Field Programmable Gate Array based Digital Module

Field Programmable Gate Array based Digital Module Field Programmable Gate Array based Digital Module for Laser Frequency Stabilization A.Rastogi1, N. Batra, S.De2, S.Panja and A. Sen Gupta Introduction Frequency stabilized lasers are a crucial part in variety of atom-photon experiments such as atomic spectroscopy [1], laser cooling [2], probing the excited states of atoms [3] etc. Depending on the application, a stability in bandwidth from few MHz to sub Hz maybe required. It is therefore, essential to stabilize the frequency of a laser source to an absolute reference. Atoms or ultra stable fabry- perot cavities are used for this purpose [4]. Such stabilization schemes require electronic feedback / servo loops that allow for a correction in laser frequency deviation. At CSIR-NPL, we are developing the first optical frequency standard in India with a single trapped Ytterbium ion (171Yb+). The project aims at trapping a single Yb ion in a Paul trap, laser cooling the ion to about mK temperatures for a precise frequency measurement of the ultranarrow octupole transition at a wavelength of 467 nm. The 171Yb+ frequency standard will require a simultaneous operation of five lasers for photoionization (399 nm), cooling (369 nm), repumping (935 nm and 760 nm) and probing the clock transition (467 nm) [5]. All the laser lights for our experiment would be produced from extended cavity diode lasers (ECDL) which drift in their frequencies due to environmental factors as temperature fluctuations and mechanical vibrations. Such drifting renders them unstable and hence, incorporating frequency stabilization systems becomes an essential requirement for precise frequency standards. In general a frequency stabilization of a laser, as for example using saturated ab sorption spectroscopy [6], requires the use of a frequency synthesizer for scanning and modulation of the laser frequency , lock-in amplifier for phase sensitive detection, low / high pass filters, and servo electronics for feeding control signals to the piezo / current terminals of the laser. Instead of procuring these analog modules for each of the lasers used in our experiment, we have taken an effort of developing them indigenously with an all digital control using field programmable gate array technology(FPGA). Hence, the functionality of all the hardware components can be embedded inside a single chip. In this paper, we present an FPGA based laser frequency stabilization design and show some preliminary results of the performance of the FPGA design modules. An active laser feedback control loop mainly consists of a lock-in amplifier (providing phase sensitive detection) and a PID controller. As mentioned earlier, the controller generates correction signals that drive either a piezo attached to the laser cavity (as in case of ECDL lasers) or a current so as to adjust the laser frequency. Using FPGAs the entire functionality of a laser frequency locking system can be implemented in a single chip with an area of few mm2 . Moreover, the truly concurrent nature of FPGA processing algorithms results in the FPGA design modules behaving like dedicated hardware circuits. Minimal use of hardware leads to lesser probability of picking up noise from the surroundings and also reduces cost. The FPGAs could always be reprogrammed to incorporate extra adders, multipliers, filters i.e. they provide re-configurability. FPGAs are programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such as Verilog-HDL or VHDL. We have implemented the laser frequency locking modules using VHDL. A schematic of various VHDL design modules implementing a laser frequency locking setup is shown in Fig.1. In our module, the FPGA chip (Xilinx Spartan 6 XCSLX16) receives an input signal either from an atomic spectroscopy or from a fabry-perot cavity[4] [6] .As shown in Fig.1, the acousto-optic modulator (AOM) does amplitude modulations of the laser signal resulting in variations in the intensity of light at the photodetector output. This modulated signal at the photodiode output is the derivative of the laser absorption signal i.e. proportional to the slope of a resonant feature. At a resonant frequency, the derivative signal is zero and on both sides of resonance, the derivative signal is 180 degrees in phase. This signal is the input to the FPGA systemwhich is then digitised using a 12-bit A/D converter (AD7476) and then passed through a high pass filter component. High pass filtering extracts the high frequency modulated features from the input signal. The filtered signal then goes to the input of the lock-in amplifier component (that implements phase sensitive detection). The reference signal for the lock-in amplifier comes from a VHDL component that implements a square DDS generator. A phase shifted version of this reference signal can be used by the AOM to amplitude modulate the laser signal. The lock-in amplifier component demodulates the modulated photodiode signal by multiplying it with the reference signal followed by low pass filtering thereby generating what is called an error signal. The error signal contains information as to which side of resonance, the laser frequency is. This signal is then processed by a PID controller component. The control signals generated by the PID component adjust the laser piezo and current signals in such a way so as to ensure that the error signal is always zero (which corresponds to a resonant frequency).Many a times, it is needed to just scan over the complete laser spectrum or to zoom in on a particular spectral feature. In this case, the PID action is disabled and a slow triangular scan signal (generated by a scan generator component) is fed to the laser piezo.All signals coming out of the FPGA are converted into the analog form via 12-bit DAC (DAC121S101). Moreover, to aid in the flexible tuning of locking parameters such as the lock-in gain, PID parameters, modulation frequency and phase, scan amplitude and frequency ; we are working on developing a graphical user interface (GUI) that would allow easy access to and modification