The Influence of Religiously Motivated Consumer Boycotts on Brand Image, Loyalty and Product Judgment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to examine the in!uence of religiously motivated boycotts, such as the one conducted in Saudi Arabia against Danish companies, on corporate brand image, customer loyalty and product judgment. Despite a growing research interest in understanding the effects of different types of consumer animosities on companies’ performance, there appears to be a scarcity of studies addressing the speci"c effects of religious animosity. Religious animosity is considered as an additional type which may have more stable and longer-term impacts than other animosities on behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – The study was based on a two-stage design: an exploratory qualitative stage involving 11 in-depth interviews, followed by a more comprehensive quantitative stage designed to test a proposed theoretical model. Data was collected from Saudi customers of the Danish company Arla Foods in Saudi Arabia. Data was analysed using structural equation model (LISREL 8). Findings – The model con"rms that boycotting have strong negative impact on brand image and consumer loyalty but does not in!uence consumers’ product judgment. Practical implications – Religious boycotts have signi"cant consequences on both corporate pro"ts and brand image. The study provides clear steps for companies to combat the in!uence of religious boycotts especially in relation to brand image and customer loyalty. Originality/value – The study tested the in!uence of consumer religious boycotts on brand image and customer loyalty. Religious animosity was found to cause a more persistent boycott that negatively impacts brand image and weakens customer loyalty. However, by and large, boycotting was found not to have any signi"cant impact on product judgment

Briefing: “Gender Perspective in Conservation Projects”

The development perspective of local groups and organizations in different countries is strongly related to the use, management, and conservation of natural resources. The possibility of generating new strategies that permit the development of communities makes it necessary to recognize, from the gender perspective, local activities that enable the use, management, and conservation of these resource

16S–23S rRNA Gene Intergenic Spacer Region Variability Helps Resolve Closely Related Sphingomonads

Sphingomonads comprise a physiologically versatile group many of which appear to be adapted to oligotrophic environments, but several also had features in their genomes indicative of host associations. In this study, the extent variability of the 16S-23S rDNA intergenic spacer (ITS) sequences of 14 ATCC reference sphingomonad strains and 23 isolates recovered from drinking water was investigated through PCR amplification and sequencing. Sequencing analysis of the 16S-23S rRNA gene ITS region revealed that the ITS sizes for all studied isolates varied between 415 to 849 bp, while their G+C content was 42.2 mol% to 57.9 mol%. Five distinct ITS types were identified: ITSnone (without tRNA genes), ITSAla(TGC), ITSAla (TGC)+Ile (GAT), ITSIle (GAT)+Ala (TGC) and ITS Ile (GAT)+Pseudo. All of the identified tRNAAla (TGC) molecules consisted of 73 bases, and all of the tRNAIle (GAT) molecules consisted of 74 bases. We also detected striking variability in the size of the ITS region among the various examined isolates. Highest variability was detected within the ITS-2

Bridging the Gap: Categorizing Gravitational-Wave Events at the Transition Between Neutron Stars and Black Holes

We search for features in the mass distribution of detected compact binary coalescences which signify the transition between neutron stars and black holes. We analyze all gravitational wave detections by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA made through the end of the first half of the third observing run, and find clear evidence for two different populations of compact objects based solely on gravitational wave data. We confidently (99.3%) find a steepening relative to a single power law describing neutron stars and low-mass black holes below $2.4^{+0.5}_{-0.5}\text{ M}_{\odot}$, which is consistent with many predictions for the maximum neutron star mass. We find suggestions of the purported lower mass gap between the most massive neutron stars and the least massive black holes, but are unable to conclusively resolve it with current data. If it exists, we find the lower mass gap's edges to lie at $2.2^{+0.7}_{-0.5}\text{ M}_{\odot}$ and $6.0^{+2.4}_{-1.4}\text{ M}_{\odot}$. We re-examine events that have been deemed "exceptional" by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaborations in the context of these features. We analyze GW190814 self-consistently in the context of the full population of compact binaries, finding support for its secondary to be either a neutron star or a lower mass gap object, consistent with previous claims. Our models are the first to accommodate this event, which is an outlier with respect to the binary black hole population. We find that GW200105 and GW200115 probe the edges of, and may have components within, the lower mass gap. As future data improve global population models, the classification of these events will also improve

Typology of e-commerce shoppers: the case of COVID-19

Purpose: The spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has drastically changed the entire market structure and shopping behaviors across the world. While shoppers rushed toward e-commerce platforms during the pandemic, the key debate that rose was on how this behavior will evolve post COVID-19. The purpose of this study was to explore the different categories of e-commerce platforms’ users and propose a distinctive customer typology in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory qualitative research design was adopted because of the novelty of the subject. In total, 43 participants were interviewed, including 27 consumers and 16 experts in the field of e-commerce. Findings: Based on the findings, this study distinguishes between two stages of e-commerce usage during the pandemic. Furthermore, this study identifies four key typologies of e-commerce shoppers that are expected to form at the end of the coronavirus: duty-bound, e-watcher, makeshift and onli-vorous shoppers. The characteristics and businesses strategies pertaining to each of the identified groups are discussed. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first to identify the different stages, while proposing an innovative typology of e-commerce platform post COVID-19. This study also offers useful recommendations to deal with similar future crises

