This research describes and compares different approaches of the Better Regulation implementation in Danish Ministry of Industry & Trade and Lithuanian Ministry of Economics. These two ministries have been facing many common management problems relatively at the same time period, along with the ever-changing economic challenges and EU requirements. While the Danish ministry is being one of the most effectively restructured and de-burocratized into a project organization in EU, the Lithuanian Ministry of Economics remains at quite a low level of reformation. Even though both of these ministries had common goals, their reform purposes were completely different: the Danish reform was about to increase the Ministry’s capacity in developing new policy initiatives, to increase flexibility in resource allocation, and to make the organization an attractive working place for future graduates from universities; while the purposes of Lithuanian reform are still more about general compatibility with EU requirements.

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(C) 課題番号:17530020 研究代表者:愛敬 浩二 研究期間:2005－2006年度

The transition of the power sector from vertically integrated utility (VIU) to deregulated system has resulted in reshaping of generation, transmission and distribution components. Some of the objectives of restructuring are to ensure a secure and reliable supply of electricity, encourage competition in all segments, sustain future economic and technological growth, etc. There are many challenges that arise in fulfilling these objectives. The thesis addresses some of them related to planning and operational aspects of real and reactive power, covering the following areas: Real power tracing, loss allocation and pricing Reactive power tracing, loss allocation and pricing Power system generation expansion planning Power transfer capability in interregional grids Voltage stability enhancement by improving reactive power margins In deregulated power systems, it has become important to identify the generation and transmission entities responsible in meeting loads. This is done by tracing the power flows through the transmission network. Power tracing is required to assess the extent of network usage by the participants, so as to allocate the transmission losses and charges. Many loss allocation methods are presented in the literature. The loss allocation method implemented in this thesis is a circuit based method. For obtaining the generators contribution towards meeting system loads and transmission losses, an approach of relative electrical distance (RED) between the generation and the load buses, is presented. The method is used to trace both real and reactive power flows. In the case of real power, the generators are the only sources and loads are the only sinks. However, reactive sources and sinks are distributed all along the transmission system. The reactive power sources considered are generators, switchable VAR sources (shunt capacitor banks) and line charging susceptances; and the reactive sinks are shunt reactors and reactive inductive loads. While tracing their flows the actual sources or sinks are to be identified which is obtained after adding reactive injections and absorptions at each bus. If the net value is absorbing, the bus is a reactive sink and if the net value is injecting, the bus is a reactive source. The transmission line charge susceptances contribution to the system’s reactive flows; and its aid extended in reducing the reactive generation at the generator buses is also discussed. A reactive power optimization technique is applied to optimally adjust the reactive controller settings of transformer taps, generator excitations and switched capacitors, so that the available reactive resources can be fully utilized. In the thesis, a methodology for evaluation of real and reactive power load and loss sharing proportions; and cost allocation towards transmission utilization is presented. Due to the ever growing increase in demands; on one hand the existing transmission networks are getting overloaded at some locations and on the other hand, the available generation is becoming insufficient to cater to the additional demand. To handle this problem, generation and transmission expansions become inevitable. Hence, additional public sector units or independent power producers and transmission providers are to be brought in. However in a restructured system, generally there is no central planning for new generation capacity or transmission additions. The reason being, these investments need huge capital and long period of commitment. While making a generation investment decision, expectations concerning future electricity demand, spot market prices, variations of regulatory policies, etc., are the major considerations. The locations, capacities and timing of new power plants are basically at the generation companies’ own discretion. Also, generation companies do not have any obligation to ensure sufficient supply of electricity to meet present and future requirements. Hence, it is a matter of concern as to how adequate generation capacity can be secured in the long run. Optimal siting and sizing of these new generation locations is also an issue of concern. In this thesis a new index called as ‘Tindex’ is proposed, which identifies prospective new generation expansion locations. The index is formulated based on the transmission network information, and it helps in identifying the most suitable new generation expansion locations. To implement this methodology each of the load bus is treated as a generation bus, one at a time, and the maximum generation capacity that can be installed at the location is computed from the approach. This method ensures minimum transmission expansion. Interconnected power systems help in exchanging power from one area to other areas at times of power deficiency in their own area. To enable this, their tieline capability to transfer power has to be sufficient, which is determined using total transfer capability (TTC) computation. TTC is an important index in power markets with large volume of interarea power exchanges and wheeling transactions taking place on an hourly basis. In the thesis, the total transfer capability (TTC) of interconnected tielines, under normal and contingency conditions is evaluated. The contingency cases evaluated are single line contingency, tieline contingency and generator outage. The most critical lines in each zone are identified using Fuzzy set theory. Unified power flow controller (UPFC), a flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) device is incorporated to improve the power transfers under contingency conditions. The best locations for UPFC placement are identified by analysing the power flow results obtained after considering the contingencies. For each of the normal and contingency cases, a base case and a limiting case are formed and the TTC is evaluated. Limiting case is formed by increasing the load in small steps till a point after which bus voltages or line loadings start to violate their stability constraints. To improve the system conditions in the limiting case, reactive power optimization and UPFC installation is carried out. The results reflect the improvement in system conditions and total transfer capability margins. Availability of sufficient generator reactive margins is very essential to ensure system’s voltage stability, without which even minor disturbances may lead to catastrophe. The amount of reactive power margin available in a system determines its proximity to voltage instability under normal and emergency conditions. One way of improving the reactive margin of a synchronous generator, is to reduce the real power generation within its MVA ratings. However this real power reduction will affect the real power contract agreements formed while power trading. The real power contracts are not disturbed and the reactive power margins are improved by optimally adjusting the other available reactive controllers, namely, generator exciter, transformer taps and shunt compensators. To have further control on the reactive flows, UPFC device is incorporated at appropriate locations. The thesis discusses how reactive margins are computed and subsequently improved using a reactive power optimization technique and UPFC. Case studies are carried out on typical sample 6bus, 8bus, 10bus, 16bus, 20bus, IEEE 30bus, IEEE 39bus systems, and reallife equivalents of Indian southern grid 24bus, 72bus, 87bus and 205bus systems to illustrate the proposed approaches.

Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na kritické zhodnocení současné energetické politiky Evropské Unie a její dopady na účastníky trhu s energetickými komoditami, především s důrazem na energetické společnosti a koncové spotřebitele.

Determination of cell signalling behaviour is crucial for understanding the physiological response to a specific stimulus or drug treatment. Current approaches for large-scale data analysis do not effectively incorporate critical topological information provided by the signalling network. We herein describe a novel model- and data-driven hybrid approach, or signal transduction score flow algorithm, which allows quantitative visualization of cyclic cell signalling pathways that lead to ultimate cell responses such as survival, migration or death. This score flow algorithm translates signalling pathways as a directed graph and maps experimental data, including negative and positive feedbacks, onto gene nodes as scores, which then computationally traverse the signalling pathway until a pre-defined biological target response is attained. Initially, experimental data-driven enrichment scores of the genes were computed in a pathway, then a heuristic approach was applied using the gene score partition as a solution for protein node stoichiometry during dynamic scoring of the pathway of interest. Incorporation of a score partition during the signal flow and cyclic feedback loops in the signalling pathway significantly improves the usefulness of this model, as compared to other approaches. Evaluation of the score flow algorithm using both transcriptome and ChIP-seq data-generated signalling pathways showed good correlation with expected cellular behaviour on both KEGG and manually generated pathways. Implementation of the algorithm as a Cytoscape plug-in allows interactive visualization and analysis of KEGG pathways as well as user-generated and curated Cytoscape pathways. Moreover, the algorithm accurately predicts gene-level and global impacts of single or multiple in silico gene knockouts. / Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.

Seit den 90er Jahren ist die Wettbewerbsstruktur im europäischen Eisenbahngüterverkehr starken Veränderungen unterworfen. Die Auflösung staatlicher Monopole sowie die Öffnung nationaler Märkte implizieren einen intensivierten Wettbewerb, bieten jedoch gleichzeitig die Möglichkeit, sich über neuartige Formen der Allianzbildung Wettbewerbsvorteile zu sichern bzw. Eintrittschancen in neue Transportmärkte zu nutzen. Die Einführung wettbewerblicher Marktstrukturen im Eisenbahngüterverkehr betrifft einerseits die Schaffung gleicher Wettbewerbsvoraussetzungen im Verhältnis der Verkehrsträger untereinander (intermodal). Weiterhin steht die Einführung von Wettbewerb zwischen Eisenbahnverkehrsunternehmen im Vordergrund (intramodal). Die vorliegende Arbeit betrachtet Allianzmöglichkeiten entlang beider Dimensionen: im Mittelpunkt stehen Partnerschaften zwischen Eisenbahnverkehrsunternehmen und/oder intermodalen Partnern, die grundsätzlich auf die Gestaltung des intramodalen Wettbewerbs ausgerichtet sind. Aufgrund des Einbezugs intermodaler Partner, der vor dem Hintergrund integrierter Logistikketten immer bedeutsamer wird, gelangt die Perspektive der Beeinflussung des Wettbewerbs der Verkehrsträger untereinander mittels Allianzen ebenfalls in das Blickfeld der Untersuchung. Übergeordnetes Ziel der Arbeit stellt die Analyse des Allianzphänomens und die Systematisierung spezifischer Allianzmodelle im europäischen Eisenbahngüterverkehr vor dem Hintergrund der sich fortlaufend verändernden Marktstruktur und fortgesetzten Deregulierung dieser Branche dar. Das Hauptinteresse gilt der Allianzrelevanz in dieser Branche im allgemeinen und der Verdeutlichung branchenstrukturprägender Allianzmuster im besonderen. Betriebswirtschaftlicher Forschung in diesem Branchenumfeld soll damit ein stärkeres Gewicht beigemessen werden.

