As empresas com tarifas reguladas, de maneira geral, fornecem bens públicos. Muitas delas atuam em atividades que são prerrogativas, diretas ou indiretas, do estado. A regulamentação tarifária se justifica pelo fato de essas empresas não atuarem em condições de mercado. A tarifa é definida de maneira a fornecer uma remuneração justa, pelo risco assumido pelo investidor e, concomitantemente, um custo razoável para os consumidores. Existem dois modelos extremos de regime tarifário: cost-plus (pelo custo) ou fixed-price (pelo preço). O primeiro repassa todos os custos incorridos e mais uma margem às tarifas. Por outro lado, os regimes pelo preço fixam a tarifa máxima, que não está necessariamente associada aos custos incorridos. A diferença fundamental entre os dois regimes está no estímulo à eficiência, inexistente nos regimes pelo custo. Na prática, muitos regimes são considerados como híbridos, ou seja, somente alguns custos têm sua recuperação garantida. Nesses regimes, é necessária a existência de algum mecanismo de repasse dos custos recuperáveis. No Brasil, o setor elétrico adotou um modelo no qual a tarifa garante a recuperação dos custos não gerenciáveis (a chamada \"parcela A\"), e os custos gerenciáveis são fixados com base em níveis considerados como eficientes (a chamada \"parcela B\"). Por meio da portaria interministerial MF/MME nº 025/2002, o poder concedente cria um mecanismo para garantir a recuperação dos custos não gerenciáveis - a chamada conta de Compensação da Variação dos Custos da Parcela A (CVA). Segundo esse mecanismo, a diferença entre os custos que compõem essa parcela e o efetivamente incorrido é repassada no próximo reajuste tarifário anual. Caso o saldo não seja integralmente recuperado dentro de um ano, o resíduo é contemplado nos próximos reajustes anuais. O saldo da CVA é atualizado pela SELIC, da data de sua ocorrência até a data de sua liquidação. Com a adoção das normas internacionais de contabilidade, os itens regulatórios foram eliminados das demonstrações contábeis societárias. Devido às suas funções regulatórias, a agência nacional de energia elétrica (ANEEL) decidiu criar a contabilidade regulatória, na qual, entre outras exigências, o reconhecimento da CVA é obrigatório. O presente estudo analisa se a regulamentação tarifária fornece suporte para o reconhecimento contábil dos itens regulatórios, bem como, especificamente o da CVA. O estudo se suporta pela teoria da regulação e pela teoria contábil, com ênfase na estrutura conceitual para elaboração e divulgação de relatório contábil-financeiro (IFRS FOUNDATION, 2010). A pesquisa pode ser rotulada como qualitativa. Conclui-se que os itens regulatórios somente podem ser reconhecidos quando existe um recurso econômico ou uma obrigação econômica presente. Por consequência, apenas devem ser contabilizados os itens regulatórios cuja recuperação ou devolução for garantida. Especificamente para a CVA, não existem evidências objetivas de que seu saldo possa ser recuperado de outra maneira que não seja pela tarifa de fornecimento de energia, não devendo, portanto, ser reconhecido nas demonstrações contábeis societárias. / Rate-regulated companies generally provide public goods. Many of them carry out activities that are prerogative, direct or indirect, of the State. Rate regulations are justified by the fact that these companies do not operate under free market conditions. Rates are set in order to provide a fair return to the risk taken by the investor and concomitantly a reasonable cost to consumers. There are two broad regulatory regimes: cost-plus and fixed-prices. Regimes based on cost allow the recovery of all incurred costs, plus a margin. On the other hand, regimes based on price set a maximum rate, which is not necessarily associated with the incurred costs. The key difference between regimes is the efficiency stimulus, not present in cost regimes. In practice, many regimes are considered hybrid, in other words, just some costs have their recovery guaranteed. Under these regimes, it is necessary a pass-through mechanism for the recoverable costs. In Brazil, the energy sector adopted a model in which the rate allows the recovery of non-manageable cost (called \"Parcel A\"), while manageable costs are recovered based on efficiency levels (called \"Parcel B\"). Through the Portaria Interministerial MF/MME no 025/2005, the grantor creates a mechanism that allows the recovery of non-manageable costs, the so-called \"Conta de Compensação de Variação dos Custos da Parcela A (CVA). By this mechanism, the difference between the costs that are included in \"Parcel A\" and those actually incurred is considered in the next annual rate reset. In the case that it is not wholly recovered within one year, the remainder will be contemplating in the next annual rate resets. The CVA balance is indexed by the SELIC from the date of its occurrence to its settlement. With the International Accounting Standards adoption, the regulatory items are derecognized from the corporate financial statements. Due to its regulatory duties, ANEEL decided to create the Regulatory Accounting, in which amongst other requirements, the recognition of the regulatory items is mandatory. The present study analyses if the rate regulation provides support for the recognition of regulatory items, more specifically, the CVA. The study is based on the Regulation Theory and Accounting Theory with emphasis in the Conceptual Framework for Financial Reporting (IFRS FOUNDATION, 2010). The research can be labelled as qualitative. It was concluded that regulatory items shall only be recognized when there are a present economic resource or a present economic obligation. Consequently, only the regulatory items which the recovery or the devolution is guaranteed can be booked. Specifically for CVA, there are no objective evidences that its balance can be recovery by other mean different than energy supply rate. Therefore, it shall not be recognized in the corporate financial statements.

