Quevedo’s “antiMachiavellian Instant” in England: Christian Politicks against Atheist Tyrants, Sathan’s Disciples

Grupo de Investigación Francisco de QuevedoQuevedo’s political literature succeeded particularly in England. This country shared with other European countries their fascination about his two most spreaded burlesque writings, the Buscón and the Sueños, translated into the main European languages since their publication in the 17th century. Together with some political works, published also in English –Marco Bruto or lucianesque prose like Discurso de todos los diablos and La Fortuna con seso–, his Política de Dios, which became a best-seller, was well known: its first part was translated in 1715, transformed in a sort of antidote against Whig and Tory parties; and the second one, in 1720, turned into an allegation against “tyrant and atheist” politicians, disciples of the Satanic Machiavelli. This article examines the strategies of the English translation of the second part in order to increase the antiMachiavellism of Quevedo’s work, and to adapt it to the peculiar political and religious circumstances in England during the first decades of the 17th century. This analysis is preceded by a triple contextualization of the English version: the wide circulation of the Spanish writer’s literature in Europe, Machiavelli’s reception in the English culture, and Quevedo’s own position, always fluctuating and ambiguous when facing the Florentine theorist. This paper allows for getting to know the unsuspected “antiMachiavellian instant” that Quevedo’s work experienced through Christian Politicks, slanted English version of his Política de Dios against the “state outrage”La literatura política de Quevedo gozó de una particular fortuna en Inglaterra. Este país compartió con el resto de Europa la fascinación por sus dos obras burlescas más difundidas, el Buscón y los Sueños, traducidas una y otra vez a las principales lenguas europeas desde su publicación en el siglo XVII. Junto a otros tratados políticos divulgados también en versión inglesa –Marco Bruto o textos lucianescos de contenido político como Discurso de todos los diablos y La Fortuna con seso–, su Política de Dios, convertida en una suerte de best-seller, fue bien conocida: su primera parte se tradujo en 1715, convertida en antídoto contra los partidos whig y tory; y la segunda, en 1720, transformada en alegato contra políticos “ateos y tiranos”, discípulos del satánico Maquiavelo. El presente artículo analiza las estrategias de la traducción inglesa de la segunda parte para acentuar el antimaquiavelismo del texto de Quevedo, y para adaptarlo a las peculiares circunstancias políticas y religiosas de Inglaterra en las primeras décadas del siglo XVIII. Tal análisis está precedido de una triple contextualización de la versión inglesa: la difusión de la literatura del escritor español en Europa, la recepción de Maquiavelo en la cultura inglesa y la posición de Quevedo, fluctuante y ambigua, frente al teórico florentino. El estudio permite conocer el insospechado “instante antimaquiavélico” que vive la obra de Quevedo a través de Christian Politicks, la sesgada versión inglesa de su Política de Dios contra la “sinrazón de estado”Este artículo es resultado de proyectos del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (RYC-2012-10138) y la Xunta de Galicia (EM2014/007)S

More than 10,000 pre-Columbian earthworks are still hidden throughout Amazonia.

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in this recordData and materials availability: Data from publicly available sources are cited in the supplementary materials. Other data and computer codes used in the analysis are publicly available at Zenodo repositoryIndigenous societies are known to have occupied the Amazon basin for more than 12,000 years, but the scale of their influence on Amazonian forests remains uncertain. We report the discovery, using LIDAR (light detection and ranging) information from across the basin, of 24 previously undetected pre-Columbian earthworks beneath the forest canopy. Modeled distribution and abundance of large-scale archaeological sites across Amazonia suggest that between 10,272 and 23,648 sites remain to be discovered and that most will be found in the southwest. We also identified 53 domesticated tree species significantly associated with earthwork occurrence probability, likely suggesting past management practices. Closed-canopy forests across Amazonia are likely to contain thousands of undiscovered archaeological sites around which pre-Columbian societies actively modified forests, a discovery that opens opportunities for better understanding the magnitude of ancient human influence on Amazonia and its current state.Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement under the Academic Excellence Program (CAPES/PROEX)Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement under the Academic Excellence Program (CAPES/PROEX)Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement under the Academic Excellence Program (CAPES/PROEX)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ)National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPQ)European Research CouncilSão Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)Amazon FundSão Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)PVEMEC/MCTI/CAPES/CNPq/FAPEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020European Union’s Horizon 2020CAPESANRMCT/CNPq/CT-INFRA/GEOMAMCT/CNPq/CT-INFRA/GEOMACAPES/PDSECAPES/FapespaCNPqFAPESPCNPq/CAPES/FAPS/BC-NewtonFAPEMATRoyal Society GCRF International Collaboration AwardNSF/DEBCNPQ/PQNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Gordon and Betty Moore Foundatio

Risk loci involved in giant cell arteritis susceptibility: a genome-wide association study

Background Giant cell arteritis is an age-related vasculitis that mainly affects the aorta and its branches in individuals aged 50 years and older. Current options for diagnosis and treatment are scarce, highlighting the need to better understand its underlying pathogenesis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as a powerful tool for unravelling the pathogenic mechanisms involved in complex diseases. We aimed to characterise the genetic basis of giant cell arteritis by performing the largest GWAS of this vasculitis to date and to assess the functional consequences and clinical implications of identified risk loci. Methods We collected and meta-analysed genomic data from patients with giant cell arteritis and healthy controls of European ancestry from ten cohorts across Europe and North America. Eligible patients required confirmation of giant cell arteritis diagnosis by positive temporal artery biopsy, positive temporal artery doppler ultrasonography, or imaging techniques confirming large-vessel vasculitis. We assessed the functional consequences of loci associated with giant cell arteritis using cell enrichment analysis, fine-mapping, and causal gene prioritisation. We also performed a drug repurposing analysis and developed a polygenic risk score to explore the clinical implications of our findings. Findings We included a total of 3498 patients with giant cell arteritis and 15 550 controls. We identified three novel loci associated with risk of giant cell arteritis. Two loci, MFGE8 (rs8029053; p=4·96 × 10–8; OR 1·19 [95% CI 1·12–1·26]) and VTN (rs704; p=2·75 × 10–9; OR 0·84 [0·79–0·89]), were related to angiogenesis pathways and the third locus, CCDC25 (rs11782624; p=1·28 × 10–8; OR 1·18 [1·12–1·25]), was related to neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). We also found an association between this vasculitis and HLA region and PLG. Variants associated with giant cell arteritis seemed to fulfil a specific regulatory role in crucial immune cell types. Furthermore, we identified several drugs that could represent promising candidates for treatment of this disease. The polygenic risk score model was able to identify individuals at increased risk of developing giant cell arteritis (90th percentile OR 2·87 [95% CI 2·15–3·82]; p=1·73 × 10–13). Interpretation We have found several additional loci associated with giant cell arteritis, highlighting the crucial role of angiogenesis in disease susceptibility. Our study represents a step forward in the translation of genomic findings to clinical practice in giant cell arteritis, proposing new treatments and a method to measure genetic predisposition to this vasculitis

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)-has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used this evidence base to develop global and regional statistical models of how local biodiversity responds to these measures. We describe and make freely available this 2016 release of the database, containing more than 3.2 million records sampled at over 26,000 locations and representing over 47,000 species. We outline how the database can help in answering a range of questions in ecology and conservation biology. To our knowledge, this is the largest and most geographically and taxonomically representative database of spatial comparisons of biodiversity that has been collated to date; it will be useful to researchers and international efforts wishing to model and understand the global status of biodiversity