Corporate governance Essay Example for Free

Corporate governance Essay Corporate governance is concerned with the structures and systems of control by which managers are held accountable to those who have a legitimate stake in an organization. It has become an increasingly important issue for organizations for three main reasons. The separation of ownership and management control of organizations (which is now the norm except with very small businesses) means that most organizations operate within a hierarchy, or chain, of governance. This chain represents those groups that influence an organization through their involvement in either ownership or management of an organization. Increased accountability to wider stakeholder interests has also come to be increasingly advocated; in particular the argument that corporations need to be more visibly accountable and/or responsive, not only to ‘owners’ and ‘managers’ in the governance chain but to wider social interest Corporate scandals since the late 1990s have increased public debate about how different parties in the governance chain should interact and influence each other. Most notable here is the relationship between shareholders and the boards of businesses, but an equivalent issue in the public sector is the relationship between government or public funding bodies and public sector organizations. As the key purpose of Corporate governance drive the benefit of shareholder of the company all members of corporate governance model responsible and accountable for driving this primary objective. 1.1 Five Golden Rules of Corporate Governance And best corporate governance practice is not simply about a battle between distant, disloyal institutional shareholders and greedy directors but about the ethos of the organization and fulfilling its clearly agreed goals. 5 golden rules of Corporate Governance of successful organization are: 1. Ethics: a clearly ethical basis to the business 2. Align Business Goals: appropriate goals, arrived at through the creation of a suitable stakeholder decision making model 3. Strategic management: an effective strategy process which incorporates stakeholder value 4. Organization: an organization suitably structured to effect good corporate governance 5. Reporting: reporting systems structured to provide transparency and accountability 2 Objectives of study Objective of this case study is to understand and critically examine flaws, failure of Corporate Governance on Satyam Computer’s strategic decisions. Also analyze what are the areas those can be influenced by proper Corporate Governance. This case also helps understanding Governments roles to tackle firms or intervene in firm’s functionality in the interest of internal and external stakeholders. Not only were there failures at the regulatory level, but also at the executive level. With no express code for corporate governance in India, the company failed to follow the industry standard best practices and as a result, collapsed. This study would be useful in identifying the different kind of failures in a family owned business like Satyam and to policy makers in designing and implementing corporate governance frameworks for professionally managed as well as family managed businesses like Satyam. This case also reveals how wrong decisions can damage entire organization and dent the image of company. This case also focuses certain legal issues related to roles and responsibilities of Chairman and other top management including critical role of independent directors of organization. This Case Study focuses laws and gaps in the Indian context. 3 Historical Evolution of the company Satyam was incorporated on June 24, 1987 as a private limited company providing software development and consulting services based out of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Ramalinga Raju and his brother Rama Raju were the promoters of the company. Before starting Satyam these duo were involved in other businesses like construction and textiles. This company was started with 20 employees 1991, this company went in for IPO where it was oversubscribed by 17 times. Same year it could bag clients like John Deere co which is fortune 500 company. This is the first time it adopted offshoring model. 1993, Satyam formed joint ventures with clients like D B and also with GE. In 1996 Satyam started its on shore offices in US and Japan. And its first development center in New Jersey, 1998. By 1999 it had operations in 30 countries and was assessed SEI CMM Level 5, one of the very few companies to get this accreditation by then. In 2000, Satyam grew by 10000 employees and got listed in NASDAQ ( National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) in 2001. 2004 Satyam was providing services in 45 countries with employee base of 15000. At that time Company was operating in various verticals with 18 development centers. Company crossed 1Billion revenues by 2006. Satyam’s revenues grew to 2 billion by 2008 with a net income of 417mn. Gained 186 of fortune 500 customers. Sailing in the industry with 46000 employees by March 2008 with operations across 66 countries. By September 2008 it recorded revenue of 28.19Bn. 3.1 Corporate Governance Practice at Satyam To explain the level of commitment and ethics to society it was mentioned by both inside and outside members of Satyam that on the day of Ramalinga Raju father’s cremation he attended shareholders meeting. Company’s ethics and level commitment were stressed in many annual reports. Corporate Governance was driven by its core values Associate Delight Investor Delight Customer Delight Pursuit of Excellence Company stated that† it believes that corporate governance practices provide an important framework to help the board of directors to fulfill its responsibilities† Main duties of the board were to set strategic direction to the company and leading the organization in the right direction there by ensuring long term interest of investor and other stakeholders of the company. Source: Satyam Computer Services, Report on Corporate Governance 2006-07 For independent functioning, the board comprised of both executive and non-executive members. Board also comprised several committees like Investor Grievances committee Compensation Committee Audit Committee The board was governed by code of conduct, which specified that all employees, directors needed to carry out their duties legally, honestly and ethically. It also specified all clauses that avoid any code of conflict etc.., Company’s Whistle Blower policy was also in place. According to experts though sound policies were in place none of the directors were objecting Raju’ s decisions even though they are against the interest of investor. It continued till the time when Raju was planning to acquire Maytas where the biz of Target Company was not aligning to Satyam and also those companies are promoted by Ramalinga Raju’s family members. 3.2 Role and Powers of Independent Directors (clause 49 of SEBI) SEBI had constituted a Committee on Corporate Governance under the chairmanship of N R Narayana Murthy to improve standards of corporate governance in India. SEBI introduced some major amendments based on the report on this committee on 26th August, 2003, in clause 49 of its listing agreement. Applicability of Clause 49 All companies which were required to comply with the requirement of the erstwhile clause 49 i.e. all listed entities having a paid up share capital of Rs 3 crores and above or net worth of Rs 25 crores or more at any time in the history of the entity, are required to comply with the requirement of this clause. This clause does not apply to other listed entities, which are not companies, but body corporates, incorporated under other statutes. Clause 49 will apply to these institutions as long as it does not violate their respective statutes, guidelines or directives. Clause 49 of the SEBI’s listing agreement relates to Independent Directors. Clause 49 Corporate Governance The company agrees to comply with the following provisions: I. Board of Directors (A) Composition of Board (i) The Board of directors of the company shall have an optimum combination of executive22 and non-executive23 directors with not less than fifty percent of the board of directors comprising of non-execu tive directors. (ii) Where the Chairman of the Board is a non-executive director, at least one-third of the Board should comprise of independent directors and in case he is an executive director, at least half of the Board should comprise of independent directors. (iii) For the purpose of the sub-clause (ii), the expression ‘independent director’ shall mean a non-executive director of the company who: a. Apart from receiving director‘s remuneration, does not have any material pecuniary relationships or transactions with the company, its promoters, its directors, its senior management or its holding company, its subsidiaries and associates which may affect independence of the director; b. Is not related to promoters or persons occupying management positions at the board level or at one level below the boardx` c. Has not been an executive of the company in the immediately preceding three financial years; d. Is