As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Assist. Prof. Basim H. Faraj-lecturer in the Department of Sustainable Development-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 12/5/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “Autophagy and Sustainable Health”. The lecturer stated that autophagy can be defined as a natural regeneration process that occurs at a cellular level in the human body where the cells reject their damaged components like cytoplasm or unnecessary such as harmful proteins and consumed cells and others in order to renewing themselves and producing energy on a regular basis to maintain their vital functions.

 The concept of autophagy emerged in the 1960s when researchers for the first time monitored that the ability of cells to destroying their components. However, information about this concept remained limited until the Japanese scientist Yoshinori Osumi carried out many research and studies on yeast cells and then he was able to identify genetics of autophagy. Thus, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for that achievement.

The concept of autophagy has been being taken an important place in recent research and studies since it is believed to be vitally significant in helping to reduce the incidence of some diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, diabetes, aging and others. Consequently, the lecturer recommended the necessity of continuing the concrete scientific research in this field and providing financial and technical supports to researchers to obtain the best results with respect to human health and its preservation within the framework of sustainable health.

As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Mr. Abdulrahman Shakir Mahmood-Assist. lecturer in the Department of Environmental pollution-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 19/5/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “Health Impacts Resulting from Internal Combustion Engine Emissions for Transport Vehicles”. The lecturer stated that the internal combustion engines work on a basis of the principle of burning the fuel in the presence of an oxidizing agent such as air (oxygen is essential element in the combustion process) inside a combustion chamber that was designed and manufactured according to approved engineering and technical standards to be working with high temperatures and pressures. The combustion process produces hot gases under high pressure inside this chamber, generating mechanical movement in terms of mechanical work that is finally converted into continuous movement for operating the various types of transportation such as vehicles, trains, boats, ships, airplanes and others.

These gases include a wide range of pollutants in their nature such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, ozone, unburnt hydrocarbons, ozone and lead as well as black smoke and fine particles. These pollutants play a negative role according to many studies carried out in this regard in terms of their general impact on the environment such as global warming and acidic rain affecting biodiversity. Also, they have significant effects, particularly, on humans where they can cause many diseases including heart, respiratory disorders, headache, dizziness, inability to focus, irritation of eyes, suffocation, asthma and others.

The increase in population density played an important role in increasing the number of various types of transport vehicles, especially in the big cities, and thus contributing effectively to increase the levels of pollution as a result of using these vehicles. Therefore, the lecturer recommended the need to seriously search for other alternatives to traditional means of transportation such as using bicycles, activating water transport and daily running as a healthy sport. In addition, encouraging research in the field of improvement of fuel quality and following periodic maintenance for different types of vehicles to ensure their work to be optimal, and thus reducing the level of emissions to be minimum according to the approved environmental standards.