Overview of Fmcg Sector

An Overview of the FMCG Industry in India chillibreeze writer — Shital Vakhariya Looking for more info Read our more comprehensive report of the same at: India-Reports Read more about Discount Retailing   Ã‚  | | | What are Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)? Products which have a quick turnover, and relatively low cost are known as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). FMCG products are those that get replaced within a year.Examples of FMCG generally include a wide range of frequently purchased consumer products such as toiletries, soap, cosmetics, tooth cleaning products, shaving products and detergents, as well as other non-durables such as glassware, bulbs, batteries, paper products, and plastic goods. FMCG may also include pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, packaged food products, soft drinks, tissue paper, and chocolate bars. A subset of FMCGs are Fast Moving Consumer Electronics which include innovative electronic products such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital c ameras, GPS Systems and Laptops.These are replaced more frequently than other electronic products. White goods in FMCG refer to household electronic items such as Refrigerators, T. Vs, Music Systems, etc. In 2005, the Rs. 48,000-crore FMCG segment was one of the fast growing industries in India. According to the AC Nielsen India study, the industry grew 5. 3% in value between 2004 and 2005. Indian FMCG Sector | | The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest in the economy and has a market size of US$13. 1 billion. Well-established distribution networks, as well as intense competition between the organised and unorganised segments are the characteristics of this sector.FMCG in India has a strong and competitive MNC presence across the entire value chain. It has been predicted that the FMCG market will reach to US$ 33. 4 billion in 2015 from US $ billion 11. 6 in 2003. The middle class and the rural segments of the Indian population are the most promising market for FMCG, and give bra nd makers the opportunity to convert them to branded products. Most of the product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, shampoos, etc, in India, have low per capita consumption as well as low penetration level, but the potential for growth is huge.The Indian Economy is surging ahead by leaps and bounds, keeping pace with rapid urbanization, increased literacy levels, and rising per capita income. The big firms are growing bigger and small-time companies are catching up as well. According to the study conducted by AC Nielsen, 62 of the top 100 brands are owned by MNCs, and the balance by Indian companies. Fifteen companies own these 62 brands, and 27 of these are owned by Hindustan Lever. Pepsi is at number three followed by Thums Up. Britannia takes the fifth place, followed by Colgate (6), Nirma (7), Coca-Cola (8) and Parle (9).These are figures the soft drink and cigarette companies have always shied away from revealing. Personal care, cigarettes, and soft drinks are the t hree biggest categories in FMCG. Between them, they account for 35 of the top 100 brands. Exhibit I THE TOP 10 COMPANIES IN FMCG SECTOR S. NO. | Companies| 1. | Hindustan Unilever Ltd. | 2. | ITC (Indian Tobacco Company)| 3. | Nestle India| 4. | GCMMF (AMUL)| 5. | Dabur India| 6. | Asian Paints (India)| 7. | Cadbury India| 8. | Britannia Industries| 9. | Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care| 10. | Marico Industries| Source: Naukrihub. comThe companies mentioned in Exhibit I, are the leaders in their respective sectors. The personal care category has the largest number of brands, i. e. , 21, inclusive of Lux, Lifebuoy, Fair and Lovely, Vicks, and Ponds. There are 11 HLL brands in the 21, aggregating Rs. 3,799 crore or 54% of the personal care category. Cigarettes account for 17% of the top 100 FMCG sales, and just below the personal care category. ITC alone accounts for 60% volume market share and 70% by value of all filter cigarettes in India. The foods category in FMCG is g aining popularity with a swing of launches by HLL, ITC, Godrej, and others.This category has 18 major brands, aggregating Rs. 4,637 crore. Nestle and Amul slug it out in the powders segment. The food category has also seen innovations like softies in ice creams, chapattis by HLL, ready to eat rice by HLL and pizzas by both GCMMF and Godrej Pillsbury. This category seems to have faster development than the stagnating personal care category. Amul, India's largest foods company, has a good presence in the food category with its ice-creams, curd, milk, butter, cheese, and so on. Britannia also ranks in the top 100 FMCG brands, dominates the biscuits category and has launched a series of products at various prices.In the household care category (like mosquito repellents), Godrej and Reckitt are two players. Goodknight from Godrej, is worth above Rs 217 crore, followed by Reckitt's Mortein at Rs 149 crore. In the shampoo category, HLL's Clinic and Sunsilk make it to the top 100, although P;amp;G's Head and Shoulders and Pantene are also trying hard to be positioned on top. Clinic is nearly double the size of Sunsilk. Dabur is among the top five FMCG companies in India and is a herbal specialist. With a turnover of Rs. 19 billion (approx.US$ 420 million) in 2005-2006, Dabur has brands like Dabur Amla, Dabur Chyawanprash, Vatika, Hajmola and Real. Asian Paints is enjoying a formidable presence in the Indian sub-continent, Southeast Asia, Far East, Middle East, South Pacific, Caribbean, Africa and Europe. Asian Paints is India's largest paint company, with a turnover of Rs. 22. 6 billion (around USD 513 million). Forbes Global magazine, USA, ranked Asian Paints among the 200 Best Small Companies in the World Cadbury India is the market leader in the chocolate confectionery market with a 70% market share and is ranked number two in the total food drinks market.Its popular brands include Cadbury's Dairy Milk, 5 Star, Eclairs, and Gems. The Rs. 15. 6 billion (USD 380 Mill ion) Marico is a leading Indian group in consumer products and services in the Global Beauty and Wellness space. Scope Of The Sector| | | The Indian FMCG sector with a market size of US$13. 1 billion is the fourth largest sector in the economy. A well-established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments characterize the sector. FMCG Sector is expected to grow by over 60% by 2010. That will translate into an annual growth of 10% over a 5-year period.It has been estimated that FMCG sector will rise from around Rs 56,500 crores in 2005 to Rs 92,100 crores in 2010. Hair care, household care, male grooming, female hygiene, and the chocolates and confectionery categories are estimated to be the fastest growing segments, says an HSBC report. Though the sector witnessed a slower growth in 2002-2004, it has been able to make a fine recovery since then. | | For example, Hindustan Levers Limited (HLL) has shown a healthy growth in the last quarte r. An estimated double-digit growth over the next few years shows that the good times are likely to continue.Growth Prospects With the presence of 12. 2% of the world population in the villages of India, the Indian rural FMCG market is something no one can overlook. Increased focus on farm sector will boost rural incomes, hence providing better growth prospects to the FMCG companies. Better infrastructure facilities will improve their supply chain. FMCG sector is also likely to benefit from growing demand in the market. Because of the low per capita consumption for almost all the products in the country, FMCG companies have immense possibilities for growth.And if the companies are able to change the mindset of the consumers, i. e. if they are able to take the consumers to branded products and offer new generation products, they would be able to generate higher growth in the near future. It is expected that the rural income will rise in 2007, boosting purchasing power in the countrys ide. However, the demand in urban areas would be the key growth driver over the long term. Also, increase in the urban population, along with increase in income levels and the availability of new categories, would help the urban areas maintain their position in terms of consumption.At present, urban India accounts for 66% of total FMCG consumption, with rural India accounting for the remaining 34%. However, rural India accounts for more than 40% consumption in major FMCG categories such as personal care, fabric care, and hot beverages. In urban areas, home and personal care category, including skin care, household care and feminine hygiene, will keep growing at relatively attractive rates. Within the foods segment, it is estimated that processed foods, bakery, and dairy are long-term growth categories in both rural and urban areas. Indian Competitiveness and Comparison with the World MarketsThe following factors make India a competitive player in FMCG sector:? Availability of raw ma terials Because of the diverse agro-climatic conditions in India, there is a large raw material base suitable for food processing industries. India is the largest producer of livestock, milk, sugarcane, coconut, spices and cashew and is the second largest producer of rice, wheat and fruits &vegetables. India also produces caustic soda and soda ash, which are required for the production of soaps and detergents. The availability of these raw materials gives India the location advantage. Labor cost comparison Low cost labor gives India a competitive advantage. India's labor cost is amongst the lowest in the world, after China ;amp; Indonesia. Low labor costs give the advantage of low cost of production. Many MNC's have established their plants in India to outsource for domestic and export markets. ? Presence across value chain Indian companies have their presence across the value chain of FMCG sector, right from the supply of raw materials to packaged goods in the food-processing s ector. This brings India a more cost competitive advantage.For example, Amul supplies milk as well as dairy products like cheese, butter, etc. | Strategic Intent We intend to significantly accelerate profitable growth. To do this, we will: * Focus on growing our core brands across categories, reaching out to new geographies, within and outside India, and improve operational efficiencies by leveraging technology * Be the preferred company to meet the health and personal grooming needs of our target consumers with safe, efficacious, natural solutions by synthesizing our deep knowledge of ayurveda and herbs with modern science * Provide our consumers with innovative products ithin easy reach * Build a platform to enable Dabur to become a global ayurvedic leader * Be a professionally managed employer of choice, attracting, developing and retaining quality personnel * Be responsible citizens with a commitment to environmental protection * Provide superior returns, relative to our peer gr oup, to our shareholders * Dabur India Limited | * Dabur India Limited is India's leading FMCG company with interests in health care, personal care and foods. Dabur has a history of more than 100 years and the company has carved a niche for it self in the field of Ayurvedic medicines.The products of Dabur are marketed in more than 50 countries worldwide. The company has 2 major strategic business units (SBU) – Consumer Care Division (CCD) ;amp; Consumer Health Division (CHD), and 3 Subsidiary Group companies – Dabur Foods, Dabur Nepal and Dabur International. Dabur International has 3 step down subsidiaries – Asian Consumer Care in Bangladesh, African Consumer Care in Nigeria and Dabur Egypt. The origin of Dabur can be traced back to 1884 when Dr. S. K. Burman started a health care products manufacturing facility in a small Calcutta pharmacy.In 1896, as a result of growing popularity of Dabur products, Dr. Burman set up a manufacturing plant for mass production of formulations. In early 1900s, Dabur entered the specialized area of nature based Ayurvedic medicines. In 1919, Dabur established research laboratories to develop scientific processes and quality checks. In 1936, Dabur became a full-fledged company with the name Dabur India (Dr. S. K. Burman) Pvt Ltd. Dabur shifted its operations to Delhi in 1972. Dabur became a Public Limited Company in 1986 and Dabur India Limited came into existence after reverse merger with Vidogum Limited.In 1992, Dabur entered into a joint venture with Agrolimen of Spain to manufacture and market confectionary items in India. In 1994, Dabur raised its first IPO. In 1998, day to day running of the company was handed over to professionals. In 2000, Dabur achieved a turnover of Rs 1000 crores. In 2005, Dabur acquired Balsara. Dabur crossed $ 2 billion market cap in 2006. Some of the well-known brands of Dabur are: Amla Chyawanprash, Hajmola, Lal Dantmanjan, Nature Care, Pudin Hara, Babool Toothpaste, Hingoli, D abur Honey, Lemoneez, Meswak, Odonil, Real, RealActiv and Vatika.