not a partner or an executive or was not partner or an executive during the preceding three years, of any of the following: 1. The statutory audit firm or the internal audit firm that is associated with the company, and 2. The legal firm(s) and consulting firm(s) that have a material association with the company. e. Is not a material supplier, service provider or customer or a lessor or lessee of the company, which may affect independence of the director; and f. Is not a substantial shareholder of the company i.e. owning two percent or more of the block of voting shares. OTHER DEFINITIONS The Department of Company Affairs (DCA) had appointed a Committee headed by Mr. Naresh Chandra along with the distinct professionals from various fields. Apart from this, the Kumaramangalam Report also has suggestions about Independent Directors. Some definitions on Independent Directors. THE CADBURY REPORT (1992) Apart from their directors‘ fees and shareholdings, they should be independent of management and free from any business or other relationship which could materially interfere with the exercise of their independent judgmentâ€â€". THE KUMARAMANGALAM REPORT (1998) ―Independent directors are those directors who apart from receiving director‘s remuneration do not have any other material pecuniary relationship or transactions with the company, its promoters, its management or its subsidiaries, which in the judgment of the board may affect their independence of judgment THE NARESH CHANDRA REPORT (2003) Apart from receiving director‘s remuneration, does not have any other material pecuniary relationships or transactions with the company, its promoters and senior management.â€â€" It is significant to mention hear that the Naresh Chandra Committee report has opined that the recommendations made by the Kumaramangalam Committee in relation to independent directors are not precise and cannot fulfill the requirement of the independency as compared to the International best-in-class definitions and other pragmatic factors.25 An independent director is characterized by the following principle features: COMPANIES ACT, 1956 INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS Under the Companies Act,1956 the powers and duties of directors has evolved under interpretation of various Sections such as 291, 297, 299, 397, 398, 408, 629A, to name a few which have recognised and upheld directors‘ fiduciary duties to shareholders, to act with due care, skill and good faith. Sections 297 and 299, for example, are intended to eliminate possibility of conflict of interest. Unfortunately, the Act does not envisage a proper remedial regime, providing for rescission of underlying transactions, compensation for corporate and stakeholder losses, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains etc. Theoretically, some of these reliefs can be agitated for before the Company Law Board – but courts are hesitant to pass such drastic orders, in cases of such large, reputed companies ROLE OF INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR TOWARDS SHAREHOLDERS Corporate Governance principles all over and listing requirements assign tasks that have a potential for conflict of interest to independent directors, examples of these are integrity of financial and non-financial reporting, review of related party transactions, nomination of board members and key executives remuneration. The shareholders, especially the minority shareholders, look to independent directors providing transparency in respect of the disclosures in the working of the company as well as providing balance towards resolving conflict areas. In evaluating the board‘s or management decisions in respect of employees, creditors and other suppliers of major service providers, independent directors have a significant role in protecting the stakeholders interests. One of the mandatory requirements of audit committee is to look into the reasons for default in payments to deposit holders, debentures, non-payment of declared dividend and creditors. Further they are required to review the functioning of the ―Whistle Blower mechanismâ€â€" and related party transactions. These, essentially, safeguard the interests of the stakeholders 4 Major strategic decisions and its consequence December 16th 2008, Chairman Ramalinga Raju in a surprise move announced intent to acquire Maytas Properties and Maytas construction companies for a whopping 1.6Bn. While it is evident that these two companies are promoted by Ramalinga Raju’ s family in the industry circles it was not clear why should a IT services company focus on infra and property business. As the decisions was opposed by investors and clear indication of market fluctuation made Ramalinga Raju to revert his decision in 12 hours. Share prices plunges by 55% on concerns about Satyam’s corporate governance. In a surprise move, the World Bank announced on December 23, 2008 that Satyam has been barred from business with World Bank for eight years for providing Bank staff with â€Å"improper benefits† and charged with data theft and bribing the staff. Share prices fell another 14% to the lowest in over 4 years. The lone independent director since 1991, US academician Mangalam Srinivasan, announced resignation followed by the resignation of three more independent directors on December 28 i.e. Vinod K Dham (famously known as father of the Pentium and an ex Intel employee), M Rammohan Rao (Dean of the renowned Indian School of Business) and Krishna Palepu (professor at Harvard Business School)6. At last, on January 7, 2009, B. Ramalinga Raju announced confession of over Rs. 7800 crore financial fraud and he resigned as chairman of Satyam. A week after Satyam founder B Ramalinga Raju’ s scandalous confession, Satyam’s auditors Price Waterhouse finally admitted that its audit report was wrong as it was based on wrong financial statements provided by the Satyam’s management’s On January 22, 2009, Satyam’s CFO Srinivas Vadlamani confessed to having inflated the number of employees by 10,000 Satyam share price have seen sharp decline within hours of the outburst of the incident and further deteriorated after Ramalinga Raju’s confession Source: http://akpinsight-ijcbs.webs.com 5 Implementation of strategic decision On 30th Sep 2008, Satyam reported that it had cash reserves of 1.2Bn and on December 16th company expressed intent of acquiring Maytas Properties and Maytas Constructions for 1.6Bn. While Maytas infra a public listed company operating for two decades Maytas properties s only 6 months old which declared a revenue of 7.37Bn and net profit of 370 mn. On December 16th 2008 Satyam board approved acquisition of Maytas. The cash reserve to be used by Satyam to buy 51% of equity stake in Maytas infra for 1.3Bn USD and for Maytas properties 300 mn USD. Satyam planning to acquire 31% of the holding of the Raju family in Maytas Infra and another 20% through open offer to shareholders. The promoters held 36.64% equity stake in Maytas infra . Satyam planning to pay 475 Rs per Share which was 1.25% less than closing value December 16th and open offer made at 525 rs from the existing Maytas infra shareholders. After approval from board Ramalinga Raju announced this as a strategic move to de-risk core business by bootstrapping a new business vertical. He also called out that this would de-risk the recessional impacts on the current vertical of core business. Announcement however trigger negative reaction from industry, investors and stock markets. Satyam’s stock got severe beating on December 16;.The ADR fell from 12.55 to 5.70 after this announcement . On Bombay Stock Exchange the stock fell from 226 to 158 rs. It went down further to 134 on December 24th 2008. The decision attracted lot of criticism that promoters who has only 8.74% equity stake in the company were being allowed by the board to transfer a considerable amount of money from Satyam to Maytas where Ramalinga Raju’ s family own more stake. Analysts called that this is act of siphon to move cash from Satyam into a place where Raju’ s family has more stake. Experts also called that if board is convinced with the deal then it is their responsibility to inform major investment institutions which is a good sign of proper corporate governance. Valuation of Maytas was not transparent and this was not even informed to investors in advance. Investors called this process as act of misuse of Satyam funds and it’s a nepotism. Registrar of Companies asked Satyam to submit minutes of board meeting for validity and review held on December 16th 2008. However Satyam could not provide minutes of meeting in the said deadline given by RoC. These reactions compelled Satyam to roll back the decision within 12 hours .These accusations lead to few international issues where the long battle between British Virgin Island Based Upaid system and Raju and Satyam CFO. There are three cases breach of contract, forgery filed by filed by UPaid and one disparagement filed by Satyam. On December 23 2008 World Bank announced that it will bar Satyam to take any of its contracts for next 8 years due to improper invoice and benefit to employees. It was reported that Satyam sold its preferential shares to World Bank CIO. Before Maytas controversy got over DSP-Merlynch announced that it is terminating its advisory agreement with Satyam. In its communication it said considering various strategic options it had terminated its advisory agreement also quoted that it was to their understanding that there are accounting irregularities which prompted them above decision. Analysts said that this move compelled Raju to confess as SEBI asked DSP-Merlynch asking why it had to withdraw the agreement. 