Computerized Enrollements System

INTRODUCTION The slow processing of enrollment is a levy issued for all schools. All schools like colleges, secondary, and elementary school uses registration form for the enrollees. The students will sign and full-up all the necessary information in order to have their personal file in the school registrar. The manual registration form is the first and common used for enrollment registration. This kind of processing of enrolment is wasting time. Students spend a lot of time to fall in line for how many hours to complete their requirements during enrollments. Most of time enrollees are go and fort between different offices, they need to fall n line for how many hours to get a lot of enrollment form and fill-up and sign it. From the registrar to the their respective dean, for the schedule of their subjects, for their assessment and to the accounting office. This kind of manual form of enrollment can be very wasting a lot of time. Acquiring and processing documents for assessment takes a lot of time to process. This is because; documents are manually acquired, evaluated, and processed. Slow processing of assessment is also aggravated when documents from persons file is lost or misplaced since they only used file cabinet as storage of data and no back-up strategies is available.Inconsistency of data is encountered in locating file, because enrollment for mare manually written, and manually computed for their assessment. Enrollment form data and checked manually for accuracy, HR staff chasing down employees to determine who has compute the process, benefit calculation by hand, manual entry of enrollment information into and carrier site or manual entry of deductions amount into the payroll system, and paper work filled and store. The paper –based manual method of open enrollment also incurs a soft cost that cannot measured. Employee dissatisfaction. Employees today are not happy with the level of ommunication they receive from traditional open enrollment. Mo st schools, businesses or establishments facing the same kind of problems, most of them sought a solution to help them aid these problems, to offer the best possible services to their enrollees or clients. Through the advancement of technology, they’ve used various software application to computerized some processes but lack features that fit their needs. In this regards, most of them sought to have customized information system. Nowadays computer serves as an important role in our society, most especially in school remise. It works easier and faster. It lessen errors and work by using machines. It reduces costs to an organization from paper work-up to computerized working system. A system designed to perform the process involved in registration, advertizing, assessments, and payments of the students as well as scheduling of classes. A new automated enrollment system was proposed and passed by the administration just recently. According to the chair person of the department o f Information Technology and System, this enrollment system will push through on the first semester of School Year 2009- 010. According to the source: the Computerizes Enrollment System will automatically get the students subject/section for hassle-free enrollment. This is for student without any pending back subject while for students with pending back subject, they still need to meet their department chair/coordinators first for the advising of subjects before using the enrolment system. The system design project, system that will provide the needed and storing information in a faster, more convenient way by storing file of the student enrollees in a computer system that ill lessen the effort of faculty staff and storing files of each students every now and then. This will also serve as information especially for the irregular students, freshmen, transferee, returnee and professor in able to get access in course. Subject, professor, and students enrollees. This information where c an be viewed in just a second without worrying that a single file lost. The idea behind enrolment system is not a new concept. As a student’s enrollees increase every year enrolment procedure become harder to deal. This will only serve to increase the problem facing enrollment that provides more easy way in enrolling.This will be a big help to all the enrolment staff especially to those under the computer department because they are the one who are entitled to touch and read the information from here. It will help our institution to have another system that will upgrade the enrollment processes so as to meet the quality that our institutions are trying to meet. October 1st will see the biggest change in the UK pension system since in inception as auto-enrolment begins to become integrated. By the end of the year some 600,000 people are expected to be enrolled into the new system that automatically diverts funds from their pay packet.The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) h as outlined more details on the number of people expected to be signed up during the initial waves. It estimates that 380,000 workers will be signed up in October, a total of 420,000 will be enrolled by the end of November, and 600,000 will be in place by the end of the year. WH Smith has selected an administration system to comply with its auto-enrolment obligations from 1 March 2013. The system automatically identifies and enrolls relevant employees into the chosen pension scheme, provides communication and administration processes, and handles refunds if an employee opts out.The system is provided by Ceridian UK, which already supplies the retailer with its HRevolution Saas system for its 16,000 employees’ online pay slips. â€Å"Standard-alone Soft Ware/web system† for enrollment are another common approach. This spectrum involved the complementation of an automated solution to process open enrollment. The key business drivers for eliminating a paper-based process and replacing it with an automated process are :Reduction in the time it takes to process open enrollment. Elimination of the cost of producing and storing paper materials. Mitigating the possibility of human errors Increasing employee satisfaction.Employees are not the only ones who benefit from enrollment automation. Thanks to the customizable, rules-based validation capability present with this technology, the system will catch errors and incomplete information, prompting employees to make changes as needed. Additionally, managers and administrators can run reports to discover who still needs to complete the process and send automated reminders, without having to chase down employees on a one-on-one basis. The workload on HR staff is greatly reduced, as employees can handle their own enrollment tasks. Research has shown that employees and administrators are still dissatisfied ith the level of information and analysis tools that are available with many stand-alone benefit enrollme nt applications. The fundamental issue is that in order to make informed healthcare decisions, employees, HR administrators, and financial buyers need access to data commonly found in HR/Benefits and workforce management systems. Access to demographic information alongside of benefit participation data allows a company to analyze trend so that no group is overpaying or under-utilizing the benefits. Data can be segmented into employee groups by: age, family status, location, need, pay scales, and multiple combinations of the aboveSynchronizing data between the benefit enrollment software and the day-to-day HR/Benefit system is key to achieving this because employee data is always changing. This includes: Changing departments, Changing pay-grades, Changing locations, Changing family status, Changing work status and more The Completely Integrated Single System, one database approach is the best option available today. The need to make more information available to employees, and the ne ed to streamline processes even further, are what drive many companies into the third and most advanced phase of their open enrollment evolution.This is the sweet-spot, where businesses integrate their benefits enrollment system with their HR/Benefits and workforce management platforms to develop a truly comprehensive, integrated approach. When open enrollment is deployed as a complete, full-service package, an organization can: empower an employee’s decision process by providing all information they need including paystubs, HR, business rules and workforce management through one interface, enter and update all employee information in one place, maintain up-to-date data throughout the open enrollment process. now that data integrity is assured from system to system. Enrolment System are viable choices for schools, training programs, work place operations, educational institutions, such as colleges, and grade schools are assessed for a case. Online automated system is which ac cepts and organize enrollee information, can boost productivity. System operations proceeds faster, more efficiently and with greater accuracy than manual enrolment system. Programs are comprehensive and capable of handling all interrelated processes including: completion of all related forms, development, organizations, and maintenance of files.Creation of master lists; other special reports. Free assessments and balances. Departmentalized accounts receivable reports; class schedules and records updates. Garcia (2002) created also the LSPZ Computerized Enrollment System. The study can be a great help to person concerned during the enrollment period. The registrar, the instructors of the students lessen the burden manually browsing over enrollment slip for record purposes. Dioso (2004) stated that computer assists careful intelligent planning organizing, actuating and controlling. This maybe observed from the past that they monitor production ctivities, solve scientific problem and help arrive in tentative answer to a multitude of involve condition Computer generated enrolment solutions afford students choices like options for payment, 24/7 that can benefit the whole operation. System typically include data protection and back up frameworks. Student’s enrollees have access to their personal information only. School personnel are able to keep up with teacher and students grades, pint averages and other pertinent identification data, such as grades, quizzes and any other modules that are considered necessary for efficient administration.Modification in school policies and requirements are easily edited online. Carrier guidance and evaluations are facilitated and traceable. What the online enrolment program effectively amount to is a self-service. On-demand students and administrators friendly guide and process optimizer. Employee workload is decreased and administrators can spend more time giving students more personalized attention and encouragement. Als o, the enrollment system is compatible with mobile app version for students and school staff. Some resources are available on download. com or torrent downloader. More reference links. ww. oppapers. com. www. scribd. com. This enrolment process in school is required by Information Technology. The objective of Information Technology is to help humanity from doing loads of work overtime. By having computerized system, the cost during enrolment will be cut down and much effort will be reduces. The project involves a series of studies that course all the requirements of creating a computerized enrolment system. The goal of the study is to provide an efficient computer-based system that will easily update, retrieve, and maintain students records. The developer concern is o make a system that will help to speed up process. Slow registration processing cannot blame anyone, because of the larger total population of the enrollees. School staff who incharge for the enrolment also encountered a lot of comments the the enrollees. They also encounter different kind of problems, stress and many more during the enrolment. The researcher aims to gather and record the effects of computerized enrollment system at Kings College of the Philippines from the enrolment of first semester from the School Year 2013 according to its status and year level of the enrollees.Kings College of the Philippines (formerly Eastern Luzon College ELC Benguet) started from the year of 2004. Located Pico La Trinidad Benguet. It has been educated institution for nine (9) years now. Reverend Kwon Young Soo from korea is the founder of the said school. service inside the school weekly and during and every Sunday. One of the problems of Kings College of the Philippines during enrolment was the generation of forms. The students needed to fill-up a lot of copies of a registration form (copy for the students, accountant, registrar and dean). Students were consuming a lot of time in doing such.Since students are manually filling-up the official documents of the school, data redundancy has a great possibility