Deoxyribonucleic Acid Used as Evidence in Solving Criminal Cold Cases Perry Hawn

Deoxyribonucleic Acid Used as Evidence in Solving Criminal Cold Cases Imagine it is a beautiful spring morning and you are walking along when suddenly a man wearing a ski mask and gloves jumps out from behind the bushes and your life is forever changed after this man drags you by your hair, behind the bushes, and proceeds to violently assault you. By some miracle you survive the attack and call the police. However, because this man was wearing a mask and gloves the police have no way of immediately identifying the perpetrator. You are taken to the nearest hospital where they take swabs from your vaginal area in hopes to collect enough Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) to create a sample that can be added to the â€Å"Combined DNA Index System (CODIS)† (May & McIntyre, 2002, p. v). A few years have passed and you hear a knock on your front door. It is a police detective who has come to your home to tell you that an arrest has been made in your case based on a DNA match made from a mouth swab taken from a man who was arrested a few days earlier for robbery. The purpose of this paper is to provide an argument in favor of the June ninth United States Supreme Court decision where five of the nine justices sitting agreed that taking DNA samples collected from those who are suspected of having committed a crime does not violate the fourth amendment of the constitution protecting Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures (Kirkland, 2013). The decision opened the door for police and other authorized law enforcement agencies to collect D. N. A. samples from suspects at the time of arrest so that the suspects D. N. A. can be used to possibly solve cold cases (St. Martin, 2013). Additionally, this paper will argue that using D. N. A. as evidence has multiple benefits like it is infallible because each person’s D. N. A. is unique with the exception of identical births(May & McIntyre, 2002). Further, DNA evidence has been used to solve crimes such as rape, robbery, and homicides. Additionally, D. N. A. offers law enforcement agenc ies new ways of looking at old crimes through the use of advanced technology, international and national databases (Hampikian, 2013). Deoxyribonucleic Acid Deoxyribonucleic Acid more commonly known as DNA is the building block of all living beings. In humans DNA is inherited from your ancestors and determines your hair color, eye color, height, bone structure, blood type and other personal attributes (Van der Sijde, 2013). DNA can be collected from any biological sample like bodily fluids and tissues (What, n. d. ). With the exception of identical births like twins each person’s DNA is as unique as his or her fingerprint (May & McIntyre, 2002). Infallible Evidence D. N. A. rovides foolproof evidence for several reasons including the one made by May and McIntyre cited above referencing the fact that each DNA sample is unique to its owner (except for identical births). Other arguments in favor of D. N. A. being sound evidence include the fact that new ways of collecting, storing, and analyzing D. N. A. have increased the lifespan of the collected samples making those samples viable â€Å"†¦years, even de cades, after it is collected† (May & McIntyre, 2002, p. 3). Furthermore reliable DNA samples can be taken from any type of biological sample including deceased victims (What, n. . ). Uses of D. N. A. Evidence D. N. A. evidence can be used to solve a multitude of crimes, incarcerate the guilty, and free the innocent. In one such case the perpetrator of an aged woman’s rape and attempted murder in North Carolina was arrested because of the criminals D. N. A. having been collected from multiple victims at differing crime scenes. Ten years later a D. N. A. match was found after the criminal had been arrested for an unrelated crime, as a result of D. N. A. evidence. This criminal nicknamed â€Å"the Night Stalker† (May & McIntyre, 2002, p. ) is currently on death row after being â€Å"†¦indicted for three counts of first degree murder, three counts of first degree rape, three counts of first degree burglary, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, first degree arson and burning of personal property† (State, 2003, pp. 2-3). New Way to Solve Old Crimes Use of advanced technologies that allow smaller samples of DNA to be collected for analyzing has made use of DNA to solve crimes more palatable. You can read also King v Cogdon What once to take a sample â€Å"†¦the size of a nickel†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Temple-Raston, 2008, p. 1) now only needs to be â€Å"†¦the size of a pinprick†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Temple-Raston, 2008, p. 1) offers a new way of looking at long-standing criminal investigations. Use of robotics to handle DNA samples allows for more rapid processing of samples creates a more favorable environment for solving cold cases (Temple-Raston, 2008). Further, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is responsible for the creation of CODIS which is â€Å"†¦a roster of prior criminals into a national data database†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Temple-Raston, 2008, p. ) CODIS links the DNA of prior offenders on a local, state, national and in some cases international level available to law enforcement to help unravel unsolved cases (Combined, n. d. ). Right to Privacy Opponents argue that the taking of DNA from alleged suspects at the time of arrest violates his or her intrinsic right to privacy or that the police will use the ruling to arrest anyone for minor infractions of the law just to get a DNA sample for a possible match (Flock, 2013). In the dissenting opinion Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote â€Å"†¦Make no mistake about it: because of today's decision, your DNA can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Flock, 2013, p. 1). However, Maryland District Attorney, Douglas F. Gansler, disagrees pointing out that law enforcement cannot arrest someone without probable cause and further states â€Å"if police are genuinely interested in someone's DNA, they could just go pick up their Diet Coke can at the McDonald's† (Flock, 2013, p. 1). Moreover, the majority of justices on the Supreme Court ruled that D. N. A. sample collection via mouth swab does not violate the fourth amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures (St. Martin, 2013). Innocent Until Proven Guilty Let’s face it folks who are going through the court system are there because the evidence pointed to him or her as a probable suspect. In actuality, because you can’t argue with D. N. A. , D. N. A. swabbing has done more to convict those who are actually guilty of committing crimes. Additionally, according to numbers gathered by the innocence project D. N. A. wabbing conducted after conviction has freed over 300 inmates who have been wrongly convicted by the court system under due process (DNA, 2013). Storage and Collection Methods Opponents of D. N. A. collection would argue that the storage and collection methods of D. N. A. are outdated and unreliable. However, proper training and new technology allow for D. N. A. to be collected and stored without danger of contamination. Training forensics experts to wear and change his or her gloves after touching each item prevents contamination. Additionally, storage of DNA samples in a cool, dry environment is another technique used to preserve D. N. A. samples. Other methods used to prevent the samples from becoming contaminated include use of separate storage envelopes for each sampling (What, 2013). Also, with the use of cutting edge technology like barcoding DNA samples (Hampikian, 2013) the storage and collection methods used for crime scene DNA are constantly improving and becoming more secure. Conclusion â€Å"Technology is neutral: It convicts and finds innocents. We must make it a regularized part of the system, giving defendant ’s access to DNA testing and evidence whenever it might be relevant† (Spitzer, 2013, n. ). Law enforcement needs a way to protect society from the criminal element who are becoming smarter and advancing their aptitudes for breaking the law through the use of technology. The Supreme Court’s ruling which allows for the swabbing of those arrested will help in solving crimes and exonerating the innocent. New and innovative technologies are making the collection and storage of DNA nearly fail proof. The modernization of the ways in which DNA is used in the criminal justice system is an ever evolving process that seems to be leading us to a more fair and just society.

