196,067 research outputs found
Types of cultural capital and self-rated health among disadvantaged women in outer Beirut, Lebanon
No full textAims: This study extends research on the social determinants of health by exploring the association between a new, potentially very significant dimension, cultural capital by type, and self-rated health among low-income women living in outer Beirut, Lebanon. Methods: Self-rated general health was assessed using household data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,869 women, conducted in 2003. Three types of cultural capital were included: watching cultural TV programs, producing art (e.g. drawing, theatre performance), and consuming art or literature (e.g. attending exhibitions, reading literary books). Associations between self-rated health status and types of cultural capital were assessed using odds ratios from binary logistic regression models. Results: With the exception of art production, lack of cultural capital increased the odds of self-perceived poor health status adjusting for sociodemographics and other risk factors. The adjusted odds ratios were 1.86 (95percent CI 1.07-3.22) for not watching cultural TV programs and 1.52 (95percent CI 1.12-2.06) for not consuming art. As expected, health-risk factors, age, social support, and community of residence were also associated with health status. Conclusions: Two types of cultural capital were strong predictors of self-perceived health status among women living in poor urban communities, regardless of social capital, income, and other relevant risk factors.ADER R, 1995, LANCET, V345, P99, DOI 10.1016-S0140-6736(95)90066-7; Bojner-Horwitz E, 2003, ART PSYCHOTHER, V30, P255, DOI 10.1016-j.aip.2003.07.001; Bourdieu P, 1984, DISTINCTION SOCIAL C; Bourdieu P., 1990, REPROD ED SOC CULTUR; Bourdieu Pierre, 1986, HDB THEORY RES SOCIO; Bygren LO, 1996, BRIT MED J, V313, P1577; GARTELL AC, 2004, HEALTH PLACE, V10, P245; Hamilton C, 2003, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V57, P401, DOI 10.1136-jech.57.6.401; Hyyppa MT, 2001, PREV MED, V32, P148, DOI 10.1006-pmed.2000.0782; Idler EL, 1997, J HEALTH SOC BEHAV, V38, P21, DOI 10.2307-2955359; JEPPERSON RL, 1994, POETICS, V22, P359, DOI 10.1016-0304-422X(94)90014-0; Johansson SE, 2001, HEALTH PROMOT INT, V16, P229, DOI 10.1093-heapro-16.3.229; Khawaja M, 2006, SOC SCI MED, V63, P1304, DOI 10.1016-j.socscimed.2006.03.047; Khawaja M, 2006, J URBAN HEALTH, V83, P444, DOI 10.1007-s11524-006-9051-8; Konlaan BB, 2000, SCAND J PUBLIC HEALT, V28, P174, DOI 10.1177-14034948000280030501; KONLAAN BB, 2002, PUBLIC HLTH, V115, P227; Konlaan BB, 2000, PUBLIC HEALTH, V114, P316, DOI 10.1038-sj.ph.1900670; Lovell AM, 2002, SOC SCI MED, V55, P803, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(01)00204-0; MARSDEN PV, 1994, POETICS, V22, P269, DOI 10.1016-0304-422X(94)90010-8; Mowafi M, 2005, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V59, P260, DOI 10.1136-jech.2004.022822; NUETZEL EJ, 1995, PSYCHOANAL QUART, V64, P345; RIDER MS, 1990, ART PSYCHOTHER, V17, P211, DOI 10.1016-0197-4556(90)90003-9; Schimmack U, 2000, PERS SOC PSYCHOL B, V26, P655, DOI 10.1177-0146167200268002; SHIVELY CA, 1994, ARTERIOSCLER THROMB, V14, P721; *STAT CORP, 2004, STAT WIND VERS 8 2 C; SWIDLER A, 1986, AM SOCIOL REV, V51, P273, DOI 10.2307-2095521; Szreter S, 2004, INT J EPIDEMIOL, V33, P650, DOI 10.1093-ije-dyh013; Veenstra G, 2000, SOC SCI MED, V50, P619, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(99)00307-X; Wilkinson RG, 1997, BRIT MED J, V314, P591; Ziersch AM, 2004, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V58, P493, DOI 10.1136-jech.2003.00908434
