Improving SMEs competitiveness with the use of Instagram Influencer Advertising and eWOM

Under Saudi Vision 2030, there will be a forthcoming increase in support to small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the current 20 percent of GDP to 35 percent. Thus, SMEs’ access to finance will become easier. At the same time, the cosmetics retail industry is expected to rapidly grow in the next few years because of the already mounting demand and availability of cosmetics through online channels. The purpose of this study is to explore the use of beauty Instagram influencers in advertising as a tool to increase competitiveness for SMEs. An exploratory research design was employed, and in-depth interviews conducted to gain a better understanding of female Saudi young adults’ perceptions of trust towards Instagram influencers, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), and advertising. Implications for SMEs managers are also discussed

The everchanging epidemiology of meningococcal disease worldwide and the potential for prevention through vaccination.

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia worldwide and is associated with high case fatality rates and serious life-long complications among survivors. Twelve serogroups are recognised, of which six (A, B, C, W, X and Y) are responsible for nearly all cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). The incidence of IMD and responsible serogroups vary widely both geographically and over time. For the first time, effective vaccines against all these serogroups are available or nearing licensure. Over the past two decades, IMD incidence has been declining across most parts of the world through a combination of successful meningococcal immunisation programmes and secular trends. The introduction of meningococcal C conjugate vaccines in the early 2000s was associated with rapid declines in meningococcal C disease, whilst implementation of a meningococcal A conjugate vaccine across the African meningitis belt led to near-elimination of meningococcal A disease. Consequently, other serogroups have become more important causes of IMD. In particular, the emergence of a hypervirulent meningococcal group W clone has led many countries to shift from monovalent meningococcal C to quadrivalent ACWY conjugate vaccines in their national immunisation programmes. Additionally, the recent licensure of two protein-based, broad-spectrum meningococcal B vaccines finally provides protection against the most common group responsible for childhood IMD across Europe and Australia. This review describes global IMD epidemiology across each continent and trends over time, the serogroups responsible for IMD, the impact of meningococcal immunisation programmes and future needs to eliminate this devastating disease

Impact of HIV-related stigma on treatment adherence: systematic review and meta-synthesis

Introduction: Adherence to HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a critical determinant of HIV-1 RNA viral suppression and health outcomes. It is generally accepted that HIV-related stigma is correlated with factors that may undermine ART adherence, but its relationship with ART adherence itself is not well established. We therefore undertook this review to systematically assess the relationship between HIV-related stigma and ART adherence. Methods: We searched nine electronic databases for published and unpublished literature, with no language restrictions. First we screened the titles and abstracts for studies that potentially contained data on ART adherence. Then we reviewed the full text of these studies to identify articles that reported data on the relationship between ART adherence and either HIV-related stigma or serostatus disclosure. We used the method of meta-synthesis to summarize the findings from the qualitative studies. Results: Our search protocol yielded 14,854 initial records. After eliminating duplicates and screening the titles and abstracts, we retrieved the full text of 960 journal articles, dissertations and unpublished conference abstracts for review. We included 75 studies conducted among 26,715 HIV-positive persons living in 32 countries worldwide, with less representation of work from Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Among the 34 qualitative studies, our meta-synthesis identified five distinct third-order labels through an inductive process that we categorized as themes and organized in a conceptual model spanning intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural levels. HIV-related stigma undermined ART adherence by compromising general psychological processes, such as adaptive coping and social support. We also identified psychological processes specific to HIV-positive persons driven by predominant stigmatizing attitudes and which undermined adherence, such as internalized stigma and concealment. Adaptive coping and social support were critical determinants of participants’ ability to overcome the structural and economic barriers associated with poverty in order to successfully adhere to ART. Among the 41 quantitative studies, 24 of 33 cross-sectional studies (71%) reported a positive finding between HIV stigma and ART non-adherence, while 6 of 7 longitudinal studies (86%) reported a null finding (Pearson's χ 2=7.7; p=0.005). Conclusions: We found that HIV-related stigma compromised participants’ abilities to successfully adhere to ART. Interventions to reduce stigma should target multiple levels of influence (intrapersonal, interpersonal and structural) in order to have maximum effectiveness on improving ART adherence

Carbon intensity of global crude oil trading and market policy implications

Abstract The energy mix transition has accelerated the need for more accurate emissions reporting throughout the petroleum supply chain. Despite increasing environmental regulations and pressure for emissions disclosure, the low resolution of existing carbon footprint assessment does not account for the complexity of crude oil trading. The lack of source crude traceability has led to poor visibility into the “well-to-refinery-entrance” carbon intensities at the level of granular pathways between producers and destination markets. Using high-fidelity datasets, optimization algorithms to facilitate supply chain traceability and bottom-up, physics-based emission estimators, we show that the variability in global “well-to-refinery-entrance” carbon intensities at the level of crude trade pathways is significant: 4.2–214.1 kg-CO2-equivalent/barrel with a volume-weighted average of 50.5 kg-CO2-equivalent/barrel. Coupled with oil supply forecasts under 1.5 °C scenarios up to 2050, this variability translates to additional CO2-equivalent savings of 1.5–6.1 Gigatons that could be realized solely by prioritizing low-carbon supply chain pathways without other capital-intensive mitigation measures

HIV in the Middle East and North Africa : priority, culture, and control

This study aimed to assess the priority of HIV/AIDS in the Middle East and North Africa region and compare it with other regions. This review examines the social, cultural and religious features of HIV in the region, and considers their influence on perception of risk and approaches to control, such as condom use and antiretroviral therapy.; We screened a wide range of sources for comprehensive and reliable data; the search of PubMed, ISI Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and grey literature databases were unrestricted by language and year of publication.; Studies of HIV/AIDS in the region are limited, especially studies of social aspects of HIV/AIDS and their relevance for control. Findings suggest low condom use across the region among high-risk groups, and the general population, and low antiretroviral therapy uptake among people with HIV/AIDS.; The review indicates gaps in the literature and needs for more academic engagement and political commitment. Cultural norms have notable implications for HIV control, which are discussed, considering implications for the priority, prevention, treatment, and control of HIV/AIDS

Global carbon intensity of crude oil production

Producing, transporting, and refining crude oil into fuels such as gasoline and diesel accounts for ∼15 to 40% of the “well-to-wheels” life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of transport fuels (1). Reducing emissions from petroleum production is of particular importance, as current transport fleets are almost entirely dependent on liquid petroleum products, and many uses of petroleum have limited prospects for near-term substitution (e.g., air travel). Better understanding of crude oil GHG emissions can help to quantify the benefits of alternative fuels and identify the most cost-effective opportunities for oil-sector emissions reductions (2). Yet, while regulations are beginning to address petroleum sector GHG emissions (3–5), and private investors are beginning to consider climate-related risk in oil investments (6), such efforts have generally struggled with methodological and data challenges. First, no single method exists for measuring the carbon intensity (CI) of oils. Second, there is a lack of comprehensive geographically rich datasets that would allow evaluation and monitoring of life-cycle emissions from oils. We have previously worked to address the first challenge by developing open-source oil-sector CI modeling tools [OPGEE (7, 8), supplementary materials (SM) 1.1]. Here, we address the second challenge by using these tools to model well-to-refinery CI of all major active oil fields globally—and to identify major drivers of these emissions