Relationships between CSR and customer loyalty: what lessons for retailers?

International audienceThe aim of this research is to understand how customer perception of CSR policy affects loyalty when retailers use social discount communication. To test the hypotheses, we carried out a quantitative study (including experimental vignettes) with 489 respondents, used structural equation modeling and performed multi-group analysis. Results show a positive direct effect of CSR policy on loyalty and indirect effect through the mediation of customer trust and store image. This research also indicates that the effect of CSR on loyalty is stronger when retailers use social discount communication than when they do not. However, social discount communication decreases the effect of CSR on customer trust in the retailer and on store image. These results underline the contrasting effects of CSR when combined with social discount messages. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.</p

Completeness of information in electronic compared with paper-based patients’ records in a maternity setting in Dakar, Senegal

Background: Evaluate the consistency of information in paper-based records when registered in parallel with an electronic medical record.Methods: The study was performed at PMSHC in Dakar Senegal. From the end of year 2016, patients’ files were recorded on both paper-based and electronically. Additionally, previous records were electronically registered. To investigate the completeness of records before and after the electronic recording system has been implemented, information about some maternal and fetal/neonatal characteristics were assessed. When the variable was recorded, the system returned 1, unrecorded variables were coded as 0. We then calculated, for each variable, the unrecorded rate before 2017 and after that date. The study period extended from 2011 to June 2019, a nearly ten-year period. Data were extracted from E-perinatal to MS excel 2019 then SPSS 25 software. Frequencies of unrecorded variables were compared with chi-squared test at a level of significance of 5%.Results: A total of 48,270 unique patients’ records were identified during the eight-year period.  Among the study population, data for patients’ age, address and parity were available most of the time before and after 2017 (0.5% missing data versus 0.3% for age and 2.6% versus 1.3% for home address and from 0.3% to 0.0% for parity). However, phone number, maternal weight, maternal height, last menstrual period and blood group were found to be missing up to 96% before 2017. From 2017, these rates experienced a sudden decrease at a significant level: from 82.4% to 27.8% for phone number, from 96% to 56.3% for maternal weight and from 60.1% to 21.3% for blood group. Regarding newborns’ data, it was found that fetal height, head circumference and chest circumference were missing up to just under 25% before 2017. After that date, their completeness improved and flattened under 5%.Conclusions: Structured and computerized files reduce missing data. There is an urgent need the Ministry of health provides hospitals and health care providers with guidelines that describes the standardized information that should be gathered and shared in health and care records

Maternal and perinatal outcomes in multiple versus singleton pregnancies in Dakar, Senegal: a cross sectional study over 10 years

Background: The birth of twins is a singular event in most societies, and even more when it comes to multiple births. The objective of this study was to investigate maternal and perinatal outcomes in multiple versus singleton pregnancies.Methods: Cross-sectional study carried out at Philippe Maguilen Senghor health center in Dakar, Senegal from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2019. Data were extracted from this E-perinatal electronic database and then analyzed in statistical package for social science software (SPSS 24, Mac version).Results: A total 42,870 mothers delivered 44,149 newborns including 1250 twins (2.8%) and 29 triplets. The mean maternal age was 27 years. Mothers with multiple pregnancies had 3 times the odds of poor maternal outcome compared to mothers with single pregnancies (OR 2.42, 95% CI; 1.98-2.94, p <0.001, for high blood pressure; OR, 2.66; 95% CI, 2.11-3.32, p= <0.001, for severe pre-eclampsia; and OR, 3.04; 95% CI, 1.64-5.66, p <0.001, for postpartum hemorrhage). Likewise, women with multiple gestations had significantly higher rates of preterm birth (OR 5.62; 95% CI: 4.91-6.41, p <0.001), breech presentations (OR = 11.02; CI = 9.68-12.53, p <0.001) and neonatal deaths (OR = 2.94; CI = 9.6852-12.5328 p= 0.004) as compared to women with singleton gestations. Furthermore, women with multifetal gestations had increased risk for caesarean section (OR 2.14; 95% CI: 1.91-2.41, p <0.001) compared with their singleton counterparts. The risks for episiotomy and perineal injuries were higher for women with singleton gestations as compared to multiple gestation mothers.Conclusions: This study results are in line with previous findings and contradict others. Particular attention should always be paid to multiple pregnancies’ management. However, the pattern of certain complications traditionally correlated with multiple pregnancies is to be confirmed

Le cactus Opuntia tuna (L.) Mill. et ses formes d’usage dans la zone des Niayes au Sénégal

