The Black Cat

â€Å"The Black Cat† by Edgar Allan Poe is one of Poe’s greatest literary works that embodies his signature themes of death, violence, and darkness. Poe’s main character begins his narration of his horrible wrongdoings regarding them as a â€Å"series of mere household events† (Poe 705). However, this is where Poe’s satire and irony begins and the story progresses to show the deranged mindset of this character as he tries to justify his actions. As the main character proceeds to rationalize his crime, Poe is able to convey a sense of irony through his use of foreshadowing, metaphors and symbolism. Irony begins within the narrator’s introduction to his confession by telling the reader that he will tell his story but â€Å"without comment† (Poe 705). Within this same ironic tone, the narrator continues to humanize his actions and plea for justification but predicts that what he has already done has destroyed him. Poe describes how â€Å"these events have terrified–have tortured–have destroyed† him (Poe 705). Poe adds an ironic tone to the story by telling it through the narrator’s perspective. The narrator is a demented individual and the average reader cannot relate to the evil that has erupted inside him. As he begins to rationalize, there is a vast difference between the narrator and the reader leading to the irony that the man feels that this was all a normal series of misfortune. Literary critic, Richard Badenhausen, explains Poe’s decision for telling the story from the narrator’s point-of-view, â€Å"Despite pledging to tell his tale â€Å"without comment,† the narrator is constantly qualifying, correcting, and explaining, in the hope that the audience will see events from his perspective. Although he ironically announces in the opening sentence that he â€Å"neither expect[s] nor solicit[s] belief† the narrator is obsessively concerned with both activities: he hopes for understanding from his listeners and energetically pursues approval by employing the various manipulative tools of the storyteller† (Badenhausen 487). Finally, Poe also thickens the suspense of the story with the early foreshadowing that the main character feels that he may harm his wife writing, â€Å"At length, I even offered her personal violence† (Poe 706 ). The greatest metaphor throughout this tale is the black cat. While the narrator’s wife has been known to refer to the dark-haired feline as a â€Å"witch in disguise†, the metaphor for Poe is that the cat is not only a superstitious monster but it is also a metaphor for being the narrator’s own personal demon (Poe 706). The recurring events with the black cats in the story portray that they are metaphors for the narrator’s own problems that haunt him. As the series of events continue throughout the story, the cat becomes a visual element in the scene for the narrator’s recurring violence and finally brings him to the point of his insanity. Moreover, it has been argued that the cat is a metaphor for the narrator’s wife. Critics claim that the following passage raises suspicion that the killing of the first cat was actually the murder of his own wife. Poe writes: Norton Anthology American Literature. 7th. 1. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. , 2008. 705-711. Print. Critics who support this notion feel that the â€Å"reversal is substitution in wife for cat and cat for wife† and that the narrator had clearly projected his feelings for his wife onto the cat (Amper 475). Literary critic, Susan Amper, commented on this metaphor-theory, â€Å"It is not merely that the wife was always the intended victim; she was the original, in fact the only victim. Moreover, this inference provides a much more compelling reason for the narrator's substitution of cat for wife or rather twin reasons, for his pretense that he has only killed his cat serves both to ease his own sense of guilt, and to shield him from prosecution for murder (Amper 475). This theory also supports the irony that the wife’s body was decomposed after merely three-days and leaves the reader with one of Poe’s signature suspenseful, disturbing endings. The final writing element that Poe uses throughout this short story is symbolism. Readers are introduced to one of the story’s main characters, Pluto, the black cat, who supposedly provokes the narrator into committing his heinous acts of violence but is merely symbolic for the narrator’s imbedded hatred and evil. Not only is this feline symbolic for evil because of superstitions regarding black cats, the cat’s name has a deeper symbolic meaning. According to Roman Mythology, Pluto is name of the god of the dead and ruler of the underworld. This symbolic name not only represents the narrator’s cruel intentions but also provides a sense of foreshadowing. After the first black cat is slain, a second black cat appears and is unwelcomed by the narrator. According to Professor Ann Bliss from the University of California, â€Å"looks remarkably like the original except in one respect: it is marked with a patch of white that, for the narrator, increasingly comes to resemble a gallows—reminding the narrator of his violence toward the first cat and foreshadowing acts of violence to come† (Bliss 97). The white color of the patch with the offsetting black fur is also symbolic to the good and evil confliction within the narrator. Finally, the second black cat leads to the narrator allegedly murdering his wife accidently. In conclusion, Poe’s literary masterpiece, â€Å"The Black Cat† is a suspenseful story filled with irony and hidden messages and themes. Although this is a short-story, Poe skillfully provides the reader with enough evidence to make conclusions about the motive, sequence of events, and the narrator’s denial of apparent mental disorder and alcoholism that plagues him.

English As A Second Language Program Essay

An ESL or English as a second Language program, as the name suggests is for students or people in general who do not speak English as their first language and have an interest in learning this language for certain reasons which may range from applying to a college or university in United states or elsewhere or they would want to get accustomed to this language for the purpose of conducting business overseas, for communication with peers at work or it can be for the simple reason of communicating with people at different situations. In this article we are going to focus on ESL programs for students at a school district, comparing and contrasting on the ways they are executed and the ways they should be executed. English as a Second Language programs for students are offered to students by either scheduling classes in between their regular course classes or they can be undertaken as a separate programs by certain individuals who are accommodated in the vicinity of the university. Today, since the ratio of international students is increasing at an alarming rate in United States or Canada, offering an ESL program is more of a legal requirement for most districts so that all students are taken forward together at university or when they enroll into one in future. It is also due to this very fact that a lot of emphasis is given to ESL programs at elementary and middle school levels to prepare students to use English as a channel of communication in future. The execution and the effectiveness of these programs however, vary with different school districts depending upon trained teacher, the program and the dedication of the students themselves. The duration and intensity of an ESL program varies with the individual or university requirement and can be full time or part time, ranging from a couple of weeks to even a year. These details as mentioned do differ, so for example the ESL program offered at the Greenwich public school which aims at providing students academic and communication skills In order for them to succeed in U.S universities as effectively as possible. The elementary school offers this program for an average 2- 4 years with one to eight hours of instruction every week depending upon the grade and language individual needs of students. The school also focuses on very small groups and emphasizes individual attention to students to better understand their weaknesses and fill I the gaps. The Greenwich Public School district has been offering ESL programs for the past 28 years and has seen an influx in the number of ESL students over the years. In the year 2004-05 approximately 731 students enrolled in the program altogether from 54 countries. The elementary school curriculum includes a variety of materials according to student needs such as work books, songs, CD’s, learning of poems, class presentations etc. this program is more content based   and strong emphasis is give on the reading aspect in this program.   The program is organized around themes and aims at teaching critical thinking along with language skills to enable success in mainstream class rooms. In more specific terms this ESL program for elementary students includes Theme based English series which includes work books, posters etc. Group activities (theme based) which tend to explore literature along with songs, activities, TPR games etc. Miami Linguistics, which are designed for ESL beginners in a sequential reading manner. In Greenwich Public School, after completing the elementary school program after reaching grade 2 or grade 3, ESL students are expected to formulate questions, read outside of class, compare materials in a text and also contrast them. They are also able to express a story in their own words with proper understanding and expressions, write small paragraphs and initiate conversations. After completing the basic ESL program for elementary school, students can decide to move out of the program or advance to higher level middle school ESL program, which has its own curriculum and particular hours to be covered aimed at developing proficiency in English language. Placement in this program is based on entry tests and educational history. After looking at the details of different ESL programs offered by various institutes, if one actually compares them with reality, one can say that ESL programs put students under a lot of stress as they try to achive excellence in a second language, therefore recreational facilities should be made affordable, also the students should be encouraged to mingle with American students in order to culturally adjust with them   and pur into practice all the theories they have learnt in   class. Also one of the most important things which teachers for this program need to understand is that students enrolled in an ESL program come from very different backgrounds and cultures, therefore the same methodoligies cannot be applied across the board for teachin purposes. Students must be carefully monitered and encouraged to use their strengths to achive succcess in the course.   (Currie, 2003) If one compares the ESL program offered by greemwich Public School with other ESL programs offered, we can say that most ESL programs are similar in conducting theme based activities, which can be selected by asking students what they want to say, moulding the curiculum in children’s interest. Also at this stage most ESL programs are content based, songs are also one of the important keys to success in most ESL progrms. One of the methods which can contribute towards the improvement of an ESL program at Greenwich is that revision of matrial is very important before every new leson taught, this can be best achived with the help of songs before proceeding forward. Each lesson should be broken down into three to four parts, starting with warm up and revision of previous material, then teaching new lesson, for example new vocabulary words etc, the third part should incorporate games or activities t practice the new lesson and the ending of a esson sholud be on a happy thankful note, referably a song. This approach has been teted at ther ESL program and has proved to be very succesful. Different approaches to learning can be adressed thorough ESL games, making learning lessions fun and more effective. Depending on the students theses ESl games can vary from auditorylearnig style in which games involve more listening through peoms or repitation etc. Visual ESL styles ca be used for students who are more comfortable with videos of games involving flash cards etc and finally tactile learnig styles can be used in which â€Å"touch† are used.   (Vernon) In conclusion, if the current ESL program in a School district is evaluated in terms of the comparisons and details mentioned above,   I would say that diverse approach towards the students is missing and teachers are adopting   a homogenous method towards all students. In my opinion more effort needs to be diverted in this angle where different games and teaching styles are used after analysing the capabilities of students and more emphasis should be place on practical learning.

