City Of Kaliningrad Research Articles

Mathematics, Science, And Cultural Change

According to Roger Bacon (1214-1294), “Mathematics is the gate and key of the sciences. Neglect of Mathematics works injury to all knowledge, since he who is ignorant of it cannot know the other sciences or things of this world, and what is worse, men who are thus ignorant are unable to perceive their own ignorance and so do not seek a remedy”. Mathematics enables various branches of science draw implications of their observations and experimental findings. A computer is now an inevitable tool in science; its internal working rests on basic mathematics -arithematic to base2 Mathematics is at the heart of our important scientific theories; Newtonian mechanics, Electromagnetic theory of Maxwell, Einstein’s theory of relativity, quantum theory of Planck etc. Further, vast areas of mathematics grew out of efforts to find solutions to problems in science. We give two examples. The first one is about geometry, also sometimes referred to as the gift of the Nile. The story goes that in the 14th Century B.C., King Sesotris divided the land among Egyptians, each receiving a rectangle of same area, and was taxed accordingly. If anyone lost some of his land during the annual overflow of the Nile, he had to report the loss. An overseer would then be sent to measure the loss and make an abatement of tax. Some sources claim that this is the origin of geometry. The second example is more recent; it is about topology, whose origin is associated with a problem on a bridge. During the 18th century, in the German town of Konigsberg (now the Russian city of Kaliningrad), people enjoyed strolling along the banks of the Preger river, which meandered through the town, and was crossed by seven bridges which ran trom each bank of the river to two islands in the river, with a bridge joining the islands. One question asked is as follows: “How can you take a stroll so that you cross each of the seven bridges exactly once?”. Leonhard Eu!er ( 1707 -1783) converted this problem to one on vertices and networks in a diagram. He made general discoveries about networks, and found that the answer to the Konigsberg bridge problem, is in the negative, namely, that it is impossible to take a stroll so that each of the seven bridges is crossed only once! In the process of obtaining this result, he originated a new kind Of geometry, a geometry which does not depend on the size or shape of the figure, but about places, and how they are connected by arcs. Out of this grew the branch of mathematics called ‘Topology”.

Distribution of the Common or Viviparous Lizard, <i>Zootoca vivipara</i> (Lichtenstein, 1823) (Squamata: Lacertidae) in Central Europe and Re-Colonization of the Baltic Sea Basin: New Karyological Evidence

The widely distributed viviparous lizard Zootoca vivipara (Lichtenstein 1823) revealed considerable differences in physiology, karyology, molecular genetics, and natural history. Based on chromosomal and mtDNA data several distinct karyotypic forms and haplotypes have been described from Central Europe. In an attempt to further clarify the geographic distribution of two karyologically different forms within the viviparous, nominotypic Z. v. vivipara, we studied the karyotypes of specimens from two NE German localities in West Pomerania (Baltic Sea) and Brandenburg, respectively, and also of those from Mt. Kopaonik in Serbia. All individuals karyotyped represented the western form of Z. v. vivipara that differs from other chromosomal forms of Central Europe in several karyotype characters. It inhabits the south coast of the Baltic Sea between the German harbor city of Kiel in the west and the Russian harbor city of Kaliningrad in the east. Recently, the eastern, so-called Russian form of Z. v. vivipara was recorded also in the Kaliningrad exclave, in Belarus near the border Belarus-Poland and even in easternmost Poland, then further eastwards along the Baltic Sea coast including Finland. Our data show that easternmost German populations still belong to the western form, as it is also the case in the SE European Serbian locality sampled. Together with previous data sets, our results document chromosomal uniformity within the western form of Z. v. vivipara from the Baltic Sea coast to the Carpathian basin and the central Balkans, and earlier hypotheses of the postglacial recolonization of the Baltic Sea basin by Z. vivipara are corroborated.

Актуальные проблемы использования объектов культурного наследия исторических городов в туристских целях (на примере города Калининграда)

The article presents an overview of the theoretical and practical approaches of domestic and foreign authors to the using historical and cultural heritage sites for tourist purposes for the development of regional tourism. Most scientists define cultural heritage sites as one of the most important conditions for the development of cultural and educational tourism. Further development of this territory is provided by strategic planning, state policy, the creation of a regulatory and legal framework, the development of specialized state programs, attraction of investments, creation of a specialized infrastructure, and implementation of a competent marketing policy. The article also presents the limiting factors of the using cultural heritage sites in the Russian Federation on the example of Kaliningrad region. Within the study the authors examine institutional capacities and state instruments for the restoration of cultural heritage objects with the aim of including in a regional tourism product. The authors develop authorial methodology of systematizing cultural heritage sites used for tourist purposes. The criterion for ranking cultural heritage sites is the degree of their preservation, accessibility and functional purpose. This methodology has been tested on cultural heritage sites in the city of Kaliningrad functionally related to fortifications. But it can be used in scientific research and in practice for ranking and other categories of cultural heritage sites of the regions of the Russian Federation.

