B a c k g r o u n d a n d s t u d y a i m s: The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of serum concentrations of YKL-40/ CHI3L1 (a 40-kilodalton glycoprotein also referred to as chitinase 3 like- 1 — CHI3L1) and PIIINP (N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen), markers of fibrosis, in the monitoring of inflammatory processes and fibrosis in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
P a t i e n t s a n d m e t h o d s: In 60 patients (41 with Crohn’s disease (CD), 19 with ulcerative colitis (UC)) concentrations of investigated parameters were measured at baseline (day 0), after 3 and after 6–8 weeks of pharmacological treatment.
R e s u l t s: PIIINP concentrations were significantly higher in CD patients compared to UC (baseline results: median concentrations 1013.73 vs 78.30 ng/mL; P = 0.06 for the Kruskall-Wallis test; results at 6–8 weeks: 1076.48 vs 53.10 ng/mL, P = 0.01). Fibrosis was clearly present in patients with CD and its severity increased (reflected by both YKL-40/ CHI3L1 and PIIINP concentrations) in 6–8 weeks of follow up, regardless of the treatment used during that time. In patients with UC the levels of YKL-40/CHI3L1 and PIIINP were lower at baseline and further decreased after 6–8 weeks (median concentrations were respectively: 39.5 ng/mL vs 24.7 ng/mL and 78.3 ng/mL vs 53.1 ng/mL).
C o n c l u s i o n: Fibrosis was more severe in CD than in UC patients. The marker that more accurately reflected these differences was PIIINP.
The collapse of the Soviet Union was the cause of a significant decline in many economies of the newly created countries. However, many of them, including the Ukrainian economy, are slowly recovering. One of the largest branches of the economy in this country is construction, which, despite political turmoil, is constantly growing, especially in the private real estate development sector. Despite the fact that the construction market is constantly developing, it is limited by the costs of rework and alterations resulting from many reasons. The key negative effects of modifications to the results of the project are exceeding the budget and time of project implementation, dissatisfaction with the project team, violation of contractual requirements and lowering the quality of the final product. Therefore, the purpose of this article was to determine the reasons for the emergence of rework in the in Ukraine by analyzing the results of surveys conducted among construction enterprises.
The implementation of EU environmental regulations in the energy sector is challenging for the power industry of its member states. The main role is played by documents such as the Winter Package and, especially, the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the emission limits of certain pollutants and the implementation of BAT conclusions in order to achieve the EU’s decarbonization objectives. These regulations impose a greater need to control harmful substances emitted to the atmosphere while using fossil fuels, including hard coal, which is the main fuel for domestic units. At the same time, the decline in domestic fossil fuel production and decrease in the quality of parameters of the hard coal makes it difficult to purchase the proper fuel for power plants. As a consequence, the costs of hard coal increase. The article presents the concept of a mathematical model that can be applied for the optimization of coal supplies. The employment of this model allows one to achieve cost reductions. One of the advantages of the proposed tool, in addition to minimizing the cost of purchase and use of hard coal, is its rational management, especially for companies producing and using hard coal.
Numerous films, especially reinterpretations of the Gospel, can be read as loci theologici. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize that the commercially motivated interest of filmmakers has its theological consequences: a resulting challenge is the catechetical use of apocryphal films in the pastoral praxis of the Church. The paper recalls main documents of the Church, relating to the cinema, stressing the absence of official teaching on the cinema in the last 20 years. Films, produced with commercial motivation, are often kitsch; it’s a result of tendencies to gain the possibly large audiences and to fulfill their expectations. An analysis of selected films (e.g. The Passion of the Christ and Son of God) indicates that the kitschy audiovisual apocrypha, superficial, emotional and lacking of authenticity, become a false filmic transformation of the message of the Bible. The paper postulates the need of constructing a theology of film: its object could be audiovisual texts, which extra-ecclesial theologies influence religious imagination and thinking of the viewers.