The gene regulatory network (GRN) controls the expression of genes providing phenotypic traits in living organisms. In particular, transcriptional regulation is essential to life, as it governs all levels of gene products that enable cell survival and numerous cellular functions. However, there is still poor understanding of how shifts in gene regulation alter the underlying evolutionary dynamics and consequently generate evolutionary innovations. By employing Wagner's GRN model, this dissertation investigates how the interplay of simple evolutionary forces (mutation and recombination) with natural selection acting on gene regulatory dynamics can generate major evolutionary innovations. In this dissertation, firstly, I review all currently available research papers using Wagner's GRN model, which is also employed as the computational model used extensively in the remaining chapters. I then describe how Wagner's GRN model and its variants are implemented. Finally, network properties such as stability, robustness and path length in initial populations are investigated. In the first study, I explore the characteristics of compensatory mutation in the context of genetic networks. Specifically, I find that 1) compensatory mutations are relatively insensitive to the size and connectivity of the network, 2) compensatory mutations are more likely to occur in genes at or adjacent to the site of a previous deleterious mutation and 3) compensatory mutations are more likely to be driven by mutations with a relatively large regulatory impact. In the second study, I further investigate the evolutionary consequences of the properties of compensatory mutation discovered previously. Specifically, I find that 1) compensatory mutations can occur regardless of patterns of selection, 2) networks with compensatory mutations exhibit proportionately higher robustness when compensatory mutations interact closely with deleterious mutations or have large effects on gene regulation, and 3) regulatory complexity can arise as a consequence of the propensity for co-localised and large-effect compensatory mutations. In the third study, I provide a mechanistic understanding of how recombination benefits sexual lineages. Specifically, I find that 1) recombination together with selection for developmental stability can drive populations towards the optimum, 2) recombination does not frequently disrupt well-adapted lineages as conventionally expected, and 3) recombination facilitates finding good genetic combinations which are robust to disruption, although it also rapidly purges weaker configurations. In the final study, I show that the selection pressure acting on rewiring gene regulation is critical to increasing benefits for sexual lineages whilst mitigating costs of sex and recombination. Specifically, I find that 1) strong selection strength can greatly benefit low-fitness sexual lineages, especially at the early stage, 2) recombination is initially costly, but it can rapidly evolve to compensate for costs of sex and recombination, and 3) sexual lineages with low levels of sex and recombination can outcompete strictly asexual populations under higher selection pressure and lower mutation rates. The results presented for all of the studies are important for mechanistically understanding evolutionary innovations through altering transcriptional regulatory dynamics. These innovations include 1) facilitating alternative pathway evolution, 2) driving regulatory complexity, 3) benefiting sexual reproduction, and 4) resisting invasion against asexual lineages.

