КАФЕДРА ЕНДОКРИНОЛОГІЇ ЛЬВІВСЬКОГО НАЦІОНАЛЬНОГО МЕДИЧНОГО УНІВЕРСИТЕТУ ІМЕНІ ДАНИЛА ГАЛИЦЬКОГО: ІСТОРІЯ ТА СЬОГОДЕННЯ

The aim of the work – to recreate and analyze the main stages in the department establishment, to highlight the main areas of educational and scientific activities.   The main body. The Department of Endocrinology – one of the first in Ukraine as a separate unit – was established in 1978 on the basis of the Lviv Regional Endocrinology Dispensary; was led by Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor Ya. I. Tomashevskyi. Scientific school created by him studied conditions of hormonal regulation of glycolysis and gluconeogenesis during formation of diabetes mellitus, thyroid gland pathology, autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome. Under the direction of Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor O. O. Serhiiko, who led the department from 1999 to 2013, studies on metabolic disorders in diabetes mellitus were conducted. In 2014 the head of the department became Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor A. M. Urbanovych, her scientific research is related to pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases during diabetes mellitus and obesity, the role of adipose tissue hormones in the development of endocrinopathies. Together with the department team she continues and creatively develops the scientific, pedagogical and clinical traditions of the Lviv Endocrinological School. The activity is analyzed and the main achievements of the department are presented at the present stage. Conclusions. An analysis of the historical experience of the establishment and development of the department of endocrinology showed the existence of a long tradition of formation of the teaching staff, the professional training of doctors-endocrinologists, the unity and constant interrelation of all types of activities in the formation of this category of specialists.Мета роботи – відтворити й проаналізувати основні етапи становлення кафедри, висвітлити основні напрямки педагогічної та наукової діяльності. Основна частина. Кафедра ендокринології – одна з перших в Україні як окремий підрозділ – була створена 1978 року на базі Львівського обласного ендокринологічного диспансеру; її очолив доктор медичних наук, професор Я. І. Томашевський. Головним напрямом створеної ним наукової школи стали дослідження станів гормональної регуляції процесів гліколізу та глюконеогенезу на етапах формування цукрового діабету, патології щитоподібної залози, автоімунного поліендокринного синдрому. Під керівництвом доктора медичних наук, професора О. О. Сергієнка, який завідував кафедрою з 1999 до 2013 року, здійснювалися дослідження порушень метаболізму при цукровому діабеті. У 2014 році кафедру очолила доктор медичних наук, доцент А. М. Урбанович, її наукові дослідження стосуються патогенезу серцево-судинних захворювань при цукровому діабеті та ожирінні, ролі гормонів жирової тканини у розвитку ендокринопатій. Проаналізована діяльність та наведені основні досягнення кафедри на сучасному етапі. Висновок. Аналіз історичного досвіду становлення і розвитку кафедри ендокринології засвідчив існування тривалої традиції формування професорсько-викладацького колективу, фахової підготовки лікарів-ендокринологів, єдності та постійного взаємозв’язку всіх видів діяльності у становленні цієї категорії спеціалістів

Affine modifications and affine hypersurfaces with a very transitive automorphism group

We study a kind of modification of an affine domain which produces another affine domain. First appeared in passing in the basic paper of O. Zariski (1942), it was further considered by E.D. Davis (1967). The first named author applied its geometric counterpart to construct contractible smooth affine varieties non-isomorphic to Euclidean spaces. Here we provide certain conditions which guarantee preservation of the topology under a modification. As an application, we show that the group of biregular automorphisms of the affine hypersurface $X \subset C^{k+2}$ given by the equation $uv=p(x_1,...,x_k)$ where $p \in C[x_1,...,x_k],$ acts $m-$transitively on the smooth part reg$X$ of $X$ for any $m \in N.$ We present examples of such hypersurfaces diffeomorphic to Euclidean spaces.Comment: 39 Pages, LaTeX; a revised version with minor changes and correction

