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One of the most well-liked technological advancements in the information and communication technology landscape today is the Internet of Things (IoT) as a global network of machines and devices can interact with each other. This paper provides a systematic literature review of such IoT-based applications. The objective of this paper is to explore the existing condition of IoT Technology and its application as well as to analyze the current research trends on the usage of IoT based applications. Till now numerous research papers has been published in high ranked scientific journals during the last decade. Based on a particular content analysis of the discovered literature, the paper presents a comprehensive classification of IoT-enabled applications across diverse sectors such as supply chain, business, healthcare, smart cities, agriculture, and smart homes. The paper also points to the shortcomings identified in the relevant literature, particularly limitations the IoT technology presents and how these limitations spread throughout many industries and sectors. Based on findings, the paper identifies potential future research topics that are anticipated to be extremely valuable to both academics and practitioners.

The primary goal of this project is to provide numerous grammar and vocabulary apps, as well as to explore and assess various approaches for teaching English to non-English speaking students, as well as to evaluate efficient ESL teaching applications for these students. This research may serve as a foundation for the development of new applications for firms operating in the sector. Additionally, teachers may use new tactics in the classroom and online classrooms by utilizing more effective ways and methodologies, as well as the new apps or technologies discussed in this article. Additionally, students are exposed to a variety of applications and their associated possibilities, and the analysis findings might be beneficial in inspiring English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. Suggestions are presented in this paper for all three groups of stakeholders: teachers, students, and developers. Recommendations for future research topics are provided as a way to develop new strategies and methodologies to create interest in students and to make learning more effective.

The aim of this thesis was to examine the ability of metal organic frameworks (MOFs) to store and controllably release biologically significant amounts of nitric oxide (NO). Initial work involved the synthesis of a series of isostructural MOFs, known as M-CPO-27, which display coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (CUSs) when fully activated (guest solvent molecules both coordinated and uncoordinated to the metal atom are removed). Two of these frameworks (Ni and Co CPO-27) displayed exceptional performance over the entire cycle of activation, storage and delivery showing the largest storage and release of NO of any known porous material (up to 7 mmolg⁻¹). These frameworks would therefore be considered for initial research into the formulation of MOFs, for possible use in medical applications. It was shown that they still release large amounts of NO even when placed inside porous paper bags, creams or hydrocolloids. The other versions of M-CPO-27 also displayed significant adsorption of NO however they show poor total NO release. It was also shown that it is possible to synthesise both Ni and Co CPO-27 using microwave synthesis without any detrimental effect to the porous structure. Several iron-based MOFs were also investigated for NO storage and release. The results showed that Fe MIL-88 based structures adsorb good amounts of NO but only release a small amount of the irreversibly adsorbed NO. Two successfully amine grafted giant pore MOFs were then investigated to attempt to improve the NO adsorption and release. This result was not observed however, due to the poor total amine grafting coverage and pore blockage resulting from the amines. In-situ IR studies reveal that when exposed to NO, activated Fe MIL-100 forms a chemical bond with the NO. The studies also displayed that when water is then allowed to attempt to replace the NO that only a small amount of NO is actually released, the majority of the NO either remains chemically bonded to the Fe atom or forms N₂O in conjunction with a Fe-OH group. Other MOFs were also successfully synthesised and characterised for NO storage and release. Both Ni succinate and Ni STA-12 display good adsorption and excellent release of NO. This indicates that Ni based MOFs show the best results for NO adsorption and release. In the conclusion of the thesis I am able to categorise the NO release ability of MOFs based on composition and formulate a theory as to why this happens.

The aim of this paper is to summarize Professor McAdam’s course on the applications of calculus by showing how calculus can be applied within mathematical situations by understanding concepts in physics. Aside from using calculus to assist in maximizing or minimizing situational problems, it is important to understand how the rules of calculus came to be. This paper shows origins of a few of the many rules used in calculus, applications in economics, plane flight, dogs fetching sticks, and relativity in space.