6 Merits/Flaws of implementation Following are the Governance Flaws noticed in the case of Satyam computer Services Limited 6.1 Unethical Conduct It is evident that founder of the company wanted to make money any which way by avoiding taxes, cooking books , creating false payrolls and pay offs. Shareholders, employees and clients realized steady diet of (A)Satyam. He was not following the spirit behind its name. Along with his brother Rama Raju who is his also managing director of the company disguised all this from company’s board , senior managers and auditors for several years. Confession revealed the fraudulent and unethical behavior of the duo who bagged many awards and rewards for his best corporate governance including prestigious Golden Peacock award. Both CEO and CFO charged for putting self-interests ahead of company’s interests. 6.2 A case of insider trading Both central and state investigation agencies and also audit firms revealed and established that promoters indulged in the nastiest kind of insider trading of company’s shares to raise money for building large land banks. It was established that money raised by Ramalinga Raju and Rama Raju along with his relatives used to buy lands in 330 binami companies. 6.3 Case of False Books and Bogus Accounts The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), 23 a multi-disciplinary investigating arm of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, set up in 2003 with officials from various law enforcement agencies, was asked to investigate the fudging of accounts as admitted by B. Ramalinga Raju. the consent of the board was unanimously accorded after which Raju proposed the merger of MIL and MPL to the shareholders, which came in for stiff resistant, and issue of corporate governance was raised.† A couple of weeks later, Ramalinga Raju dropped a bombshell by sending a letter of admission to SEBI and the board of directors that he had fudged the accounts of Satyam and that the balance sheet as on September 30, 2008 carried an inflated (non-existent) cash and bank balances of Rs 5040 crore, non-existent interest of Rs 376 crore and understated liability of Rs 1230 crore Source: http://www.applied-corporate-governance.com/best-corporate-governance-practice.html 6.4 Lax Board The Satyam Board was composed of ‘chairman-friendly’ directors who failed to question managements strategy and use of leverage in recasting the company; they were also extremely slow to act when it was already clear that the company was in financial distress. The glue that held the board members together was Ramalinga Raju. Each of the board members were there on his personal invitation and (that) made them ineffective. The Board ignored, or failed to act on, critical information related to financial wrongdoings before the company ultimately collapsed. It was only when Ramalinga Raju in the December, 2008 announced a $1.6 billion bid for two Maytas companies i.e. Maytas Infra and Maytas Properties, and while the share market reacted very strongly against the bid and prices plunged by 55 % on concerns about Satyam’s corporate governance, that some of the independent directors came into action by announcing their withdrawal from the Board 6.5 Unconvinced Role of Independent Directors The Satyam episode has brought out the failure of the present corporate governance structure that hinges on the independent directors, who are supposed to bring objectivity to the oversight function of the board and improve its effectiveness. They serve as watchdogs over management, which involves keeping their eyes and ears open at Board deliberations with critical eye raising queries when decisions scent wrong. Stakeholders place high expectations on them but the Satyam’s case reveals such expectations are misplaced. Six of the nine directors on Satyam’s Board were independent directors including US academician Mangalam Srinivasan (the independent director since 1991), Vinod K. Dham (famously known as father of the Pentium and an ex Intel employee), M Rammohan Rao (Dean of Indian School of Business), US Raju (former director of IIT Delhi), T.R. Prasad (former Cabinet Secretary) and Krishna Palepu (professor at Harvard Business School). They were men of standing reputation. To avoid any controversy, the two founder directors did not participate in the decision making process for the reason that the provisions of the Companies Act and SEBI regulations mandate presence of only disinterested directors in board meeting where the agenda of such a nature is discussed. This naturally causes suspicion on the role performed by the independent directors present in that meeting. What concerns everyone is that those independent directors allowed themselves to be party to the mysterious designs of the promoter directors. It is hard to believe that such eminent and experienced personalities could not discover the well-planned massive fraud and manipulations. 6.6 Questionable Role of Audit Firm/Committee The true role of audit committee in prà ©cis is to ensure transparency in the company, that financial disclosures and financial statements provide a correct, sufficient and creditable picture and that, cases of frauds, irregularities, failure of internal control system within the organization, were minimized, which the committee failed to carry out. The timely action on the information supplied by 18 a whistleblower to the chairman and members of the audit committee (an e-mail dated December 18, 2008 by Jose Abraham), could serve as an SOS to the company, but, they chose to keep silent and did not report the matter to the shareholders or the regulatory authorities. The Board members on audit committee who failed to perform their duties alertly be therefore tried out under the provisions of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (an unimaginable fine extendable to rupees 25 crore by also including imprisonment for a term, which may extent to 10 years). 6.7 Suspicious Role of Rating Agencies Credit rating agencies have been consistently accused of their lax attitude in assessing issuers and giving misleading ratings without thorough analysis, as has been the case of Enron and now in Satyam, they failed to warn market participants about the deteriorating condition of company. On December 2, 2001, Enron Corporation, the USA’s 7th largest corporation declared bankruptcy when it was rated investment grade by all the credit rating agencies even four days before its bankruptcy. None of the watchdogs barked, including the credit rating agencies, which had greater access to Enron’s books. In the case of Satyam, credit rating agencies have been heavily criticized as regards their role and for the accuracy of their ratings. The rating agencies were allowed to look into company’s books for making assessments but they never investigated the financial condition of Satyam. The rating agencies displayed lack of due diligence in their coverage and assessment of Satyam. They based their analysis on fraudulently prepared and audited financial statements and thereby failed to warn investors about Satyam’s deteriorating condition. 6.8 Questionable Role of Banks The ICAI Probe Panel has hit out at banks for not doing due diligence on Satyam Software Services Ltd before giving it loans. While sanctioning short term loans why not the banks posed any question as to why the company which was supposedly cash rich as per the financial statements was taking loans from them. The Panel wondered why the government put Deepak Parikh on its Board despite his HDFC group being a major creditor to the company. The banks that gave loans to Satyam during 2000-08 despite the company claiming huge surpluses were HDFC Bank (Rs 530 Crore, Citibank (223.87 Crore), Citicorp Finance (Rs222.28 Crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 40 Crore), and BNP Paribas (Rs 20 Crore) totaling Rs 122.161 Crore. 6.9 Fake Audit PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)’s audit firm, Price Waterhouse, was in the auditor for Satyam and have been auditing their accounts since 2000-01. The fraudulent role played by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the failure of Satyam matches the role played by Arthur Anderson in the collapse of Enron. S Goplakrishnan and S Talluri, partners of PwC according to the SFIO findings, had admitted they did not come across any case or instance of fraud by the company. However, Ramalinga Raju admission of having fudged the accounts for several years put the role of these statutory auditors on the dock. The SFIO report stated that the statutory auditors instead of using an independent testing mechanism used Satyam’s investigative tools and thereby compromised on reporting standards.

