This study examined the school functioning of children with asthma compared to the school functioning of children without asthma over a 9-year time span. The present study was a secondary analysis of data from one large school district in a southeastern state. Information was gathered from multiple sources, including student records and parent and teacher surveys. Variables related to academics, behavior, and teacher perception were examined. A total of 646 participants were initially included in the study. These participants included 296 students identified as having asthma and 350 students identified as not having asthma. Participants were matched on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. Results of this study indicated significant differences for various years and subjects on a standardized achievement test. However, computed effect sizes were quite low, suggesting no practical difference between the groups. Additionally, rates of special education placement differed for the groups for one school year. All other years and variables indicated no significant differences between the groups. These findings suggest that educational experience of children with asthma may not differ significantly from that of their peers without asthma. However, future research should attempt to measure variables in different ways and possibly examine cases in a more qualitative manner.

The present study used a sample of 171 college students from the University of South Florida to examine the effects of different types of mental practice on dart-throwing performance. This study examined the effects of imagery and video modeling on an immediately following physical task As suspected, the video modeling condition under these circumstances was associated with poorer performance than the imagery and control conditions. The imagery condition, however, resulted in no difference in performance from the control condition. Discussions of the results and future avenues of research (including gender effects) are also mentioned.

Ever since the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978, fierce competition has made every airline try and gain a competitive edge in the market. In order to accomplish this, airlines are turning to advanced optimization techniques such as revenue management. Revenue management is a way for airlines to maximize capacity and profitability by managing supply and demand through price management. Over the last few years research in the field of revenue management has steadily progressed from seat inventory control techniques such as single leg seat inventory and network inventory control to ticket pricing techniques. Ticket pricing techniques involve setting ticket prices according to the time remaining to depart and inventory level conditions at that point in time. These models can be solved either by dynamic or mathematical programming. However, these models in addition to having increased complexity are based on several assumptions which may not be valid in real life situations thereby limiting there applicability. In this research, we have developed computer simulation models using Arena software as a tool to solve airline revenue management problems. Different models based on factors such as customer behavior, which would involve the probability of a customer accepting a ticket and relevant pricing methods such as seats remaining and time remaining have been developed with the objective of reaching an optimal revenue management policy. Initially, the strategies have been developed and tested for a single flight leg for different types of destinations such as tourist, business and mixed tourist and business. It was found that models where pricing was based on seats remaining generated the most revenue for the tourist destinations, time remaining for the business destinations and pricing based on time and seats remaining for the mixed type. Two different strategies, one where the ticket price for the indirect (stop-over) flight increases as more seats for direct flight are sold and the second where the ticket price for the indirect flight decreases have been developed for a network of three cities with direct and stop-over flights. It was found that the first strategy works well for the business destination. There was no significant difference between the two strategies for the other two destinations. Also, the model was run where a set percentage of seats on the direct flight are sold prior to the opening of indirect flight bookings (blocking). It was found that blocking of seats did not increase the total revenue generated.

In today's Internet scenario, the current TCP has performed reasonably well. As the Internet has scaled up in load, speed, size and connectivity by the order of six over the past fifteen years, the TCP has consistently avoided severe congestion throughout this same period. Applications involving high performance computings such as bulk-data transfer, multimedia Web streaming, and computational grids demand high bandwidth. These applications usually operate over wide-area networks and, hence, performance over wide-area networks has become a critical issue. Future applications will need steady transfer rates in the order of gigabits per second to support collaborative work. TCP, which is the most widely used protocol, is expected to be used in these scenarios. It has been shown that TCP doesn't work well in this new environment, and several new TCP versions have been developed in recent years to address this issue. To date, there has not been a performance evaluation of various TCP protocols. In this thesis, various TCP versions 3/4 Tahoe, Reno, Newreno, Vegas, Westwood, Sack, Highspeed TCP, Scalable TCP 3/4 have been evaluated for their performance over high bandwidth delay product networks. It was found that the flow and congestion control mechanism used in TCP was unable to reach full utilization on high-speed links. Also discussed in this Thesis are fairness issues related to these new protocols with respect to themselves and with others.