In social sciences, data structures are often hierarchical. When these data also arise in spatial settings, dependence between clusters occurs. This three-paper dissertation considers statistical issues arising in spatial hierarchical settings: modeling, measurement, and causal inference. Modeling. In paper 1, I propose a hierarchical linear model (HLM) with spatially dependent random effects (SHLM) and compare it to the standard HLM that assumes independence between clusters. SHLM parameters are estimated using maximum likelihood (ML) approach via the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm with an embedded Fisher scoring. The theoretical results indicate that, under SHLM assumptions, HLM estimators of the fixed effects and within-cluster variance are unbiased. However, the between-cluster variance estimator is biased. The sensitivity of the results to model specifications is examined using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Furthermore, the empirical results indicate that HLM underestimates the standard errors for the fixed effects, resulting in incorrect statistical inferences. Measurement. In paper 2, I propose an empirical Bayes (EB) estimator, which exploits the spatial dependence in the data (EBS). I demonstrate that EBS dominates standard EB (EBE) and sample mean (OLS) estimators with respect to mean squared error loss under SHLM assumptions. The empirical results approximate these theoretical results: EBS dominates EBE and OLS, especially when neighborhood sample sizes are small. Using PHDCN data, I also demonstrate that the EBS estimator is better at estimating the true neighborhood means, predicting future neighborhood means, relating to theoretically-linked demographic covariates, and predicting future crime rates than EBE and OLS. Causal Inference. In paper 3, I use 1990's Chicago's personal and property crime data to evaluate the effectiveness of the community policing program (CAPS). To answer the causal questions I extend Rubin's causal framework by relaxing Cox's no interference between different units assumption. I redefine causal effects and discuss assumptions that make this framework tractable. No statistically significant effect of beat's own treatment on crime was detected. However, I found that increasing the number of contiguous neighbors assigned to CAPS leads to a moderate reduction in personal crime rates for a beat in a CAPS district.

In this dissertation, several new millimeter-wave phased array circuits and antennas are presented for polarimetric radar applications. In particular, a compact tray architecture is discussed, which is based on new miniature dielectric filled L-shaped horn antennas and Rotman lens beamforming circuitry. The antenna array and associated waveguide feeds are realized through a multilayer stereolighography process, which interfaces with the Rotman lens circuitry through low-profile substrate integrated waveguide to microstrip transitions. The L-shaped horn antenna array is dual polarized, therefore allowing for the independent beam steering of the vertical and horizontal polarizations. In this dissertation, the Rotman lens is used to achieve broadband true time delay beam steering. In particular, the design of a new low loss Rotman lens is described, where a synthesized dielectric gradient is introduced within the lens to achieve enhanced focusing. Here, the fundamental Rotman lens equations are modified according to geometric optics. With this modified design, minimal power is lost to the side ports of the modified lens, in contrast to the conventional Rotman lenses. This technique allows for an insertion loss improvement of up to 3 dB for the Rotman lens. In addition, further loss improvement is realized due to the elimination of meander lines between the Rotman lens array ports and the antennas. Finally, to improve the angular resolution, a monopulse Rotman lens is described, where 0°/180° switched line phase shifters are integrated with the Rotman lens meander lines. To demonstrate the feasibility of the aforementioned phased array circuits and antennas, a phased array radar with electronically controlled scanning in the azimuth and elevation planes is implemented. Through observing the signal return from 34 to 40 GHz, the locations of targets are detected within a three-dimensional space with better than 5 cm range resolution. Finally, by using the same technique that was used for the integration of the Rotman lens circuitry with the horn antenna array, a packaging technique with improved isolation for microwave and millimeter-wave circuits is implemented. Compared to the conventional packaging techniques, the technique presented here shows approximately 20 dB isolation improvement.* *This dissertation is a compound document (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following system requirements: Adobe Acrobat.

The development of model-based methods for missing data has been a seminal contribution to statistical inference and data analysis (Orchard and Woodbury 1972; Rubin 1976; Dempster, Laird and Rubin 1977; Rubin 1987; Schafer 1997; Little and Rubin 2002). These methods apply when observations are independently distributed. This paper extends the model-based methods to two-level data where the observations within each cluster are dependent. When such data are complete, analysis using a hierarchical linear model (also known as a multilevel linear model or a random coefficient model) proceeds using maximum likelihood (Dempster, Laird and Rubin 1977; Dempster, Rubin, and Tsutakawa 1981; Laird and Ware 1982; Longford 1993; Goldstein 1995; Schafer 1997; Pinheiro and Bates 2000; Little and Rubin 2002; Raudenbush and Bryk 2002) or Bayes methods (Lindley and Smith 1972; Carlin and Louis 1996; Gelman, Carlin, Stern and Rubin 1997; Schafer 1997; Little and Rubin 2002). The key assumptions are that the data at the within-cluster or cluster level, or both, are missing at random (MAR); that parameter spaces for the complete data model and missing data mechanism are distinct (Rubin 1976); and that the data subject to missingness are multivariate normal conditional on all observed data. We maximize the observed data likelihood via the EM algorithm (Dempster, Laird and Rubin 1977; Wu 1993) or a mixture of EM algorithm and Fisher scoring (Laird and Ware 1982; Longford 1987) to obtain the maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of the parameters of interest using all available data. We consider a general missing data pattern via an observed-value indicator matrix. Applications include regression of a subset of complete data on a disjoint subset, a random-coefficients model, multiple model-based imputation, a simultaneous-equations model, a contextual-effects model, and a level-2 response model. We illustrate these applications using national survey data on US high schools and simulated data sets.

