Measuring social well-being in the rural areas of the Kaliningrad region

This article evaluates the social wellbeing of rural municipalities of the Kaliningrad region. The degree of social wellbeing is assessed on the basis of an analysis of statistical data and expert evaluations. Rural districts were identified in the Kaliningrad region on the basis of the following criteria: the share of population residing in the rural areas (threshold value of 50 %); the share of non-residential areas (threshold value of 75 %), the share of agricultural lands (threshold value of 50 %). Further analysis was based on the indices of geodemographic situation, investment potential, and production development. Rural municipalities were ranked according to these indices. The study showed that the best performing area are the suburban districts of Guryevsk and Bagrationovsk and the agricultural districts of Nesterov and Pravdinsk, whereas the worst performing ones are those of Gvardeisk, Krasnoznamensk, Ozersk, and Chernykhovsk. A comparison with the other constituent entities of the Northwestern federal district proved that the level of social wellbeing of Kaliningrad rural municipalities is rather high and most of them have made the transition from depression to sustainable development

THE USE OF AUTHENTIC VIDEOS IN TEACHING RUSSIAN CONVERSATION OUTSIDE THE LANGUAGE ENVIRONMENT

The use of authentic films offers great opportunities for developing the range of skills and abilities required in all aspects of speech activity. This type of activity is particularly important for students who study Russian outside the language environment. This article examines the criteria for selecting video films as linguo-didactic material, which can be used in teaching foreign higher education students with advanced language skills based on modern methodological principles, i.e. communicative approaches and linguo-cultural information about the studied country, as well as increasing personal motivation among students for learning. Analyzing the results of a trial survey conducted among foreign students, as well as identifying the linguistic and extra-linguistic features of selected films, the authors suggest ways to use video with the help of new technologies. Article visualizations

The effect of railway network evolution on the Kaliningrad region's landscape environment

This article addresses methodology of modern landscape studies from the perspective of natural and man-made components of a territory. Railway infrastructure is not only an important system-building element of economic and settlement patterns; it also affects cultural landscapes. The study of cartographic materials and historiography made it possible to identify the main stages of the development of the Kaliningrad railway network in terms of its territorial scope and to describe causes of the observed changes. Historically, changes in the political, economic, and military environment were key factors behind the development of the Kaliningrad railway network. Nature was less important. The existing Kaliningrad railway network is to a great degree the legacy of the earlier, pre-war times. Today, its primary function is to provide international cargo and passenger transportation. Two types of railway infrastructure are identified in the Kaliningrad region - modern (functioning) and relic (abandoned) ones. In the Kaliningrad region, the process of land reclamation of the railway system starts when the maintenance of railroads is discontinued, which is followed by the formation of primitive soils and emerging biocenoses enhanced by fill soils and artificial relief

The Effects of Consumer Cultural Values on Ethical Judgment and Performance of Global Brands Among Young Consumers

This study uses well-developed and tested scales to examine differences across two countries in the effects of consumer cultural values on ethical judgment and global brand performance. The study measured consumer attention toward two global brands – Nike and KFC. The research was conducted using over 804 young consumers from Russia and China. The research includes two studies specifically focused on young consumers (18-25) and their attention toward two brands. The first study showed that young Chinese and Russian consumers with strong cultural values are more ethical consumers than unethical. However, consumers who demonstrated strong cultural value such as achievement showed active unethical behavior in both samples. The second study confirmed that two cultural values in young consumers, hedonism and achievement, strongly affected KFC brand performance in both countries. However, young Russian consumers with hedonism and power cultural values strongly affected Nike brand performance, as well as young Chinese consumers with universalism cultural values

Land Use, Settlement, and Modern Landscapes

The paper summarizes main factors influencing the look of contemporary regional landscape, i.e. the system of land use management and settlement patterns that are organically shaped by the region's geological structure and terrain.  The case in question – the Kaliningrad region – has seen its fair share of redrafting of administrative and state borders over the past century. Not only that: this territory, largely devoid of natural contrasts, has experienced dramatic shifts in economy, settlement systems, and ethnic composition of its population, - all of which is reflected in the way the regional landscape is presented today. Keywords: modern landscape; land use; settlement systems; landscape genesis JEL Classifications: J1; Q00; R

Regulation of the Duration of Spawning Cycles of Catfish in Industrial Aquaculture

This article is devoted to the study of the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus eggs produced at different durations of the inter-spawning interval. Eggs were produced artificially using sex hormones. In industrial aquaculture, the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus does not reproduce naturally. Therefore, the problem of obtaining high-quality eggs that will be used for in-vitro fertilization is urgent. To implement artificial spawning of fish in industrial aquaculture, it is necessary to correctly choose the effective hormonal stimulator and empirically select its dose. Sex hormones are involved in regulating the duration of the inter-spawning interval and affect the quality of eggs produced both for fertilization and for food purposes. The pituitary gland of the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus and surfagon were used as gametogenesis stimulators. The aim of the work was to study the optimal duration of the inter-spawning interval and the effect of hormonal inducers used to stimulate artificial spawning in industrial aquaculture. The use of the catfish pituitary gland in fresh or acetonated form as a hormonal stimulator provided higher-quality eggs, compared to the synthetic hormonal drug - surfagon. Stimulation with acetonated pituitary injections reduced the inter-spawning interval of the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus to three months, and the use of surfagon prolonged the inter-spawning interval to four months. Reducing the duration of the inter-spawning interval is important for the production of the African Catfish Clarias gariepinus eggs for food purposes. Studies have shown that reducing the optimal duration of the inter-spawning interval negatively affects the quality of the produced eggs and their quantity. This research was financially supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research, project No. 18-016-00127. Keywords: aquaculture, African Catfish Clarias gariepinus, eggs, inter-spawning period, sex hormones, oocyte

