Oil, natural gas prices confound New England

HARTFORD, Conn. — Pipeline bottlenecks that drove up natural gas home heating prices in New England last winter could cause trouble when the weather again turns cold, but oil prices that once climbed to record territory continue to fall.

That unusual sequence of events — higher prices for natural gas prices, which is promoted for its cost advantage relative to oil that's falling in price — was detailed by the U.S. Department of Energy's recent annual outlook. The wild card is the weather and how cold this winter will be.

If temperatures plunge as they did last year, natural gas prices could soar 6 percent in the region, far higher than the forecast of 3.6 percent in the rest of the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy said in its recent annual outlook.

In contrast, weakening international demand helped North Sea Brent crude oil spot prices fall to an average of $97 per barrel in September, the first month Brent prices have averaged below $100 a barrel in more than two years. U.S. production also is at the highest level in nearly 30 years, federal energy officials say.

That's good news in the Northeast, where 23 percent of households depend on oil for heat. In the rest of the country, 5 percent of households use heating oil, the Energy Department said.

The agency's report relies on winter forecasts that will be warmer than last year, giving consumers of all sources of energy a break.

Nationally, projected average household spending for heating oil is 15 percent lower and reduced heating demand and higher prices contribute to natural gas spending that's also projected to be down, but by only 5 percent from last winter. Natural gas is still the cheapest heating source.

Declining oil prices are vindication to New England oil dealers who are fighting state officials seeking to expand natural gas pipeline systems when oil prices spiked several years ago. Oil dealers have insisted that higher oil prices in previous years were a natural response to market changes and will decline in response to shifting supply and demand.

"It's 'I told you so,'" said Chris Herb, president of the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association, which represents oil dealers and sued state officials Friday, accusing them of violating state environmental laws to push through a plan favoring natural gas. "Government is horrible in predicting outcomes."

Jamie Py, president of the Maine Energy Marketers Association, which represents heating oil and other dealers, said oil prices have become more sensitive to rising and falling world demand than the frequent and destabilizing cycles of violence in the Mideast.

"There was a time when someone sneezed the wrong way in the Middle East you could see a spike," he said.

Chris Recchia, commissioner of the Vermont Public Service Department, said the benefits of natural gas over oil, such as the production of less carbon dioxide, make it a preferable source of energy. And the narrowing price gap "won't be there for long," he said.

New England states are seeking to rely more on natural gas, which in the past has been cheaper than oil. Toward that limited goal, the plan is working: Natural gas powered 45 percent of electricity generated in New England last year, down slightly from 52 percent in 2012, but up significantly from less than 30 percent in 2001, according to the Department of Energy.

But pipelines can't catch up with the greater supply, with power plants forced last winter to buy on the costly spot market that pushed up natural gas prices for consumers. It's not likely to change.

"Pipeline constraints still exist in the area and day?to?day price volatility is likely," the Energy Department said.

Although several pipeline construction plans are in various stages of development and planning, consumers shouldn't expect prices to fall soon because of the time needed to build pipelines. Prices are not expected to budge until 2017, said Cunningham said.

"The question is, what do we do now?" he said.

More extensive storage of natural gas to ensure deliveries during periods of extreme cold would help utilities avoid high prices for emergency supplies, Cunningham said. A few dozen very cold days each winter put the biggest strain on supplies, he said.

"It's those 40-odd days that kill," he said.

Connecticut's largest utility, Connecticut Light & Power, plans for colder-than-normal temperatures by staggering purchases to include the off-season when the cost is lower, spokesman Mitch Gross said. It also stores reserves in a liquefied natural gas facility.

But Cunningham says the outlook for lower prices due to a less severe weather is "something of a feel-good story."

"It's at least a prediction for some degree of relief," he said.

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Follow Stephen Singer on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SteveSinger10

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The Ticker

Kmart hit by data breach

Retailer Sears Holdings Corp. said the payment data systems at its Kmart stores had been compromised, the latest in a series of computer security breaches to hit U.S. companies in recent months.