RTL Implementation of MP3 Decoder IP Core

RTL IMPLEMENTATION OF MP3 DECODER IP CORE Abstraction The intent of this survey is to look into the effectivity of the MP3 decrypting design in hardware comparison to the more popular package design. Nowadays, the MP3 file format is the most popular criterion for audio compaction, used in playback device such as audio participants and nomadic phones. While MP3 decryption is one of the indispensable portion in multimedia system, most of the decryption design are software-based, peculiarly because of the design of the system, which is easier compared to the hardware portion. However, the package design has higher clock, therefore higher power ingestion. This happens because of the design itself ; it has more iteration in the scheduling algorithm. There are undertakings that combine both hardware and package design in the MP3 decrypting creative activity, but the standalone hardware rational belongings ( IP ) nucleus is still non good explored. This paper will present a brief position on the basicss of the undertaking, every bit good as the needed inside informations needed in working on the undertaking. Every inside informations presented in the study are either gathered from diaries, books and the online beginning available. The mark of this undertaking is to run the designated IP nucleus and implemented in Register Transfer Level ( RTL ) manner, in which it easy means utilizing the hardware descriptive linguistic communication ( HDL ) as the footing linguistic communication for the design.Table OF CONTENTSChapterTitlePageDedication2Recognitions3Abstraction4Table OF CONTENTS5List OF FIGURES71.0Introduction81.1Undertaking Background81.2Aim91.3Problem Statement91.4Scope of the Undertaking102.0Literature Review112.1Related Studies and Previous Work112.2Introduction to the MP3 Decoding Core132.2.1Synchroscope142.2.2Huffman Decoding152.2.3Requantiser162.2.4Reordering172.2.5Antialiasing182.2.6Inverse Modified Discrete Cosine Tr ansform ( IMDCT )192.2.7Synthesis Polyphase Filterbank203.0Research Methodology223.1Introduction223.2Ocular Representation of Research Methodology223.2.1Altera DE2 Board243.2.2Altera Quartus II253.2.3NIOS II25List OF FIGURESFIGURE NO.TitlePage2.1The MP3 bitstream format192.2The three parts of frequence line202.3The reordering procedure ( the darker coloring material represents higher frequences )222.4The antialias butterfly232.5Types of window sequences in a subband252.6The IMDCT operation flow273.1The undertaking work flow3.2The Altera DE2 board ( beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.terasic.com.tw/ )293.3The Quartus II work bench environment303.4The NIOS II work bench environment31Chapter 1 IntroductionUndertaking BackgroundMPEG-1/2 audio layer-3 ( MP3 ) is a most popular format for playback of high quality compressed sound. During the recent old ages the application of MP3 sound codec has exploded. Typically MP3 files are played back utilizing package ( CPU or DSP ) , but recent tendencies have since informant the outgrowth of portable device, such as nomadic phones and MP3 participants. While DSP architecture is the most efficient for running MP3 participant, the challenges of FPGA execution of MP3 decrypting are less understood. Field Programmable Gate Array, merely known as FPGA, is one type of incorporate circuit that is consumer-programmable, therefore it is called â€Å"field programmable† . This incorporate circuit uses hardware descriptive linguistic communication ( HDL ) to configure. Nowadays, FPGA has since advanced into a high degree of efficiency during the past decennary. It has since become the major HP in different types of application, since it can be employed as standalone System on Chip ( SoC ) or powerful gas pedals in multi-chip system. The mark of the undertaking is to implement the MP3 decrypting nucleus by using the FPGA belongingss. While utilizing the bing package codification to run the decipherer in package, efforts has been done to run the decipherer in hardware, which will go the chief way in this undertaking. Then, comparing the public presentation of these two methods will besides be the focal point of the undertaking.AimThe aim of this undertakings are:To plan the MP3 decipherer hardware based and can be implemented in portable based designTo measure the efficiency of the hardware based decipherer comparison to the common package based deciphererProblem StatementMost of the MP3 decryption designs are of in package. However, the hardware importance of the decryption design has since taken the popularity today. Therefore, several efforts have been taken to make the to the full hardware architecture of the decryption nucleus. This paper will measure the efficiency of the hardware decipherer as per package d ecipherer and to look into the advantages of both methods.Scope of the UndertakingThe range of the undertaking includes combination of several elements such as hardware, package and electronic parts. Below are the Scopess for the undertaking.Uses Verilog HDL linguistic communication as its chief footing for programmingExplore the application of Verilog utilizing Altera DE2 BoardInclude package programming such as C and C++Implement the application ( partial ) utilizing downloaded package for package execution ( Quartus II 9.1, Nios II 9.1 )Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW In 1988, Hiroshi Yasuda ( Nippon Telegraph and Telephone ) and Leonardo Chiariglione had initiated the working group Traveling Pictures Experts Group ( MPEG ) to put the criterions for audio and video compaction and transmittal. The group, formed by International Organisation for Standardisation ( ISO ) and International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC ) , has since developed into an organisation joined by members from assorted industries, universities and research establishments. One of the criterions that have created is the MPEG-1 Layer 3, or good known as MP3. MP3 is the standard format used for digital audio compaction, in which the design have 12:1 compaction ratio, from 1.4Mbps 128kbps bitrate for compact phonograph record ( Cadmium ) music.Related Studies and Previous WorkIt is known that MP3 decrypting procedure is a hard procedure, but several research workers and industrialist have attempted to plan the decipherer for this specific format. For case, Faltmanet Al.( 2003 ) have stated that the designing of MP3 decrypting in portable and stand-alone participants have gained in popularity. In the study, Faltmanet Al.( 2003 ) besides stated the importance in the public presentation of these hardware MP3 decrypting based on the clock rhythms and power use. It besides includes an effort to to make an MP3 decipherer in hardware, by utilizing Xilinx FPGA board. Thuonget Al.( 2005 ) have proposed the architecture of the MP3 decryption nucleus, in which the subcores of the architecture can be separately designed, coded and tested easy. However, the design of the nucleus is coded utilizing VHDL, the older version of RTL linguistic communication. Ko and Nicolici ( 2007 ) have tested the execution of the nucleus utilizing Altera DE2 board and Xilinx multimedia board. It besides has consequences including the figure of logic elements, reversals, memories and multipliers involved. Bhargav and Yang ( 2008 ) have introduced the use of Linux-run interface on the decryption nucleus. Their research has besides opened the possibilities of animating the popular piece of consumer engineering utilizing bing hardware available in the lab. Still, the design utilizes both hardware and package constituent in their design architecture. It has few general lags due to system clock and debugging procedure. Singhet Al.( 2008 ) have proposed that the demand of hand-held participants and multimedia in nomadic phone have raised a demand for a dedicated hardware to decrypt the file formats with low power ingestion and faster acceleration. Papakonstantinouet Al.( 2008 ) have researched instance survey on the execution of drifting point math in decipherer execution to accomplish existent clip and faster decrypting procedure. In the instance survey, the writers introduce floating-point ( FP ) unit in their architecture to measure the operation velocity ; therefore naming it the FP execution of MP3 decryption. In the latest research by Moslehpouret Al.( 2013 ) , the undertaking uses NIOS II system, which is a portion of package device, to read files and produces end product from the decrypting procedure. By utilizing unafraid digital ( SD ) card as input devices, the system uses Altera DE2 board but synthesize different file format: moving ridge files, or.wav extension files. Even so, the exposure of the study have shown that running the decipherer is possible, peculiarly because of package characteristics use Altera SOPC builder in Altera Quartus 9.1 environment, in which the platform is largely used in third instruction degree. Some of the old work did even make the architectural design of MP3 decipherer, utilizing a VLSI cell-based attack. Tsaiet Al.( 2004 ) have proposed the specific architectural construction of MP3 decipherer in which it achieves a high throughput with a decreased memory demand and hardware complexness. Meanwhile, Kalpanaet Al.( 2012 ) have tried to implement the algorithm on the decreased direction set computer science ( RISC ) based ARM processor, which is far more advanced, proficient wised. All of the old work did hold its important characteristics in edifice MP3 decryption nucleus, either in hardware or package. However, the execution of MP3 decrypting IP nucleus, which uses Verilog HDL as its hardware linguistic communication, as implementing it to the full hardware based is non good discovered. Therefore, the focal point is the study is to undertake the design of MP3 decrypting nucleus, on the surface at least.Introduction to the MP3 Decoding CoreHarmonizing to Kalpanaet Al.( 2012 ) , all MP3 files are divided into fragments called frames. Each frames shops 1152 samples, enduring for 26ms, which the frame rate is about 38 frame per second ( Federal Protective Service ) . The first measure to decrypt MP3 file format is by happening the start of the frame, which is called synchronism procedure, or else called initial reading.SynchroscopeBefore decryption, the start of the frame must be found. If the frame is interrupted, we can non happen the exact place of the followi ng frame ( Thuonget Al., 2007 ) . The construction of the frame consists of 5 parts ; heading, cyclic redundancy cheque ( CRC ) , side information, chief informations and accessory informations.HeadingCRCSide InformationMain informationsAncillary Data Figure 2.1The MP3 bitstream format The inside informations about the frame heading is as follows:Frame HeaderIt is a 32-bit long and has description of the frame, together with the synchronism word to separate the get downing portion of the bitstreamCRCUse to look into if there is any transmittal mistake for the most sensitive informations. The CRC will merely exists when the protection spot in the heading is set.Side InformationIncludes the of import information needed to decrypt the chief information. This depends on the channel manner. For individual channel, 136 spots are allocated, while for double channel, 256 spot allocated ( this is tantamount to 17 bytes in individual channel, 32 bytes in dual-channel )Main DataThe chief informations portion consists of the frames that includes scalefactors, Huffman coded spots and accessory informationsAncillary DataThis information can keep user-defined information. This frame country can keep optional informations such as vocal name or song information.Huffman DecodingThis subdivision contains one of the most of import undertaking in MP3 decryption. The undertaking of Huffman decrypting is to transform and mapping the information into scalefactors and symbols stand foring the 576 original frequence lines for each granule. These frequence line is divided into three divider ;Big-values,Count1andRzero. Big-valuesCount1Rzero Figure 2.2The three parts of frequence line Detailss on the Huffman codification divider are as follows:Big-valuesRepresents the lowest frequence lines and are coded with the highest preciseness, scaled from values between -15 to 15. When the decipherer finds the value 15, it assumes that the higher preciseness is needed. This can be done by utilizing the value 15 as an flight codification, so reads extra spots from the imput watercourse. The figure specified in the Huffman tabular array are called linbits.Count1Represent the higher frequence lines ; non necessitate the higher preciseness scaled value. Ranging from -1 to 1.RzeroRepresent the highest frequence lines, and non portion of the bitstream. It contains the the frequence lines that are removed by the encoder. These values are filled with nothing by the decipherer.RequantiserThe symbols generated from Huffman decrypting is so reconstructed into the original frequence line by utilizing the scalefactors provided in the side information of the frame. The low frequence scal efactor set contains less values than the high frequence. The descaling equation for both short blocks and long blocks are defined as Short blocks: Long blocks: The denoted scalefactorsscalefactor_sandscalefactor_lused by requantiser are provided by Huffman decipherer. Parametersglobal_gain,subblock_gainandpreflagcan be found in the frames provided by the Synchroniser block. The notaiondefines end product from the Requantser block, whileis the Huffman decoded value at indexI.ReorderingThis block merely has one undertaking: it reorders the frequence lines within a granule. When the short block is decoded, a short window will be used. The end product is so sorted into subbands, so on frequences and at last by Windowss to increase the efficiency of Huffman coding. Figure 2.3The reordering procedure ( the darker coloring material represents higher frequences )AntialiasingAntialiasing is the procedure where its map is to cut down the inevitable assumed name effects because of the use of non-ideal bandpass filtering. The alias Reconstruction is based on the butterfly computation, dwelling of eight butterfly computation for each subband. Figure 2.4The antialias butterflyInverse Modified Discrete Cosine TransformInverse Modified Discrete Cosine Transform, known as IMDCT, reproduce clip samples from the frequence lines, together with synthesis polyphase filterbank. The clip samples can be obtained from the frequence lines by utilizing the undermentioned equation. The IMDCT operation flow begins by taking 18 input frequence lines and generates 36 polyphase filter subband samples. The samples so multiplied with with a 36-point window before passed into following decryption procedure. Windowing is the procedure of multiplying and overlapping add-on operation of IMDCT’s end product with the sine window coefficient. Based on the length of each window, four types of block is used ; they arestart,halt,shortandlong. The determination of block type is based on the analysis of the psychoacoustic theoretical account. Figure 2.5Types of window sequences in a subband However, bring forthing 36 samples from 18 input means that there are merely 18 samples are alone, therefore the IMDCT method uses a 50 % convergence. In this instance, the 36 end product samples is so divided into 2 groups, low group and high group, which has 18 samples each. The overlapping procedure is so carried out by adding values from the higher group, old frame with the lower group, matching frame. Then, the frequence inversion is so taken topographic point to accomplish right stage difference. This was done by multiplying every uneven subband with ( -1 ) . Figure 2.6The IMDCT operation flowSynthesis Polyphase FilterbankThis block is the last measure in decrypting procedure. It converts all 32 subbands to bring forth 32 Pulse Code Modulation ( PCM ) samples at a clip The filterbank exploits aliasing and windowing to travel the subbands back into their frequence sphere. This block is divided into two parts ; Modified Discrete Cosine Transform ( MDCT ) and windowing.Modified Discrete Cosine TransformEach clip frame of the subband samples are ordered so that the first 32 values are the first sub-sample from each subband, and so forth. The MDCT processes 32 values at a clip by utilizing the equation: where The end point end product values,is so stored in the barrel shifter.WindowingThe windowing procedure tallies by multiplying the valuesfrom the barrel shifter with the window map. This window map is specified in the ISO criterion. The PCM generated are so computed for each loop. The MDCT and windowing together run 18 times for each granule, bring forthing 576 PCM samples ( 27ms at 44.1kHz ) . Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGYIntroductionThis chapter discusses the well planned attack taken during the project’s timeline to guarantee that the undertaking is good organized and run expeditiously. The methodological analysis is represented into a flow chart for easiness of apprehension.Ocular Representation of Research MethodologyThe designate work flow for the undertaking is shown below, in Figure 3.1. Figure 3.1The undertaking work flow The undertaking begins by researching any old plants related to the MP3 decryption and FPGA-based architecture execution. Besides that, several resources on hardware descriptive linguistic communication and package programming tutorial have besides looked at. The procedure involved in constructing the nucleus is studied and briefly elaborated to give excess cognition in order to carry through the research. The importance and intent of the undertaking is besides discussed in the first phase. The hardware used for proving and implementing the undertaking is Altera DE2 Educational Development Board. Figure 3.2The Altera DE2 board ( beginning: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.terasic.com.tw/ )Altera DE2 BoardThe Altera DE2 board provides everything needed to develop many advanced digital designs utilizing Altera Cyclone II device, with utilizing application package Altera Quartus II. This development board is the first measure to present and larn basic FPGA devices easy, since it is accessible in the lab. It is suited for a broad scope of exercisings in classs on digital logic and computing machine organisation, from simple undertakings that illustrate cardinal constructs to progress designs.Altera Quartus II Figure 3.3The Quartus II work bench environment Altera Quartus II is a package tool produced by Altera for analysis and synthesis of HDL designs, which enables the user to roll up their designs, execute clocking analysis, analyze RTL diagrams, imitate a design ‘s reaction and configure the mark device with the coder.NIOS II Figure 3.4The NIOS II work bench environment Nios II is the most widely used soft processor in the FPGA industry. Nios II incorporates many sweetenings over the original predecessor, Nios architecture, doing it more suited for a wider scope of embedded computer science applications, from DSP to system-control. The development for Nios II consists of two separate stairss: hardware coevals, and package creative activity.

