Biografía inédita de Francisco de Quintana: recuperación de un novelista olvidado

This article seeks to reveal unpublished data from Francisco de Quintana, a sixteeth century author scarcely studied by literary critics to this day. The research in both primary sources and in his literary work has led to the discovery of substantial information about this intimate friend of Lope de Vega. In addition to providing new biographical evidence, this communication interrelates key events of his life with his writing.Este artículo pretende desvelar datos inéditos de Francisco de Quintana, escritor del seiscientos escasamente estudiado por la crítica literaria hasta nuestros días. La investigación, a partir tanto de fuentes primarias como de su obra literaria, ha supuesto el hallazgo de información sustancial sobre este íntimo amigo de Lope de Vega. Además de aportar nuevos testimonios biográficos, esta comunicación interrelaciona acontecimientos fundamentales de su vida con su obra literaria

Inflation on Fractional Branes: D--Brane Inflation as D--Term Inflation

We describe a D--brane inflation model which consists of two fractional D3 branes separated on a transverse $T^2 \times K3$. Inflation arises due to the resolved orbifold singularity of $K3$ which corresponds to an anomalous D--term on the brane. We show that D--brane inflation in the bulk corresponds to D--term inflation on the brane. The inflaton and the trigger field parametrize the interbrane distances on $T^2$ an $K3$ respectively. After inflation the branes reach a supersymmetric configuration in which they are at the origin of $T^2$ but separated along the $K3$ directions.Comment: 15 pages in phyzzx.tex; minor corrections including all factors of 2\pi; v3: more minor correction

Characteristics and outcome of Streptococcus pneumoniae endocarditis in the XXI Century: a systematic review of 111 cases (2000-2013)

Streptococcus pneumoniae is an infrequent cause of severe infectious endocarditis (IE). The aim of our study was to describe the epidemiology, clinical and microbiological characteristics, and outcome of a series of cases of S. pneumoniae IE diagnosed in Spain and in a series of cases published since 2000 in the medical literature. We prospectively collected all cases of IE diagnosed in a multicenter cohort of patients from 27 Spanish hospitals (n = 2539). We also performed a systematic review of the literature since 2000 and retrieved all cases with complete clinical data using a pre-established protocol. Predictors of mortality were identified using a logistic regression model. We collected 111 cases of pneumococcal IE: 24 patients from the Spanish cohort and 87 cases from the literature review. Median age was 51 years, and 23 patients (20.7%) were under 15 years. Men accounted for 64% of patients, and infection was community-acquired in 96.4% of cases. The most important underlying conditions were liver disease (27.9%) and immunosuppression (10.8%). A predisposing heart condition was present in only 18 patients (16.2%). Pneumococcal IE affected a native valve in 93.7% of patients. Left-sided endocarditis predominated (aortic valve 53.2% and mitral valve 40.5%). The microbiological diagnosis was obtained from blood cultures in 84.7% of cases. In the Spanish cohort, nonsusceptibility to penicillin was detected in 4.2%. The most common clinical manifestations included fever (71.2%), a new heart murmur (55%), pneumonia (45.9%), meningitis (40.5%), and Austrian syndrome (26.1%). Cardiac surgery was performed in 47.7% of patients. The in-hospital mortality rate was 20.7%. The multivariate analysis revealed the independent risk factors for mortality to be meningitis (OR, 4.3; 95% CI, 1.4-12.9; P < 0.01). Valve surgery was protective (OR, 0.1; 95% CI, 0.04-0.4; P < 0.01). Streptococcus pneumoniae IE is a community-acquired disease that mainly affects native aortic valves. Half of the cases in the present study had concomitant pneumonia, and a considerable number developed meningitis. Mortality was high, mainly in patients with central nervous system (CNS) involvement. Surgery was protective

An increase in erythromycin resistance in methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus from blood correlates with the use of macrolide/lincosamide/streptogramin antibiotics. EARS-Net Spain (2004–2020)