Opuntia tuna est une espèce bien adaptée dans la zone des Niayes au Sénégal. Sa prolifération assez rapide est due en partie à une sous exploitation suscitant ainsi un envahissement de quelques espaces agropastoraux. Dans une perspective de valorisation et de meilleure gestion de l’espèce, cette présente étude a été conduite pour comprendre les formes d’usages et de gestion de la plante par les populations locales afin de la promouvoir pour renforcer leur résilience. L’étude a porté sur cinq villages de la zone nord des Niayes auprès de petits exploitants de maraichers. Des enquêtes qualitatives par entretiens et groupes de discussion ont été conduites. Elles ont porté sur le niveau de connaissance, les pratiques et usages connus du cactus, les contraintes liées à sa présence, les solutions adoptées ou envisagées et le niveau de perception sur sa valorisation. Les résultats ont révélé de nombreux usages de la plante et de ses produits. Plus de la moitié des personnes enquêtées utilise le cactus dans le domaine agricole. L’élevage, la pharmacopée et l’alimentation sont d’autres secteurs également concernés par l’usage du cactus. Les analyses ont montré que la plupart des personnes enquêtées (94%) admettent un degré d’envahissement très élevé de Opuntia tuna. Le niveau d’envahissement pourrait être liée à la zoochorie selon 38% des hommes et 33% des femmes. La bonne adaptation de l’espèce dans la zone serait également un facteur de prolifération selon 33% des hommes et 23 % des femmes. Afin de pallier la prolifération rapide du cactus les maraichers ont développé des stratégies de gestion telles que le brulis, la coupe et le dessouchage. Une meilleure gestion de cette espèce qui présente de nombreux usages pour les maraichers de la zone des Niayes est nécessaire. De tels usages de l’espèce, valorisés davantage pourrait contribuer de façon significative à la diversification des sources de revenus des communautés locales et au développement durable de la zone des Niayes

Impact of day of delivery on obstetric and perinatal outcome: a 10 years retrospective descriptive and analytical study at the Phillipe Maguilen Senghor Health Centre, Dakar, Senegal

Background: For a lot of women, childbirth is still a feared moment. Despite considerable progress in the management of childbirth and its complications, maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality are still a major problem even in developed countries. To evaluate the influence of day of delivery on obstetrical and perinatal outcome.Methods: Retrospective cohort study conducted at the Philippe Maguilen SENGHOR health center maternity ward from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2019, on patients with a pregnancy of more than 22 weeks of amenorrhea who were received for delivery management. The deliveries periods were divided according to whether they occurred on a working day (deliveries from Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays) or on weekends and public holidays (deliveries on Saturdays, Sundays and days declared as public holidays according to the Gregorian and Senegalese event calendars). The data were extracted from our E-perinatal database and analysed in the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS 24, Mac version).Results: Over 102 months, we recorded 42 870 deliveries. The average age of the patients was 27 years with extremes of 13 and 50 years. Nearly one in three deliveries took place on a holiday or weekend (n=13566-31.6%). The rate of caesarean delivery on weekends/holidays (18.8%) was lower than that on weekdays (21%). The odds ratio of having/benefiting from a weekend/holiday caesarean section was 0.87 (CI 0.83-0.92, p<0.0001). Our results suggest that patients who deliver on weekdays are more likely to receive a caesarean section than those who deliver on weekends or holidays. Perineal injury, World Health Organization obstetric complications, and neonatal outcome showed no significant difference by day of delivery.Conclusions: Our results contradict the idea that deliveries on weekends and holidays are more risky for patients and their children

Spatial and temporal dynamics of West Nile virus between Africa and Europe

It is unclear whether West Nile virus (WNV) circulates between Africa and Europe, despite numerous studies supporting an African origin and high transmission in Europe. We integrated genomic data with geographic observations and phylogenetic and phylogeographic inferences to uncover the spatial and temporal viral dynamics of WNV between these two continents. We focused our analysis towards WNV lineages 1 (L1) and 2 (L2), the most spatially widespread and pathogenic WNV lineages. Our study shows a Northern-Western African origin of L1, with back-and-forth exchanges between West Africa and Southern-Western Europe; and a Southern African origin of L2, with one main introduction from South Africa to Europe, and no back introductions observed. We also noticed a potential overlap between L1 and L2 Eastern and Western phylogeography and two Afro-Palearctic bird migratory flyways. Future studies linking avian and mosquito species susceptibility, migratory connectivity patterns, and phylogeographic inference are suggested to elucidate the dynamics of emerging viruse

Liver Stiffness Measurement and Biochemical Markers in Senegalese Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Normal ALT and High Viral Load

