The article is dedicated to the life and professional journey of Oleksandr Filts – a renowned Ukrainian psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and scholar. It outlines the key milestones of his career and his contributions to the development of psychiatry, psychotherapy, and organizational work in Ukraine and Europe. Particular attention is paid to Oleksandr Filt's innovative concepts, academic achievements, and authority among the Ukrainian and international psychotherapeutic community.

Background/Aims. Changes in autonomic regulation and psychological distress play an important role in the pathobiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The aim of the current study is to evaluate the autonomic function and to link it to the levels of somatization in adolescents with IBS.
Methods. We enrolled 30 adolescents with various types of IBS and 35 healthy controls. Time and frequency domain indexes of heart rate variability (HRV) were measured in supine (baseline) and standing (orthostasis) positions using short-term electrocardiographic recordings. The somatic symptoms index was assessed with the modified Screening for Somatoform Symptoms questionnaire.
Results. Adolescents with IBS showed no differences of HRV parameters in the supine position compared to healthy control. In orthostasis, a decrease in the standard deviation of normal RR intervals as well as main spectral index total power (TP) were observed. The reduction of TP was attributed to the reduced activities of the high- and low frequency components. Increased somatic symptoms index in IBS patients negatively correlated with TP in orthostasis (r = –0.485, P = 0.007). A subgroup analysis revealed that adolescents with IBS with TP values either < 2500 msec2 or > 5500 msec2 in the supine position demonstrated significantly reduced activity of the low frequency component.
Conclusions. Adolescents with IBS showed signs of autonomic dysfunction only during the orthostatic test, which were associated with increased somatization scores. Further research is needed to establish the links between emotional wellbeing and autonomic function in this population.
Key Words: Adolescent; Heart rate; Irritable bowel syndrome; Medically unexplained symptoms primary dysautonomias

A series of novel 1,3,4-thia(oxa)diazole substituted 2-(2,4-dioxothiazolidine-5-ylidene)-acetamides 3a-c, 4 and 5a-k have been synthesized following the acylation reaction of 2-amino-5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazoles, 5-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole-2-thiol and it’s S-alkylated derivatives with 2-(2,4-dioxothiazolidine-5-ylidene)acetyl chloride in dioxane medium. The functionalization of compounds 3b, 3c, 5d and 5e was carried out on their N3 position under N-alkylation conditions with N-aryl-2-chloroacetamides in DMF/ethanol medium yielded the corresponding 2,4-dioxothiazolidine-3,5-diacetic acid diamides 6a-e and 7a-b. The structures of target compounds were confirmed by using 1H NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The antioxidant activity evaluation in vitro of the synthesized compounds was performed by the method of scavenging effect on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals. As a result, the highly active compound 4, namely 2-(2,4-dioxothiazolidin-5-ylidene)-N-(5-mercapto-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-yl)acetamide was found to be the most efficient candidate among all compounds with a radical scavenging ability of 88.9%, which was comparable that for ascorbic acid (92.7%). The experimentally calculated IC50 value of 43.1 μM for compound 4 was lower than for ascorbic acid (50.5 μM).

Following the interaction of 2-chloro-N-(5-aryl-1,3,4-oxadiazole-2-yl) acetamides 1a-b with ammonium thiocyanate in dry acetone, the 5-unsubstituted 2-imino-4-thiazolidinones 4a-b have been synthesized. Compounds 4a-b were subsequently utilized in Knoevenagel condensation with aromatic aldehydes or isatin derivatives to synthesize the series of 5-arylidene/isatinylidene substituted 2-(1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl)imino-4-thiazolidinones 5a-h and 6a-d. The structures of target compounds were confirmed by using 1H NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. Evaluation of anti-cancer activity in
vitro for the synthesized compounds was performed following the National Cancer Institute protocol against leukemia, melanoma, lung, colon, CNS, ovarian, renal, prostate, and breast cancer cell lines. As a result, the most active compound 5a, namely 2-[5-(4-chlorophenyl)-[1,3,4]oxadiazol-2-ylimino]-5-(4-methoxybenzylidene)thiazolidin-4-one was found to be a highly efficient anti-tumor candidate with average logGI50 and logTGI values of -5.19 and -4.09, respectively

The 18 new thiazolo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-one derivatives have been synthesized using alkylation, cyanethylation, hydrolysis, and acylation reactions. The structures of the obtained compounds have been confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis. The study of the in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of the synthesized substances was assessed by using the functional model of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. The present results of anti-inflammatory activity have shown that the synthesized compounds demonstrated considerable anti-inflammatory effects. Some of them approach or exceed the comparative drug Ibuprofen in terms of activity.