Poverty
No full text[No abstract available]Berkman L, 2000, SOCIAL INTEGRATION S; Berkman LF, 2000, SOC SCI MED, V51, P843, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(00)00065-4; BLACKWOOD DL, 1994, WORLD DEV, V22, P567, DOI 10.1016-0305-750X(94)90112-0; Bonn M, 1999, J ECON PSYCHOL, V20, P593, DOI 10.1016-S0167-4870(99)00026-4; Booth C, 1902, LIFE LABOUR PEOPLE L; Bradshaw J., 1998, PERCEPTIONS POVERTY; Braveman P, 2003, B WORLD HEALTH ORGAN, V81, P539; Braveman P, 2003, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V57, P254, DOI 10.1136-jech.57.4.254; Brock K., 1999, REV PARTICIPATORY WO; BUHMANN B, 1988, REV INCOME WEALTH, P115; Burchardt T., 2002, UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL; CITRO C, 1995, MEASURING POVERTY; DASGUPTA P, 1987, ADAPTING UNDERNOURIS; Deaton Angus, 1997, ANAL HOUSEHOLD SURVE; Deaton Angus, 2000, COUNTING WORLDS POOR; ELBERS C, 2003, ESTIMATING VULNERABI; FISHER GM, 1992, SOC SECUR BULL, V55, P3; FOSTER J, 1984, ECONOMETRICA, V59, P687; Gold R, 2002, HEALTH PLACE, V8, P77, DOI 10.1016-S1353-8292(01)00027-2; Hawe P, 2000, SOC SCI MED, V51, P871, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(00)00067-8; Hulme D, 2003, WORLD DEV, V31, P399, DOI 10.1016-S0305-750X(02)00214-0; Hulme D., 2001, CHRONIC POVERTY MEAN; KANBUR R, 2002, CONCEPTUAL CHALLENGE; Kawachi I, 2002, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V56, P647, DOI 10.1136-jech.56.9.647; Khawaja M, 2003, INT MIGR, V41, P27, DOI 10.1111-1468-2435.00234; Kobetz E, 2003, HEALTH PLACE, V9, P263, DOI 10.1016-S1353-8292(02)00058-8; Krieger N, 2001, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V55, P693, DOI 10.1136-jech.55.10.693; Lachaud JP, 2004, HEALTH PLACE, V10, P13, DOI 10.1016-S1353-8292(02)00070-9; LANJOUW JO, 1998, DEMYSTIFYING POVERTY; Leon DA, 2001, BRIT MED J, V322, P591, DOI 10.1136-bmj.322.7286.591; Lochner K, 2001, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V91, P385, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.91.3.385; MANN J, 1995, HLTH HUMAN RIGHTS, V1, P309, DOI 10.2307-4065245; Mann Jonathan, 1995, Health Hum Rights, V1, P229, DOI 10.2307-4065135; MCGREGOR JA, 2000, POVERTY AGENCY RESOU; McKay A, 2003, WORLD DEV, V31, P425, DOI 10.1016-S0305-750X(02)00221-8; McMurrin Sterling M., 1980, LIBERTY EQUALITY LAW; Messias E, 2003, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V93, P1294, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.93.8.1294; MOEZ D, 1997, ANAL TOOLS HUM DEV; MOORE M, 1998, HOW CAN WE KNOW WHAT; Muller A, 2002, BRIT MED J, V324, P23, DOI 10.1136-bmj.324.7328.23; Narayan D., 2000, VOICES POOR CAN ANYO; NARAYAN D, 2000, VOICES POOR CRYING C; Narayan Deepa, 1999, BONDS BRIDGES SOCIAL; NIJHUIS HGJ, 1994, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V48, P1, DOI 10.1136-jech.48.1.1-a; Nussbaum M., 2000, WOMEN HUMAN DEV; Pradhan M, 2000, REV ECON STAT, V82, P462, DOI 10.1162-003465300558821; QUISMBING AR, 2001, J DEV ECON, V6, P225; ROBERTS I, 1996, BRIT MED J, V313, P371; Rodgers GB, 2002, INT J EPIDEMIOL, V31, P533, DOI 10.1093-ije-31.3.533; ROWLS J, 1971, THEORY JIUSTICE; Rowntree B., 1901, POVERTY STUDY TOWN L; SCHWARTZMAN S, 2002, STAT MEASUREMENT POV; Sclar ED, 2003, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V93, P1381, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.93.9.1381; Sen A, 1999, DEV FREEDOM; Sen Amartya, 1985, COMMODITIES CAPABILI; SINDZINGRE A, 1999, VALUES