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CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN EXCEL FOR MICROSOFT 365

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Excel in Microsoft 365 has undergone significant enhancements and new features to improve productivity and drive better insights from data. Some of the biggest new additions and improvements include:

Microsoft introduced XLOOKUP, a new lookup and reference function that makes it easier to look up values and return matches from a table or range. XLOOKUP allows lookups from left to right or top to bottom. It also supports approximate matching, which returns the closest match if an exact match is not found. This is a powerful function that simplifies tasks that previously required more complex INDEX/MATCH formulas.

Pivotal tableau capabilities were added to Excel to make it easier for users to analyze and visualize their data. Tableaus let users interactively sort, filter, and analyze data in a pivot table style user interface directly from the Excel sheets. Users can now gain valuable insights through visualized pivot views of their data without leaving Excel.

Excel added dynamic arrays that allow for new in-memory calculations across entire ranges and tables of data at once, without the limitations of copying down formulas. Functions like SEQUENCE, GROWTH, FIND, etc. now return full column or row arrays instead of single values. This enables auto-filling of patterns and series as well as more powerful what-if analysis through scenarios.

Conditional formatting rules were updated to support dynamic arrays. Users can now apply conditional formats to entire tables and ranges based on array formulas, instead of having to copy down formats for each cell. This streamlines tasks like highlighting outliers, thresholds, and trends across large datasets.

To simplify working with external data, Query options were added to directly import data from the web without needing to write Data queries or depend on Power Query. queries can import live web pages as well as static data from URLs. Users can also refresh imported data on a schedule if needed.

A Data Navigator view was introduced to conveniently browse and manage imported Excel data. Users can see a visual representation of their imported data along with related sheets, views, and queries in one centralized window. This interface makes managing multiple imports, refreshes, and queries much more accessible.

Excel automatically created charts from imported data to give instant visual summaries. Users can interactively modify these charts directly to gain insights without needing to build visualizations from scratch each time. With dynamic data linked to the original queries, charts always reflect the latest data.

Excel’s formatting capabilities were expanded with new features like Text Adjust and Optical Character Recognition. Text Adjust automatically sizes and positions text to fill available space, while OCR copies scanned images or PDF text into editable cells for further analysis and manipulation as standard Excel data types.

Excel templates gained support for multiple pages per template file for things like invoices and reports that need sequenced, structured layouts. Page setup options were enhanced to control formatting across pages using sections, watermarks, headers/footers. Along with conditional formatting, this improves templating of multi-section documents within Excel.

To support building robust models and distributed workbooks, Excel added offline capabilities that allow syncing of shared workbooks even when a user is working offline or on a plane with no connectivity. Updates are securely synced when the device is back online to share the latest changes.

Machine learning capabilities with automation were introduced through features like Custom Functions, which allow developers to code own Excel functions that tap into powerful ML algorithms for predictive insights. Integrated text and sentiment analysis functions provide AI-driven analysis of narrative data within worksheets.

Collaboration tools were enhanced to streamline working together on spreadsheets in real-time. Chat-enabled coediting allows simultaneous updates from multiple editors. Activity feed tracks changes across versions with comments. Excel can also integrate with Teams and SharePoint for seamless sharing and discussion of live Excel documents within Office 365 work streams.

This covers many of the key areas where Excel for Microsoft 365 has evolved with powerful new tools for productivity, automation, analysis, visualization, collaboration and management of data. These intelligent features enable knowledge workers to identify deeper patterns, have more meaningful conversations through visualized insights directly from within Excel.

CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESEARCH INSTITUTES AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON

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Imperial College London is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world for science and technology. At its heart, Imperial is a science, technology, engineering and medicine university with a focus on research that makes real-world impact. The university has eight faculty-level research institutes that bring together academics and researchers from across different departments to work on multidisciplinary problems.

The Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) focuses on driving innovation to transform healthcare globally. It has major research strengths in digital health technologies, antimicrobial resistance, diagnostics and vaccine development. IGHI aims to ensure healthcare innovation addresses global health challenges and is accessible for people everywhere. Some notable research includes the development of a universal flu vaccine and rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases.

The Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IBE) researches how engineering interfaces with biology and medicine. It has five research departments spanning biomechanics, biomaterials, medical imaging, nanomedicine and therapeutics. IBE researchers develop new techniques, devices and therapies. For instance, they are creating non-invasive brain stimulation devices to treat conditions like depression and designing smart polymer scaffolds to regenerate tissue.

The Institute of Chemical Biology focuses on interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology. Its researchers work on understanding biological systems at the molecular level and applying chemical tools to probe and manipulate biological function. Example projects include developing new tools for chemical genetics, studying bacterial communication networks and designing peptide therapeutics.

The Institute of Clinical Sciences aims to advance clinical research and its application within healthcare. Key areas include cardiovascular and respiratory medicine, cancer, infection, inflammation and immunity. The institute facilitates clinical trials and works to translate basic science into new diagnostics, prevention strategies and treatments for patients.

The Institute of Environment, Health and Societies examines the links between environment, society and human health. It carries out research on sustainability and climate change, environmental pollution and toxicology, environmental epidemiology and global environmental health. Studies may explore issues like the health effects of air pollution, impacts of societal inequalities on wellbeing and developing clean energy solutions.

The Institute of Materials aims to advance materials science for applications including energy, transportation, healthcare and digital technologies. Interdisciplinary teams work on designing new materials like memristors for brain-inspired computing, energy storage materials for renewable technologies and smart biomaterials for regenerative medicine. State-of-the-art research facilities allow exploration of materials at all length scales.

The Institute of Security Science Technology addresses challenges at the intersection of security, technology and society. Researchers develop new tools and methods for issues like cybersecurity, cryptocurrency tracing, transportation security, urban resilience and crisis management. Projects could involve blockchain forensics, AI for infrastructure protection or data-driven approaches to counterterrorism.

The Institute of Digital Healthcare focuses on harnessing digital technologies to transform healthcare delivery and outcomes. Researchers are creating artificial intelligence solutions for areas like disease diagnosis, drug discovery and personalised cancer treatment. Other initiatives develop digital tools to support remote patient monitoring, simulate disease progression and improve vaccine distribution globally.

Overall, Imperial’s strength in research across science, technology, engineering and medicine allows its institutes to take multidisciplinary approaches to major global challenges. Cutting-edge facilities and collaborations with industry and healthcare partners further support impactful work that improves lives worldwide. The institutes exemplify Imperial’s ongoing pursuit of excellence in research and its commitment to innovation that makes a tangible difference.

CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE IRB APPROVAL PROCESS FOR DISSERTATIONS

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The Institutional Review Board, or IRB, is a committee that is designated by an academic institution to review and approve research involving human subjects. The purpose of IRB review is to ensure that all research conducted at the institution adheres to ethical standards and protects the rights and welfare of human participants. Obtaining IRB approval is required for any dissertation research that involves collecting data from or about living human beings.

The IRB approval process typically begins early in the dissertation process, usually after a student has selected their dissertation topic and developed their dissertation proposal. Most institutions require students to complete IRB training to learn about ethical guidelines and regulations regarding human subjects research. Training certificates need to be submitted along with the initial IRB application. Students then work with their dissertation committee chair to complete a lengthy IRB application form providing details of their proposed research methodology, participant recruitment processes, data collection instruments, informed consent documents, and plans for securely storing data.

Applications are typically submitted online through the institution’s IRB system. Supporting documents like consent forms, surveys, interview scripts, etc. are uploaded as well. The level of review required is determined based on the type of research – expedited or full board review. Expedited reviews can be approved by one IRB reviewer while full board reviews require evaluation and approval by the entire IRB committee at their scheduled meeting. Review times can vary greatly depending on committee schedules and volume of applications but on average take 4-6 weeks for approval.

Committees look closely at whether potential risks to participants have been minimized, the risks are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits, selection of participants is equitable, informed consent is sought from each prospective participant, and whether privacy and confidentiality of participants will be maintained. Students may be asked to modify aspects of their proposed methodology or consent processes based on IRB feedback to strengthen protections for human subjects. Revisions sometimes require re-review by the full committee before final approval can be granted.

