Natural and medical sciences

This article offers information on the condition of motorways in the Smolensk region. The condition of local roads is considered in relation to the particle size structure of covering rocks. The authors conducted an analysis of performance characteristics of road surfaces within different natural complexes and identified certain patterns in road damage depending on the local lithogenic conditions.

This article presents an analysis of coastal eddy in the area of Cape Taran of the Sambia Peninsula (South-Eastern part of the Baltic Sea) on the basis of MODIS and ASAR remote sensing data. It describes the location, spatial and temporal scale, dynamics and hydrometeorological conditions of eddy formation.

Climate changes correspond to a sinusoidal pattern. The climate warming rate is about 0.077 C/year or 2.23 C in 30 years. Solar-terrestrial relationships are described in the article. Hydrothermal coefficient has decreased by 16 %. A decreasing climate warming trend emerged in 2001.

The study of Ryadino-5 late Palaeolithic site (the basin of the river Šešupė in the Kaliningrad region) revealed geochemical heterogeneity of different functional areas. The author identifies the factors correlated to the spatial differentiation of the ancient site.

This article discusses the issue of sustainable development of Russian territories. Using the domain-indicator approach to the Kaliningrad region, the author developed a set of geo-ecological indicators focusing on the improvement of ecological situation in the region.

This article analyses the data on seismicity of the Kaliningrad region and addresses the issues of introducing monitoring seismic observations in order to identify previously unknown seismic areas at the regional scale alongside a more accurate identification of the seismic hazard of those already known.

The article is devoted to the study of cultural landscape systems of the European part of Russia. The author addresses the problems of the current state of cultural landscape zoning in Russian geography and considers a vari-ant of cultural landscape zoning of the European part of Russia at different territorial levels on the basis of the system approach. The author describes the main criteria used in cultural landscape zoning.

This article offers a comparative analysis of the concepts of «stability», «sensitivity», «vulnerability» in relation to natural complexes and offers the author's methodology for assessing the vulnerability of natural complexes to anthropogenic impact.

This paper describes the conceptual and terminological framework, methodology and criteria of environmental zoning. The author analyses the methods of assessment of environmental condition of urban areas.

A series extraction of platinum metals (Pd and Rh) from natural sedimentary samples near the trunk-roads of Rhine-Westphalia was conducted. The authors make an assumption about the mechanism of influence of environmental conditions on the mobility of elements studied.

This article addresses the structure and dynamics of current and temperature fields in the coastal zone of a large water body generated by seasonal variations of heat-exchange conditions at the water surface. Numerical solutions of three-dimensional hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models MIKE3-FlowModel in shallow and deep parts of the basin are compared. It is shown that the structure of fields is reproduced adequately by both models and water currents are similar; however, the hydrostatic model produces a smoother current field and significantly larger horizontal temperature gradients.

Five varieties of apples from the Baltic region were studied by means of two different analytical methods. The results of experiment demonstrate that the values of total antioxidant activity obtained through spectrophotometric and amperometric methods are comparable. The authors determined the relation between the total content of ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds in apples, pulp, and juice of the variety.

This article presents social and environmental indicators of life quality affecting the health of population. The authors focus on the dynamics of such diseases as tuberculosis, HIV infection, and malignant neoplasms. The factors determining the unfavourable situation relating to life quality and disease rate in the Kaliningrad region are identified.

This article analyses the state of health of Saint Petersburg residents in the changing conditions of connatural and social environment. Saint-Petersburg is presented as a Russian metropolis and, simultaneously, an integral component of the Baltic region. The authors compare the health state trends in Saint Petersburg residents and the population of other Baltic countries. The environmental dependence of some diseases, including oncological ones, is emphasized. Three variants of population health forecasting are presented: inertiadepressive, stabilization, and stabilization-progressive ones. The article discusses the ways to increase the level of health of the city’s residents.

This article focuses on the results of many years’ research on phytoplankton production and chlorophyll concentration in estuaries of different types (the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons, and the Volga delta). A comparison with hydrological and chemical parameters helped identify the main factors determining the level of primary production and eutrophication. The productivity of an ecosystem is determined primarily by river runoff in the Volga delta, while in the Vistula Lagoon and Curonian Lagoon by the intensity of water exchange with the
sea. Today, deeutrophication is being observed in the delta of Volga, whereas eutrophication continues in the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons.

This article focuses on the features of heavy metal (HM) accumulation in carpet-floor species of mosses in the Kaliningrad region. A cross-spectrum analysis helped identify the patterns of HM accumulation depending on the amount of atmospheric precipitation. The authors calculated the indexes of HM concentration, which underlies the offered classification of the Baltic region countries by in the level of pollution.

This article analyses the role of Arctic cod—the most abundant representative of Arctic fish fauna in the food web of the Barents Sea ecosystems. The author estimates the degree of its consumption by the most abundant seabirds-ichthyophagist (northern fulmar, Brünnich's guillemot, black-legged kittiwake) and performs ccalculations that can serve as a basis for bioresource forecasting for the Barents Sea in order to minimise the damage to the ecosystem and water area biodiversity.

This article offers data on the temperature of surface air and soils in the aeration zone. The author comes to the conclusion that the soil temperature in the Karakum desert is favourable for the development of tree and shrubbery species.

This article deals with the territorial features of higher education and the development of poles in world education as one of the problems of asymmetry in global economy.

Researches is established, that the mode of reproduction of the population of region steadily has passed in a condition of a natural loss. In foreseeable prospect the birth rate be unable to break growing смертность. By high natural decline in population all village areas differ, thus distinction in rates of a loss more time reaches(achieve) 2 and.

This articles deals with the generally accepted principles that should be used by the developers of strategic documents as guidelines. The author pays particular attention to the geographical factors explaining their importance for the municipal entities of the Kaliningrad region and comes to the conclusion that strategic planning of the development of municipal entities should be based on the geographical features of territory that are prevalent in determining the course of economic development. The results of the research can be used by regional or municipal authorities in assessing the quality of developed strategies, as well as in formulating and improving new ones.

The territory of the Kaliningrad regions offers a solid basis for the development of a strong transport cluster with a potential to integrate into the transport system o the Baltic region and ensure cargo and passenger transit between world economic centres – the Pacific Rim and the European Union. The article offers a characteristic of main means of transport forming the transport structure
of the region and identifies the basic problems peculiar to the regional transport complex as a whole and suggests ways to overcome them.

The author justifies the concepts of international transport region and analyses the principles of identification of such regions and the features of their functioning.The article suggests distinguishing an international transport region in the framework of the Baltic region and defines its borders and backbone elements.

The article aims at analyzing the role of cross-border cooperation in the development of innovation potential of the Baltic Sea Region. The author analyzes the projects in the framework of the Neighborhood Programs implemented in 2000—2006 and related to the development of innovation potential in the Baltic Sea Region, particularly in the South-East Baltic. The author makes the conclusion about the need to increase the share of innovative projects with the participation of the regions of North-West of Russia; actors fr om the Nordic countries, wh ere regional cooperation is an important engine for innovation development, should be actively involved in these projects.

A case study of the Volga and Urals federal districts helps analyse the standing of large cities serving as “growth poles” identified with the help of two methodologies. The article offers a geographical analysis of three aspects of financial standing of municipalities:
financial independence, social orientation, territorial equity. The dynamic of development and financial standing are compared in order to identify the role of budgets in the development of cities (stimulating and inhibiting ones).