widespread; and, third, less tolerant family and societal attitudes toward juvenile females. These developments reflect both a growing intolerance

We extend the scarce research on corporate crime to include gender by developing and testing a gendered focal concerns and crime opportunities framework that predicts minimal and marginal female involvement in corporate criminal networks. Lacking centralized information, we developed a rich database covering 83 corporate frauds involving 436 defendants. We extracted information from indictments and secondary sources on corporate conspiracy networks (e.g., co-conspirator roles, company positions, and distribution of profit). Findings support the gendered paradigm. Typically, women were not part of conspiracy groups. When women were involved, they had more minor roles and made less profit than their male co-conspirators. Two main pathways defined female involvement: relational (close personal relationship with a main male co-conspirator) and utility (occupied a financial-gateway corporate position). Paralleling gendered labor market segmentation processes that limit and shape women’s entry into economic roles, sex segregation in corporate criminality is pervasive, suggesting only subtle shifts in gender socialization and women’s opportunities for significant white-collar crimes. Our findings do not comport with images of highly placed or powerful white-collar female criminals.

A B S T R A C T PurposeMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a relatively rare, potentially aggressive cutaneous malignancy. We examined the clinical and histologic features of primary MCC that may correlate with the probability of a positive sentinel lymph node (SLN). MethodsNinety-five patients with MCC who underwent SLN biopsy at the University of Michigan were identified. SLN biopsy was performed on 97 primary tumors, and an SLN was identified in 93 instances. These were reviewed for clinical and histologic features and associated SLN positivity. Univariate associations between these characteristics and a positive SLN were tested for by using either the 2 or the Fisher's exact test. A backward elimination algorithm was used to help create a best multiple variable model to explain a positive SLN. ResultsSLN positivity was significantly associated with the clinical size of the lesion, greatest horizontal histologic dimension, tumor thickness, mitotic rate, and histologic growth pattern. Two competing multivariate models were generated to predict a positive SLN. The histologic growth pattern was present in both models and combined with either tumor thickness or mitotic rate. ConclusionIncreasing clinical size, increasing tumor thickness, increasing mitotic rate, and infiltrative tumor growth pattern were significantly associated with a greater likelihood of a positive SLN. By using the growth pattern and tumor thickness model, no subgroup of patients was predicted to have a lower than 15% to 20% likelihood of a positive SLN. This suggests that all patients presenting with MCC without clinical evidence of regional lymph node disease should be considered for SLN biopsy.

Sentinel lymph node mapping with biopsy is a reliable technique to diagnose regional spread from head and neck cutaneous melanoma. This procedure can be performed in both neck and parotid nodal basins with safety and accuracy similar to non-head and neck sites.

The authors examine 1980 to 2003 trends in female-to-male interpersonal violence reported in Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) arrest statistics and National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) victimization data. Augmented Dickey-Fuller time-series techniques and intuitive plot displays show much overlap yet differences in each source's portrayal of trends in female violence levels and the gender gap. Both sources show little or no change in the gender gap for homicide and rape/sexual assault, whereas UCR police counts show a sharp rise in female-to-male arrests for criminal assault during the past one to two decades-but that rise is not borne out in NCVS counts. Net-widening policy shifts have apparently escalated the arrest proneness of females for "criminal assault" (e.g., policing physical attacks/threats of marginal seriousness that women in relative terms are more likely to commit); rather than women having become any more violent, official data increasingly mask differences in violent offending by men and women.