Conditional or provisional approval is possible in some cases allowing students to begin recruiting participants and collecting preliminary data, but full approval signatures are still needed before final dissertation defense. Multi-site studies involving more than one institution each require separate IRB approval from every organization. International research brings additional complexities around cultural norms, language barriers, and variations in regulatory standards between countries.

Once approved, most IRB approvals are only valid for one year and any changes to the approved research protocol requires an amendment submission for review and approval. Projects that go longer than a year require continuing review and re-approval. Students are responsible for promptly reporting unexpected problems, adverse events, protocol deviations and other unanticipated issues which arise during their research. At the end of the project, a final report communicating the study’s completion needs to be filed with the IRB.

Obtaining IRB approval for dissertation research is an essential part of upholding ethical standards and safeguarding human subjects but also adds time, paperwork and oversight obligations to already demanding doctoral requirements. Careful planning, compliance with policies, and open communication with IRB representatives helps navigate what for many students is their first experience with formal research ethics review processes.

The IRB approval process for dissertations serves to protect the rights and welfare of research participants through robust ethical guidelines and regulatory oversight, which students must understand and adhere to in order to gain permission to involve people in their scholarly inquiry and degree requirements involving human subjects research. Planning early and working closely with IRB staff helps ensure a smooth review and can help accelerate approval timelines.

CAN YOU GIVE ME MORE DETAILS ABOUT CAPSTONE PROJECTS FOCUSED ON DATA AND ANALYTICS

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Data and analytics capstone projects provide students with the opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge they have gained throughout their analytics program by undertaking a substantial project focused on solving a real-world data problem or answering an important business question. By their very nature, capstone projects allow students to showcase their abilities to think critically, work independently, and deliver meaningful analysis and solutions.

Some common types of data and analytics capstone projects include:

Business intelligence project: Students work with a company to build dashboards, reports, or other business intelligence tools that deliver insights from their data to help with decision making, performance monitoring, or strategy development. This allows students to apply skills like data warehousing, ETL processes, data visualization, and reporting.

Predictive analytics project: Working with a partner’s dataset, students will develop and compare predictive models to forecast or classify outcomes. Examples include predicting customer churn, credit risk, medical diagnosis, or financial performance. This applies machine learning algorithms, model development and evaluation, and ability to select the best predictive model.

Data mining project: Students perform exploratory data analysis on a substantial dataset to discover hidden patterns, associations, anomalies and classify important subgroups. This could involve market basket analysis, sentiment analysis, fraud detection, customer segmentation or identifying at-risk patients. Skills in unstructured data analysis, statistics, visualization and communication of findings are important.

Data management project: Working with an organization’s data management challenges, students implement solutions around data governance, quality assurance, integration, architecture and standards. This could cover database design, ETL processes, data lineage documentation, data policies or metadata management. Experience in data modeling, SQL, and system design and implementation is gained.

Web analytics project: Students design and implement web analytics solutions to understand user behavior and optimize key metrics. This may involve setting up Google Analytics, heuristic analysis, A/B testing, tagging implementations and dashboard development to provide actionable insights. Experience in Javascript, tagging, reporting and optimization strategies is developed.

Data visualization project: Leveraging a partner’s complex dataset, students effectively visualize and communicate insights through dashboards, stories, and presentations. Skills in data storytelling, perceptual principles, interactive visual interfaces help clearly convey findings to non-technical audiences. Experience with tools like Tableau, Power BI, D3.js or custom visualizations provides practical skills.

Social media analytics project: Analyzing social media datasets, students build Dashboards, reports or predictive models to understand sentiment, measure influence, predict viral content or spot competitive threats. This applies NLP, graph analysis, social network analysis and emerging social analytics techniques.

In all cases, the scope of the capstone project aligns with the program’s learning outcomes and requires substantial effort—usually estimated at 300 hours. Students follow a defined process, from problem definition to data collection, analysis, communications of findings and deliverables. Regular meetings with capstone advisors provide guidance and feedback.