of the parameters values inside the FPGA registers. Figure 1: A schematic of an FPGA based closed loop laser frequency locking system. The experiment (atomic spectroscopy setup) and the electronic feedback servo (implemented using FPGA) are shown separately. On the right is shown the image of our FPGA development board with the Xilinx based FPGA chip at the centre. All the feedback components have been implemented as programmable VHDL modules . Results of Some of the VHDL design modules Operation of the individual VHDL modules as well as of the entire system as shown in Fig.1.have been verified, as for example, by observing the physical signals generated from the software implementation of lock-in amplifier, high pass filter , square DDS , scan generator etc. Here we are showing some of these results from our prototype setup. Function Generation:We have implemented the functional behaviour of a square DDS generator and a triangular generatorby developing VHDL components for them. The output of the square DDS module is used as a reference signal for the lock-in detection stage and a phase shifted version of the reference signal is used in the amplitude modulation of the laser frequency by the AOM. The output of the triangular generator is used as a scan signal that drives the laser piezo for observing the laser absorption spectra over a wide range of frequencies. The signals generated from these VHDL components are shown in Fig.2 (a-b). Figure 2 : (a) Shows a square wave of 20 KHz. This would be used as a reference signal for lock-in detection and for modulation by the AOM. (b) Shows a triangular scan of 10 Hz. This would be given to the laser piezo for scanning over a huge range of laser spectrum. (c) A sine wave of 100 Hz (red) was distorted by a high frequency pseudo random sequence resulting in a distorted signal (blue). The high pass filter module filters out the low frequencies and only high frequencies remain (green). For the response shown, the cut-off frequency was kept at 1 KHz. High Pass Filter:Our high pass filter implements a first order IIR digital filter. As shown in Fig.1.the high pass filtering is needed to extract the high frequency amplitude modulations of the photodiode signal superimposed over the slowly scanned doppler absorption profile. As a way of verifying the functionality of this component, a low frequency sine way (100 Hz) was added to a pseudo-random number sequence (10-bit maximal sequence) which was generated at 1 MHz. The result is a highly distorted sine wave comprising high frequency fluctuations superimposed over a slowly varying sine wave. When such a signal is passed through the high pass filter component, the slow sinusoid is removed and only the fast fluctuations appear at the filter output. The cut-off frequency determines the signal at the output. The high pass filtering is shown in Fig.2 (c). Lock -In Amplifier(Phase Sensitive Detector):Software implementation of a lock-in amplifier constitutes developing a binary multiplier in conjunction with a low pass filter. The binary multiplier multiplies an input signal with a reference signal The product is then passed to the low pass filter of a suitable cut-off frequency such that only the portion of the input signal that occurs at the reference frequency remain while the rest are filtered out. Moreover, the output of the lock-in amplifier (i.e. the low pass filtered signal) is directly proportional to the amplitude of the input signal and inversely proportional to the relative phase difference between the input and reference signals. Hence, for a given phase relationship, theoutput increases with increase in input signal amplitude. Similarly, for a fixed amplitude of input signal, the output is maximum when the reference and input signals are in phase (0 degrees) ; minimum when the two are out of phase (180 degrees) and averag es to zero when they are 90 degrees phase separated. In Fig. 3, we demonstrate the amplitude and phase dependence of a lock-in amplifier circuit whose behaviour we have implemented in VHDL. The input signal to this component was an internally generated sine wave (5 KHz) and the reference signal was a square wave (5 KHz). From Fig.3 (a) , it is clear that as the amplitude of input signal (red) increases, the output signal (blue) shifts in the upward direction. For very small input signals (near to zero) , the output is also close to zero. From Fig.3(b), it is clear that the outputs of the lock-in amplifier are equal and opposite for phase separation of 0 (blue) and 180 degrees (red) between the input and reference signals. Moreover, the output signal averages to zero (green) when the corresponding phase difference is 90 degrees. Figure 3 : (a),(b) and (c)show the dependence of the lock-in amplifier output (blue) upon the input signal (red). As the input signal amplitude increases from (a) to (c), the output level also shifts up(d) The mean of the lock-in amplifier is minimum when the phase difference between the reference signal and input is 180 degrees (red), maximum when the two are in phase (blue) and lies in the middle of the two extremes when the phase difference is 90 degrees (green). Implementation of Frequency Locking Using Simulated Atomic Spectroscopy Reference frequency from the laser driven atomic spectroscopy is currently not available due to in- availability of the laser.Therefore, to overcome this practical situation and test the FPGA based frequency locking modules,we describe an elegent simulation scheme for testing the closed loop FPGA based frequency control by simulating the atomic spectroscopy experiment described in [6] inside the FPGA chip itself. Essentially, inside the FPGA chip , there would be two main modules : (1) An experiment module that simulates a saturated absorption spectroscopy setup and (2) A feedback module that implements lock-in detection and a PID control action. The experiment module would include three components : A laser piezo scan / control block that receives a voltage at its input and generates a frequency as a predetermined function of that voltage ; an atomic spectroscopy