in causing further complexity in the enrolment process. The enrolment itself can be considered as a problem for the students. From evaluation to validation. It is a long process and students have to go back and fort in different offices to complete the enrolment procedures. It can be tiring and such a waste of effort for them. Another problem of the school was each of enrollment personnel especially in the accounting department which only had two (2) personnel to accommodate all the students during nrolment and payment of fees. The outcome was that the school had a hard time in accoumodating large number of students and that made it hard for other students to wait in line. For the past Seven (7) years the Kings College of the Philippines using manual process of enrolment. Enrollees need to fill-up a lot of registration forms and it is wasting time. A lot of enrollees did not unders tand or did not know what they will write on their form because no one can guide or assess them. On the other way the accountant or registrar cannot understand what had the enrollees written in the registration form.Or sometimes the enrollees did not fill-up the form very well. It is October 2011, second semester enrolment when the Kings College of the Philippines used the computerized enrolment system. It is not only for the enrollees but also for the guidance. Accounting office and registrar. Library and many more. The idea of using this system was came from one of the Professor and the Accounting incharged Mr. Heginio Clyde Abellanosa. At present the Kings College of the Philippines using the enrolment system. The computer laboratory 4 is the encoding area of the said school. You can fill up all the necessary nformation, you can choose all the subject and schedule that you want and in a second you can get your enrolment form together with the total of your tuition fee. After that you can now proceed to the accounting office for you payment. Every now and then they can monitor the list by course of enrollees. The total numbers of enrollees from its year level. And so the total number of enrollees per semester. From this system you can monitor the record, list of payments or balances. The respective dean of the department can monitor their students in their own offices. METHODOLOGY This chapter contains research design used by the author.The procedure that were used in this study namely: population and locale of the study, data collection instrument and statistical treatment of data. The method of research applied also in this research . This type of research aims to describe the data and characteristics of the case being studied. The idea behind this research is to study frequencies, averages, and other statistical calculations. Although this research is highly accurate, it does not gather the causes behind the situation. Descriptive research is mainly done when a researcher wants to gain a better understanding of a topic.Explanatory research was also used by the researcher which is defined as carried out to ascertain that the occurrence of or the changes in the variable which leads to out comes as presented. Through this research, the researcher was able to find out how much variation is caused by another variable. This was appropriate for this study since it helped the researcher to have a better out come in terms of the description of the data in this research. Research Design This study entitled â€Å"Computerized Enrollment System: it’s effect to the enrollees ofKings College of the Philippines particularly to the Criminology students is a descriptive method of research was used in this study. This type of research is to study frequencies, average and other statistical calculations. Descriptive reasons are defined as involving collection of data in order to answer the questions concerning the current status of the study. I n this study questionnaire was the main data-collection tools. It is the most common used to gather information regarding the students that was utilized, in order to evaluate the effects of Computerizes Enrollment System to the respondents.It helped the researcher to have a better outcome in terms of the description of the data in this research. The questionnaire answered by the respondents consist of socio-demographic profile and the affects of the Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students. This design is used to get information fasts. Population and Locale of the Study This study is conducted at the Benguet Provincial Capitol Assessor’s Office to gather the information needed in the study. The personnel in charge in the office were the respondents.The primary data to be gathered from the respondents were the possible solutions to the problems most often encountered in handling existing Real P roperty Tax Assessment transactions. This study was conducted at Kings College of the Philippines. Located at Pico. La Trinidad, Benguet during first semester of the school year 2013. The data was based on the enrollees enroled in the College of Criminal justice Education to gather the information needed in the study The case study entitled â€Å"Computerized Enrollment System: its affect to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students†.The case stated that the school’s enrollment process are time consuming, redundant students records, and has a slow retrieval of students record. The researcher dealt with transferees, freshmen, irregular students, returnee and professor, its effect to every enrollee. The researcher study how does it works faster than the manual form of enrolment. Sketch of Kings College of the Philippines Conceptual Framework The socio demographic profile of the enrollees such as age, and type of school gra duated from. Year level and status could be possibly affected to the enrollees on the computerized enrolment system.The present studies are used to determine the computerized enrolment system and its affect to the respondents. This study is delaminated on the Computerized Enrolment System: and its affect to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students. Paradigm of the Study The operational paradigm of the study is where the Computerized Enrolment System, its affects and intervening variables are enumerated. Figure 1. Paradigm of the study shows the different variables of the study Independent Variable Dependent Variables Computerized Enrollment System Features | 1. Registration 2. Assessment 3.Systematic Enrollment 4. School Fee Management 5. Computerized Student Account 6. Class Schedule 7. Secure Login System 8. Student RecordsOther: | A. Level of Computerized Enrollment System affecting the enrolleesRate:3-Very effective2-Effective1-N ot effectiveB. Effect to the Students5-Always4-Often3-Sometimes2-Seldom1-Never| Dependent Variables So-Socio-demographic profile| 1. Age 2. Type of Secondary Educational Attainment 3. Year Level 4. Status | Statement of the Problem Enrollment plays a very serious role in every school premise. It is very important in every school and it acts as their foundation.Each school has their own system in handling their enrollment. And for them to accommodate many students, they need to computerize their enrollment system, for them to make their work easier and easy to manage. The respondents are the students of College of Criminal justice Education. From first year to forth year. It consists of ______students. _____from 1st year, ______from the 2nd, _____ from 3rd year, _______from 4th year students. This study seeks to find and assess the effects of Computer Enrollment System to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students at Pico, LaTrinidad Be nguet. Particularly it seeks to: 1. Describe the Computerizes Enrollment System affecting the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students. 2. Identify the level of importance of Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees Of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students. 3. Recognized the degree of problem encountered by the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly in criminology students. 4. Identify why they used the Computerized Enrollment System The following hypothesis was tested in the study: 1.The effect of Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students are modified. 2. The level of importance of Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines are determined 3. The degree of problems encountered by the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the crimi nology students are Data Collection Tool The researcher has observed the Computerizes Enrolment System already. The utilization on the survey of the information flow within the Kings College of the Philippines.The questionnaire consists of the following: PartI1 it is the form of check mark wherein the socio-demographic profile such as: age, type of secondary educational attainment, year level and status of the enrollees. Part II it is the form of check mark wherein the level of Computerized Enrollment System that affect the enrollees is enumerated based on the observation. Part III it is the form of check mark wherein the level of importance of Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees particularly to the criminology students. Most inquires written in the questionnaire were made by the researcher and other were ased on their observation. Statistical Treatment Data The data presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data gathered from the system were tallied tabulated. They were treated weighted mean to Computerized Enrollment System. Its affect to the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the Criminology students. This treatment are necessary information sought without losing its validity. It was used to enhance the researcher a clearer analysis and easier interpretation. The data come up with the _____1st years, ______2nd years, _____3rd years, ____and 4th year enrollees of Criminology.It discusses the number of problems in using manual registration form from the number and status of enrollees for the first semester enrolment school year 2013. According to the status of enrollees like returnee, transferee, freshmen, professor and the time and typed of workload lessen. Name: (optional)_______________________ Age: _______15-20, ________21-25, __________26-30 Type of school graduated from: _______Public _________Private Year Level: _____1st year, ______ 2nd year, ________ 3rd year, _______4th year Status: _____Freshmen, _____Old, _____Transferee, ______ Returnee ______ Professor 1.What are the Computerized Enrollment System affecting the enrollees during enrollment of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students? Direction: Please rate the level of Computerized Enrollment System that affects the enrollees during enrollment. Where: 3 -Very Effective2- Effective 1-Not effective Computerized Enrollment System| 3| 2| 1| Registration| | | | Assessment | | | | Systematic Enrollment| | | | School fee management| | | | Secure Login System| | | | Computerized Student Accounts | | | | Class Schedule| | | | Students Records | | | | Other | | | | 2.What are the level of importance of Computerized Enrollment System to t enrollees Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students? Direction: Please rate the importance of Computerized Enrollment System to the enrollees during enrollment. Where: 5-Stongly Agree 4-Agree 3-Disagree 2-Strongly Disagree 1-Undecided Effects t o the Enrollees | 5| 4| 3| 2| 1| More personalized attention| | | | | | Decreased workload| | | | | | More efficiency| | | | | | Greater accuracy| | | | | | Faster processing | | | | | | Systematized recording and verifying of data| | | | | | Easier way of registration| | | | | |Reduce redundancy| | | | | | Enrollment forms that are checked manually | | | | | | Lessen errors | | | | | | Fast summarizing of reports| | | | | | Updated reports of payments | | | | | | Other | | | | | | 3. What are the degree of problem encountered by the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly in criminology students? Direction: Please rate the degree of problems encountered by the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly in criminology students. Where: 5-Always 4-Often 3-Sometimes 2-Seldom 1-Never Degree of Problems| 5| 4| 3| 2| 1| Falling line| | | | | | Wasting time| | | | | |Filling-up and signing| | | | | | Encoding | | | | | | Printing | | | | | | Other | | | | | | Objective: The researcher aims to accomplish the following: 1. Determine the specific reason why Computerizes Enrollment System affects the enrollees of Kings College of the Philippines particularly to the criminology students. 2. Determine the positive and negative effects of the Computerized Enrollment System to the students 3. Show the consequence of excessive use of Computerizes Enrollment System to the students. 4. To gather more information, to study its contribution to the students ,and to share out idea about the system to the students.

