Strategic Behavior in the German Balancing Energy Mechanism: Incentives, Evidence, Costs and Solutions

This paper investigates the incentives market participants have in the German electricity balancing mechanism. Strategic over- and undersupply positions are the result of existing stochastic arbitrage opportunities between the spot market and the balancing mechanism. This strategic behavior can be clearly identified in aggregate market data. These structural imbalances increase the need for reserve capacity, raise system security concerns, and thus burden significant cost on the customers. More effective market designs include changes in the balancing mechanism, the reserve capacity and the intraday spot markets

Social Security, Labour Market and Restructuring: Current Situation and Expected Outcomes of Reforms

The paper focuses on the social safety nets in Russian Federation and Ukraine in the view of changes on the labour market since the beginning of economic transition. We showed that many past phenomena (e.g. restructuring of the economy, wage and pension arrears, new groups at-risk-of-poverty, demographic transition) caused a need to change an old type social safety net (SSN) into the new one, better adapted to emerging more liberal economy problems. Additionally, we analysed some gender specific issues related to social security that are caused mainly by inequalities in the labour market. Differences of earnings between men and women in Russia caused by sector segregation account for seem to be more important than the gap between gender earnings attributed to the position. In Ukraine the main contributors to gross gender differential of log earnings (that equals to 32%) explained by our model are sector segregation and occupation. We also pointed out to future policy challenges in the area of social security systems in both countries. The retirement reforms introduced recently are a step in the right direction, although their impact will not be felt for a number of years. Other reforms, with more immediate results, are necessary. Social safety nets should be made more efficient and social benefits should be better targeted

Pelatihan dan Pendampingan Penyusunan Rencana Bisnis Model Kanvas Bagi Usaha Mikro Kecil dan Menengah

Model bisnis kanvas merupakan salah satu metode alternatif untuk membantu pelaku usaha mikro kecil dan menengah dalam memahami dan mengembangkan usaha yang ditekuni. (1) Pelaku UMKM masih banyak yang belum memahami bisnis model kanvas; (2) Tujuan pengabdian; meningkatkan kemampuan dan pemahaman pelaku UMKM mengenai bisnis model kanvas (3) Metode penyuluhan dan praktikum, pelaku UMKM yang berada di kota Palembang sebanyak 20 orang, (4) Hasil yang telah dicapai 90 persen pelaku UMKM dapat membuat bisnis model kanvas

The Transcriptional Regulator Nrg1p Controls Candida albicans Biofilm Formation and Dispersion ▿

The ability of Candida albicans to reversibly switch morphologies is important for biofilm formation and dispersion. In this pathogen, Nrg1p functions as a key negative regulator of the yeast-to-hypha morphogenetic transition. We have previously described a genetically engineered C. albicans tet-NRG1 strain in which NRG1 expression levels can be manipulated by the presence or absence of doxycycline (DOX). Here, we have used this strain to ascertain the role of Nrg1p in regulating the different stages of the C. albicans biofilm developmental cycle. In an in vitro model of biofilm formation, the C. albicans tet-NRG1 strain was able to form mature biofilms only when DOX was present in the medium, but not in the absence of DOX, when high levels of NRG1 expression blocked the yeast-to-hypha transition. However, in a biofilm cell retention assay in which biofilms were developed with mixtures of C. albicans tet-NRG1 and SC5314 strains, tet-NRG1 yeast cells were still incorporated into the mixed biofilms, in which an intricate network of hyphae of the wild-type strain provided for biofilm structural integrity and adhesive interactions. Also, utilizing an in vitro biofilm model under conditions of flow, we demonstrated that C. albicans Nrg1p exerts an exquisite control of the dispersal process, as overexpression of NRG1 leads to increases in dispersion of yeast cells from the biofilms. Our results demonstrate that manipulation of NRG1 gene expression has a profound influence on biofilm formation and biofilm dispersal, thus identifying Nrg1p as a key regulator of the C. albicans biofilm life cycle

Pseudohyphal Regulation by the Transcription Factor Rfg1p in Candida albicans▿

The opportunistic human fungal pathogen Candida albicans is a major cause of nosocomial infections. One of the fundamental features of C. albicans pathogenesis is the yeast-to-hypha transition. Hypha formation is controlled positively by transcription factors such as Efg1p and Cph1p, which are required for hyphal growth, and negatively by Tup1p, Rfg1p, and Nrg1p. Previous work by our group has shown that modulating NRG1 gene expression, hence altering morphology, is intimately linked to the capacity of C. albicans to cause disease. To further dissect these virulence mechanisms, we employed the same strategy to analyze the role of Rfg1p in filamentation and virulence. Studies using a tet-RFG1 strain revealed that RFG1 overexpression does not inhibit hypha formation in vitro or in the mouse model of hematogenously disseminated candidiasis. Interestingly, RFG1 overexpression drives formation of pseudohyphae under yeast growth conditions—a phenotype similar to that of C. albicans strains with mutations in one of several mitotic regulatory genes. Complementation assays and real-time PCR analysis indicate that, although the morphology of the tet-RFG1 strain resembles that of the mitotic regulator mutants, Rfg1p overexpression does not impact expression of these genes