Prevalence of hypercalcemia of malignancy among pediatric cancer patients in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink database

Susan Jick,1 Lin Li,1 Victor M Gastanaga,2 Alexander Liede,2 Rohini K Hernandez2 1Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University School of Public Health, Lexington, MA, USA; 2Center for Observational Research, Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks and South San Francisco, CA, USA Background: The reported proportion of cancer patients who experience hypercalcemia of malignancy (HCM) is low, particularly in the pediatric population, ranging between <1% and 5%. HCM can be observed with any type of tumor in children and occurs most commonly with leukemia. While HCM is a potentially fatal condition, the prevalence of HCM is not well understood in pediatric cancer patients. Methods: Using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink, we identified pediatric cancer patients with recorded corrected serum calcium (CSC) from 2003 through 2014. Hypercalcemic patients (CSC ≥10.8 mg/dL) were classified into 4 CSC levels. We estimated the annual prevalence of HCM using Byar’s method. Results: Among 517 pediatric cancer patients, leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors were the most frequent cancer types. The prevalence of HCM overall (grade 1 or higher) ranged from 0.24% to 0.81% between 2003 and 2014. There were too few cases to compare prevalence by type of cancer. Conclusion: We provide the first systematic analysis using a UK population-based data source to estimate the number of pediatric cancer patients affected with HCM by grade. Our findings showed that the prevalence of pediatric HCM was very low (0.24%–0.81%) over the 12-year study period, which is consistent with previous study of adult cancer patients in the UK (0.20%–0.67%). Keywords: hypercalcemia, pediatric, cancer, prevalence, Clinical Practice Research Datalin

Institutions and inflows of foreign direct investment: a fuzzy-set analysis

This study addresses the essential question of causal complexity and diversity related to the influence of institutions on the direct investments (FDI) of multinational enterprises. Using a relatively new methodological approach of fuzzy-set analysis, and 47 host countries from the period 1999 to 2003, the paper analyses how and why countries with different degrees of membership in different institutional constraints either attract or do not attract FDI. The findings show that institutional factors have diverse influences. Similar institutions may even be associated with different outcomes if different regional categories of countries are examined. Countries may neither be attractive nor unattractive owing to the presence or absence of a single institutional factor. Instead, the outcome usually results from a combination of institutional conditions. Moreover, there typically are several possible paths to a specific outcome. The study confirms some of the propositions of previous theory, but, most importantly, it explains why earlier research has provided conflicting conclusions related to institutional factors. The study also offers an approach for future international business research to apply fuzzy-set methods and develop mid-range theories. Journal of International Business Studies (2008) 39, 652–669. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400371

The effects of IMF programs on U.S. foreign direct investment in the developing world

IMF, PRGF, SBA, EFF, U.S. Foreign Direct Investment, Catalytic finance, Developing World, F33, F35, P16, P45,

Towards a theoretically based global foreign direct investment policy regime

This paper seeks to derive rational policies towards multinational enterprises (MNEs) from extant international business theory. It examines the impact of national institutions and policies on both inward and outward direct foreign investment. It adopts a theory-based perspective utilising internalisation, transaction cost and institutional approaches to the operations of MNEs. It contrasts the received policy process by which MNEs react to policy initiatives with a potential “direct” policy model whereby strategic decisions of MNEs embody policy goals. The paper suggests that transparent national policies with robust supranational monitoring are the best solution for world economic welfare