Filtration & Centrifugation

FILTRATION â€Å"Filtration may be defined as a process of separation of solids from a fluid by passing the same through a porous medium that retains the solids, but allows the fluid to pass through. † The suspension to be filtered is known as slurry. The porous medium used to retain the solids is known as filter medium. The accumulated solids on the filter are referred to as filter cake, while the clear liquid passing through the filter is filtrate. When solids are present in a very low concentration i. e. , not exceeding 1. 0% w/v, the process of its separation from liquid is called ‘clarification’. Process of filtration: The filtration operation is shown below in the figure * The pores of the filter medium are smaller than the size of the particles to be separated. * Filter medium (for eg: filter paper or muslin cloth) is placed on a support (a sieve). * When slurry (feed) is passed over the filter medium, the fluid flows through the filter medium by virtue of a pressure differential across the filter. * Gravity is acting on the liquid column. Therefore, solids are trapped on the surface of the filter medium Figure 1: filtration Once the preliminary layer of particles is deposited, further filtration is brought about wherein the filter medium serves only as a support. * The filter will work efficiently only after an initial deposit. * After a particular point of time, the resistance offered by the filter cake is high that virtually filtration is stopped. For this reason, a positive pressure is applied on the filter cake (upstream) or negative pressure (suction) is applied below the filter medium (downstream). Factors affecting the rate of filtration: The rate of filtration which depends on various factors can be written as: Rate of filtration = Area of filter X Pressure difference Viscosity X Resistance of cake and filter The rate of filtration depends on the following factors: 1. Pressure: * The rate of filtration of liquid is directly proportional to the pressure difference between the ‘filter medium’ and ‘filter cake’. * Thus, the rate of filtration can be increased by applying pressure on the liquid being filtered or by decreasing the pressure beneath the filter. 2. Viscosity: * The rate of filtration is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the liquid undergoing filtration. Liquids which are very viscous get filtered slowly in comparison to liquids with low viscosity. * Reduction of viscosity of a liquid by raising the temperature is frequently done in order to accelerate filtration. eg: syrups are more quickly filtered when hot and cold. 3. Surface area of filter media: * The rate of filtratio n is directly proportional to the surface area of filter media. * Pleating the filter paper or using a fluted funnel increases the effective surface area of filter paper for filtration. Filter press also works on the same principle. 4. Temperature of liquid to be filtered: Temperature plays an important role in the rate of filtration. * Viscosity is reduced by a rise in temperature and the filtration of viscous oils, syrups etc is often accelerated by filtering them while they are still hot. 5. Particle size: * The rate of filtration is directly proportional to the particle size of the solid to be removed. * It is easier to filter a liquid having coarse particles than that having finely divided particles because coarse filtering medium can be used to filter liquid having coarse and hence it increases the rate of filtration. Therefore before filtration, some method should be adopted to agglomerate the finely divided particles into coarse particles or to increase the particle size by precipitation. 6. Pore size of filter media: * The rate of filtration is directly proportional to the pore size of the filter media. * The liquid having coarse particles requires a coarse filtering media to remove them. So, the rate of filtration is increased when a coarse filter medium is used for filtration. 7. Thickness of cake: * The rate of filtration is inversely proportional to the thickness of the filter cake formed during the process of filtration. As the filtration process proceeds, the solid particles start depositing on the filter medium, and thus, it increases the thickness of the cake and decreases the rate of filtration. 8. Nature of the solid material: * The rate of filtration is directly proportional to the porosity of the filter cake. * The porosity of the filter cake depends on the nature of the solid particles to be removed from the liquid. * Filter aids are sometimes added to the filtering liquid to make a porous cake Theories of filtration The flow of a liquid thorough a filter follows the basic rules that govern the flow of any liquid through the medium offering resistance. The rate of flow may be expressed as: Driving force Rate = ——————– (equation 1) Resistance The rate of filtration may be expressed as volume (lit) per unit time (dv/dt). The driving force is the pressure differential between the upstream and downstream of the filter. The resistance is not constant. It increases with an increase in the deposition of solids on the filter medium. Therefore filtration is not a steady state. The rate of flow will be greatest at the beginning of the filtration process, since the resistance is minimum. Once the filter cake is formed, its surface acts as filter medium and solids continuously deposit adding to the thickness of the cake. The resistance to flow is related to several factors as mentioned below. Length of capillaries Resistance to movement = ———————————————————— Poiseuille’s Equation: Poiseuille’s considered that filtration is similar to the stream line flow of a liquid under pressure through capillaries. Poiseuille’s equation is ? pr4 V = —————– 8L? Where, V= rate of flow, i. e. , volume of liquid flowing in unit time, m3/s(1/s) p = pressure difference across the filter, pa r = radius of the capillary in the filter bed, m L = thickness of the filter cake (capillary length), m = viscosity of filtrate, pa s If the cake is composed of a bulky mass of particles and the liquid flows through the interstices (correspond to a multiplicity of capillary tubes), then the flow of liquids through these may be expressed by poiseulle’s equation. Darcy’s Equation: Poiseuille’s law assumes that the capillaries found in the filter are highly irregular and nonuniform. Therefore, if the length of a capillary is taken as the thickness of the bed, correction factor for radius is applied so that the rate equat ion is closely approximated and simplified. The factor influencing the rate of filtration has been incorporated into an equation by Darcy, which is: KA P V = ——————– ? L Where, K = permeability coefficient of the cake, m2 A = surface area of the porous bed (filter medium), m2 p = pressure difference across the filter, pa L = thickness of the filter cake (capillary length), m ? = viscosity of filtrate, pa s The term K depends on the characteristics of the cake, such as porosity, surface area and compressibility. Permeability may be defined quantitatively as the flow rate of a liquid of unit viscosity across a unit area of cake having unit thickness under a pressure gradient of unity. This model relates not only to filter beds or cakes but also applies to other types of depth filter. Equipment is valid for liquids flowing through sand, glass beads and various porous media. Darcy’s equation is further modified by including characteristics of K by Kozeny-Carman. Kozeny-Carman Equation: Poiseuille’s equation is made applicable to porous bed, based on a capillary type structure by including additional parameters. Thus the resultant equation, which is widely used for filtration is Konzeny- Carman equation. A p ? 3 ?S2 KL (1- ? )2 V = —— ——- ——– Where, ? = porosity of the cake (bed) S = specific surface area of the particles comprising the cake, m2/m3 K = Konzeny constant p = pressure difference across the filter, pa L = thickness of the filter cake (capillary length), m ? = viscosity of filtrate, pa s The Konzeny constant is usually taken as 5. The effect of compressibility of the cake on flow rate can be appreciated from equation (1), since the flow rate is proportional to ? 3/ (1- ? )2. A 10 percent change in porosity can produce almost 3-fold change inn V. Limitations of Kozeny Carman equation: Kozeny Carman equation does not take in to account of the fact that the depth of the granular bed is lesser than the actual path traversed by the fluid. The actual path is not straight throughout the bed, but it is sinuous or tortuous Mechanisms of filtration: The mechanism whereby particles are retained by a filter is significant only in the initial stages of filtration. Some of the mechanisms are: Straining: Similar to sieving i. e. , the particles of larger size cannot pass through the smaller pore size of the filter medium. Impingement: Solids having momentum move along the path of streamline flow and strike (impinge) the filter medium. Thus, the solids are retained on the filter medium. Entanglement: Particles become entwined (entangled) in the mass of fibres (of cloth with a fine hairy surface or porous felt) due to smaller size of particles than the pore size. Thus the solids are retained on the filter medium. Attractive forces: Solids are retained on the filter medium as a result of attractive forces between particles and filter medium, as in case of electrostatic precipitation. FILTER MEDIA AND FILTER AIDS Filter media: The filter medium act as a mechanical support for the filter cake and is also responsible for the collection of solids. Filter medium should have the following characteristics: 1. It should have sufficient mechanical strength. 2. It must be inert; it should not show chemical or physical interaction. 3. It should not absorb the dissolved material. 4. It should allow the maximum passage of liquid, while retaining the solids. It means that it must offer low resistance to flow. The magnitude of the resistance of the filter medium will change due to the layers of solids deposited earlier, which may block the pores or may form bridges over the entrances of the channels. Therefore, the pressure should be kept low at the beginning to avoid the plugging of the pores. The usual procedure is to filter at constant rate by increasing the pressure as necessary. When normal working pressure is reached, it is maintained. On continued filtration, the thickness of the cake further builds up and hence the rate of filtration decreases. When the rate is uneconomical, filtration is stopped. The filter cake is removed and filtration is restarted. Materials: The following materials are used as filter media: 1. Woven materials such as felt or cloth: * Woven material is made of wool, cotton, silk, glass, metal or synthetic fibres (rayon, nylon etc. ) * Synthetic fibres have greater chemical resistance than wool or cotton, which are affected by alkali and acid respectively. * The choice of the fibre depends on the chemical reactivity with the slurry. . Perforated sheet metal: * For eg: stainless steel plates have pores which act as channels as in case of meta filter (edge filter). 3. Bed of granular solid built up on a supporting medium: * In some processes, a bed of graded solids may be formed to reduce the resistance to the flow. * Typical examples of granular solids are gravel, sand, asbestos, paper, pulp an d keiselguhr. * The choice of solids depends on the size of the solids in the process. 4. Prefabricated porous solid unit: * Porous solids prefabricated into a single unit are being increasingly used for its convenience and effectiveness. Sintered glass, sintered metal, earthenware and porous plastics are some of the materials used for the fabrication. 5. Cartridge filter media: * Cartridge units are economical and available in pore size of 100 µm to even less than 0. 2  µm. * These can be used either as surface cartridges or depth type cartridges. a) Surface type cartridges: * These are corrugated and resin treated papers. These are used in hydraulic lines. * Ceramic cartridges are advantageous in cleaning for reuse by back flushing or firing. * Porcelain filter candles are used for sterile filtration. ) Depth type cartridges: * These are made of cotton, asbestos or cellulose. * These are disposable items, since cleaning is not feasible. Filter Aids: Filter aid forms a surface deposit which screens out the solids and also prevents the plugging of the supporting filter medium. The important characteristics of the filter aids are: 1. Chemically inert to the liquid being filtered and free from impurities. 2. Low specific gravity, so that filter aids remain suspended in liquid. 3. Porous rather than dense, so that previous cake can be formed. 4. Recoverable Justification: The object of the filter aid is to prevent the medium from becoming blocked and to form an open, porous cake, hence reducing the resistance to flow of the filtrate. a) Usually low resistance is offered by the filter medium itself, but as layers of solid built up the resistance will be increased. The cake may become impervious by blocking of the pore in the medium. Flow rate is inversely proportional to the resistance of the solid cake. b) Slimy or gelatinous material and highly compressible substances form impermeable cakes. The filter medium gets plugged and the flow of filtrate stops. Disadvantages: * The filter aids remove the coloured substances by absorbing them. Sometimes active principles such as alkaloids are absorbed on the filter aid. * Rarely, filter aids are a source of contaminants such as soluble iron salts, which can provoke degradation of sensitive ingredients. * Liquid retained in the pores of the filter cake is lost in the manufacturing process. Example of filter aids: * Keiselguhr, Talc, Charcoal, Asbestos, Paper pulp, Bentonite, Fullers earth * Activated charcoal is used for removal of organic and inorganic impurities. Keiselguhr is a successful filter aid and as little as 0. 1% can be added to the slurry. The rate of filtration is increased by 5 times or more, at the above concentration, though the slurry contains 20% solids. Handling of filter aids: Filter aids are mostly used for clarification processes, i. e. , where solids are discarded. Different flow rates can be achieved depending on the grade of the aids. * Low flow rate (fine solids) â €“ fine grade filter aids –mainly intended for clarity. * Fast flow rate (coarse solids) -coarse grade filter aids –acceptable filtrate. The filter aid can be employed in either one or both ways. a) Firstly, a pre coat is formed over the medium. For this purpose, a suspension of the filter aid is filtered to give a coating up to 0. 5/m2. b) Secondly, a small proportion of filter aid (0. 1-0. 