The U.S. Secret Service confirmed it was investigating the breach, which occurred in September and compromised the systems of Kmart, which has about 1,200 stores across the United States. The breach did not affect the Sears department store chain.

Sears said it believes hackers made off with some credit and debit card numbers.

More e-cig regs eyed on planes

Federal regulators should consider further regulations on electronic cigarettes on airplanes, the state's top fire official said after his office recently concluded one of the devices caused a small fire on a plane at Logan International Airport.

The Aug. 9 fire, confined to a single piece of luggage in the cargo hold, forced an evacuation of the plane. It was extinguished before the JetBlue aircraft took off. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said his office's investigators confirmed that an e-cigarette in a passenger's checked luggage turned on, causing the fire.

Coan sent a letter to the FAA this week about the incident, and U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said he'll ask the FAA to investigate whether e-cigarettes should be allowed on airplanes at all.

Corcoran Jennison files hotel plan

Corcoran Jennison Co. has filed a project notification form with the city to expand the DoubleTree Club by Hilton hotel in Dorchester's Columbia Point.

The Boston developer proposed a six-story, 89,500-square-foot addition that would include 96 new rooms for a total of 187 rooms, an expanded ground-floor restaurant, kitchen and back-of-house space, function rooms and a ballroom.

The addition would take the place of a parking lot on the northeast side of the Mount Vernon Street hotel, which is next to the former 20-acre Bayside Exposition Center site that Corcoran Jennison lost to foreclosure in 2009 and is now owned by the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

Raytheon, UMass Lowell open center

Raytheon and the University of Massachusetts Lowell yesterday officially opened a new collaborative research facility that will advance innovative technologies in a state-of-the-art setting.

The Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute is located at the university's Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center. Raytheon has committed $3 million with options to $5 million throughout the next 10 years to establish the facility. Initial research will focus on technologies for radar and communication systems.

Boston-based Phoodeez catering services has hired three new employees: Ian Danielson as director of business development, Brian Vicente as director of operations, and Tyler Smith as part of the business development team.

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Artists for Humanity to be big draw

A South Boston nonprofit that pays Hub teens to work with professional artists and designers is planning a major expansion of its flagship facility that's a model for economical green building.

The Artists for Humanity EpiCenter would nearly quadruple in size under an approximately $25 million, 63,500-square-foot expansion that would create an "energy-positive" building.

"We'll create more energy than we'll use, using a lot of solar and geothermal and some wind and really illustrating some of the great and progressive technologies that are out there," executive and artistic director Susan Rodgerson said. "It's a big challenge, but I think we can do it."

There currently are no such buildings on the East Coast that are 50,000 square feet or larger, according to the organization.

The expansion would allow the 23-year-old Artists for Humanity — which counts itself as the largest single employer of Boston teens — to double the number of youths served. This year 250 teens are working with artists to create fine art, industrial design and provide digital graphic services.

"The need to create jobs for teens is really important," Rodgerson said. "And the fact that there will be this space in the Innovation District providing access to technology and maker space and innovation … is really important for the kids in the city who don't really have access to that kind of stuff."

The teens, who work on projects ranging from a video for National Grid to public art for State Street Corp., are paid wages plus commissions. Last year they received close to $1 million.

The expansion also would add a "maker's studio," new gallery, meeting and conference space, a retail store and a cafe in addition to 25,000 square feet of leasable space for creative industry tenants.

Artists for Humanity plans a capital campaign to raise funds for the expansion, which will take advantage of a 9,000-square-foot parking lot donated by Gillette last year. It already has received some funding commitments, which Rodgerson declined to divulge.

The group moved into the 23,500-square-foot EpiCenter, built at a cost of $7 million, in 2004.

The Platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified facility has become a popular place for weddings and other events.

"It was built on a budget, and we've become a really popular place for folks to come and see sustainability at a value," Rodgerson said.

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Bowman: Microsoft CEO’s comments on awaiting raises thoughtless

Some men just don't get it.

Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is one of them.

More than 8,000 people from all over the world traveled to Phoenix this week to attend a conference to celebrate women in technology and to hear Nadella speak on the topic, "Building the Career of Your Dreams."

