An integrated method to calculate an automobile's emissions throughout its life cycle

[EN] Although studies can be found in the literature that present emissions inventories associated with different types of automobiles, distinct technologies or various stages of their life cycles, they do not enable us to compare the environmental impact of the complete life cycle of two vehicles. This is because there is no valid emissions inventory for all types of automobiles that covers all the life cycle stages (the cradle to grave approach). This paper proposes a method to estimate the principal types of emissions throughout a vehicle's life cycle based on primary data (weight, year of manufacture, engine technology, fuel type used, etc.). The proposed method requires neither sophisticated life cycle assessment software nor knowledge of specific information on individual vehicles. The proposal has been validated by analyzing three different gasoline and diesel-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles and by considering a life span of 100,000 km.The translation of this work has been funded by the Language Center of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia as a part of the Mobility and Academic Internationalization of VLC - CAMPUS (International Campus of Excellence Program), of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.Viñoles Cebolla, R.; Bastante-Ceca, MJ.; Capuz-Rizo, SF. (2015). An integrated method to calculate an automobile's emissions throughout its life cycle. Energy. 83:125-136. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2015.02.006S1251368

A Putative Homologue of CDC20/CDH1 in the Malaria Parasite Is Essential for Male Gamete Development

Cell-cycle progression is governed by a series of essential regulatory proteins. Two major regulators are cell-division cycle protein 20 (CDC20) and its homologue, CDC20 homologue 1 (CDH1), which activate the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) in mitosis, and facilitate degradation of mitotic APC/C substrates. The malaria parasite, Plasmodium, is a haploid organism which, during its life-cycle undergoes two stages of mitosis; one associated with asexual multiplication and the other with male gametogenesis. Cell-cycle regulation and DNA replication in Plasmodium was recently shown to be dependent on the activity of a number of protein kinases. However, the function of cell division cycle proteins that are also involved in this process, such as CDC20 and CDH1 is totally unknown. Here we examine the role of a putative CDC20/CDH1 in the rodent malaria Plasmodium berghei (Pb) using reverse genetics. Phylogenetic analysis identified a single putative Plasmodium CDC20/CDH1 homologue (termed CDC20 for simplicity) suggesting that Plasmodium APC/C has only one regulator. In our genetic approach to delete the endogenous cdc20 gene of P. berghei, we demonstrate that PbCDC20 plays a vital role in male gametogenesis, but is not essential for mitosis in the asexual blood stage. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis in parasite lines with deletions of two kinase genes involved in male sexual development (map2 and cdpk4), showed a significant increase in cdc20 transcription in activated gametocytes. DNA replication and ultra structural analyses of cdc20 and map2 mutants showed similar blockage of nuclear division at the nuclear spindle/kinetochore stage. CDC20 was phosphorylated in asexual and sexual stages, but the level of modification was higher in activated gametocytes and ookinetes. Changes in global protein phosphorylation patterns in the Δcdc20 mutant parasites were largely different from those observed in the Δmap2 mutant. This suggests that CDC20 and MAP2 are both likely to play independent but vital roles in male gametogenesis