Modern cities modelled as “super-cells” rather than multicellular organisms: Implications for industry, goods and services

The structure and “metabolism” (movement and conversion of goods and energy) of urban areas has caused cities to be identified as “super-organisms”, placed between ecosystems and the biosphere, in the hierarchy of living systems. Yet most such analogies are weak, and render the super-organism model ineffective for sustainable development of cities. Via a cluster analysis of 15 shared traits of the hierarchical living system, we found that industrialized cities are more similar to eukaryotic cells than to multicellular organisms; enclosed systems, such as factories and greenhouses, paralleling organelles in eukaryotic cells. We further developed a “super-cell” industrialized city model: a “eukarcity” with citynucleus (urban area) as a regulating centre, and organaras (enclosed systems, which provide the majority of goods and services) as the functional components, and cityplasm (natural ecosystems and farmlands) as the matrix. This model may improve the vitality and sustainability of cities through planning and management

Organisationskultur. Eine Konkretisierung aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive

Kühl S. Organisationskultur. Eine Konkretisierung aus systemtheoretischer Perspektive. Managementforschung. 2018;28(1):7-35.Die Bestimmung des Verhältnisses von Informalität und Organisationskultur bereitet in der Organisationstheorie Schwierigkeiten. Das liegt daran, dass der Begriff Informalität häufig stillschweigend durch den Begriff der Organisationskultur ersetzt wurde, ohne dass dafür eine präzise, abgrenzungsscharfe Definition vorgenommen worden wäre. Unter Rückgriff auf Überlegungen von Dario Rodríguez argumentiert dieser Artikel, dass die beiden Begriffe Organisationskultur und Informalität das gleiche Phänomen bezeichnen: die nichtentschiedenen Entscheidungsprämissen einer Organisation. Dabei wird systematisch zwischen „unentscheidbaren Entscheidungsprämissen“ und „prinzipiell entscheidbaren, aber nicht entschiedenen Entscheidungsprämissen“ unterschieden. Es wird gezeigt, wie sich mit einer präzisen Bestimmung über das Konzept der Entscheidungsprämissen Ordnung in die „wilden Merkmallisten“ der Literatur sowohl über Informalität als auch Organisationskultur bringen lässt und empirische Phänomene genauer erfasst werden können

Sex differences in the behavior of wild Alouatta caraya infants

Several primates show sex-based differences in activity patterns and socialinteractions during infancy. These have been associated with social and reproductive functions of males and females during adulthood and are related to male-male competition. Our goal was to describe behavioral patterns of wild Alouatta caraya male and female infants, a species with sexual dimorphism in body size and behavioral strategies during adulthood. We also examined the relationship between life-history variables, infant sex and age, activity pattern, and social interactions in order to determine if males and females follow different trajectories during early growth. During a 27-month study, we observed 21 male infants and 14 female infants across two similar sites in northern Argentina. Data were analyzed using GLMM tests. We found no differences in suckling time and weaning age between males and females (9.7 mo vs. 9.4 mo) but male infants spent more time feeding and resting than female infants.Also, males invest more time in contact with their mothers than female infants do, and mothers rejected and broke contact with males more frequently than with females. Other behavioral categories did not differ between the sexes. Our results suggest higher nutritional demands of males compared with females that may affect some behaviors. However, mothers of sons did not experience immediate trade-offs between current and future reproduction. Other behaviors expressed similarly between the sexes suggest similar trajectory in development of male and female A. caraya infants, indicating that most differences emerge following the infant period.Fil: Pavé, Romina Elizabeth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Kowalewski, Miguel Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ; ArgentinaFil: Zunino, Gabriel Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento. Instituto del Conurbano; ArgentinaFil: Leigh, Steven R.. State University of Colorado Boulder; Estados Unido