Hotel Management Interview Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hotel Management Interview Paper - Essay Example Where the internal auditor is not trustworthy, a random independent audit will help the organization to detect fraud and financial errors that lead to a fair and true reflection of the organization’s financial position. Moreover, a random independent audit helps business owner to establish the effectiveness of specific business operations and the performance of various departments (Kotan Australia, 2011). The audit exposes the errors of omission and commission in the company’s financial statements and prevents the reoccurrence of such errors in the future. Ideally, a random independent audit delivers a sovereign opinion on the organization’s financial condition since independent auditors seek to establish the truth and fairness of financial statements (Kotan Australia, 2011). The sovereign opinion by an independent auditor helps the management to make informed decisions. More so, a random independent audit is a fundamental requirement for all public companies. As such, it enhances compliance to audit and accounting requirements (Kotan Australia, 2011). A random independent audit would equally help in promoting the goodwill and competiveness of a company. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) is an accounting firm that would do a random independent audit (PwC, 2014) I contacted PWC and sought their comment on the benefits and costs of a random independent audit. PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that most companies hire independent auditors or external auditors to inspect their financial statements. The main objective of hiring independent auditors is to offer independent opinion of a company’s financial position. Independent auditors provide an independent opinion that reflects the true and fair financial position of the company. Independent auditors are more proficient than internal auditors are and hence organizations and their

Principles of research and evidence based practice Essay

Principles of research and evidence based practice - Essay Example The focus in this paper is on evidence-based practice in the nursing field that has gained a lot of momentum and the definitions vary. The findings of research, clinical knowledge, knowledge gathered from science, and all the medical expert opinions fall under what many in the field call "evidence" although practices that are based on research findings always tend to result in the required patient outcomes in different settings the geographic locations notwithstanding. According to Schofield, the impetus and desire for this evidence-based practice in matters nursing comes from healthcare practitioners, readily available medical information. Evidence-based practice requires changes in nursing education and other aspects like practice-relevant kind of research, and closer working relationships among all the concerned groups, that is, researchers and clinicians. Evidence-based practice does provide many opportunities for the whole concept of nursing care to be a bit more effective, indi vidualized, dynamic and streamlined. This, nevertheless, helps in minimizing the effects of the clinical judgments. In incidences where evidence is used to define some of the best practices rather than just supporting the existing practices, the profession of nursing care manages to keep pace with some of the latest technological advancements and also takes advantage, in many ways, of new medical research findings and knowledge developments. The different types of evidences vary on the basis of the fact that they are normally from different sources. This evidence based practices, often abbreviated as EBP, basically aims at applying the best valid and reliable evidence  which has been gained by use of scientific method  to making clinical  decisions. This evidence for practice is extremely important in the sense that it seeks to help in assessing the strength and validity of evidence of the benefits and risks of  treatment, or even lack of it and medical diagnostic tests. It helps clinicians to learn and be in a position to know whether given treatments plan will do more harm or good. According to Margolis (1999, pg. 135,) the evidence’s quality can be accessed on the basis of the type of source, that is, from  those clinical tests that are controlled and trials, systematic and analytical reviews of  the double-blind variety, and not forgetting other aspects like conventional wisdom. This can also be based on other factors like clinical relevance, validity of the statistics, and currency. According to Ehrenberg (2003, pg 281,) evidence based practice recognizes the fact that most of the aspects of medical and health care depend on very particular and individual factors like quality or   life value judgments, and this are normally subject to scientific research methods. This evidence based practice , however, attempts to clarify those medical activities and practice parts that are principle and part of the scientific methods and applying tho se methods in ensuring that best  prediction of expected outcomes in treatment of medical illnesses , even as the raging debate on what desirable outcomes should be (Ramstadius,1997,pg. 5). The research process is well known by most of the researchers in the medical field. Those involved in the carrying out of research in evidence based practice, if the current research finding are anything to go by, are well versed with the scientific research process. The systematic process that characterises research has to be strictly adhered to whenever those who intend to do any kind of medical researching .This ensures that the findings and data that is collected