At the culmination, students present their process, results and learnings to a panel, which often includes industry representatives. A final written report and demonstration of interactive exhibits or working prototypes are also typically required. This mirrors real-world analytics consultancy experience.

Successful capstone projects showcase the value of analytics, demonstrate acquired skills and knowledge, provide tangible work experience, and often result in job opportunities. They allow students to undertake meaningful work that creates visible impact, serving as a valuable professional credential and differentiator in their post-graduation pursuits.

Capstone projects focused on data and analytics provide a unique opportunity for students to synthesize their learning through substantive independent work. While challenging, they empower students to solve real problems, develop concrete recommendations, and showcase their mastery of critical technical and soft skills required for success in this high-growth field.

CAN YOU PROVIDE MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE INTEGRATIONS WITH BANKING POS AND ECOMMERCE PLATFORMS

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PayPal has deep integrations with many banking, point-of-sale (POS), and ecommerce platforms to enable seamless payment experiences for both merchants and consumers. On the banking side, PayPal partners with major traditional banks as well as digital banks and fintech platforms. This allows customers to easily link their bank accounts to PayPal and move money between PayPal and their external financial accounts.

For consumers, they can add their existing debit or credit cards from partner banks directly within their PayPal account profile. This expedites checkout and funding processes when shopping with PayPal merchants. On the merchant side, partner banks provide solutions that enable their business banking customers to accept PayPal as a payment option. This expands payment choice for those merchants’ customers.

PayPal has a robust developer platform that allows other fintechs and banks to build PayPal functionality directly into their own offerings. For example, digital banking applications can add “Pay with PayPal” buttons that pass transaction details to PayPal’s APIs in the background. This creates PayPal transactions without the need to leave the banking app. Similarly, investment and lending platforms offer “PayPal as funding source” options.

When it comes to point-of-sale (POS) systems, PayPal has integrated with leading providers to bring its suite of payment services to offline retail environments. Major POS companies like Square, Clover, ShopKeep and Lightspeed have built two-way integrations with PayPal that activate card-not-present and card-present checkout scenarios. Whether completing an in-store purchase or buying online for in-store pickup, merchants and their customers can leverage PayPal seamlessly through the POS interface.

For physical retail stores, PayPal’s POS system integrations allow store associates to quickly process PayPal transactions directly from the cash register. This saves time at the checkout counter compared to manual card entry. It also provides greater payment choice that can boost consumer spending and cart sizes. Meanwhile, the merchant benefits from PayPal’s comprehensive purchase protection on those in-store transactions.

On the ecommerce side, PayPal has deep platform integrations with all leading shopping cart and merchant services providers. Platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Magento and Volusion allow merchants to enable PayPal Express Checkout with just a few clicks. This immediately grants their online stores the ability to accept PayPal, Venmo, PayPal Credit and other PayPal services as payment methods during checkout.

The integration is tightly woven, passing transaction details bi-directionally between the ecommerce platform and PayPal APIs. For customers, it creates a seamless checkout where they can pay with their PayPal account information already on file without re-entering sensitive details. Over 300,000 merchants use Shopify’s PayPal integration alone to power their online sales.

PayPal further bolsters these integrations by providing robust developer tools and APIs. This allows partners to build upon the core functionality through custom applications, order and payment management plugins, multi-channel sales solutions and more. Partners leverage these APIs and SDKs to sync PayPal data with their own platforms for enhanced reporting, automation and money movement capabilities.

PayPal additionally works with global digital payment gateways like Adyen, Worldpay and Authorization.net to activate its payment forms and services. These gateways in turn integrate directly with numerous ecommerce platforms around the world. As a result, merchants on virtually any platform globally have access to PayPal as a simple checkout option. This widespread availability promotes PayPal’s vision of an open digital payments ecosystem.

To conclude, PayPal’s deep interoperability with banking, POS and ecommerce platforms through strategic partnerships and open APIs has been instrumental to its success. By building PayPal functionality directly into these existing merchant and customer touchpoints, it removes barriers to adoption and creates highly aligned, co-branded experiences. This benefits all parties by increasing choice, sales and customer satisfaction in a vast range of digital commerce scenarios.