Diversification activities of passenger railway companies

This paper is about diversification activities, and, more accurately, activities of capitalization of the land and commercial rent generated by railway infrastructures, of passenger railway companies. The global situation of these activities in the different parts of the world in 2003-2004 is first described. Then, the evolution of these activities during the period 1990-2004 is studied. A convergence towards a common diversification strategy and towards activities in stations is observed. Some consequences of the existence of this convergence in terms of transport policies are discussed

Diversification des activités et privatisation des entreprises de chemin de fer : enseignements des exemples japonais

The thesis studies the links between the development of diversification activities, and in particular activities of capitalization of the land and commercial rent generated by railway infrastructures, and the privatization of railway companies, in the case of japan, during the period 1920-2005, from different points of view : economic regulator, compagny, financial analyst. The first chapter shows empircally the uniqueness of the japanese model in terms of development of activities of capitalization of the land and commercial rent. In the second chapter, the link between privatization and capitalization of the land and commercial rent is measured with economic, accounting, and financial methods, in the case of different categories of japanese companies, during the period 1987-2005. In the last chapter, these learnings allows us to propose new extension of the model of "Von Thünen".La thèse étudie les liens entre développement des activités de diversification, en particulier des activités de captation de la rente foncière et commerciale générée par les infrastructures ferroviaires, et mécanisme de privatisation des entreprises de chemin de fer, dans le cas du Japon, sur la période 1920-2005, selon différents points de vue : régulateur économique, entreprise, analyste financier. Le premier chapitre expose la singularité empirique du modèle japonais, en termes de développement des activités de captation de la rente foncière et commerciale. Dans un second chapitre, le lien existant entre mécanisme de privatisation et captation de cette rente est quantifié, à l'aide d'outils d'analyse économique, comptable et financière, dans le cas de différentes catégories d'entreprises japonaises, sur la période 1987-2005. Dans un dernier chapitre, l'apport de ces différentes considérations à certains modèles d'économie géographique, dont celui dit de "Von Thünen" est approfondie

Bilirubin oxidase from Bacillus pumilus: A promising enzyme for the elaboration of efficient cathodes in biofuel cells

A CotA multicopper oxidase (MCO) from Bacillus pumilus, previously identified as a laccase, has been studied and characterized as a new bacterial bilirubin oxidase (BOD). The 59 kDa protein containing four coppers, was successfully over-expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity in one step. This 509 amino-acid enzyme, having 67% and 26% sequence identity with CotA from Bacillus subtilis and BOD from Myrothecium verrucaria, respectively, shows higher turnover activity towards bilirubin compared to other bacterial MCOs. The current density for O2 reduction, when immobilized in a redox hydrogel, is only 12% smaller than the current obtained with Trachyderma tsunodae BOD. Under continuous electrocatalysis, an electrode modified with the new BOD is more stable, and has a higher tolerance towards NaCl, than a T. tsunodae BOD modified electrode. This makes BOD from B. pumilus an attractive new candidate for application in biofuel cells (BFCs) and biosensors