Working with Wolt

In this paper, we present the results of an ethnographic study focusing on food deliveries for the digital platform Wolt. The platform manages food transport ordered by customers to be delivered at home from restaurants, and subcontracts the transport to workers called 'couriers', who act as independent firms or entrepreneurs. The paper is based on six months of participant observation, during which time the first author worked as a courier, as well as on ad-hoc conversations and semi-structured interviews with other couriers. We describe couriers' work for the platform and discuss our findings using Möhlmann and Zalmanson's definition of algorithmic management. We found both similarities and differences. It was noticeable that the couriers were positive about their work that no penalties or wage reductions were enforced, and that human support complemented the platform's algorithmic management. Thus, the algorithmic management we observed is neither harsh (as it has been described on other platforms including Uber), nor like the algorithmic despotism present on Instacart, for example. Hence, we refer to it as 'lenient algorithmic management' and underline the importance of adding new perspectives to our understanding of what algorithmic management can be, as well as looking at the context in which it is practised. To complement this finding of lenient algorithmic management, we present a set of strategies couriers must engage in to be effective on the platform: Thus, couriers must 1) schedule their work for peak hours to limit the amount of time they waste, 2) bundle orders to increase their payment per tour, 3) make use of support to handle customers and cancel orders involving delays, and 4) make use of the ecology of local support structures. The contribution of this paper is to add new perspectives to the way we perceive algorithmic management by presenting a lenient form of algorithmic management and indicating the importance of looking at the context in which it is practised, while describing what it takes to be an effective worker on the Wolt platform.

Smart Planning for Healthy Cities (Urban Space Is Not Just a Place)

Cities are constantly increasing their importance, from any point of view: population, energy, food, transport. Healthy cities aim at wellbeing for all by creating urban spaces capable of inclusive community prosperity. Place is the combined tangible and intangible context of a location. It includes the integrated urban ecosystem: the constructed, environmental, social, economic, and cultural status. It is a human, natural, and artificial habitat whose combined conditions are able to upgrade or harm health and wellbeing. Its significant impact on people's life happens through a variety of ways, positive or negative, physical or mental. There are several urban determinants that affect the health indicators, which help us measure this impact. This process is named health impact assessment. It is conducted via specific tools, and till now it showed us that the urban environment affects public health much more than the medical system. On the other side, only vigorous communities are able to ensure thriving culture and economy, urban and regional sustainability and development.

In vivo intraoral waterflow quantification reveals hidden mechanisms of suction feeding in fish

Virtually all fish rely on flows of water to transport food to the back of their pharynx. While external flows that draw food into the mouth are well described, how intra-oral water flows manage to deposit food at the esophagus entrance remains unknown. In theory, the posteriorly moving water must, at some point, curve laterally and/or ventrally to exit through the gill slits. Such flows would eventually carry food away from the esophagus instead of towards it. This apparent paradox calls for a filtration mechanism to deviate food from the suction-feeding streamlines. To study this gap in our fundamental understanding of how fish feed, we developed and applied a new technique to quantify three-dimensional patterns of intra-oral water flows in vivo. We combined stereoscopic high-speed x-ray videos to quantify skeletal motion (XROMM) with 3D x-ray particle tracking (XPT) of approximately neutrally buoyant spheres of 1.4 mm in diameter. We showed, for carp (Cyprinus carpio) and tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), that water tracers displayed higher curvatures than food tracers, indicating an inertia-driven filtration. In addition, tilapia also exhibited a 'central jet' flow pattern, which aids in quickly carrying food to the pharyngeal jaw region. When the food was trapped at the branchial basket, it was resuspended and carried more centrally by periodical bidirectional waterflows, synchronized with head-bone motions. By providing a complete picture of the suction-feeding process and revealing fundamental differences in food transport mechanisms among species, this new technique opens a new area of investigation to fully understand how most aquatic vertebrates feed.

Planktonic associations between medusae (classes Scyphozoa and Hydrozoa) and epifaunal crustaceans

Jellyfish are known to carry various epibionts, including many of the subphylum Crustacea. However, the associations between gelatinous zooplankton and other invertebrates have been chronically overlooked. Crustacea, a massive clade of economically, ecologically, and culturally important species, includes many taxa that utilize gelatinous zooplankton for food, transport, and protection as both adults and juveniles. Here we compile 211 instances of epifaunal crustaceans recorded on Hydromedusae and Scyphomedusae from a century of literature. These include 78 identified crustacean species in 65 genera across nine orders found upon 37 Hydromedusa species and 48 Scyphomedusae. The crustacean life stage, location, nature of the association with the medusa, years, months, and depths are compiled to form a comprehensive view of the current state of the literature. Additionally, this review highlights areas where the current literature is lacking, particularly noting our poor understanding of the relationships between juvenile crabs of commercially valuable species and medusae.

