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Peru's indigenous peoples played a key role in the tortured tale of Shining Path guerrillas from the 1960s through the first decade of the twenty-first century. The villagers of Chuschi and Huaychao, high in the mountains of the department of Ayacucho, have an iconic place in this violent history. Emphasizing the years leading up to the peak period of violence from 1980 to 2000, when 69,000 people lost their lives, Miguel La Serna asks why some Andean peasants chose to embrace Shining Path ideology and others did not. Drawing on archival materials and ethnographic field work, La Serna argues that historically rooted and locally specific power relations, social conflicts, and cultural understandings shaped the responses of indigenous peasants to the insurgency. In Chuschi, the guerrillas found indigenous support for the movement and dreamed of sparking a worldwide Maoist revolution. In Huaychao, by contrast, villagers rose up against Shining Path forces, precipitating more violence and feeding an international uproar that took on political significance for Peru during the Cold War. The Corner of the Living illuminates both the stark realities of life for the rural poor everywhere and why they may or may not choose to mobilize around a revolutionary cause.

From the moment it launched its armed insurgency in 1980 until the death of its former leader in September 2021, Peru’s Shining Path mesmerized observers. The Maoist group had a well-established reputation as a personality cult whose members were fanatically devoted to Abimael Guzmán, the messianic leader they revered as “Presidente Gonzalo.” According to this narrative, referred to here as the “Gonzalo mystique,” Shining Path zealots were prepared to submit to Guzmán’s authority and will—no matter how violent or suicidal—because they viewed him as a messiah-prophet who would usher in a new era of communist utopia. Drawing on newly available sources, including the minutes of Shining Path’s 1988–1989 congress, this article complicates the Gonzalo mystique narrative, tracing the unrelenting efforts by middle- and high-ranking militants to challenge, undermine, disobey, and even unseat Guzmán throughout the insurgency. Far from seeing their leader as the undisputed cosmocrat of the popular imagination, these militants recognized Guzmán for who he was: a deeply flawed man with errant ideas, including a dubious interpretation of Maoism, problematic military strategy, and a revolutionary path that was anything but shining. Desde el inicio de la lucha armada en 1980 hasta la muerte de su jefe máximo en septiembre de 2021, Sendero Luminoso ha llamado la atención a observadores tantos peruanos como internacionales. El grupo maoísta tenía una bien establecida reputación como un culto a la personalidad cuyos miembros eran fanáticamente devotos a su líder mesiánico, Abimael Guzmán, desde entonces conocido como el “Presidente Gonzalo.” Según esta narrativa, la cual llamaríamos la “mística Gonzalo,” los fanáticos senderistas eran dispuestos a someterse a cualquier acto violento o suicido para satisfacer los autoritarios impulsos del líder Guzmán, ya que a éste lo consideraban un mesías-profeta que les guiaría a una nueva utopía comunista. Este artículo se base en nuevas fuentes, entre ellas las actas del Primer Congreso senderista de 1988–1989, para así complicar la mística Gonzalo. Detalla los infatigables intentos, de parte los senderistas de medio-alto y alto rango, de desafiar, socavar, desobedecer, y hasta derribar al jefe de partido durante la lucha armada. Lejos de verlo como el cosmócrata de la opinión popular, estos militantes reconocían quién era de verdad: un defectuoso hombre con ideas errantes, un equivocado concepto del maoísmo, una problemática estrategia militar, y un sendero revolucionario que era lejos de luminoso.

Miguel La Serna's gripping history of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) provides vital insight into both the history of modern Peru and the link between political violence and the culture of communications in Latin America. Smaller than the well-known Shining Path but just as remarkable, the MRTA emerged in the early 1980s at the beginning of a long and bloody civil war. Taking a close look at the daily experiences of women and men who fought on both sides of the conflict, this fast-paced narrative explores the intricacies of armed action from the ground up. While carrying out a campaign of urban guerrilla warfare ranging from vandalism to kidnapping and assassinations, the MRTA vied with state forces as both tried to present themselves as most authentically Peruvian. Appropriating colors, banners, names, images, and even historical memories, hand-in-hand with armed combat, the Tupac Amaristas aimed to control public relations because they insightfully believed that success hinged on their ability to control the media narrative. Ultimately, however, the movement lost sight of its original aims, becoming more authoritarian as the war waged on. In this sense, the history of the MRTA is the story of the euphoric draw of armed action and the devastating consequences that result when a political movement succumbs to the whims of its most militant followers.

Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT; Thunnus thynnus ) is a migrating species straddling the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. It is assumed that this species is divided into a western and an eastern stock, which spawn in the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, respectively. To learn more about the reproductive behavior of the eastern BFT stock, we tracked gonadal development in adult fish that were sampled between April and July during three consecutive years (2003–2005). Sampling campaigns were carried out using common fishing methods at selected locations within the Mediterranean Sea, namely Levantine Sea, Malta, and Balearic Islands. An additional sampling point, Barbate, was situated northwest of the Straits of Gibraltar along the Atlantic coast. Morphometric parameters such as the total body mass ( M B ) and the weights of the gonads ( M G ) were recorded, and the respective gonadosomatic index (GSI) values were calculated. The data collected revealed two important trends: (1) GSI values are higher in fish caught in the eastern rather than the western locations across the Mediterranean Sea, and (2) the GSI reaches maximum values between late May and early June in Levantine Sea (eastern Mediterranean Sea), and only 2 and 4 weeks later in the central (Malta) and western (Balearic Islands) locations, respectively. The advanced gonadal development in BFT correlates well with higher sea surface temperatures. Our findings also distinguish the northern Levantine Sea BFT population (mean M B 78.41 ± 4.13 kg), and the Barbate BFT population with the greatest M B (all fish sampled > 100 kg). These data reflect a situation in which the eastern Mediterranean basin may function as a habitat for young BFT, until they gain a larger M B and are able to move to the Atlantic Ocean. However, the existence of genetically discrete BFT populations in the Mediterranean Sea cannot be ruled out.

Background: The diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE) is based on the application of a priori probability scales such as the Wells scale or PERC. However, the clinical heterogeneity of this pathology results in the absence of a target population to apply these algorithms. The Wells score does consider the possibility of an alternative diagnosis, awarding an additional point if no other diagnosis is likely, yet the presence of objective alternative diagnoses can still complicate clinical assessment and lead to unnecessary testing or missed diagnoses. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the discrimination capacity of clinical objective factors with a high negative predictive value for PE, compared to PERC in terms of reducing unnecessary testing across different risk strata of the Wells scale. Materials and Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort study, including patients who underwent chest CT angiography to rule out PE at a university hospital between 2008 and 2017, considering the presence of PE as the study outcome. The study collected demographic data, comorbidities, and clinical presentation data. The presence of objective criteria for pneumonia, heart failure, exacerbation of COPD, or the use of anticoagulation in non-oncological patients were considered a priori criteria with a high negative predictive value. Results: The analyses were performed on a cohort of 399 patients with an average age of 65 years and 53% females. A total of 139 patients were diagnosed with PE by CT angiography. The presence of factors with a high NPV showed a sensitivity of 100% in low-risk patients according to Wells, with sensitivity dropping below 50% in other populations. The association of these factors in the PERC plus criteria would allow a reduction of up to 34% in CT angiographies in patients with low risk according to the Wells scale. Conclusions: The combination of risk stratification of the Wells scale and PERC plus criteria allows an absolute reduction of 34.3% in the performance of CT angiographies in patients classified as low risk with a sensitivity and a negative predictive value of 100%. The preexistence of an alternative diagnosis does not allow ruling out PE in patients with intermediate or high risk according to the Wells scale.