The End Justifies The Means Philosophy Essay

The End Justifies The Means Philosophy Essay One of the major political thinkers known to us is Niccolo Machiavelli. He is well known for the phrase the end justifies the means which is continually being the subject of discussions and discourses today (Adams and Dyson). With Machiavellis principles, we are now faced with the issue whether the desired ends is justified by the means used to achieve them. The issue will be explored in the light of Niccolo Machiavellis The Qualities of the Prince and Martin Luther King Jr.s Letter from Birmingham Jail to ascertain the meaning of the phrase the end justifies the means. It cannot be denied that there are implications and difficulties when unworthy means are used to achieve worthy ends. However, one thing is sure: if an end or goal is worthy, any mean to achieve that end is justifiable provided that both ends and means are noble and good. The question whether the end justifies the means depends on the type of goal or end a person wants to achieve and the means they use. If both the means and the ends are equally noble and good, there is no question because the ends are justified by the means. This is the stand I have chosen to take. Although there are different views about the meaning of Machiavellis expression, I agree with the belief that both the ends and means should be good. Individuals are known at times to use Machiavellis phrase or expression as an excuse when they try to achieve their own goals no matter how immoral, illicit, and wrong their means are. For many individuals, it does not matter what means are used long as they get what they want. To justify their ends by some type of means sometimes involves doing a wrong thing when trying to achieve a positive end. They justify the wrong act by pointing to the outcome that was good. The wrong justification can be seen in some horrors in human history such as t he Holocaust, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagaski, the World Wars, and even the bombing of the World Trade Center. There are a lot of justifications made by many people about the ends these events serve, but one thing is true, the ends are noble but the means are not. To compare the two in what is considered wrong and morally right, one example is an individual lying about their qualifications on their resume when trying to get a good job. This individual would later justify the lying by saying that it is a means to receive a larger income to provide for his or her family more effectively. Another example would be justifying an abortion to save the mothers life. These two examples create a dilemma between what is done and what ought to be done. Machiavelli states, Because how one lives is so far distant from one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation; for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil (Machiavelli, The Prince Ch. 15). Considering these two examples, the lying and taking of an innocent life can be viewed as both equally wrong. On the other hand, the end which is providing for ones own family and the saving of a womans life are both morally right. However, one must learn to distinguish what should be done in order to avoid the consequences of what is done. What if the individual lying about his or her resume was not given the job because he lied? What if the baby aborted has the cure for cancer in his or her mind? The wrong means used can lead to ruin rather than good. It cannot be denied that we all have taken part of the end justifies the means debate at some point in our lives. Means used must also be ethical, social, and morally upright. Therefore, if one mean in itself is morally bad, it cannot really serve an end that is good, even though it would appear good on the surface. A goal or purpose achieved through an upright approach is the thing justified, not those immoral, illicit, and wrong. One significant proof of a justified means to an end is exemplified in the nonviolent demonstration against segregation fought for by Martin Luther King Jr. There are a lot of ways for the African Americans back then to achieve equality and freedom in American society. They can bomb the White House. They can coerce the government through unlawful means and other immoral and wrong acts you can imagine. However, Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers chose to gain freedom through a peaceful means. Here, we can see that both the means and the ends are noble and good. His famous writing Letter from Birmingham Jail laid down the agenda of their non-violent campaign. In his letter, Martin Luther King Jr. showed that the unjust treatment of Negroes and their segregation can be solved through peaceful means. A non-violent campaign however can produce tension but it is up to the protestors to handle the tension. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, King says, Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shock-ing. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word tension. I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth (Jr. 216). Martin Luther King Jr. died as a result of the demonstrations he started but the ends are met. His belief was opposed by the Whites during that time. The Whites also uphold the idea that the end justifies the means. They say that what they do to the Negroes is done because of self-preservation. The government during that time works to preserve the State so they acted on what to be done: give the African Americans what they want. The death of Martin Luther King Jr. proved that both the ends and means may be noble, that it can be justified. Martin Luther King Jr. is an example to be followed when applying the phrase the end justifies the means. As stated by Thayer, Be strong is therefore the first and last commandment for nations and princes to observe; and Machiavelli instructs them how to use their strength (Thayer 476). In this case, Martin Luther King Jr. knew what means to use for his desired end. No one can use bad means for any good end. In saying this, it can be compared to a person trying to build a good house from bad materials it does not work. The phrase the end justifies the means can fool us all if we do not look closely to what it says. What we fail to see in this statement is the end itself. Is it really good? We all fail to see and carefully examine the means and how they affect the ends. There are a lot of difficulties and complications when unworthy means are used to achieve worthy ends. An example would be the Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime (Gilbert 32). Is this end worthy after all the events that happened? Another example would be the two World Wars. Are the ends of such brutal means necessary? These complications are frequently seen in wartime situations and the political field. Governments do not care whatever means they employ just to win. They just think about victory although it means losing many lives, property, and even more morale. In these two situations, the only judgment is success and any means that would contribute to success is thought to be justified, but not by everyone. Any success can be used as the standard by which we all measure the benefit of the means. However, some benefits are superficial and do not last long. The misuse of the phrase the end justifies the means contradicts Machiavellis main point that a prince ought to think about future events and prepare for potential problems. If a person really thinks in a Machiavellian perspective, he or she would use necessary means to achieve an end to avoid future complications (Machiavelli, The Prince Ch. 14). People who pursue their dreams and their goals are more likely to take a path that is filled with obstacles. It is known that goals are achieved through very hard work. The means to attain such goals are different from the goals itself. One thing should be remembered though; both means and ends must be noble and good. What I have shown is that the ends or goals of any individual can always be justified by the means used to achieve it if only they are worthy enough. As Machiavelli points out, But to exercise the intellect the prince should read histories, and study there the actions of illustrious men, to see how they have borne themselves in war, to examine the causes of their victories and defeat, so as to avoid the latter and imitate the former (The Prince Ch. 14). There are a lot of horrific examples in justifying immoral, illicit, and wrong means but Machiavelli teaches us to learn from past experiences to achieve ends through noble and good means. In conclusion, we are all but humans who err most of the time. The values that we have as humans are what make us humans. Any means we use which violates our perception of morals and righteousness can never justify the end or the goals no matter how worthy they may seem to be. As seen in the Martin Luther King Jr. example, there are in fact a thousand ways to achieve one single end and it is up to you whether to use the noble means or the wrong means.

Oscar De La Hoya :: essays research papers

Oscar De La Hoya is a famous professional boxer. He is known all over the world for his looks, talent in the ring and his great sportsmanship. He is one of the best fighters in the field of boxing and a good role model for young children in the world today. PERSONAL Oscar De La Hoya lives and was born in East Los Angeles, California on February 4, 1973. His parents names are Joel, a former professional boxer from Durango, Mexico, and Dona Cecilia De La Hoya. His mother, Cecilia, passed away in her late thirties when breast cancer attacked her body. Oscar is the youngest boy in the family. He has an older brother name Joel, Jr., and a little sister name Maria. As a boy, Oscar never did like fighting or any physical sports. (Oscar, 1) He never looked like a type of person that would like those kind of things. Everytime he got into a fight with another kid, he always ran immediately to his house and cried. Don Joel, his father did not think much of it. For the fifth or sixth time, however, Don Joel started to believe that his son had a problem because, not fighting back when attacked was hardly a Mexican custom. So he decided that the best medicine for his disgrace, within the family, was to bring Oscar to visit a boxing gym. After all, Don Joel himself got the same medicine from his father, who had boxed in Mexico in the amateur ranks in the 1930's. (Kawakami, 18) BOXING CAREER Oscar first saw boxing gloves when he was five years old. From then on he was a boxer all his life. He started winning awards and trophies when he was eleven years old. Oscar De La Hoya never went to college, he finished high school and focused all his energy on his boxing. As an amateur, De La Hoya spent the early mornings running through the streets of East Los Angeles to train. Oscar De La Hoya, also known as " Golden Boy", first captured America's hearts by becoming the only American boxer to win an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1992 summer games. Oscar got his nickname by publicist John Beyrooty introducing him with the name "Golden Boy" at a press conference. After a few months Oscar won America's only gold medal. Oscar's professional career hit the stratosphere in June 11, 1994. (Hoffer, 56) He sky-rocketed through the professional ranks becoming the undisputed, undefeated lightweight champion of the world in just his twenty fights. De La Hoya, earned $9 million dollars for the bout and preserved his position as boxing non--heavy weight superstar. Oscar De La Hoya :: essays research papers Oscar De La Hoya is a famous professional boxer. He is known all over the world for his looks, talent in the ring and his great sportsmanship. He is one of the best fighters in the field of boxing and a good role model for young children in the world today. PERSONAL Oscar De La Hoya lives and was born in East Los Angeles, California on February 4, 1973. His parents names are Joel, a former professional boxer from Durango, Mexico, and Dona Cecilia De La Hoya. His mother, Cecilia, passed away in her late thirties when breast cancer attacked her body. Oscar is the youngest boy in the family. He has an older brother name Joel, Jr., and a little sister name Maria. As a boy, Oscar never did like fighting or any physical sports. (Oscar, 1) He never looked like a type of person that would like those kind of things. Everytime he got into a fight with another kid, he always ran immediately to his house and cried. Don Joel, his father did not think much of it. For the fifth or sixth time, however, Don Joel started to believe that his son had a problem because, not fighting back when attacked was hardly a Mexican custom. So he decided that the best medicine for his disgrace, within the family, was to bring Oscar to visit a boxing gym. After all, Don Joel himself got the same medicine from his father, who had boxed in Mexico in the amateur ranks in the 1930's. (Kawakami, 18) BOXING CAREER Oscar first saw boxing gloves when he was five years old. From then on he was a boxer all his life. He started winning awards and trophies when he was eleven years old. Oscar De La Hoya never went to college, he finished high school and focused all his energy on his boxing. As an amateur, De La Hoya spent the early mornings running through the streets of East Los Angeles to train. Oscar De La Hoya, also known as " Golden Boy", first captured America's hearts by becoming the only American boxer to win an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1992 summer games. Oscar got his nickname by publicist John Beyrooty introducing him with the name "Golden Boy" at a press conference. After a few months Oscar won America's only gold medal. Oscar's professional career hit the stratosphere in June 11, 1994. (Hoffer, 56) He sky-rocketed through the professional ranks becoming the undisputed, undefeated lightweight champion of the world in just his twenty fights. De La Hoya, earned $9 million dollars for the bout and preserved his position as boxing non--heavy weight superstar.

