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The electoral district is the fundamental unit of representation in single- and multi-member electoral systems, yet most research shows little interest in district effects on election outcomes, focusing instead on national and individual factors. This is problematic as parties and candidates often put a great deal of effort into district-based campaigns. How, then, can we best capture district effects on party support? We propose a new method using official election returns and geospatial techniques. The result is a measure of how much of a party's vote share is explained by district effects. Using data from the 2006–2019 Canadian federal elections, we find that, on average, 6 to 10 per cent of the variation in a party's vote in Canada is explained by district effects. While district effects on party support are trivial for some districts, in others they account for more than 80 per cent of the variance in party vote shares. The effect of districts on party support is composed, in part, of electoral context, province, socio-economic factors and district campaign intensity. Importantly, the size and sources of district effects on party support vary across parties, suggesting heterogeneity. The benefits of our approach are threefold: (1) it is cost-effective, (2) it can be easily replicated in any setting—past or present—where districts are relevant electoral units and where districting is nonpartisan, and (3) it is responsive to differences in district composition and parties' campaign effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Numerous studies have shown that H2S serves as an acute oxygen sensor in a variety of cells. We hypothesize that H2S also serves in extended oxygen sensing. Methods: Here, we compare the effects of extended exposure (24‐48 hours) to varying O2 tensions on H2S and polysulphide metabolism in human embryonic kidney (HEK 293), human adenocarcinomic alveolar basal epithelial (A549), human colon cancer (HTC116), bovine pulmonary artery smooth muscle, human umbilical‐derived mesenchymal stromal (stem) cells and porcine tracheal epithelium (PTE) using sulphur‐specific fluorophores and fluorometry or confocal microscopy. Results: All cells continuously produced H2S in 21% O2 and H2S production was increased at lower O2 tensions. Decreasing O2 from 21% to 10%, 5% and 1% O2 progressively increased H2S production in HEK293 cells and this was partially inhibited by a combination of inhibitors of H2S biosynthesis, aminooxyacetate, propargyl glycine and compound 3. Mitochondria appeared to be the source of much of this increase in HEK 293 cells. H2S production in all other cells and PTE increased when O2 was lowered from 21% to 5% except for HTC116 cells where 1% O2 was necessary to increase H2S, presumably reflecting the hypoxic environment in vivo. Polysulphides (H2Sn, where n = 2‐7), the key signalling metabolite of H2S also appeared to increase in many cells although this was often masked by high endogenous polysulphide concentrations. Conclusion: These results show that cellular H2S is increased during extended hypoxia and they suggest this is a continuously active O2‐sensing mechanism in a variety of cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity is at the core of any definition of Canada. But can different types of relationships among national symbols co-exist within the same national unit? And do these various symbolic assemblages have different effects on citizens' attitudes and behaviour? This paper uses survey data to uncover patterns in Canadians' attitudes towards 18 national symbols. The results indicate the existence of four distinct national symbolic 'webs'. The first two types are defined by conventional sociodemographic cleavage, while the difference between the two others is defined by the left-right ideological spectrum. In addition, further analysis shows that membership in these web-types is predictive of vote choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron serves as a critical cofactor for proteins involved in a host of biological processes. In most animals, dietary iron is absorbed in enterocytes and then disseminated for use in other tissues in the body. The brain is particularly dependent on iron. Altered iron status correlates with disorders ranging from cognitive dysfunction to disruptions in circadian activity. The exact role iron plays in producing these neurological defects, however, remains unclear. Invertebrates provide an attractive model to study the effects of iron on neuronal development since many of the genes involved in iron metabolism are conserved, and the organisms are amenable to genetic and cytological techniques. We have examined synapse growth specifically under conditions of iron deficiency in the Drosophila circadian clock circuit. We show that projections of the small ventrolateral clock neurons to the protocerebrum of the adult Drosophila brain are significantly reduced upon chelation of iron from the diet. This growth defect persists even when iron is restored to the diet. Genetic neuronal knockdown of ferritin 1 or ferritin 2, critical components of iron storage and transport, does not affect synapse growth in these cells. Together, these data indicate that dietary iron is necessary for central brain synapse formation in the fly and further validate the use of this model to study the function of iron homeostasis on brain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The resurgence of separatist movements in Scotland and Catalonia illuminate the ebb and flow of such movements over time. The catalysts of separatism in post-industrial democracies are largely treated as circumstantial, but intergenerational data on attitudes towards independence might assist the development of a general theory of support for separatism. This replace draws on the case of Quebec, leveraging a half-century worth of public opinion data to investigate intergenerational shifts in attitudes towards separatism. Historical data from the Canadian Election Study (CES 1968-2011) allow us to test the relationship between attitudes towards independence among youth in Quebec and general levels of support for separatism. Coupled with this are the more than 1 million observations from the 2011 Canadian federal as well as the 2012 and 2014 Quebec provincial editions of Vote Compass. This last dataset allows us to estimate the variation in support for Quebec independence for very precise age groups defined at the year-of-birth level. The results show a clear generational cycle variation that appears correlated with specific series of historical events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Riluzole is a glutamatergic modulator of particular interest in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover pilot study we evaluated the safety and tolerability of 5-week of adjunctive riluzole treatment (vs. 5-week of placebo, with 2-week washout period) targeting ASD-associated drug-refractory irritability in eight individuals age 12-25 years. All participants tolerated riluzole 200 mg per day, however there were no statistically significant findings for the overall treatment effect, the treatment effect by week within period of the study, or a cross-over effect across the periods of the study on the Clinical Global Impression Improvement Scale or the Aberrant Behavior Checklist Irritability subscale. The results of this trial indicate that 5-week of riluzole treatment was well tolerated, but had no significant effect on the target symptoms. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02081027, Registered 5 August 2013, First participant enrolled 19 September 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 2013-2014, the Parti Québécois' (PQ) Québec Charter of Values was hotly debated in the province of Quebec and the rest of Canada. For some Canadians, it was seen as a calculated move from the PQ to win a majority in the next provincial election, highlighting the stereotypical Quebec citizen's aversion towards immigrants. For others, it was an important policy that confirmed the secular status of Quebec. The media played a large role in depicting the average Charter supporter. The goal of this study is to empirically test the claims regarding the sociodemographic profile of the Charter's supporters. Using opinion poll data, we demonstrate that most of these assumptions were false, and that the nature of the support evolved during the debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium is a primary second messenger in all cells that functions in processes ranging from cellular proliferation to synaptic transmission. Proper regulation of calcium is achieved through numerous mechanisms involving channels, sensors, and buffers notably containing one or more EF-hand calcium binding domains. The Drosophila genome encodes only a single 6 EF-hand domain containing protein, Cbp53E, which is likely the prototypic member of a small family of related mammalian proteins that act as calcium buffers and calcium sensors. Like the mammalian homologs, Cbp53E is broadly though discretely expressed throughout the nervous system. Despite the importance of calcium in neuronal function and growth, nothing is known about Cbp53E’s function in neuronal development. To address this deficiency, we generated novel null alleles of Drosophila Cbp53E and examined neuronal development at the well-characterized larval neuromuscular junction. Loss of Cbp53E resulted in increases in axonal branching at both peptidergic and glutamatergic neuronal terminals. This overgrowth could be completely rescued by expression of exogenous Cbp53E. Overexpression of Cbp53E, however, only affected the growth of peptidergic neuronal processes. These findings indicate that Cbp53E plays a significant role in neuronal growth and suggest that it may function in both local synaptic and global cellular mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Political Science / Revue Canadienne de Science Politique is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Genome sequencing projects have presented the opportunity for analysis of developmental genes in three vector mosquito species: Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Anopheles gambiae. A comparative genomic analysis of developmental genes in Drosophila melanogaster and these three important vectors of human disease was performed in this investigation. While the study was comprehensive, special emphasis centered on genes that 1) are components of developmental signaling pathways, 2) regulate fundamental developmental processes, 3) are critical for the development of tissues of vector importance, 4) function in developmental processes known to have diverged within insects, and 5) encode microRNAs (miRNAs) that regulate developmental transcripts in Drosophila. While most fruit fly developmental genes are conserved in the three vector mosquito species, several genes known to be critical for Drosophila development were not identified in one or more mosquito genomes. In other cases, mosquito lineage-specific gene gains with respect to D. melanogaster were noted. Sequence analyses also revealed that numerous repetitive sequences are a common structural feature of Drosophila and mosquito developmental genes. Finally, analysis of predicted miRNA binding sites in fruit fly and mosquito developmental genes suggests that the repertoire of developmental genes targeted by miRNAs is speciesspecific. The results of this study provide insight into the evolution of developmental genes and processes in dipterans and other arthropods, serve as a resource for those pursuing analysis of mosquito development, and will promote the design and refinement of functional analysis experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manganese porphyrins (MnPs), MnTE-2-PyP5+, MnTnHex-2-PyP5+ and MnTnBuOE-2-PyP5+, are superoxide dismutase (SOD) mimetics and form a redox cycle between O2 and reductants, including ascorbic acid, ultimately producing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). We previously found that MnPs oxidize hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to polysulfides (PS; H2Sn, n = 2–6) in buffer. Here, we examine the effects of MnPs for 24 h on H2S metabolism and PS production in HEK293, A549, HT29 and bone marrow derived stem cells (BMDSC) using H2S (AzMC, MeRho-AZ) and PS (SSP4) fluorophores. All MnPs decreased intracellular H2S production and increased intracellular PS. H2S metabolism and PS production were unaffected by cellular O2 (5% versus 21% O2), H2O2 or ascorbic acid. We observed with confocal microscopy that mitochondria are a major site of H2S production in HEK293 cells and that MnPs decrease mitochondrial H2S production and increase PS in what appeared to be nucleoli and cytosolic fibrillary elements. This supports a role for MnPs in the metabolism of H2S to PS, the latter serving as both short- and long-term antioxidants, and suggests that some of the biological effects of MnPs may be attributable to sulfur metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragile X Syndrome (FraX) is a broad-spectrum neurological disorder with symptoms ranging from hyperexcitability to mental retardation and autism. Loss of the fragile X mental retardation 1 (fmr1) gene product, the mRNA-binding translational regulator FMRP, causes structural over-elaboration of dendritic and axonal processes, as well as functional alterations in synaptic plasticity at maturity. It is unclear, however, whether FraX is primarily a disease of development, a disease of plasticity or both: a distinction that is vital for engineering intervention strategies. To address this crucial issue, we have used the Drosophila FraX model to investigate the developmental function of Drosophila FMRP (dFMRP). dFMRP expression and regulation of chickadee/profilin coincides with a transient window of late brain development. During this time, dFMRP is positively regulated by sensory input activity, and is required to limit axon growth and for efficient activity-dependent pruning of axon branches in the Mushroom Body learning/memory center. These results demonstrate that dFMRP has a primary role in activity-dependent neural circuit refinement during late brain development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]