Aims Approximately 10% of patients with myocardial infarction present with non‐obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA), whose characteristics differ from those with obstructive coronary lesions (MICAD). Inflammation plays a key role in myocardial infarction. This study aims to develop a biomarker‐based index for accurate differentiation between MINOCA and MICAD. Methods A prospective, observational cohort study including 111 patients admitted for myocardial infarction: 46 with MINOCA and 65 with MICAD. Blood samples were collected within the first 24 h to measure high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, interleukin‐6, asymmetric dimethylarginine, and peak high‐sensitivity troponin T. The association of these biomarkers with MICAD risk was analyzed using logistic regression. Scoring systems were developed using optimization algorithms to predict the diagnosis before coronary angiography, applied to both individual biomarkers and a combined index. Results Patients had a mean age of 67 years (SD 13.3), with a male predominance (68.5%). Higher levels of IL‐6 and high‐sensitivity troponin T were significantly associated with increased MICAD risk (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.01–2.46, and OR: 2.27; 95% CI: 1.61–3.26, respectively). As score increases, interleukin‐6 and high‐sensitivity troponin T increase the likelihood of MICAD classification, while higher asymmetric dimethylarginine levels reduce it. Each one‐point increase in the combined index multiplies MICAD risk by six (OR:6.16, 95%CI: 2.72–13.95; p < 0.001). While individual indexes improved the diagnostic performance of biomarkers, the combined index demonstrated superior accuracy (AUC: 0.918). Conclusions A biomarker‐based scoring system was developed, achieving superior discriminatory capacity for differentiating MINOCA from MICAD compared to the individual analysis of biomarkers in absolute values or independent indexes. Summary What is known about the topic? ◦ Patients with MINOCA have distinct characteristics compared to those with MICAD, with inflammation and endothelial dysfunction potentially serving as key differentiators. ◦ High‐sensitivity troponin, commonly used in clinical practice for diagnosing myocardial infarction, is valuable but does not allow for precise differentiation between MINOCA and MICAD when used alone. ◦ The integration of inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers with troponin in a scoring system could potentially provide a more accurate method for distinguishing between these two types of infarction. What's new? ◦ This study is the first to develop a scoring system using circulating biomarkers to more accurately differenciate between MINOCA and MICAD. ◦ We focused on four key biomarkers: IL‐6, hs‐CRP, ADMA and hs‐troponin T. By combining troponin T, which is widely used in MI diagnosis, with inflammatory and endothelial dysfunction biomarkers, our approach captures the complex underlying processes involved in myocardial infarction. ◦ Our study found that combining these biomarkers into a single index demonstrated outstanding diagnostic discrimination, significantly improving the identification of MI type compared to using individual biomarkers alone. ◦ This innovative scoring system has the potential to optimize MI patient management and guide treatment strategies more accurately. Comparison of diagnostic performance in detecting obstructive coronary artery disease in patients with myocardial infarction: the biomarker‐based index demonstrates outstanding discrimination compared to individual biomarker levels (ln BM) and individual índices (4BM). AUC values for models based on log‐transformed biomarkers (ln BM), individual indices, and the combined four‐biomarker index (4BM) are shown. Abbreviations: AUC = area under the curve; MICAD = Myocardial Infarction with Obstructive Coronary Artery Disease; MINOCA = Myocardial Infarction with Non‐Obstructive Coronary Arteries; MI = myocardial infarction; IL‐6 = Interleukin‐6, hs‐CRP = high‐sensitivity C‐reactive protein, ADMA = Asymmetric Dimethylarginine, hs‐troponin T = High‐sensitivity troponin T.

Lucero Cumpa looked around. Where was she? Three of the walls were concrete slabs. The fourth wasn’t a wall at all. It was just a row of iron bars. Yes, she was inside a prison cell! How did she get there? She didn’t remember having been arrested, and she didn’t feel like a prisoner. She looked down and noticed that she was wearing blue jeans. Cumpa opened her eyes, still disoriented. She was in her bed in her safe house on Madre Selva Street in Salamanca. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a dream.¹ A lot had

One of Cerpa’s first orders of business on the morning of 22 April 1997 was to wage the daily battle over symbols. Back in January, government forces had erected large speakers up and down Edison and Barcelona Streets, from which they belted out a daily mix of classical music, criolla music (from the Peruvian folkloric tradition), and spirited military ditties for twelve hours at a time.¹ This appeared to be a counterinsurgency tactic to disrupt the rebels’ dialogue, thoughts, and sleep. It also had the unwelcome effect of driving the hostages mad. “We felt as if our brains were being

The Canto Grande prison escape was a public relations coup for the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement. Not even the stronger, more lethal Shining Path had achieved something so epic. To do so without the loss of a single life added a touch of romanticism to the narrative. “It generated an enormous sympathy and respect within the population,” wrote Polay, “and many identified with the action, which punished and mocked a government that had allowed for all the plagues of Egypt to fall on its people. . . . It also gave us an image of an MRTA that broke its