block which generates a derivative intensity profile as a function of the frequency from the piezo block . This in effect results in a derivative feature as a function of the input voltage to the piezo block. In addition , there is a modulation block that mimics an AOM driver. The block modulates the derivative signal in a certain algorithm such that the positive and negative cycles of the derivative signal are 180 degrees out of phase. The modulated signal then goes to the feedback block. The functions for voltage to frequency conversion and for frequency to derivative intensity conversion can be carefully chosen such that over one complete scan cycle , the derivative is zero at a particular voltage. The frequency corresponding to this voltage is the desired freque ncy and the feedback loop should effectively generate a voltage corresponding to this frequency by making the error signal zero. In this sense, the feedback module includes the basic components as high pass filter (for removing the slow doppler profile features from the modulated derivative signal) , lock-in amplifier (for phase sensitive demodulation of the derivative signal thereby giving an error signal) , a PID controller loop that fixes the error signal to zero and a scan generator that is used for observing the derivative over a complete scan range. Also, the reference signal for lock-in detection and the modulation signal from the AOM block are generated from a square DDS (implemented inside the feedback module). The output of the feedback module is either a scan voltage or a PID control voltage. In either case, the voltage signal goes to the piezo component of the experiment module. In this way, a closed feedback scheme is achieved as shown in Fig.4 At the time of writing th is paper, the experimental module has been successfully implemented and we are able to simulate both the scan and lock conditions. In the scan mode, PID loop is disabled and the error signal is observed over a defined sweep span. Under the locking condition, the PID loop is enabled which pins the error signal down to the zero value. In this way, the system gets locked to the frequency corresponding to zero error voltage. After the first order confirmation of frequency locking , we next plan to charcterise the lock quality , add facilities of scan offset and error signal offset to the existing simulation scheme as well as introduce noise into the system . Figure 4 :(Left) A closed loop scheme simulating an atomic spectroscopy experimental setup and a feedback system both implemented inside the FPGA chip. (Right) A falling edge of scan signal (blue) with an error signal (red) simulating a spectroscopic feature is shown. A mirror image of the feature is observed on the rising scan edge . When in lock mode, the error signal falls flat to zero voltage (green) demonstrating that the system gets locked to a particular frequency. Conclusion We have developed an all digital laser frequency stabilization module using field programmable gate array technology as against traditional bulky and expensive analog controllers. The VHDL design modules developed, imitate the functionality of typical hardware electronics used in a laser frequency locking system. The design modules were tested both individually as well as end to end through different testing methodologies. Some of the results were presented in this paper.Also, before incorporating the design modules into locking an actual laser, we have developed a scheme that simulates an entire atomic spectroscopy experiment with an electronic feedback system, both implemented inside the FPGA chip. We have successfully shown the frequency locking action of our feedback modules through this scheme and plan to test them more rigorously by making enhancements in the existing simulation scheme. Acknowledgement S. De acknowledges support from Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences (BRNS) for funding this project under the project code :34/14/19/2014-BRNS/0309. References [1] K.B. Mac Adam, A Steinbach and C. Wiemann, Am. J. Phys. 60 , 1098 (1992). [2] D. J. Wineland and H. Dehmelt,Bull. Am. Phys. Soc.20, 637 (1975). [3] Chien-Nan Liu, Toru Morishita and Shinichi Watanabe, 2009 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 194 032014. [4] W. Z. Zhao, J. E. Simsarian, L. A. Orozco, and G. D. Sprouse, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 69, 3737(1998). [5] S. De, N. Batra, S. Chakraborty, S. Panja, A. Sen Gupta, .Current Science 106, 1348 (2014). [6] Hall,J.L.;Hollberg,L.;Baer,T.;Robinson,H.G., ApPhL,39,680 (1981).

Boadicea Essay -- essays research papers

Boadicea was she a powerful ruler, or a merciless general? Many questions arise when you begin to explore her accomplishments or many would even say failures. Most of the information on Boadicea has been derived from myths and most of what is written about her is from the words of her Roman enemies. During the creation and rule of the Roman Empire, Rome would constantly be aiming to take over the entire known world. Consequently Boadicea and her people of Britannia clashed. Julius Caesar was the first to take over Britain; he forced 6 powerful barbarian tribes to become a part of the Roman Empire. Iceni was amongst them, which happened to be the tribe of the famous Boadicea and her husband Prasutagus. However, Caesar and his army left that same year because they found the conditions too cold. Later in 43 AD Claudius Nero came into power. A man who was both cruel and pitiless, in his lifetime he managed to not only kill both his wives, his brother, and his mother but was known to go around the streets at night killing random men. Nero who wanted so badly to earn the respect of his Roman citizens decided to retake Britain. Boadicea was born into aristocracy in the year 30 AD she then married the ruler of the Iceni tribe. She had two daughters during their marriage. When the Roman army invaded her city her husband Prasutagus agreed to leave all his accumulated wealth to the Roman Emperor. Prasutagus did this in the hope that his country would be taken in piece but Nero did no...