A critical review of methods of water quality assessment Essay

A critical review of methods of water quality assessment - Essay Example As per the report of Chapman, it is easier to note that biological methods allow careful screening of any effect which may be arising because of any reservoir or water body (Hartje 2002). It should also be noted that the biological methods are applied in order to help measure the intensity of the change in the ecological cycle. However, there are many indicators which would give a clear idea as to what extent is being noted in terms of ecological change (Yamaguchi andWesselink 2000). These indicators can be dead fish or the changing colors of the water etc. At one hand these indicators might help in analyzing the changes which are undergoing in the ecological cycle while on the other hand there are some of the aquatic changes which will take place and cannot be identified without the usage of aquatic biota. One of the biological assessments which is being commonly used in order to undergo water quality assessment is the past time assessment of the environment (Dinar and Albiac 2009). This is in the context of the fact that aquatic organisms leave their traces to affect the ecological cycle which can be noted when the changes is already on its final stage. In simpler words, it is complicated for the biologists to evaluate the change in its initial stages (Roy, Oborne and David 2009). It is because of this reason that assessment is undertaken by considering past time and the present time of the environment. Another method which is being employed world wide is acute toxicity testing which is applied in cases where water is greatly affected by pollution (EnecoTech 2004). Chemical method for assessment of water quality is noted as a very expensive form of quality measuring tool. Chemical method does not show a longer duration result as in the biological method in which organisms give a longer period results. In this way assessment can be done without loosing any sample (Northern Territory Government

Organizational Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational Behavior - Essay Example ugh both types of communication process can be used in a profit and non-profit organization in terms of sending important messages to the receiver, there are limitations with regards to the use of downward communication. Even though the top management or the sender is able to send messages directly to its subordinates, the use of this type of communication process limits the receiver from providing feedback back to the sender (Ch. 11, p. 345). For this reason, there is a strong possibility for miscommunication between the top management and employees to arise. As a result, it will be difficult to achieve the goals and On the contrary, the use of upward communication has more advantages since the receiver of the messages are able to send their personal opinion regarding the message they receive from the sender (Ch. 11, pp. 345 – 346). Since the top management is able to learn about the personal concerns of the team members, there is a stronger chance wherein the top management can win the support of its team members in terms of achieving the organizational goal and objectives. Although commonly mistaken as one, corporate leadership and management skills are different in so many ways. Leaders are individuals who are capable of inspiring other people and often times have important characteristics such as: (1) the drive to achieve their goals; (2) desire to lead; (3) self-confidence; (4) competitive cognitive ability; (5) honesty and integrity; and (6) sufficient knowledge in doing business (Dessler, pp. 296 – 297). On top of these personality traits, leaders are expected to be influential among his followers without having the need to use violence or coercion. With regards to the differences between a manager and a leader, it is important to know that leaders are individuals who do not only influence, select, equip, and train the followers with different abilities and skills but also persuades them to willingly participate with the leader in terms of

Past and Present Economical situation (Macroeconomics) of South Africa Research Paper

Past and Present Economical situation (Macroeconomics) of South Africa - Research Paper Example In the similar context, it has been stated by the scientists that the Late Stone Age people are living in southern part of Africa for a very long period before the blacks or the whites came into being to stay there. Furthermore, it can be stated that according to the evidences provided it can be observed that a sculpture of a rock is created by the Khoisan around 26000 years ago. The introduction of iron changed the African continent completely and it therefore provided a boost in the development of mankind. Agriculture has altered the lifestyle of the African people completely as South Africa largely is an agricultural country. The farming of agricultural lands provided an important aspect in the overall development of African population. Agriculture is a key contributing factor towards the overall economic growth in South Africa (The Early History of South Africa, n.d.). Short History about the Economic Background of South Africa South African economy has been a generally fluctuati ng economy. In the past few decades, it has witnessed a sustained growth in terms of real per capita income. However, in recent decades noticeable fall in real per capita income was observed primarily due to political instability as well as change in the country. According to the observation of World Bank, it can be idealized that in the middle income nations such as South Africa economic regress can occur as rapidly as economic progress. The global economic environment has been a major influence on the pattern of economic development in South Africa over its historical progression (Fedderke & Simkins, 2006). Figure: Real Per Capita GDP as well as Associated Growth Rate, A Historical Trend in South Africa Source: (Fedderke & Simkins, 2006) In the current context, the economy of South Africa is recovering from the earlier setbacks, but it has been weakened due to certain economic slumps. Moreover, with reference to the current trend of advanced economies, it can be recognized that du e to economic setbacks growth has become too low largely due to considerable depression in unemployment. In the related context, it can also be said that according to World Economic Outlook, it can be predicted that there was slump in the economic aspects from the initial part of 2012. Economy in the global context will remain at around 3.3 percent and 3.6 percent in 2012 and 2013 respectively. Productivity is expected to remain sluggish in advanced economies, providing no effect on the emerging markets and developing economies. Moreover, unemployment is likely to stay high in most of the parts in the world, with the financial conditions remaining delicate according to the reports presented by Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) in October 2012. These factors have an impact on the overall economic scenario in South Africa in the coming years (International Monetary Fund, 2012). Demographics of South Africa Demography is the numerical study of prevailing human populations. It in cludes the study of the structure, size as well as distribution of varied dimensions of a country’s population which also relates to birth, age and death. The analysis can be incorporated in the context of certain societal or group aspects such as education, nationality and ethnicity among others. The demography of South Africa is estimated on the basis of the statistical information gathered

Power IT's Acquisition Strategy - the 3rd-Party Modified Off-The-Shelf Assignment

Power IT's Acquisition Strategy - the 3rd-Party Modified Off-The-Shelf Solution - Assignment Example As per the Power IT’s acquisition strategy of purchasing an enterprise resource planning solution from a third-party vendor, the company’s finance director and chief executive officer were of the view that the software development expertise of the third-party modified off-the-shelf solution would be â€Å"high†, being off-the-shelf and having the capability of modification as per local requirements, as PowerIT wanted such a software solution that could be adjusted to local company needs. Only 3rd party modified off-the-shelf solution acquisition strategy was fitting the bill because the ERP solution could be modified according to the emerging needs of the end-users. If the company wanted to internally develop the software, it was not sure of its internal IT team’s expertise in the application domain, as shown in figure 2, â€Å"variable†. Domain knowledge should be very strong for developing software in-house on such a large scale, which was not in the capacity of PowerIT’s internal team. According to the case writers, local company knowledge of 3rd party modified off-the-shelf solution is relatively low because it is not internally developed; only an internally developed solution by PowerIT can have high knowledge of it. That’s why a 3rd party developed solution is ranked â€Å"low† on local company knowledge by the case writers in the area of its relative strength. The selection process was faulty. When the three short-listed vendors were asked to give their presentations on their systems’ support to the company’s IT needs, one vendor did not turn up to give a presentation, and the other gave a generic presentation while the third vendor discussed the PowerIT environment and the suitability of their product. Although not the least satisfied with any of the vendors for their presentations, the contract was given to the third vendor. The acquisition process should have been given a review or stopped due to not meeting the right vendor. Such an alarming drawback was not even shared by the BDM with the CEO and senior managers. Instead of inviting new tenders or asking the short-listed vendors to provide a detailed demonstration or not awarding the contract, the contract was awarded to the third vendor. The project was selected both by the chief operating officer and finance director.     

