100 Questions About Women and Politics

Book review by Erin Tolley of 100 Questions About Women and Politics, author Manon Tremblay

Gender, municipal party politics, and Montreal’s first woman mayor

In 2017, Montreal elected Valérie Plante, the first woman mayor in the city’s 400-year history. Using this election as a case study, we show how gender did and did not influence the outcome. A survey of Montreal electors suggests that gender was not a salient factor in vote choice. Although gender did not matter much for voters, it did shape the organization of the campaign and party. We argue that Plante’s victory can be explained in part by a strategy that showcased a less leader-centric party and a degendered campaign that helped counteract stereotypes about women’s unsuitability for positions of political leadership.En 2017, Valérie Plante est devenue la première femme à être élue au poste de mairesse de Montréal. Cet article présente une étude de cas de cette élection, afin d’explorer l’influence du genre sur cette élection. L’analyse du comportementdes électeurs, à l’aide d’un sondage représentatif, démontre que les facteurs liés au genre n’ont pas été déterminants dans le vote des Montréalais en 2017. Pourtant, le genre a été central à cette campagne et ce, de deux façons. Notre analyse propose que la victoire de Plante s’explique en grande partie par l’impact combiné d’une stratégiede campagne visant à neutraliser le genre de la candidate à la mairie et par la consolidation de Projet Montréal comme alternative partisane stable, moins centrée sur la personnalité d’un chef. Ces forces ont contribué à contrecarrerles stéréotypes sur l’inaptitude des femmes en politique. Ce cas illustre l’importance d’analyser l’impact de la consolidation des partis politiques municipaux pour la vie politique des villes

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M>70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0<e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level

Ultralight vector dark matter search using data from the KAGRA O3GK run

Among the various candidates for dark matter (DM), ultralight vector DM can be probed by laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors through the measurement of oscillating length changes in the arm cavities. In this context, KAGRA has a unique feature due to differing compositions of its mirrors, enhancing the signal of vector DM in the length change in the auxiliary channels. Here we present the result of a search for U(1)B−L gauge boson DM using the KAGRA data from auxiliary length channels during the first joint observation run together with GEO600. By applying our search pipeline, which takes into account the stochastic nature of ultralight DM, upper bounds on the coupling strength between the U(1)B−L gauge boson and ordinary matter are obtained for a range of DM masses. While our constraints are less stringent than those derived from previous experiments, this study demonstrates the applicability of our method to the lower-mass vector DM search, which is made difficult in this measurement by the short observation time compared to the auto-correlation time scale of DM

Race and Gender Affinities in Voting: Experimental Evidence

We analyze the results of a large-scale experiment wherein subjects participate in a hypothetical primary election and must choose between two fictional candidates who vary by sex and race. We find evidence of affnities along these dimensions in voting behaviour. A number of phenomena regarding these affnities and their interactions are detailed and explored. We find that they compete with each other on the basis of race and gender. Neuroeconomic metrics suggest that people who vote for own race candidates tend to rely more on heuristics than those who do not

Current concepts in microsurgical soft tissue reconstruction of lower extremity trauma in a single-vessel extremity

Advancements in microsurgical techniques have allowed for the salvage of extremities that would otherwise be amputated. Despite these improvements, mangling injuries of the lower extremity with concomitant open fracture continue to present a challenge for reconstructive surgeons. These injuries are further complicated by circumstances in which a single vessel is perfusing the foot after trauma (Gustilo 3C injuries). Although the foot may remain perfused in this instance, free flap coverage of open fractures with concomitant vascular injury requires careful planning to maintain a viable foot. The surgeon must adapt surgical plans based on both preoperative and intraoperative findings. In this review, we discuss current concepts and reconstructive techniques for performing free flap reconstruction in single-vessel lower extremities