Benefits of Hosting Olympics

The Olympic Games first started at Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. At that time, the games held were organized into festivals. There was a peace agreement called the scared truce between the city-states of Elis and Pisa. The reasons for hosting the Olympic Games at that time fall into three obvious aspects —— the honour of competing, the opportunity for trade and also, for peace. The reason why cities bid to hold the Olympics now are more complicated than in ancient time. But the main reasons remain the same. Cities may bid to host the Olympics to raise their International status by opening a door to the whole world, boost their economy, and enrich their culture and so on. All in all, cities want to promote the pace of their development by holding such a big event like the Olympics. Cities also have high expectations about the legacy benefits of the Games. Some of the main benefits will be identified later in this article. However, the benefits that are claimed in relation to hosting the Olympic Games are hard to measure. Those main benefits will be evaluated by taking the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games for instance. The legacy benefits of the Olympic Games can be indentified through four aspects —— political, economical, environmental and as the Olympic Games is a big sporting event, the last one should be sport. Politics had no place in the ancient games. The event was made possible in part by a truce that allowed visitors and competitors to travel to Olympia safely. During the truce there was no war, no executions, and no military action. However, although it is claimed that the modern Olympics have nothing to do with the political, many countries bid to host the Olympic Games for many political reasons under different circumstance. The best example to examine the relationship between sport and politics was the two German states during the cold war between 1945 and the early 1970s, in which period the two German states competed to host the Olympic Games in order to establish their own political authority. (Hughes, Owen, 2009). The 1972 Munich (Germany) Games was no doubt a good stage to show the rebuild Germany after the war. The Olympic Games are somehow a stage to relief the political conflicts and help the host cities change their International image. In terms of economy, it is the most important area when talking about the benefits of the Olympic Games. Cities always have high expectations to develop their economy after hosting the Olympics. Although the 1980 Moscow Olympics left a great amount of debt to the host city, the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic recovered people’s confidence. Matthewman (2009) indentified the legacy benefits of the Olympics’ economy benefits were included media exposure, employment and education training, infrastructure improving, increased trade, new investment and housing. However, the economic benefits of the Olympic Games are obviously much more than Matthewman described. There is a similar report printed by Price Waterhouse Coopers (2004) claimed that the long-term economy benefits would include: A. Improvement of city productivity (e. g. better transportation) B. Cultivate the city’s management ability to deal with International event. C. Olympic-related trade. D. Media exposure. E. New investment and more job opportunities. F. Training project. G. Tourism industry Another benefit of the Olympics could be the improvement of city environment. After the International Olympic Committee (IOC) make the environment the third strand in 1994, cities have made their efforts to deliver cleaner and greener Games. The eco-friendly event made the sustainable development theory spread all over the world. The Olympic Games make a good contribution to arousing the awareness of protecting our environment which could be beneficial to the whole human society. As the Olympic Games combined different sporting event, it is most closely related to sports in the host cities. Firstly, the sports infrastructure could be improved as cities want to hold the Olympics. This improvement can have a good impact on their athels’ training conditions, sports watching industries and provide their citizens of more sports sources. Secondly, a big sporting event can arouse people’s interest in sport. Additionally, it is good for promoting sport in the host cities as a guide to develop a health living style among its citizens. This is good for citizens’ health and their quality of life. To evaluate these benefits, the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games can be a good example. According to Cashman (2002), the Olympic Games would help the host cities acquire high international reputation in terms of politics. As Australia has a history of its nation conflicts between local residents and emigrations, the 2000 Sydney Olympic did not be supported by their citizens. However, the Olympic organisers came up with many ideas especially by designed a long-distance torch relay program in order to unit the people. This excellent torch relay project which included 11,000runners, successfully changed people’s attitude and built a conception that the 2000 Sydney Olympic is not just about Sydney, it is about Australia as a whole(Haynes, 2001). The economic benefits of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games are hardly measured because there are so many potential areas for long-term impact. However, a 2001 Price Waterhouse Coopers report showed that Sydney has benefited from the 2000 Olympic Games a large amount of profits, which included about $3 billion from new business, $7. billion was injected for infrastructure and promoting business of New South Wales, more than $6 billion from tourism and opening their door to attract International business projects. (Matthewman, 2009) In other words, the Sydney Games had not only gained more investments and improved the city’s infrastructure; it also developed the industry of tourism and gave the ability to manage large projects. The 2000 Sydney Olympi c Games was the first time the idea of the â€Å"Green Games† was adopted. Sydney had come up with five strategies before bidding to host the Olympic Games —— save energy, save water, reduce rubbish, prevent pollution and protect the natural environment (Cashman, 2002). As the benefits on environment are difficult to identify in a short period of time, it is not likely to attribute the environmental improvement to the â€Å"Green Olympic Game† only. However, the eco-friendly idea will surely make great contribute to the city’s environment. People’s awareness was established after the â€Å"Green Game†, and it was becoming more and more popular that individuals started to take environment their own responsibility. Sport itself has obviously benefited from the Games. Firstly, the Olympic Games appeared to contribute to the sports infrastructure. Sydney had built the high-level sport facilities which combined technology and art to host the events. These sports infrastructures would improve the athletes’ training conditions and provide large sports events among counties as well. Secondly, the Sydney Olympic Games tend to arouse local people’s interest in participating sports activities. The Sweeney Sport Report 2000/2001 showed there was a significant increasing trend of sports on TV viewing. According to Haynets’s (2001) report, it is claimed that this raised participation might also lead to some other benefits, such as heath and economic. However, it is hard to know whether the citizens’ interests can last for a long time. To conclude, cities bid to host the Olympic Games for their better developments. The Olympic Games have a great impact on many areas of the hosting cities, which obviously are not restricted to the four aspects above. The benefits of host cities can gain from the Games are quite different and difficult to measure. The 2000 Sydney Olympic Games are a good example because it has won a high reputation for its successes. However, as there are always diverse proposals in different cities toward hosting the Olympics, it is important to have a detailed plan before both bidding and hosting the Games and reasonable expectations. Reference list Jill Hatnes(2001) ‘Social –economic impact of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games’. International Chair in Olympic, Centre d’Estudies Olympics (UAB). 2001 from http://olympicstudies. uab. es/pdf/od013_eng. pdf Price Waterhouse Coopers (2004) ‘The economic impact of the Olympic Games’. European Economic Outlook, June, p. 18-19 Richard Cashman(2002) ‘Impact of the Games on Olympic host cities’. International Chair in Olympic, Centre d’Estudies Olympics (UAB). 2002 from http://olympicstudies. uab. es/lec/pdf/cashman. pdf Richard Matthewman(2009) ‘Economic impacts of Olympic Games’. July, 2009 from http://maasterpieces. com/Documents/Economic%20Impacts%20of%20Olympic%20Games. pdf R. Gerald Hughes, Rachel J. Owen (2009) ‘The Continuation of Politics by Other Means’: Britain, the Two Germanys and the Olympic Games, 1949–1972’. Contemporary European History, 18(4), pp. 443-474.

