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Changing weather patterns may impose increased risk to the creditworthiness of financial institutions in the agriculture sector. To reduce the credit risk caused by climate change, financial institutions need to update their agricultural lending portfolios to consider climate change scenarios. In this paper we introduce a framework to compute the optimal agricultural lending portfolio under different increased temperature scenarios. In this way we quantify the impact of increased temperature, taken as a measure of climate change, on credit risk. We provide a detailed case study of how our approach applies to the problem of optimizing a portfolio of agricultural loans made to corn farmers across different corn producing regions of Ontario, Canada, under various climate change scenarios. We conclude that the lending portfolio obtained by taking into account the climate change is less risky than the lending portfolio neglecting climate change.

Byline: Mark J. Pirwitz, John E. Willard, Charles Landau, L.David Hillis, Richard A. Lange Abstract: Although the oximetric analysis of blood from the right heart chambers is the most commonly used method for assessing the presence of intracardiac left-to-right shunting, the data the analysis is based on are limited. In addition, uncertainty exists concerning the best way of estimating the mixed venous oxygen content in subjects with intraatrial left-to-right shunting. In 102 adults without left-to-right shunting, blood was obtained from the venae cavae and right heart chambers to measure oxygen content. The limits of normality of oxygen content differences were 0.5 ml/dl from venae cavae to right atrium, 0.6 ml/dl from right atrium to right ventricle, and 0.9 ml/dl from right ventricle to pulmonary artery. The pulmonary arterial oxygen content was best estimated by combining the superior and inferior vena caval oxygen contents according to the formula (2[SVC]+ 3[IVC]) A* 5, where SVC is the superior vena cava and IVC is the inferior venae cava. These data provide new oximetric criteria for establishing the presence of intracardiac left-to-right shunting in adults. (Am Heart J 1997;133:413-7.) Author Affiliation: Dallas, Tex Article Note: (footnote) [star] Reprint requests: Richard A. Lange, MD, Room CS 7.102, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235-9047., [star][star] 0002-8703/97/$5.00 + 0 4/1/80081

Combined use of cocaine and tobacco may decrease the diameter of coronary arteries and the oxygen supply while simultaneously increasing the heart's need for oxygen. Researchers evaluated the rate-pressure product, a measure of the heart's oxygen demand, in 42 smokers after cocaine use and cigarette smoking. Thirty-six of the smokers had coronary artery disease. The average rate-pressure product increased by about 11% after cocaine use, 12% after one cigarette and 45% after both cocaine use and smoking. Among 30 patients who received cocaine, cocaine caused an average 7% decrease in the diameter of nondiseased coronary arteries. Tobacco use caused about a 7% decrease and combined cocaine and tobacco use caused a 6% decrease in nondiseased artery diameter. The diameters of diseased artery segments decreased by an average of 9% after cocaine use, 5% after tobacco use and 19% after combined use.

Patients with ischemic heart disease are often treated with aspirin to prevent a heart attack. Aspirin prevents aggregation of platelets, and formation of blood clots after blood vessel injury. Treatment with aspirin reduces the risk of a heart attack or death in patients with chronic stable angina (chest pain) or unstable angina at rest. Treatment with a low dose of aspirin each day may also prevent a heart attack in individuals with no history of ischemic heart disease. Treatment with aspirin may not be as effective for preventing a second heart attack. Aspirin is used to treat patients undergoing coronary angioplasty or coronary-artery bypass grafting to prevent blood clot formation. Other antiplatelet drugs may be used alone or in combination with aspirin to treat patients with ischemic heart disease. The main side effects of aspirin are irritation of the gastrointestinal tract and increased bleeding. These side effects are more likely to occur with doses above the recommended 325 mg per day.

A numerical investigation of a single highly confined bubble moving through a millimeter-scale channel in the absence of phase change is presented. The simulation includes thermal boundary conditions designed to match those of completed experiments involving bubbly flows with large numbers of bubbles. The channel is horizontal with a uniform-heat-generation upper wall and an adiabatic lower boundary condition. The use of a Lagrangian framework allows for the simulation of a channel of arbitrary length using a limited computational domain. The liquid phase is a low-Reynolds-number laminar flow, and the phase interactions are modeled using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) method with full geometric reconstruction of the liquid/gas interface. Results are presented for three bubble diameters, which include two levels of confinement within the channel and two liquid flow rates. Bubble shape and speed closely match experimental observations for each bubble size and liquid flow rate. Nusselt numbers in the bubble wake for all configurations follow a power law relationship with distance behind the bubble. Important dynamical structures include a pair of vortical structures at the rear of the bubble associated with the primary heat transfer enhancement and a pair of prominent liquid jets oriented in the transverse direction on either side of the bubble. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States cocaine is commonly used as a topical anesthetic for nasal surgery. Some of the side effects of cocaine may include high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia (abnormal heartbeat rhythm), and increased oxygen demand of the myocardium (heart muscle). In cardiac patients, ischemia (inadequate oxygen supply) or myocardial infarction (heart attack) may be induced by cocaine. Abuse of the drug is also associated with serious cardiac episodes. The effect of intranasal cocaine was observed in 45 patients, aged 36 to 67 years, whose evaluation for chest pain included cardiac catheterization (makes possible clear X-ray imaging of the heart and coronary arteries which supply oxygen to the myocardium). Measurements, taken before and 15 minutes after the intranasal administration of cocaine included: heart rate, arterial pressure (within arteries), blood flow in the coronary sinus (vein that empties into the right atrium), and the diameter of the left coronary artery (supplies the left ventricle). The results of the data indicated that cocaine increased the heart rate and systemic arterial pressure, which resulted in increasing the myocardial demand for oxygen. Simultaneously, cocaine reduced myocardial oxygen supply by decreasing the coronary sinus blood flow. None of these measurements changed after the administration of a saline placebo and there was no difference in the results between patients who were or were not ultimately diagnosed with diseased coronary arteries. Constriction of the coronary artery was relieved by phentolamine, an alpha-adrenergic blocking agent. The metabolic, hemodynamic, and arteriographic findings confirmed that cocaine induced the coronary artery vasoconstriction. Researchers concluded that similar but more serious adverse effects could be anticipated with higher doses of cocaine which are typical in recreational use of the drug.

Changing weather patterns may impose increased risk to the creditworthiness of financial institutions in the agriculture sector. To reduce the credit risk caused by climate change, financial institutions need to update their agricultural lending portfolios to consider climate change scenarios. In this paper we introduce a framework to compute the optimal agricultural lending portfolio under different increased temperature scenarios. In this way we quantify the impact of increased temperature, taken as a measure of climate change, on credit risk. We provide a detailed case study of how our approach applies to the problem of optimizing a portfolio of agricultural loans made to corn farmers across different corn producing regions of Ontario, Canada, under various climate change scenarios. We conclude that the lending portfolio obtained by taking into account the climate change is less risky than the lending portfolio neglecting climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]