Natural and medical sciences

The Kaliningrad region is a border and a coastal area in one. Such a combination of geographic features affects the development of this exclave region of Russia. The maritime status has a direct and indirect positive impact on the sectoral structure and the pace of economic growth. The role of the borderline situation is ambivalent: if the relations with neighboring countries and the EU as a whole are favorable, then cross-border links that promote competitiveness and socio-economic development of the border regions also develop. If, as of the beginning of 2018, there are problems in mutual relations, both sides suffer economic losses, and their competitors win. In general, the economy of the Kaliningrad region is developing faster than in most regions of the Russian Federation, and, it can be assume that one of the factors is its geographical situation. These factors must necessarily be taken into account when justifying the strategy of the region’s social and economic development.

The article studies coastal exclaves as a special type of enclave territories of the world. They are understood as territories separated from the territory of the mother country by a foreign state (states) but having access to the sea. A complete list of coastal exclaves in the world as well as their main comparative characteristics is given. Coastal exclaves are compared to other ones in Russian typologies of enclave regions. The author has classified coastal exclaves according to several parameters.

The article evaluates the geodemographic situation at the meso level through complex analysis of demographic, migration, socio-economic processes in the subjects of the North-West Federal District of Russia. The authors have selected 30 assessment indicators which reflect in aggregate the level of demographic development, the quality and standard of living of the population. It allowed to make the typology of subjects NWFD of the Russian Federation by the nature of the geodemographic situation according to sequential ranking, both for the average values for the period 2010—2016, and for the dynamics of their changes. The obtained results made it possible to propose measures to improve the demographic situation in the regions of the North- West of Russia.

The article focuses on the urgent issues of the labour resourses repeoduction in the Kaliningrad region as a result of interregional and international labor migration for the last years. Reducing the number of own labor resources in changing external and internal conditions for the regional socioeconomic system determines the urgency of migration monitoring and analysis. The aim of the study is to analyze the position of the Kaliningrad region in the labor migration within the transforming geopolitical space. The article describes the regional labor market evolution under the influence of demographic and economic dynamics. The migration situation in the region has been thoroughly considered. It was revealed that, despite the fact that the Kaliningrad region remains highly attractive for migrants and temporary migrant workers, mainly from the CIS, the balance of external labor migration in recent years is characterized by a declining trend. The outflow of the able-bodied population to the Russian metropolitan regions played the decisive role. The need for temporary workers is filled mainly by immigrants from Uzbekistan. The labor market pressure by migrant workers remains below the national average. Intraregional migration is not dominated only by the centripetal forces, pulling the periphery's population into the Kaliningrad agglomeration, but also by centrifugal forces that determine suburbanization.

The article discusses the semi-medium-sized cities (with a population from 20 to 50 thousand people) and their functions in five regions of the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation; the socio-economic areas formed by the semi-medium-sized cities are clearly represented. As an example, five semi-medium-sized cities of the Kaliningrad region are considered, the role of each city in regional development and regional settlement system is revealed. The author analyses participation of the Kaliningrad semi-mediumsized cities in projects of cross-border cooperation; shows trends of territorial interaction between the semi-medium-sized cities of the region with municipalities of the EU countries in the framework of cross-border and cooperation and benefits of this cooperation for the region, the position of the Kaliningrad region in the Baltic Sea Region is defined.

The influence of agglomeration processes on nearby territories in the modern realities of spatial development of Russia is updated every day. The formation of growth points and the relationship between the center and the periphery affects both economic and social issues, and therefore there is a need to analyze the ongoing economic and demographic processes in municipalities located at different distances from the agglomeration, with the aim of developing effective tools for spatial development that affect the entire territorial socio- economic system (region) The purpose of this study is to identify the main development problems of a special type of territory — pre-agglomeration territories and to identify possible solutions. Based on the analysis of statistical data, documents of strategic planning of municipalities, as well as programs for the integrated development of transport infrastructure at the level of the Kaliningrad city agglomeration and the Gvardeysk urban district,the author justifies proposals on the formation of a contractual model for inter-municipal cooperation and modernization of the system of inter-municipal strategic planning through integrated sectoral and infrastructure programs.

The method of ground shores monitoring includes a set of activities on local sites with reference to a network of reference benchmarks. The greatest amount of information is given by the data of the transverse shore leveling. The combination of a number of different profiles allows one to obtain speed and direction quantitative characteristics of the coastal processes at a particular morphodynamic site over a specific time interval. It is important to have a reasonable choice of a marker, i. e. an element of the relief, the change in position of which makes it possible to obtain the magnitude of deformations of the shore as a whole or its individual forms. The choice of marker depends on the purpose of the study. The disadvantage of this method is the local nature of the works while its accuracy, objectivity and comparability create a certain advantage.

The article examines the ecology of benthic foraminifera species of Alabaminella weddellensis and Epistominella exigua based on published works. Micropaleontological and statistical data of three long sediment cores taken from the southwestern part of the South Atlantic and one core obtained in the northwestern Pacific were used to study the characteristic of the species distribution in the sediments during last 300 thousand years. These areas belong to the oligotrophic ecosystems of the open ocean, remote from the upwelling regions and located outside the seasonal ice cove zones. It is shown that unlike E. exigua, the maximal content of the species A. weddellensis corresponds to the intervals characterized by increased species diversity and, probably, more productive conditions.

The article focuses on the studies of changes in fetal behavior and general fetal movements which were carried out through the method of H. Prechtl with the help of the Kurjak Antenatal Neurobehavioral Test (KANET). The research evaluated the functional state of the central nervous system of fetuses with different pathologies. The authors describe a number of assessments including the intrauterine development of the central nervous system of fetuses during normal gestation; the intrauterine development of the central nervous system in the presence of somatic pathology of the fetus, revealed by screening ultrasound; and the intrauterine functioning of the nervous system in the presence of an abnormality of the central nervous system. The research shows that in healthy fetuses the average value of the total assessment of general movements is within the limits of the norm (15 ± 0,88), which indicates the normal development of the central nervous system. In fetuses with CNS pathology, the average value of the total assessment of general movements is at the lower limit of the norm (6.3 ± 1.5), which is regarded as a high risk of pathology of the nervous system and can lead to neurologic disorders from minimal brain dysfunction (MBD) to cerebral palsy (CP). In fetuses with somatic pathology, the average value of the total assessment of general movements occupies a boundary value (11.6 ± 1.32). The nervous system functions more efficient is better than in the previous group, which suggests a more favorable neurological outcome after birth.