Magnesium deficiency is something that very, very many people have to deal with. The average human body typically contains about 30-60 grams of magnesium in bones, teeth, heart, brain, and even blood.

Every cell in your body needs this mineral to function properly - magnesium is involved in over 300 metabolic processes!

Eat right and take care of yourself!

I think you already understand how important it is for your health to maintain adequate levels of magnesium in your body - and at the same time, even in developed countries, almost half of the population suffers from a lack of magnesium.

The tense and casual lifestyle of a modern person literally sucks out all the juices from us, forcing our body to use the substances stored in it in order to at least somehow compensate for this.

Simply put, the average person uses more magnesium than they receive and more than they can afford. The recommended daily intake of magnesium for an adult is approximately 500 to 1,000 milligrams per day.

What awaits you if you are unable to replenish rapidly depleting magnesium stores in your body?

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include tics, blood clots, leg cramps, migraines, anxiety, depression, heart disease, spikes in blood sugar, chronic fatigue, osteoroporosis, and insomnia.

In addition, a lack of magnesium in the body is associated with such chronic diseases as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome - and many others. When your body lacks magnesium, it starts making more insulin - which in turn allows extra glucose to sink into cells. And this "inflates" the inflammatory processes in your body.

Magnesium for your body and mind

You should include in your diet foods that contain enough magnesium as soon as possible. Large amounts of magnesium are found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, as well as fish, avocados, dark chocolate, whole grain baked goods, legumes, nuts, and a variety of seeds.

You can also supplement your menu with dietary supplements containing magnesium, but keep in mind that they must be of the highest quality. A good dietary supplement should contain four magnesium compounds - glycinate, malate, taurinate, and orotate - as these compounds are more easily absorbed by your body than others.

Do you want to know what effect they have on your health?

The importance of iodine for thyroid health

Iodine is one of the two building blocks of thyroid hormones. Your thyroid gland converts tyrosine (another building block) into thyroglobulin and forms T1, T2, T3, T4. Without enough iodine, the thyroid gland simply cannot produce its hormones.

Healthy iodine levels can be maintained by eating seafood (such as seaweed and sea fish) and taking a daily iodine supplement.

It is very important to maintain sufficient iodine levels to reduce the risk of its displacement, as other chemicals with similar structures (fluorine, chlorine, bromine) are absorbed and stored in your thyroid gland instead of iodine.

The importance of selenium for thyroid health

A selenium-dependent enzyme converts T4 (an inactive form of thyroid hormone) to T3 (an active form), so without enough selenium, thyroid hormones will remain in an inactive form, causing symptoms of hypothyroidism.

Adequate selenium levels also help prevent and reverse autoimmune thyroid diseases. When the body converts iodide (a form of iodine, for example, sodium iodide salt), hydrogen peroxide is produced, an oxidizing agent that damages thyroid cells, which can cause an autoimmune reaction. Selenium neutralizes hydrogen peroxide. And research has shown that elevated selenium levels in patients with autoimmune thyroid disease lower levels of antibodies to thyroid peroxidase (ATPO).

There are many foods rich in selenium such as brazil nuts, meat, fish, and shellfish. To maintain a sufficient level of selenium, you can additionally consume at least 200 mcg, either in the form of a high-quality multivitamin or as a supplement.

The importance of zinc for thyroid health

Like selenium, zinc plays the role of an enzyme required to convert T4 to T3. Without enough zinc, the hypothalamus cannot accurately measure thyroid hormone levels and increase thyroid hormone production when levels are low. Because of these two factors, research has linked zinc deficiency to decreased thyroid production and hypothyroidism.

Beef is a good source of dietary zinc. It is recommended that you take a supplement and / or a high quality multivitamin containing at least 25 mg of zinc. Zinc can actually deplete copper levels in your body, so it's a good idea to take copper supplements in parallel as well.

The importance of iron for thyroid health

Iron promotes the production of thyroid hormones in two important ways. First, the enzyme that converts iodide to iodine is iron dependent. Second, iron (like selenium and zinc) is needed to convert T4 to T3.

Most women are deficient in iron, specifically ferritin, a protein that stores your iron and is excreted from your body during menstruation. It is especially common among women who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, and often among lovers of paleo diets.