Engine Management Essay Example for Free

Engine Management Essay Engine Management System ensure that engines run cleanly and efficiently in a wide variety of conditions, they are for the most part reliable and require little or no maintenance. Two basic functions performed by an EMS: (1) to meter fuel to the engine in the right quantity and (2) to provide a spark at the right time. An EMS is a self contained custom built computer which controls the running of an engine by monitoring the engine speed, load and temperature and providing the ignition spark at the right time for the prevailing conditions and metering the fuel to the engine in the exact quantity required. There are two discrete subsystems in operation within the EMS The fuel or injection system and The ignition system. When the engine is running its requirements for fuel and ignition timing will vary according to certain engine conditions, the main two being engine speed and engine load. This Map injection gives the appropriate fuel or timing setting for each possible speed and load condition. There will normally be a map for the injector timings (fuel map) and a separate map for the ignition timing settings (ignition map) within the EMS. Each map has entries for a pre-determined range of engine speeds (called speed sites) and a predetermined range of engine load conditions (called load sites), which generally indicate how far open the throttle is. The EMS knows the engine speed (derived from the crank sensor or distributor pickup) and the engine load (from the Throttle Position Sensor or airflow meter) and will use these two values to ‘look-up’ the appropriate fuel and timing settings in each map. If the current engine telemetry falls between the sites in the map then the value is interpolated between the nearest two sites. Normally there will be speed sites every 500 or so RPM and 8 to 16 load sites between closed and open throttle. In the example below speed sites are spaced every 1000-RPM and the eight load sites are numbered 0 to 7. An all-new line of V6 engines, with more horsepower, powers the 2006 Mercedes-Benz C-Class and more advanced technology than before. The luxury models feature a high-tech seven-speed automatic transmission, and the C350 Luxury sedan has the classic Mercedes balance of ride quality and handling. The line also includes sport models for those who want a sportier driving experience. Inside, the C-Class cars look and feel like a Mercedes-Benz, with firm, supportive seats and mostly high-quality materials. The C-Class delivers Mercedes engineering and safety technology, with optional all-wheel-drive that will improve traction in wet or wintry conditions. New engines for 2006 complement the substantial C-Class updates made just a year ago.   Mercedes redesigned the C-Class interior for 2005, freshened the exterior styling and further distinguished the sport models from the standard luxury sedans. A new six-speed manual transmission greatly improved shift action. New paint technology imbeds microscopic ceramic flakes in the clear coat finish, increasing its resistance to chipping and degradation over time. Aerodynamically, the C-Class cars are among the most efficient in the Mercedes-Benz family. The C-Class boasts a drag coefficient of 0.27, which helps minimize wind noise and improves fuel efficiency.   Interior Features The C-Class interior looks like the inside of a Mercedes-Benz should, and for the most part, it feels that way, too. A model re-alignment for 2006 has increased the level of luxury in the least expensive models. Fabric upholstery and manually operated seats can no longer be found in the C-Class line. The C-Class got a thorough interior re-do for the 2005 model year so the 2006 models benefit from that. The dashboard, instruments and seats were redesigned, and materials were revised throughout. The instrument cluster now features four gauges, with a chromed-ringed tachometer and speedometer of identical size sitting front and center. To the left and right of these are smaller fuel and temperature gauges. In the middle sits an LCD display with various system and trip functions. Fashioned in the mold of the larger Mercedes E-Class, the instrument cluster is deeply hooded and virtually eliminates glare on the dials. The backlit script is clear and easy to read. Audio controls are now located in what we consider the optimal spot: above the climate control switches, which sit at the bottom of the stack. Both audio and climate knobs are large and easy to locate. The switchgear is, for the most part, easy to use and understand. The stalk controls have a beefy feel with positive detents. Redundant buttons on the steering wheel let the driver operate the audio and telephone functions without removing a hand from the wheel. Lighting inside is effective, with good illumination for entry in the dark and excellent map lights for reading. The C-Class glove box is a good size, unless you order the CD changer, in which case you lose most of its storage space. In general, the C-Class sedans are trimmed with good-quality interior materials. Driving Impressions The 2006 Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans have been improved across the board, thanks to a new family of V6 engines. The least powerful of the new C-Class engines, the 2.5-liter V6 in the C230 Sport sedan, rated at 201 horsepower, offers more power than the supercharged four-cylinder engine it replaces. As important, it is far smoother at all speeds and generally, fewer courses in feel, sound or the amount of vibration it generates. The 228-hp 3.0-liter V6 in the C280 Luxury sedan is much more powerful and satisfying than the anemic 2.6-liter V6 in the 2005 C240 (previously the best selling C-Class). Even the biggest V6, which was our favorite engine on the 2005 models, is much better for 2006. The 3.5-liter V6 in the C350 generates 268 horsepower, 20 percent more than the 3.2 in the 2005 C320, which improves acceleration performance considerably. Matched with either the six-speed manual or the high-tech seven-speed automatic, the new engine makes the C350 more responsive than the 2005 C320. The 3.5-liter V6 has fully variable valve timing to deliver an impressive amount of torque from idle all the way to the red line. The C350 responds more immediately than the C320, no matter how fast it is already traveling when the driver presses the accelerator. The new engine is also noticeably smoother, particularly at high rpm. In addition, thanks the seven-speed automatic, the improved performance comes without a corresponding decrease in fuel mileage. All of the C-Class cars offer nice steering, effective brakes and a good balance between ride and handling. Before choosing between a Luxury or Sport model, C-Class buyers should carefully consider whether a smooth ride or sharper handling is preferred because the trade-off between comfort and response changes with the model. The Sport models are more firmly sprung than the standard Luxury models. All C-Class models are quiet inside, even when blasting along at 80 mph. These sedans are aerodynamically slippery cars, and very little wind noise penetrates the cabin. As mentioned, the C-Class offers a choice of transmissions. The seven-speed automatic that comes on the C280 and C350 Luxury sedans is superior to five-speed automatics that come on most cars (to say nothing of an old-fashioned four-speed automatic). With more gears, it offers better acceleration performance and responsiveness around town as well as enhanced fuel efficiency. Gear changes are barely noticeable in normal driving, especially in the higher gears. This transmission allows significantly quicker acceleration for highway passing situations, and it does not have to go through every gear. Step on the gas and the transmission will skip down to the appropriate gear, switching from seventh to fifth, for example, and from there directly to third, meaning two downshifts instead of four. As for the manual transmission, Mercedes has lowered the ratio for first gear for quicker acceleration off the line, but kept an overdrive sixth gear for quiet, low-rev highway cruising and better fuel economy. More important, the old cable-operated shift mechanism has been replaced by a solid, direct rod. The result is easier, quicker and more precise shifting, and the improved action contributes greatly to a more rewarding, engaging driving experience. Shift effort is low, and the gears are easier to hit. For manual fans, we can heartily recommend the C230 Sport sedan. If you prefer an automatic but want a Sport model, we encourage you to step up to the C350 Sport sedan with the optional automatic. The optional 4MATIC all-wheel-drive system delivers power to all four wheels. It is fully automatic and on all the time, so there are no buttons to push and no special knowledge is needed; just drive the car. The system uses electronic traction control to vary torque each of the four wheels, diverting power to the tires with the best grip. Even if three wheels lose traction, 4MATIC can direct power to the one remaining tire with grip. The result is better stability and improved handling in slippery conditions, with a greatly reduced chance of being stuck. 4MATIC does dampen engine response and slow acceleration slightly, and lowers fuel mileage a bit. However, for those who drive through harsh winters, all-wheel drive is worth it. All-wheel-drive sedans such as the C-Class are proof that you do not need an SUV to confidently handle rough weather. In fact, a car tends to handle better in icy conditions than a truck. We consider all-wheel drive a valuable asset in the rainy Northwest or for the harsh winters of the Midwest and Northeast, and 4MATIC is priced much lower on the C-Class models than it is on other Mercedes models. Braking is excellent. Every C-Class model has good-sized brake rotors, and the Sport sedans feature cross-drilled rotors in front for better resistance to fade. (Braking effectiveness fades away as brakes get hot from repeated hard use.) All C-Class cars come with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist. EBD can reduce stopping distances and improve stability when braking by distributing brake pressure between the front and rear wheels, giving more to the tires that are gripping best. Break Assist senses a panic-braking situation and helps ensure full braking force even if the driver makes the mistake of relaxing pressure on the brake pedal. The net effect is short, no-fuss stopping. In everyday use, the C-Class brakes are progressive in pedal feel. The C55 AMG might be the most impressive C-Class yet. It is a sports sedan in the extreme sense, capable of amazing acceleration, and handling and braking on par with exotic sports cars. It is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in an exotic-grade 4.9 seconds, according to Mercedes. The old C32 was super quick, too, but the C55 is less crude and more refined. Its big V8 engine is smoother, more tractable and less intrusive when a driver is cruising the freeway or just trundling along, and its deep, V8 exhaust note better suits the sportiest C-Class of all. How to maintain the engine of a car If we will take one look, why cars break down? We can see several things. Sometimes cars start having problems after accidents. Sometimes it may be a factory defect or design flaw. Heavy conditions like, for example, driving only short trips without letting the engine to warm up fully also make the engine life shorter. Corrosion is another factor for example, park the car for a few months in place with high humidity and later it will probably have more problems than the vehicle driven all this time on daily basis.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most reasons for a car to break down is maintenance. There are important remainders to maintain the car in good shape. A regular oil change may keep engine running, avoid overheating the engine, changing spark plug, air filter, timing belt and other items from maintenance schedule may save from money. Fixing a small problem will avoid a serious damage in your car. Engine Oil Change Regular oil change is very important in maintaining a car. Engine oil has limited life after a certain point, it starts losing lubricating qualities and carbonizes. Once it happens, the engine is contaminated with carbon deposits or sludge that significantly shorten engines life. When you change oil at or before manufacturer suggested interval, you change the oil before this carbonizing point, engine remains clean and once refilled with new oil ready to work hard again. If the engine oil has not been changed for long, carbon deposits start clogging the oil pick-up screen decreasing oil supply and increasing friction. Through the engine ventilation system the same carbon, deposits build up inside the throttle body and EGR system causing rough idle and possible check engine light. Compression decreases and engine start wearing much faster. If you do not remember when you changed the oil in your car last time just check the oil on the dipstick. Moreover, every time you change the oil, the oil filter should be replaced as well. For correct oil type, engine oil capacity, maintenance schedule, etc. check your car owners manual or find car technical information. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Checking the engine oil Check the engine oil at least once a month or even more if the car has a mileage. Driving with extremely low oil level (less than min.) or with low oil pressure warning lamp on may cause serious engine damage. Have your engine be inspected as soon as possible if the oil pressure gauge indicates extremely low oil pressure. Always use the appropriate engine oil type. Change the oil if you notice that the color is black. Check your parking space for leaks. If you find any, fix it before it results in more serious vehicle problem Concerning the type of oil that you will use there are a comparison with synthetic oil and conventional mineral oil. The advantage of synthetic oil is that it can withstand higher temperature and can work longer without losing its lubricating qualities. It does not get thicker at below-zero temperatures providing good engine lubrication at a cold start. However, since it is more thinner a high-mileage engine filled with synthetic oil will more likely to develop leaks and you will more likely to hear lifters tapping noise at a start. Therefore, If you have low mileage or turbo engine and driving under heavy conditions such as high temperature, excessive load, long intervals without an oil change, etc., or simply want to provide extra protection for your engine, synthetic oil may be a good solution. Nevertheless, I do not think it is worth to use synthetic oil in high-mileage engines thicker mineral oil will provide better protection as long as you change it regularly. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Engine cooling system Engine overheating causes serious engine damage. In order to avoid the engine overheating: Check the coolant level periodically. It should be at least at the min mark in the coolant reservoir. If it is lower, add the coolant bringing the level to the max mark. Avoid coolant leak it may cause an engine overheating. The engine temperature start rising higher than the normal, have your engine inspected. Check the front of the radiator sometimes it may be obstructed with leaves or dust. It is one of the possible reasons for the overheating. Never open the radiator or the coolant overflow reservoir when engine is hot! Tune –up, Timing Belt, Fuel Injector flush There are certain vehicle components that need periodical replacement such as: The fuel filter-dirty fuel filter may cause engine stalling and loss of engine power. Air filter dirty air filter causes loss of engine power, increased fuel consumption, airflow sensor failure, etc. Engine coolant old engine coolant loses its anti-corrosive and other characteristics and may cause water pump to fail. Spark plugs simply spark plugs replacement can significantly improve the engine performance. Timing belt timing belt failure may cause serious engine damage, especially if its diesel engine. Battery The battery filled with harmful acid solution and can produce explosive gases. Handling a battery be careful and always use protective glasses and gloves. Do not use open fire, smoke, or create a spark near battery. Most of batteries nowadays are maintenance free. All you check is battery terminals that should not be loose or corroded. Corroded battery terminals will cause all kind of problem: blinking instrument lights, low charge, no-start, dim headlights, check engine and ABS malfunction light etc. If you see any acid leaks, cracks or any other damage replace the battery. Acid leaking from the battery destroys everything underneath. If there is any problems with your engine, such as irregular noise or smell, or performance problems, leaks or smoke, or check engine light is on, etc., have your car inspected with a mechanic. It is always better to fix any small problem right away before they can cause engine damage. Be aware, some mechanics will try to scare you because they always want to sell you more job than your car really needs, so always ask to explain everything, to show you what exactly is wrong and why. For vehicles with turbocharger, the Turbocharger serves to pump more air into the engine boosting engine power without increasing the engine volume. This turbo charger works at a very high temperature that why it requires a quality engine oil. Low quality, or old contaminated oil can be easily cooked under high temperature in the turbocharger causing it to fail. Here are some considerations: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If it is not against manufacturer recommendations, use synthetic oil, or at least be very accurate with regular oil changes. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When you stop the car after hard driving (speeding, accelerating, etc.) do not shut the engine off right away, let it idle for a while to cool down the turbocharger. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Very long uphill driving under constant load may also cause turbo to overheat, try to avoid it if possible. There are few tips on how to improve the emission test result. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Change oil before testing. For old or high mileage car using thicker oil may help. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Change spark plugs and air filter if it was a while ago since you have changed them last time. Complete tune-up may be an option for older cars. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Flushing the fuel injectors usually help. Before conducting the test you must check and adjust the tire pressure, fill the car with premium gas. Take a car for a spin on a freeway it helps to clean spark plugs and catalytic converter and make sure, the engine is fully warmed up before test. If you have check engine light on, exhaust leaks, broken gas cap, or any other problem with vehicle emission system it needs to be repaired before the test all those items will be inspected during the emission test. Reference: Samarins.com ;Illustrated guide to car buyers and owners. (2006)â€Å"Few tips on engine maintenance† http://www.samarins.com/maintenance/engmain.html Aol.com (2006); â€Å"Engine Management†. http://members.aol.com/dvandrews/ems.htm#topics Auto Mall USA (2006) â€Å" Mercedes Benz C-Class† http://www.automallusa.net/1996/mercedes-benz/e-class/reviews.html Horst Bauer   (2004)â€Å"Diesel Engine Management† Robert Bosch GmbH p.9 Horst Bauer (2004)â€Å"Gasoline Engine Management† Robert Bosch GmbH p.9 Hutchinson Education. (2004) †Fundamentals of Automotive Electronics â€Å" V. A. W. Hillier 1987,1996

