Type Of Persistence Research Articles

Innovation Persistence and Firm Growth: Do They Go Hand in Hand?

AbstractThis study empirically examines the relationship between persistence in innovation and firm growth in Spanish manufacturing firms during the period 2005–2016. We include a number of input and output indicators for innovation persistence (R&D, product and process innovation, and patent filings) and use the changes in firms’ annual sales as a measure of firm growth. Differences in how innovation persistence affects firm growth are also explored for the subsets of small and large firms. We employ conditioned quantile regression (CQR) models to see how innovation persistence affects firms located at different quantiles of the firm growth distribution and unconditional quantile regression (UQR) which allow us to compare similar firms in terms of their propensity to innovate on a persistent basis. Our findings are sensitive to the choice of econometric approach. Overall, results indicate that the type of innovation persistence does influence growth. Persistence in R&D activities does not play any relevant role whereas persistence in innovation outputs (product, process, and patents) is a driver for growth only in firms with medium-to-low sales growth rates.

P397 Advanced therapy persistence and need for dose optimisation in a cohort of Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients in Argentina: a real-world evidence multicenter study (REMAR study)

Abstract Background Treatment persistence, as well as time to dose optimisation, can be a proxy for a drug’s real-world therapeutic benefit. We sought to describe treatment persistence of biologics or small molecules in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients and need for optimisation in patients with IBD in Argentina and their potential predictors. Methods A retrospective cohort study involving 13 hospitals from Argentina was undertaken. Adult patients with a diagnosis of Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) who received therapy with a biologic or a small molecule were included. Initiation date was registered for every therapy each patient received; in addition, treatment finalization as well as need for optimisation were registered. Treatment persistence was defined as the time between treatment initiation and treatment finalization, or as time between treatment initiation and last follow-up if patient continued with the treatment. Time to optimisation was defined as the time between treatment initiation and treatment dose optimisation. In patients that received more than one type of advanced therapy, treatment persistence and need for optimisation was analyzed separately for each treatment received. Kaplan-Meier analysis as well as Cox regression model were used to determine predictors of treatment persistence and need for optimisation. Results A total of 403 patients were included; 55.28% had a diagnosis of UC, mean age was 44.57±16 and 47.71% were male. Median time of follow-up was 80 months [IQR 41-152]. Adalimumab was the most frequently used biologic as a first-line treatment for CD and UC (59.78% and 51.39%, respectively), whereas ustekinumab and vedolizumab were the most frequently used agents for CD and UC patients previously exposed to biologics, respectively (41.42% and 36.73%). Median treatment persistence duration was 68 months [IQR 22-146]. History of steroid-dependency [HR 2.87 (1.02-8.12)], CD [0.42 (0.22-0.78]), prior biologic exposure [HR 2.25 (1-5.06)], dose optimisation [HR 2.93 (1.36-6.33)] and need for systemic steroids 6 months from treatment initiation [HR 4.98 (1.57-15.75)] were significant predictors of shorter treatment persistence. Median time to optimisation was 34 months [IQR 9-132]. CD [0.81 (0.55-0.94)], moderate-to-severe endoscopic activity [HR 1.91 (1-3.95)], prior biologic exposure [HR 2.29 (1.27-4.14)] and biologic initiation after 2017 [2.06 (1.09-3.55)] were significant predictors of need for dose optimisation. Conclusion A considerable proportion of IBD patients required dose optimisation or treatment finalization. Lower treatment persistence and time for dose optimisation were observed in UC patients and other factors were identified.