Alcoholism :: essays research papers

Alcohol is the intoxicating part of beer, wine and liquors-the part that causes drunkenness. It is formed during fermentation, the process that creates the alcohlolicbeverage. When sugars from the fruits or grains are combined with yeast and water, alcohol results. Alcohol is a drug and, like all drugs, it has an effect on a person’s body and mind. Because drinking alcoholic beverages makes some people feel more alive and more outgoing, alcohol is sometimes seen as a stimulant. But in fact it is a depressant, and slows down the central nervous system, of which the brain is a part. Small amounts of alcohol can affect a person’s coordination and judgment. Drinking a large amount of alcohol at one time can even cause death. Alcohol is estimated to be contributing factor in 20-30% of all accidents. In fatal car accidents involving young men after 10pm it is a contributory factor in 60% of these cases. About 30% of all drowning are estimated to be alcohol related. This propo rtion may rise to 50% between the ages 20-30. Alcohol is also a poisonous. It must be broken down and removed from the body. However, it leaves behind toxins, or poisons, that can cause health problems and contribute to serious diseases. Beer contains the least amount of alcohol, about 3-6%. Wine is 8-14 percent alcohol. Distilled spirits have a much higher alcoholic content. The alcoholic content of gin, scotch, vodka, whiskey, rum, and bourbon is about 40%. When alcohol enters the body this is what happens. Within 20 minutes of entering the stomach, as much as 20% of the alcohol in a drink is absorbed into the bloodstream. The rest remains in the stomach where it stimulates the secretion of gastric juices. Large amounts of alcohol entering an empty stomach can irritate the gastric lining and cause the stomach to become inflamed. From the stomach, the alcohol passes into the small intestine. Here the rest of it is absorbed through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. From the bloodstream, about 5 percent of alcohol leave the body unchanged through urine, sweat, or exhaled breath. Next the alcohol travels via the bloodstream to the heart. Small amounts of alcohol produce a slight increase in heart rate and blood pressure. Larger amounts reduce pumping power of the heart and can cause an irregular heartbeat. The heart then pumps the alcohol through the blood vessels to other parts of the body, including the brain.

Adaptation to Climate Change in Sri Lanka Essay -- Global Warming Essay

Adaptation to climate change is defined as the range of actions taken in response to changes in local and regional climatic conditions (Smit et al., 2000). Climate change adaptation simply means reducing the vulnerability of people’s lives and livelihoods to risk posed by climate change. Agriculture adaptation measures can be categorised into policy level interventions, technology development and farm level management practices. The government of Sri Lanka realising the importance of climate change adaptation has taken number of initiatives at policy level to address the concerns of climate change and among the initiatives; the most important is the recently formulated national climate change adaptation strategy. The national climate change adaptation strategy is structured into five strategic thrust areas of which the third thrust area is focused on minimizing climate change impacts on food security (NCCAS, 2010). Sri Lanka ratified UNFCC in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, thereby affirming commitments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Sri Lanka...

Booth Multiplier

Low Power Booth Multiplier by Effective Capacitance Minimization P. Nageshwar Reddy Dr. Damu Radhakrishnan Stu. in SUNY, New Paltz, NY Prof. in SUNY, New Paltz, NY Abstract: In this paper we present an energy efficient parallel multiplier design based on effective capacitance minimization. Only the partial product reduction stage in the multiplier is considered in our research. The effective capacitance is the product of capacitance and switching activity. Hence to minimize the effective capacitance in our design, we decided to ensure that the switching activity of nodes with higher capacitances is kept to a minimum.This is achieved in our design by wiring the higher switching activity signals to nodes with lower capacitance and vice versa for the 4:2 compressor and full adder cells, assuming the initial probability of each partial product bit as 0. 25. This reduced the overall switching capacitance, thereby reducing the total power consumption in the multiplier. Power analysis is do ne by synthesizing our design on Spartan-3E FPGA and used XPower Analyzer tool that is provided in ISE Xilinx 10. 1. The dynamic power for our 16? 16 multiplier was measured as 360. 4mW, and the total power 443. 31mW. This is 17. 4% less compared to the most recent design. Also we noticed that our design has the lowest power-delay product compared to the multiplier presented in the literature. Index Terms- Booth multiplier, Effective capacitance, 4:2 compressor. 1. Introduction A multiplier is the most frequently used fundamental arithmetic unit in various digital systems such as computers, process controllers and signal processors. Thus it has become a major source of power dissipation in these digital systems.With the exponential growth of portable systems that are operated on batteries, power reduction has become one of the primary design constraints in recent years. In the present era, each and every electronic device is implemented using CMOS technology. The three major sources of power dissipation in digital CMOS circuits are dynamic, short circuit and leakage [1]. Generally, power reduction techniques aim at minimizing all the above mentioned power dissipation sources but our emphasis is on dynamic power dissipation as it dominates other power dissipation sources in digitalCMOS circuits. The switching or dynamic power dissipation occurs due to the charging and discharging of capacitors at different nodes in a circuit [2]. The average dynamic power consumption of a digital circuit with N nodes is given by: where VDD is the supply voltage, Ci is the load capacitance at node i, fCLK is the clock frequency and ? i is the switching activity at node i. The product of switching activity and load capacitance at a node is called effective capacitance.Assuming only one logic change per clock cycle, the switching activity at a node i can be defined as the probability that the logic value at the node changes (0->1 or 1->0) between two consecutive clock cycles . For a given logic element, the switching activity at its output(s) can be computed using the probability of its inputs and is given by: where and denote the probability of occurrence of a ‘one’ and ‘zero’ at node i respectively. When Pi = 0. 5, the switching activity at a node is maximum and it decreases as it goes towards the two extreme values (i. e. both from 0. to 0 and 0. 5 to 1). The two main low power design strategies for dynamic power reduction are based on (i) supply voltage reduction and (ii) the effective capacitance minimization. The reduction of supply voltage is one of the most aggressive techniques because the power savings are significant due to the quadratic dependence on VDD. Although such reduction is usually very effective, it increases leakage current in the transistors and also decreases circuit speed. The minimization of effective switching capacitance involves reducing switching activity or node capacitance.The node capacitance de pends on the integration technology used. To reduce switching activity only requires a detailed analysis of signal transition probabilities, and implementation of various circuit level design techniques, such as logic synthesis optimization and balanced paths. It is independent of the technology used and is less expensive. Admiring the advantages of switching activity reduction, this paper focuses on switching activity reduction techniques in a multiplier. Digital Multiplication is done in three steps in a Booth coded multiplier.The first step is to generate all the partial products in parallel using Booth recoding. In the second step these partial products are reduced to 2 operands in several stages by applying Wallace/Dadda rules. These stages follow one after the other, feeding the output of one stage to the next. The final step is adding the two operands using a carry propagate adder to produce the final sum. Our main focus in this paper is the second step, partial product reduc tion. Fig. 1 shows the modified Dadda reduction tree for a 6? 6 unsigned multiplier, which uses full adders (FA) and half adders (HA) as basic elements.Stage 1 is the rearranged 6? 