When he was asked to give his advice to women who are uncomfortable requesting a raise, Nadella told them to "have faith that the system will actually give you the right raises as you go along." He also said "not asking for a raise was good karma that would help a boss realize the employee could be trusted and should have more responsibility."

Nadella's comments were obviously thoughtless and irresponsible, and they set off a predictable firestorm. And naturally he apologized.

But was Nadella really sorry? Would he have apologized had there not been all this hoopla?

I don't think so. I believe Nadella went into CYA mode and said sorry to save face.

As a woman in business who has worked, fought, lobbied and negotiated for every raise, promotion, advancement, praise, new title (often in lieu of more money) — and helped pave the way for my sisters — it was hard for me to read Nadella's words.

In light of Cheryl Sandberg and others who encourage women to "lean in," Nadella's advice was unworthy of a man and a technology leader, all the more so because he was addressing a historic conference for women.

"Smile and everything will be fine"… "believe in destiny and karma" — and we will all get our raises?

Sorry, karma doesn't cut it in the real world. If a woman is self-confident and projects a positive attitude, she will advance. But it's up to all of us, women and men, to manage our own careers. If you make it clear that you are team-oriented, adaptable, flexible, passionate and capable of building relationships, you will advance. That's the cornerstone of success in the business world.

Satya Nadella's faux pas has circled the world. He's apologized. We've been warned. Let's forgive him perhaps, but let this incident serve as a reminder — we expect more from our leaders.

Next time, Mr. Nadella, a gentle suggestion: prepare your remarks, don't wing them.

Judith Bowman is president of her own business protocol consulting company.

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Box Office Mojo site disappears into IMDB

BoxOfficeMojo.com has vanished with the site redirecting to Amazon.com's IMDb.

The Box Office Mojo site was acquired by Amazon in late 2008. Reps for Amazon were not immediately available for comment.

The Box Office Mojo site was widely used by the movie industry for up-to-date box office results along with historical data. It was founded in 1999 by Brandon Gray.

When Box Office Mojo was acquired in 2008, it was operated in a Los Angeles office by Gray and Sean Saulsbury.

IMDb provides cursory coverage of box office data, leaving out such information as the specific distributor, the number of theaters and international grosses. Its subscription-based IMDb Pro subscription site has slightly more information.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Activist shareholder demands EMC act to boost stock price

An activist shareholder has made public its calls for data storage giant EMC Corp. to spin off its VMware virtualization software unit or pursue merger opportunities with other companies.

New York's Elliott Management Corp., which has a 2.2 percent EMC stake, said EMC's structure of four independently run companies "obscures" its "enormous value" and won't be viable when Joe Tucci — EMC's CEO since 2001 — retires in February, according to a letter signed by Elliott portfolio manager Jesse Cohn sent to EMC's board yesterday.

"EMC's stock price has under-performed its ... peers and the market ... while this structure has been in place," Cohn said. EMC bought VMware in 2004, and they are now "competing against one another, confusing customers, employees, Street analysts and shareholders," he said.

Since Elliott's July announcement of its EMC stake, it has "learned of acquisition interest in EMC's assets on the part of several large companies that make strategic sense," the letter said.

EMC has held advanced talks to sell to Hewlett-Packard and failed to reach a deal, primarily on price, Bloomberg News reported.

EMC said its board "regularly reviews and rigorously evaluates the company's strategy" to enhance shareholder value.

"Over the past few months, EMC's leadership has met with representatives of Elliott several times and has listened carefully to their ideas, as we do with all of our shareholders," it said.

Herald wire services contributed to this report.

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The Ticker

HubSpot prices shares at $25 for today's IPO

Cambridge-based HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales software company, last night priced its initial public offering at $25 a share, above the expected range of $22 to $24 a share.

The 5 million common shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange today under the ticker symbol "HUBS."

Stock market has best day of the year

The stock market surged yesterday, erasing a steep loss from the day before, as investors reacted to minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting, which showed that the central bank wants to keep interest rates extremely low for the time being.

