Vol 88, No 2 (2018)

In recent decades, interest in studies on basic and applied aspects of how the nervous system functions has been growing rapidly around the world. The recovery of lost functions rests on processes of neuroplasticity, which is determined by the ability of the brain to transform its structures in response to injury. The effects of both routine and state-of-the-art neurorehabilitation technologies are ensured by synaptic plasticity— long-term potentiation and long-term depression, which influence learning and the preservation of new knowledge and skills obtained during rehabilitation. The introduction of new methods of neuroimaging, neurophysiology, and mathematical statistics have powerfully stimulated the development of the neuroplasticity doctrine. It has become clear that the main role in the recovery of injured functions is played by the reorganization of cortical nets and not by tissue reparation as such. The Research Center of Neurology has accumulated significant experience in the use of innovative treatment methods based on modern neurorehabilitation principles. Some of them are used for acute stroke; among other things, their effectiveness and safety have been shown with regard to patients in intensive care units (cyclic robotic mechanotherapy) and patients with severe motor deficit and an associated somatic pathology (stimulation of plantar support zones). Opportunities to assess neuroplasticity under various rehabilitation methods using fMRI and navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) are revealed. The center also studies the fundamentals of consciousness using original neuroimaging and neurophysiological protocols for the sake of its recovery. The center is actively introducing its data into the practice of domestic clinics specializing in recovery medicine and neurorehabilitation.

The problem of the interrelation between the economy and law is considered in light of the rule-of-law principle, which is implemented most distinctly in the activity of national and international judicial bodies. It is justified that, under the conditions of general globalizing processes, the correlation between economic and judicial structural institutions becomes even closer, because effective market relations exist only in a legal framework, which provides all interested agents with personal property and nonproperty rights and obligations, including through high institutional and procedural standards in the sphere of justice.

The identification of factors that determine the structure and rate of mortality is a topical complex task requiring unification of efforts of medical science and social disciplines. The authors contribute to its solution through a comparative study of mortality indicators in two Russian megalopolises—Moscow and St. Petersburg. Analyzing statistical data, they form several hypotheses that help explain the significant differences in the mortality rates of the two cities. The focus is not only on the socioeconomic and climatic features of Moscow and St. Petersburg but also on the state of the financial and resource support of the health care systems of these cities. The results obtained are only the first step, but a necessary one, toward an adequate system of measures to decrease mortality, implying subsequent studies on the significance of each of the factors considered.

The development of studies on mechanical activation and mechanochemistry in Siberia is discussed. The role of Siberian scientists in the establishment of this important division of modern chemical science in our country and abroad is shown. It is concluded that the period of the accumulation of primary experimental data has been completed and that it is necessary to develop further basic research related to mechanical action on the reactivity of solids.