Company G 3 Year Marketing Plan Essay

Company G develops products that improve the lives of consumers with innovative electronic technology and reliable build quality. We believe that our new Radio CD recorder does just that, it improves the lives of our consumers and gives them a product they can rely on because of our product build quality. Our product is a solution for consumers who would enjoy the convenience of having their favorite radio programming at their disposal. This sample-marketing plan demonstrates the strategies employed to place our new product in position to reach our profit potential. Company G provides consumers with not only reliable appliances but appliances that are cutting edge in design. Our company keeps an eco-friendly attitude in mind during the process of producing our products so that waste is eliminated. Solutions have been utilized to reduce maintenance costs, equipment costs and other costs associated with producing our products. Mission Statement â€Å"We enable consumers to improve the quality and convenience of their lives by providing innovative electronics solution.† The Product The features of the Radio CD recorder include a CD player, radio, CD quality radio recording, small to medium build design for portability, strong light weight construction for portability, timer radio recording for use while away from home, a quality antenna for radio signal strength, five hour rechargeable lithium ion batteries for ease of portability, power cord for home use, a USB outlet for all mp3 device compatibility, and easy to operate controls that can all be done from a wireless remote control. These features give consumers the freedom and convenience to use our product in a variety of ways. Build quality of our product surpasses all that is currently in the market and improves the overall radio experience for consumers. Consumer Product Classification Our consumer product classification falls under a shopping product. Consumers will buy our product only after comparing other radio products price, quality, color, and style. Consumers have limited information as it relates to our product and will gather information during the buying process. Our product can also be seen as homogenous, as there is an array of other radios on the market. Target Market Our focus is on Caucasian female college students between the ages of 18 to 25. Majority of our consumers will be working part time jobs and have incomes ranging of $15 to $25K annually. Most of our consumers will be living on a college campus or apartment, and room mating with friends and or living at home with parents. We will market to tech savvy female college students that look for value in their limited amount of spending on electronic products. Also, our consumers will be music lovers that enjoy listening to the radio during studying and leisure time. The consumers purchasing our product will have a limited amount of space for many different products and will be looking for a product that can combine many of their other products all in one. Competitive Situation Analysis Analysis of Competition using Porter’s 5 Forces Model Competitive Rivalry: According to the amount of products available, rivalry intensity is high. What makes for a high intensity of rivalry includes competitors aggressively targeting each other’s markets and aggressively pricing products. Also, competitors are of equal size and market share and industry growth is slow. Lastly, industries fixed costs are high which creates intense competitive rivalry. Threat from New Entrants: Threats from new entrants are low. Reason being is because of significant upfront capital investments required to start this kind of business. Low barriers of entry are also evident by limited access to proprietary technology and proprietary production material inputs. Furthermore, distribution channels are difficult to access, which also causes low barriers to entry. The Internet has very little impact because of high technology development cost and high manufacturing costs. Threat from Buyers: In researching, buyer power has shown to be low with our product because buyer bargaining power is low. Sellers are concentrated compared to buyers and there are few sellers with many buyers, which makes buyer power low. Furthermore, consumer switching costs are relatively high and buyers would not easily be able to produce our products themselves, further supporting that the threat from buyers is low. The Internet can have an impact should buyers ban together on social networking sites to demand discounts. Threat from Suppliers: Threats from suppliers are high. The new technology that has gone in to producing our new product has been developed and is not mass-produced. Suppliers are few and buyers are many. Suppliers can also forward integrate and begin to produce our product themselves. This will impact how our company will be able to continue delivering our product at a reasonable price because suppliers can use the Internet to sell directly to online shoppers. This will have an impact not only on product price but also our distribution and marketing process. Threat from Substitutes: The threat of substitute products in the market is high. Consumers have the option of purchasing similar radios that record on cassette tapes with low switching costs. Also, the cassette radio recorders are cheaper than our product, which also makes a high threat substitute. But, when it comes to quality of both our product and the substitute product the threat of the substitute is low because our product is of higher quality. Before our product, consumers’ only option to record their radio shows or songs would have been to manually record on cassette radios. The Internet allows fewer barriers for substitute cassette radios to be sold online for less money than our product. SWOT Analysis SWOT is useful technique for understanding Company G’s strengths and weaknesses, and for identifying both opportunities open to the company and threats the company faces. What makes SWOT so important is that it can help bring to light opportunities that can be utilized as an advantage. Also, by understanding the weaknesses of our company, we can be ready to take care of and fix potential problems before they happen. Strengths – Our engineers and designers who develop our innovative products is our first strength. This is one of our core competency’s that gives our company a unique advantage over other companies. We can market how we employ the best and most qualified workers, which brings value and quality to the consumer. – An excellent relationship with current suppliers is our second core competency strength. These relationships have been built over time and are difficult to replicate. This gives us an advantage in that we can make our products available with few delays. – Efficient production process is our last strength that allows us to minimize waste in producing our products. We can market our product as being eco-friendly by minimizing waste in the environment. Furthermore, our products are readily available for restock as needed at any time should demand increase. With our products having an efficient production process they can be made with high quality, fr ee of defects. Weaknesses – Target market consists of college students that don’t typically have much money. Our typical target market will be part time working college students. This target market has yet to start their professional career and have a myriad of costs as they try to earn their degrees. Their costs may just be too high to warrant another electronic purchase. – Consumers may be reluctant to change from their lower priced radio cassette recorders to our new higher priced radio CD recorders. Consumers don’t like change, and if they have a radio that have some of the features our product has, they may elect to save money and stay with their old product. – There are a multitude of substitutes in the market that do very similar things to our product. Having consumers understand and feel a need to have an all in one product that has a combination of features that other substitute products have will prove to be difficult. Opportunities – Our product will be the first on the market that offers a CD recorder and recorder timer in an all in one system. There is no other small appliance exactly like our product and we may have an opportunity to change the way we all use radios. – The music related electronic device market is currently a hot trend. Many other electronics that combine phones with music players are dominating the market. Our product has an opportunity to capture a big piece of the market share by combining radios with new CD recording technology. – We can make radios relevant again in the twenty first century. Radios have been around for decades and have become somewhat obsolete to newer alternatives like mp3 devices. Their is an opportunity to offer a product that we all have utilized and make it a viable option for today’s tech savvy consumer and change the way they live. Threats – A potential lawsuit from music companies and artists for copyright infringement is a major threat. Our product will allow consumers to easily record copyrighted music to CD where they can than distribute the music online. This could potentially bring legal trouble to Company G. – Other established companies could not only develop similar products but also even better technology in the future. Competing companies can allow us to take all the risk in bringing our new product to market and if it does well, they can than reproduce something very similar and threaten our market share. – Copyright laws in the future may change, no longer allowing radio recording. The laws are constantly evolving, especially when it comes to the area of music recording. There is a lot of grey area when it comes to recording from the radio and our product could be the catalyst used to bring tougher restrictions on radio recording, making our product illegal to produce or own. Market Objectives Product Objective – Inform target audience about the value our product brings with the list of features and benefits that lead to a 10 percent gain in the small appliance radio market in one year. Price objective – Pricing range will be $79.99 to start for the first six months in order to attract consumers and gain market share. After six months price will move to $99.99. Place objective – Distribution channel length will be short. Distribution will move from producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Wholesaler will warehouse products in various locations, to keep up with supply and demand as needed. Orders will be palletized and ready for shipment with in 30 minutes of each order placed. All products will be out fitted with radio-frequency identification for tracking and monitoring of our products every six months. Promotion objective – Increase product sales and new product awareness among target audience by 25 percent in the first year of product release. Bringing together this marketing mix gives our product the best possible chance to be successful. Showing our target audience the value in our products through price and features will be key in our consumers purchasing our product. Furthermore, by utilizing our introductory low price and taking advantage of short channel length will insure that our product not only attracts the attention of our target market but also allows our consumer to have easy access to our products. Lastly, the objectives we have set to increase sales and product awareness will insure that our product is known among the market and is a success. Marketing Strategies Company G’s market strategy will include the four elements of the marketing mix which includes product, price, place and promotion strategies. Each element will include three strategies each with a brief description. Product Strategies – Quality as a product strategy will be used in order to win repeat customers in the future. Consumers are frustrated with products that simply do not work or last. By giving our target market an item that is made with quality, our consumers will be more willing to purchase another item in the future and it will overall improve their life. – Development of product lines is our second strategy. The purpose of including a product line strategy is to grow the company’s position in the market place. Also, it allows for even more opportunities for more consumers to purchase our products by having specific needs met for different consumers. – Product design is our third and final strategy. Shopping products are an important factor in that they need to appeal to a consumer’s image. This will allow the product to be more attractive to the consumer and easier to purchase. Having an item aesthetically pleasing will likely be used more and noticed more amongst other products in the department store and at home. Price Strategies – Cost plus pricing strategy will be used to insure that products are sold with a profit. That way no matter whether we mark up or mark down our prices we will make sure to prevent financial losses on our products. – Penetration pricing strategy will be utilized in order to attract customers and gain market share. Penetration pricing will be in affect for the first six months of our initial product offering. – Psychological pricing will be used to have a positive psychological impact on consumers when purchasing. Consumers are more willing to purchase when they feel they are getting a good deal or value for their purchase. Place Strategies – Producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer will be how we bring our product to consumers. This traditional channel is a simple but cost effective way of providing goods to our consumer in a quick and efficient manner. – Using a wholesaler is the second strategy. This would allow wholesalers to take responsibility of distributing goods to retailers and distributors. By placing multiple wholesalers in strategic areas we will be able to have our product available should demand rise at any time. – Intensive distribution is our third and final place strategy. Using an intensive distribution strategy will allow us to distribute our products through all available channels in order for consumers to purchase our products anywhere. This makes it convenient for consumers to purchase our products.