Primary Factors Affecting Tourism Demand Tourism Essay

Primary Factors Affecting Tourism Demand Tourism Essay Primary factors affecting tourism demand are the economy with matters ranging from the exchange rate to job losses.Politics,the growth in size of the EU,environment and taxation.Crisis and threats including earth quakes,epidemics and terrorism.Demographic change with a shifting age structure,effects of migration and the rise of educational levels.Technology and it effects on transportation,communication and information.There is change in consumer attitudes and for the industry itself,product standardization,the growth of information channels,and pricing strategies. The realisation of deciding to have a holiday is dependent in large part on the individuals economic position and freedom to make the journey.External factors proving influential to this need would be freedom,fitness,time and money.The behaviour trend includes a host of factors including an internal state of mind relating to the motive and the capacity to make the journey.Emerging factors may be useful to examine as they will become somewhat predictable and constant in their evolution.Power relating to market concerns lies with the consumer.The prospective tourist. The enlargement of the EU is especially important.Its size has grown some 25%,its population by some 20% and the GDP by 5% over the years.The general process of political maturation spanning over twenty years has influenced changing tourism demand.Media coverage influences a seed bed of latent interest in the recently inaugurated members of the community.Most prospective travellers are now able to see the world as their oyster.The holiday destinations therefore have become intensely competitive.Yet barriers to immediate progress remain especially for the countries of Eastern Europe.Here low investment rates,undeveloped infrastructure for the countryside,a poor transport system with third rate hotels and cuisine are capped by weak tourism marketing. Image is a vital ingredient to the tourist destination.Their is prevailing ignorance of the new member countries.Destinations are chosen usually by motive matching.Here the enlargement of the EU has had remarkably little effect on the consumer,so it seems that only a transformation in marketing strategy management is going to improve matters.There will be significant change for the EU in source markets and the upswing of a rising welfare.The impulses undoubtedly come from the south and east with the traditional source markets such as Germany being saturated. Demographic considerations have made their appearance and are now featuring as a focus for online debates and deliberations.Society consists of an older population with increasing life expectancy;and there is a decline in the number of children because of an increased proportion of the population divorcing and living separately.Traditional family patterns are dissolving.Also becoming influential is a rise in educational levels,the changing role of women in society and a more vibrant society due to admixture from migratory patterns.Yet tourists,people,are not going to alter their travel behaviour as they turn 60 or because of retirement.Patterns are adhered to originating from earlier years.Because of this it is possible to cater for future requirements in tourism for such a population.The generation of ‘baby boomersis likely to be super active in their endeavour to satisfy themselves on prospective travel horizons.There will be senior trips accommodating to individual tailoring .Consider Germany as an example.The age group of 70-80 will rise more than 50% by 2018.Alterations of family numbers will become slow in maturation but this allows the industry to maintain orientation and supply a strong focus for needs and expectations of destination.Older people are becoming increasingly involved with their younger forebears and this will require adjustment.Factors to consider here are higher spending,longer stays,and other destination choices.The kids trip being a standard incurs its own behaviour pattern.More flight trips and usage of more tour operators.Playmates will be needed so this is another feature that the destination will have to meet.It is clear therefore that the changing nature of demography has impacts that will reflect in tourism demand. The very important pre-trip phase involving the search for information and deciding upon the tourism product has as an emerging factor the skilled consumer with low involvement.This situation has produced interchangeable products.Distinctions of destination and tour operator is not a contentious issue with information overload these days.What happens to us all is an agreeable solution.Just a number of aspects for the required products from a few information sources.Arguing is not necessary and therefore the position is that of ‘low involvement.And so the actual position is that of convenience together with experience helping ones orientation;variety being a feature which of course is sought by everyone.Our personal experiences and emotional banks have now become part of the product on offer promised by the producer. Price orientation has become a dominant feature.This has been induced by strategy within the industry.The selling of quality trips for remarkably low prices in the hope of higher market shares is likely to result in a high turnover with probably a lower profit.But convenience and product quality rank with the consumer and so the phenomenon of induced price orientation continues to spiral.Yet it is the consumer who is more flexible than the industry itself.If one destination doesnt turn out as I expected I can go to another.I dont honestly have too much fancy for flying so I take the train or road network.There is contingency with the availability of an alternative even if more inconvenient;I can still get there.Consuming,drinking is fun not a necessity.There is no sense of lack because everything now is available on the market.But this means it becomes impractical to predict individual behaviour,yet it is becoming an importance to have at ones disposal as far as the industry is conce rned the most accurate figures possible.Such market conditions,with decidedly knowledgeable consumers and vast resources in the field are presenting a serious challenge to the marketing departments.The problem has become even more intense and difficult;with globalization and a computer based technology tending to incline to standardization but tourism demand and products are becoming more differentiated and fragmentized.There are winter sports,field trips and holidays for the family.Expectations involve both quality and difference.With such standardization and differentiation this imposes more pressure without; in effect guaranteeing an increased demand or turn-over. Without the consumer the service industries along with tourism go nowhere.This fact relates not only tourism but for any policies to do with tourism.Destinations have to become switched on,alerted, to realise they have become truly involved with intense competition.It is not sufficient simply to have a reliable product or for the consumer to realise this.There has to be the correct placement with the correct set and shrewd judgement is required for doing so.Here travel operators and agencies can assist in the phenomenon of the information overload providing well-timed guidance and convenience within the information jungle.Yet the politics involved has to pinpoint inconsistency and contradictions within the set of proposed objectives and establish solutions and priorities.Financial support should be discriminative here not everybody necessarily being acceptable as to the validity of following such objectives.Social balance of resources may be variable and indeed there could be a widen ing gap developing but tourism does require a broad base of comfortable incomed people with time and money.Any kind of vision is going to accomodate pan-european,national,regional and local needs.All the different levels of destination and industry segmentation will have to be linked somehow. There are two categories of circumstances requiring priority of action.Either supply exceeds demand or the opposite of demand exceeding supply.Strategies adopted are tailored to meet circumstances arising either on a daily,weekly,seasonal or a long term basis.With demand being low either at below capacity or only at certain periods there is a variety of strategy engaged.Product modification and diversification with adjustment of distribution channels if needs be to strengthen.There has to be identification of alternative or even new sources of demand and price discounting.Reappraisal of promotional strategy.An example of the application of all these would be the Caribbean destinations responding to low levels of occupancy during a summer period.VFR is promoted to domiciles as the holidays usually fall within the summer period.While casinos as attractions are being promoted on some of the islands within the group. Another condition is the necessity to reduce costs because it is not possible to increase the desired demand factor.To reduce fixed and variable costs in the hotel sector for example it may be necessary not only to reduce the rooms available but whole wings or even the hotel itself.Again this is prevalent in the Caribbean.Airlines can reduce plane quota available or rent them to other companies. Redistribution becomes necessary as the demand for a product is no longer self-sustaining.Converting factors for hotels might consist of fusing two rooms into one or the provision of no-smoking rooms.Conventional hotel rooms are being transformed into time-share units being an example of long-term adaptive strategy.Or for the airline industry the conversion of scheduled flights into charter itineries.These are examples of adaptive supply redistribution. When demand exceeds capacity additional charging for such resources incurs increased pricing for seating or rooms so gaining extra revenue per unit.Theme parks with ever increasing clientele but negative impaction can resort themselves to significantly higher entrance charges. Then,responding to higher demand level, destination management may expand the current capacity factor.The hotels again being an example with additional infrastructure being acquired.Cot facilities are often available to increase the room capacity.Portable accommodation in the southern hemisphere is quite attractive and popular.Resort communities in the slack season make use of their surveillance staff to accommodate for the daily and weekly pattern of demands by supplying patrolled beaches. The Caribbean again may be referred to as an example of the transference of demand at times of excess to periods of low demand.Differential seasonal pricing is an attempt to redistribute demand following from a high winter demand to a low summer one. Accomodation forms an integral part of the tourist destination.The range is wide.From five-star luxury apartments to bed and breakfast;but all contributing to the experience of the destination.So the accommodation sector is a vital element in the supply of services and products to the tourist. Supply of accommodation with easy access and amenities contribute to the pulling influence of the destination,its attraction;the only limitation being that of ones own personal budgeting which at times might well be variable.The concept of relative value becomes therefore a primary consideration for finalisation of destination choice for the prospective tourist.Income levels rule the volume of demand whereas relative prices will determine actual choice of such a destination.Exchange rates apart from cost format will influence price levels so if the dollar proves to be stronger compared with European currencies then more US visitors will appear in Europe because it is cheaper.With floating exchange rates this proves not to be so influential as in the past.Complications are bound to arise and it is therefore generally the case that volume for demand is linked to real income levels, real discretionary income.Precisely, it is elasticity of demand regarding income and how the exchange rat es effect on prices influences this. The exchange rate itself reflects the general well-being of the country concerned.Yet what constitutes economic data for the country involved has little meaning to the tourist who actually is only interested in relative prices for consumption items e.g.accomodation,shopping etc.Attempts are effected to install a ‘value-for-money concept whereby tour operators for example cost such items as bottle of wine to provide a means of comparison with the purchase of like items within the home country.This concept of value-for-money is useful regarding holiday expenditure.Affluent countries such as France and Britain have significant tourist outflows to quite poor countries such as Greece and Portugal. Quality of amenities at the host destination including accommodation will influence demand.A certain aggregate of tourists will have to be present for a sufficiently powerful stimulus to further the demand flow.There should be a range of attractions for a certain degree of market differentiation to be existent. With the all-inclusive tour the actual nature of the decision making process has changed;effectively the tour operator becomes the interpreter and coordinator of demand.Their specialised knowledge proves to be particularly useful here.Markets are known to exist for a certain price banding.As noted in this report the potential tourist is becoming exceedingly knowledgeable about such matters in some instances being able to displace such a function. It has become necessary to examine tourist motivation over a period of time.Only partial explanations are expected in a field strewn with inconsistencies.Essentially the reason(s) for motivation must revolve around a persons personal preference,experience and the social and economic circumstances.Hopefully the understanding of tourist motivation will enable us to realise why it is that some destinations hold a heightened attraction compared to others and why decline occurs with changing tastes and fashions providing a greater knowledge of the world and its requirements than was so for earlier industry forecasting. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Cooper,C et al (2005) Tourism:Principles and practice.FT Prentice Hall Page S. (2006) Tourism Management: Managing for Change Butterworth-Heinemann Tribe John (1995) The Economics Of Leisure And Tourism.Butterworth-Heinemann Weaver D and Oppermann M (2000) Tourism Management. John Wiley Holloway JC. (2006) The Business of Tourism