5% of total batch weight) is purposely added to the slurry. So the filter cake has a porous structure and filtration can be efficient. The filter aid of 1-2 parts per each part of contaminant is mixed in the feed tank. This slurry is re circulated through the filter until a clear filtrate is obtained. Filtration then proceeds to completion. The body mix method minimises equipment requirement and cross contamination potentials. Sterile Filtration: Sterile filtration is carried out for removal of microorganisms from fluids. It is a cheap and satisfactory method for sterilizing heat-sensitive (thermolabile) materials. The method implies the use of membrane filters which do not impart any particulate matter, fibers, or chemical reaction to the filtrate unlike unglazed porcelain candles, asbestos pads and other filters. In addition, no pretreatment is required, cleaning is no problem and the filters can be autoclaved or gas sterilized after assembly in its holder. Even when sterility is not warranted but ‘polishing’ (removal of particulate matter including live or dead bacterial cells in order to obtain high purity and clarity) is desired in products like oral or topical antibiotic preparations, membrane filters are the best choice. The following filters are used for bacterial filtration: 1. Candle filter 2. Seitz filter 3. Edge filter 4. Sintered glass filter 5. Membrane filter Candle filters: Candle filters are made of unglazed porcelain and are available in various porosity grades, either cylindrical or in the shape of the flanged test tube. Normally the filtration is so carried out that the liquid flow is from is from outside inwards and greater filtration surface is available to the incoming liquids. Candle filters can be sterilized by steaming, by hot moist air, or by autoclaving. Cleaning may be affected by drawing a large volume of distilled water through the candle filter thereby completely washing the previous solution from the pores. Thus the surface of the filter should be gently scrubbed with a soft brush, rinsed well with water and finally ignited in a muffle furnace. The main disadvantage of such filters s that the pores become plugged with organisms and debris which necessitate a very thorough cleaning. Sietz filter: It consists of an asbestos pad. The pads are available in several porosities that make them valuable for ‘polishing’ of solutions as well as removal of bacteria. Unless however the filter is backed with nylon mesh or sintered stainless steel: fibers occasionally get into the solutio n. The lower edge is fitted with a broad flat flange and the upper part is cylindrical. A perforated plate fitted into a lower part of the funnel supports the asbestos pad. As the pads are meant only for single use, the cleaning of filter media is no problem. Each time a fresh pad is to be used. The apparatus is simple in operation but suitable mostly for small quantities of liquids. Sintered glass filters: These are made of borosilicate glass. Borosilicate glass is finely powdered, sieved and particle of desired size are separated. It is then packed in to a disc mould and heated to a temperature at which adhesion takes place between the particles. The disc is then fused to a funnel of suitable shape and size. The sintered glass filters are available in different pore size. Hence the funnel with a sintered filter is numbered according to the pore size. The filtration is carried out under reduced pressure. These funnels are used for bacterial filtration. Sintered filters are also available in stainless steel which has a greater mechanical strength. However these are very much liable to attack by the solutions passing through them. Edge filters: In edge filters a pack of the filter media used and filtration is done edges by passing the liquid or slurry between and not through the media. Such filtration must be conducted under pressure or under partial vaccum system. Meta filter and stream line filter are two types of edge filters but the former is of greater use in pharmaceutical industry. Meta filters: Meta filters are useful in those manufacturing processes where filter presses are not frequently suitable. It requires no cloth, gauges, paper etc. and may be used at any pressure and temperature and for any liquid. It can be thoroughly cleaned after each operation. In its simplest form, meta filters consists of a grooved drainage rod or guide tube on which a series of rings are packed. On keeping the pack and finds its way along the grooves in drainage rod and ultimately to the receiver. These may be operated with pressure or under vaccum system. The rings are usually of stainless steel, of about 15mm inside diameter, 22mm outside diameter and 0. 8mm in thickness, with a number of semicircular projections on one surface. These pressure filters can be used for the filtration of very viscous liquids such as syrups or oils by fitting a steam jacket and rendering the liquids less viscous. They are also useful in the clarification of injection solutions and products such as insulin liquids. This type of filter can be cleaned easily by back-flushing with water or steam. Because of the shape of the pores in the ring, back-flushing will wash away the filter bed completely. Meta filters are very economic in use. Streamline filters: Operation wise and also geometrically, the streamline filter is similar to meta filter but the cylindrical filter pack consists of compressed paper discs. The liquid flow takes place radially inwards through the small space between individual papers and through the papers themselves. Membrane filters: * Ultra filtration methods have become popular in recent years mainly due to increased refinement of various membranes. Cellulose and cellulose derivatives are mostly commonly used materials for these filters. They are available in a wide range of pore sizes, ranging from 8 µ down to 0. 22 µ. * However, for sterile filtration, membranes with pore size of 0. 22 to 0. 45 µ are usually specified. * As such fine porosity of membranes may get clogged rapidly, a prefilter is used to remove colloidal matter in order to extend th e filtration cycle. * The filter primarily acts as a simple screen and retains on its surface all particles of size greater than the pore size of the filter (resembling sieving action). Due to an enormous number of very fine pores, the pore volume approximates 80% of the total volume of the membrane. * The action of the filter is mainly due to the combined forces of gravity and van Der Waals forces. * Membrane efficiency can be predicted in terms of its bubble point which is a characteristic function of porosity. It is defined as the pressure required to push air through a liquid saturated filter. Filter pores retain liquid until this point is reached. * Each membrane has specific bubble point which depends on the liquid wetting the membrane. An obvious disadvantage of membrane filter is their brittleness when dry and this makes handling difficult. The use of filters in cartridge form, overcomes this problem. * Apart from the small laboratory models, large models are available for p ilot plant and small scale production to handle up to about 25litres/minute of liquid through a 0. 45 µ pore size membrane. * Membrane filters find extensive use in filtration and sterilization of a variety of pharmaceutical products such as ophthalmic and intravenous solutions, other aqueous products, biological preparations, hormones and enzymes. In conjunction with a suitable pipette syringe, it is very useful in dispensing measured volumes of sterile fluids. * This assembly is often utilized for handling of pharmaceutical, biological and bacteriological preparations which can be damaged by metallic contact. Centrifugation Centrifugation is a unit operation employed for separating the constituents present in the dispersion with the aid of the centrifugal force. Equipment used for centrifugation is centrifuge. Centrifugal force is used to provide the driving force for the separation. It replaces the gravitation force in the sedimentation. Centrifugation is particularly useful when separation by ordinary filtration is difficult. Centrifugation provides convenient method of separating two immiscible liquids or solid from liquid. * Centrifugation is a separation process which uses the action of centrifugal force to promote accelerated settling of particles in a solid-liquid mixture. * If particles size in the dispersions is 5 micro meter or less, they undergo Brownian motion, hence they do not Sediment under gravity, therefore a stronger force, centrifugal force is applied in order to separate Two distinct major phases are formed in the vessel during centrifugation: The  sediment Usually does not have a uniform structure. The  centrifugate  or  centrate  which is the supernatant liquid. Process of centrifugation: The centrifuge consists of a container in which mixture of solid and liquid or two solids is placed and rotated at high speeds. The mixture is separated into it’s constituent parts by the action of the centrifugal force on their densities. A solid or liquid with higher specific gravity is thrown outward with greater force & it is retained at the bottom of the container leaving a clear supernatant liquid. The speed of the centrifuge is commonly expressed in terms of number of revolutions per minute. Theory of centrifugation: If a particle (mass = m kg) spins in a centrifuge (radius r, m) at a velocity (v, m s-1) then the centrifugal force (F, N) acting on the particle equals m v2/r. The same particle experiences gravitational force (G, Newton) = m g (where g = acceleration due to gravity) Centrifugal force = f = mv2/r Centrifugal effect (C) = F/G = mv2 /mgr (v = 2 ? r n ) c = (2? r n)2/ g r = 4 ? 2r n2/ g (d= r/2) = 2 ? 2 d n2/ g (g = 9. 807) C = 2. 013 d n2 Centrifugal effect, C= 2. 013 n2d n= speed of rotation( revolution per second of centrifuge) * d= diameter of rotation So * Centrifugal effect is directly proportional to diameter of rotation * Centrifugal effect is directly proportional to (speed of rotation)2 There are two main types of centrifuge used to achieve separation on an industrial scale, * Filtration centrifuge: Those using perforated baskets, which perform a filtratio n-type operation (work like a spin-dryer) and * Sedimentation centrifuge : Those with a solid walled vessel, where particles sediment towards the wall under the influence of the centrifugal orce Perforated basket centrifuge: Figure: Perforated Basket Centrifuge In this type of centrifuge, a basket is mounted above a driving shaft. This type of centrifuges are used for batch processes. Principle: Perforated basket (bowl) centrifuge is a filtration centrifuge. The separation through a perforated wall based on the difference in the densities of solid and liquid phases. The bowl contains a perforated side wall. During centrifugation, the liquid phase passes through a perforated wall, while solid phase is retained in the bowl. The solids are removed after stopping the centrifuge. Construction: It consists of a basket, made of steel (sometimes covered by vulcanite or led) or copper. The material of construction should be such that it offers greatest resistance to corrosion. The basket may have diameter of 0. 90 meters and capacity of 0. 085 meter cube. The diameter of perforations must be based on the size of crystals to be separated. The basket is suspended on a vertical shaft and is driven by a motor using suitable power system. Perforated basket is kept in a casing which collects the filtrate and discharges it through outlet. Working: The material to be separated kept in the basket. The loading of material must be done to give an even distribution. The power is applied to run the basket at speed of 1000 rpm. During centrifugation the liquid passes through the perforated wall and solid phase retaind in the basket. Uses: * Perforated basket centrifuge is extensively used for separation of crystalline drugs (aspirin) from mother liquor. Sugar crystals are separated using the perforated basket centrifuge. * Precipitated proteins from insulin can be separated. Advantages: * The process is rapid * The final product has low moisture content * It cam handle slurries with high proportion of solids even those having paste like consistency * Dissolved solids from cake can be separated. Disadvantages: * On prolonged operation solids may form hard cake. * It is a batch process. Non-Perforated Centrifuge: Principle This is sedimentation centrifuge. The separation is based on the difference in the densities of solid and liquid phases without a porous barrier. The bowl contains a non perforated side wall. During centrifugation, solid phase is retained on the sides of the basket and liquid remains at the top removed by skimming tube. Construction: It consists of a basket, made of steel (sometimes covered by vulcanite or led) or copper. The material of construction should be such that it offers greatest resistance to corrosion. The basket is suspended on a vertical shaft and is driven by a motor using suitable power system Working: The feed is continuously introduced into the centrifuge while the liquid (centrate) is continuously removed from an overflow weir inside the centrifuge * Solids build up during centrifugation forming a cake that must be periodically discharged Figure: Non-Perforated Basket Centrifuge * After the basket becomes filled with solids the centrifuge slows down and â€Å"skimming† (the removal of the top semi-liquid soft cake layer) takes place * Skimming typically removes 5 to 15% of the bowl solid volume * The bulk of the cake is discharged using a ploughing knife moving into the slowly rotating cake * The solid is discharged centrally at the bottom of the centrifuge * Solid accumulation is typically up to 60 to 85% of the maximum available depth * This type of centrifuge is typically operated at low centrifugal forces and has a relatively low solid handling capacity. The imperforated basket centrifuge is the only basket centrifuge commonly used for typical sludge dewatering applications. * High solid recovery can be achieved with this centrifuge even without chemical additives. Uses: Non-perforated basket centrifuge is useful when deposited solids offer high resisttance to the flow of liquid. Conical disc centrifuge: Principle: It is a sedimentation centrifuge. The separation is based on the difference in the the densities between phases under the influence of centrifugal force. In this a number of cone shaped plates are attached to the central shaft (which has provision for feed) at different elevations. During centrifugation, the dense solids are thrown outwards to the underside of cone shaped casing. While lighter clarified liquid passes over bowl and collected from top of the cone. Construction: It consists of shallow form of bowl containing series of conical discs attached to the central shaft at different elevations. The discs are made up of thin sheet of metal or plastic separated by narrow spaces. A concentric tube is placed surrounding the central drive shaft. Working: The feed is introduced into the concentric tube surrounding the drive shaft. The feed flows down and enters the spaces between the discs. The solids and heavier liquids thrown out ward and move underside of the discs. Low speed and short time of centrifugation is sufficient to give high degree of clarification. Uses: * Two immiscible liquids can be easily separated by continuous process after liquid-liquid extraction in manufacture of antibiotics. * Precipitated proteins in manufacture insulin can be clarified. Advantages: * Conical disc centrifuge is compact and occupies very less space. * By controlling speed of rotation and rate of flow, particles are separated into two sizes. * Separating efficiency is very high. Disadvantages: * Capacity of conical disc centrifuge is limited * Construction is complicated * Not suitable if sediment of solids form hard cake. Figure: Conical Disc Centrifuge Tubular bowl centrifuge: The tubular bowl centrifuge has been used for longer than most other designs of centrifuge. It is based on a very simple geometry: it is formed by a tube, of length several times its diameter, rotating between bearings at each end. The process stream enters at the bottom of the centri fuge and high centrifugal forces act to separate out the solids. The bulk of the solids will adhere on the walls of the bowl, while the liquid phase exits at the top of the centrifuge. * As this type of system lacks a provision of solids rejection, the solids can only be removed by stopping the machine, dismantling it and scraping or flushing the solids out manually. Tubular bowl centrifuges have dewatering capacity, but limited solids capacity. Foaming can be a problem unless the system includes special skimming or centripetal pumps. Figure: Tubular bowl centrifuge * This type of centrifuge can also be used to separate immiscible liquids. * Rate of sediment can be control by controlling the inlet rate. * The uses of centrifugal sedimenters include liquid/liquid separation, e. g. during antibiotic manufacture and purification of fish oils, the removal of very small particles, the removal of solids that are Compressible and which easily block the filter medium, The separation of bloo d plasma from whole blood (need C =3000).