NORMS POVERTY; Smith Adam, 1993, WEALTH NATIONS; STEELE A, 1999, BRIT MED J, V319, P203; TARANTOLA D, 2000, BUILDING SYNERGY BET; Townsend P., 1992, INT ANAL POVERTY; UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), 2000, HUM DEV REP 2000 HUM; Wagstaff A, 2002, B WORLD HEALTH ORGAN, V80, P97; WAGSTAFF A, 2001, POVERTY HLTH; Watson D, 2000, J ECON PSYCHOL, V21, P495, DOI 10.1016-S0167-4870(00)00016-7; Weber Max, 1947, THEORY SOCIAL EC ORG; Wilkinson R, 1996, UNHEALTHY SOC AFFLIC; World Bank, 2000, WORLD DEV REP 2000 2118
Cultural capital and self-rated health in low income women: Evidence from the urban health study, Beirut, Lebanon
No full textThis paper examines the association between cultural capital and self-rated psychosocial health among poor, ever-married Lebanese women living in an urban context. Both self-rated general and mental health status were assessed using data from a cross-sectional survey of 1,869 women conducted in 2003. Associations between self-rated general and mental health status and cultural capital were obtained using χ2 tests and odds ratios from binary logistic regression models. Cultural capital had significant associations with self-perceived general and mental health status net of the effects of social capital, SES, demographics, community and health risk factors. For example, the odds ratios for poor general and mental health associated with low cultural capital were 4.5 (CI: 2.95-6.95) and 2.9 (CI: 2.09-4.05), respectively, as compared to participants with high cultural capital. As expected, health risk factors were significantly associated with both measures of health status. However, demographic and community variables were associated with general health but not with mental health status. The findings pertaining to social capital and measures of SES were mixed. Cultural capital was a powerful and significant predictor of self-perceived general and mental health among women living in poor urban communities. © 2006 The New York Academy of Medicine.ADER R, 1995, LANCET, V345, P99, DOI 10.1016-S0140-6736(95)90066-7; [Anonymous], 1979, INHERITORS FRENCH ST; Barnett E, 2001, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V91, P465, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.91.3.465a; Berkman LF, 2004, AM J EPIDEMIOL, V159, P167, DOI 10.1093-aje-kwh020; Blakely TA, 2002, SOC SCI MED, V54, P65, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(01)00007-7; Bojner-Horwitz E, 2003, ART PSYCHOTHER, V30, P255, DOI 10.1016-j.aip.2003.07.001; Bourdieu P, 1979, REPROD ED SOC CULTUR; Bourdieu P., 1992, INVITATION REFLEXIVE; BOURDIEU P, 1985, POETICS, V14, P13, DOI 10.1016-0304-422X(85)90003-8; Bourdieu P, 1984, DISTINCTION SOCIAL C; Bourdieu Pierre, 1986, HDB THEORY RES SOCIO; BUHMANN B, 1988, REV INCOME WEALTH, P115; Bygren LO, 1996, BRIT MED J, V313, P1577; Coleman J. S., 1988, AM J SOCIOL, V94, P95, DOI DOI 10.1086-228943; DIMAGGIO P, 1982, AM SOCIOL REV, V47, P189, DOI 10.2307-2094962; DIMAGGIO P, 1985, AM J SOCIOL, V90, P1231, DOI 10.1086-228209; Edmondson R, 2003, SOC SCI MED, V57, P1723, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(03)00011-X; ElRufaie OEF, 1996, BRIT J PSYCHIAT, V169, P662, DOI 10.1192-bjp.169.5.662; Frederking LC, 2002, J ECON BEHAV ORGAN, V48, P105, DOI 10.1016-S0167-2681(01)00228-1; Fyfe Gordon, 2004, MUSEUM SOC, V2, P47; Galea S, 2005, ANNU REV PUBL HEALTH, V26, P341, DOI 10.1146-annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144708; GARTELL AC, 2004, HEALTH PLACE, V10, P245; Gilbert L, 2003, HEALTH