Management Decision Making Process Commerce Essay

Management Decision Making Process Commerce Essay Decision making process is an important part of new era management. This is the main function of management where the manager responsibility to make a best decision. As define by Baker et al., (2002) in their study, efficient decision-making involve a series of steps that require the input of information at different stages of the process, as well as a process feedback. Managers also should have to involve and reponsibles in ensure the decision making in short-term and immediate goals are aligned to the oraganizations long term objectives. It is also supported by Schwarber (2005) study stated that, it would be a superoir managers responsible to develop decision making in management strategic and decide whom should be involved in the manaement decision making process. Daft (2010) claimed that the model of strategic management in decision making process were developed by Kepner and Tregoe in 1979. This model was also supported by other study Harrison (1996), and Lunenburg (2010) in ap plying Kepner and Tregoes decision making process model, (Harrison,1996; Lunenburg, 2010; Mcshane Glinow, 2010). The function of decision making is to setting managerial objective, searching for alternative, compare and evaluate alternative (Harrison, 1996). According to the rational model, the decision making process can be illustrate into six steps (Lunenburg, 2010). See Figure 1: The first component of decision making process is recognizing the requirement of decision. The requirement can be as a problem or opportunity. A problem can be occurs when the company or organization performance are below their target and unsatisfied. An opportunity will occur when the manager see the good potential to make their achievement exceed their target. Effective leaders would recognize problem situation and play a vital role in coming up with the best possible solution in the decision making process, (Schwarber, 2005). The process of identifying problems requires to be alerted and pay attention towards the internal and external environment, that would be affect the organization directly or indirectly. The external environment would be provided the information towards organizations in assessing their strengths and weaknesses of the organization along with the opportunities and threats in the external environment (Harisson, 1996). Problem situation plays a major role in subse quent steps, thus managers must determine and define the problems situation specifically in achieving the desired outcomes (Lunenburg, 2010). Besides, managers need to recognize the conflicts happened in the organization promptly to makes the effectiveness of management decision making by take in account the element of the internal and external environment (Elbanna, Ali, Dayan, 2011). Problem situation plays a major role in subsequent steps, thus managers must determine and define the problems situation specifically in achieving the desired outcomes (Lunenburg, 2010). For example, the manager of Sugar Bun and other top management are analyse the causes of their business are running with less customer compared to KFC. They also have to recognize the main factors of what and why the problems had happened. After recognized the problems in organization, the second step is generate the alternatives of the recognized problems. In generating the alternatives they should involve numbers of person to help the manager in obtain the needed information, come up with the creative alternative and gain comment (Schwarber, 2005). This is because in this step manager should have generated as many alternative of action as possible to solve the problem. This actually can be done by brainstorming. One of these techniques in brainstorming process is brain writing (Brown Paulus, 2002). A study by Wang (2000) found that in brain writing, group members wrote their ideas on a piece of paper and passed them on to the next group member, who read the ideas, added his or her on idea and passed the paper on. However, there are a few other techniques that can be used in order to accomplish brainstorming process such as mind mapping, restating purposes and weaving points across topic The more important the decisi on toward the organizations, thus it would be lead the more in developing alternatives in achieving the solution of the recognized problems (Lunenburg, 2010). In the situation of company Sugar Bun, after they recognized the poor services as the main problems, the top managements will delegates the task to employees to do brainstorming in creates as many as possible of the alternatives to solve these problems. The potential for generating a lot of ideas is one of the reasons for group brainstorming become the most favourable option for Sugar Bun to choose the best alternative for their recognized problems. Third step in decision making process is evaluates the alternatives in achieving the organization desired outcomes. This step is important to choose the best alternative. In this step, management can rate their alternative and analyse the alternative of causes and effects of choosing among these alternatives (Harrison, 1996). The alternative that is chosen must be acceptable to those who must live with the consequences of the decision. In the Sugar Buns business situation, after they describes all the alternatives in solving the recognized problems, they will evaluate each of the alternatives and select the most promising of several alternative course of action. Sugar Bun rates the alternatives based on what is most important and that would be attract customers to come to their restaurant. The fourth step is choosing an alternative. Managers would evaluate the requirements and generate alternatives in achieve the desired organizations goal, (Baker et al., 2002). The basic judgment should be close to the outcomes or the consequences of the alternative come to achieve the desired goals of company, (Lunenburg, 2010). Among of these alternatives, they found that they should either give more training to their staff or improve the facilities in Sugar Bun Restaurant. This is the alternatives they should be considered in solving the service problems in Sugar Bun. Normally, manager was choosing the decision with the least amount of risk and uncertainty. For example, Sugar Bun are choosing the first alternative to solve the problem which is they have to improve the training to their staff. This alternative can make the customer satisfied with the service and will come to their restaurant again. The fifth step in decision making process is implementing the alternative. Implementing the decision making process is to transform an abstraction into a reality operation in achieving the outcome (Harrison, 1996). A sound decision can fail if implemented poorly, (Lunenburg, 2010). This is the process where the management apply the alternative to their staff or subordinates. All staff who was involved with this decision must know their role to make the best outcomes. To make the employees understand their roles, managers must explain the procedures, rules and the detail about their objective to help them to participate in the problem solving decision. For the example of Sugar Bun, the upper echelons will implement the chosen alternative toward the employees in giving training to enhance their job performance, thus indirectly it will favourably affect the customers satisfaction in receiving good service quality. The evaluating decision effectiveness in decision making process is the final step. The implementing of alternative had to be monitored. An outcome is a consequence of decision making in choosing the given alternatives, (Harrison, Pelletier, Harrison, Pelletier, 2005). It is normally involve significant change in organization and may be also affects it stakeholders. An evaluation step should provide feedback on how well the outcome of the decision is being implemented, and the necessary adjustments are required to align with the organization desired goals (Lunenburg, 2010). Manager should gather the information to determine the successful or effectiveness of the decision. Lunenburg (2010) also stated that the evaluation is important because decision making is a continuous, never-ending process. For example, in Sugar Bun case, the manager has to observe the positive change in their daily operation in dealing with customers after the implementation of the decision done. The manager wo uld retrieve feedbacks from customers as monitor the new alternative of problem solving in order to achieve the desired outcomes. As the conclusion, decision making is a process involving choices. The process generally consists of several steps: identifying problems, generating alternatives, evaluating alternatives, choosing an alternative, implementing the decision, and evaluating decision effectiveness (Lunenburg, 2010). Every step in decision making process is important and managers have to consider it. This is because management goals or targets cannot be achieved without proper decision making process.