Police and Critical Thinking

As a police officer it is our role to observe, think about, and solve problems objectively and systematically. Police officers attend a variety of scenarios when working as a general duties officers it is our job to discover the truth; this requires the use of critical thinking and the scientific method of investigation to find the truth. When attending a job and conducting an investigation into a crime or offence police must utilise these skills as critical thinking and the scientific method of investigation go hand in hand with one another. In particular, to be able to make effective use of the scientific model, you need to be a critical thinker (Osterburg & Ward 1992 pp 11). Using the Scientific Method of Investigation requires police to identify the problem on arrival, then to form a hypothesis as to what has happened as well as possible suspects and motives. By collecting further data, police can then review their original hypothesis and start to make an evidence based conclusion on the incident at hand. The whole point of police investigations whatever the crime or incident is to arrive at the truth (Miller,L & Connelly,M. 1996). There are six steps to the scientific method of investigation. (Becker, RF, 2000, p. 7) The six steps are state the problem, create a hypothesis, collect all data, test the hypothesis, continue to collect data and finally arrive at a theory. By adhering to this method it provides framework that best assists police in discovering the truth about what happened in a structural, factual and reliable way. PPP232 Topic 3) In this essay I will be critiquing the way the police officers have investigated the assault on Mr Lee that took place and how the officers have used both critical thinking and the scientific method of Investigation, to gather all evidence available to find the truth, in an ethical manner. When applying the first stage of the investigation to the scenario the officers attending the scene are approached by the licensee of the Chiefly Hotel. Denis e Spence informs Senior Constable Baltrow that a barman who works in her hotel has been assaulted. Previous experience and observations are both factors which aid us in identifying a problem; this is known as ‘inductive reasoning. ’ In this case, I believe, both factors come into play for Senior Constable Baltrow. Senior constable Baltrow then begins to question the licensee. During the questioning process a male appears from down the street who seems to be out of breath. This male Gary Rawlings, states to police he has just chased a male who assaulted Dan Lee. It appears Mr Rawlings has a lot of valuable information about the assault. By using Denise and Gary’s evidence the Officer in charge is able to identify that a male has been assaulted and taken to Bathurst hospital. The problem has now been identified and the Officers can use their initial observations and the current information they have gathered to begin to form the hypothesis. â€Å"A working hypothesis is like an incomplete puzzle that comes together a piece at a time. † (Becker, 2000. pp. 4). After forming a logical hypothesis that the victim was assaulted by a male, it is now up to the officers to â€Å"Collect Further Data†. Whilst collecting data the Officers will be identifying, utilizing and evaluating various sources of information and evidence collected at the scene to help support their hypothesis. Both the statements give evidence to prove the assault took place but police have no information as to why the assault happened. Constable Buchman points out to Senior constable Baltrow that there is CCTV footage available. In collecting data it is also crucial for the police to be able to link all the evidence presented from witness, victim and available evidence from the crime scene. The next step in the investigation is to interpret the data and test the hypothesis. The statements made by the witnesses may change the officer’s hypothesis from ‘was the assault carried out intentionally or was in self-defence, the CCTV footage will provide officers with valuable evidence to support their hypothesis. For the officers to come to a decision, about their initial hypothesis, it requires critical thinking about their line of investigation. Critical thinking is an integral part of the scientific method of investigation. It is the examination and test of propositions of any kind which are offered for acceptance, in order to find out whether they correspond to reality or not. (Nixon, Stefanovic, & O’Conner, 2009, p. 74). The concept of critical thinking includes inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning is the process of arriving at a conclusion based on a set of observations. In itself it is not a valid piece of evidence as it can lead to assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices about a suspect. It can also lead to tunnel vision. Deductive reasoning is using the evidence and information at hand to create specific facts and ideas about what occurred during an incident. Its use can help create a hypothesis to help investigators advance in an investigation. It is a starting point for an investigation not a conclusion and an integral part of the scientific method of investigation (PPP232 Module 3). It is not your job to punish: your job is to discover the; who, what, where, when, how and why of an event, and then to report the matter to another authority (Court, Coroner, DPP, Workcover etc). This is the key role of investigation – discovering the truth of the matter and this subject strives to expand your knowledge and skills so you become an effective, professional and ethical investigator. The data that the investigating police were provided with through the investigation process was able to offer police with a sequence of events, before, during and after the incident. The data collected by the police has ensured that the witnesses version of events, matched up with the CCTV footage at the scene. This shows how important evidence is in the investigation process as it allows police to correctly identify and charge suspects according to law. The officers in the scenario believe they are dealing with an assault. To help investigate the crime further the officers will now gather additional data. The officers collect the CCTV footage which will play vital part in the investigation. A description of the suspect is given to Senior constable Baltrow and is broadcasted over the police radio. The officer in charge then proceeds further into the investigation when he is informed about a piece of wood which was used in the assault. The Officer locates the piece of wood and records, photographs and collects this evidence. The next stage of the investigation is to take statements from the witnesses, victim, to obtain a copy of the CCTV footage, and search the area for further witnesses or evidence. Police would then send out Forensic service Group to see if there is any further evidence they can obtain from the scene. The CCTV footage obtained will confirm the witness’s versions. The police now attend Bathurst Hospital to speak with Mr Lee and Catherine James about what occurred at the Chiefly Hotel. Their statements will be a vital part of the investigation. Police observations of Mr Lee’s injuries are consistent with the statements gathered. Police take statements which confirm and support the facts gathered about the assault. Over the radio police get a call stating that a male has been caught trespassing on a property. On arrival the person of interest appears to match the description of the accused involved in the assault at the Chiefly hotel. Applying critical thinking to the new evidence given about a male attempting to break into a property at Bathurst, police now have the suspect allowing for the investigation to begin. The officers are able to caution the offender and begin questioning Jason Priest about the assault. During the questioning process the accused states that the victim came up to him and assaulted him with the piece of wood. Using the CCTV footage the police will now have to view the footage to test this theory. At this stage of the investigation the officers believe they have sufficient data to support their decision on arresting the accused. The Officers will now need to collate any further evidence which would be beneficial to their case such as the victim and witness statements, CCTV footage, forensic evidence from the scenes and the photo identification back at Bathurst Police Station. The data which has been collected is all evidence that meets the description and identifies the suspect. Now that the police have obtained vital information they are able to place the two men out the front of the Chiefly hotel. The victim and first witness supplied important information to the Officers which allowed them to start the investigation, the officers were able to obtain sufficient data to support what type of offence was committed. The only barrier could be the witnesses may drawback from an investigation as they could be affected by emotion, threats, or fear to give their true account on what happened. The responding officers are in a position not only to influence the victim’s feelings, perceptions and assessments regarding the victimisation experience, but whether the victim will assist in the prosecution of the case. ’ In this prosecution the CCTV is important as it shows who has the piece of wood and the method in which it was used, intent or self-defence. The CCTV footage helps the officers comprehend what has occurred and collaborate the versions that hav e been represented by the witnesses. Police have obtained 3 forms of evidence: Real, Original and Documentary. Real evidence is an object, something tangible that is found at a crime scene or is related to an offence. In this scenario an example of real evidence is the piece of wood that was used by the accused as a weapon in the assault. Original evidence is evidence given by a witness, a statement and anything said by a person in relation to the offence and what they saw. Police obtained statements from Denise, Catherine James and Mr Lee. Documentary evidence is anything that can be classed as a document. Relating to this scenario the officers took photos of the weapon in the assault and collected CCTV footage from Denise the licensee of the hotel. From gathering and assessing all evidence police can now â€Å"Draw an Evidence Based Conclusion†. It is now up to the officers to use critical thinking to link all pieces of evidence to the crime to find the truth. By individualising each piece of evidence found, the officers can identify what each piece of evidence means, determine the reliability of the evidence and what range of conclusions can be drawn from it. By collecting further data, police can then review their original hypothesis and start to make an evidence based conclusion. When undertaking any role as a police officer it is important to maintain professionalism by acting in an ethical manner, The† Code of Conduct and Ethics† and â€Å"Statement of Values† provide guide lines for police to adhere to when undertaking this role. Police must always act in an ethical manner throughout their role as a police officer. Everything a police officer does is under scrutiny from fellow officers, victims, witnesses and of course the public, which is why it crucial that police act in an ethically sound manner. The â€Å"Code of Conduct and Ethics (CCE)† and â€Å"Statement of Values (SOV)† provides a framework in which the police are to operate. In this scenario the police have embraced the expectations from both the CCE and the SOV. The 3 main points of the CCE addressed in the scenario are: the officers â€Å"behaved honestly and in a way that upholds the values and the good reputation of the NSW police† and â€Å"acted with care and diligence†. The officers throughout the incident acted professionally, and made numerous decisions during the investigation some ethically correct and others which could have been dealt with differently. One of the decisions made which I believe to be unethical was not to IPE the person of interest. Section 201(2)(c) of LEPRA clearly states an officer must inform a person of their name, place of duty and give evidence that they are police officers if not in uniform before exercising any power. Failure to abide by this legislation deems all powers that are exercised unlawful. Due to the officers failing to abide by this safeguard the arrest would be considered unlawful. This could possibly see the collapse of the case in court and see a crime go unpunished. Another factor is that tunnel vision occurred when the officer in charge was questioning the witness at the scene. An example of the officers not thinking critically and letting tunnel vision take over is when the officer in charge broadcasted the description of the male wanted for the assault. At that stage the officers only assumed that an assault has occurred. Police also broadcasted a description of the accused over police radio, this was done without fully investigating and assuming that the witness was telling the truth. Police should have reviewed the CCTV footage from the hotel to ascertain that an assault had occurred and the description of the accused was correct. It seemed to me that officers performed fairly well. They sufficiently investigated the matter and were able to arrest the suspect for further in It is easy for us to watch this scenario unfold on DVD and criticise the actions and decisions of the two officers. However when you are placed in real life situation you need to focus on what will be in the public’s best interest and what ethical decisions will need to be made. It is important to remember that investigation is not a game with winners or losers it is a search for the truth based on the gathering of information in a fair and ethical manner. I believe that the Officers were able to provide a framework that best assisted them to the truth of the crime. In conclusion â€Å"Critical thinking† and the â€Å"Scientific Method of Investigation† are fundamental partners in criminal investigation. Together they form a â€Å"logical and scientific format† (Activity 6. 1) that enables an investigator to form logical conclusions based on the collected evidence. Critical thinking allows for conclusions coming forth from a number of different perspectives. Together this way of thinking is important in investigations as it aides investigators in answering questions and reconstructing the past. Often police are placed in a situation that requires them to solve a crime or identify an offender who committed an offence. The fact that the community have placed police in that role means it is the police who are accountable for finding the truth, and this is the basis of investigation – for police to search for the truth.