Discuss, in detail, the connection of power to political science Essay

Discuss, in detail, the connection of power to political science - Essay Example For instance, a leader over a small number of people is named a master, the director of a home; over a quite greater number, a king or a statesman, as there is the presence of a variance amid a boundless household and a minor nation. Aristotle states that it is not right for a government to have variance in politics and power. In power and politics, there exists six types of constitutions they are divided into here are unjust and three that are just. A constitution can be defined as just in cases where is has advantages to the each and every citizen, on the other hand, a constitution can be referred to as unjust in cases whereby it is of help to the individuals in power only. When leadership is via a single person, this is a monarchy constitution, the ruler has to be good and incases of a bad leader it is referred to as tyranny. In cases where minor elite is the ruler, this constitution is referred to aristocracy when the rulers are respectable and an oligarchy if the rulers are wicked and corrupt. In situation of a government whereby the masses rule, the constitution is termed as a polity if the leadership is good and a democracy if the leadership is bad. Aristotle recognizes that providing full dominion to either the leading body or the regulations might create room for misuses of power and advocates th at a polity is most likely least vulnerable to corruption, particularly in situations where by the laws are assumed higher power than the leading body. He suggests a norm of distributive justice, stating that advantages ought to be discussed upon diverse citizens in a different way, depending on the involvement they make to the happiness of the public. Platos Republic focuses on a modest question â€Å"is it always better to be just than unjust?† Plato defines justice as a virtue of a nation that would aid outline justice as a feature of typical

The effect of shortining glycan chains linked to the cationic peanut Dissertation

The effect of shortining glycan chains linked to the cationic peanut peroxidase on its activity - Dissertation Example Recent studies have gone further to discover linkages between other sugars like D-Glc, L-Rha and D-GaiNAc and ASn in bacteriai glycoproteins (Neuhoff, 1999). Glycans Structural Features The process of examining glycan sytructures in large numbers has shown that there exist a number of rules which include; the glycans that are N-linked indicate a common Mannotriosedi and N-acetlylchitobiose structural pattern which is linked to a residue of Asn. Most of the plants containing glycoproteins have a residue of Xyl that is attached via f3-1 to 2 linkage extending towards the core of the p-linked Man. The link in some cases extends to GLcNAc proximal via a a-1, 3 bond involving glycoside. The second rule is that the glycans N-linked, with reference to the antenna structures they have, can be easily put into three categories (Neuhoff, 1999). 1. The aligomannose kind where the antennae substitute can only be achieved through adding Man residues 2. Complex type where the its antennae is made u p of Fuc, GlcNac, Sia and Gd together with Man residues 3. Hybrid type; this is a representation of the two above types. In the past, the above was believed to only take place in animals yeast and in some cases fungal glycoproteins. Recent studies on agglutinin structure show that such glycans are also found in glycoproteins of higher plants. Glycans come in varied forms from a residue of a single Ga1 to a structure that is branched with more than 20 residues of monosaccharide. The mucins O-glycans which form the most glycoproteins containing O-glycans, show heterogeneity that are extreme with a good number of oligosaccharide per molecule. Although the core structure concept can be extrapolated to O-glycans, its essence is not the same as there exists seven 0-linked classes core and they in most cases come as trisaccharides or disaccharides (Dwek, 2009). Cationic Peanut Peroxidase On Its Activity By looking at the ribosome which are both free and membrane bounded, the process of iso lation of the poly (A)- having mRNA for the entire polysomal RNA , it has been decided that approximately 2 % of the total protein synthesis have been slated for cationic peroxidase (CPRx) (Dwek, 2009).At the same time, the two fractions that are minor for the other two isozymes can be used as a confirmation of the three isozymes found in the acetone isolated pellet. The use of peptide mapping however shows that the three peroxidase isozymes contained different sequences of amino acids. In this case, the protein pellets that have been isolated recorded the highest nm ratio of a bout 403/480. This shows that that they pellets contain high protein heme ratio indicating purity. As the absorption bands of normal amino acids are the simplest near UV, there are a number of suggestions on ways of detecting the protein structure in relation to the sequence of amino acids through spectroscopic analysis. The isolated CPRx has an absorbance of 403 nm and appears to be red in color. These chara cteristics have been associated with the heme presence containing iron as this in required for the activity of enzymes. However, not all the iron having proteins are definitely heme proteins. There exist a number of enzymes that are in need of iron a part from peroxidase with other enzymes having different enzyme requirements. In CPRx, its cells grow in the iron presence in the medium that is suspended. A peroxide secretion loss takes place in the

Freedom of Information Act Question 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Freedom of Information Act Question 1 - Essay Example The third benefit is ensuring order in the firms that the information is to be accessed. The firms will ensure that the information is kept according to stipulated standards (Mark, 2011). The risks associated with the freedom do information are as the following. First, there are cases of bureaucracy in the process of preparing the information in an effort to meet the requirements. The managers are forced to prepare the information so as to see the desires of the different users of the information that it causes time wastage. The second risk is the exposing of the institution’s information that may be used by the competitors against the government. The users may also be exposed to manipulated information by the managers so as to influence their decisions. There is no platform that guarantees the quality of information provided by the firm. There might be cases where the firms provide the information that has not been scrutinized for relevance (Mark, 2011). For efficient functioning and administration of the act there is a need for few adjustments. The following are amongst the recommendations to make. First the one month limit of waiting for a response from the agency should be reduced to a maximum of twenty days so as to create efficiency within the system. A situation where more time is given those in charge always to relax that it causes higher costs to the firm which would have been reduced if a strict deadline if fixed (Freedom of Information Act guide & Privacy Act overview,1999). Another avenue is for the act to encourage the administrators of the different firms to make use of the social media platforms to post any relevant information. The social media has become one of the cheapest means of communicating among the different people in different parts of the world (Freedom of Information Act guide & Privacy Act

The Student Loans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

The Student Loans - Essay Example There is a study that shows areas having higher growth in the student debt, depicting lower development in the entrepreneurial spirit where there is a lower number of businesses with one to four employees (www.nytimes.com). In most cases, when students use up their capacity of debt on student loans, they can’t commit that debt capacity elsewhere. These students end up not thinking of ever taking any loans in future thus killing the spirit of being their own bosses. This therefore shuts down the spirit and ability to create new businesses and opportunities in future. With this, a country’s economic growth is hampered. Student loan debt is also appearing to affect the trends of home ownership. Recently, people around the age of 30-33 are not buying houses. This decline has been steeper for those people having the history of student loans. It was intense during the fall of the housing market, but has since continued even after the market has recovered. According to Korkki on www.nytimes.com, career choices by the students having the student loans are affected mostly. Students having the college loan have a low tendency of choosing a low-paying job. This leads to overcrowding in certain job categories whereas leaving other jobs unattended to. This tends to kill the economy because all sectors of the economy are supposed to be attended to. Overcrowding in certain professions could lead to social problems such as corruption, favoring and all those sorts of injustices. It has also come to my attention that some government organizations are not employing people who have not settled their student loan debts. It has therefore deprived various young men in the age bracket of 22 to 30 opportunities to express themselves given the fact that they are the most productive group currently. In addition, these people do not drive.