PLACE, V9, P193, DOI 10.1016-S1353-8292(02)00039-4; Glass TA, 1999, BRIT MED J, V319, P478; Goldberg D., 1988, USERS GUIDE GEN HLTH; Hamilton C, 2003, J EPIDEMIOL COMMUN H, V57, P401, DOI 10.1136-jech.57.6.401; Harbuz MS, 1997, ANN NY ACAD SCI, V823, P214, DOI 10.1111-j.1749-6632.1997.tb48393.x; Harrison J, 1999, J PUBLIC HEALTH MED, V21, P283, DOI 10.1093-pubmed-21.3.283; Hyyppa MT, 2001, PREV MED, V32, P148, DOI 10.1006-pmed.2000.0782; JEPPERSON RL, 1994, POETICS, V22, P359, DOI 10.1016-0304-422X(94)90014-0; Johansson SE, 2001, HEALTH PROMOT INT, V16, P229, DOI 10.1093-heapro-16.3.229; KATSILLIS J, 1990, AM SOCIOL REV, V55, P270, DOI 10.2307-2095632; Kaufman J, 2004, POETICS, V32, P145, DOI 10.1016-j.poetic.2004.02.001; Kawachi I, 1997, SOC SCI MED, V45, P1121, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(97)00044-0; Kawachi I, 1999, AM J PUBLIC HEALTH, V89, P1187, DOI 10.2105-AJPH.89.8.1187; Konlaan BB, 2000, SCAND J PUBLIC HEALT, V28, P174, DOI 10.1177-14034948000280030501; KONLAAN BB, 2002, PUBLIC HLTH, V115, P227; Konlaan BB, 2000, PUBLIC HEALTH, V114, P316, DOI 10.1038-sj.ph.1900670; Kristenson M, 1998, INT J BEHAV MED, V5, P17, DOI 10.1207-s15327558ijbm0501_2; MARSDEN PV, 1994, POETICS, V22, P269, DOI 10.1016-0304-422X(94)90010-8; MATER S, 1998, PSYCHOL REV, V105, P83; NUETZEL EJ, 1995, PSYCHOANAL QUART, V64, P345; Pellerin LA, 2001, POETICS, V29, P1, DOI 10.1016-S0304-422X(00)00013-9; Pert CB, 1998, ALTERN THER HEALTH M, V4, P30; PETTIT P, 1999, POETICS, V26, P177; Putnam Robert, 1993, MAKING DEMOCRACY WOR; RIDER MS, 1990, ART PSYCHOTHER, V17, P211, DOI 10.1016-0197-4556(90)90003-9; Rose R, 2000, SOC SCI MED, V51, P1421, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(00)00106-4; Santana P, 2002, SOC SCI MED, V55, P33, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(01)00218-0; Schimmack U, 2000, PERS SOC PSYCHOL B, V26, P655, DOI 10.1177-0146167200268002; Shively CA, 1997, BIOL PSYCHIAT, V41, P871, DOI 10.1016-S0006-3223(96)00185-0; SHIVELY CA, 1994, ARTERIOSCLER THROMB, V14, P721; SPENCER MJ, 1997, LIVE ARTS EXPERIENCE; *STAT CORP, 2003, STAT 8 2 WIND; Stewart-Brown S, 1998, BRIT MED J, V317, P1608; SULLIVAN A, 2002, SOCIOLOGY, V35, P893; Swartz DL, 2003, THEOR SOC, V32, P519, DOI 10.1023-B:RYSO.0000005028.96526.75; van Doorslaer E, 2003, SOC SCI MED, V57, P1621, DOI 10.1016-S0277-9536(02)00559-2; WATKINS AD, 1995, QJM-MON J ASSOC PHYS, V88, P283; WICKSTROM BM, 1993, PSYCHOTHER PSYCHOSOM, V60, P195; Wilkinson RG, 1997, BRIT MED J, V314, P59116171
Chemokines and chemokine receptors during viral infections in man
No full textChemokines and chemokine receptors are critical mediators of cell migration during immune surveillance, inflammation and development. The generation of antibody responses depends on B and T cell collaboration within germinal centers in lymphoid tissue. Activation of B lymphocytes is accompanied by alternations in chemokine responsiveness that brings together the antigen specific B cells with its cognate CD4 T cell. Several human viral infections have been shown to interfere with chemokine receptor expression and signaling, I have studied two human viruses. Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infects mainly CD4+ T cells but infection is associated with impaired B cell function with loss of B cell responses to specific antigens and a loss of B cells with memory phenotype. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in contrary infects mainly B cells and is associated with a variety of human malignancies.The aim of this thesis was to i) characterize chemokine receptor expression on different subpopulations of B cells during chronic HIV-1 infection and primary EBV infection; ii) study the effects of altered receptor expression on B cell migration during HIV-1 and EBV infection and iii) clarify the role of CXCL12 for proliferation and signaling in childhood pre-B ALL.Our main finding in paper I was a decreased expression of CXCR5 both at the mRNA and protein level on B cells from HIV-1 infected individuals compared to controls. We could also detect an increase in CXCL13 expression in B cells from HIV-1 infected subjects. In paper II and III, tonsillar B cells were infected with EBV and the expression of CXCR4, CXCR5 and CCR7 was followed over time. Already two days after infection, a decrease of surface CXCR4, CXCR5 and CCR7 was detected and after 14 day of infection both CXCR4, CXCR5 and CCR7 was totally absent from the cell surface. EBV infection also caused a decrease in migration towards the respective ligands compared to uninfected B cells.In order to further investigate the CXCR4/CXCL12 pathway in pre B leukemic cells, we found that CXCL12 enhances proliferation of ALL cells and signal transducer and activators 5 (STAT5) was activated upon ligation with CXCL12 (paper IV). CXCL12 has together with interleukin-7 (IL-7) been shown to enhance proliferation of leukemic cells and we could detect a higher IL-7 level in a few children with pre-B ALL compared to controls. Interestingly, in paper V, we showed that IL-7Rα is down-regulated on T cells in HIV-1 infected individuals and this correlated with depletion of CD4+ T cells in HIV-1 infected subjects.In summary, little is known about the impact of chemokines and chemokine receptors during viral infection and how it modulates the immune response. In these studies, I have shown that both HIV-1 and EBV influences B cell chemokine receptor expression and migration during infection in humans. The natural evolution of our work would be to study how chemokine and chemokine receptors affect the natural course of infection and evolution of immunological responses in experimental models of the viruses used in this thesis, e.g. HIV-1 and EBV.List of scientific papersI. Mowafi F, Cagigi A, Vu Phuong Dang L, Atlas A, Chiodi F, Nilsson A (2007). Altered expression of the receptor-ligand pair CXCR5/CXCL13 in B-cells during chronic HIV-1 infection. [Submitted]II. Ehlin-Henriksson B, Mowafi F, Klein G, Nilsson A (2006). Epstein-Barr virus infection negatively impacts the CXCR4-dependent migration of tonsillar B cells. Immunology. 117(3): 379-85 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16476057III. Mowafi F, Cagigi A, Klein G, Nilsson A, Ehlin-Henriksson B (2007). Changes in chemokines and chemokine receptor expression on tonsillar B cells upon Epstein-Barr virus infection. [Submitted]IV. Mowafi F, Cagigi A, Matskova L, Bjork O, Chiodi F, Nilsson A. (2007). Chemokine CXCL12 enhances proliferation in pre-B-ALL via STAT5 activation. Pediatr Blood Cancer. Oct 3: Epub ahead of print https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17914737V. Rethi B, Fluur C, Atlas A, Krzyzowska M, Mowafi F, Grützmeier S, De Milito A, Bellocco R, Falk KI, Rajnavölgyi E, Chiodi F (2005). Loss of IL-7Ralpha is associated with CD4 T-cell depletion, high interleukin-7 levels and CD28 down-regulation in HIV infected patients. AIDS. 19(18): 2077-86 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16284456</p
Are neighborhood education levels associated with BMI among adults in Cairo, Egypt?
