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Cloud computing enables on-demand access to a shared pool of computing resources, that can beeasily provisioned, configured and released with minimal management cost and effort. OpenStack isan open source cloud management platform aimed at providing private or public IaaS cloud onstandard hardware. Since, deploying OpenStack manually is tedious and time-consuming, there are several tools that automate the deployment of OpenStack. Usually, cloud admins choose a tool basedon its level of automation, ease of use or interoperability with existing tools used by them. However,another desired factor while choosing a deployment tool is its deployment speed. Cloud admins cannot select based on this factor since, there is no previous work on the comparison of deploymenttools based on deployment time. This thesis aims to address this issue. The main aim of the thesis is to evaluate the performance of OpenStack deployment tools with respectto operating system provisioning and OpenStack deployment time, on physical servers. Furthermore,the effect of varying number of nodes, OpenStack architecture deployed and resources (cores andRAM) provided to deployment node on provisioning and deployment times, is also analyzed. Also,the tools classified based on stages of deployment and method of deploying OpenStack services. In this thesis we evaluate the performance of MAAS, Foreman, Mirantis Fuel and Canonical Autopilot. The performance of the tools is measured via experimental research method. Operating system provisioning time and OpenStack deployment times are measured while varying the number of nodes/OpenStack architecture and resources provided to deployment node i.e. cores and RAM. Results show that provisioning time of MAAS is less than Mirantis Fuel, which is less than Foreman.Furthermore, for all 3 tools as number of nodes increases provisioning time increases. However, the amount of increase is lowest for MAAS than Mirantis Fuel and Foreman. Similarly, results for baremetal OpenStack deployment time show that, Canonical Autopilot outperforms Mirantis Fuel by asignificant difference for all OpenStack scenarios considered. Furthermore, as number of nodes in an OpenStack scenario increases, the deployment time for both the tools increases. From the research, it is concluded that MAAS and Canonical Autopilot perform better as provisioningand bare metal OpenStack deployment tool respectively, than other tools that have been analyzed.Furthermore, from the analysis it can be concluded that increase in number of nodes/ OpenStackarchitecture, leads to an increase in both provisioning time and OpenStack deployment time for all the tools.

<p> The college admission systems of the United States require the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) examinations. Although, some resources suggest that SAT and ACT scores give some meaningful information about academic success, others disagree. The objective of this study was to determine whether there is significant predictive validity of SAT and ACT exams for college success. This study examined the effectiveness of SAT and ACT scores for predicting college students&rsquo; first year GPA scores with a meta-analytic approach. Most of the studies were retrieved from Academic Search Complete and ERIC databases, published between 1990 and 2016. In total, 60 effect sizes were obtained from 48 studies. The average correlation between test score and college GPA was 0.36 (95% confidence interval: .32, .39) using a random effects model. There was a significant positive relationship between exam score and college success. Moderators examined were publication status and exam type with no effect found for publication status. A significant effect of exam type was found, with a slightly higher average correlation for SAT compared to ACT score and college GPA. No publication bias was found in the study.</p>

<p> Current research indicates there is a correlation between participating in an early childhood program and a student&rsquo;s performance on future standardized measures, including the challenge of using early learning standards (Feldman, 2010). This research study focused on state initiatives, and student participation in an early childhood preschool model centered on the use of universal curriculum and assessment designed to measure student outcomes aligned to learning targets, outlined in state preschool curriculum standards. Research shows learning decreases for students who have not participated in an early childhood program, while those who have participated in some kind of early childhood program show progress (Heckman, 2011). Young children come to school with varying degrees of experiences, which may or may not enhance their learning. Educators are responsible for providing positive experiences and provide academic activities to develop academic awareness, social/emotional skills, in addition to displaying appropriate behavioral skills. Participation in preschool should also build a student&rsquo;s level of independence and competency skills. This research study examined state initiatives and curriculum materials, and assessment tools related to the importance of early childhood education programming and teacher practices, and the impact of universal curriculum and assessment implemented in the classroom during the school year. In addition, it further explored teacher perspectives on educational programming, Louisiana&rsquo;s early childhood initiatives, and the use of universal curriculum and assessment in their classroom.</p>