The power of optimism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The power of optimism - Essay Example One also realized that through personal experiences, as well as the experiences relayed by other people, there are valid supports to the contention that the power of optimism is real as it could open more opportunities that could lead to success. First and foremost, one affirms that I am an optimist, by nature. However, I am also a realist. In facing different situations, I assume a positive stance that everything would come out right. If they don’t, I believe that the challenges are made to be encountered to learn something new and good from them – thus, still making us better in the end. I have proven the power of optimism through the experience of my aunt. After a decade of productive career as a bank manager, she lost her job at the midst of a great financial strain since her husband had been diagnosed with diabetes and chronic kidney failure and they have six children to support. Fortunately, she was also an optimist. Rather than being depressed, anxious, and troubled, she sought to find other employment opportunities that would enable her to work at home and attend to both her husband’s and children’s needs. She acknowledged that since more opportunities are being made available through the online medium, she could use her skills in becoming a freelance writer. She eventually found a job as a freelance writer; doubled and even tripled her earnings, and was able to do everything without having to leave the comforts of their home. As such, the loss of one job was viewed, not as an end of a career; but as a blessing in disguise. Through the power of optimism, she did not lose hope in finding a more productive employment which enabled her to address their financial needs, the health requirements of her husband, and the educational support for their six children. Clearly, the power of optimism brings forth new

Oral immunotherapy for food allergy Research Paper - 1

Oral immunotherapy for food allergy - Research Paper Example In general, failure to avoid food allergen can trigger signs and symptoms related to allergic rhinitis, asthma, atopic dermatitis, and other types of food allergies (Steinman, 2010; CDC, 2008). As a type of immunological disease, having an allergy on food can significantly affect the socio-economic situation and quality of life of each person (Castellazzi et al., 2013). Aside from losing work productivity, the economic cost of food allergy can reach up to US$24.8 billion in which the direct cost of medication, hospitalization and healthcare visitations can be as high as US$4.3 billion each year (Gupta et al., 2013). Around the world, roughly 6% to 8% of all children have been affected by food allergy during their childhood life (Gupta et al., 2011; Steinman, 2010). In line with this, almost 15 million Americans have or had experience some sort of food allergies (news-journal, 2014). Among children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the prevalence rate of food allergy at 5% is equal to young individuals between the age group of 0 to 4 years old, 5 to 9 years old, and 10 to 17 years old (CDC, 2013). Today, food allergy has been considered as one of the most common health problems among children (CDC, 2008). In general, the process of having severe food allergies can adversely affect or impair the quality-of-life of each person (Anagnostou et al., 2014; Clark et al., 2009). In one of the studies that were conducted by Gupta et al. (2011), the authors mentioned that 30.4% of these children had more than one type of food allergy and that almost 38.7% of children with food allergy had experienced some sort of a severe reaction. Even though Lyons and Forde (2004) pointed out that most people with food allergy does not consider this particular health situation to have a significant impact in

The Importance of and Impacts of Professional Development in Education Essay Example for Free

