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The article is devoted to the study of the process of cultural interaction between paganism and Christianity as semiotic systems in the first centuries after the Baptism of Rus. The authors studied the originality of ancient Russian paganism, the problem of adapting Christian discourse to the situation of the significant presence of a pagan worldview in the semantic space of Ancient Russia, the dialogue and mutual influence of these two religious systems. The article traces the internal inconsistency of the process of adopting Christianity and its variability in social and territorial dimensions.

The article deals with issues of everyday life of Adygs (Circassians) under conditions of a protracted military conflict during the Caucasian war in the first half of 19th century. Based on the recollections of eyewitnesses and direct participants in the events (Russian military officers and foreign observers), literary works of local authors and folklore sources, authors of the study explore a human factor in the history of the Caucasian War, in terms of emotions, dramatic experiences, fears, and transformation of ethnic consciousness. In this regard, histories of everyday life, gender history, and history of mentality appear to be the most productive research methods and approaches. Using related research tools allowed analyzing an inner perception of death of Adygs in the violent conflict. Adygs appear in the study not as a faceless side of the conflict, but as an active and personalized historical subject. The Caucasian war was not only a chain of political and war events, but was full of personal stories, tragedies of loss and sorrow, female experiences. The routine of death strengthened a respect for the dead, rebooting related symbolic content and ritual practices. At the same time, an erosion of the mental foundations of traditional culture occurs due to the fundamental changes in the conditions of prolonged war.

A porcine model of spinal cord injury (SCI) was used to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of magnesium chloride (MgCl2) within a polyethylene glycol (PEG) formulation, called "AC105" (Acorda Therapeutics Inc., Ardsley, NY). Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that AC105 would lead to greater tissue sparing at the injury site and improved behavioral outcome when delivered in a clinically realistic time window post-injury. Four hours after contusion/compression injury, Yucatan minipigs were randomized to receive a 30-min intravenous infusion of AC105, magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), or saline. Animals received 4 additional infusions of the same dose at 6-h intervals. Behavioral recovery was tested for 12 weeks using two-dimensional (2D) kinematics during weight-supported treadmill walking and the Porcine Injury Behavior Scale (PTIBS), a 10-point locomotion scale. Spinal cords were evaluated ex vivo by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and subjected to histological analysis. Treatment with AC105 or MgSO4 did not result in improvements in locomotor recovery on the PTIBS or in 2D kinematics on weight-supported treadmill walking. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) showed severe loss of tissue integrity at the impact site, with decreased fractional anisotropy and increased mean diffusivity; this was not improved with AC105 or MgSO4 treatment. Histological analysis revealed no significant increase in gray or white matter sparing with AC105 or MgSO4 treatment. Finally, AC105 did not result in higher Mg2+ levels in CSF than with the use of standard MgSO4. In summary, when testing AC105 in a porcine model of SCI, we were unable to reproduce the promising therapeutic benefits observed previously in less-severe rodent models of SCI.

Novel tricyclic derivatives containing an oxazepine, thiazepine, or diazepine ring were studied for their EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity. While the oxazepines were in general more potent than thiazepines, the diazepines displayed somewhat different structure–activity relationships. Moreover, the diazepines, in contrast to the oxazepines, showed appreciable inhibitory activity against the KDR tyrosine kinase. Furthermore, both oxazepines and diazepines demonstrated significant ability to inhibit autophosphorylation of EGFR in DiFi cells (generally, IC50 values in the single-digit micromolar to submicromolar range).