Pie Charts Essay examples -- essays research papers

Pie Charts An important part of decision making is having a clear understanding of the information used to base decisions from. Charts can be valuable when a need to represent numerical data would benefit communicating information visually. Some of the most important aspects of a good chart are to select the right type of chart (or graph) that can best characterize the data, also, to keep the design simple in order for an audience to easily understand the information. One of the most popular types of charts is the pie chart. The pie chart is used to visually represent the proportional value of individual parts to the whole. As the name describes, this is done by representing the numerical equivalence of each part as a piece of the whole pie, which in total equates to 100%. The Pennsylvania Department of Health (2001) says that pie charts are a good choice when a relatively small amount of parts, perhaps 3 to 7, need to be represented. With any more it becomes difficult to notice the differences in magnitude; thus, the pie chart loses its simplicity and impact. They can only be used when a total amount is known, one such example would be an election where the total of votes received by all candidates equals 100% of the votes. Or a budget where the total amount spending is divided in to categories such as labor, facilities costs, advertising, etc†¦ which always are a part of the total. However, according to McBride (2003), the pie chart could n ot be used to show a change in spending through out a period. A pie chart shows data at one instance, like a snapshot and cannot be used to show change in data over time (para. 4). With the advent of computers, 3D graphs have become somewhat popular, unfortunately a negative aspect is that they add complexity to the image and can distort visual proportional value. It is recommended to stick with flat â€Å"2D† charts (para. 6). Pie charts these days are typically generated by computer software, as a result people forget that there is actually a little math involved. To create a pie chart Concordia University (2000) explains that you have to find the total value for the entire category being studied and calculate the percentage for each segment or part. Convert the percentage values for each segment into degrees relative to the 360 degrees in the circle. (For example, 12% X 360 degrees = 43 degrees). Then, Draw a circle and d... ...chart should look like with the exception of one rule, the pieces were not arranged from largest to smallest in a clockwise manner. The sizes are mixed, making less clear the relative proportions of the pieces. Pie charts can be an excellent tool for presenting information in a simple, visual and comprehensible manner. If used in the right situation and best practices are followed, the pie chart may be the tool that most influences a decision. References Pennsylvania Department of Health. (2001). Pie charts and pictographs. Retrieved January 24, 2005 from, http://www.health.state.pa.us/hpa/stats/ techassist/piechart.htm Concordia University. (2000). Pie chart. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://web2.concordia.ca/Quality/tools/21piechart.pdf Sykes, A., & Smith, B. (1999). Getting started – A simple pie chart. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://www.causeway.co.uk/tutorial/rainpro/apl99/dyalog/start.htm Hodges, M. (2004). Grandfather economic report series. Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://mwhodges.home.att.net/fed_budget.htm Perlman, H. (2003). Where is earth’s water located? Retrieved January 31, 2005 from, http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthwherewater.html

Terror of the Middle Passage :: Slavery

A popular literature has painted this part of the slave experience as uniquely evil and inherently more inhuman that any of the others horrors of the slave life(Klein 130). Slaves were taken from their homes and was forcibly traded.One cannot, of course, mention the Middle Passage without eliciting the horrors of tightly packed men, women and children chained together, to keep them from rebelling, or from choosing the suicidal fate of jumping overboard. The mortality of captives in Africa, therefore, included not only losses among those headed for export at the Atlantic coast but the additional losses among those destined for export to Orient among those captured and transported to serve African masters(Engerman and Inkori 117). The death that the slaves went through while they were being shipped was crucial and insane. It shows how the Middle Passage was the most terrifying journey for the slaves. The terror of the slaves in the manner in which they was carried and the mortality tha t they suffered, proves how the slaves was treated ruthlessly during the Middle Passage. Klein indicates the slavers carried 1.6 slaves per registered ship’s ton, with 5 to 7 square feet of deck area given to each slave. Most of the ships were outfitted with partial decks and platforms in the space below, the main deck and above the second or between the deck (Klein 132).The ships were different lengths and could hold only a certain amount of weight. The Brooks weighed 300 tons, and it held about 609 slaves. This arrangement gives a deck estimate at over 3,000 square feet, which provided an average of just under 7 square feet per slave. The LaVigilante is shown at 240 tons with 347 slaves and probably marks the lowest bound estimate with a deck area that results in 5.6 square feet per slave(Klein 133). Most slaves were crammed in into their designed spaces like loaves of bread on a shelf, with an average of six to seven square feet and rarely more than two or three feet of head space (Postma 23). Many slaves who, were in their nakedness, crouched on the lower ba ck. Men slaves were generally shackled two by two , making movement extremely difficult, and small groups were strung together by longer chains to take them to the upper deck for meals and fresh air. Women and children were generally confined to a separate deck space or in cabins and allowed greater mobility(Postma 23).

Analyse on “Broken boat” by John Galsworthy

Good time management is essential for coping with the pressures of modern life without experiencing too much stress.If you never have enough time to finish your tasks, better time management will help you regain control of your day.Good time management doesn't mean you do more work. It means you focus on the tasks that matter and will make a difference. Whether it’s in your job or your lifestyle as a whole, learning how to manage your time effectively will help you feel more relaxed, focused and in control.â€Å"The aim of good time management is to achieve the lifestyle balance you want,† says Emma Donaldson-Feilder, a chartered occupational psychologist.Here are her top tips for better time management: Work out your goalsThis first step towards improving your time management is to ask yourself some questions. â€Å"Work out who you want to be, your priorities in life, and what you want to achieve in your career or personal life,† says Donaldson-Feilder. â€Å" That is then the guiding principle for how you spend your time and how you manage it.†Once you have worked out the big picture, even if it's quite general, you can then work out some short-term and medium-term goals. â€Å"Knowing your goals will help you plan better and focus on the things that will help you achieve those goals,† says Donaldson-Feilder.Make a listA common time-management mistake is trying to remember too many details, leading to information overload. A better way to stay organised and take control of your projects and tasks is to use a to-do list to write things down.â€Å"Try it and see what works best for you,† says Donaldson-Feilder. She prefers to keep a single to-do list, to avoid losing track of multiple lists. â€Å"Keeping a list will help you work out your priorities and timings, so it can help you put off the non-urgent tasks.† Work smarter, not harderGood time management at work means doing high-quality work, not high quantity. Donaldson-Feilder advises concentrating not on how busy you are but on results. â€Å"Spending more time on something doesn’t necessarily achieve more,† she says. â€Å"Staying an extra hour at work at the end of the day may not be the most effective way to manage your time.†You may feel resentful about being in the office after hours. You’re also likely to be less productive and frustrated about how little you’re achieving, which will compound your stress. Have a lunch breakMany people work through their lunch break to gain an extra hour at work, but Donaldson-Feilder says that can be counter-productive. â€Å"As a general rule, taking at least 30 minutes away from your desk will help you to be more effective in the afternoon,† she says.A break is an opportunity to relax and think of something other than work. â€Å"Go for a walk outdoors or, better still, do some exercise,† says Donaldson-Feilder. â€Å"You’ll come back to your desk re-energised, with a new set of eyes and renewed focus.†Planning your day with a midday break will also help you to break up your work into more manageable chunks. Prioritise important tasksTasks can be grouped in four categories:urgent and important not urgent but important urgent but not important neither urgent nor importantâ€Å"When the phone rings, it seems urgent to pick it up but it’s not necessarily  important,† says Donaldson-Feilder. â€Å"It may be more important to continue with what you were doing rather than be distracted by a phone call. When it is appropriate, it may be more effective to let your voicemail pick up the message.†Donaldson-Feilder says people with good time management create time to concentrate on non-urgent, important activities. By so doing, they minimise the chances of activities ever becoming urgent and important.â€Å"The aim is to learn how to become better at reducing the number of urgent and important tas ks. Having to deal with too many urgent tasks can be stressful,† says Donaldson-Feilder. Practise the 4 DsWe can spend up to half our working day going through our email inbox, making us tired, frustrated and unproductive. A study has found that one-in-three office workers suffers from email stress.Making a decision the first time you open an email is crucial for effective time management. To manage this burden effectively, Donaldson-Feilder advises practising the 4 Ds of decision-making: Delete: half of the emails you get can probably be deleted immediately. Do: if the email is urgent or can be completed quickly.Delegate: if the email can be better dealt with by someone else. Defer: set aside time at a later date to spend on emails that require longer action.