Beef or chicken liver, mussels, oysters, and spinach are important sources of dietary iron. You can also take additional iron supplements.

All Beauty, Radiance and Health!

General characteristics of attention

Attention theories

Kinds of attention

Properties of attention

Development of attention

General characteristics of attention

Attention - it is the direction and concentration of consciousness, which presuppose an increase in the level of sensory, intellectual or motor activity of the individual.

Attention criteria are:

1) external reactions:

motor (head turns, eye fixation, facial expressions, concentration posture);

vegetative (holding the breath, vegetative components of the orienting reaction);

2) focus on the performance of certain activities and control;

3) an increase in the productivity of activity (attentive action, more effective than "inattentive");

4) selectivity (selectivity) of information;

5) clarity and distinctness of the contents of consciousness in the field of consciousness.

Thanks to attention, a person selects the necessary information, ensures the selectivity of various programs of his activities, maintains proper control over his behavior (Fig. 1).

Attention accompanies any activity as a constituent element of various mental (perception, memory, thinking) and motor processes. Attention determines:

accuracy and detail of perception (attention is a kind of amplifier that makes it possible to distinguish the details of the image);

strength and selectivity of memory (attention acts as a factor contributing to the preservation of the necessary information in short-term and operative memory);

Rice. 1. Functions of attention

focus and productivity of thinking (attention acts as an indispensable factor in the correct understanding and solution of the problem).

Unlike cognitive processes (perception, memory, thinking, etc.), attention has no special content; it manifests itself, as it were, within these processes and is inseparable from them.

In the system of interpersonal relations, attention contributes to better understanding, adaptation of people to each other, prevention and timely resolution of interpersonal conflicts. Attention, on the one hand, is a complex cognitive process, on the other hand, it is a mental state, as a result of which performance improves. Attention is generated by activity and accompanies it, there are always interests, attitudes, needs, and orientation of the personality behind it.

Kinds of attention

There are several different classifications of attention. The most traditional classification is based on arbitrariness (Fig. 2).

Involuntary attention does not require any effort, it is attracted either by a strong or new or interesting stimulus. The main function of involuntary attention is to quickly and correctly orientate in constantly changing environmental conditions, in the selection of those objects that may have the greatest vital or personal significance at the moment.

Rice. 2. Classification of attention

In the scientific literature, you can find different synonyms for involuntary attention. In some studies, it is called passive, thereby shading the dependence of involuntary attention on the object that attracted him, and emphasizing the lack of effort on the part of the person to focus. In others, involuntary attention is called emotional, thereby noting the connection between the object of attention and emotions, interests and needs. In this case, as in the first, there are no volitional efforts aimed at focusing attention.

Arbitrary attention is characteristic only of a person and is characterized by an active, purposeful concentration of consciousness associated with volitional efforts. Synonyms of the word arbitrary (attention) are the words active and volitional. All three terms emphasize the active position of the individual when focusing on the object. Voluntary attention arises in cases when a person, in his activity, sets himself a certain goal, task and consciously develops a program of action. The main function of voluntary attention is the active regulation of the course of mental processes. This type of attention is closely related to will, it requires volitional effort, which is experienced as tension, mobilization of forces to solve the task. It is thanks to the presence of arbitrary attention that a person is able to actively, selectively "extract" from memory the information he needs, to highlight the main, essential, to make the right decisions, to implement plans that arise in the activity.

Post-spontaneous attention found in those cases when a person, forgetting about everything, goes headlong into work. This type of attention is characterized by a combination of volitional orientation with favorable external and internal conditions of activity. Unlike involuntary attention, post-voluntary attention is associated with conscious goals and is supported by conscious interests. The difference between post-voluntary attention and voluntary attention is in the absence of volitional effort.

These types of attention are interrelated and should not be artificially considered as independent from each other (Table 2).

Table 2

Comparative characteristics of the types of attention

Financial stability is closely related to the formation and use of the company's capital, the assessment of the adequacy of equity capital for effective economic activity.

Financial stability is the ability of an enterprise not only to maintain a sufficient level of business activity and business efficiency, but also to increase it, while ensuring solvency, investment attractiveness within the limits of acceptable risk.