Principles and Practices of Leadership and Management Assignment

Principles and Practices of Leadership and Management - Assignment Example For being a good leader, a person must have certain leadership traits such as honesty and integrity, ability to delegate, written and oral communication skill, sense of humour, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition and the ability to inspire. Part 1 SWOT Analysis The SWOT analysis as provided below has been based on actual work experience and 360 degree feedback. Strengths I have good team work and organising capacity according to my self-assessment and the feedback from my peer group and superiors. I also possess a good deal of creativity as well as commitment. In group works, I can develop my own ideas and I also have the ability to assign work to other members by making sure that each will enjoy the work assigned to them. I am quite familiar with technological advancements in networking and specialised software. This is an era in which so many technological innovations have come up, so it is necessary that I remain updated with current changes. At all ti mes I try to maintain the values of honesty and integrity towards life and different situations in the workplace. The value of time is of high significance to me and I acknowledge this fact through timely execution of the tasks assigned to me. I am confident that I can complete all tasks assigned to me on time. ... I am a very serious person by nature, so I lack the tactics of effectively handling situations through humour and friendly communication. Moreover, I am an introvert and feel nervous when I talk to or interact with strangers. Opportunities My overall talents will enable me to work in any multinational company anywhere in the world and I feel very confident and proud of myself. Besides, a number of other opportunities are available in the publicand private sectors. This is mainly because of the increasing advancements in the technological field. In the case of an organisation, since I am familiar with the new technologies, it is easier for me to get a job in that company since companies look for technologically updated leaders. Likewise, for performing day to day activities it is very important to know the updated technologies. Threats As far as I am concerned, stiff competition is the main threat in the modern day for people in leadership positions. Though I possess reasonable skills in written communication, I feel my lacking in oral communication skills, at par with my technical skills, may affect my career as a leader adversely. The primary interaction while being considered for new job positions involves interviews, where I may encounter problems due to my lack of oral skills, and this may limit my chances. Critical Evaluation of SWOT Analysis A leader should have certain basic qualities in order to excel in his position and to influence his followers. Every person does not necessarily possess all the required traits or skills, which make the task of leadership effective. By analysing my SWOT analysis on the basis of practical experience and 360 degree feedback, I have reached certain conclusions. The creative ability along with

Care Plan Genitourinary Clinical Case Assignment

Care Plan Genitourinary Clinical Case - Assignment Example y flow and gradual worsening symptoms of nocturia, weak urinary stream, dysuria with burning, android obesity, blood in stool and an elevated PSA level with enlarged, boggy prostate that is tender to palpation. A complex uroflowmetry test is ordered to measure the amount of urine in the bladder and the rate at which it flows to determine whether the patient has inadequate bladder muscle contraction (MedlinePlus, 2012). This is because the patient complained of a decrease in the flow of urine. A Cysto-urethroscopy/ cystoscopy to check the inside of the urethra and bladder to diagnose any infections, kidney and bladder stones or tumors (MedlinePlus, 2012). This is due to fever, weak urinary system as well as difficulty when urinating. Pressure-flow voiding studies conducted to determine the ability of the bladder and urethra to expel urine (MedlinePlus, 2012). This is because of the weak urinary system and the difficulty experienced when starting to urinate. A Video urodynamic test conducted to get a visual look of the urinary tract and to monitor the path and flow of the urine (MedlinePlus, 2012). This is because of the weak urinary system and the difficulty experienced when starting to urinate. A BUN test is done together with a blood Creatinine test to determine the level of ceratine in the blood. This determines the kidney functioning (Lab Test Online, 2014). The test is done to rule out any kidney problems due to the symptoms presented. The patient has to be educated on importance of exercising and proper diet to reduce his weight and a diet without spicy food and citrus fruits as they may cause bladder irritation (Prostate Cancer UK,

Collective Bargaining Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Collective Bargaining - Assignment Example Just like many cities in the United States of America Seattle was seeking to have the minimum wage for their worker increased to fifteen dollars per hour. Once the minimum wage is raised, then the local government would have an easier time supporting families that are not so stable as a result of their income. One might feel that such an increment would negatively affect the business owners but on the contrary the businesses would register higher profits due to increased productivity of their products. This is because once the employees’ salaries are increased then they would have been motivated and hence work more efficiently (White, 2014). Fast food workers and those in their support staged strikes outside their places of work and into the roads to protests what they felt was a violation of their rights since they worked but felt that their salaries did not match their work and the standard of living in Seattle. According to White (2014), another reason as to why there was a strike in Seattle was because people were losing their jobs yet a report indicated that the state had witnessed an increase in its income. The report that was published indicated that Seattle had gained over five thousand industry jobs yet over five hundred people had lost their jobs. In Seattle’s magazine it was stated that most of the restaurants had started closing don but one would argue that statement because a many restaurants had closed down in the past for different reasons. Both sides had their various opinions on the subject matter.