The Importance of and Impacts of Professional Development in Education Essay Abstract: Like any area of human endeavors, the professional development in case of education is considered as a key factor in honing the over all performance of the students thereby resulting in a marked success of educational institutes. In this regard, importance and the positive implications of efforts in terms of teacher development cannot be denied. This paper succinctly touches on the contemporary trends pertaining to the development in education sector with a special elucidation of professional development where areas like collegial interactions, teachers leadership, community interaction, teachers’ individual learning and data driven decision come up to be the effective strategies in order to enlighten the education system with positive reforms.    The paper also analyzes a few research based programs as the case studies for advocating the importance of teachers and their collegial interactions for the success of any institution. Development in Education: In the changing world, the aggrandizing competitiveness has overwhelmed every sphere of the contemporary life. It’s a datum of experience that to cope with the increasing demands of the current era, a modern man is in a continuous process of inoculating reforms in every field. In this regard, what surpasses all the fields is the sector of education since it forms the basis for strengthening all the other institutes of life. In other words, for the provision of better workers, the engineering sector is as much dependent on the education system as is any other field like Medicine or Business.   Keeping in view such a crucial importance of education, various analysts and educationists are bringing new innovations in order to hone the current education system. These reforms involve issues like the quality of teachers, testing and evaluation, learning environment, course design, curriculum and need analysis of the students etc. Professional Development in Eductaion: â€Å"Student learning depends first, last, and always on the quality of the teachers (Usdan, McCloud Podmostko: 2001).† When talking about the reforms in the education system, the role of a teacher cannot be denied. Since teachers play a key role in the over all accomplishment of any educational institute, they have rather become the cynosure of educational reforms where they are considered as students who are in a constant process of mentoring and being mentored. The reason behind bringing the teachers to the centre of attention is the fact that any kind of improvement happening in any classroom involves the participation of a teacher (Schwarz: 1998). Any development in teachers would not only improve students’ performance but would also motivate the teachers themselves. According to Fullan and Stiegebauer, â€Å"Good change processes (are those) that foster sustained professional development over ones career and lead to student benefits (Schwarz: 1998).† Reasons behind Professional Development: â€Å"Processes, practices, and policies that are built on (†¦) view of learning are at the heart of a more expanded view of teacher development that encourages teachers to involve themselves as learners in much the same way as they wish their students would (Lieberman: 2002).† Behind the increasing trend towards the teacher development lays the notion of ‘learning by changing (Lieberman: 2002)’. According to this notion, the basic catalyzing force behind teacher development is the process of changes implemented in the institutions in an expectation of amelioration. In order to cope with the increasing demands, the teachers not only attend to their individual skills but also refer to their colleagues. This concept views the teachers in a constant process of learning that facilitates them to realize their changing roles as instructors, peer coach and researches, to create new structures like problem-solving groups, decision-making teams, to work on new tasks like journal and proposal writing and to establish an inquiry oriented culture in the classroom (Lieberman: 2002). Models and interpretations of teachers’ professional development: Sparks and Loucks-Horsley have proposed five levels of teacher development which are individually-guided staff development, observation-assessment, involvement in a development and improvement process and training and inquiry. However Hargreaves and Fullan propose that the term ‘teacher development’ has multiple interpretations which include the search to find learning opportunities for better performance, finding places for personal development and helping to foster a learning oriented and supportive work environment (Kee Luan : 1996). Marsick and Watkins proposed their Model of the Learning Organization to have three levels namely individual learning, team learning, and organization learning (NCREL: 2003). The first level focuses on individual skills that may be obtained in solitude or in groups whereas the last two refer to the collaborative skills of the teachers. Issues and Scope of Professional Development in Education: The scope of professional development in education can be best seen in the light of various strategies and issues involved under the vast umbrella of the term ‘professional development’. Team Learning and Teachers Collegiality: According to Bernard-Powers et al., â€Å"Adults are learners just as are children, and that everyone learns best when there are ongoing opportunities to develop questions, investigate, reflect, apply and share knowledge in real-life contexts (NCREL: 2003). Collegiality or Collegial Interaction is a phenomenon whereby the teachers get a chance of interacting with their colleague teachers for active professional learning through events like Conventions, Faculty meeting, Seminars, Lesson planning, School Visitations, Sharing materials, Conferences, Workshops, Examination preparation, Informal meetings and Team teaching etc. According to the research work done by Jackson and Goodlad, the greatest impediment in the way of teacher development is the absence or lack of collegiality. It is because learning new skills and implementing them is a matter of trial and error. As long as the teachers work and asses the performance on their own, a much greater space for improvement is left as compared to the case where the teachers work in groups (Kee Luan: 1996). The concept of teacher collegiality or the collaboration of teachers for the purpose of honing their performance is not a novel idea. Although prevalent for the past decades, collegiality has gained special interest of educationists in the recent few years when it is considered to be the most effective way of teacher development. With its roots profoundly interred in the organizational theory models, Collegiality fosters team work of the teachers thereby assuring the success of the institute. During the collegial interaction process the teachers learn from the experienced teachers and apply collaborative skills. In this concern, organizations like Australian College of Education and the General Teaching Council for England have already taken active measures to encourage teachers’ collegial interactions (Leonard, L. Leonard, P.: 2003). Teacher leadership: Teacher leadership is often considered as a direct contrast against collegiality because collegiality is misinterpreted as a form of interdependence of teachers on one another which leaves the individual potential of the teachers as leaders in doubt. Such misconception arise because of the lack of information that the collaboration of teachers not only helps in accommodating the weaknesses but also emphasizes on the encouragement of teachers in case of their achievement. Such an encouragement boosts a spirit and motivates the teachers for further honing their performance.   This makes the teachers individually strong rather than being dependent. According to McCann and Radford, collegiality also indicates the positive contribution of other teachers in the success of a particular teacher (NCREL). Succinctly speaking, the ‘celebration of achievements is important to give teachers encouragement and recognition. Ways of sharing and celebrating achievements before a wider school audience should be a component of a mentoring scheme ( NCREL).’ Community Interaction: According to the Ontario College of Teachers, the teachers are educational leaders who collaborate not only with their colleagues and students but also with the parents, and members of the community. As proposed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, an effective teacher is a participant of the learning community (Leonard, L. Leonard, P.: 2003). The learning of such teachers is not merely confined to the premises of the institute but is stretched throughout the community. Occasions like parent teacher meetings, co curricular events, exhibitions and fairs provide a fair chance of learning experience in a culture specific context. Individual Learning : â€Å"Just as independent learners inspire an engaged and effective classroom, teachers who are themselves independent learners inspire vital and engaged learning communities (NCREL: 2003).† Among many areas that are kept under consideration for teacher development, technical proficiency often supersedes various other skills since education like any other field is also overwhelmed with the current of latest technologies. For the very reason, professional development in education also focuses on the teaching of technological skills. According to a survey conducted in different schools of the West, technology use by teachers results in an improved student performance thereby resulting in an increase of such trends (Brumfield: 2006). It is because the modern methods of teaching employ different technologies which make the lessons not only innovative but also interesting for the students. Individual Learning through Collegial Interactions: Collegiality also helps in honing the individual skills of the teachers in such a way that interactions with colleagues help the teachers to be acquainted with innovative strategies. Group discussions allow them to   implement better strategies of the other teachers in their classrooms, helps them in fulfilling the needs of all the students and provides them with a standard of professional practices to be implemented in the classroom (School Education Division: 2006) . Cultural Contexts in Teachers’ Learning: Since collaboration of teachers is wholly coalesced with the process of sharing ideas, the cultural context plays a vital role during its practice. It is in the light of the cultural notions that the teachers share common norms while practicing collegiality. Consequently, this culture-specific collegiality is responsible for the creation of a particular school culture. Peterson draws a schism between two types of cultures prevalent in the schools.   Namely Positive Culture and Toxic Culture, the former exists in educational institutes with teachers actively involved in collegial practice whereas the latter ascends the institutes where such exchange practices are discouraged (Leonard, L. Leonard, P.: 2003). Educational Decision-making: Decision making in education is an extremely critical issue since the major decisions not only hold the fortune of the students but also determine the over all success of the institute. Any rightly taken decision may boost a positive wave of change when at the same time a wrong decision may mar the prospects of the school’s population and its reputation. Realizing such a significance of educational decisions, the modern educationists propose a data-driven approach to decision making.   Although with its idea being inoculated back in 1980s, data driven decision making in education has actually gained strength in the present day world. The pre-requisite of such a decision making is the presence of data as a proved reason for implementing any new policy or a change in the institute. Such a data is systematically collected and analyzed by the teachers, heads and administrators. This data is of various types including the input, process, outcome and satisfaction data. Here the input data involves the data on the demographics and expenditures of the school, the process data comprises of the data on quality of instruction, the outcome data analyzes the dropout rate and the test results and the satisfaction data asks for the opinions of teachers, parents, community and the students etc   (Marsh, Pane Hamilton: 2006). Instead of relying on a single type of information, triangulation of data is considered the most effective way of getting the maximum information possible. In the triangulation of data, various sources and techniques are adopted which are tallied with one another before arriving at any concrete finding to form the basis of the future decision. Such decisions fall under two categories namely the identification oriented decisions and the action oriented decisions. In the case of identification oriented decisions, the data obtained is utilized to identify goals and to do the needs analyses. In the case of action oriented decision making, one of the most viable ways of data collection is to introduce temporary changes in the classroom and obtain the data in the form of achievement test. The results of such an achievement test are further compared with the tests administered in normal circumstances. The difference in the average results of the students before and after the implementation of transitory changes determine whether the decision of implementing the change permanently would be workable or not. Research works on Professional Development and Collegial Interactions: The Project for Enhancing Effective Learning: The Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL) was launched in Australia in 1980s and proved to be a ground breaking work of teacher collaborative action research. The project commenced as a research work confined to the classrooms in Melbourne. Originally focused on the development of students and their learning practices, the proceedings of the research indicated a need of similar meta-cognitive development of the teachers in order to make the teachers play a positive role in facilitating the changes implemented in the classrooms.    As a result of the changing environment in classrooms, regular meetings of teachers were held in which the colleagues used to mention their observations, share their experiences and come up with their innovative ideas thereby making the meeting rather informal at many times. In the words of Baird and Hagglund, â€Å"The over-riding outcome of PEEL was that every one learned (1994).† Concerning the teachers, the Baird and Hagglund gave the following pictorial model to show a step-by-step approach of reforming education by the role of teachers in a collegial environment (1994). POOR LEARNING TENDENCIES Replace with GOOD LEARNING TENDENCIES Foster by practicing GOOD LEARNING BEHAVIOURS Stimulate such behaviours by applying GOOD TEACHING PROCEDURES (That should be associated with GOOD CURRICULUM DECISIONS and GOOD ASSESSMENT PRACTICES) The above mentioned Peel Pathway of Improving Learning stresses the coalition of learning in a collaborative situation. Since its inception, PEEL has not only become a popular education reform model for Australian institutes but also for the institutes in other countries like Canada. PLAN- Project: PLAN in Swedish means ‘Project for Independent Learning’. Originally based on the methodology of PEEL, the PLAN Project of Sweden was started being framed in 1992 in order to bring a positive change in Gà ¶kstensskolan Institute of Sweden. The project was considerably based on a model that favored collaboration among teachers. One of the terms of agreement for joining PLAN was that the teachers should devote an hour for collegial interactions practiced in the form of groups having 12 members each. The group leaders of different groups were also required to collegiate with each other frequently with a sole purpose of training the teachers for rising students’ performance. Impacts of Professional Development: As a consequence of aggrandizing emphasis on professional development of teachers, the education system has witnessed a considerable phase of amelioration. According to the studies of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, as a result of professional development, the teachers do not confine their lessons to the conventional facts but keep updating their knowledge with latest developments in their fields. Similarly, the teachers do not expect normative feedback but appreciate multiple perspectives from their students. They also design the curriculum in such a way that the knowledge inculcated to the students becomes more thought provoking. In order to elucidate various concepts, they try to extract examples from the real life situations instead to sticking to the text book instances. Through the practice of collegiality, teachers are now able to work in groups in order to share different teaching strategies about which they had learnt either in workshops or through community interaction and also share materials they that had retrieved from various sources which are helpful in honing the teachers’ performance. As a result of frequent interactions, all the teachers of the institute simultaneously hone their abilities thereby rising the over all quality of the institute’s education. In a special case when a large number of teachers leave the institute, teacher collegiality helps in training the novices who enter the faculty. In this way the weaknesses of a few teachers are accommodates by the strengths of the others (Inger: 1993). Conclusion: The area of teacher development pertaining to the educational reforms is challenged by a number of impediments. Among these hindrances, a few pointed out by Lieberman involve the lack of knowledge about how teachers learn, little space for invention and the building of craft knowledge and the view of teachers in practices which is not considered as an acceptable moiety of teachers’ learning (Lieberman: 2002). Even with such obstacles, the significance and positive implications of Teacher Development Programs cannot be denied. In the light of case studies of various teacher development programs, it is clear that the place of teachers as learners in a collegial environment is as necessity for the development of education systems as the teachers’ place in the form of educational leaders is made possible only by the collegiality practiced among them at different levels. References Baird, J.R. Hagglund S. (1994). Teacher collaborative Action Research: A Swedish adaptation of an Australian Project.   Retrieved March 14, 2008, from Education Resources Information Center: http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/13/5d/31.pdf Brumfield, R. (2006). Teacher development key to tech success. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from E-School News: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=37127CFID=686760CFTOKEN=98871010 Critical Issue: Terms of Engagement—Rethinking Teachers Independent Learning   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Traits (2003). Retrieved March 14, 2008, from North Central regional Educational Laboratory: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educatrs/profdevl/pd400.htm Collaboration, Teamwork, and Mentoring. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from North Central regional Educational Laboratory: http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/stw/sw5ment.htm Inger, M. (1993). Teacher Collaboration in Secondary Schools. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from National Center for Research in Vocational Education: http://vocserve.berkeley.edu/CenterFocus/CF2.html Kee, T.E. Luan, T.S. (1996). Collegiality and Teacher Development. Retrieved   Ã‚   March 14, 2008, from The Australian Association for Research in Education:http://www.aare.edu.au/96pap/teoek96556.txt Leonard, L. Leonard, P. (2003). The continuing trouble with collaboration: Teachers talk. Current Issues in Education [On-line], 6(15). Retrieved March 14, 2008, from http://cie.ed.asu.edu/volume6/number15/ Lieberman, A. (2002). Practices That Support Teacher Development. Phi Delta Kappan, 76 (8). Marsh, J.A. , Pane, J. F. Hamilton, L.S. (2006). Making Sense of Data Driven Decision Making in Education.   Retrieved March 14, 2008, from The Rand Corporation: http://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/2006/RAND_OP170.pdf Professional learning guide (2006). Retrieved March 14, 2008, from Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/Proflearn/designpl/proflearnguide.htm Schwarz, G. (1998). Teacher Lore and Professional Development for School Reform.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Westport, CT: Bergin Garvey. Usdan,M., McCloud, B. Podmostko, M. (2001). Leadership for Student Learning: Redefining the Teacher as Leader. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from Institute of Educational Leadership: http://www.iel.org/programs/21st/reports/teachlearn.pdf Wisconsin Standards for Teacher Development and Licensure. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction: http://dpi.wi.gov/tepdl/pdf/10kdp.pdf