The 9 Most Inspirational Spanish Quotes About Life

The 9 Most Inspirational Spanish Quotes About Life SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the best ways to practice a language is to read it. It’s even better when you read idiomatic phrases that don’t always translate directly into English. That helps you learn more than just vocabularyit teaches you to unlock the meaning behind the words, too. It’s definitely a skill you’ll definitely need to ace your AP Spanish Language exam or your AP Spanish Literature exam! (It’s also pretty great practice for the SAT Spanish Subject Test, too.) Today, we’re going to introduce you to 9 of the best inspirational Spanish quotes about life. Reading through these will help you practice your advanced reading and comprehension skills...and it might just give you some food for thought, too. For each quote, we’re going to give you: The Spanish quote The English translation of the quote A short discussion of why the quote is inspirational  ¿Listos?  ¡Bien, empecemos! Spanish Quote 1: A Quote About Courage Nunca sers capaz de cruzar el ocà ©ano hasta que pierdas de vista la costa. In English, it translates like this: â€Å"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.† This quote is a great way to start learning some Spanish quotes about life...especially since you’ll need to have some courage while you’re studying. (It’s not easy, after all.) The quotation above also eases you into the process because you can translate it literally, which means that when you translate the sentence, it means exactly what it says! We love this quote because it’s a good reminder that sometimes you have to take risks to achieve your dreams. Even though it’s tempting to stick with what you’ve always known, success often means you have to sail over the horizon! Spanish Quote 2: A Quote About Money Just like in English, there are lots of great Spanish quotes about lifeand moneythat could have ended up on our list. But our favorite is this one: A los tontos no les dura el dinero. The literal translation of this line is â€Å"Money does not last for fools.† It’s the Spanish equivalent of the English saying, â€Å"A fool and his money are soon parted.† (Your parents may have told you this a time or two. Not that we’re speaking from experience or anything.) The truth of life is that money matters. This Spanish quote definitely reminds us that making money is only half the battle: being wise about our financial decisions is important, too. Spanish Quote 3: A Quote About Choosing Your Words La lengua no tiene hueso, pero corta lo ms grueso. This is an example of a Spanish quote where there’s a big difference between the literal translation and its meaning. Literally, this sentence translates to â€Å"The tongue doesn't have a bone, but it cuts the thickest thing.† What does that even mean?! But if you think about it, even idioms in English don’t make much sense. After all, if you’re not familiar with English, you’d be really confused if someone told you that you were â€Å"the pot calling the kettle black† or that you shouldn’t â€Å"throw stones at glass houses.† So in the case of this Spanish quote about life, we have to look past the literal phrasing to the meaning underneath it. Let’s break it down starting with the first part of the sentence. When you say â€Å"the tongue doesn’t have a bone,† it means that the tongue isn’t as strong as your arm or leg. You can’t physically hurt someone with your tongue! And yet, the second half of the sentence says that it’s somehow still able to cut through â€Å"the thickest thing.† In other words, our tonguewhich Merriam-Webster explains can also mean â€Å"language†has the power to do significant damage to other people. In other words, this quote is the equivalent of the English saying, â€Å"The pen is mightier than the sword.† Spanish Quote 4: A Quote About Willpower No existe gran talento sin gran voluntad. When you’re studying, you need lots of willpower to stay focused. That’s why we love this inspirational quote- in Spanish or in English! This quote translates to â€Å"There is no great talent without great will.† Sometimes we think that people are just born with talent, and if we aren’t, then there’s no way we can achieve our dreams. But this Spanish quote teaches us that’s not true. Willpower, and the drive and focus that comes with it, can help us develop our talents. Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian journalist and author, determined that for some people, it can take 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill.That translates to 417 days of practice! Even the most talented person would need a lot of willpower to get through that amount of work. Consequently, this quotation explains that doing great things in life requires as much hard work as it does talent. Spanish Quote 5: A Quote About Going For It Lots of idioms rhyme to help it stick in our memories. (Two good English examples are â€Å"fake it ‘til you make it† and â€Å"you snooze, you lose.†) Science has shown that rhymes help our brains remember information. Given that, it makes sense that inspirational quotes in Spanish and in English use rhyming to make their messages to help us remember them. Here’s one of our favorite rhyming inspirational quotes: Despuà ©s de los aà ±os mil, torna el agua a su carril. Here, â€Å"mil† is pronounced with a long e sound. That means it sounds more like â€Å"meel† in Spanish. The same is true for â€Å"carril,† which would be pronounced â€Å"carreel.