CONTROVERSIAL CURRENT PSEUDO-SCIENCES Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CONTROVERSIAL CURRENT PSEUDO-SCIENCES - Essay Example Ruppetts in 1951 – 1953, in his role as Director of the U.S. Air Forces’ ‘Project Blue Book,’ whose mandate was to investigate reports of UFOs. A UFO may be defined as, Hyneck categorizes UFO experience into nocturnal lights, daylight discs, radar, CE-1: Close Encounters of the First Kind, which include observation at close quarters, CE-2: Close Encounters of the Second Kind, with reported physical evidence, such as ground traces and electromagnetic effects, CE-3: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in which both objects and occupants are reported and CE-4: Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind, which denotes reported abductions by aliens. (Berliner, UFO Evidence). Whatever may be the status of Ufology itself, it is an undisputed fact that â€Å"UFOs are arguably the most widely reported unexplained mysteries of this or any other century† (Stacy, UFO Evidence). As supported by Gallup polls, Ufology remains the pseudo-science with the largest number of adherents: 70% of Americans profess to believe in UFOs. The believers contend that even if the vast majority of reported sightings of UFOs are subsequently identified or traced to hoaxes or psychological phenomena, there still remains a substantial 25% of sightings which cannot be explained away. Another basis of their argument is that UFO sightings have, by and large, been reported by witnesses usually perceived as reliable: air force and airline pilots. A third contention is that UFO reports all exhibit a certain consistency of character: the objects are symmetrically shaped as spheres, cylinder or discs, all of which do not qualify for optimum aerodynamics in human terms; they travel at incredible speeds which no known aircraft has yet reached; they are luminescent; they emit invisible radioactive energy; they interfere with electrical systems; they emanate odors of ozone or formaldehyde; they are solid, with no obvious aerodynamic features. These supporters discount the commonly held

Centralized PC Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Centralized PC Security - Essay Example To protect data, security policies are required to be defined. Contingency planning is also an essential aspect which cannot be disregarded. As per Ramesh, V.C., and Xuan Li there are three dimensions of contingency planning â€Å"The first issue concerns the handling of multiple objectives; we discuss the benefits of using fuzzy logic for handling this issue.  The second issue is the consideration of the economic cost of post-contingency corrective actions as well as the utility of discrete control actions that complicate the modeling and solution of the contingency planning problem.  The last issue is the need for of advanced parallel computing techniques for addressing the real-time aspects of many contingency planning problems;† 2 Analysis of Problems ABC Corporation has twenty seven desktop workstations either connected with each other via a hub or a switch. The workstations are only workgroups as there is no domain and security policies applied in the organization ex cept some users have Internet access and only the manager has a separate email account. There is no email server available to provide separate email addresses to employees. The separate email addresses enables instant correspondence between the subordinates, hence making the communication better and cost effective. Currently the employees are using telephone for coordination which is not cost effective. Some workstations are used to store data. There is no access policy defined for the data stored in the workstations. The data is vulnerable as anyone can access it or delete it. The server is used only for providing internet access and data transfer within the network. There is no firewall installed in the network, either hardware or software which makes the data, hardware, software defenseless. There is no connectivity between the regional offices and head office. The manager access the financial information from the head office using the computer network. The 5 regional offices hav e five databases which they are maintaining individually. Immense amount of time is wasted when head office sends a CD named â€Å"House types data† to each regional office. The administrator copies the files available on the CD to the locally maintained database. The data is updated because the project managers have to access the plans and building specifications of the houses the company builds. The data contains all the detailed information of the house construction material which is required. There is no backup of devices, data, workstations and server. If any workstation containing database crashes, the data will be lost. 2.1 Security Vulnerabilities The impact of the security breach issues is unpredictable. It can be diverted and involves human suffering as well as revenue loss for the organizations. One of the security breach took place on 21 October 2010, as per â€Å"www.networksecurityedge.com† The Philadelphia Inquirer states â€Å"Keystone Mercy Health Pla n and AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan have notified 280,000 Medicaid members that their information may be at risk after a portable computer drive containing the names, addresses, and health information was lost. The last four digits of 801 members' Social Security numbers were also stored on the hard drive†. This incident is related to theft of the hardware devices risking 280,000 Medicaid

Data Analysis using two way repeated measure ANOVA Statistics Project

Data Analysis using two way repeated measure ANOVA - Statistics Project Example h course abroad, the second group enrolled themselves in a short course and the third group comprises of students who are the alumni of the American University and have completed the IEP requirements. The methodology of the test is that, all the participants irrespective of the group which they belong to, are subjected to two sets of observations – the first, before they received an English education and the second, after they received one. After the required data is collected, comparisons are made between the differences in the levels of omissions for all the students irrespective of their education. 1. H01: There is a significant difference in the levels of omission between the class of students who never enrolled themselves in any English course with the class of students who have completed a short course in English. 2. H02: There is a significant difference in the levels of omission between the class of students who have completed a short course in English with the class of students who have completed the IEP requirements. Before any lessons on English education was imparted, the people who received no English education from abroad are found to make an average of 15 mistakes against 20 mistakes of those who have received a short education from abroad. However, the standard deviation is found to be very high for the latter implying that the number of mistakes is heterogeneous among the population. On the other hand, after both the classes received English education, the numbers of mistakes were significantly reduced for both the classes. However, it was found to be lower for the second group than the first; even the standard deviation measures were lower for the second group as well implying that there was a considerable and uniform improvement in knowledge among the latter group. The descriptive statistics table in support of the above statements has been presented as under – To test the aforesaid hypothesis (H01), the relevant statistic is the

Food Day Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Food Day - Essay Example This was an effect or evidence that I was actively listening. During the preparation and at the event, we worked in a team. For example, our team composed Libby, Katie and I. Libby led the team most time and working together, we followed, monitored the progress, and met deadlines throughout the pre and post event activities. The events of the Food Day enlightened me on my profession. From the event, I have understood many facts and perspectives regarding human nutrition. It was very exciting when people inquired about economical and be environment friendly. Additionally, I realized that people are ever interested to learn things regarding living healthy and economically sound or viable. It was my first time address a public gathering. However, at the beginning, it seemed difficult, but after a while I got used to it and I loved this experience. At the end, I was very happy with confident and composure I learnt from this experience. Yes, my efforts made a different both to the occasion and my life experience. For example, most of the attendances were interested in our teams and inquired more about our stuff and how they can obtain it. In addition, I felt most of them were very interested on our displays and they wanted us to information more on how they can save more. I liked the samples we displayed on our information table because it helped us to provide accurate information. Furthermore, I liked our handout because it had simple and easy information. Lastly, I liked how we organized our table; we divided it in two sides. On one side, we placed the green sample and the other side there was the bottle water, Ziploc bag, coffee cup, and plastic bag. I would add more examples of green samples and have a calculator to let them calculate the difference prices of the green samples and the other stuff. The calculation would have help them know how and how much to save. All

Ethical behavior in workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ethical behavior in workplace - Essay Example Till recently I was working for a fast food joint. One day, I was really shocked at the way my manager behaved towards a new recruit, an Afro American youth, who was eager to serve the customer. He had not only rebuked the young boy for showing unnecessary enthusiasm but was also quite vocal in showing his racial prejudice by denying him his right to serve customers. I believe that if diversity within workforce is present, there is absolutely no place for racial discriminations. Workplace environment must constantly encourage ethical practices. It is imperative that managerial leadership must display high standard of code of conduct because they are people who are capable of motivating other for optimal work performance. Indeed, the leaders, through self example and having exemplary traits like tolerance, cross cultural understanding and empathetic attitude hugely create an encouraging work environment. They also promote positive relationship that reflects in improved productivity an d good will of the organization. I was offended by the whole episode and reacted by pointing out that the manager was not only violating work ethics but that his act can be justifiably construed as racial discrimination. As a junior manager, my comments were not well received but atleast the young man was allowed to serve new customers. I was given a negative entry in my employee logbook.