Slow And Filters And Rapid Sand Environmental Sciences Essay

Slow And Filters And Rapid Sand Environmental Sciences Essay Water Purification is a process in which the unhealthy water that is contaminated, unclean, adulterated, and poisoned is converted into safe drinking water through various stage processes rendering it safe for drinking and everyday use. Water Purification is done almost every day in every part of this world. The increasing population and industrialization is generating more and more threat to the drinking water sources as a lot of harmful chemicals are being released either intentionally or unintentionally into the sources. In most of the cases we cannot see these hazardous chemicals, but they pose a great threat to our health and lives. To treat water before being brought to use, various purification methods have been developed. They vary in their design, method of filtration, equipment used, efficiency, location and various other factors. http://www.waterpurificationmethods.com/ Natural water is available from various sources like ground water, lakes, rivers and pond. It is very hard to find a pure water source in nature. Making the need to treat water and purify it before consumptions makes important. One of the objectives of water treatment and purification is to treat water from the best possible source to improve its various physical qualities, improving its taste and odour and eliminating all of the harmful contaminants. Various impurities can be classified as suspended impurities(remain in suspension), dissolved impurities(dissolved impurities and responsible for taste and odour) and colloidal impurities( electrically charged and never settle). Table 1 shows the various constituents of the impurities present in water and there effects. Ss+Tech+guide. Water for domestic use should be : Colorless and have no suspended solids; Odour free and must taste good; Free from disease causing organisms; Free of halmful salts and objectionable minerals; Free from dissolved gases which can he harm full; Should be non-corrosive in nature; Ss+Tech+guide. Table 1: Suspended and dissolved impurities in water ss+tech+guide One of the most important parts of the treatment process is Filtration. Filtration is a process in which solids particles in suspension in liquid medium are passed through porous media through which only liquid can pass away. It is required in conjugation with some kinds of chemical treatments to disinfect water of biological disease causing pathogens. [2] Crittenden, J. C. (2005).  Water treatment: Principles and design (2nd ed., p. 868). New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. The various types of filters used are Gravity Filters Vacuum Filters Pressure Filters Centrifugals and Centrifuges PROCESS OVERVIEW Suspended matter present in water makes the appearance of water cloudy; this physical characteristic is known as turbidity. This suspended mater may consist of floc, microorganisms, algae, iron, silt and manganese precipitates and also some precipitates which remain after the various earlier stages. These suspended materials are filtered by passing water through granular beds, mostly composed of layers of sand, gravel, coal. As the process goes on and on and when the head lost is more than the permissible value the filter bed is backwashed or top soil is scrapped off and brought back into operation. But there need to be a second tank which will be operation as the first one is being backwashed or top soil is scraped off. The various other important processes in the water purification process are: Screening Aeration Coagulation Floculation Sedimentation Disinfection Stabilisation Water requirements of a city/town can be divided into five categories: domestic or residential use institutional use public or civic use industrial use water system losses DESCRIPTION A sand filter is very simple in its opertion and design. It is merely a bed of sand with support of layer of gravel, in a big box like structure. Provided with various fitting for inlet and outlet of water. A set of valves to control head during various situations. Below the gravel layer are underdrains required to remove the filtered water. Before dissipaion into the sand bed the energy of the water is to be reduced so that it doesnot erode the sand bed, also reffered to as short circuiting. There is headloss during the fileration process, it occours mainly due to accumulation of particles at top surface or due to microbial growth at he surface. The filters are backwashed when stage is reached below which any head loss cannot be tolerated. For backwash the outlet valves are closed and water is made to move in opposite direction. Manual of slow sand filters Chapter 2: COMPARISON Thogh both slows sand filters and rapid sand filters function under the action of gravity and mostlly have same constituent parts yet they differ in various factors which are explaind in Table 2 below. Slow Sand Filters Rapid Sand Filters 1. Rate of Filtration 1-3-10 m/day 100-125-300 m/day 2. Depth of Bed 0.30m of gravel 1.0m of sand 0.45m of gravel 0.75m of sand 3. Size of Sand 0.25 to 0.35 mm Uniformity Coeff: 2 to 3 0.45mm and higher Uniformity Coeff: 1.5 and Lower 4. Length of run 20 to 30 to 60 days 12 to 24 to 48 hours 5. Penetration of Suspended Matter Superficial Deep 6. Preperatory treatment of Water Generally aeration Flocullation and Sedimentation 7. Method of Cleaning Scraping Back washing 8. Cost of Construction Operation Depreciation of plants Higher Lower Lower Lower Higher Higher 9. Amount of Wash Water 0.2 to 0.6% of water filtered 1-4-6% of water filtered Table 2: Comparison between Slow and Rapid Sand Filters. Class notes Chapter 3 : SLOW SAND FILTERS 3.1: Introduction Slow Sand Filters are the original form of Filtration. The history date backs to 1804 when John Gibb of Scotland used the technique of filtration to treat water for his bleachery. He used to sell the surplus water to the public. The first large scale use of sand filters was in London to treat water of River Thames in 1820. Slow Sand filters are a viable water treatment solution. Though there are some difficulties faced involved in implementation and working of the system. It possess high initial cost and its use has seen a declining phase due to few resasons but is again gaining importance after the outbreak of Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee(1993) as they are superior to Rapid Sand Filters in removing pathogenic microorganisms. The various advantages of slow sand filters over Rapid sand filters are that it is highly efficient in removal of bacteria and viruses responsible for transmitting water related diseases. Also there is no usage of chemicals involved neither do we need any highly skilled and continuous supervision. Undeniably slow filteration is best suited for rural areas as there are low running costs. Slow sand filters What happens in Slow Sand Filters is that influent water seeps through the sand bed under the action of gravity. The sand used is less uniform as compared to that used in the Rapid Sand Filters. The most of the filtration is performed in the top few centimetres of the sand bed. The process involves two stages, one being the filtration stage and the other being the regeneration stage. Slow sand filters are not backwashed as Rapid Sand Filters, in place the filter is drained off and the top few centimetres of sand media are scraped off and the filter is placed back to work. 4 prelimi 3.2 Advantages The various advantages which slow sand filters posses are that theyare really very simple in design and operation. They also require minimum chemical and power requirements thereby making it an appropriate technique for removal of suspended organic and inorganic matter. They are also very effective in removal of pathogenic organisms from water source. Because of this reason they are gaining back importance as compared to Rapid sand filters. It also helps in reduction of bacteria and various organic levels, thus helping to reduce the amount of disinfectans to be used and thereby reducing the disinfection byproducts in treated water. Other advantages which they posses are that ther are minimal sludge handling problems, no expert supervison is required and also local labor and materials can be brought to use. http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/dw/publications/ontap/2009_tb/slow_sand_filtration_dwfsom40.pdf 3.3 Disadvantages On the other hand it possess few limitations such as they require a large land area using large quantities of filter media. It also requires more of manual labour for cleaning. The sand filter can get easily clogged if turbudity levels are high in source water. Even if the nutrient content is low it may hinder in the turbudity removal action as some nutrient are needed for promotion of biological ecosystem growth. They do not completely remove all organic chemicals and dissolved inorganic sustances. Also very fine clay particles are not easily removed using slow sand filters. As the water temperature drops the biological activity drops and similar is the case in slow sand filters that if the influent water temperature is low it will decrease the biological activity within the filter making it less effective. http://www.nesc.wvu.edu/pdf/dw/publications/ontap/2009_tb/slow_sand_filtration_dwfsom40.pdf 3.4 Factors influencing Efficiency: The removal of microbes and organism is slow sand filters are performed by biological processes. And the various factors affecting the growth and functionality of bacterial growth also affect eh efficiency of slow sand filters. The various factors can as stated as below Time: the minimum and bed depth should not be less than 0.7m and flow rate around 0.1 and 0.3 m per hour, as higher the time for reaction on the filter bed higher would be the efficiency attained. Oxygen: Oxygen is important for bacteria as it uses it for its activity. If the amount of oxygen in incoming water is low or there is high organic content it would cause the filter to be less effective. Temperature: temperature is not an issue in hot countries but in countries with cold conditions they affect the efficiency as lower the temperature lower will be the biological activity in the filter bed. Maturation: Sufficient time should be provided for the biological activities to take place. Also the filter should not be cleaned too frequently. Ss tech guide for slow sand filters http://ebookbrowse.com/ss-tech-guide-slow-sand-filters-pdf-d108621291 CHAPTER 4- DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 4.1 Design Principles 4.1.1Sizing the Filter Bed The very first step in the design is to size the bed. The depth and base area are two parameters which help to drive the rest of the design. Bed area is determined by the Hydraulic Loading Rate (HLR) selected. Hlr should be so selected such that it considers both the cariation over daily cycle and the increase each year. Pilot plant studies performed can help in determining performance characteristics. 4.1.1.1 Area The bed area is calculated using the following equation. In which HLR= hydraulic loading rate (m3/m2/hr or mgad) Q = flow (mil L/d or mgd) A = bed area (m2 or acres) 4.1.1.2 Depth of Sand The depth of sand bed is determined using the number of years the filter is to be designed before there is any need for resanding. Year of operation is determined as follows Where Y = years of operation Di = depth of initial sand bed Df = Depth of final sand bed before rebuilding is required R = depth of removal F = frequency 4.1.2 HYDRAULICS The various functions for which hydraulic analysis are required are to distribute raw water on the sand bed, collection of water, drainage of headwater, control of flow through the filter, and measurement of the headloss. 