672 Endoscopic Laser Pharyngeal Pouch Surgery: Is It Safe?

Abstract Aim Zenker diverticulum can cause significant dysphagia and surgery is the definitive management. NICE guidelines describe inadequate evidence on laser cricopharyngeal myotomy (CPM). This study aimed to assess the safety and efficacy of carbon dioxide laser and stapling CPM to treat Zenker diverticulum. Method Retrospective data was collected from patients who underwent endoscopic CPM at the Royal Berkshire Hospital between 2011 and 2021. Two cohorts were assigned: endoscopic laser (EL) or endoscopic stapling (ES). Primary outcomes evaluated safety. These were surgical complication rates, duration of inpatient stay, readmissions, barium swallow leak and considered case complexity (revision cases). The secondary outcomes, persistence or recurrence of symptoms evaluated efficacy. Results One-hundred and eight patients (mean [range] age 75 [38 – 95] yr, 71 (66%) men, 23 (21%) revision surgeries) underwent CPM. The EL (n = 76) cohort had two (2.63%) surgical complications (mucosal tear requiring no repair, mediastinitis from an oesophageal leak). The ES (n = 32) cohort had one (3.13%) surgical complication (mucosal tear requiring suture repair). The average duration of inpatient stay was 3.61 and 1.53 days for the EL and ES cohorts respectively. 65 patients (60%) underwent a post-operative barium swallow of which 2 (0.03%) patients, both from the EL cohort, had a leak. There were no readmissions. A chi-square test of independence showed no significant association between type of surgery and persistence [X2 (1) = 0.169, p = .681] or recurrence of symptoms [X2 (1) = 0.443, p = .506] Conclusions Treatment of pharyngeal pouches with endoscopic laser CPM is safe and efficacious.

Structural persistence as an explanatory factor in synchrony and diachrony*

AbstractIn this paper, we look at examples of linguistic change in which the structure associated with the original element can help us understand aspects of both the diachronic process and the synchronic outcome of change. We first consider a range of phenomena that have resisted formal analysis because they show mixed‐category behaviour. We argue that these elements have undergone changes that we would expect to lead to complete decategorialisation, but the synchronically odd behaviour arises because structural change that would be expected to take place, given what we know of decategorialisation, has failed to occur. We argue that these cases can usefully be thought of as instances of ‘structural persistence’, and that Plank's (1995) notion ofSystemstörung‘system disturbance’ offers a helpful way of looking at these cases. We then put this type of structural persistence alongside other types of change that have been identified in the literature as involving persistence at a structural level, and argue for a renewed focus on the role of structure in language change, including in instances of change that have a semantic component. We argue that the role played by structure is necessary to understand constraints on change, motivations for change, and synchronic mixed behaviour.

Détresse psychologique et sentiment de solitude : quels impacts du confinement lié à la Covid-19 dans la population française ?

The COVID-19 pandemic created a worldwide health crisis. This crisis resulted in an almost two-month lockdown in France — lockdown that has serious impacts on physical and mental health. This unprecedented situation resulted in an important reflection about the mental health of the persons experiencing this crisis. The aim of our study was to apprehend the emotional state of the persons experiencing this lockdown, taking into account day-to-day life and feelings of loneliness. In order to develop a good comprehension of the impact of this situation on mental health, we recruited 4689 persons through an online survey between March 17th and May 11th of 2020 in France. We used several psychometric tools that gave us access to various data, such as socio-biographical information, situational variables — place of living, work context, etc. — and psychological state — depressive symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, etc. This paper focuses mostly on the UCLA loneliness scale, and the French Canadian version of the Psychiatric Symptoms Index (PSI), which measures psychological distress, as well as depressive symptoms, anxiety and cognitive impairment. Results show a moderate psychological distress for 27.5% of our sample, with depressive symptomatology, irritability or cognitive impairment. There is also a high loneliness feeling in 21.8% of the sample. Psychological distress is explained by sociodemographic variables — such as gender and age — but also by situational information — type of housing and persistence of income — and the loneliness feeling. If this pandemic and this lockdown show a clear impact on the emotional life of the French population, these results need to be taken into account with a broader range of situational and psychological variables. These additional data would help us have a more thorough understanding of the underlying factors explaining this difficult experience of the crisis. This comprehension also needs to go further in time and think about the repercussions beyond the end of the lockdown, in order to observe the evolution of these emotions and the potential persistence of psychological distress.

