Long Waves and Industrial Revolutions

The microeconomic analysis of innovation allows one to identify the salient features that will be useful for explaining the course of industrial revolutions, which in turn are characterized by clusters of major innovations. Innovation is the final result of a process (research, development, experiments, implementation of a production system, manufacture, and commercialization). It constitutes an extensive range: from major innovations to the improvement of processes; from inventions that are new throughout the world to the introduction of products already manufactured elsewhere. The establishing of the existence of long-term movements, generated by waves of innovation over a period of about two centuries in the industrialized countries, is based on the observation of three industrial revolutions during each of which innovations in the areas of energy, transport, and basic industries took place. The resulting long-term movement follows a logistic curve (from youth to maturity and thence to decline). The biological and demographic analogy is obvious (population of a space up to saturation). The author makes the following terminological distinctions: (a) A long-term movement is the most general expression: its evolution is not continual but consists of phases of unspecified highs and lows. (b) A long-term cycle is a movement that has regularity and periodicity, with alternating phases of highs and lows. (c) "Long waves" has a less restrictive meaning and does not imply regularity in the alternation of highs and lows. This paper deals with long waves, and has the aim of adding a number of characteristics: (a) Long waves are a succession of ascending movements having the form of logistic curves. (b) These logistic curves are separated by periods of uncertainty that more often take the form of recessions than of periods of stagnation. (c) The origin of long waves and the intervals separating them may be found in the economic mechanism itself. Thus technological progress is endogenized. Innovations do not occur by chance, but are bunched at certain times that correspond to the decline of the preceding wave of innovations. It is at this point that the economic conditions combine to favor the onset of a new wave. Unemployed manpower and available capital will be put to work in risky ventures that did not stand the slightest chance of being undertaken whilst all industries were at the height of prosperity and were using up all available resources. To verify this theory the author uses the tables of G. Mensch on the frequency of the appearance of innovations at times coinciding with the great crises, which are shown by the author's logistic curves. A great crisis is caused by the superposition of a logistic curve that has come to a decline upon the next one, which is still in the embryonic phase. The small cycle is perturbed and extended at the turning point of the long wave, whilst parabolic laws determine numerous examples of transition from expansion to saturation or recession

Integrative Annotation of 21,037 Human Genes Validated by Full-Length cDNA Clones

The human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology

Integrative annotation of 21,037 human genes validated by full-length cDNA clones.

publication en ligne. Article dans revue scientifique avec comité de lecture. nationale.National audienceThe human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology

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Comment et pourquoi définir un espace rural

[eng] The future of the countryside - How can one define « country » and why should it be defined ? - How can one characterise « country » in comparison with built up areas and why should it be defined ? Research into intercommunal relations and the criteria of rurality » is an attempt to answer these questions. . A survey who carried out of each of the 37000 French « communes » with less than 20000 inhabitants close to the main towns, based on a questionnaire of 880 questions. This enabled a « data bank » to be set up which is at the disposal of the planning specialists. . This survey challenges the use of the demographic criterion alone as a definition of the country. In France the INSEE considers as urban all the communes with more than 2000 inhabitants round the main towns. It is probable that if such a criterion were applied in Germany or the Netherlands, the « country » in these countries would disappear altogether. . The research mentioned is on the contrary based on an analysis with several criteria. The factors taken into account are qualitative rather than quantitative and concern phenomena related not only to the economic activity but also to the various aspects of the life of the people in the area. . A typology of the communes and of the degrees of « rurality » is thus arrived at which improve our knowledge of the situation and lead to more rational town and country planning. [fre] L'article présente les résultats d'une recherche sur les relations intercommunales et les critères de ruralité. Le débat déjà ancien « comment caractériser l'espace rural par rapport à l'espace urbain » débouche sur des préoccupations d'aménagement de l'espace. . Une enquête a été conduite au niveau de chacune des 37.000 communes françaises, sur la base d'un questionnaire comportant 880 questions : la banque de données ainsi constituée a été mise à la disposition des spécialistes de l'aménagement du territoire. . L'étude remet en cause l'utilisation du seul critère démographique pour délimiter l'espace rural : ainsi en France l'INSEE considère comme urbaines toutes les communes de plus de 2.000 habitants agglomérés au chef-lieu ; un tel critère appliqué en Allemagne ou aux Pays-Bas aboutirait à une quasi-disparition de l'espace rural dans ces pays. . Au contraire, la recherche présentée ici se fonde sur une analyse « multicritères » (dont les aspects techniques sont étudiés par J.L. Guigou). Les données prises en compte sont plus d'ordre qualitatif que quantitatif. Elles concernent les phénomènes liés non seulement à l'activité économique mais encore aux diverses manifestations de la vie des populations à travers le territoire. Une typologie des communes est établie, leur degré de ruralité calculé, en vue de mieux éclairer l'action.

Hermann Gross. Südosteuropa. Bau und Entwicklung der Wirt schaft

Renouvin Pierre, Hardy G., Hoffherr René, Ruellan F., Bréard A., Piatier André. Hermann Gross. Südosteuropa. Bau und Entwicklung der Wirt schaft. In: Politique étrangère, n°5 - 1937 - 2ᵉannée. pp. 470-472

Georges Hardy. La politique coloniale et le partage de la terre aux XIXe et XXe siecles

Hoffherr René, Hardy G., Renouvin Pierre, Ruellan F., Bréard A., Piatier André. Georges Hardy. La politique coloniale et le partage de la terre aux XIXe et XXe siecles. In: Politique étrangère, n°5 - 1937 - 2ᵉannée. pp. 472-473