The company must maintain a structural balance of assets and liabilities, taking into account changing environmental and internal factors. The structure of assets must meet the prospective needs of the development of economic activity, which requires reliable sources of their formation. When attracting borrowed capital, the company must foresee the resulting financial consequences: the inevitable increase in financial risks, costs of maintaining borrowed capital, the adverse impact of these factors on financial results.

The main condition for ensuring the financial stability of an enterprise is an increase in the volume of sales of products, since revenue is a source of covering current costs and the formation of normal profits. Profit growth, in turn, creates conditions for expanding economic activities, investing in improving the material and technical base, mastering new technologies, etc.

To assess the financial stability of an enterprise, absolute and relative indicators are used.

Absolute indicators of financial stability:

• absolute growth in total assets (liabilities, balance sheet total);
• absolute growth of the company's own funds (equity capital);
• availability of own circulating assets;
• provision of tangible circulating assets (stocks) with sustainable sources of formation;
• absolute growth in net revenue;
• absolute increase in net profit;
• absolute increase in net cash flow (the difference between the total receipt and the total cash outflow from operating activities).

For the smooth functioning of the enterprise, the formation of the necessary in terms of volume and composition of inventories is of great importance. Therefore, when characterizing the financial stability of an enterprise, a special role belongs to the indicator of the availability of its own sources of financing, not only of all current assets, but namely of inventories (material working capital).

Using indicators of the provision of material working capital with sustainable sources of financing, there are four types of financial stability.

• 1. Absolute stability- a state in which production stocks are fully covered by its own circulating assets, that is, the company is absolutely independent of external creditors. This situation is rare in practice. Moreover, it is not always economically feasible, as it indicates a conservative approach to financing production activities, that the management of the enterprise does not use the effect of financial leverage to the proper extent.
• 2. Normal stability- a state when production stocks are formed both at the expense of their own working capital and at the expense of short-term borrowed funds.
• 3. Unstable financial situation, when own circulating assets and short-term borrowed funds are not enough to form production stocks. Enterprises in such a situation use short-term payables to finance part of the inventory. Sometimes this leads to delays in the payment of wages to employees, delay in settlements with suppliers.
• 4. Critical financial situation arises when, in addition to the unstable state, the enterprise does not repay loans and borrowings on time, cannot fulfill its payment obligations on time.

Based on the balance sheet of the enterprise (table 10.1), table 10.3 shows the main absolute indicators of financial stability.

Table 10.3 - Absolute indicators of the financial stability of the enterprise for the reporting year

amount, RUB mln

In the example under consideration, the enterprise has a lack of its own circulating assets to finance stocks: at the beginning of the year 16.3 million rubles, at the end - 12.5 million rubles, i.e. it does not have absolute financial stability. To finance production stocks, along with its own working capital, short-term borrowed funds are attracted. At the same time, the amount of own circulating assets, short-term borrowed funds exceeds the amount of inventories both at the beginning and at the end of the year. This indicates normal financial stability.

The total amount of all possible sources of funding for inventories is significantly higher than the amount of inventories: at the beginning of the year + 28.3 million rubles, at the end of the year + 36.6 million rubles.

Relative indicators of financial stability(coefficients widely used in world and domestic practice):

• autonomy ratio- the ratio of equity to the total balance sheet. Shows the extent to which the amount of financial resources used by the enterprise is formed from its own funds. The normal minimum value of this coefficient is 0.5. The higher this coefficient, the higher the financial independence of the enterprise from external sources of financial resources;
• long-term financial independence ratio - the ratio of the amount of equity and long-term liabilities to the total amount of the balance sheet. Characterizes the independence of the enterprise from short-term borrowed sources of financing of economic activities;
• funding ratio- the ratio of equity to debt. The excess of equity over the borrowed capital indicates that the company has a sufficient margin of financial strength;
• leverage ratio- the ratio of borrowed capital to equity. Characterizes the financial activity of the enterprise in attracting borrowed funds;
• maneuverability coefficient- the ratio of the amount of own circulating assets to the total amount of own funds (equity capital). Shows the share of equity that is invested in current assets.

Based on the balance sheet of the enterprise (table 10.1) and the information given in table 10.3, table 10.4 shows the main ratios of financial stability at the beginning and end of the reporting year.