The germinal centre (GC) response is critical for generating highly effective humoral immune responses and immunological memory that forms the basis of successful immunisation. Control of the output of the GC response requires Follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells, a subset of Foxp3+ Treg cells located within germinal centres. Tfr cells were first characterised in detail in 2011 and because of this relatively little is known about the exact role of Tfr cells within the GC, and the mechanism/s through which they exert their suppressive function. At the outset of this work, the major barrier to understanding Tfr cell biology was the lack of appropriate tools to study Tfr cells specifically, without affecting Tfh cells or other Treg cell subsets. This thesis set out to develop a strain of mice that specifically lacks Tfr cells. A unique feature of Tfr cells is their CXCR5-dependent localisation within the GC. Therefore, genetic strategies that exclude Treg cells from entering the GC are a rational approach to generating a mouse model that lacks Tfr cells. To this end, I generated a strain of mice that lacks CXCR5 on Foxp3+ Treg cells. These animals show a ~50% reduction in GC localised Tfr cells, and a GC response that is comparable to control animals. These data indicated that redundant mechanisms are involved in Treg cell homing to the GC. I identified CXCR4 as a chemokine receptor that is also highly expressed on Tfr cells, and hypothesised that it may also be involved in Tfr cell localisation to the GC. Surprisingly, simultaneous deletion of both CXCR4 and CXCR5 in Treg cells resulted in a less marked reduction in Tfr cells compared to deletion of CXCR5 alone, suggesting that CXCR4 might be involved in negative regulation of Treg homing to the GC. These data identify both CXCR4 and CXCR5 as key regulators of Tfr cell biology. Bcl6 drives Tfr cell differentiation, but how this transcriptional repressor facilitates commitment to the Tfr cell subset is unknown. I hypothesised that Bcl6 drives Tfr cell differentiation by repressing Tbx21, the transcriptional regulator involved in the differentiation of Th1-like Treg cells. I tested this hypothesis in Bcl6fl/fl CD4cre/+ animals and unexpectedly found that loss of Bcl6 regulates Treg cell differentiation in the absence of immunisation or infection. I have demonstrated that thymic loss of Bcl6 results in an increase in activated effector Treg cells, which occurs very early in life. These data point to a novel role for Bcl6 in preventing early thymic Treg activation, indicating that Bcl6 has a global role in Treg development and differentiation that is not simply limited to Tfr cells.