Despite the high prevalence of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in Africa, few studies have been performed among African patients. We sought to evaluate liver stiffness measurement by FibroScan® (LSM) and two biochemical scores (FibroTest®, Fibrometer®) to diagnose liver fibrosis in Senegalese CHB patients with HBV plasma DNA load ≥3.2 log(10) IU/mL and normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values.LSM and liver fibrosis biochemical markers were performed on 225 consecutive HBV infected Senegalese patients with high viral load. Patients with an LSM range between 7 and 13 kPa underwent liver biopsy (LB). Two experienced liver pathologists performed histological grading using Metavir and Ishak scoring.225 patients were evaluated (84% male) and LB was performed in 69 patients, showing F2 and F3 fibrosis in 17% and 10% respectively. In these patients with a 7-13 kPa range of LSM, accuracy for diagnosis of significant fibrosis according to LB was unsatisfactory for all non-invasive markers with AUROCs below 0.70. For patients with LSM values below 7 kPa, FibroTest® (FT), and Fibrometer® (FM) using the cut-offs recommended by the test promoters suggested a fibrosis in 18% of cases for FT (8% severe fibrosis) and 8% for FM. For patients with LSM values greater than 13 kPa, FT, FM suggested a possible fibrosis in 73% and 70%, respectively.In highly replicative HBV-infected African patients with normal ALT and LSM value below 13 kPa, FibroScan®, FibroTest® or Fibrometer® were unsuitable to predict the histological liver status of fibrosis

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Les déterminants du choix des marques de distributeur : application à un marché émergent : le Brésil

La question de l’assortiment des produits dans les magasins est devenue un enjeu stratégique majeur pour pénétrer les nouveaux marchés et fidéliser les clients. La forte progression des marques de distributeur (MDD) face aux marques nationales (MN) et l’internationalisation croissante des enseignes de distribution sont deux bouleversements qui ont particulièrement retenu l’attention des chercheurs et des praticiens ces dernières années.Dans ce contexte, la problématique centrale de cette thèse est de comprendre les facteurs explicatifs du comportement d’achat envers les produits MDD. Dans le cadre d’une posture épistémologique hypothético-déductive, nous adoptons une approche psycho-cognitive tout en prenant en compte les travaux issus de l’achat impulsif. Dans ce sens, une revue des travaux antérieurs combinée à une étude qualitative exploratoire multi-méthodes (étude documentaire, entretiens avec 24 consommateurs et entretiens 8 managers) a été effectuée au Brésil. Nous avons par la suite conçu un modèle conceptuel intégrateur des déterminants du choix de la MDD, formulé des hypothèses de recherche et effectué les tests de validation avec un échantillon de 600 consommateurs brésiliens. Les résultats ont permis de valider une nouvelle échelle de mesure bidimensionnelle de l’image prix perçue des MDD. Ils montrent aussi que les facteurs explicatifs du choix de la MDD sont multiples et de nature diverse (perception de la valeur des MDD, attitude générale envers les MDD, perception de l’image du magasin, image prix perçue des MDD, familiarité avec le magasin, etc.). Ils indiquent également que l’importance des relations structurelles du modèle varie en fonction du caractère international ou local de l’enseigne.La discussion des résultats aboutit à la formulation de recommandations managériales (variables qui affectent le plus le comportement d’achat envers les MDD des enseignes étudiées et la perception de l’image du magasin) et méthodologiques (orthogonalisation pour tester la modération des variables latentes de second ordre). La conclusion synthétise les apports, limites et voies de recherche futures.The question of product and brand assortment within the stores has become a major strategic challenge to penetrate new markets and retain customers. Two changes that have particularly caught the attention of researchers and practitioners are the strong growth of store brands (SBs) compared to national brands (NB) and the increasing internationalization of retail chains.In this context, the central issue of this thesis is to understand factors explaining purchase behavior toward SB products. In this sense, a review of previous work combined with a qualitative multi-method study (desk research, interviews with 24 consumers and 8 managers) was conducted in Brazil. We then developed an integrated conceptual model of the determinants of SB choice, proposed research hypotheses and performed the validation tests with a sample of 600 Brazilian consumers.The results allow us to validate a new two-dimensional scale of SB perceived price-image. They also show that factors explaining SB choice are numerous and diverse in nature (SB perceived value, general attitude towards SBs, store image perceptions, perceived SB price-image, etc.). They also indicate that the importance of the structural paths in the model depends on the retailer as local or international.The discussion of the results leads to managerial recommendations (variables that most affect purchase behavior toward SBs and store image perceptions) and methodological ones (orthogonalization to test the moderation of second order latent variables). The conclusion summarizes the contributions, limitations and future research avenues