Optimization and Interaction Analysis of Bacterial and Fungal Growth in the Presence of Benzo(A) Pyrene in Wastewater

In wastewater treatment plant, an aerobic approach is adopted in the system which utilize the ability of bacteria in the wastewater to reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and other organic pollutants. High molecular weight of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAHs) are type of organic persistence and insoluble pollutants which hard to be removed from wastewater by bacteria. Owing to the HMW-PAHs tolerant characteristic and abundancy of fungi in wastewater, the bacteria and fungi interaction is anticipated to degrade the HMW-PAHs in wastewater. Thus, this study is carried out as a preliminary study to understand the interaction by optimized the bacterial and fungal growth in the presence of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Bacteria and fungi used in this study were Sphingobacterium spiritovorum and Aspergillus brasiliensis ATCC 16404. The response surface methodology (RSM) in Design-Expert® Version 7.0.0 software was used to analysed two factors which are pH and temperature on the bacterial and fungal growth. The growth of bacteria and fungi in co-culture and existence of BaP also been studied. The optimization study showed the growth of S. spiritovorum and A. brasiliensis was optimized at pH 6.2, temperature of 32 °C, and pH 6.5 and temperature of 33 °C, respectively. Synergy interaction was observed in the co-culture condition and with the existence of BaP. The present study provides beneficial information about the bacteria and fungi interaction which has the potential to be applied in the wastewater treatment plant.

End-of-life predictive models: risk of prognostic persistence?

Machine learning techniques, applied in the palliative field, are able to define an increasingly accurate prognosis in patients with advanced neoplasms and to identify patients at greater risk of functional decline or short-term mortality. The improvement of predictive abilities can allow an enhancement of prognostic abilities and also a more accurate detection of the most complex needs of patients. Moreover, data, even scientific data, are not values, any intervention based on them must be endowed with meaning. Predictive models can therefore be useful but only as a complementary and above all optional tool for the doctor, one of the parameters to evaluate the usefulness in different specific situations. Otherwise, the risk is to add a new type of persistence, the prognostic one.

Adaptive event integration in the missing element task

Evidence for adaptive event integration has previously been provided using the Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) task. However, it is not straightforward to generalize this finding to other types of tasks that measure temporal integration, because integration in such tasks is known to vary, depending on the method that is used. This variability has been seen as an indication that integration may result from more than a single type of perceptual persistence, and that different integration tasks may not tap into same type of persistence. Therefore, we investigated whether adaptive control of integration in the RSVP task can be replicated using another technique for measuring temporal integration, which may rely more on low-level mechanisms, namely the dot-array integration or Missing Element Task (MET). As in the RSVP studies, stimulus speed expectancy was presently manipulated. The results indicated that integration performance in the MET was not subject to adaptive control. We argue that this discrepancy with previous RSVP studies can most likely be attributed to a specific difference in the type of persistence underlying task performance. Temporal integration in the MET might rely mostly on visible persistence, while for the RSVP task integration relies more on informational persistence. The present findings suggest that, contrary to informational persistence, visible persistence may not be susceptible to adaptive control.

Factors influencing inguinal hernia symptoms and preoperative evaluation of symptoms by patients: results of a prospective study including 1647 patients