As primeiras agências reguladoras foram criadas a partir da segunda metade dos anos 1990, e a mais recente delas, em 2005. Com as agências surgiram também os atores privados regulados, os usuários e consumidores, e uma nova forma de interação entre os Poderes Executivo, Legislativo e Judiciário. Esses atores participam e dão forma ao processo de aprendizagem institucional das agências. Passado o período de criação e após quase duas décadas de existência, é necessária uma visão crítica sobre as agências. Propõe-se, então, um método de avaliação regulatória a partir de três variáveis que serão decompostas em diversas subvariáveis (quesitos a serem respondidos objetivamente). A primeira variável, institucionalização, mede as regras aplicáveis à própria agência: características dos mandatos dos dirigentes, autonomia decisória, autonomia financeira e de gestão de pessoal. A segunda, procedimentalização, ocupa-se do processo de tomada de decisão da agência e de sua transparência. Ambas as variáveis procuram medir as agências do ponto de vista formal, a partir de normas aplicáveis (leis, decretos, resoluções, portarias etc.), e pela prática regulatória, com base nos fatos ocorridos demonstrados por meio de documentos oficiais (decretos de nomeação, decisões, relatórios de atividade das próprias agências etc.). A última variável, judicialização, aponta as várias vezes em que a decisão administrativa muda de status e o nível de confirmação dessas decisões pelo Poder Judiciário. O modelo teórico de avaliação das agências ora apresentado é aplicado e testado em três setores que são submetidos à regulação econômica e contam com forte presença de atores sociais e empresa estatal federal. Assim, as agências analisadas foram: Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica ANEEL, Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações ANATEL e Agência Nacional de Aviação Civil ANAC. Em termos gerais, não é possível garantir a existência de um isoformismo entre essas agências, nem mesmo entre agências criadas em momentos diferentes e por presidentes distintos. Também não foi possível demonstrar que a interferência política seja uma marca de um único governo. A ANATEL, a melhor avaliada das três agências, destaca-se pelo rigor de suas normas que seu processo decisório reflete. A ANEEL e a ANAC tiveram uma avaliação mediana já que apresentaram avaliação sofrível quanto ao processo, mas mostraram ter instituições (regras) um pouco melhores. / The first regulatory agencies were created from the second half of 1900s, and the lasted of them in 2005. With the agencies, emerged regulated private players, users and consumers, and a new approach of interaction between the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. These actors take part and shape the institutional learning process of agencies. After the creation and over nearly two decades, a critical view is needed on agencies development. It is proposed, therefore, a method of evaluation based on three variables, which will be decomposed into several sub-variables (questions to be answered objectively). The first variable, institutionalization, looks into the rules to which the agency is submitted, as the mandates of the directors, autonomy to take decisions on its own, financial autonomy, and personnel management. The second variable, proceduralizing, deals with the agencys decision-making process and its transparency. Both variables seek to measure the agencies from a formal point of view, based on applicable rules (laws, decrees, resolutions, ordinances, etc.), and the regulatory practice, based on the facts officially documented (appointment decrees, decisions, reports issued by the agencies, etc.). The last sub-variable, judicialization, points out the several times the administrative decision changes status due to judicial review and the level of confirmation of such decisions by the Judiciary. The theoretical model of evaluation of agencies presented here is applied and tested in three sectors that are subject to economic regulation and have a strong presence of social actors and a federal state enterprise. Thus, the agencies analyzed were: Brazilian Electricity Regulatory Agency ANEEL, the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency ANATEL and the Brazilian Civil Aviation Agency ANAC. In general, one cannot assure there is an equal framework between these agencies, even among agencies created at different times and by different presidents. Nor was it possible to demonstrate that political interference is a mark of a single government. ANATEL, the best rated of the three agencies, stands out for the accuracy of its rules, which its decision-making process reflects. ANEEL and ANAC presented poorly assessment regarding the decision-making process, but proved to have institutions (rules) a little stronger.

Zhang, Qing. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 129-148). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract also in Chinese.

Water governance exerts an impact on the socio-politic life of Honduras. For instance, the new legal framework changes institutions. New water organisations are created, and new processes and proceedings are proposed. These times when strategies from developed countries are transferred to developing countries, such as water governance, the need for an evaluation is desirable to disentangle the problems and to look forward at opportunities and find alternatives. The journey from government to governance describes the change from the traditional government behaviour towards new governance. In countries like Honduras, as in developing countries, this change describes a complex process in which the imported strategies are conflicting with existing established socio-political patterns. The new water management approach as applied in Honduras needs to take into account the socio-political reality and the availability of resources, if the water governance process would gain relevance. Honduras is a relatively new democratic country after many years of military regime, thus the government needs also to be part of the governance process. This doctoral thesis studies and highlights the characteristics of the traditional Honduran government approach, and the effects that the new governance approach has posed in the country. The difficulties emerging from this shift of approaches are discussed, and explored. The research finds support in the exploration of Honduran political and institutional sociological history to elaborate the causes and motives for current governmental attitudes. The research relates to concepts of development strategies, institutionalism and regulation modes. This thesis argues that governance has achieved a pseudo empirical implementation in Honduras, and that new mechanisms need to be devised to balance the suggested governance mode using new notions of regulatory space, and the theoretical meta-governance approach, in order to balance between the imported measures and the reality. New governance theoretical notions are exposed to encourage and explore new alternatives for the water governance in the Honduras context. It is necessary to realise that institutional changes occur in a long-term adjustment period in order to build trust among actors and water authorities. Moreover, this thesis deems it pertinent that the government as the voter-elected entity should take the decisive lead of the governance approach. / QC 20100903