The Dow Jones jumped 274.83 points, or 1.6 percent, to 16,994.22. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 33.79 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,968.89 and the Nasdaq composite rose 83.39 points, or 1.9 percent, to 4,468.59. All three indexes had their biggest point and percentage gains of the year. The Dow's jump was its biggest gain of the year.

AT&T to pay $105M for phone charges

AT&T Inc. agreed to pay $105 million, including $80 million in consumer refunds, to settle federal and state investigations that the company illegally billed mobile phone customers for unauthorized charges for ringtones and other services, officials said.

The practice, known as mobile cramming, involved hundreds of millions of dollars in charges for third-party services, the Federal Trade Commission said.

Massachusetts will receive more than $327,000 as part of the settlement.

Newton couple charged in $5.4M fraud

Secretary of State William F. Galvin has charged a Newton couple with fraud for allegedly failing to disclose important information to real estate investors, including their lack of experience and conflicts of interest.

Eileen and Lawrence Schwartz and their investment firm E. S. Schwartz & Co. allegedly misled clients into thinking they had experience in various real estate markets, causing investors to lose $5.4 million, Galvin said.

TODAY

• Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims.
• Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for August.
• Woburn-based MKA Executive Planners, which provides personalized retirement income planning for executives, business owners and professionals, announced the appointment of Dennis Sexton, left, as senior vice president. He previously managed the employee benefits division of IIG Inc.SentiCare Inc. and WorldClinic Inc.

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TD Garden goes gourmet

The TD Garden showed off the first phase of its 
$70 million renovation yesterday — including digital screens that show fans' tweets and fancier food options such as a surf and turf burger — hours before the Bruins took to the ice for their home opener.

Construction crews renovated the fourth floor loge concourse over the summer, giving it a completely new look along with new technology and concession stands.

"(The fans) are going to love it," said Amy Latimer, president of TD Garden. "It's clean, it's bright ... they're going to have a great time."

The walls now boast pictures from notable events at the Garden, everything from ice skating championships to the Beatles' 1964 concert.

The concourse also has more than 200 digital screens for a flashier fan experience, including a video board that shows fans' tweets and live shots from the game and four 92-inch touch screens that can direct fans to their seats or the closest concession stand.

"Instead of waiting until we get outdated, we decided to be ahead of the curve," Latimer said.

More than 400 Wi-Fi antennas have been installed throughout the Garden, including some in the hockey boards, so fans at ice-level don't miss out on Tweeting or Snapchat.

Legends, the Garden's season ticket holder club, also has undergone a makeover, with a new raw bar, pizza oven and digital Celtics and Bruins banners that appear to blow in the wind. The original yellow Boston Garden sign is mounted on the wall and incorporated into the new design.

Eight of the 16 concession stands on the loge level also have been redesigned from top to bottom, with new menus and new kitchen equipment. Latimer said there has not been an arena-wide equipment upgrade in 20 years.

Patrick Kilduff, the Garden's executive chef, said the new concession stands are designed so fans can see their food being cooked.

"You can see the products being made in front of your eyes," he said. "It doesn't just come out of a drawer."

Starting yesterday, fans can get a "surf & turf double" burger — one beef patty and one crab and lobster patty — or pick something out from the mac and cheese bar.

"We're trying to get that ultra premium product to the guests," Kilduff said.

Of course, ultra-premium concessions come with a price tag — that surf and turf burger costs a cool $22. The Garden says the price of concession stand basics, such as hot dogs and pretzels, will not rise.

Said Latimer: "I think we've covered any taste for any person."

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City orders one-day suspension of club’s license

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday slapped a local nightclub with a one-day license suspension for failing to call police about an alleged sexual assault on its dance floor.

Mac Dauber, the Royale's security director, told the board Tuesday that the alleged victim never told him she had been groped Aug. 10.

But the board unanimously agreed yesterday that Dauber erred when he told the 24-year-old woman the police didn't need to be called because he worked closely with them.

"It's clear she made at least some people aware of exactly what transpired," Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer said.