BackgroundCurrent recommendations for hernia treatment suggest applying techniques aimed at reducing postoperative pain in patients experiencing intense preoperative pain. However, there is still no reliable stratification method of preoperative pain, its circumstances, intensity and frequency, and the current assessments of hernia symptoms are performed by means of a subjective evaluation. The aim of this work is to discuss preoperative pain before hernia repair and determine its nature depending on the type and length of hernia persistence and the patient’s age.Materials and methodsThe data from 1647 patients before inguinal hernia repairs (2010–2017) were registered prospectively in the National Hernia Repair Register (demographic data, pain score and influence on everyday activities).ResultsThe most common symptom upon admission was pain (949 patients at rest; 57.6% and 1561 at physical activity; 94.8%). A significant influence of hernia persistence on the pain occurrence and intensity was not observed between patients with hernia < 12-months (60.8%;VAS5.0) and > 5-years (58.3%;VAS5.4) (p = 0.068). The occurrence and intensity of pain was significantly higher patients < 40-years (63.7%;VAS5.4) than patients > 60-years (54.3%;VAS4.8) (p = 0.008).ConclusionsWhile pain at rest is not a significant problem, undertaking physical activities may intensify pain and increase the number of patients suffering from it. Preoperative assessment of pain may help determine the group of younger patients who could benefit the most from inguinal hernia repair. New indications for prompter admission for treatment should be planned in future studies of patients showing pain at rest for possible prevention of postoperative neuropathy.

Type and timing of maltreatment influence criminal persistence in sexually abusive adolescents.

The development of sexuality is a major goal in the normative course of puberty. However, some adolescents start and maintain sexually coercive behaviors. Maltreatment appears as a contributing factor in juvenile criminal persistence, although its role regarding reoffenses in juveniles convicted of sexual offenses (JSOs) is unclear. We examined time-dependent associations of maltreatment categories and subtypes with criminal persistence in JSOs. Files of 278 male JSOs (M = 14.64 years, SD = 1.58 years) were analyzed for experiences of emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual victimization, emotional neglect, and physical neglect. We found 3 subtypes reflecting severe maltreatment, neglectful experiences, and low maltreatment. Severe maltreatment proved to be a consistent predictor of nonsexual criminal persistence, whereas overall neglectful experiences were related to sexual criminal persistence. More specifically, physical neglect (including lack of parental supervision) appeared of major importance for criminal persistence. Results indicate that maltreatment is a contributing factor in criminal persistence in JSOs and emphasize the potential gain of applying family oriented interventions to reduce criminal persistence in JSOs. (PsycINFO Database Record

Supplemental Material for Type and Timing of Maltreatment Influence Criminal Persistence in Sexually Abusive Adolescents

Supplemental Material for Type and Timing of Maltreatment Influence Criminal Persistence in Sexually Abusive Adolescents

Persistence or Reinfection for Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Women: Cloudy Boundaries When it comes to Management?

Objective: To review current literature on the distinction between bacterial persistence or reinfection in recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTIs) in women and the resultant implications on evaluation and treatment. Methods: A systematic literature review focusing on studies of non-pregnant women with cystitis was conducted. Studies not in English, not in full-text, and relating to children, men, and pregnant women were excluded. Results: Between 1995 and 2012, 7 articles were identified from which the type of bacterial persistence/ reinfection status could be clearly established. While some study findings suggest that bacterial reinfection prevails in RUTI, others have concluded that bacterial persistence is quite frequent or dominates (33% to 82%). Recent data on evaluation and treatment also suggest a shift towards less need to distinguish between these two categories. Conclusions: While current RUTI management strategies hinge on delineating between bacterial persistence or reinfection, for women refractory to antibiotic therapy, one could argue that the boundary between the two groups may be irrelevant as optimal treatment may be the same regardless.Compared to simple urinary tract infections which are exceedingly common in women and relatively easy to treat, recurrent urinary tract infections (RUTIs) provoke treatment challenges, impact on quality of life, and substantial costs. Traditionally, RUTIs have been divided into two broad categories depending on urine culture findings: (1) Bacterial persistence refers to RUTIs caused by the same bacterial strain over and over again while (2) Bacterial reinfection implies a reinfection process from different bacterial strains. In this brief document, we reviewed the existing literature on the prevalence of these two forms of RUTI and briefly discussed the implications for their evaluation and treatment, while adding some newer information from our group and others. We will make the point that the boundaries between these 2 categories cansometimes be blurry and that their management may emerge as being similar in the end.