† So as you can see, the two clauses of the sentences rhyme perfectly, so people can remember it better. The literal translation of this quote is, â€Å"After one thousand years, returns the water to its track.† But more accurately, this quote translates like this: â€Å"In a hundred years we will be dead anyway.† That’s pretty morbid! But what this quote really means is that people’s memories are short, so you shouldn’t worry about what people think. Don’t let others’ judgements or a fear of embarrassment keep you from pursuing your passions! Spanish Quote 6: A Quote About Patience For many people, patience is a tricky thing. That’s why one of our favorite Spanish quotes has to do with the value of being patient. Here it is: Con el tiempo todo se consigue. This quote literally translates to, â€Å"In time, everything is acquired.† But more accurately, this quotation tells us that patience is key to getting what you want in life. Patience comes in many forms. For instance, when you’re studying Spanish vocabulary for your AP or SAT subject exam, it can be tempting to be impatient and move quickly through your flashcards. But that means that you might not have committed the definitions to memory, which can make a huge difference when you’re trying to ace the test. Being patient, however, helps you study more thoroughly. That can help you earn top test scores, which will get you into your dream school, which is a huge step on the path to achieving your dreams. In other words, patience pays off in the end! Spanish Quote 7: A Quote About Endurance This quotation is a little different. When you’re looking for Frida Kahlo quotes, Spanish versions are definitely the most accurate and authentic! Our favorite inspirational Frida Kahlo quote is this one: â€Å"Lo que no me mata, me alimenta.† In English, this means â€Å"What doesn’t kill me, nourishes me.† This is a play on Nietzche’s famous saying, â€Å"What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.† Frida Kahlo- one of the most famous Mexican artists of all time- would definitely know a lot about surviving tragedy. Despite her talent, Kahlo’s life was a difficult one: she was disabled by polio and, later, by a terrible traffic accident that also left her infertile. As a result, she struggled with depression as well. But she channeled that into her art, which she said â€Å"completed her life.† That’s why this is one of the best inspirational quotes in Spanish. It shows us how to turn our suffering into something good, which is one of the most important life lessons we can learn. Spanish Quote 8: A Quote About Perseverance Sin prisas, pero sin pausas. This quote literally translates to â€Å"without hurry, but without stopping.† In English, we might translate this to another common aphorism: â€Å"slow and steady wins the race.† This quotation goes really well with Spanish Quote 6, which is about patience. In this case, we’re reminded that moving forwardeven if it’s slowis the key to progress. In fact, slow progress can often lead to success! Consider the story of Angus Macfadyen. In 2007, he was in an accident that left his leg in a cast. But that didn’t stop him from running the London Marathon on crutches! It took him 7 hours and 13 minutes to reach the finish line...but he still finished the race. The best quotes about life help us better understand the hurdles in our way. In this case, overcoming obstacles might take time, but we can still succeed if we persevere. Spanish Quote 9: A Quote About Love Our last Spanish quote about life tackles one of life’s best parts. After all, Spanish is a romance language...so it’s not surprising that some of its best quotes have to deal with love! Quien bien ama, tarde se olvida. This is another quote where the literal translation is a little confusing. Word for word, this quote means, â€Å"He who loves well, forgets the afternoon.† But the idiomatic translation is actually, â€Å"True love never grows old.† This quotation makes us think of one of our favorite tear-jerking scenes of any movie: the opening few minutes of Pixar’s Up. iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F2bk_9T482g" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen/iframe In this scene, viewers watch a couple in loveCarl and Ellieas they celebrate life’s highs and lows. Unfortunately, Ellie passes away before she can achieve her lifelong dream of visiting Paradise Falls. But Carl won’t let her dream die, and he keeps his promise to Ellie by taking her scrapbook- and her house!- to Paradise Falls in one last, grand adventure. Carl may be old, but his love for Ellie never fades...which is maybe the best life lesson of all. (Who’s chopping onions in here?!) What's Next? If you’re studying Spanish, then you know conjugating verbs is half the battle. Irregular verbs can be tricky, though, since they don’t follow the rules. For those, it’s all about memorization! That’s why we’ve put together complete conjugation charts for the most common irregular verbs in Spanish. Why not start your studying off with our conjugation list for ser? And while you’re at it, you should take a look at our vocabulary lists, too. This one’s all about the parts of the body you need to know before you take an SAT or AP Spanish exam. We know you’ve heard of the Spanish Language and Spanish Literature exams, but what about the SAT Spanish Subject Test? Learn everything you need to know about the SAT Spanish Subject Test here. Additionally, this article gives you an insider’s opinion about how hard the exam really isso you might add it to your reading list, too!