Head-Related Transfer Functions (HRTF's) describe the directionally dependent acoustic filtering properties of the head, torso, and external ear. HRTF's are typically measured at a finite number of spatial locations at a fixed radius from the head using various acoustic system identification techniques. Since HRTF's presumably contain all of the psychoacoustic cues needed to synthesize spatial sound, these functions can be used to simulate virtual or 3-D sound for auditory displays. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the structure of HRTF data with novel 2- and 3-dimensional visualization techniques. We show how simply looking at HRTF's in these different ways can suggest how HRTF's can be analyzed and processed in innovative ways for both engineering and musical purposes. We first provide a comparative visualization study of HRTF data in the time, frequency, space, and volume domains. We demonstrate how elevation effects produced by the pinna and diffraction effects produced by head shadowing can be found in all four domains. We then show that visualizing HRTF data sets with spatial and volumetric methods exposes some artifacts introduced into HRTF's during the measurement procedure. We develop an analytical model for this procedure, show how the model accounts for these artifacts, and illustrate how these artifacts can be found in HRTF's measured by the author and HRTF's reported elsewhere in the literature. Visualizing HRTF's with spatial techniques shows that HRTF data resembles responses produced by spatially distributed sensor arrays, or beamformers. We develop an adaptive extension to an existing beamformer model for HRTF's and use the model to investigate some dynamic and cognitive phenomena associated with directional hearing. Finally, we show how interpolation methods used to create spatial domain visualizations can be exploited to compute interpolated HRTF's corresponding to arbitrary spatial locations. We describe a listening experiment designed to evaluate the perceptual quality of the interpolation algorithm. To demonstrate how interpolated HRTF's can be put to creative use, we discuss compositional techniques developed for Fishbowl, an original, binaural composition of electro-acoustic music containing moving sound sources synthesized from interpolated HRTF's. Sound examples can be found on the accompanying CD.* *This dissertation includes a CD that is compound (contains both a paper copy and a CD as part of the dissertation). The CD requires the following application: Adobe Acrobat.

The object of this paper is to present the properties and some of the applications of the Elliptic Integrals.

Benefits and Limitations of Inclusion and Providing Practical Applications for Managing a Successful Inclusive Classroom There are educators who want to provide the best learning experience for every student, including being able to demonstrate growth and success in their classroom environment. The intent of inclusion is to provide all students with a disability their right to free and public education. Over the past 40 years since P.L. 94-142 passed, research has shown the benefits of inclusion in general education classrooms. Educators have been trained, acquired skills, obtained resources, and asked for help from colleagues and/or administrators about providing a successful learning environment for all students. There continues and may always be a struggle when implementing the objectives of inclusion. Thus, the purpose of my research project is to understand the purpose, the benefits and limitations of inclusion, and the strategies a general education teacher can apply in managing a successful classroom environment. Creating an Effective Teaching Environment for a Classroom with Diverse Needs The social, emotional and physical aspects of a classroom can shape the processes and activities of a classroom. To assist in the transformation to a responsive classroom, the teacher’s mindset may have to be altered. According to Sobel and Taylor (2006), “It is not at all uncommon for general and special education teachers to face the challenge of teaching in ways they were not taught, to learners who are oftentimes unfamiliar to them, and in classroom contexts that are outside their experiential realm” (p. 28). Sobel and Taylor continued explaining not all educators are ready to teach all the diverse learners. Many teachers are being challenged in their own classroom. Thus, the purpose of my research project is to understand how general education teachers can build a classroom environment that will provide an engaging environment whereby increasing social and emotional skills and academic learning, while reducing negative behaviors that decrease student attention and diminish available instructional time. Teachers need to be provided with appropriate training that will support their planning for and development of positive learning environments.