Вода/река – макроэлемент культурной географии юкагиров

Рассматривается один из основных ландшафтных кодов культурной географии – «вода/река», его анализ позволит понять особенности формирования хозяйственной специфики и духовных ценностей бродячих охотничье-рыболовных племен Восточной Сибири. Территории кочевания этих племен за последние 2 тыс. лет существенно сократились, и в настоящее время Нелемнинский наслег – земли родовой общины «Тэки Одулок» в Верхнеколымском улусе Республики Саха (Якутия) – единственное в своем роде место компактного проживания потомков древнего населения. Для северных кочевников юкагиров (охотников и рыболовов) вода/река имела культурообразующее значение: она кормила, помогала перемещаться с места на место, служила ориентиром на местности. Важность водных ресурсов рассматривается в статье через призму этнической истории юкагирского народа. Показано, что современная уникальная культура северных номадов Верхней Колымы сложилась благодаря двум основным факторам: сохранности гомогенной «кормящей» территории и незначительной трансформации традиционного годового хозяйственного цикла. Природно-климатические условия и полукочевой уклад жизни выработали у этой группы юкагиров устойчивые стереотипы мышления и поведения и определенную систему ценностей и предпочтений. Их пространственные представления формировались под влиянием ландшафта, в частности водной системы территории кочевания. Традиционно в период промысла родовые группы лесных юкагиров длительное время находились в изоляции – такое положение сохранялось вплоть до начала XX в. Подобные условия предполагали разного рода опасности и риски, реальные и воображаемые. При отсутствии дорог в теплое время года и в силу большой заболоченности территории древний ландшафтный код «вода/река» определял номадический характер культуры юкагиров. Водная система в представлениях охотников и рыболовов Верхней Колымы запечатлена в духовной и материальной культуре как амбивалентная стихия. В геокультурном пространстве потомков аборигенных северных номадов концепт «водная стихия» традиционно построен на культурных смыслах, образах и символах. Сегодня присваивающий характер хозяйства лесных юкагиров и сохранение значимости ландшафтного кода «вода/река» позволяют говорить, что в обозримом будущем в культуре этого народа по-прежнему будут присутствовать элементы древних языческих религиозно-мифологических представлений. The article considers one of the main landscape codes of cultural geography – water/river, which in part determined the specifics of economy and spiritual values of the wandering hunting tribes of Eastern Siberia. The areas of nomadic hunting and fishing tribes of Eastern Siberia have significantly decreased over the past two thousand years, and currently the territory of the Nelemninsky National Council and the tribal community “Teki Odulok” in the Verkhnekolymsky region (ulus) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is the only place of compact residence of descendants of the ancient population. Among the northern nomads –Yukagirs-hunters and fishermen, the water/river landscape code was of a cultural-forming significance; water/river provided food, transport and served as a reference point in space. The significance of water resources is considered in diachronic and synchronous ranges against the background of the ethnic history of the Yukagir people with the involvement of archival and literary data. It is shown that the modern functioning of the unique culture of northern nomad dog breeders in the Upper Kolyma is due to the preservation of a homogeneous feeding territory and a minor transformation of the traditional annual economic cycle. The territorial community, the organization of living space in such climatic conditions and the semi-nomadic way of life have developed stable stereotypes of thinking and behavior, a system of values and preferences for this group of Yukagirs. The understanding of space of the nomad dog breeders reveals the mechanisms of formation and influence of the water/river discourse on various aspects of their activities. Traditionally from antiquity and to the beginning of the 20th century during the period of fishing and nomading on boats and rafts in the warm season, the tribal groups of forest Yukagirs were isolated for a long time. This situation implied various potential dangers and risks, real and mythologized. The ancient landscape code water / river in the absence of dirt roads in the warm season and a large bog area determined the nomadic nature of the culture. The figurative and geographical model of the water universe at the locus of the water hunters and fishermen of the Upper Kolyma is captured in the discourse of spiritual and material culture as an ambivalent element. In the geo-cultural area of the descendants of the aboriginal northern nomads, the concept of the water element is traditionally built on cultural meanings, images and symbols. The appropriating nature of the economy and the longstanding significance of one of the main landscape codes of water/river stimulate the continued exsistence of ancient pagan religious and mythological representations among the forest Yukagirs in the foreseeable future

COVID-19 Pandemic Uncertainty Shock Impact on Macroeconomic Stability in Ethiopia

This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty shock on the macroeconomic stability in Ethiopia in the short run period. The World Pandemic Uncertainty Index (WPUI) was used a proxy variable to measure COVID-19 Uncertainty shock effect. The pandemic effect on core macroeconomic variables like investment, employment, prices (both food & non-food prices), import, export and fiscal policy indicators was estimated and forecasted using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Model. The role of fiscal policy in mitigating the shock effect of coronavirus pandemic on macroeconomic stability is also investigated. The finding of the study reveals that the COVID-19 impact lasts at least three years to shake the economy of Ethiopia. Given that the Ethiopian economy heavily relies on import to supply the bulk of its consumption and investment goods, COVID-19 uncertainty effect starts as supply chain shock, whose effect transmitted into the domestic economy via international trade channel. The pandemic uncertainty shock effect is also expected to quickly transcend to destabilize the economy via aggregate demand, food & non-food prices, investment, employment and export shocks. The overall impact of COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty shock is interpreted into the economy by resulting under consumption at least in the next three years since 2020. Therefore, the government is expected to enact incentives/policy directions which can boost business confidence. A managed expansionary fiscal policy is found key to promote investment, employment and to stabilize food & non-food prices. A particular role of fiscal policy was identified to stabilizing food, transport and communication prices. The potency of fiscal policies in stabilizing food, transport and communication prices go in line with the prevailing reality in Ethiopia where government has strong hands to control those markets directly and/or indirectly. This suggests market failure featuring COVID-19 time, calling for managed interventions of governments to promote market stabilities. More importantly, price stabilization policies of the government can have spillover effects in boosting aggregate demand by spurring investments (and widening employment opportunities) in transport/logistics, hotel & restaurant, culture & tourism and export sectors in particular.

Mode choice of food transport considering heterogeneity among shippers using the latent class analysis

This study is an attempt to identify the heterogeneity in mode choice behaviour of shippers by latent class analysis, using the characteristics of the shippers. Shipping firms were classified into three latent classes: small firms with low truck ownership, large firms with high truck ownership, and long-established firms with no trucks. The study revealed that the mode choice behaviour of the latent classes of shippers is different. Further, it is discovered that the mode share of rail can be increased by decreasing the transportation cost and handling charges, or by increasing the speed and frequency of shipment.