Assessment of the MACC reanalysis and its influence as chemical boundary conditions for regional air quality modeling in AQMEII-2

The Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII) has now reached its second phase which is dedicated to the evaluation of online coupled chemistry-meteorology models. Sixteen modeling groups from Europe and five from North America have run regional air quality models to simulate the year 2010 over one European and one North American domain. The MACC re-analysis has been used as chemical initial (IC) and boundary conditions (BC) by all participating regional models in AQMEII-2. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the MACC re-analysis along with the participating regional models against a set of ground-based measurements (O3, CO, NO, NO2, SO2, SO42−) and vertical profiles (O3 and CO). Results indicate different degrees of agreement between the measurements and the MACC re-analysis, with an overall better performance over the North American domain. The influence of BC on regional air quality simulations is analyzed in a qualitative way by contrasting model performance for the MACC re-analysis with that for the regional models. This approach complements more quantitative approaches documented in the literature that often have involved sensitivity simulations but typically were limited to only one or only a few regional scale models. Results suggest an important influence of the BC on ozone for which the underestimation in winter in the MACC re-analysis is mimicked by the regional models. For CO, it is found that background concentrations near the domain boundaries are rather close to observations while those over the interior of the two continents are underpredicted by both MACC and the regional models over Europe but only by MACC over North America. This indicates that emission differences between the MACC re-analysis and the regional models can have a profound impact on model performance and points to the need for harmonization of inputs in future linked global/regional modeling studies

Calculated phase diagrams, iron tolerance limits, and corrosion of Mg-Al alloys

The factors determining corrosion are reviewed in this paper, with an emphasis on iron tolerance limit and the production of high-purity castings. To understand the iron impurity tolerance limit, magnesium phase diagrams were calculated using the Pandat software package. Calculated phase diagrams can explain the iron tolerance limit and the production of high-purity castings by means of control of melt conditions; this is significant for the production of quality castings from recycled magnesium. Based on the new insight, the influence of the microstructure on corrosion of magnesium alloys is reviewed

TIMP-1 and VEGF-165 serum concentration during first-line therapy of ovarian cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Angiogenesis appears to play an important role in ovarian cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has recently been implicated as a therapeutic target in ovarian cancer. The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) is involved in tissue invasion and angiogenesis. The application of serum TIMP-1 and VEGF to monitor primary therapy and predict clinical outcome of patients with ovarian cancer is unclear.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who presented for primary surgery were included in this study. A total of 148 serum samples from 37 patients were analyzed. Samples were prospectively collected at 4 predefined time points: 1. before radical debulking surgery, 2. after surgery and before platinum/taxane based chemotherapy, 3. during chemotherapy, 4. after chemotherapy. Serum VEGF-165 and TIMP-1 as well as CA-125 were quantified by ELISA or ECLIA and correlation with response and long-term clinical outcome was analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serum levels of all markers changed substantially during first-line therapy. High CA-125 (p = 0.002), TIMP-1 (p = 0.007) and VEGF-165 (p = 0.02) after chemotherapy were associated with reduced overall survival. In addition, elevated CA-125 (p < 0.001) and VEGF-165 (p = 0.006) at this time point predicted poor progression-free survival. TIMP-1 and VEGF-165 were closely correlated at all time-points during therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TIMP-1 and VEGF serum levels changed significantly during first-line therapy of ovarian cancer patients and predicted prognosis. These findings support the role of angiogenesis in ovarian cancer progression and the use of antiangiogenic therapy.</p

Interferon-γ Regulates the Proliferation and Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells via Activation of Indoleamine 2,3 Dioxygenase (IDO)