Dauber was not at yesterday's meeting and could not be reached for comment.

Licensing Board records show the Royale has a history of failing to call 911 for emergencies, a charge it denies.

The board issued the Tremont Street club a warning on May 19, 2011, after a patron said he was stabbed, and staff gave him bandages instead of calling for an ambulance. On Jan. 20, 2011, the board suspended the club's license for two days for failing to call 911 after a man reported he was beaten.

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Carl Icahn to Tim Cook: Apple shares are worth double current price

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who owns 53 million shares in Apple, posted a letter to CEO Tim Cook Thursday urging the company to use its cash hoard to increase share repurchases and saying the company's stock is currently trading at half its value according to his estimates.

"(G)iven the persistently excessive liquidity of $133 billion net cash on Apple's balance sheet, we ask you to present to the rest of the board our request for the company to make a tender offer, which would meaningfully accelerate and increase the magnitude of share repurchases," Icahn wrote in a lengthy letter posted on his site.

Icahn added, "We thank you for being receptive to us the last time we requested an increase in share repurchases, and we thank you in advance now for any influence you may choose to have communicating to the rest of the board the degree to which a tender offer would have a positive impact on an EPS basis for all shareholders."

Icahn said his firm, Icahn Capital, will not sell any of its shares if the company expands share buybacks: "We commit to this because we believe Apple remains dramatically undervalued. And we think you and the board agree."

Apple will grow earnings per share by 30% in each of fiscal year 2016 and 2017, per Icahn's estimates. Based on that, "we see Apple's P/E of just 8x our FY 2015 forecast as both irrational and transient in nature, especially since many actively managed mutual funds remain underweight Apple in their portfolios."

Based on Icahn's estimated 19X price-to-earnings ratio for fiscal 2015, Apple is worth $203 per share including net cash. Apple stock closed Wednesday at $100.80 per share; in premarket trading Thursday, shares were up 0.9%.

In the letter, the investor praised Cook and the Apple management team, and said Apple is "poised to take market share from Google (Android) in the premium device market as iPhone 6 becomes Apple's flagship device among a growing collection of products and services that work together to form an increasingly dominant mobile ecosystem."

He added, "To be totally clear, this letter is in no way intended as a criticism of you as CEO, nor is it intended to be critical of anything you or your team are doing from an operational perspective at Apple. Quite to the contrary, we could not be more supportive of you and your team, and of the excellent work being done at Apple, a company that continues to change the world through technological innovation."

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Monsanto posts larger-than-expected 4Q loss

ST. LOUIS — Agriculture business giant Monsanto Co. reported a wider-than-expected loss Wednesday for its fourth quarter on higher expenses, including a one-time legal settlement.

Nonetheless, the company said it expects "strong double-digit to mid-teens earnings growth in fiscal year 2015 despite continued industry headwinds."

Monsanto has dominated the bioengineered-seed business for years and recently began developing products specifically for emerging markets like Argentina, Brazil and parts of Asia. The company is also making investments in computerized tools for the agricultural sector.

The loss amounted to $156 million, or 31 cents per share, came despite higher sales of the company's two key business units, genetically-engineered seeds and herbicide.

The loss reflected by extra expenses, including a one-time payment to settle an environmental legal case. Without that payment the company would have lost 27 cents per share.

That was still below the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research, which predicted a loss of 24 cents per share.

Quarterly revenue increased more than 19 percent to $2.63 billion in the period, beating Wall Street forecasts. Analysts expected $2.42 billion, according to Zacks.

In the last quarter sales of biotech seeds increased 16 percent to $1.38 billion. Sales of the company's herbicide and agricultural products grew 23 percent to $1.25 billion.

For full-year 2015 the company is looking for earnings in the range of $5.75 to $6. Executives cautioned that its first quarter 2015 earnings would likely be half the level of its first quarter 2014 results, due to reduced seed planting in key markets and other seasonal factors. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings of $6.02 for fiscal 2015.

Monsanto shares fell 45 cents to $109.65 in morning trading Wednesday. Its shares have declined 7 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has increased almost 5 percent.

