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Even after the 150th anniversary of sexual selection theory, the drivers and mechanisms of female sexual selection remain poorly studied. To understand demographic circumstances favoring female-female competition, trade-offs with kin selection and interactions with male reproductive strategies, we investigated female evictions in redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons). Based on 24 years of demographic data of known individuals, we show that female redfronted lemurs target close female kin for forcible, permanent, and presumably lethal eviction, even though groups contain multiple unrelated males whose voluntary emigration actually mitigated the probability of future female evictions. Female eviction and male emigration were predicted by group size, but male emigration was primarily driven by a proportional increase of male rivals. Female evictions were more likely than male emigrations when there were more juvenile females in a group, but the identity of evicted females was not predicted by any intrinsic traits. While birth rates were reduced by the number of juvenile females, they were higher when there were more adult females in a group and in years with more rainfall. Early infant survival was reduced with increasing numbers of juvenile females, but variation in female lifetime reproductive success was not related to any of the predictors examined here. Thus, there seems to be a limit on female group size in this lemur species. More generally, our study demonstrates a balanced interplay between female reproductive competition, competition over group membership between both sexes, and kin selection, contributing new insights into the causes and consequences of female competition in animal societies. Significance statement: The evolutionary causes of female competition in vertebrate societies remain poorly known. Evictions represent an extreme form of female competition because even close kin are evicted when same-sized unrelated males are theoretically also available as victims. We studied drivers and consequences of evictions in redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) using 24 years of demographic data from multiple groups. We show that while voluntary male emigration mitigates the probability of future female evictions, females nonetheless appear to accept the fitness costs of evicting female kin. While group size seems to be the main driver of departures by either sex, the number of juvenile females present in groups is the key variable triggering eviction events as well as physiological responses that could be interpreted as female reproductive restraint. Our study therefore revealed that competition does trump cooperation under some circumstances in the intricate interplay between sexual selection and kin selection on females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carliss Baldwin has brought large advances to the fields of technology and organization design. In this conversation, we trace her academic career and the stories behind her most important contributions, including her work on options, transactions, and her seminal book, Design Rules Volume 1. We sketch out how her understanding of modular systems evolved over the course of her career and provide advice to other academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been recognized that the patterning of social interactions within a group can give rise to a social structure that holds very different places for different individuals. Such within-group variation in sociality correlates with fitness proxies in fish, birds, and mammals. Broader integration of this research has been hampered by the lack of agreement on how to integrate information from a plethora of dyadic interactions into individual-level metrics. As a step towards standardization, we collected comparative data on affinitive and affiliative interactions from multiple groups each of five species of primates to assess whether the same aspects of sociality are measured by different metrics and indices. We calculated 16 different sociality metrics used in previous research and thought to represent three different sociality concepts. We assessed covariation of metrics within groups and then summarized covariation patterns across all 15 study groups, which varied in size from 5 to 41 adults. With some methodological and conceptual caveats, we found that the number of weak ties individuals formed within their groups represented a dimension of sociality that was largely independent from the overall number of ties as well as from the number and strength of the strong ties they formed. Metrics quantifying indirect connectedness exhibited strong covariation with strong tie metrics and thus failed to capture a third aspect of sociality. Future research linking affiliation and affinity to fitness or other individual level outcomes should quantify inter-individual variation in three aspects: the overall number of ties, the number of weak ties, and the number or strength of strong ties individuals form, after taking into account effects of social network density. Significance statement: In recent years, long-term studies of individually known animals have revealed strong correlations between individual social bonds and social integration, on the one hand, and reproductive success and survival on the other hand, suggesting strong natural selection on affiliative and affinitive behavior within groups. It proved difficult to generalize from these studies because they all measured sociality in slightly different ways. Analyzing covariation between 16 previously used metrics identified only three rather independent dimensions of variation. Thus, different studies have tapped into the same biological phenomenon. How individuals are weakly connected within their group needs further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose and context: This paper aims to establish principles for the increased application and use of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). Sustainable development (SD) encompassing resilient economies and social stability of the global system is growingly important for decision-makers from business and governments. The "17 SDGs" emerge as a high-level shared blueprint for peace, abundance, and prosperity for people and the planet, and "sustainability" for supporting improvements of products and organizations. A "sustainability" interpretation—successful in aligning stakeholders' understanding—subdivides the impacts according to a triple bottom line or three pillars: economic, social, and environmental impacts. These context and urgent needs inspired the LCSA framework. This entails a sustainability assessment of products and organizations in accordance with the three pillars, while adopting a life cycle perspective. Methods: The Life Cycle Initiative promotes since 2011 a pragmatic LCSA framework based on the three techniques: LCSA = environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) + life cycle costing (LCC) + social life cycle assessment (S-LCA). This is the focus of the paper, while acknowledging previous developments. Identified and reviewed literature shows challenges of addressing the three pillars in the LCSA framework implementation like considering only two pillars; not being fully aligned with ISO 14040; lacking interconnectedness among the three pillars; not having clear criteria for results' weighting nor clear results' interpretation; and not following cause-effect chains and mechanisms leading to an endpoint. Agreement building among LCSA experts and reviewing processes strengthened the consensus on this paper. Broad support and outreach are ensured by publishing this as position paper. Results: For harmonizing practical LCSA applications, easing interpretation, and increasing usefulness, consensed ten LCSA principles (10P) are established: understanding the areas of protection, alignment with ISO 14040, completeness, stakeholders' and product utility considerations, materiality of system boundaries, transparency, consistency, explicit trade-offs' communication, and caution when compensating impacts. Examples were provided based on a fictional plastic water bottle Conclusions: In spite of increasing needs for and interest in SD and sustainability supporting tools, LCSA is at an early application stage of application. The 10P aim to promote more and better LCSA applications by ensuring alignment with ISO 14040, completeness and clear interpretation of integrated results, among others. For consolidating its use, however, more consensus-building is needed (e.g., on value-laden ethical aspects of LCSA, interdependencies and interconnectedness among the three dimensions, and harmonization and integration of the three techniques) and technical and policy recommendations for application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISO 14044, clause 5.2 only requires that third-party reports "shall be made available to any third party to whom the communication is made" (ISO [2]). More broadly, it should be noted that sector-specific ISO standards, such as ISO 21930, cannot overrule generic ISO management standards. Since the above ambiguities appear to be reasonable interpretations of the current language in ISO 14044, they should be addressed and clarified by future ISO/TC207/SC5 Working Groups, e.g., when revising ISO/TS 14071:2014. 8. ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 - Consolidated ISO Supplement - Procedures specific to ISO. [Extracted from the article]

Proteolytic and amyloidogenic processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β- and γ-secretases are pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). These proteolytic activities lead to release of the amyloid-β peptides believed to cause neurological pathology and be linked to pathological progression in AD. Due to its capability to cleave APP within the toxic peptide sequence, the metalloproteinase ADAM10 ('a disintegrin and metalloprotease') is a known antagonist of the disease-causing pathway. ADAM10 also plays a major role in the ectodomain shedding of a number of important cell surface proteins. In addition, ADAM10 is involved in the proteolytic activation cascade of the Notch receptor, which is of crucial function in developmental processes. The study of ADAM10-deficient mice also revealed that ADAM10 regulates synaptic function and synaptogenesis. Pharmacological activation of ADAM10 is postulated to represent a valuable strategy for prevention of AD. However, due to the multiple roles of ADAM10 in the brain, it will be challenging to find a suitable therapeutic window. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease causing mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) or in the Presenilin 1 (PS1) or Presenilin 2 (PS2) genes increase the production of amyloid peptides (Aβ) that precipitate in amyloid plaques. Since amyloid plaques are also a prominent feature of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD), abnormal proteolysis of APP and the generation of amyloid beta (Aβ) are key events in the pathogenesis of AD. The proteases (secretases) that cleave APP are therefore important therapeutic targets, both for the rare familial forms but likely also for the sporadic forms of AD. The identification and understanding of the (neuro)biological functions of the α-, β-, and presenilin/γ-secretase (complexes) is important for the development of drugs and the delineation of their associated side effects. The potential impact of this type of research exceeds the AD field since the function of these secretases are also linked to cellular pathways like ectodomain shedding of growth factors and regulated intramembrane proteolysis of receptors in developmental biology, tissue homeostasis, and tumorigenesis. The generation of mice deficient in presenilin 1, presenilin 2, the α-secretase ADAM10, and the β-secretases BACE1 and BACE2 were instrumental for the elucidation of the physiological functions of these proteases. Using these mouse models understanding how these secretases regulate amyloid peptide formation and how they exert their diverse biological functions could be significantly increased. This review attempts to summarize selected aspects of the current view of the multiple roles such proteases play in health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]