Demokrati gennem sociokrati?

Der farer demokratiske vinde igennem arbejdslivet. Det er nyt. I mange år er udviklingen gået mod centraliseret styring og mere kontrol, og det gør den i vid udstrækning stadig. Men der tages nu også initiativer til forandring, der fører arbejdet i en mere demokratisk retning (Hvid, Møller & Ajslev, 2020; internationalt se fx #Democratizingwork eller Responsive.org). Der er veletablerede metoder, tilgange og traditioner for den centraliserede og hierarkiske ledelse, og det er svært at forestille sig en professionel organisation uden. Men i disse år sker der noget nyt. Der udvikles nu koncepter for etablering og udvikling af selvledende organisationer, hvor alle indgår i ledelse, og hvor ingen er dedikeret til ledelse (Lee & Edmondson, 2017). Vi vil her præsentere tre forbundne koncepter, der tilbyder udvikling af den selvledende organisation: sociokrati, holakrati og TEAL. De tre koncepter er tæt relaterede, og vi tillader os at præsentere dem under et. Sociokrati er det oprindelige begreb, som kan føres tilbage til ”sociologiens fader” Auguste Comte i 1850’erne. Vi tillader os derfor at ophøje sociokrati som den fælles betegnelse og holakrati og TEAL som varianter af sociokrati. Sociokratiet sætter i disse år sine spor, både i den private og den offentlige sektor. F.eks. afprøver flertallet af landets kommuner netop nu forsøg med at gøre hjemmeplejen (mere) selvledende. Inspirationen kommer fra den succesfulde hollandske virksomhed Buurtzog, der udbyder hjemmepleje på sociokratiske principper. Også inden for andre dele af den offentlige sektor afprøves sociokratiske idéer under paraplyen ”frisættelse af den offentlige sektor”. Hensigten er at tiltrække og fastholde medarbejdere, involvere borgerne og skabe mere individuelt tilpassede ydelser, som vi kommer ind på senere. Selv om sociokrati er et fænomen, der breder sig i disse år, har den akademiske interesse for fænomenet været begrænset indtil nu. I denne kronik vil vi præsentere, hvad sociokrati er – hvilket har vist sig ikke at være nogen let opgave. Vi er fuldt bevidste om, at én ting er idéen, noget andet er praksis, men vi tror, at afstanden mellem idé og praksis bliver større, hvis praksis slet ikke kender ideén. Derfor har vi sat os for at præsentere sociokratiet som idé og kun ganske kort nævne steder, hvor den sociokratiske idé afprøves

Fat Oxidation, Fitness and Skeletal Muscle Expression of Oxidative/Lipid Metabolism Genes in South Asians: Implications for Insulin Resistance?

<p><b>Background:</b> South Asians are more insulin resistant than Europeans, which cannot be fully explained by differences in adiposity. We investigated whether differences in oxidative capacity and capacity for fatty acid utilisation in South Asians might contribute, using a range of whole-body and skeletal muscle measures.</p> <p><b>Methodology/Principal Findings:</b> Twenty men of South Asian ethnic origin and 20 age and BMI-matched men of white European descent underwent exercise and metabolic testing and provided a muscle biopsy to determine expression of oxidative and lipid metabolism genes and of insulin signalling proteins. In analyses adjusted for age, BMI, fat mass and physical activity, South Asians, compared to Europeans, exhibited; reduced insulin sensitivity by 26% (p = 0.010); lower VO2max (40.6±6.6 vs 52.4±5.7 ml.kg−1.min−1, p = 0.001); and reduced fat oxidation during submaximal exercise at the same relative (3.77±2.02 vs 6.55±2.60 mg.kg−1.min−1 at 55% VO2max, p = 0.013), and absolute (3.46±2.20 vs 6.00±1.93 mg.kg−1.min−1 at 25 ml O2.kg−1.min−1, p = 0.021), exercise intensities. South Asians exhibited significantly higher skeletal muscle gene expression of CPT1A and FASN and significantly lower skeletal muscle protein expression of PI3K and PKB Ser473 phosphorylation. Fat oxidation during submaximal exercise and VO2max both correlated significantly with insulin sensitivity index and PKB Ser473 phosphorylation, with VO2max or fat oxidation during exercise explaining 10–13% of the variance in insulin sensitivity index, independent of age, body composition and physical activity.</p> <p><b>Conclusions/Significance:</b> These data indicate that reduced oxidative capacity and capacity for fatty acid utilisation at the whole body level are key features of the insulin resistant phenotype observed in South Asians, but that this is not the consequence of reduced skeletal muscle expression of oxidative and lipid metabolism genes.</p&gt

Modeling the middle Pliocene climate with a global atmospheric general circulation model

A new climate simulation for the middle Pliocene (ca. 3 Ma BP) is performed by a global grid-point atmospheric general circulation model developed at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP AGCM) with boundary conditions provided by the U. S. Geological Survey's Pliocene Research, Interpretations, and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) group. It follows that warmer and slightly wetter conditions dominated at the middle Pliocene with a globally annual mean surface temperature increase of 2.60°C, and an increase in precipitation of 4.0% relative to today. At the middle Pliocene, globally annual terrestrial warming was 1.86°C, with stronger warming toward high latitudes. Annual precipitation enhanced notably at high latitudes, with the augment reaching 33.5% (32.5%) of the present value at 60–90°N (60–90°S). On the contrary, drier conditions were registered over most parts at 0–30°N, especially in much of East Asia and the northern tropical Pacific. In addition, both boreal summer and winter monsoon significantly decreased in East Asia at the middle Pliocene. It is indicated that the IAP AGCM simulation is generally consistent with the results from other atmospheric models and agrees well with available paleoclimatic reconstructions in East Asia. Additionally, it is further revealed that the PRISM warmer sea surface temperature and reduced sea ice extent are main factors determining the middle Pliocene climate. The simulated climatic responses arising from the PRISM reconstructed vegetation and continental ice sheet cannot be neglected on a regional scale at mid to high latitudes (like over Greenland and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, and around the circum-Antarctic) but have little influence on global climate