The kynurenine pathway (KP) of tryptophan metabolism is linked to antimicrobial activity and modulation of immune responses but its role in stem cell biology is unknown. We show that human and mouse mesenchymal and neural stem cells (MSCs and NSCs) express the complete KP, including indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase 1 (IDO) and IDO2, that it is highly regulated by type I (IFN-β) and II interferons (IFN-γ), and that its transcriptional modulation depends on the type of interferon, cell type and species. IFN-γ inhibited proliferation and altered human and mouse MSC neural, adipocytic and osteocytic differentiation via the activation of IDO. A functional KP present in MSCs, NSCs and perhaps other stem cell types offers novel therapeutic opportunities for optimisation of stem cell proliferation and differentiation

A single-point modeling approach for the intercomparison and evaluation of ozone dry deposition across chemical transport models (Activity 2 of AQMEII4)

A primary sink of air pollutants and their precursors is dry deposition. Dry deposition estimates differ across chemical transport models, yet an understanding of the model spread is incomplete. Here, we introduce Activity 2 of the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative Phase 4 (AQMEII4). We examine 18 dry deposition schemes from regional and global chemical transport models as well as standalone models used for impact assessments or process understanding. We configure the schemes as single-point models at eight Northern Hemisphere locations with observed ozone fluxes. Single-point models are driven by a common set of site-specific meteorological and environmental conditions. Five of eight sites have at least 3 years and up to 12 years of ozone fluxes. The interquartile range across models in multiyear mean ozone deposition velocities ranges from a factor of 1.2 to 1.9 annually across sites and tends to be highest during winter compared with summer. No model is within 50 % of observed multiyear averages across all sites and seasons, but some models perform well for some sites and seasons. For the first time, we demonstrate how contributions from depositional pathways vary across models. Models can disagree with respect to relative contributions from the pathways, even when they predict similar deposition velocities, or agree with respect to the relative contributions but predict different deposition velocities. Both stomatal and nonstomatal uptake contribute to the large model spread across sites. Our findings are the beginning of results from AQMEII4 Activity 2, which brings scientists who model air quality and dry deposition together with scientists who measure ozone fluxes to evaluate and improve dry deposition schemes in the chemical transport models used for research, planning, and regulatory purposes.</p

Genetic Variation in the Inflammation and Innate Immunity Pathways and Colorectal Cancer Risk

It is widely accepted that chronic inflammation plays a role in the etiology of colorectal cancer. Using a two-stage design, we examined the associations between colorectal cancer and common variation in 37 key genes in the inflammation and innate immunity pathways

Documenting the Recovery of Vascular Services in European Centres Following the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Peak: Results from a Multicentre Collaborative Study

Objective: To document the recovery of vascular services in Europe following the first COVID-19 pandemic peak. Methods: An online structured vascular service survey with repeated data entry between 23 March and 9 August 2020 was carried out. Unit level data were collected using repeated questionnaires addressing modifications to vascular services during the first peak (March – May 2020, “period 1”), and then again between May and June (“period 2”) and June and July 2020 (“period 3”). The duration of each period was similar. From 2 June, as reductions in cases began to be reported, centres were first asked if they were in a region still affected by rising cases, or if they had passed the peak of the first wave. These centres were asked additional questions about adaptations made to their standard pathways to permit elective surgery to resume. Results: The impact of the pandemic continued to be felt well after countries’ first peak was thought to have passed in 2020. Aneurysm screening had not returned to normal in 21.7% of centres. Carotid surgery was still offered on a case by case basis in 33.8% of centres, and only 52.9% of centres had returned to their normal aneurysm threshold for surgery. Half of centres (49.4%) believed their management of lower limb ischaemia continued to be negatively affected by the pandemic. Reduced operating theatre capacity continued in 45.5% of centres. Twenty per cent of responding centres documented a backlog of at least 20 aortic repairs. At least one negative swab and 14 days of isolation were the most common strategies used for permitting safe elective surgery to recommence. Conclusion: Centres reported a broad return of services approaching pre-pandemic “normal” by July 2020. Many introduced protocols to manage peri-operative COVID-19 risk. Backlogs in cases were reported for all major vascular surgeries