Objectives: To describe and analyse erythromycin resistance trends in blood isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (EARS-Net Spain, 2004–2020) and the association of these trends with the consumption of macrolide, lincosamide, and streptogramin B (MLSB) antibiotics. To assess molecular changes that could be involved in erythromycin resistance trends by whole genome analysis of representative isolates. Materials and methods: We collected antibiotic susceptibility data for all firstblood S. aureus isolates in patients from 47 Spanish hospitals according to EARS-Net criteria. MLSB antibiotic consumption was obtained from the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (2008–2020). We sequenced 137 representative isolates for core genome multilocus sequence typing, resistome and virulome analysis. Results: For the 36,612 invasive S. aureus isolates, methicillin resistance decreased from 26.4% in 2004 to 22.4% in 2020. Erythromycin resistance in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) increased from 13.6% in 2004 to 28.9% in 2020 (p < 0.001); however, it decreased from 68.7 to 61.8% (p < 0.0001) in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Total consumption of MLSB antibiotics increased from 2.72 defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID) in 2014 to 3.24 DID in 2016. By WGS, the macrolide resistance genes detected were erm (59.8%), msrA (46%), and mphC (45.2%). The erm genes were more prevalent in MSSA (44/57, 77.2%) than in MRSA (38/80, 47.5%). Most of the erm genes identified in MSSA after 2013 differed from the predominant ermC gene (17/22, 77.3%), largely because ermT was significantly associated with MSSA after 2013 (11/29, 37.9%). All 13 ermT isolates in this study, except one, belonged to ST398 and came from 10 hospitals and six Spanish provinces. Conclusion: The significant increase in erythromycin resistance in blood MSSA correlated with the consumption of the MLSB antibiotics in Spain. These preliminary data seem support the hypothesis that the human ST398 MSSA clade with ermT-mediated resistance to erythromycin may be involved in this trend.This research was supported by CIBER—Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CB21/13/00095, CB21/13/00006, CB21/13/00054, CB21/13/00068, CB21/13/00084, CB21/13/00099 groups of CIBERINFEC; CB06/06/0058 group of CIBERES), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea-NextGenerationEU. This research was also supported by Personalized and precision medicine grant from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (MePRAM Project, PMP22/00092), and by the Antibiotic Resistance and Staphylococcus aureus Surveillance Programs of the National Center for Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III.S

Superresonance effect from a rotating acoustic black hole and Lorentz symmetry breaking

We investigate the possibility of the acoustic superresonance phenomenon (analog to the superradiance in black hole physics), i.e., the amplification of a sound wave by reflection from the ergoregion of a rotating acoustic black hole with Lorentz symmetry breaking. For rotating black holes the effect of superradiance corresponds to the situation where the incident waves has reflection coefficient greater than one, and energy is extracted from them. For an acoustic Kerr-like black hole its rate of loss of mass is affected by the Lorentz symmetry breaking. We also have shown that for suitable values of the Lorentz violating parameter a wider spectrum of particle wave function can be scattered with increased amplitude by the acoustic black hole.Comment: 9 pages, version to appear in PL

Enhancing SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance through Regular Genomic Sequencing in Spain: The RELECOV Network

Millions of SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequences have been generated to date. However, good quality data and adequate surveillance systems are required to contribute to meaningful surveillance in public health. In this context, the network of Spanish laboratories for coronavirus (RELECOV) was created with the main goal of promoting actions to speed up the detection, analyses, and evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 at a national level, partially structured and financed by an ECDC-HERA-Incubator action (ECDC/GRANT/2021/024). A SARS-CoV-2 sequencing quality control assessment (QCA) was developed to evaluate the network’s technical capacity. QCA full panel results showed a lower hit rate for lineage assignment compared to that obtained for variants. Genomic data comprising 48,578 viral genomes were studied and evaluated to monitor SARS-CoV-2. The developed network actions showed a 36% increase in sharing viral sequences. In addition, analysis of lineage/sublineage-defining mutations to track the virus showed characteristic mutation profiles for the Delta and Omicron variants. Further, phylogenetic analyses strongly correlated with different variant clusters, obtaining a robust reference tree. The RELECOV network has made it possible to improve and enhance the genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain. It has provided and evaluated genomic tools for viral genome monitoring and characterization that make it possible to increase knowledge efficiently and quickly, promoting the genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain