Clinical efficacy and safety of zoledronic acid in prostate and breast cancer

The anti-estrogen treatment for hormone-sensitive breast cancer and the androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer can lead to the development of osteoporosis and bone fractures. Metastases associated with prostate and breast cancer can also occur in bone. Bisphosphonates are used in these types of bone dysfunction. Zoledronic acid is the most potent bisphosphonate. In osteoporosis, zoledronic acid inhibits bone reabsorption and increases bone mineral density for at least a year after intravenous administration. The efficacy and safety of zoledronic acid in osteoporosis secondary to hormone-sensitive cancers (prostate and breast), and in the bone metastases associated with these cancers are reviewed

Norms, Social Fitness and the Construction of Intersubjectivity - A Study of the Norm Entrepreneurship of the World Bank and the Diffusion of the Norm of Good Governance

This study deals with the process of norm diffusion in international politics. It primarily analyses and explains the diffusion of the norm of ’good governance’ initiated by the World Bank in 1989. In so doing the study delivers an analysis of the norm entrepreneurship of the World Bank in this specific case of norm diffusion. Moreover, the analysis reflects on the capacity of the World Bank as a norm entrepreneur from a more general point of view. An analytical framework that mainly draws on social constructivist literature on norm evolution is developed and applied to the empirical case at hand. The analysis is divided into two parts. The first section focuses on normative structures and the second section concentrates on the norm entrepreneur. The last concluding part wraps up the analysis of the empirical case by explaining how the first and the second part of the inquiry relate. The present study suggests that social fitness is the key analytical concept to understand the process of norm diffusion in the case at hand. The analysis shows how the social fitness of the norm of ‘good governance’ and the social fitness of the World Bank as an international organisation are fundamental to understand the diffusion of the norm of ‘good governance’. The theoretical conception of norm diffusion delivered in the present study suggests that international organisations can be influential and powerful norm entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the study incorporates a theoretical conception of power into the analysis of norm diffusion and shows how power in different forms is a fundamental element to understand and analyse the social construction of intersubjectivity

An Assessment of Chinese Outward Foreign Direct Investments as an Innovation Strategy

Chinese outward foreign direct investments (OFDI) have increased dramatically in the 2000s. Strategic asset seeking OFDI to developed economies have become a more prevalent characteristic of overseas investments by Chinese enterprises. This form of OFDI is being used as an instrument to access strategic assets such as knowledge and technology. The thesis attempts to assess the success of Chinese outgoing foreign direct investments as an innovation strategy. This is done by analyzing China’s preconditions for increasing its innovativeness through OFDI. The assessment is conducted through the development of an analytical framework that draws on the innovation system literature. This framework is structured around the concepts of absorption and diffusion and focuses on the Chinese innovation system’s capacity to absorb and diffuse knowledge and technologies acquired through OFDI. This analysis shows that China has good preconditions to absorb foreign technology and knowledge by having a developed technical human capital base. Furthermore, China’s ability to diffuse foreign knowledge and technology is facilitated by interactions between the business sector and public research institutions. However, a weak intellectual property rights regime, a poorly functioning judicial system and low levels of labor mobility impede China’s diffusive capacity. Furthermore, a general shortage of management skills hampers China’s absorptive capabilities. High costs associated with conducting OFDI are recognized to constitute a major stumbling block for using OFDI as an innovation strategy. The assessment further suggests that a revision of the active use of industrial policies, and a reformation of the federalist system could enhance OFDI as an innovation strategy

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network: A Model for Public-Private Cooperation Against Graft

Firms operating in global markets often face systemic corruption issues, such as frequent demands for operational facilitation payments (“grease payments”), sometimes paired with extortion and shakedowns. Many anti-bribery regimes prohibit such payments and the OECD has decried the “corrosive effect of small facilitation payments, particularly on sustainable development and the rule of law.” However, any firm that sets an internal policy against such payments risks being snubbed by government officials in certain markets where facilitation payments are expected. Scholars call this a “collective action problem,” in which the incentives motivating individual firms or government agents toward selfish behavior are misaligned with the best policies for the whole sector

The Maritime Anti-Corruption Network: A Model for Public-Private Cooperation Against Graft

Firms operating in global markets often face systemic corruption issues, such as frequent demands for operational facilitation payments (“grease payments”), sometimes paired with extortion and shakedowns. Many anti-bribery regimes prohibit such payments and the OECD has decried the “corrosive effect of small facilitation payments, particularly on sustainable development and the rule of law.” However, any firm that sets an internal policy against such payments risks being snubbed by government officials in certain markets where facilitation payments are expected. Scholars call this a “collective action problem,” in which the incentives motivating individual firms or government agents toward selfish behavior are misaligned with the best policies for the whole sector