4.1.2.1 DISTRIBUTION The influent water needs to be distributed throughout the surfaceare uniformly as if entire influent water is delivered at same point, short circuiting of flow would occour. To control this kinetic energy of flow must be either distributed or dissipated. It is a matter of judgment to choose exit velocity and pipe size as there is not much of flow criteria in existence. Figure below shows a system of pipes for how distribution of water may be done. Fig : showing an approach for distributin of water over sand bed. 4.1.2.2 Collection A system of underdrains need to designed for the collection of filtered water. 4.1.2.3 Drainage For the need to scrap the sand bed, the headwater must be drained off to a level below the the sand bed surface. The figure below explains how the drainage occours in two stages. One being done at the top surface removing the top portion of headwater and the second being at the bottom removing the rest of remaining water. Fig: Shows drainage points 4.1.2.4 BACKFILLING After the drainage has been done and the scrapinf of the sand bed has been done there is need to backfill. Fot this we may use the filtered water from other sand filters operating in parallel. The filtered water is fed back to the recenlty scraped filter system using a system of valves as shown in the following figure. The Part a shows the filters working in normal condition with all valves closed. Part b shows the backfilling of filter 1 from filter 2 nad the filter 3 continues with its operations. The backfilling is done till the depth of water reaches around 1 ft above the sand saurface. It should be boted that amount of water in storage tanks should be sufficient to satisfy the demand as filter 1 and 2 are not in operation. fig. showing the various stages of backfilling. 4.1.2.4 FLOW MEASUREMENT There is a need to monitor the influent and effluent flow throughout the operation so as to maintain a constant supply and hydraulic head to satisfy the demand. For this various flow measuring devices are installed at various points like at inlet to the pland and at oultel. Also they are applied at the various inlets and outlets to individual filters. Also these meters help in keeping a record for the water demands of the community. Fot it various euipments are used such as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. 4.1.2.5 Flow Control There is a 24 need to control the flow of water. There is a need to keep a check on the influent amount of water so that a constant supply is maintained. Also there is need to control flow at the effluent end of the plant to adjust according to the daily nad hourly variations in water demand. 4.1.2.6 Headloss Measurement Headloss measurement is important for the continous operation of the filter and to maintain a constant head throughout the supply. When the loss of head if below the required value is reached the scraping of filter is done followed by backfilling. To measure the headloss Piezometers need to be installed. One of it needs to be connected above the sand bed and the other to the tailwater basin. 4.1.2.7 3.5.1 Design Capacity Slow sand filtration is best suited and cost effective for population range between 30,000 to 40,000 as compared to rapid sand filtration. It shoul not be used for population higher this range because for it we need to build more number of filteraton units, and for that larger area would be required. Also if there is need for additional pre-treatment facilities like sedimentation, as always is the case, more area would be required. 3.5.2 Quality considerations of influent water The limit for turbudity of influent water should not be higher than 20 Nephelometric Turbidity Units  (NTU). But for ideal conditions it should be less than 10 NTU. If the turbudity for influent water is higher than 20 NTU, the water need to be pretreated with facilities such as grit chamber, settlink tank or a combination of various other pre-filtration systems as shown in figure below. Ss tech guide Figure 2: Schematic sequence of water treatment facilities when using slow sand filter ss tech guide 3.5.2.1 Pretreatment Facilities Fot the pretreatment of the water we may make use of Grit chambers, sedimentation tanks or roughing filters. Each of these is explained as follows. 3.5.2.1.1 Grit Chambers: These are also called as coarse sedimentation tanks. The maximum speed of water flow is around 0.75m/s. In case of the retention time it need not be very long, just a few minutes would be sufficient. In this coarse particles are removed before water goes to the settling tanks. 3.5.2.1.2 Sedimentation tank: Settling of fine suspended particles is done in the sedimentation tanks. The detention time is around 2 hours. These are further of various types like type I, II, III and IV. 3.5.6 Design criteria For the design of slow sand filters various design criteria shown in Table 3 can be used. Also to make sure there is adequate water supply and slow sand filter function properly, the flow rate should be maintained between 0.1 to 0.3 cubic meter of water per hour per square metre area of filter media. Table 3: General design criteria ss tech guide 3.5.6 Determination of size and number of slow sand filters: From the point of effluent quality, the weakest part is the edge of the filter bed. As the raw water may leak and pass the sand filter if attention is not taken while the design and operation of the filter. The way to minimise this is that the filters should not be made too small. The recommended size is around 5 m2, a workable size is around 100 m 2 , with a maximum of 200 m2. The system needs to have a minimum of 2 filters, to make sure one is in operation while the other is being cleaned. But a recommended value of 4 is good to ensure an increased and sufficient amount of treated water supply. The following empirical formula can be used to calculate an approximate number of filters required. n =  ½(A) (1/3), or n =  ¼ (Q) (1/2) Where, n Number of filter units A Total required area in m2 Q Average daily water demand expressed in m3/hr 3.5.7 Filter bed and filtration sand size of slow sand filter: There are various alteranatives to sand in sand filter bed like crushed coral or burnt rice husk. But the use of sand remains the most efficient and effective. The sand to be used is expressed in its effective size (D10) and its uniformity Coefficient. Where D10 is defined as the sieve opening that permits passage of 10% of sand by weight. And Uniformity coefficient is defined as the ratio between D60 and D10. UC = D60 / D10. The values of effective size and uniformity coefficient can be determined by performing sieve analysis as follows. Also the value of D10 for a continually operated filter is around 0.15 to 0.30mm. A mixture of 4 or 5 smaples is taken randomly to form a representative sample for the sieve analysis. It is washed to remove any impurities. Take 500 gm of the sample and using a mechanical sieving shaker, sieve it for 15 minutes. Sand retained on each sieve is weighed and added to the previous one. The grain shape for the sand filter should be perfectly round. It should be free from any clay, soil or organic matter. If the influent water is expected to be high in carbon dioxide, then there should be less than 2% of calcium and magnesium carbonates. Three important considerations should be kept in mind before deciding on the thickness of the filter bed: Immidetialtely below the top surface lies a zone in which purifying bacteria thrive. The thickness of this zone is around 0.3 and 0.4 m(in case of high filtration rate) Under this zone chemical reactions take place. It may be described as mineral oxidation zone, in which organic materials released in zone 1 are chemically degrade. Thickness of this zone is around 0.4 and 0.5 m(when water has high organic content). In total the thickness of zone 1 and 2 should not be less than 0.7m in any case. With Continuous operation for one to three months the filter starts to get clogged and the top 1-2 cm of sand bed is scrapped off including the filter skin. This layer is not replaced immediately, but done after some time. So provisions should be made for successive cleaning throughout the period. 3.5.8 Under-drains Under drains helps in efficient operation of filter. It assists in both providing support to the filter medium and to drain of the treated water to escape from the underside of the filter. Since it is laid below the sand bed, the under drainage system cannot be cleaned or repaired without any major disturbance to the sand bed. So care should be taken while designing that it doesnt get choked by granular material. One of the simplest designs consists of the main and lateral drains. Lateral drains consists of perforated PVC pipes or glazed pipes laid with open joints covered with gravel with successively increasing grain size to prevent intrusion to filter medium. In large filters it is mostly constructed of concrete as compared to PVC pipes in small filters. Figure à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ shows various arrangements for construction of under drain. Special considerations need to be taken care of while designing under drain system for perforated pipes as explained in tableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Figure: Arrangements for main drain Figure: various types of filter bottoms Table: Criteria for dimensioning under drain using perforated pipes Factors to be considered for the gravel layer supported by the under drains. The gravel layer is built of number of layers, with fine at top to coarse at the bottom with gradually graded grains not differing by a factor of not more than 1.41. The bottom layer of gravel should have a grain diameter of at least double the size of the openings into the drainage system. Each successive layer should be graded such that the its smaller dia (D10) particle diameter are not less than four times than those of layer immediately below. If the joints are 8mm or less wide, the following values for D10 and D90 would be sufficient with three layers. D10(mm) D90(mm) Top Layer 1 1.4 Second Layer 4 5.6 Third Layer 16 23 In slow sand filters the gravel should conform to specifications similar to filtering medium, like it also should be hard, rounded, free from sand, clay, dirt and with specific gravity of at least 2.5. Also after immersion in concentrated hydrochloric acid for 24 hrs. The weight lost should not be more than 5% by weight. For the thickness of the layer, it should be at least 3 times the diameter of the largest stone. The gravel layer should be placed with care as any movement may disturb the filter sand above or may choke the under drain. 3.5.6 Factors influencing slow sand filtration efficiency Since the process of removal of microbes and organisms in filter is completely biological, the efficiency depends on various factors such as time, temperature, oxygen and the beneficial microbes. They are explained as follows Time: For biological processes to take place time plays a critical role. So sufficient amount of time should be provided for the reactions to take place. Time is determined by the depth of sand bed provided and the flow rate. The sand depth should not be less than 0.7m and flow in between 0.1 and 0.3 m per hour. Oxygen: Oxygen I required for the activity of bacteria in the filter bed. So sufficient amount of oxygen level should be maintained in incoming water as low amount would affect the efficiency of the slow sand filter. Temperature: Hot temperature is best for the bacterial activity. Its not a problem in hot countries, but in cold countries attention need to be given to the temperature conditions. Maturation: Bacterial growth is not that fast during the initial stages of the filter and also after every time it is cleaned. So it is suggested not to clean the filter bed too often. 3.5.7 Effluent Quality The performance of slow sand filter in terms of various factors like colour, turbudity, organic matter, etc. are given in tableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Table.. Performance of slow sand filter