Clinical Profile and Treatment of Acne Vulgaris Patients

Background: Acne vulgaris (AV) is not a deadly condition may affect one’s quality of life. Treatment of AV includes topical and oral, depending on the severity. Antibiotics as oral treatment should not be given alone because it can precipitate resistance. Purpose: To describe the clinical characteristics of AV in a tertiary hospital in Indonesia and evaluate the treatment given. Methods: This is a descriptive, retrospective study with a cross-sectional design. The study subject was classified based on severity according to Plewig and Kligman’s acne grading. Further evaluation was made according to the type of lesion, the risk factortopical and oral treatment in subjects with grades 2, 3, and 4. This research was conducted at the Cosmetic Medic Division, Dermatology and Venereology Outpatient Clinic at Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital Surabaya based on medical records from the period of 2017 to 2019. Result: From 2017 to 2019, there were 525 (1.1%) new AV patients out of a total of 45,754 new patients. AV was the major diagnosis in the Cosmetic Medic division. AV grades 2, 3, and 4 were found in 167 patients (32.0%). The most common lesion was papulopustular (75.4%) and the most common risk factor was hormonal (58.7%). All the patients received tretinoin, clindamycin gel 1.2%, and sunscreen for topical treatment. Doxycycline was the most common oral antibiotic used (98.2%) Conclusion: The most common AV grade in this study was mild AV. Oral antibiotics were given to moderate-to-severe AV patients in combination with topical treatment to prevent resistance

Decreased expression of the mitochondrial bcat protein correlates with improved patient survival in idh-wt gliomas

Background and research question: Gliomas represent 43% of all solid intracranial tumours, of which glioblastomas have the poorest prognosis. Recently, the human cytosolic branched-chain aminotransferase protein (hBCATc), which metabolises the branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), was identified as a biomarker and therapeutic target for glioblastomas carrying wild-type isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH-WT) genes. However, the clinical utility of the mitochondrial isoform, hBCATm, which also metabolises BCAAs, was not determined nor its potential role in predicting patient survival.Methods: Glioblastomas, of grades II-IV, from 53 patients were graded by a neuropathologist, where the IDH and MGMT status were assessed. Tumours positive for hBCATm, hBCATc and BCKDC were characterised using immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis using antibodies specific to these proteins.Results: Here, we report that in IDH-WT tumours, the expression of hBCATm is significantly increased (p=0.034) relative to IDH mutation gliomas, and significantly correlates with patient survival, on Kaplan-Meier analysis, where low hBCATm expression is a positive prognostic factor (p=0.003). Moreover, increased hBCATm expression in these glioblastomas correlated with tumour grade indicating their role as a predictive biomarker of glioma progression. Multiple banding was observed for the branched-chain α-keto acid dehydrogenase complex, which catalyses the committed step in BCAA metabolism, but a significant change in expression was absent (p=0.690). Conclusion: Until now, IDH-WT glioblastomas have a uniformly poor prognosis, however we demonstrate for the first time that relatively low hBCATm may select for a better performing subset within this group and may represent a therapeutic target in these hard to treat patients

Can scenario-planning support community-based natural resource management? Experiences from three countries in latin america

Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) is a concept critical to managing socio-ecological systems, but whose implementation needs strengthening. Scenario-planning is one approach that may offer benefits relevant to CBNRM, but whose potential is not yet well understood. We therefore designed, trialled and evaluated a scenario-planning method intended to support CBNRM at three cases, located in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina. Implementing scenario-planning was judged as worthwhile in all three cases, although aspects of it could be challenging to facilitate. The benefits generated were relevant to strengthening CBNRM: encouraging the participation of local people and using their knowledge; enhanced consideration and adaption of future change; and supporting the development of systems thinking. Tracing exactly when and how these benefits arise is challenging, but two elements of the method seemed particularly useful. Firstly, using a systematic approach to discuss how drivers of change may affect local socio-ecological systems helped to foster systems thinking and identify connections between issues. Secondly, explicitly focusing on how to use and respond to scenarios helped identify specific practical activities ('response options') that would support CBNRM despite the pressures of future change. Discussions about response options also highlighted the need for support by other actors (e.g. policy groups): this raises the question of when and how other actors and other sources of knowledge should be involved in scenario-planning, so as to encourage their buy-in to actions identified by the process. We suggest other CBNRM initiatives may benefit from adapting and applying scenario-planning. However, these initiatives should be carefully monitored since further research is required to understand how and when scenario-planning methods may produce benefits, and their strengths and weaknesses versus other methods