The total costs of corporate borrowing in the loan market : don't ignore the fees

More than 80% of US syndicated loans contain at least one fee type and contracts typically specify a menu of spread and different types of fees. We test the predictions of existing theories about the main purposes of fees and provide supporting evidence that: (1) fees are used to price options embedded in loan contracts such as the draw-down option for credit lines and the cancellation option in term loans; and (2) fees are used to screen borrowers about the likelihood of exercising these options. We also propose a new total-cost-of-borrowing measure that includes various fees charged by lenders

Economic conditions and the health of newborns:Evidence from comprehensive register data

We examine whether economic downturns are beneficial to health outcomes of newborn infants in developed countries. For this we use merged population-wide registers on health and economic and demographic variables, including the national medical birth register and intergenerational link registers from Sweden covering 1992–2004. We take a rigorous econometric approach that exploits regional variation in unemployment and compares babies born to the same parents so as to deal with possible selective fertility based on labour market conditions. We find that downturns are beneficial; an increase in the unemployment rate during pregnancy reduces the probability of having a birth weight less than 1500 grams or of dying within 28 days of birth. Effects are larger in low socio-economic status households. Health improvements cannot be attributed to the parents’ own employment status. Instead, the results suggest other pathways triggered by the economic cycle

Laboratory Tests of Gravitational Physics Using a Cryogenic Torsion Pendulum

Progress and plans are reported for a program of gravitational physics experiments using cryogenic torsion pendula undergoing large amplitude torsional oscillation. The program includes a UC Irvine project to measure the gravitational constant G and joint UC Irvine - U. Washington projects to test the gravitational inverse square law at a range of about 10 cm and to test the weak equivalence principle.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, contribution to the 10th Marcel Grossman Conference Proceedings (Rio de Janeiro, July 20 - 26, 2003) - changed wording in first paragraph of section

Relative permeability as a stationary process: energy fluctuations in immiscible displacement

Relative permeability is commonly used to model immiscible fluid flow through porous materials. In this work we derive the relative permeability relationship from conservation of energy, assuming that the system to be non-ergodic at large length scales and relying on averaging in both space and time to homogenize the behavior. Explicit criteria are obtained to define stationary conditions: (1) there can be no net change for extensive measures of the system state over the time averaging interval; (2) the net energy inputs into the system are zero, meaning that the net rate of work done on the system must balance with the heat removed; and (3) there is no net work performed due to the contribution of internal energy fluctuations. Results are then evaluated based on direct numerical simulation. Dynamic connectivity is observed during steady-state flow, which is quantitatively assessed based the Euler characteristic. We show that even during steady-state flow at low capillary number ($\mathsf{Ca}\sim1\times10^5$), typical flow processes will explore multiple connectivity states. The residence time for each connectivity state is captured based on the time-and-space average. The distribution for energy fluctuations is shown to be multi-modal and non-Gaussian when terms are considered independently. However, we demonstrate that their sum is zero. Given an appropriate choice of the thermodynamic driving force, we show that the conventional relative permeability relationship is sufficient to model the energy dissipation in systems with complex pore-scale dynamics that routinely alter the structure of fluid connected pathways

Acute myocardial infarction and syncope in an 18-year-old athlete with an abnormal origin of the left coronary artery: a case report

We report a case of acute myocardial infarction and syncope in an 18-year-old athlete during high-performance exercise. A coronary arteriography and an angiographic computed tomography scan subsequently revealed a left coronary arterial origin from the right aortic sinus along with an intramural course of the left main stem. The patient was successfully treated with surgical unroofing of the left main stem from inside the aorta. To our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating this type of anomaly pre- and postoperatively by use of angiographic computed tomography scan in the context of acute coronary syndrome

Gravitation Physics at BGPL

We report progress on a program of gravitational physics experiments using cryogenic torsion pendula undergoing large-amplitude torsion oscillation. This program includes tests of the gravitational inverse square law and of the weak equivalence principle. Here we describe our ongoing search for inverse-square-law violation at a strength down to $10^{-5}$ of standard gravity. The low-vibration environment provided by the Battelle Gravitation Physics Laboratory (BGPL) is uniquely suited to this study.Comment: To be published in The Proceedings of the Francesco Melchiorri Memorial Conference as a special issue of New Astronomy Review