Several interesting findings emerged from this study. First, strong labour movements still failed to successfully bargain for employment protections due to resistance from employers to encroachments on their institutionalized managerial prerogatives. Second, governments favoured a policy of abstentionism and acquiescence to the collective-laissez-faire tradition until the critical juncture of the 1960s and 1970s. Third, the increasing power resources of trade unions and a deteriorating socio-economic climate created a window of opportunity for bold government action to improve industrial relations, albeit without the consent of employers, and at first, unions. Fourth, contrary to the liberalizing pressures one would expect to find in an archetypical free market economy, the UK has implemented far more statutory protections than deregulatory reforms. Fifth, in contrast to its traditional non-intervention in industrial relations and reputation for worker-protective regulations, Swedish governments have enacted numerous statutes, both restricting and freeing managerial prerogatives in the hiring and firing process. Sixth, statutory employment protections became an independent set of institutional power resources for unions in the long run, serving their organizational and representational interests in important ways. Seventh, unions and left parties consistently defended and advanced the policy preferences of their core constituencies in secure employment by privileging the job security of regular contracts. Eighth, employers and parties on the right of the political spectrum consistently opposed restrictions on the managerial capacity to hire and fire at will, especially for small businesses. Nineth, to increase flexibility without threatening the stability of regular contracts, reforms over the years had to foster atypical forms of work, creating a regulatory gap between permanent and temporary employment, particularly in Sweden. Tenth, differences exist between job security in the statute books and job security in action, particularly in the UK where this gap pervades all aspects of the unfair dismissal system. These findings suggest employment protection legislation has developed in ways far more complex, dynamic and contradictory than is commonly assumed by prominent theories of comparative political economy. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis examines how and why employment protection legislation developed in the United Kingdom and Sweden in the ways that it did from its early beginnings to the present period. It hopes to offer answers to questions about the initial impetus for statutory regulation, the number, content and impact of significant legislative changes and the preferences of key stakeholders with material interests in the policymaking process. It does this by drawing on a variety of both primary and secondary source materials, including employment protection databases, parliamentary records and research publications. At the same time, it assesses the explanatory merit of dominant theories in the political economy literature by testing them against voluminous empirical evidence and provides a multi-factorial account to fill the gaps in the existing body of knowledge.

The privatisation and liberalisation of telecommunications throughout the world has resulted in the growing involvement of competition authorities in telecommunications regulation, alongside telecommunications sector-specific regulators. The existence of both sector specific rules and competition rules has brought about a critical institutional challenge. The increased role of competition authorities in the telecommunications sector raises the issue of inconsistent jurisdiction in the sector. Conflicts are therefore inevitable in the absence of clear delineation of jurisdiction. The South African model for regulation in the telecommunications sector entails a sharing of jurisdiction between the sector-specific regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), and the competition-wide regulator, the Competition Commission. The study thus determines the interplay between the Competition Commission and ICASA as well as the competitiveness of South African telecommunications. / Communication Science / M.A. (International Communication))

The aim of this research is to show the effects of financial liberalisation on emerging market economies, how these economies removed restrictions on financial institutions so that they can be globally integrated, and to show the flow of international finance in and out of a country. This research also illustrates how the financial system in these economies moved from being government-led to being market-led. The main finding of this research is that many countries failed to reap the benefits of liberalisation because of weaknesses in the regulatory structure, undercapitalised banks, volatile markets and contagion effects. The research concludes that the long-term gains of liberalisation certainly supersede short-term instability of liberalisation. Thus, for financial liberalisation to have predominantly positive effects, attention should be drawn to the importance of a more prudent regulatory and supervisory environment. Furthermore, financial liberalisation must be accompanied by a sound institutional infrastructure, proper conduct of monetary and fiscal policies, a reduction in corruption, and an increase in transparency. In addition, liberalisation should be a gradual process whereby the right measures are taken in the right sequence. / Economics / M. Comm. (Economics)