<p> Relieving test anxiety actions range from relaxation exercises to prescription medication. Humor can be a simple method of test anxiety relief. The current study was used to determine if humor, in the form of a cartoon, placed on the splash page of an online exam improved the test scores of students who have high test anxiety. In the current study, 2 theories were used to guide the research. The interference theory by Ralf Schwarzer and Matthias Jerusalem indicated students have difficulty separating competing thoughts during an exam. In the adult learning theory by Malcolm Knowles, the learning of children and adults was differentiated, while explaining how adults learn. A quasi-experimental quantitative design was used to find a possible correlation between humor and test anxiety relief. The study sample comprised an equal number of students with high test anxiety and students with low test anxiety. The low test anxiety group comprised the control group. A 2-sample <i>t</i> test was used to search for a correlation between the cartoon and the exam scores. Intended benefits of the study included: (a) students with test anxiety find relief from test anxiety, (b) instructors achieve reliable assessments of students with test anxiety, and (c) confident, well-educated graduates. The current study results showed the opposite of expected results. The high test anxiety group did worse on the exam with the cartoon. The 2-sample <i> t</i> test showed a negative improvement of &ndash;6.222 between midterm and final exams for the high test anxiety group.</p>

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An investigation was undertaken to compare airborne and ground-based radiometric survey techniques and to compare and contrast their relative merits and how they can be used in determining the environmental distribution of environmental radioisotopes, particularly those in the decay chains of 238U, 232Th and 40K. Before a detailed investigation was done of the survey techniques, it was necessary to look at the underlying physical principles of detection of ionizing radiation and the types of detector that are generally used in these different types of survey techniques. Having looked at the physics of detection, a detailed examination of the potential distribution of these environmental radioisotopes was undertaken. In these surveys, an assumption is often made, that the daughter isotopes in a decay chain are in secular equilibrium with one another. This assumption was examined and the various possible ways in which secular equilibrium could break down were considered, these included looking at biological, meteorological and chemical processes. Only after all the influences on assumptions used in these survey processes and the physical limitations on the measurements taken during surveys were considered, was a comparison made of a set of airborne and ground-based measurements taken at a chosen survey site compared. These measurements compared uranium, thorium and potassium activity concentrations, which had been determined by the two survey techniques, and a correlation was found particularly when the uranium measurements were examined.

The purpose of this study was to compare alternative models for analyzing student learning outcomes. The models were: (a) single equation approach, (b) separate equation approach using actual within-group intercept (actual b(,oj)) and (c) separate equation approach using adjusted within-group intercept (adjusted b(,oj)). The models were compared first under an additive model assumption and then under an interactive model assumption. Basic models, assumptions and procedures were discussed. Data were generated using computer simulation. / The simulation model assumed that the within-group process is represented by the within-group slope and intercept. Those parameters were assumed to be a linear function of the group mean. / One hundred, 500 and 1,000 replications were generated for the additive model, the interactive model assuming an intraclass correlation of 0.2 and the interactive model assuming an intraclass correlation of 0.4, respectively. Each set of replications was analyzed using the three approaches. Sampling distributions for the additive constant (b(,o)), the individual (b(,s)), group (b(,c)) and interaction (b(,sc)) effects were compared. / The results suggested that, for the additive model, the single equation approach and the separate equation approach using adjusted b(,oj) provided unbiased estimates of b(,o), b(,s), and b(,c) with approximately equal sizes for the actual standard errors of the estimates. However, only the separate equation approach using adjusted b(,oj) provided an accurate picture of the actual precision of the estimates. / Results for the interactive model suggested that the separate equation approaches are superior to the single equation approach, in terms of providing equal and unbiased, estimates. However, only the separate equation approach using actual b(,oj) is recommended because it is less costly, both in computer time and personnel time. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-01, Section: A, page: 0147. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.