Gene regulation lies at the heart of most biological processes and transcription factors are the key molecules that control tissues specific gene expression. In higher eukaryotes transcription factors control gene expression by binding regulatory DNA segments called cis-regulatory modules (CRMs). The increasing number of sequenced genomes of multicellular eukaryotes along with high-throughput methods such as whole genome microarray expression data allows for systematic characterization of the CRMs that control gene expression. A first step towards understanding gene regulation is the identification of the regulatory elements present in the genome. We take advantage of the large database of spatio-temporal patterns of gene expression in D. melanogaster embryogenesis to identify sets of developmentally co-expressed genes. We developed a computational method that identifies DNA binding sites for transcription factors from families of co-regulated genes that are expressed during Drosophila embryo development. This method discovers over-represented motifs in a set of co-regulated genes using the exhaustive motif enumeration technique. Clustering the predicted motifs identifies the CRMs, which assist in translating a combinatorial code of TF inputs into a specific gene expression output. The predicted CRMs were verified experimentally by searching the whole genome for the predicted CRMs and establishing expression pattern of the genes that are associated with these CRMs. It is well know that the gene expression is substantially controlled through CRMs and those key regulatory sequences are conserved in related species. The conservation of CRMs can be studied by comparing the related genomes and alignment methods are widely used computational tools for comparing the sequences. However, in distantly related species the CRM sequences are simply not align able. To identify the similar CRMs in distantly related species we developed a non-alignment based method for discovering similar CRMs in related species. This method is based on word frequencies where the given sequences are compared using Poisson based metric. When starting with a set of CRMs involved in Drosophila early embryo development, we show here that our non-alignment method successfully detects similar CRMs in distantly related species ( D. ananassae, D. pseudoobscura, D. willisoni, D. mojavensis, D. virilis, D. grimshawi ). This method proved efficient in discriminating the functional CRMs from the non-functional ones.

The Theory of Regulation and the Economic Theory of Regulatory Constraint have not yet been adapted by American Indian Studies scholars to explain and analyze the federal regulations connected with Federal Indian Law and Policy. It is the intention of this thesis to prove the applicability of these theories to the law and policy concentration of American Indian Studies. The adaptation of these two theories could impact how federal regulations affecting Indian Country are viewed and interpreted. An examination of Federal Indian policy, specifically the regulations (43 CFR 10) promulgated for the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 tribal consultation processes (36 CFR PART 800) can provide a case study for understanding the applicability of the Theory of Regulation and the Economic Theory of Regulatory Constraint to a common regulatory process in Federal Indian Law.

This study examines the eWOM effect, more specifically: how customer reviews effects consumers. The study is based on a modified version of the Regulatory Focus Theory which describes consumer behavior using consumer consumption goals. The purpose of this study was to examine how positive and negative customer review's influence consumers when analyzing products that are equally characterized by two consumption goals: promotion and prevention goals. The authors combined quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus groups) research methods with the sample selection for both research methods being based on students of Södertörns University. Results indicate that negative customer reviews have a stronger influence on consumers than positive customer reviews when analyzing products that are equally characterized by the promotion goals and prevention goals. The results contradict the authors hypothesis which predicted an equally strong influence from positive and negative customer reviews.

Thesis (M.Sc.). / Written for the Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2008/05/14). Includes bibliographical references.