Economic impact profiling of CBRN events: focusing on biological incidents.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents, both caused accidentally by human error or natural/technological events and determined intentionally as criminal/malicious/terroristic acts, have consequences that could be differently characterized. In the last years many efforts to analyze the economic impact of terrorist threat have been carried out, while researches specifically concerning CBRN events have not been extensively undertaken. This paper in particular aims at proposing a methodological approach for studying macro-level economic impact profiles of biological incidents caused by weaponized and non-weaponized materials. The suggested approach investigates the economic consequences of biological incidents according to two main dimensions: type of large-scale effect and persistence of effect. Biological incident economic impacts are analyzed taking into account the persistence of effect during time as short-term impact (i.e. immediately after the incident), medium-term impact (i.e. by a month) and long-term impact (i.e. by years). The costs due to preventive countermeasure against biological threats (e.g. prevention, protection and preparedness expenses) are not taken into account. To this purpose, information on the key features of past biological incidents can be used as case studies to try to build impact profiles taking into account the proposed two main dimensions. Consequence management and effect mitigation of CBRN emergencies and disasters may benefit from an ex ante definition of the impact profiling related to this kind of incidents. The final goal of this paper is to define an approach to organize information on possible biological events according to their impact profile for supporting more effective and efficient first responders' prompt actions and policy makers' strategic decisions after the event occurrence.

A new oil-based formulation of Trichoderma asperellum for the biological control of cacao black pod disease caused by Phytophthora megakarya

In African cacao-producing countries, control of cacao black pod disease caused by Phytophthora megakarya is a priority. Introducing biological control agents as part of a P. megakarya control strategy is highly desirable, especially in a perspective of pesticide reduction. Trichoderma species are among the most used biological control agents. In Cameroon, Trichodermaasperellum formulated in wettable powder has produced positive effects against this disease. However, with this type of formulation, shelf-life and persistence of conidia on pods are limited. Our study therefore sought to develop a new T. asperellum formulation that would be more effective and better suited to the conditions of field application by small-scale producers in Cameroon. We selected a soybean oil-based oil dispersion, in which the half-life of the conidia reached 22.5weeks, versus 5weeks in aqueous suspension. Tested on detached pods, the formulation completely inhibited the development of the disease. When sprayed in the field on cacao clones highly sensitive to P. megakarya, the formulation resulted in 90% protection of treated pods after 1week, and 50% after 3.2weeks. The formulations exercised a measurable effect for up to 7weeks, versus 2weeks in the case of an aqueous conidial suspension and 5weeks for that of a conventional fungicide (Kocide). Trichodermaasperellum formulated in oil dispersion has therefore great potential for the control of cacao black pod disease with less recourse to synthetic fungicides. Moreover, this formulation is well adapted to the types of sprayers used by small-scale cacao producers in Cameroon.

Adipocere: What is known after over two centuries of research

This paper reviews over two centuries of research focusing on various issues relating to adipocere. Adipocere is a crumbly, soap-like postmortem product that forms from soft tissue in a variety of environments. The timing of the formation and degradation of adipocere depends largely on the environmental circumstances. Once formed, adipocere can persist for hundreds of years, acting as a preservative. In this way, some define it as a process of mummification. This type of persistence can be useful in a forensic context as it can preserve evidence. Sustained interest in adipocere prompted many investigations into the composition and conditions of formation. More recent investigations, aided by technological advances, build upon the knowledge gained from prior studies as well as delve into the chemical composition of adipocere. This in turn provides new information on detection and documentation of constituent substances.

Online persistence in higher education web-supported courses

This research consists of an empirical study of online persistence in Web-supported courses in higher education, using Data Mining techniques. Log files of 58 Moodle websites accompanying Tel Aviv University courses were drawn, recording the activity of 1189 students in 1897 course enrollments during the academic year 2008/9, and were analyzed with statistical procedures and the Decision Tree algorithm. This yielded five groups of students whose behavior throughout the semester was described: Low-extent Users, Late Users, Online Quitters, Accelerating Users, and Decelerating Users. Results suggest that 46% of the students either decelerated their online activity or totally quit on the other hand, 42% either accelerated their activity or utilized the course website only towards the end of the semester. Additional state-or-trait analysis showed that type of persistence of online activity might be explained by both personal and course characteristics.