The UK Conservative Government 1990-1997 and the UK Labour Government 1997-2002 Essay Example

The UK Conservative Government 1990 The UK Conservative Government 1990-1997 and the UK Labour Government 1997-2002 Essay The UK Conservative Government 1990-1997 and the UK Labour Government 1997-2002 Essay The Conservative Government of 1990 under John Major aimed to move urban politics in a new direction. The removal of Margaret Thatcher from office and the re-appointment of Michael Heseltine to the Department of the Environment signalled this change in direction. The policies of the 1980s were based on privatisation with respect to the redevelopment of deprived areas. The policies from the 1980s however received much criticism from the Audit Commission Report, as well as Conservative supporters alike. The Audit Commission had described Urban Support Programmes as a patchwork quilt of complexity and idiosyncrasy, and the economic decline, combined with changing patterns of economic growth led to poverty. During the 1990s however, the governments emphasis was placed on collaboration or local governance, which became more widespread. The need for a governmental change of view from the previous decade was realised in 1990 in the review of Action for Cities. The government called for a spirit of co-operation, of partnership between all of those involved in central and local government, including local businesses. The idea of partnerships between public and private sectors was introduced in May 1991. Much of the literature on the topic of urban regeneration policies is interested in the relationship between local authorities and businesses. The main reason behind this is the urban policy agenda established by the Conservatives in the early 1990s, which was principally about the pooling of resources between local government and businesses. The new Conservative Partys first urban initiative, City Challenge was set up in May 1991. This policy was designed by Michael Heseltine, and the emphasis was on partnership and competition. The government invited local authorities to bid and compete with each other for regeneration funds. City Challenge placed local authorities back at the centre of urban policy. In the first round of bidding, 21 authorities were invited to bid, of which 11 were successful. In the second, all 57 urban programme authorities were invited to bid, and 20 were successful. The City Challenge scheme had many critics who questioned the selection process. The policy had run for 18 months when the government announced in November 1992 that they planned to wind down the urban programme and City Challenge. In 1993, the Urban Programme was brought to an end in the 1993 reforms. The Urban Regeneration Agency was formed and brought about the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) and English Partnerships (EP). EP was officially launched by the government in November 1993, and it brought together English Estates, Derelict Land Grant, and City Grant. It was designed to upgrade derelict land for redevelopment in partnership with local councils and the private sector. English Partnerships was given powers to override local authority planning restrictions, and used the funds to offer financial assistance as a means of gap funding for the areas deemed to be in greatest need. There was a lot of controversy over its role in the process of urban renewal. When the policy was launched, the government announced that there would be one senior regional director for each of the ten regional offices. This top-down implementation placed full control of the region with one senior officer, as oppose to the individual authorities being given more control as they were with the City Challenge policy. The SRB was launched in April 1994. It consisted of 20 existing programmes, which included City Challenge, and also brought about the integration of the regional offices of Whitehall. The budget they had to operate with was  £181million in 1994 and 1995, and  £ 220million in 1996 and 1997. The co-ordination of this policy was welcomed, but critics argued that instead of elected regional bodies, the government had increased central administrative powers. The SRB was considered to be the new flagship regeneration programme and consisted of three main strands: (i) partnership, (ii) integration of social and economic issues, and (iii) competition. Rounds 1 3 of the SRB were conducted under the Conservative Party, however the Labour Party was elected in the middle of round 4. The Labour Party in power (1997-2002): The Regional Development Agencies (RDA) Act was passed in 1998 and set out New Labours policy of delegating the task of urban regeneration to each specific region. The main purpose of the RDAs was to further economic development and the regeneration of the area in question. Other aims were to promote business efficiency, investment, competitiveness, and employment in the area, whilst also enhancing the development and application of skills relevant to employment in the area. The RDAs were officially founded in 1999 and eight were set up in each of the regions, and a ninth for London set up in 2000. The RDAs took over from English Partnerships in terms of the responsibility of regional development. The special functions of the RDAs include formulating a regional strategy in relation to their purpose, promoting regional regeneration, taking forward government competitiveness agenda in regions, and taking the lead on regional inward investment. Following consultation with regional partners, the RDAs presented the strategies to the government in October 1999, and in January 2000, the government responded by giving a broad welcome of the strategies. The governments response was to significantly increase the RDAs budgetary flexibility. New funding was brought together in a single cross-departmental budget by 2002-2003 of  £ 1. 7billion. Government Offices for the Regions were established in 1994, but under the Labour Government, were given an increasingly pivotal role at the heart of Government. The Government Offices (GOs) worked together with the Regional Co-ordinator Unit (RCU), which was established as the headquarters for the GO network in 2000, as a result of the Performance and Innovation Unit Report, Reaching out the role of central government at regional and local levels. Together, the GOs and RCU aimed to cut through bureaucracy and add value to delivery through its shared experience and best practice, bring together key stakeholders and local partners, and providing a high quality of service. This aim was to be provided by combining skills in the GOs at the local level, with the co-ordinating role of the RCU in influencing policy design and implementation in Whitehall. Regional Chambers (RCs) or as some are known, Regional Assemblies (RAs) form a partnership working between local authorities and regional partners. Each chamber has been formally recognised by the Government as being representative of the interests of the region in relation to the work of the regions RDA. Each RC is made up of 70% local authority members, and 30% from other sectors including industry, education, environment, NHS, and TUC. The RCs initial focus was primarily on the RDAs regional economic strategies, and they have also sought to build up effective working relationships with the RDAs, GOs and other regional interests and stakeholders. The Deputy Prime Minister announced a new role for EP in July 2002. The new role provided a fresh mandate and a clear strategy to support sustainable development and growth in England. As part of a mergence with the Commission for the New Towns, EP will work with the private sector, the Housing Corporation, and local authorities to help increase the amount of affordable housing. EP will aim to make best use of the nations supply of land by developing on brownfield land, and by using surplus land in the best way possible. EP will work closely with a range of partners in support of the RDAs regional strategies to try and achieve its targets. Another Labour policy to achieve urban regeneration is the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit (NRU). The NRU was set up to lead and oversee the national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, taking over this task from the Social Exclusion Unit in April 2001. The aim is to deliver economic prosperity, safe communities, high quality schools, decent housing, and better health to the poorest parts of the country. The overall aim is to bridge the gap between the poorest areas of Britain and the rest of the country. The NRU