6 unsigned partial product array obtained using the partial product generator. At every partial product reduction(PPR) stage the number of bits with the same order (bits in a column) are grouped together and connected to adder cells following Dadda’s rules. Each column represents partial products of a certain magnitude. The sum output of a FA or HA at one stage will place a dot in the same column at the next stage and an output carry in the column to the left in the next stage (i. e. one order of magnitude higher). Fig. 1. Modified Dadda reduction tree for 6? unsigned multiplication The Wallace and Dadda designs use only FAs and HAs in the reduction stages, which form an irregular layout and increases wiring complexity. Wiring complexity is a measure of power. Since then Weinberger [3] has proposed a 4:2 compressor, the majority of the multiplier designs today make use of 4:2 compressors to increase the performance of the multiplier. They also contribute to power reduction as they decrease the wiring capacitance due to a more regular layout, contributing to fewer transitions in the partial product reduction tree. It also reduces hardware cost.The design of the 4:2 compressor got impoved in time, and modified design presented by Jiang et al. claimed improvements in both delay and power dissipation compared to earlier designs [4]. Several logic and circuit level optimizations are possible by using higher order compressors instead of simple FA cells for reducing the number of transitions in the partial product reduction stage. Because of this we used 4:2 compressors, FA (3:2 compressor) and HA cells in our partial product reduction stages. We reduced the switching activity by minimizing the effective capacitance at every node in the circuit.This stands as the main focus of this paper. This paper is organized as follows: related research in section 2 and 2. Related Research Many researchers have elucidated different low power multiplier architectures by using different techniques to reduce the total switching activity in a multiplier [ ]-[ ]. Ohban, et al. proposed a low power multiplier using the so called bypassing technique [5]. The main idea of their approach is to minimize the signal transitions while adding zero valued partial products. This is done by bypassing the adder stage whenever the multiplier bit is zero.Masayuki, et al. proposed an algorithm using operand decomposition technique [6]. They decomposed the multiplicand and the multiplier into 4 operands and using them they generated twice the number of partial products compared to the conventional multiplier. By doing this, they reduced the one probability of each partial product bit to 1/8 while it is 1/4 in the conventional multipliers. This in turn decreases the switching probability. Chen, et al. proposed a multiplier based on effective dynamic range of the input data [7].If the data with smaller effective dynamic range is Booth coded then the partial products have greater chances to be zero, which decreases the switching activities of partial products. Fujino, et al. proposed a multiply accumulate design using dynamic operand transformation technique in which current values of the input is compared with previous values [8]. If more than half of the bits in an operand change then it is dynamically transformed to its two’s complement in order to decrease the transition activity during multiplication. Chen, et al. roposed a low power multiplier, which uses spurious power suppression technique (SPST) equipped Booth encoder [9]. The SPST uses a detection logic circuit to detect whether the Booth encoder is calculating redundant computations which yield in Zero partial product and stops such PP generation process. To implement the basic principles used in all the ab ove mentioned multiplier architectures not only increase hardware intensity but also introduce delay in the operation. Also the extra circuitry employed to implement them consumes power.So our research interest is focused on techniques which decrease power without introducing any delay and additional hardware. Oskuii et al. proposed an algorithm based on static probabilities at the primary inputs [10]. At every PP reduction stage the number of bits with the same order of magnitude (bits in a column) are grouped together and connected to the adder cells in a Dadda tree. The selection of these bits and their grouping influences the overall switching activity of the multiplier. This was illustrated in Oskuii’s paper by referring to an early work, which is described below. Only one column per stage is considered here. As the generated carry bits from adders propagate from LSB towards MSB, optimization of columns is performed from LSB to MSB and from first stage to last stage. Thu s it can be ensured that the optimization of columns and stages that has already been performed will still be valid when later optimizations are being performed. * Glitches and spurious transitions spread in the reduction stage after a few layers of combinational logic. To avoid them is not feasible in most cases. Therefore it seems beneficial to assign short paths to partial products having high switching activity.Oskuii’s goal was to reduce the power in Dadda trees. The one probability for sum and carry of the FA and HA can be calculated from their functional behavior [10]. According to Oskuii’s algorithm, assuming the switching probabilities of partial products in a particular stage are calculated using the previous stage one probabilities and in each column and they arranged these partial product bits in ascending order. They first use the lower switching probability bits to feed full and half adders and transfer the higher switching probability bits to the next st age.From the set of bits to feed adders they tried to feed the highest switching probability signal to the carry input of the full adder as its path in full- adder is shorter than the other two inputs. Fig. 2. Example to illustrate Oskuii’s approach [10] Fig. 2 gives an example where 7 bits with the same order of magnitude are to be added. This is shown as the shaded box in the 2nd group of bits from top in Fig. 2. According to Dadda rules of reducing a partial product tree, 2 FAs must be used and one bit will be passed to the next stage together with the sum and carry bits generated by the full adders. s for i varying from 1 to 7 represent the switching probabilities of the seven bits. These are sorted in ascending order and listed as ? i* with the highest one as ? 1*. According to their approach, the bit with highest switching activity is kept for the next stage i. e. in Fig. 3. 2, and assign and to the carry inputs of the two FAs as their path is shorter and the other bits to the remaining inputs of FAs in any order. In this way they reduced the partial product tree by bringing the highest transition probability bits more closer to the output such that it reduces the total power in the multiplier without any extra hardware cost.Oskuii claimed that power reduction varying from 4% to 17% in multiplier designs could be achieved using their approach. On careful analysis of Oskuii’s work we notice that further reduction in power can be achieved. This is elaborated in our design presented in the next section. 3. Proposed Work By using a partial product generator (PPG) for the n? n multiplier employing radix-4 Booth encoder we obtained the required partial products. These partial products are then reduced to 2 operands employing several partial product reduction (PPR) stages. We used a combination of 4:2 compressors, FAs and HAs in reduction stages.At each stage modified Dadda rules are applied to obtain operands for the next stage. While minimizing the partial product bits in each column using 4:2/3:2 compressors and HA cells, emphasis was given on higher speed and lower power. Higher speed is achieved by allowing the partial product bits to pass through a minimum number of reduction stages, while minimizing the final carry propagate adder length to the minimum. Fig. 3. Proposed PPG scheme for a 16? 16 multiplier Fig. 3 shows the proposed partial product reduction scheme for a 16? 16 parallel multiplier.Nine partial products obtained by PPG are reduced to 2 operands using 3 reduction stages. The vertical green boxes in each column represent 4:2 compressors. It takes five bits and reduces them into 3 output bits, one sum bit in the same column position and two carry bits in the next higher significant column (one bit left) of next stage. The vertical red boxes represent full adder cells, which reduce three partial product bits in a column and generate the sum and carry bits. Similarly, the vertical blue boxes represent half add ers and add two partial product bits to reduce it to 2 output bits.The order in which the inputs are fed to 4:2 compressor, full and half adders is discussed in the next section. In Fig. 3 the maximum number of partial products in a column is 8 (columns 14 to 17). Since we are using 4:2 compressors that can take up to 5 input bits, to reduce the partial products in the first stage, we want to make sure that the maximum number of partial products in the next stage is only 5. This way we can reduce the bits in each column in stage 2 using one level of 4:2 compressors. And in the third stage, we want to ensure that the maximum number of bits in any column is only 3, so that full adders can be used to add them.This will permit the whole reduction process to be achieved in 3 stages. The half adder in column 2 in reduction stage 1 and the full adder in column 3 in reduction stage 2 are used so as to minimize the size of the final carry propagate adder. 