Implications of dispersal and life history strategies for the persistence of Linyphiid spider populations

Linyphiid spiders have evolved the ability to disperse long distances by a process known as ballooning. It has been hypothesized that ballooning may allow populations to persist in the highly disturbed agricultural areas that the spiders prefer. In this study, I develop a stochastic population model to explore how the propensity for this type of long distance dispersal influences long term population persistence in a heterogeneous landscape where catastrophic mortality events are common. Analysis of this model indicates that although some dispersal does indeed decrease the probability of extinction of the population, the frequency of dispersal is only important in certain extremes. Instead, both the mean population birth and death rates, and the landscape composition, are much more important in determining the probability of extinction than the dispersal process. Thus, in order to develop effective conservation strategies for these spiders, better understanding of life history processes should be prioritized over an understanding of dispersal strategies.

International evidence on the efficacy of new‐Keynesian models of inflation persistence

AbstractWe take an agnostic view of the Phillips curve debate, and carry out an empirical investigation of the relative and absolute efficacy of Calvo sticky price (SP), sticky information (SI), and sticky price with indexation models (SPI), with emphasis on their ability to mimic inflationary dynamics. We look at evidence for a group of 13 OECD countries, and consider three alternative measures of inflationary pressure, including the output gap, labor share, and unemployment. We find that the SPI model is preferable to the Calvo SP and the SI models because it captures the type of strong inflationary persistence that has in the past characterized the economies in our sample. However, two caveats to this conclusion are that improvement in performance is driven mostly by lagged inflation and that the SPI model overemphasizes inflationary persistence. There appears to be room for improvement in all models in order to induce them to better ‘track’ inflation persistence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

International Evidence on the Efficacy of New-Keynesian Models of Inflation Persistence

In this paper we take an agnostic view of the Phillips curve debate, and carry out an empirical investigation of the relative and absolute efficacy of Calvo sticky price (SP), sticky information (SI), and sticky price with indexation models (SPI), with emphasis on their ability to mimic inflationary dynamics. In particular, we look at evidence for a group of 13 OECD countries, and we consider three alternative measures of inflationary pressure, including the output gap, labor share, and unemployment. We find that the Calvo SP and the SI models essentially perform no better than a strawman constant inflation model, when used to explain inflation persistence. Indeed, virtually all inflationary dynamics end up being captured by the residuals of the estimated versions of these models. We find that SPI model is preferable because it captures the type of strong inflationary persistence that has in the past characterized the economies of the countries in our sample. However, two caveats to this conclusion are that improvement in performance is driven mostly by the time series part of the model (i.e. lagged inflation) and that the SPI model overemphasizes inflationary persistence. Thus, there appears to be room for improvement via either modified versions of the above models, or via development of new models, that better track inflation persistence.

The Cretan type of nondeletional hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin in an Iranian family

Dear Editor, The increase of fetal hemoglobin (HbF), in adult life, is mainly due to large deletions within β-globin cluster in hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH) and δβ- thalassemia or in some cases of nondeletional HPFH (nd- HPFH) by mutations in promoter region of γ-globin genes [1-3]. Several nd-HPFH mutations have been reported; most of these mutations occur in transcription factor binding sites, creating new factor binding motifs or disrupting the existing ones [2]. The Cretan type of nd- HPFH (Aγ-158 C>T) is characterized by slightly elevated HbF levels (2.9-5.1%) and normal hematological indices [4]. This mutation has resulted from two independent gene conversion events [4, 5]. It is identical to Gγ-globin gene XmnI polymorphism (Gγ-158 C>T) which also occurs in healthy individuals.