African hunt for investment: any chance for success?

During recent two decades the world has witnessed a drastic increase in global FDI inflows. Gradually more and more investment has been directed to the developing countries in the attempt to diversify portfolios and use finance in the most efficient way. Not all developing regions of the world perfectly succeeded in attracting FDI. Large by labor force and territory, abundant in natural resources Sub-Saharan Africa could perform much better in this aspect. This paper once again reviews the opportunities for FDI in Africa and suggests possible ways for authorities of African states to overcome the existing situation.FDI, Africa, determinants, policy recommendations, Financial Economics, International Development, F21, O55,

The stress resistance of students. The paradigm of subject personality self- organization

The aim of the investigation is to consider a problem of stress resistance of students in the context of subject self-organization of the personality. Methods. The following methods of research are used: questioning; psychological and diagnostic tests «Tolerance of Uncertainty» (NTN) and «Personal Factors of Decisions» (PFD) by T. V. Kornilova; original experimental experiences – «Coding», a technique of a self-assessment (scaling) and «A locus control». While data processing the methods of mathematical statistics (SPSS 12 package) – the correlation analysis of Pearson and the factorial analysis with rotation use a component by «verimax» method are applied. Results and scientific novelty. Types of subjectivity and strategy of stress resistance are allocated. The nature and a role of the emotional and stressful mechanism having information and semantic properties in its basis are disclosed. Communication of irresponsible mechanisms of mentality with the sphere of consciousness in the context of subjectivity of the personality is shown. Mechanisms of emotional and rational self-control of system of mental self-organization of the person are presented. The statistical and qualitative data opening communications between properties of subjectivity and stress resistance of the personality are empirically obtained. Variation of the relations and also types of subjectivity and stress resistance emphasized based on the results of the presented research. Original (author’s) methods of studying of subjectivity and factors of stress resistance are presented. Practical significance. The revealed factors of subject self-organization reveal the stress-producing directions of the environment and the relation of the personality to situations of changes and uncertainty: and also indicate subject properties of resistance to stress which need to be developed to increase the level of health of students, to reduce risk of deviance and delinquency of their behavior.Цель статьи – рассмотреть проблему стрессоустойчивости студентов в контексте субъектной самоорганизации личности. В работе использованы следующие методы исследования: анкетирование; психодиагоностические тесты «Толерантность к неопределенности» («НТН») и «Личностные факторы решений» («ЛФР») Т. В. Корниловой; оригинальные экспериментальные опыты – «Кодирование», методика самооценки (шкалирование) и «Локус контроля». При обработке данных применялись методы математической статистики (пакет SPSS 12) – корреляционный анализ Пирсона и факторный анализ с использованием вращения компонент методом «verimax». Результаты и научная новизна. Выделены типы субъектности и стратегии стрессоустойчивости. Раскрыты природа и роль эмоционально-стрессового механизма, имеющего в своей основе информационно-семантические свойства. Показана связь несознательных механизмов психики со сферой сознания в контексте субъектности личности. Представлены механизмы эмоциональной и рациональной саморегуляции системы психической самоорганизации человека. Эмпирически получены статистические и качественные данные, раскрывающие связи между свойствами субъектности и стрессоустойчивостью личности. По результатам исследования выделены варианты отношений, а также типы субъектности истрессоустойчивости. Представлены оригинальные (авторские) техники изучения субъектности и факторов стрессоустойчивости. Практическая значимость. Выявленные факторы субъектной самооорганизации раскрывают стрессогенные стороны среды и отношение личности к ситуациям перемен и неопределенности, а также указывают на субъектные свойства стрессоустойчивости, которые необходимо развивать, чтобы повысить уровень здоровья студентов, снизить риск девиантности и делинквентности их поведени

Zelenchukskaya Radio Astronomical Observatory

This report summarizes information about Zelenchukskaya Radio Astronomical Observatory activities in 2012. Last year a number of changes took place in the observatory to improve some technical characteristics and to upgrade some units to the required status. The report provides an overview of current geodetic VLBI activities and gives an outlook for the future

The problems of optimal design in the automotive industry

The paper considers the general problems of optimization of parameters of a vehicle at the design stage. The approaches to the solution of the task are set out. The questions of a choice of the objective function and the system of limitations are in focus, as the problem of optimization makes sense, if there are several possible variants of its solution

Shocks near Jamming

Non-linear sound is an extreme phenomenon typically observed in solids after violent explosions. But granular media are different. Right when they jam, these fragile and disordered solids exhibit a vanishing rigidity and sound speed, so that even tiny mechanical perturbations form supersonic shocks. Here, we perform simulations in which two-dimensional jammed granular packings are dynamically compressed, and demonstrate that the elementary excitations are strongly non-linear shocks, rather than ordinary phonons. We capture the full dependence of the shock speed on pressure and impact intensity by a surprisingly simple analytical model.Comment: Revised version. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Дослідження рухливості молекул води в виробах з пінною структурою та підвищеним вмістом йоду

The object of research is foam structures enriched with iodine. The problem of addition of iodine into these objects, which are developed on the basis of kelp use, is that its use gives the products an unpleasant aftertaste that reduced their organoleptic characteristics.A method for enriching the foam structures is proposed by using an elamin that has a neutral taste and eliminates the noted drawback. Technologically, the addition of the elamin is carried out by means of its preliminary steaming. Using this approach, foams with high structural and mechanical properties are obtained. For example, the foam-forming ability of the studied sample, to which the elamin is added in the steamed state, is 10-20% higher than the control. The result is achieved due to the presence of sodium alginate salts in the elamin, which can adsorb water and exhibit the properties of the thickener and foam stabilizer. This effect is confirmed by studying the spin-spin relaxation time Т2 by nuclear magnetic resonance.The obtained results allow to create food products enriched with iodine in a concentration of 42–52 μg per 100 g of product. These products can correct the iodine content in the human body in quantities that correspond to the current trends in the norms of rational nutrition. Thus, with the use of the recommended product rate (100 g), the human body is provided with 42–52 μg of iodine, which corresponds to 28–35 % of the daily iodine requirement for an adult and 56–69 % for school-age children.Исследованы изделия с пенной структурой с целью получения новых функциональных продуктов питания. Показано влияние эламина на стойкость пены и повышение её плотности. Исследование времени спин-спиновой релаксации показывает, что эламин обладает способностью образовывать с влагой в продукте прочные связи, что приводит к уменьшению количества свободной жидкости, переводя ее в связанное состояние. Досліджено вироби з пінною структурою з метою отримання нових функціональних продуктів харчування. Показано вплив еламіну на піностійкість та підвищення густини піни. Дослідження часу спін-спінової релаксації показує, що еламін має здатність утворювати з вологою у продукті міцні зв’язки, що призводить до зменшення кількості вільної рідини, переводячи її у зв’язаний стан