Strategic directions of the country’s ensuring financial security

It is grounded in the article that it is necessary to form a new fiscal policy paradigm and it is preconditioned by its orientation to provide economic growth and country’s national security. The change of the geopolitical situation, slow down of the global growth pace, decrease of the global demand on the traditional commodities require to work out the interconnected set of measures, based on the creation of conditions for the Russian economy to transit to a new technological structure, for Russia to be among the leading countries in terms of gross domestic product and to oppose the impact of external and internal threats successfully. The objective of this work is to research the strategic directions of the Russian financial security aimed at analysis and indicative forecasting of a wide range of factors determining the financial and banking system stability, preserving its integrity and unity, overcoming Russia's internal and external threats in the financial sphere. To meet this objective the following tasks are set: to reveal the fundamentals and economic content of financial security; to structure the most important aspects of the financial security strategy; to identify specific features of budgetary security as a key component of financial security and determine fiscal consolidation priorities; to disclose methodological approaches to the formation of a financial security indicators system. The article draws conclusions about the need for an integrated approach to the financial security strategy formation that stimulates economic growth, improves the quality of public administration, the banking and financial system stability, human potential development.peer-reviewe

PERCEPTION OF THE VALUES OF CATERING SERVICES IN REPRESENTATIVES OF GENERATIONS Y AND Z

Background: In the context of turbulence of the external environment, the instability of consumers’ value systems, and the rise of digitalization, the generational approach is becoming increasingly relevant in solving the business tasks of companies in various industries. Objective: The purpose of the study is to assess the values of catering services for representatives of generations Y and Z. Methods: The study employs the Sheth Newman Gross method for assessing consumption values adapted to the market of catering services. The representativeness of the results is ensured by the sample size of 1,500 respondents from generations Y and Z. Results: The key results support the hypothesis that different consumer generations vary in their perception of the values of catering services. Conclusion: Satisfaction with catering services in generation Z is found to be higher, accompanied by lower service requirements. An advantage of the presented study is the further development of methodology for research into service consumption values and the approbation of this approach as applied to catering services

THESAURUS CONSTRUCTIONS OF STUDENTS' SELF-FULFILLMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

O objetivo deste artigo é revelar as manifestações pessoais e confirmações da autorrealização dos alunos para determinar seu bem-estar psicológico no processo de aprendizado na escola superior russa. No estudo, foi utilizado o método de análise do tesauro, através do qual os autores processaram as respostas dos alunos em uma pesquisa especial. Esse método tornou possível destacar os marcadores semânticos da autorrealização dos alunos com seu agrupamento subsequente em três tesauros significado: o tesauro de prontidão para a autorrealização; tesauro de ações de autorrealização; tesauro de ativadores de autorrealização. De acordo com os dados da pesquisa, o estudo identificou três principais dominantes narrativas do bem-estar psicológico dos alunos na educação, tais como: envolvimento do ego no processo educacional, divulgação abrangente de capacidades pessoais e aceitação na comunidade universitária. Esses dominantes formaram a base de critérios de um estudo especial para determinar o nível de autorrealização dos alunos e seu bem-estar psicológico no ensino universitário. Os resultados resumidos mostraram que o processo de educação universitária fornece as condições e oportunidades necessárias para a autorrealização para a maioria dos estudantes entrevistados durante este estudo.The purpose of this article is to reveal personal manifestations and confirmations of students' self-fulfillment in order to identify their psychological well-being in the process of learning in the Russian higher school. The study applied the method of thesaurus analysis by which the authors processed students' responses during a special survey. This method made it possible to highlight the semantic markers of students' self-fulfillment with their subsequent clustering into three sense thesauri: the thesaurus of self-fulfillment readiness; thesaurus of the self-fulfillment actions; thesaurus of self- fulfillment activators. In accordance with the data of the survey, the study identified three leading narrative dominants of students' psychological well-being in learning: ego-inclusion in the educational process, comprehensive disclosure of personal abilities and acceptance in the university community. These dominants formed the basis for a special study to determine the level of students' self-fulfillment and their psychological well-being in university training. The summarized results showed that the process of university education provides the necessary conditions and opportunities for self-fulfillment of most of the students surveyed in the study.El propósito de este artículo es revelar las manifestaciones personales y las confirmaciones de la autorrealización de los estudiantes para determinar su bienestar psicológico en el proceso de educación en la escuela superior rusa. En el estudio, se utilizó el método de análisis de tesauros, a través del cual los autores procesaron las respuestas de los estudiantes en una encuesta especial. Este método permitió distinguir los marcadores semánticos de la autorrealización de los estudiantes con su posterior agrupación en tres tesauros sentido: el tesauro de la preparación para la autorrealización; el tesauro de las acciones de autorrealización; el tesauro de las activadoras de autorrealización. De acuerdo con los datos de la encuesta, el estudio identificó tres narrativas dominantes del bienestar psicológico de los estudiantes en de aprendizaje, como: la implicación del ego en el proceso educativo, la divulgación versátil de las capacidades personales y la aceptación en la comunidad universitaria. Estos dominantes formaron la base de criterios de un estudio especial para determinar el nivel de autorrealización de los estudiantes y su bienestar psicológico en la educación universitaria. Los resultados resumidos mostraron que el proceso de educación universitaria proporciona las condiciones y oportunidades necesarias para la autorrealización de la mayoría de los estudiantes entrevistados durante este estudio