4. Power Reduction Once the minimum number of reduction stages is established for a design, the next criterion is to minimize power consumption. This is achieved by delay passing and reducing the effective capacitance at every node in the reduction stages also following Oskuii’s rules (discussed in Section 2).To minimize the effective switching activity, the design must ensure that the switching activity of nodes with higher capacitance value must be kept to a minimum. This is achieved by a special interconnection pattern used in our design. The higher switching activity signals are wired to nodes with lower capacitance and vice versa. Our multiplier design uses the above idea to minimize power. This paper therefore focuses on selective interconnection of signals to the inputs of 4:2 compressors and FAs and HAs using the above concept.The logic diagram and the input capacitances for a full adder are shown in Fig. 4(a). For the following we will assume that each and every input lead to a logic gate is considered as one unit load (C1). Hence if a signal is connected to the inputs of two logic gates, then the load is two units (C2). From the logic diagram of the full adder in Fig. 4(a), input B is connected only to an XOR gate, where as inputs A and C are connected to both an XOR and a Mux. Hence, the input capacitance of the B-input is smaller than the other two inputs.The load presented by the B input is one unit load, while the loads presented by A and C are 2 unit loads. Hence a transition on input B will result in less effective capacitance. This is represented by the capacitance values C1 (1 unit load) and C2 (2 unit loads) as shown in Fig. 4. 9. Again by comparing the three inputs, the C input goes through only one logic device (XOR gate or Mux) before it reaches the output, where as both A and B goes through two logic devices before reaching the output. Hence, a transition on any of the inputs A or B could result in output transitions on all the three logic devices.But a transition o n input C will affect only two of these logic devices. Therefore we can conclude that even though the inputs A and C represent the same load, the overall switching effect on the full adder due to C input will be less than that due to A input. Hence, as a rule of thumb, the first two higher transition inputs among a set of three inputs that are given to a full adder should be connected to the B and C inputs and the last one to A. (a) (b) Fig. 4. a) FA logic diagram and input capacitances (b) 4:2 compressor logic diagram and input capacitances Similarly, the logic diagram of a 4:2 compressor and its input capacitances are shown in Fig. 4. (b). The input capacitances presented by X1, X3, X4 and Cin are twice that presented by X2. Hence, the highest transition probability signal must be connected to the X2 input. Again by using a similar argument as in the full adder, the second highest transition probability signal must be given to the Cin. The remaining inputs are given to X1, X3 and X4 in any order. This minimizes the overall effective capacitance in a 4:2 compressor.The probability of a logic one at the output of any block is a function of the probability of a logic one at its inputs [11] [12]. From the logic functions of 4:2 compressor, FA and HA we can calculate their output probabilities knowing their input probabilities. Table 2: Probability equations for 4:2 Compressor | 4:2 Compressor| PSUM| | PCout| | PC0| | Table 1 shows the probability expression for the sum and carry outputs for the full adder and half adder in terms of their input signal probabilities. The 4:2 compressor output probabilities are shown in Table 2. By comparingTables 1 and 2 we can say that the statistical probabilities of the output signals of basic elements (4:2 compressors, full adders and half adders) used in partial product reduction stages vary. Table 3 shows the output signal probabilities of 4:2 compressor, full adder and half adder, assuming equal ‘1’ probabiliti es of 0. 25 for all inputs. In each partial product reduction stage the signals in a particular column have different switching probabilities. The output signals of one stage become inputs to the next stage. So the switching probabilities of the outputs diverge more as we move down the partial production reduction stages.Table 3. 1: Output Signal Probabilities of FAs and HAs | Full-adder| Half adder| SUM| | | CARRY| | A. B| PSUM| | | PCARRY| | | Table 3: Output probabilities of 4:2 compressor and adder cells Input signal probabilities = 0. 25| 4:2 compressor| Full adder| Half adder| SumCoutC0| 0. 48440. 15630. 2266| SumCarry| 0. 43750. 1563| SumCarry| 0. 3750. 0625| Several reduction stages are required to reduce the partial products generated in a parallel multiplier. As shown in Fig. 3, at each stage a number of bits with the same order of magnitude are grouped together and connected to the 4:2 compressors and adder cells.The selection of these bits and their grouping influences t he overall switching activity of the multiplier. This is what we will exploit to reduce the overall switching activity of the multiplier. Fig. 5 shows the array structure of the proposed partial product reduction scheme for a 16? 16 multiplier. In the following we assumed that the one probability of all the 9 partial product bits are same and is equal to 0. 25 (as discussed in Section 3. 26). These 9 partial product bits are fed to 4:2 compressors, full and half adders and are reduced to 5 operands. The bits in these 5 operands will have different one probabilities.From these one probabilities we can calculate their switching probability. If we look at each column all the bits in that column have the same weight but different one probability. So we have enough freedom to choose any of these signals which can be connected to any of the inputs of the basic elements. The way these signals are wired to basic elements to achieve reduction will affect the total power consumption in a mult iplier. Show an example Fig 5 shows how we wired the input signals to 4:2 compressors and full adders in the proposed design. To illustrate the principle consider column 16 of reduction stage 2 in Fig. , where we have five bits with the same order of magnitude, which are to be wired to the inputs of a 4:2 compressor. The first higher transition bit is fed to X2 input and next higher transition bit is fed to Cin, as they provide lower switching activity when compared to others. The remaining three bits can be fed to X1, X3 and X4 in any order. Similarly on column 11 in reduction stage 3, three bits of the same order are to be added. The highest transition bit is given to B input of the adder and the next higher transition bit is fed to C input. The third bit is fed to A input.This way of feeding the inputs, we can decrease the output switching probabilities of compressors and adders. By applying the same technique to every stage we can reduce the overall switching capacitance of the multiplier, thereby reducing power. Fig. 5. Wiring patterns for 4:2 compressors and full adders 5. Simulation Power analysis was done by synthesizing our 16? 16 multiplier design on Spartan-3E FPGA and using XPower Analyzer tool provided in ISE Xilinx 10. 1. We evaluated the performance of our 16? 16 multiplier by comparing with the conventional Wallace and Oskuii’s multipliers.Table 4 shows the quiescent and dynamic powers of different multipliers obtained by simulation. The quiescent power is almost the same for all multipliers. The dynamic power for our design is only 360. 74 mW, where as Oskuii’s and Wallace multipliers consume 454. 06mW and 475. 08 mW respectively. Hence the total power consumption is only 443. 31mW for our multiplier, which is less by 17. 39% and 20. 51%, compared to Oskuii’s and Wallace multipliers. Table 4: Power reports from simulation for a 16? 16 Multiplier Design| QuiescentPower (mW)| DynamicPower (mW)| TotalPower (mW)| Our Design| 8 2. 7| 360. 74| 443. 31| Oskuii’s Design| 82. 57| 454. 06| 536. 63| WallaceMultiplier| 82. 67| 475. 08| 557. 75| Table 5 Power-Delay products of 16? 16 multipliers Design| Total Delay (ns)| Power (mW)| Power-Delay Product| Our Design| 30. 889| 443. 31| 13. 693*10-9| Oskuii’s Design| 31. 219| 536. 63| 16. 753*10-9| WallaceMultiplier| 35. 278| 557. 05| 19. 651*10-9| Table 5 shows the power-delay products of different multipliers. Smaller the power delay product of a multiplier the higher is its performance. Our design has the shortest delay of 30. 889ns, compared to 31. 219ns and 35. 78ns for Oskuii’s design and Wallace’s design respectively. Hence our design has the lowest power-delay product compared to both Oskuii’s and Wallace multipliers. 