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Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen which, in 2021, was considered the fifth most commonly reported zoonosis in humans in the European Union (EU). Ready-to-eat (RTE) fishery products, deli meats or soft cheeses have been mostly involved in food safety alerts and outbreaks in the last years. Hurdle technology by food industries has been widely used to enhance the safety of foods. Among the barriers, the application of acid and osmotic stress during processing is extensively used worldwide. This study aims to gain knowledge about the inter-strain variability of twenty-six clinical and food L. monocytogenes isolates with the estimation of their cardinal parameters using turbidimetric measurements. To analyse the data and to obtain the estimated cardinal values, a common statistical procedure was set up. The estimation of cardinal parameters showed a high inter-strain variability of L. monocytogenes, and no correlation was observed between A w min and pH min values for the studied strains. By grouping the strains in clinical, meat and fish origin, it was observed that strains from the meat group presented the lowest average pH min values (4.57), thus showing potential acid adaptation. This work contributes to gain knowledge of the inter-strain variability of L. monocytogenes in relation with pH and A w cardinal values, as well as provide a starting point for future validation studies in fish and meat food matrices., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None of the authors have any conflict of interest, and that the manuscript is not under consideration by any other publication., (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Previous works have observed an increase of depression and other psychological disorders on nursing home residents as a consequence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown; however, there are few studies that have performed a comprehensive evaluation of all people involved in nursing homes environment. The objective of the work was to analyse the impact of lockdown on psychosocial factors of nursing home residents, relatives and clinical staff and how these variables have influenced residents' survival., Methods: A prospective study was designed. Evaluations were performed at three different times: a) at the beginning of Spanish confinement, in March 2020; b) just before the second wave of the pandemic, with relaxation of security measures but in lockdown, and c) in January-February 2021, at the end of the second wave, when visits were already allowed. The study was conducted on three different nursing homes. Three hundred and one residents, 119 clinical staff and 51 relatives took part in the study. Anxiety and depression were evaluated in all participants. A scale on the meaning of suffering was also performed. In addition, burnout status was also determined in the clinical staff., Results: All participants showed lower depression during lockdown, while at the beginning and at the end of the confinement, these values were significantly increased. In residents, these changes were dependent of cognitive status (p = 0.012). Anxiety was significantly higher in residents. The evolution of anxiety was similar than with depression, with lower values during confinement, although clinical staff showed higher anxiety levels at the beginning. The feeling of suffering was significantly lower in the clinical staff than in resident and relative groups. Residents' survival was dependent of cognitive status (p = 0.018) and voluntary confinement (p < 0.001)., Conclusions: During the first COVID-19 lockdown, psychological wellbeing of residents cared in nursing homes, their relatives and staff did not seem to be seriously affected. Previous mental health in relatives and staff together with a resilient approach to the adversity might partly be protecting factors. The lack of consequences on residents' anxiety, depression and perception of social support may reflect the special attention and care they received. Finally, as in the current study only data of the first two COVID-19 waves were analysed, its findings might be partly generalized to all the pandemic., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Severe sepsis is a common occurrence in critically ill patients and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this population. Management relies on the early identification and treatment of the underlying causative infection, adequate and rapid hemodynamic resuscitation, support of associated organ failure and modulation of the immune response with drotrecogin alfa (activated) when it is not contraindicated, and corticosteroids in severe septic shock. We will review current approaches to each of these categories.