The city of Kaliningrad: Planning the future and young people’s needs

A comparative analysis of the views of 20-year-olds (first generation, born and raised in post-Soviet years) about the cities where they live was conducted based on surveys of students in three neighboring largest cities on the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea: Kaliningrad, Klaipėda, and Gdansk. The most important aspects of urban life for young people were identified. The needs of Kaliningrad students were compared with the forecast scenarios of city development. It was shown that young people request improvement of public spaces and development of historical memory policy, while the city administration is more concerned with solving quotidian tangible problems and searching for large investments. It is concluded that the lack of consideration for young people’s interests in the project for development of Kaliningrad hampers improvement in living standards in the city in general and human capital accumulation.

Russian public transport system: the customers’ feedback on the service provision

A considerable demand on gaining an inside knowledge on customers’ perceptions of the service quality and subsequent complaint behavior in case of failure has defined the aim of this research paper. In this paper we analyse the pattern of customer complaint behavior in a widely used and widespread type of service—public transportation. Given the fact that the city of Kaliningrad is about to undergo a series of extensive qualitative improvements, driven by the federal investments allocated for major sporting and cultural events, this empirical research will have a considerable practical value. Research results suggest that customers tend to set the quality bar for the public transportation based on the personal best service performance experienced, generally received in large touristic centres and capital cities in Europe, hence inadvertently placing the provincial city of Kaliningrad at a disadvantage. There are three types of causes for the negative critical incidents identified, largely affecting the subsequent reaction of a dissatisfied customer. The passenger’s intention to engage in complaint behavior is greatly influenced by the amount of effort required, the costs associated with filing a complaint, and a perceived probability of ‘success’. Though, a considerable discrepancy is found between the probable reaction of a respondent and the actual steps taken in case of a real incident. A negative word-of-mouth remains one of the widely used modes of complaint behavior, whereas employees resist customers’ complaints, since complaints are perceived as personal insult.

Complainant Identity: Things to Consider in Obtaining Customers’ Feedback in Public Transportation

This article investigates the factors that act as barriers in obtaining customer complaints in public transportation services in the city of Kaliningrad, Russia. It seeks to understand what external and internal factors discourage dissatisfied customers from filing a complaint to the service company, and allocate regularities with regard to personal attributes of the individual groups of respondents. Data were collected from a survey held in May and June 2014 using a judgmental sampling method. Research results suggest that complainant’s gender, age, and income level predetermine individual perceptions over the influence of factors that might stop a customer from filing a complaint. On average, depending on the type of problem, up to 90% of dissatisfied customers do not voice their complaints to the service provider.

Europeanization ‘Beyond’ Europe? EU Impact on Domestic Policies in the Russian Enclave of Kaliningrad

Europeanization ‘Beyond’ Europe? EU Impact on Domestic Policies in the Russian Enclave of Kaliningrad

Estimation of seismic hazard in the Kaliningrad region

In spite of the moderate magnitudes, the macroseismic effects of these seismic events were quite impressive. Large ground deformations (landslides, collapses, etc.) that are typical of stronger earthquakes arose in the Kaliningrad region. Surface vibrations from the strong shock were felt throughout the vast territory of the Kaliningrad region, Baltic states (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland), Belarus, Poland, and eastern Denmark and in St. Petersburg. The seismic activation was also manifested as a series of other, less perceptible events. Two areas of a shaking intensity of 6 due to the main shock of September 21 were localized on the NW coast of the Kaliningrad region. One area is located to the west of the city of Kaliningrad, and the other, in the NW part of the Sambiiskii Peninsula. However, other estimates of the observed seismic effect are also available. Investigations continue, and their diverse results require a comprehensive analysis.

HIV-1 genetic subtype A/B recombinant strain causing an explosive epidemic in injecting drug users in Kaliningrad.

To investigate the molecular epidemiology and genetic structure of the virus strain(s) causing an outbreak of HIV-1 infection in the Kaliningrad province of the Russian Federation and to investigate the relationship of this outbreak to some other emerging HIV-1 epidemics in the countries of the former Soviet Union. A molecular epidemiological investigation was conducted in the city of Kaliningrad amongst individuals recently diagnosed as HIV-1-positive. Samples were also collected from neighbouring Lithuania and from the Ukraine. Incident and population data was collected from official health statistics in Kaliningrad. A standardized questionnaire was administered to newly diagnosed individuals to assess risk factors for HIV-1 infection. For genotyping, two regions of the virus (env C2-V3 and gag NCp7) were directly sequenced. The number of newly diagnosed individuals testing seropositive for HIV-1 infection in Kaliningrad rose from less than one per month to more than 100 per month during the period of July-October 1996. A total of 1335 new infections were identified between 1 July 1996 and 30 June 1997. The main reported risk factor for HIV-1 infection (80%) was injecting drug use, in particular with a locally produced opiate. Sequence analysis of patient viruses in Kaliningrad (n = 50) showed that the epidemic was caused by a highly homogenous HIV-1 strain, recombinant between the genetic subtypes A and B. Comparison with subtype A strains prevalent amongst injecting drug users (IDU) in the Ukraine showed that one of these strains was the direct subtype A parent of the epidemic A/B recombinant strain in Kaliningrad. The HIV-1 epidemic in Kaliningrad probably started from a single source, with rapid spread of the virus through the IDU population. The origin of the epidemic strain is a recombination event occurring between the subtype A strain virus prevalent among IDU in some southern CIS countries, and a subtype B strain of unknown origin.