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Numerous organizational researchers have acknowledged that COVID-19 reduced the profit in the tourism industry. Some tourism firms decreased the cost by reducing the investment of CSR in order to increase the profit. However, the relevant literature remains scarce. The main purpose of this study is to explore the effect of COVID-19 on CSR investment in the tourism industry. This study fills the gap between stakeholder and cost stickiness theories. Based on a quasi-experiment of listed Chinese tourism companies from 2017 to 2021, the study finds that COVID-19 caused tourism firms to increase strategic CSR and decrease a responsive one. In addition, tourism firms that adopted cost leadership strategies trimmed responsive CSR more than strategic CSR. Tourism firms with differentiation leadership strategies increased strategic and decreased responsive CSR. Tourism firms with higher levels of political connections increased responsive CSR, while tourism firms with higher organizational resilience increased strategic CSR. At the theoretical level, this study reveals the theoretical mechanism of COVID-19 on tourism firms' adjustment of CSR from the perspective of cost stickiness. On a practical level, it helps inform tourism firms' decision-making regarding CSR adjustments for sustainable development when they face widespread crisis scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is the major pathogen that causes diarrhea and high mortality in newborn piglets, with devastating impact on the pig industry. To further understand the molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of PEDV field strains, in this study the complete genomes of four PEDV variants (HN2021, CH-HNYY-2018, CH-SXWS-2018, and CH-HNKF-2016) obtained from immunized pig farms in central China between 2016 to 2021 were characterized and analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis of the genome and S gene showed that the four strains identified in the present study had evolved into the subgroup G2a, but were distant from the vaccine strain CV777. Additionally, it was noteworthy that a new PEDV strain (named HN2021) belonging to the G2a PEDV subgroup was successfully isolated in vitro and it was further confirmed by RT-PCR that this isolate had a large natural deletion at 207–373 nt of the ORF3 gene, which has never been reported before. Particularly, in terms of pathogenicity evaluation, colostrum deprivation piglets challenged with PEDV HN2021 showed severe diarrhea and high mortality, confirming that PEDV HN2021 was a virulent strain. Hence, PEDV strain HN2021 of subgroup G2a presents a promising vaccine candidate for the control of recurring porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) in China. This study lays the foundation for better understanding of the genetic evolution and molecular pathogenesis of PEDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new compounds named asperpenes A-C ( 1 ⁻ 3 ), 12,13-dedihydroversiol ( 4 ), and methyl 6-oxo-3,6-dihydro-2 H -pyran-4-carboxylate ( 5 ), along with 10 known compounds ( 6 ⁻ 15 ), were isolated from the fermentation broth of Aspergillus sp. SCS-KFD66 associated with a bivalve mollusk, Sanguinolaria chinensis , collected from Haikou Bay, China. The structures of the compounds, including the absolute configurations of their stereogenic carbons, were unambiguously determined by spectroscopic data, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectral analysis, along with quantum ECD calculations. The growth inhibitory activity of the compounds against four pathogenic bacterial ( Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 1911, and Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633), their enzyme inhibitory activities against acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase, and their DPPH radical scavenging activity were evaluated.