identified the 88 most deprived local authorities in the country and devised a best value programme, by which the Government are to invest a lot of money in improving public services in these areas. This strategy is being funded by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF), which is  £300million in 2002/3 and will be  £ 25million for 2004/5. Another branch of the NRU is the New Deal for Communities (NDC). The NDC works in a similar way to the NRU, but it places local people at the heart of it. Local people, community and voluntary organisations, public agencies, local authorities and business are encouraged to work in partnership to deliver significant change by turning local peoples aspirations into action. The strategy is targeted over the next 10 years, and aims to develop a local strategy to tackle social exclusion in order to create vibrant and sustainable communities. Comparison and contrast between Conservative and Labour policies: The main difference between the various policies on urban regeneration between Conservative and Labour Governments is the socio-economic factor. The Conservative Party continued the 1980s theme of economic development, albeit with more cohesion and co-ordination. From the outset, the emphasis was placed on partnerships between local authorities and businesses to regenerate economic development, which would in turn provide more employment and bring about social improvements. The competitiveness encouraged local authorities to form partnerships with businesses as it gave a greater possibility of receiving a grant from the City Challenge fund. When the Labour Party first came to power, they formed the RDAs and to begin with, placed the initial emphasis on continuing the economic development. Whereas the Conservative Party only produced a transparent policy solely to increase partnership and competition, whereby local authorities only receive funding based on how well they can submit an application, the Labour Partys policy tied in a lot more objectives. Promoting business efficiency, investment, employment, and developing skills relevant to employment in the area is a much wider policy and the various regions will have different specific policies relevant to each region and sub-region. When the Labour Government integrated the Government Offices with the Regional Co-ordinator Unit, they highlighted the objective to cut through bureaucracy, a total contrast to the Conservative Government. It was the Conservatives policy to increase the level of bureaucracy with the SRB. The increase in administrative powers at the top followed by delegation of funding is a form of top down and trickle down implementation, the opposite approach to that of the Labour Party. It was Labours policy to bring together key stakeholders and local partners via the GO, and a much wider contribution was created in the form of the Regional Chambers. The RC took a bottom up approach in its purist form. It incorporated people from all corners of industry, the market place, and services to form a mixed composition, and worked hand in hand with RDAs to bring together the needs for the whole region. With respect to English Partnerships, the way in which the two governments implemented their policies varied significantly. While the Conservative Party focused mainly on economic growth and employment, the Labour Party dealt more specifically with the housing needs and social problems faced in Britains deprived areas, as they did with the NRU strategy. The Conservatives focused on the development of brownfield sites as a means of generating jobs and providing large flagship projects, as oppose to the Labour policy of providing affordable housing and building new communities. In general the two Governments used similar methods of integration of funds and resources as a means of generating the funding for urban regeneration. The amount of money invested in regeneration by the Labour Government was far greater than that of the Conservative Party and the programmes that the funds were invested in were different to. In conclusion, the Government of 1990-1997 took an economic viewpoint whereas the 1997-2002 Government placed their regeneration policies closer to home with social based policies.

Persuasive speaking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Persuasive speaking - Essay Example ch as we may express our humility to assist or sympathize with a child born to poor parents by giving medicine and providing healthcare services freely to them, we are not sure how our money will be used in solving this ethical issue (Ross 300). I do strongly disagree that there exists something like universal healthcare due to the fact that this kind of program will not reach everyone as the term implies and its effect will not be universal as the name suggests too. What is actually in the real American dream? Is it powerful military or reputation? I think American dream is based on universal right to existence, freedom, and contentment. This is the dream of every individual in the world and its pursuit is everyone’s responsibility. All these visions are based on an individual’s health hence proving the importance of a healthy body and mind. The reason there is no universal healthcare is the attitude that most people do have that healthcare is more like socialism, which do not imply democracy. The political elites have continuously disagreed on the importance of universal healthcare being that they do not even feel the pinch when faced by sickness and diseases due to their financial advantage. Do they really care for the common person? Lots of money is spent on wars than healthcare services (Sebelius Web). All the companies in the healthcare sector are clearly in the business of making profit without even thinking of the welfare of their clients thus making diseases and sickness big business. In fact, the US healthcare is the most costly due to the players in this fundamental sector thus making it unproductive to throw money in this system (Tanner Web). Demand for healthcare has since been limited by demand because it is provided in the market and any attempt to provide it freely can only be limited by rationing which happens in most countries practicing this system such as Spain, South Korea, France, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Most people would be given

Behavioural Finance in Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Behavioural Finance in Business - Essay Example Tapping telephone calls, monitoring computer and internet usage, and screening e-mails are some of the common employee surveillance practices. This paper will critically discuss the influence of workplace surveillance on managing people at work from the perspectives of both employers and employees. The paper will particularly focus on three relevant issues such as performance management, employee privacy, and use of information technology. Performance management Productive performance management is the ultimate goal of workplace surveillance programs. In order to effectively manage workplace or employee performance, it is necessary to measure employee performance levels frequently. Management professionals claim that surveys or other studies may not be an effective way to measure employees’ work performance and productivity. Furthermore, workplace surveillance is the only potential mechanism in today’s business environment as it is an impossible task for line managers a nd other executives to monitor each employee separately. Therefore, a vast majority of management experts strongly support the use of electronic surveillance techniques in the workplace. According to the 2007 Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey conducted by the American Management Association (AMA 2007), nearly 45% of business organizations monitor their employees’ computer, internet, and phone usage. The survey also indicates that a notable percent of employees were terminated for offensive language; excessive personal use of company properties; viewing, downloading, uploading offensive content; and breach of the firm’s confidential rules (ibid). These survey results support the top managements’ argument that workplace surveillance must be in operation to improve value chain efficiency and overall organizational productivity. From an employer’s perspective, the workplace surveillance system would put a moral check on employees and hence they may become more productive. In addition, if there is a workplace system in operation, employees would be conscious of future consequences in case of any workplace misconduct.