No full textThis study examined the association between area-level education and BMI among adults in Cairo, Egypt. A sample of 3993 households including 1990 men and 2003 women were analyzed from the 2007 Cairo Urban Inequity Study, a study which aimed to identify potential intra-urban inequities in health related to the environment and living conditions in Cairo. Using multilevel analysis, we found that residents of high education neighborhoods were significantly less likely to be obese compared to low education neighborhoods. An inverse association between neighborhood education and individual BMI was observed whereby each unit increase in percentage of households with greater than a high school education was associated with a 0.036 kg/m(2) decrease in BMI of individuals. This translated into a difference between high and low education neighborhoods of 6.86 kg (15.1 lb) for women based on an average height of 1.65 m and 6.10 kg (13.4 lb) for men based on an average height of 1.75 m after adjusting for sociodemographic, socioeconomic, health and environmental factors. These findings suggest that programs aiming to reduce BMI among adults in this setting may be well-served by focusing on education since it appears to have an effect at the neighborhood level over and above the impact it has at the individual level. This may be due to several factors such as greater access to knowledge and information regarding health and nutrition, greater food availability, and shifting cultural perceptions of beauty away from an ideal body shape of plumpness in favor of thinness in high education neighborhoods. The cross-sectional nature of our study does not allow for causal interpretations, however, so further studies exploring why the neighborhood education-BMI association is so significant is warranted
Dr. Duane M. Jackson, Morehouse College, July 2011
No full textThis video is a conversation with Dr. Duane M. Jackson. Dr. Jackson talks about his paper, "Recall and the Serial Position Effect: The Role of Primacy and Recency on Accounting Students' Performance." Jackie Daniel, AUC Woodruff Library, is the interviewer
"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States" By M. Carey.
No full text"Reflections on the subject of Emigration from Europe with a view to Settlement in the United States: containing bried sketches of the moral and political character of those states.
By M. Carey, member of the American philosophical, and of the American Antiquarian Society, and author of The Olive Branch, Cindiciae Hibernicae, essays on banking, on political economy, and on internal improvement.
To which are now added the English editor's comments on the subject; together with Important Advice to Emigrants, and Cautions Against Impositions Practiced in the Outports
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Dr. Glendon Swarthout
No full textHosted by Roger M. Busfield, MSU Assistant Professor of Speech and Theater, Meet the Author is designed to introduce a general audience to a contemporary author and their work through in-depth interviews. This episode features a conversation between Dr. Glendon Swarthout, prolific author and English professor at MSU, and assistant professors Sam S. Baskett and Theodore B. Strandness
Simulation of thermal plant optimization and hydraulic aspects of thermal distribution loops for large campuses
No full textFollowing an introduction, the author describes Texas A&M University and its utilities system. After that, the author presents how to construct simulation models for chilled water and heating hot water distribution systems. The simulation model was used in a $2.3 million Ross Street chilled water pipe replacement project at Texas A&M University. A second project conducted at the University of Texas at San Antonio was used as an example to demonstrate how to identify and design an optimal distribution system by using a simulation model. The author found that the minor losses of these closed loop thermal distribution systems are significantly higher than potable water distribution systems. In the second part of the report, the author presents the latest development of software called the Plant Optimization Program, which can simulate cogeneration plant operation, estimate its operation cost and provide optimized operation suggestions. The author also developed detailed simulation models for a gas turbine and heat recovery steam generator and identified significant potential savings. Finally, the author also used a steam turbine as an example to present a multi-regression method on constructing simulation models by using basic statistics and optimization algorithms. This report presents a survey of the author??s working experience at the Energy Systems Laboratory (ESL) at Texas A&M University during the period of January 2002 through March 2004. The purpose of the above work was to allow the author to become familiar with the practice of engineering. The result is that the author knows how to complete a project from start to finish and understands how both technical and nontechnical aspects of a project need to be considered in order to ensure a quality deliverable and bring a project to successful completion. This report concludes that the objectives of the internship were successfully accomplished and that the requirements for the degree of Degree of Engineering have been satisfied
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