Kodak Essay Example for Free

Kodak Essay The purpose of this report is to perform an extensive analysis of the Eastman Kodak digital photography brand, and ultimately, to provide a sound marketing strategy to their board based on our findings. We do so by examining both a macro view of the digital camera industry as well as analyzing the brand’s history, positioning, success factors, and current challenges. We discovered that Eastman Kodak, while once the unquestionable leader in the film industry, failed to adapt to changing technological market trends and was left behind the digital revolution. Kodak’s unsuccessful response to a major technological discontinuity has resulted in a profound loss of market share and profitability. We have developed a market plan for the dire state Kodak currently finds itself in, one that will attempt to reinvigorate Kodak’s brand as a premium name in digital photography by returning to its traditional values and competencies. While the company currently operates through three distinct segments: Digital Film Imaging, Health Group, and Graphic Communications, we have narrowed our scope to focus primarily on the digital film segment as we felt that this area has the most potential for improvement in the near future. The Digital Film Industry Origins of the Market The evolution of the digital camera market mirrors the evolution of the technology and innovations surrounding photography itself. Throughout the nineteenth century the motivations behind innovations and discoveries in photography surrounded the speed and affordability of creating an exposure. Some of the earliest photographs took up to eight hours of exposure to complete, and were often contained on flimsy and expensive materials, that did not lend themselves to being easily shared. It is evident that the desire to quickly create and share still images existed more than a century before modern digital cameras were ever created. Early attempts at digitizing images for storage remained largely in the video imaging segment, and very little focus was put on the technology for still images. The progress that was made was characterized by poor picture quality and very difficult storage procedures. As a result, professional photographers and hobbyists clung to the old processes of developing film well into the 1990’s. In reality it was the increasingly competitive nature of the news media, particularly in the newspaper industry that led to some of the more workable innovations in digital still imaging technology. It was seen as a competitive advantage for a media outlet to take, store, and send images through digital transmission, rather than wait for a slow development process before a picture could even be viewed. It is no coincidence that the first commercially available digital cameras were incredibly expensive and used almost exclusively by photo journalists. As was the case with the market, for still cameras relying on 35mm film for picture development, it was technological breakthroughs that spurred the growth of the digital camera market. With the development of JPEG file formats in the late 1980’s digital images could be taken and stored on the same device using battery power. Although there are many competitive claims as to who entered the market first, Kodak was arguably the first entrant in 1991 with the DCS-100. The Growth of Digital Photography The transformation from conventional to digital photography was a total shift of technology that not only completely changed the way companies of this industry operate, but also the products and services they offered. Advancement in the information and communication technologies also significantly contributed in shaping digital photography, as well as the digital camera itself. Computers were being used to store and edit photographs, while internet offered an easy way to share and distribute multiple copies of the image to different people at the same time. Furthermore, the concept of a photograph being original was eliminated as duplicate, unidentifiable copies of the image were possible. The key growth stages of the digital photography can be summarized as follows. Steven Sasson (of Kodak) invented the digital camera in 1985 in Kodak research laboratories. The low operating cost, easy storage and distribution were the major attractive features of this new product. Instead of using film like traditional analog cameras they were able to store the image on internal storage or on rewritable memory cards. In 1986, many electronic cameras were released by different manufacturers, e.g., Canon released first still video electronic camera, Kodak: 1.4 million pixel CCD, Nikon: SVC, electronic camera with a 2/3-inch CCD of 300 000 pixels, Sony: Mavica A7AF still video camera, (CCD) of 380,000 pixels which records images onto a 2-inch floppy disks. The world’s first fully digital consumer digital camera was released by Fuji, with the feature that images could be digitally recorded on a removable memory cards. Since then the improvement in camera manufacturing has continued over the years, as new players joined the race with the discovery of new dimensions of digital technology and its applications, and the need for new accessories. Hewlett-Pakard’s ink jet printers became consumer items. Sanyo, Samsung, Olympus also released new digital cameras, and Toshiba manufactured memory cards. Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) created compression file format to easily transfer digital image electronically. The products were further improved with the better understanding of digital technology as continued research and costs were considerably reduced in 1998, leading to exponential rise in sales of digital cameras over the next years. (See Exhibit 1 to see how digital camera sales have skyrocketed since the turn of the century). New professions emerged covering various available features of the digital cameras, and cameras were developed for the specific segments and niches, such as amateur photography, advertizing photography, editorial photography, documentary photography and scientific photography. Digital photography is still far from maturity, as products are continuously introduced or improved though constant innovation. The need to develop specifications (sizes, dimensional tolerance for imaging media, and formats for all major users) and written standards for digital imaging are realized, developed by American National Standards Institute and International Standards Organization. Ultimately, the arrival of digital photography, combined with the ever-improving capabilities of computers to store and display photographs, and the Internet to share them helped revolutionize the major customer processes associated with photography. Photographs could now be taken by consumers at virtually no cost, who could then choose to save or delete their photos with the push of a button, and decide to print them on a PC printer or via email. It is clear then that the industry is almost completely driven by both social and technological change. Competitors Overall, the digital film industry is a highly competitive one. An analysis of the forces that determine the long-run profit attractiveness of this particular segment would reveal that the industry has: high threat of segment rivalry (existence of several large competing companies); high threat of new entrants (abundance of digital photography technology on mobile devices); extremely high threat of substitute devices (countless ways to put an image into digital format); high threat of buyer power (low differentiation level of most digital cameras); and finally, high threat of supplier power (cost of switching suppliers for a large digital camera company would be astronomical). Kodak manufactures and distributes a large number of different products, primarily focused around photography. The sale of each line of products comes with its own competitors. However, for the purposes of this report, the focus of the competitor analysis will be on cameras, both digital and non digital varieties. The camera industry had worldwide sales of $35.5 billion in 2010. Given the large value of this industry, it is important to know what share of the market Kodak’s competitors’ control. A look at the market for digital SLR cameras, disposable cameras and film follows. The world market for digital SLR cameras is dominated by Canon and Nikon, who held world market shares of 37% and 33% respectively in 2010. The remaining 30% market share is held primarily by Sony and Olympus/Panasonic. Sony sold 12% of the world’s digital SLR cameras in 2010, and Olympus/Panasonic had 11% of the market in that same period. Kodak was only one of the several competitors who comprise the remaining 7% of worldwide digital SLR camera sales. Low cost digital SLR cameras have come on to the market and are competing in the same space as digital compact cameras. A look at Kodak’s website showed only one brand of digital SLR camera is being offered by Kodak. Since Kodak is primarily competing in the digital camera space through compact cameras, the shift in digital SLR cameras to a lower price point does not bode well for Kodak since it increases competition. Disposable camera sales in 2009 were comprised primarily of cameras under the Kodak and Fuji brands. Kodak enjoyed a 52.9% market share in this period, while Fuji held 18.1% of the world market. The majority of the remaining 29% of the worldwide market of disposable cameras came from private label brands, who sold 28.4% of disposable cameras worldwide. Disposable cameras like any other cameras come in two varieties, analogue and digital. The market for analogue cameras has been decreasing over the years. For instance, the sales of analogue cameras decreased from US$1,335.5 million in the United States in 2004 to only US$9.5 million in 2009. This is a decrease in sales of over 99% in only 6 years. Although Kodak has kept a leading position in the analogue market, the dissolution of the market for analogue cameras limits the value of Kodak’s leading position in this segment. Kodak has also kept a leading position in the sale of camera film. However, this market segment has seen a similar fall in sales as the decrease in the disposable camera market. In this segment, Fuji is once again Kodak’s largest competitor. Kodak’s tagline â€Å"Kodak Moments† helps it maintain its leadership position in film, but the sharp decline in the sale of film and a strong competitor in Fuji once again limits the value of this leading position. The market for cameras has seen a rise in the competitiveness of one particular alternative product that may limit the growth potential of the camera industry in the future. Mobile phones with cameras built in now form the main substitute to cameras. Since these devices have many features such as video, audio, and internet browsing, and are relatively inexpensive, they represent a real threat to the camera industry. 80% of the world demand for the imaging devices and optical modules that comprise the cameras in mo bile phones is handled by Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and Konica Minolta. Kodak does not compete in this market. Other substitutes that Kodak will need to compete with are counterfeit items. Not only are these items likely to be sold at lower prices, they are also generally inferior in quality and could harm the brand of the companies whose products are being counterfeit. From this analysis of the current competitive landscape, we can see that Kodak’s most important competitors in digital cameras are Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic and Fuji. (See Exhibit 2 for a look at Kodak compared to its traditional competitor, Fuji). Customers The digital film industry targets a large number of consumers spanning different segments and demographics. The following will illustrate who these main consumers are and which kinds of individuals digital photography appeals to. Segments Digital photography is targeted to two major segments; professional and non-professional consumers. As expected, the needs of these two target segments are quite different, and organizations in the digital camera industry market their product to appeal to these distinct expectations and needs. Digital camera companies, therefore, market their product to these diverse groups and consequently identify further submarkets and niche markets. Demographics In the world of photography demographic segmentation plays very vital role in marketing the product. In this method of segmentation, demographics is important because customers’ wants, desires, preferences, and usages are strongly associated with demographic variables. Interest in photography generally starts at early age, usually early teenagers. Consumers are not especially conscious about the brand but want to fulfill their purpose. However, this is the phase where a perception of the brand starts taking position in the minds and get stronger and stronger with the time. After this phase consumers of age 20 to 50 are divided into different groups. Some people adopt photography as profession, some use it for their extensive tourism habits, and finally some take it as fun and leisure activity and some use it as their need. This use depends on their nature, living style and job requirement. Professionals, who adopt photography as occupation or as their hobby, are always more conscious about the quality and success results. They don’t want to see that there is no photo in their camera after any event coverage or after returning from an adventure. They need more reliable equipment with guarantee of better results because this is their earning source. If someone is pursuing photography just for fun and don’t have passions for the hobby then they will typically not pay as close attention to the bells and whistles of the product. In terms of gender, photography appeals to both men and women alike. Marketing does not generally target men or women, although recent manufacturing of point and shoot cameras includes the product in a variety of colours for the consumer to choose from. Lastly, demographics in the digital film industry relies on the consumer’s income. The major manufacturers of digital cameras have realized this, and typically offer product ranging from budget quality, to expensive professional equipment. Psychographics Psychology is also a strong variable to understand consumers. People are different based on their personality traits, psychology, life style and values. Psychographic profile could be completely different within same demographic group of consumers. For example, two individuals of same age group have same range of income like photography as a fun but they have different psychology. One is more caring about quality with regard to details captured in the pictures and the other more focus on the originality of the colours of the pictures. For this reason, camera manufacturers have produced cameras with a plethora of adjustable features, which can be modified to suit the user’s preferences. Important Trends The broad industry of photo imaging and cameras has gone through some profound changes over the past several decades. As expected, technological advancements over the past century are the prime drivers of the various trends this industry has witnessed. Perhaps the greatest transformation this industry has seen has been the relatively recent rise of the digital camera phenomenon. Although the prototype for the digital film industry began with the development of Sony’s analog-type â€Å"Mavica† electronic camera, this product did not gain immediate acceptance in the marketplace due to its high price and the lack of suitable peripherals (i.e personal computers). The larger trend towards digital cameras then was truly popularized in the late 1990s and early 2000s with digital â€Å"point and shoot† cameras, of which Kodak participated in at a much later stage than its competitors. With the release of these user friendly devices, digital camera sales increased by 75% per year by 1997 where film cameras increased by 3%. At first, the absence of an LCD screen for formatting, shooting, and reviewing purposes proved to be a hindrance to the popularization of digital cameras. Once the LCD screen was introduced, the trend was ignited. Photos could now be viewed immediately, and kept or discarded as the consumer desired. Today, most major camera manufacturers have made the exodus from film to digital. Canon as well as Nikon surprised the world when they agreed to stop production of most film cameras, setting another trend that has continued to this day. Another major shift in the world of digital photography was the gradual emergence of cameras on mobile phones. As technology improved, so did the quality of cameras included with virtually every mobile device. As expected, this had an impact on the sale of cheap digital cameras, as the phenomenon was now available to anyone who had a mobile device. This trend continues to this day, with both iphones and Blackberries including high quality cameras with their mobile devices. Currently, there has been a revival of DSLR cameras, with Canon and Nikon holding the majority of market share. Although it is difficult to predict future trends in the camera industry, many market researchers, trend watchers, and technology prognosticators agree that digital is here to stay. Easy access to necessary peripherals such as personal computers and even printers has garnered quick acceptance of the digital camera by consumers. The move to digital will remain; however, the relative maturation of the Japanese, North American and European digital camera markets may result in repeat buyers, as well as marketing cameras to for late adopters. This could all culminate in lower profit margins for some of the worlds leading camera manufacturers.