Das humane Zytomegalievirus, ist ein ubiquitäres Pathogen, welches akute und persistierende Infektionen verursacht. Bei immunsupprimierten Patienten kann das Virus zu schweren Erkrankungen, wie Hepatitis, Pneumonie und bei kongenitaler Infektion außerdem zu Schädigungen des ZNS führen. HCMV blockiert die Zellproliferation durch einen Arrest am G1/S-Übergang des Zellzyklus, andererseits wird aber gleichzeitig die Expression S-Phase spezifischer Gene aktiviert. Teilweise lässt sich dies durch eine Virus vermittelte spezifische Inhibition der zellulären DNA-Repliaktion sowie durch eine massive Deregulation Zyklin-assozzierter Kinasen erklären. Zellkulturexperimente deuten darauf hin, dass die Zellzyklusalterationen wichtige Voraussetzungen für eine erfolgreiche Virusreplikation darstellen. Es ist hingegen nicht bekannt, welche Relevanz sie für die Virusvermehrung in vivo und das pathologische Erscheinungsbild im erkrankten Organismus besitzen. Diese Frage kann nur in einem Tiermodell sinnvoll angegangen werden. Aufgrund der Wirtsspezifität der Zytomegalieviren, ist man dabei auf die Verwendung der jeweiligen artspezifischen CMV angewiesen. Murines CMV (MCMV) und Ratten-CMV (RCMV) sind dabei die bislang bestuntersuchtesten Systeme. Das Anliegen dieser Arbeit war es zu prüfen, inwieweit die für HCMV beschriebenen Zellzyklusregulationen in MCMV und RCMV auf Zellkulturbasis konserviert sind. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass sowohl RCMV als auch MCMV einen antiproliferativen Effekt auf infizierte Zellen besitzen und ebenso wie HCMV zu einem Zellzyklusarrest führen. Nager-Zytomegalieviren können Zellen auch in der G2-Phase arretieren und in dieser Zellzyklusphase auch effizient replizieren können. Die Infektion mit Nager-CMV führt außerdem auf breiter Basis zur Veränderung Zyklin-assoziierter Kinaseaktivitäten. Allen Zytomegalieviren ist die Hemmung der zellulären DNA-Synthese am G1/S-Übergang durch die Inhibition des replication licensing, dem Beginn der DNA-Synthese gemein. Durch diese vergleichende Studie wird einerseits deutlich, dass wesentliche funktionelle Schritte der Zellzyklusregulation zwischen den Zytomegalieviren konserviert sind, aber andererseits die zu Grunde liegenden molekularen Mechanismen zum Teil deutlich variieren. / Human Cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is an ubiquitous, species-specific beta-herpesvirus that, like other herpesviruses, can establish lifelong latency following primary infection. HCMV infection becomes virulent only in immunocompromised patients such as premature infants, transplant recipients and AIDS patients where the virus causes severe disease like hepatitis, pneumonitis and retinitis. Congenital infection produces birth defects, most commonly hearing loss. To develop rational-based strategies for prevention and treatment of HCMV infection, it is crucial to understand the interactions between the virus and its host cell that support the establishment and progression of the virus replicative cycle. In general, herpesviruses are known to replicate most efficiently in the absence of cellular DNA synthesis. What is more, they have evolved mechanisms to avoid the cell´s DNA replication phase by blocking cell cycle progression outside S phase. HCMV has been shown to specifically inhibit the onset of cellular DNA synthesis resulting in cells arrested with a G1 DNA content. Towards a better understanding of CMV-mediated cell cycle alterations in vivo, we tested murine and rat CMV (MCMV/RCMV), being common animal models for CMV infection, for their influence on the host cell cycle. It was found that both MCMV and RCMV exhibit a strong anti-proliferative capacity on immortalised and primary embryonic fibroblasts after lytic infection. This results from specific cell cycle blocks in G1 and G2 as demonstrated by flow cytometry analysis. The G1 arrest is at least in part caused by a specific inhibition of cellular DNA synthesis and involves both the formation and activation of the cells’ DNA replication machinery. Interestingly, and in contrast to HCMV, the replicative cycle of rodent CMVs started from G2 as efficiently as from G1. Whilst the cell cycle arrest is accompanied by a broad induction of cyclin-cdk2 and cyclin-cdk1 activity, cyclin D1-cdk4/6 activity is selectively suppressed in MCMV and RCMV infected cells. Thus, given that both rodent and human CMVs are anti-proliferative and arrest cell cycle progression we found a surprising divergence of some of the underlying mechanisms. Therefore, any question put forward to a rodent CMV model involving cell cycle regulation has to be well defined in order to extrapolate meaningful information for the human system.