Distressed exchange

In a distressed exchange (i) the borrower offers lenders/debtholders a new security or package of securities that amount to a diminished financial obligation (e.g., preferred or common stock or debt with a lower coupon or par amount) or (ii) the exchange has the purpose of allowing the borrower to avoid default. 

Issuers are considered to have defaulted after passing a 30-day grace period unless there is a bankruptcy filing, in which case defaults are immediate. Defaults include distressed exchanges, where bond investors are offered securities with diminished structural or economic terms compared to existing bonds. 

Azurix Corp. 147,870 June/02 Distressed Exchange Utilities... 

Figure 8. Calcium values in vertebrate bone and soft tissue samples versus 6 Ca in dietary source (Skulan and DePaolo 1999). Bone values are systematically about 1.3%o lower than source values. Soft tissue values are more variable. All of the values are hypothesized to reflect the balance between Ca dietary intake and exchange with bone calcium (Fig. 9). The soft tissue values are variable largely because the residence time of Ca in the tissues is short. The high value of the egg white reflects Rayleigh-type distillation the egg white loses light Ca to the shell as the shell forms. The small amount of Ca left in the egg white is highly fractionated. The low 6 Ca value of the seal muscle is interpreted as a sign of distress the seal may have had a dietary Ca deficiency for several days or longer before it died, and hence was deriving most of its Ca from bone dissolution.

Alveoli represent the primary site for gas exchange within the lung, and thus their health is vital for survival. Alveolar conditions with a primary genetic cause, such as surfactant protein-B (SP-B) deficiency and SP-C deficiency, are prime candidates for a rAAV-gene therapy approach. Diseases in which alveoli are damaged secondary to other defects might also be treated with gene transfer. Such conditions include environmental toxin exposure, infectious diseases, and adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) (Table 4.1) (Rolls et al., 1997, 1998, 2001 Cheers et al 1999 Ruan et al., 2002). 

G-4) Respiratory distress syndrome. Lecithin (phosphatidylcholine) is an important membrane phos-phoglyceride. In the lung, one of the lecithins (they come in a variety of forms) reduces surface tension in the pul-monaiy alveoli. Lecithin deficiency in the premature infant results in the respiratory distress syndrome, in which the alveoli are collapsed and there is difficulty with air exchange. 

In acute exposure prompt medical attention is critical. The victim should be immediately removed to fresh air and away from the source of exposure. Oxygen should be provided if there is a respiratory distress. Initial therapy should be directed at stopping the ongoing hemolysis by performing exchange transfusion. Currently there is no other treatment to decrease arsine hemolysis however, studies in vitro have shown that some dithiol chelators (meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid, DMSA 2,3-dimercapto-l-propanesulfonic acid, DMPS and 2,3-butanedithiol) are effective (see Further Reading). This should be followed by aims to restore renal function or compensate for lost renal function (hemodialysis). This process does not remove any formed arsenic from the exposed body. Administration of dimercaprol (British Anti-Lewisite, BAL) has no effect on arsine hemolysis, but it lowers blood arsenic levels resulting from arsine exposure. The use of chelators must be... 

Without pulmonary surfactant, gas exchange in the lungs is very poor. Pulmonary surfactant is not produced until early in the sixth month of pregnancy. Premature babies born before they have begun secretion of natural surfactant suffer from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), which is caused by the severe difficulty they have obtaining enough oxygen from the air that they breathe. 

Extracorporeal blood gas exchange devices have been used on infants with the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) (4, 5). Twenty-five thousand newborns are estimated to die from this disease every year in this country (6). Though the causes of this disease are not clearly understood, it is hoped that supporting the infant with the aid of an extracorporeal-gas exchanger will give his own lungs time in which to heal. 

Wysocki, M., Delclaux, C., Roupie, E., Langeron, O., Liu, N., Herman, B., Lemaire, F., and Brochard, L. (1994). Additive effect on gas exchange of inhaled nitric oxide and intravenous almitrime bismesylate in the adult respiratory distress syndrome. Intens. Care Med. 20, 254-259. 

FIGURE 4 Inhaled nitric oxide (NO) lowers pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and improves gas exchange during prolonged ventilation of premature lambs with severe experimental respiratory distress syndrome. IMV, Intermittent mandatory ventilation Fi02, inspired O2 fraction. [From Kinsella et at. (34).]... 

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