To identify the effect of ventilator support strategies and ventilation modes on preventing bronchopulmonary dysplasia when used as part of the initial treatment of respiratory distress in preterm neonates.

To identify the effect of ventilator support strategies and ventilation modes on other critical neonatal outcomes including pulmonary air leak syndromes, severe (grades III or IV) intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, neonatal death or death before discharge.

To determine the differences in the effect of ventilator support strategies and ventilation modes when they are used in: a) extremely low birth weight infants (birth weight < 1000 g); b) infants that have received prophylactic or early surfactant therapy; and c) infants less than 12 hours of age at time of initiation of support.