Table 10.4 - The main coefficients of financial stability of the enterprise

The data in Table 10.4 indicate a fairly high financial independence of the enterprise: the autonomy ratio at the end of the year is 0.63, that is, equity capital is 63% of the total amount of sources of financing for the enterprise. It is positive that this figure has increased over the year.

The increase in the role of own sources of funds is evidenced by the dynamics of the financing ratio: it increased by 0.18 points. The leverage ratio has decreased accordingly.

The coefficient of maneuverability of the company's equity capital at the beginning of the year was 0.45. This is a fairly high value, close to the recommended normal value of 0.2-0.5. Over the year, the coefficient of maneuverability has slightly decreased - by 0.01 points. This coefficient depends on the branch of the enterprise, the type of activity, the structure of assets.

The long-term financial independence ratio has not changed over the year, which should be assessed positively. The value of the coefficient is quite high - 0.81. The organization provided an increase in equity capital for the year by 10.9% and a slight decrease in the amount of long-term liabilities.

Assessment of financial stability serves as the basis for the development of measures to strengthen the financial condition of the enterprise. At the same time, there are several directions:

• 1. Measures to increase equity capital: increase in authorized capital; an increase in profits from all types of activities and an increase in the capitalized part of net profit.
• 2. Measures to improve the management of borrowed capital: determination of the maximum amount of borrowed capital; formation of a rational structure of borrowed funds; efficient use of borrowed capital, etc.
• 3. Measures to improve asset management: correct determination of the need for fixed and circulating assets for the organization of production activities; increasing the efficiency of using fixed and circulating assets; increasing the efficiency of long-term and short-term financial investments.

Assessment of the financial stability of an enterprise is important in planning the needs of an enterprise in capital and optimizing its structure.

The total capital requirement of an enterprise is determined based on the need for assets for production, investment activities, financial transactions. Optimization of the capital structure can be carried out on the basis of:

• 1) multivariate calculations using the effect of financial leverage. In this case, the capital structure is chosen from the standpoint of the highest return on equity (see section 10.2);
• 2) minimizing the cost of capital. The cost of capital is the average price that a business pays to raise capital from various sources. For example, the cost of raising capital from own internal sources is estimated by the return on equity; the cost of attracting loans is estimated by the amount of interest for the loan. To determine the optimal capital structure, one proceeds from the possibilities of minimizing the weighted average cost of capital, taking into account all sources of its formation;
• 3) the selected asset financing policy. Different constituent parts of assets are financed from different sources. Approaches to financing assets, depending on the attitude of managers and owners of the enterprise to financial risks, differ. There are usually three groups of assets:
  • fixed assets;
  • permanent part of current assets- the minimum amount of current assets required by the enterprise to carry out current production activities, which does not depend on seasonal fluctuations in the volume of activities;
  • variable part of current assets- part of current assets subject to fluctuations due to the seasonality factor.

There are three approaches to financing these groups of assets (table 10.5).

A conservative approach to asset financing assumes that non-current assets are financed mainly by equity and partly by long-term borrowed capital (up to 10%). The fixed part of the working capital and half of the variable part of the working capital must be fully financed from the equity capital. The other half of the variable part of working capital is financed by short-term debt capital. This approach provides a high coefficient of financial stability of the enterprise in the process of its development.

Table 10.5 - Approaches to financing enterprise assets 1

Legend: SK - equity capital; ДЗК - long-term borrowed capital; KZK - short-term borrowed capital.

Moderate Approach to Asset Financing assumes that non-current assets and a constant part of working capital are financed by equity and long-term borrowed capital. At the same time, the share of equity capital is 75-80%. Variable part of working capital - at the expense of short-term borrowed capital. This approach usually provides an acceptable level of financial sustainability.

Aggressive Approach to Asset Financing assumes that the role of equity in financing non-current assets and the constant part of current assets is reduced to 50-60%. The variable part of working capital is fully funded by short-term debt capital. In some cases, all current assets are financed by short-term borrowed capital. This approach reduces the financial stability of the enterprise, creates problems in ensuring solvency, although it allows you to work with a minimum amount of equity capital.

• Savitskaya G.V. Methodology for a comprehensive analysis of economic activity: Textbook. - 4th ed. - M .: INFRA-M, 2007 .-- S. 322.