Listeriosis outbreak caused by Latin-style fresh cheese, Bizkaia, Spain, August 2012.

Two cases of laboratory-confirmed listeriosis were detected in Bizkaia, Spain, at the end of August. The epidemiological investigation indicated that these two cases were associated with the consumption of Latin-style fresh cheese made from pasteurised milk in Portugal. Different batches of the same cheese were analysed and confirmed as contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The product was withdrawn from the market and the population was advised not to consume this kind of cheese.

Search for the decay &Bmacr;(0)-->D(*0)gamma

We report results of a search for the rare radiative decay &Bmacr;(0)-->D(*0)gamma. Using 9.66x10(6) B&Bmacr; meson pairs collected with the CLEO detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we set an upper limit on the branching ratio for this decay of 5.0x10(-5) at 90% C.L. This provides evidence that the anomalous enhancement is absent in W-exchange processes and that weak radiative B decays are dominated by the short-distance b-->sgamma mechanism in the standard model.

Study of exclusive radiative B meson decays

We have studied exclusive, radiative B meson decays to charmless mesons in 9.7x10(6) B&Bmacr; decays accumulated with the CLEO detector. We measure B(B0-->K(*0)(892)gamma) = (4.55(+0.72)(-0. 68)+/-0.34)x10(-5) and B(B+-->K(*+)(892)gamma) = (3.76(+0.89)(-0. 83)+/-0.28)x10(-5). We have searched for CP asymmetry in B-->K(*)(892)gamma decays and measure A(CP) = +0.08+/-0.13+/-0.03. We report the first observation of B-->K(*)(2)(1430)gamma decays with a branching fraction of (1.66(+0.59)(-0.53)+/-0.13)x10(-5). No evidence for the decays B-->rhogamma and B0-->omegagamma is found and we limit B(B-->(rho/omega)gamma)/B(B-->K(*)(892)gamma)<0.32 at 90% C.L.

Identification of patients at highest risk for ventilator-associated pneumonia in the surgical intensive care unit.

Ventilator-acquired pneumonia (VAP) is a major problem for patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit mechanically ventilated. Recently, we have identified both clinical and immunologic factors associated with the development of VAP. The clinical risk factors are associated with the severity of the injury and the length of mechanical ventilation. The immunologic risk factors are associated with the local lung inflammatory response that is unchecked and affects local cell function. The combination of the severity of injury, the length of mechanical ventilation, and the failure to "auto-regulate" the lung response places the host at risk of VAP. In the next millennium, if we are to make significant advances in the management of VAP, we will need to understand the pathophysiology of the disease process. Then we can develop preventive strategies that will reduce the morbidity and the associated cost of VAP.

A noda-like virus isolated from the sweetpotato pest spodoptera eridania (Cramer) (Lep.; noctuidae)

A small isometric virus has been isolated from larvae of the sweetpotato pest Spodoptera eridania (Cramer) collected near Pariacoto, Ancash province, Peru. It is designated the Pariacoto virus (PaV). In addition to its high pathogenicity on its natural host Spodoptera eridania, PaV was found to replicate in Spodoptera ochrea (Hampson) larvae but not in Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith) larvae. The size of the viral particle was estimated to be about 30 nm in diameter. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed a protein of approximately 40.5 kDa. After agarose gel electrophoresis, the viral genome appeared to be bipartite RNA. Gel immunodiffusion tests showed no serological relationship between PaV and Nodamura virus, the type species for insect nodaviruses. Electron microscopy confirmed that viral replication occurs in the cytoplasm. These properties are similar to those of other members of family Nodaviridae, to which the virus is currently assigned. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Cytokine Response to Fetal Cardiac Bypass

>Objective: Cytokines are associated with the systemic inflammatory response syndrome that occurs after cardiopulmonary bypass. We hypothesized that the placental dysfunction which has been found to complicate fetal cardiac bypass may be in part a function of a cytokine-mediated acute phase reaction. To test this hypothesis, we designed a study to investigate the effect of cardiac bypass on interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-6, and IL-8 in fetal sheep.Methods: Nine mixed-breed pregnant ewes at 118-122 days of gestation were assigned randomly to either the "fetal cardiac bypass group" (n = 5) or the "control group" (n = 4). After surgical exposure and instrumentation, cardiac bypass was performed for 30 min in study group fetuses, whereas control group fetuses were exposed and instrumented identically but did not undergo bypass. Placental and systemic hemodynamics were monitored in both groups. Pre- and post-bypass blood samples were analyzed for IL-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8 using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.Results: IL-6 levels were undetectable before bypass in all fetuses. IL-6 increased after bypass in all bypass group fetuses to 53.0 +/- 24.2 pg/ml, whereas IL-6 levels remained undetectable in all control animals. Fetal cardiac bypass produced no significant changes in IL-1beta and IL-8 in either group. Following bypass, placental blood flow decreased by 23% in the bypass group, which was significantly more (P = 0.0002) than the 6% decrease in the control group; placental vascular resistance increased significantly more in the bypass group (20%) than in control fetuses (1%; p = 0.004).Conclusions: Fetal cardiac bypass produces significant and consistent increases in fetal plasma IL-6, which correlate with increased placental vascular resistance and decreased placental blood flow. IL-6 may have an important role in placental dysfunction following fetal cardiac bypass, but further investigation will be necessary to elucidate its specific role in the impairment of placental function or as a marker of placental injury.