Teaching vacancies are increasing nationally and the task of placing an experienced, subject-certified teacher in the classroom is getting more difficult for school districts. About 23% of all secondary teachers do not have a minor in their main teaching field. This is true for more than 30% of mathematics teachers and the proportion of such teachers is much greater in high-poverty schools and lower-level classes. In schools with the highest minority enrollments, students have less than a 50% chance of getting a science or mathematics teacher who holds a license and a degree in the field which he or she teaches. While placement of probationary teachers may help to relieve the shortages of licensed teachers, school districts should consider the consequences of placing these teachers in the classroom. One solution school districts have looked to is the use of technology. The Integrated Learning System (ILS) is a virtual classroom which may offer a solution for school districts not able to fill teaching vacancies with a fully prepared teacher. The focus of this study was on the impact of the ILS and teachers' mathematics preparation on 8th grade student achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze existing data. The participants included 1223 students in 76 classes taught by 30 teachers. The results indicated that 8th grade student achievement in ILS classes was significantly higher compared to classes not using the ILS. When teachers' preparation in mathematics was added in to the model, the impact of the ILS was reduced. Results from this study suggested that the ILS may be beneficial for MJ-3 students and that the ILS may offer school districts an alternative technique in raising student mathematics achievement, specifically with low-income or minority students. In addition, the ILS may be a practical solution for school districts when dealing with teacher vacancies in mathematics classrooms. In regard to teacher preparation, the results from this study confirm the importance for school districts to hire mathematics teachers with knowledge of mathematics content and pedagogy; support the belief that alternative certification programs should emphasize pedagogy; challenge state licensing boards' option of certifying teachers without documentation of completed subject area courses; and support NCTM's vision of a well-prepared mathematics teacher.

Objective: To investigate the association between hospital investment in human resources variables and patient safety, specifically after surgery adverse events in Florida hospitals. We performed the analysis to identify the association of after surgery complication rates with full time equivalent employees (FTEs) per admission and per patient day, expenses per admission and per patient day and, the percent of total operating expense accounted for by payroll expenses. Design: A cross sectional analysis using inpatient hospital discharge data and financial data from seventy short-term general hospitals, both for-profit and not-for-profit. Methods: Discharge data from year 2000 was obtained from Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). This data was used to calculate Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) related to after surgery complications in 840,945 hospital discharge records from 70 short-term general hospitals across the state of Florida. The predictor variables include: payroll expenditures per admission, payroll expenditures per patient day, personnel (FTE) per admission, personnel (FTE) per patient day and payroll expense as a percent of total operating expenses. Main outcome measures: Nine patient safety indicators defined by AHQR and specific to after surgery complications: complications of anesthesia, foreign body left during procedure, postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma, postoperative physiologic and metabolic derangement, postoperative pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis, postoperative respiratory failure, postoperative sepsis, postoperative wound dehiscence. Results: Patient safety indicator rate showed an inverse relationship with the percent of total operating expense represented by payroll, Personnel per patient day and personnel per admission. The patient safety indicators showing significant relationship with hospital human resource characteristics are postoperative hemorrhage or hematoma (p=0.0002), postoperative hip fracture (p<0.0001), and postoperative sepsis (p=0.0371). Conclusion: Human resource investment is positively related to favorable outcomes, although the effect varies across the type of outcomes.

It is estimated that by the year 2020, African American, Latino, Asian American, and Native American groups will comprise 40% of the population. This implies that we must be equipped to teach students from both genders and various ethnic groups efficiently through educational systems that promote diversity, equality, and empowerment. Due to the teaching force becoming more female and white, while the student population is becoming more diverse, teacher educators and pre-service teachers need to learn and accept that diversity and multicultural education goes beyond celebrating holidays and sampling ethnic dishes. Therefore, it is paramount that teachers increase their awareness about issues related to multicultural education. The purpose of this research study was to examine an education program and its job in promoting and facilitating tactics that embrace multicultural education ideologies. Thus, a teacher education training program's efforts to provide pre-service teachers with knowledge and experiences in issues related to diversity and multicultural education were investigated. Three questions guided this study (a) Do student teaching/internship experiences affect teachers' attitudes about multicultural education and diversity, (b) Do pre-service teachers believe they are knowledgeable about cultural diversity and teaching minority students, and (c) Do pre-service teachers believe their internship address issues of diversity? An analysis of survey and focus group data indicated that teachers believed they were knowledgeable about multicultural education. However, the data gathered also indicated the need for teacher education programs to improve their efforts in providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to learn and apply their knowledge in teaching minority students.

Run-by-Run (RbR) control is an online supervisory control strategy designed for the batch manufacturing industry. The objective of RbR control is to minimize process drift, shift and variability between machine runs, thereby reducing costs. The most widely used RbR controllers use the Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) filter. However, the linear nature of the EWMA filter makes these RbR controllers inefficient for processes with features at multiple frequencies (also known as multiscale processes). Recent developments in wavelet theory have enhanced the ability to analyze events in multiscale processes. New RbR control strategies have started to emerge that incorporate wavelet analysis. These controllers, developed at the University of South Florida, seem to be robust in dealing with multiscale processes. The objective of this research is to integrate the wavelet based, multiscale analysis approach with the existing double EWMA RbR control strategy for controlling a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) process. The new controller (WRbR controller) is applied on a Chemical Mechanical Planerization process having four inputs and two outputs. A continuous drift and mean shift are introduced in the process, which is then controlled using both the existing double EWMA and the new wavelet based RbR controllers. The results indicate that the wavelet based controller is better in terms of the average square deviation and the standard deviation in the process outputs. Moreover, the observed decrease in the magnitude of the average absolute input deviation indicates a smoother process operation.