6. Conclusions We have presented an investigation of multiplier power dissipation, along with some techniques which allow reductions in power consumption for this circuit. Given the importance of multipliers, it is essential that further research efforts are to be directed in the following ways. * In this thesis the switching activity criteria for the interconnection pattern in 4:2 compressors was used only for two of the inputs of the 4:2 compressor.The interconnections of signals on the other three inputs are made without any importance given to their switching activity. This is because at the gate level, the load capacitance at a node is measured simply based on the number of connections made at that node. In the 4:2 compressor, three of the inputs are feeding two inputs each (except the carry input). Hence, we consider them with the same load capacitance. In reality, this is not true. To get an accurate estimate on capacitance, an actual layout of the cell has to be made using VLSI layout tools and then their capacitances are to be extracted.Hence further research could focus on the above so as to find an ordering for these inputs based on their capacitance values. Also, different impl ementations of 4:2 compressors may be compared so as to select the one with the lowest capacitance values. * Extending the proposed interconnection technique to the partial product reduction stage by employing higher order compressors such as 5:2, 9:2, 28:2, etc. In this manner, different architectures using various combinations of compressors in the partial product reduction stage can be compared so as to select the best one with the lowest power dissipation for any multiplier.References 1] D. Soudris, C. Piguet, and C. Goutiset , Designing CMOS Circuits for Low Power. Kluwer Academic Press, 2002. [2] L. Benini, G. D. Micheli, et al. , Dynamic Power Management Design Techniques & CAD Tools. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998. [3] A. Weinberger, â€Å"4:2 Carry Save Adder Module,† IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 23, 1981. [4] S. F. Hsiao, M. R. Jiang, and J. S. Yeh, â€Å"Design of High-Speed Low-Power 3-2 Counter and 4-2 Compressor for Fast Multipliers,â €  Electronics Let. , vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 341-342, 1998. [5] J. Ohban, â€Å"Multiplier Energy Reduction Through Bypassing of Partial Products† in Proc. Asia-Pacific Conf. on Circuits and Systems, vol. 2, pp. 13–17, 2002. [6] M. Ito, D. Chinnery, and K. Keutzer, â€Å"Low Power Multiplication Algorithm for Switching Activity Reduction Through Operand Decomposition,† 21st Int. Conf. on Computer Design, 2003. [7] O. T. Chen, S. Wang, and Yi-Wen Wu, â€Å"Minimization of Switching Activities of Partial Products for Designing Low-Power Multipliers,† IEEE Trans. on VLSI Syst. , vol. 11, pp. 418 – 433, 2003. [8] M. Fujino, and V. G. Moshnyaga, â€Å"Dynamic Operand Transformation for Low-Power Multiplier-Accumulator Design,† in Proc. of the Int. symp. n circuits and systems, 2003. [9] K. H. Chen and Y. S. Chu, â€Å"A Low Power Multiplier with Spurious Power Suppression Technique,† IEEE Trans. VLSI Syst. , vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 846-850, 20 07. [10] S. T. Oskuii, â€Å"Transition-Activity Aware Design of Reduction-Stages for Parallel Multipliers,† in Proc. of Great Lakes Symp. on VLSI, 2007. [11] K. Parker and E. J. McCluskey, â€Å"Probabilistic Treatment of General Combinational Networks,† IEEE Trans. on Computers, C-24: 668-670, June 1975. [12] M. Cirit, â€Å"Estimating Dynamic Power Consumption of CMOS Circuits† in Proc. of ICCAD, pp. 534–537, 1987.

Identifying the Barriers and Facilitators to Participation in Physical Activity for Children with Down Syndrome

Identifying the barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity for children with Down syndrome. Images Authors: Barr M; Shields N Author Address: School of Physiotherapy and the Musculoskeletal Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Vic. , Australia. Source: Journal Of Intellectual Disability Research: JIDR [J Intellect Disabil Res] 2011 Nov; Vol. 55 (11), pp. 1020-33. Date of Electronic Publication: 2011 May 10. Publication Type: Journal Article Language: EnglishJournal Information: Publisher: Blackwell Scientific Publications on behalf of the Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped Children and Adults : Oxford, UK Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 9206090 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1365-2788 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 09642633 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Intellect Disabil Res Subsets: MEDLINE MeSH Terms: Physical Education and Training* Sports*/psychology Down Syndrome/*physiopathology Down Syndrome/*rehabilitationMo tor Activity/*physiology Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child Behavior ; Child, Preschool ; Disability Evaluation ; Down Syndrome/psychology ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Life Style ; Male ; Motivation ; Parents/psychology ; Qualitative Research ; Victoria Abstract: Background: Many children with Down syndrome do not undertake the recommended amount of daily physical activity. The aim of this study was to explore the barriers and facilitators to physical activity for this group.Methods: Eighteen in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 parents (16 mothers, 4 fathers) of children with Down syndrome aged between 2 and 17 years to examine what factors facilitate physical activity and what factors are barriers to activity for their children. The participants were recruited through a community disability organisation that advocates for people with Down syndrome and their families. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and independently coded and analysed by two researchers using th ematic analysis.Results: Four themes on facilitators of physical activity were identified: (1) the positive role of the family; (2) opportunity for social interaction with peers; (3) structured accessible programmes that make adaptations for children with Down syndrome; and (4) children who were determined to succeed and physically skilled. Four themes on the barriers to physical activity were also identified: (1) characteristics commonly associated with Down syndrome; (2) competing family responsibilities; (3) reduced physical or behavioural skills; and (4) a lack of accessible programmes.Conclusions: The results highlight the important role of families in determining how much physical activity children with Down syndrome undertake and the effect that common characteristics associated with Down syndrome can have on maintaining an active lifestyle. Future research needs to concentrate on successful methods of encouraging physical activity, such as ensuring social interaction is part of the activity, and eliminating barriers to physical activity such as the a lack of appropriate programmes for children with Down syndrome.Implementing these strategies may encourage children with Down syndrome to participate more frequently in a physically active lifestyle. ( (c) 2011 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research (c) 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ) Entry Dates: Date Created: 20111024 Date Completed: 20120221 Update Code: 20120221 DOI: 10. 1111/j. 1365-2788. 2011. 01425. x PMID: 21554468 Database: MEDLINE with Full Text Images: Clinical practice. The care of children with Down syndrome. Images Go to all 8 images >> Authors: Weijerman ME; de Winter JP Author Address: Department of Pediatrics, VU University Medical Center, P.O. Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email  protected] nl Source: European Journal Of Pediatrics [Eur J Pediatr] 2010 Dec; Vol. 169 (12), pp. 1445-52. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Jul 15. Publication Type : Journal Article; Review Language: English Journal Information: Publisher: Springer Verlag : Berlin Country of Publication: Germany NLM ID: 7603873 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1432-1076 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 03406199 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Eur. J. Pediatr. Subsets: MEDLINE MeSH Terms: Life Expectancy* Cardiovascular Diseases/*therapyDown Syndrome/*mortality Down Syndrome/*therapy Respiratory Tract Diseases/*therapy Vision Disorders/*therapy Cardiovascular Diseases/epidemiology ; Cardiovascular Diseases/genetics ; Caregivers ; Child ; Comorbidity ; Delivery of Health Care/standards ; Down Syndrome/complications ; Down Syndrome/diagnosis ; Down Syndrome/epidemiology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases/epidemiology ; Gastrointestinal Diseases/genetics ; Gastrointestinal Diseases/therapy ; Humans ; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases/epidemiology ; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases/genetics ; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases/therapy ; Parents ;Practice Guidelines as Topic/standards ; Prevalence ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/epidemiology ; Respiratory Tract Diseases/genetics ; Risk Factors ; Vision Disorders/epidemiology ; Vision Disorders/genetics Abstract: Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common chromosomal abnormalities. Because of medical advances and improvements in overall medical care, the median survival of individuals with DS has increased considerably.This longer life expectancy requires giving the necessary care to the individual with DS over their total longer lifespan. DS medical guidelines are designed for the optimal care of the child in whom a diagnosis of DS has been confirmed. We present an overview of the most important issues related to children with DS based on the most relevant literature currently available. Entry Dates: Date Created: 20101025 Date Completed: 20110218 Update Code: 20111122 PubMed Central ID: PMC2962780 PMID: 20632187 Database: MEDLINE with Full Text