The Thornton Biennial: The Kruszka Pavilion: The 29YR Apology document functions as a catalog for the art event of the same name that occurred in November 2004. The catalog features a director's statement detailing the organizational practices of the event as well as a curatorial statement highlighting motivations for the event. In addition the catalog features color plates and statements from the sole participant in the 2004 Thornton Biennial. Selected excerpts: -When writing, I tell myself that I will immediately delete the writing upon its completion. Not so much because I fear its contents or the repercussions of having written it but because it feels too permanent and polarizing if I leave it. A lack of commitment? Maybe. Thinking of it as a lack of commitment seems too easy though, as to say one that cannot decide between soup and salad at lunch in someway lacks dedication to either liquid or solid foods. In this instance "commitment" sounds out of context. Commitment involves significance and ideals. And even if we extend this example to the actual meal and one's decision to eat or not eat lunch it is still negligible as far as commitment is concerned even though we partake in it daily. I don't write daily. On second thought I do. I think there is a point here. Perhaps the question of commitment extends beyond the soup and the writing to the internal reasoning process that is required to actively pursue either of those endeavors. The point I am making here but not articulating very well is that my commitment is to perpetuating a state of neutrality/nullification through somewhat tangential and irrational logic. And again this is incorrect terminology. Another attempt at clarification via art historical means might invoke the erased De Kooning, Beuy's declaration that "the silence of Duchamp was overrated" or Bas Jan Ader's In Search of the Miraculous. The previous attempt at clarification is muddied with personalities, it is perhaps better to say that I am committed to the idea of the disappearing act, the entire act. The rabbit is on stage and then the rabbit disappears and then the not knowing whether or not the rabbit will reappear. And still this is flawed because it is reduced to illusion. Another difficult realization, I am committed to language but I do not trust language. - A final interpretation, a trusted colleague commented that the Thornton Biennial sounds akin to a movie about saving the orphanage. He referenced several Hollywood storylines that involve characters going to extraordinary and often bizarre measures to save their cherished institutions. I was sold. It fit too perfectly; the corn syrup and cheese reserved for stories about rural villages. At this point it is difficult to ascertain where the imitation occurs with art or with life. Nevertheless, the theory has substance. It is the most popular reasoning among the local population. In The Chit Chat Cafe or Dave's Bar and Grill there are frequent discussions of plans to "push a few breaths" into the body of the barely conscious town. The rational conversations commonly move back and forth from reinvigorating the farm economy to finding ways to import young professionals and families. Fairly regularly though, out of des- peration and/or great hope, residents make wild suggestions and proclamations. Thornton now has five times the water they need and a contemporary art fair. -Jordo. I'm sorry that fourteen and fifteen year old girls can be such cruel bitches. I'm sorry I can't destroy them for you. Instead, I will try provide you with devious plans for revenge as they become available to me. I miss you and regret being gone. I apologize for disappearing. Thanks for helping me out. Love, Ethan

This study investigates the response of lightning to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the vicinity of the U.S. Gulf Coast region and nearby adjacent waters of the Gulf of Mexico, for the years 1995-2002. The Gulf Coast region was selected for this study because of its high flash density (Orville and Huffines, 2001) and because it is an area where the ENSO fingerprint is very clearly demonstrated on both temperature and precipitation patterns (CPC, 2002). Additionally, this geographic domain roughly matches the only known study on this topic (Goodman et al., 2000). Winter is the season of greatest response to ENSO (CPC, 2004), and past studies show that summer has the most lightning activity (e.g., Orville and Huffines, 2001). The temporal domain of the study is restricted to 1995 and beyond, as this follows a system-wide upgrade of the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) that improved overall flash detection efficiency (Cummins, et. al.1998; Wacker and Orville, 1999). Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed to explore the lightning data for ENSO teleconnections. Mean flash density maps were constructed for the complete period of record, individual months and the winter and summer seasons. Maps were visually examined for qualitative comparison with past climatologies and the Goodman et al., (2002) ENSO study. Additionally, monthly flash deviations are computed, visualized and correlated with the Niño 3.4 SST anomaly for all months in the study, seeking out variations in both the amount of flash deviation and spatial properties. Abundant literature exists on both ENSO and lightning individually. This study offers an insight into their intersection.