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Russia approves sanctions compensation

MOSCOW — Russia's parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill granting compensation to those affected by Western sanctions and allowing the government to seize the assets in Russia of countries that have imposed the penalties.

In an unusually divisive vote on Wednesday, the main Kremlin-backed party struggled to win over the typically compliant members of Russia's token opposition, who were almost unanimously against the bill in a 233 to 202 vote. The law must be voted on two more times and can be amended before its final approval.

The law, which would allow individuals affected by property seizures outside Russia to be compensated from the state budget, was first proposed to parliament in April, but later withdrawn after it was blasted in a government memo for contradicting both international and Russian law.

The government's dramatic about-face and the bill's re-introduction to parliament in September came just one day after Italian authorities seized approximately $40 million-worth of property owned by Russian businessman and longtime Putin ally, Arkady Rotenberg.

If the bill is ultimately approved, it would allow any individuals targeted by property or asset seizures abroad to seek compensation from the Russian budget. It also allows Moscow to seize property of any foreign citizens who instigate such cases against Russian individuals abroad. In the absence of such property, Russia may seize state property of that country, even if protected by diplomatic immunity.

The bill attracted an unusual amount of criticism from the opposition, whose lawmakers typically vote unanimously alongside the dominant United Russia party, over the perceived unfairness in the compensation scheme. Authors of the bill even delayed the vote, which was originally slated for Tuesday, in what appeared to be an effort to win over the opposition.

"It turns out that the property rights of certain individuals, particularly those who are close (to power), are exceptionally more important than the property rights of millions," communist legislator Nikolai Kolomeitsev said during a speech. Along with leaders of Russia's other three opposition parties, he said his faction would not vote for such an "amoral" law.

In comments to parliament earlier in the day, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said the law was counterproductive because it would help insure Russians' property abroad and thereby "encourage capital flight from the country."

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Do-it-yourself flu vaccine? Study shows it works

Do-it-yourself flu vaccine? It could happen. Military folks who squirted vaccine up their noses were as well-protected as others who got it from health workers, a study found.

There's no reason civilians couldn't do the same, especially for children who might be less scared if vaccine was given by mom or dad, the study leader said.

"A parent could easily administer it. You can't go wrong," and having a DIY option might improve vaccination rates, said Eugene Millar of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Rockville, Maryland.

So far, only health professionals are allowed to give MedImmune's FluMist, the only flu vaccine sold as a nasal spray. The government says it's the preferred method for healthy kids ages 2 to 8 if it's available; it's approved for ages 2 through 49.

In an epidemic or rapid deployment, there might not be enough health workers to give vaccine quickly enough to protect troops in crowded barracks, so Millar's study tested DIY as a practical solution.

During the last two flu seasons, more than 1,000 service members and their families at military hospitals in San Diego and San Antonio either got FluMist from health workers or gave it to themselves, individually or in a group session. Blood tests later showed no difference in immune responses among the groups.

The vaccine comes in pre-filled syringes with a stopper that automatically divides the dose in half, for each nostril.

"It's easy," and participants preferred the DIY method, Millar said.

That doesn't mean it's ready for broader use, said Dr. Jonathan Temte, a University of Wisconsin family medicine specialist who heads a panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy.

"It's a very interesting concept and I can definitely see some benefits" for overcoming vaccine hesitation, Temte said. "Before anyone could endorse this in children, one would have to have an appropriately designed study that shows equal efficacy, equal safety, and then the acceptability."

There are other good reasons to keep health workers involved where kids are concerned, he said. A yearly flu vaccination is recommended for nearly everyone over 6 months old, but children 6 months to 8 years of age getting their very first flu vaccine need two doses at least four weeks apart. Health workers also need to ensure the vaccine gets in, and that parents would not squirt it into a nose full of discharge, he said.

The study was sponsored by the U.S. Military Vaccine Agency. Results are to be presented later this week at a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and several other groups in Philadelphia.

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Online:

Vaccine info: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/nasalspray.htm

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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UK cleared to heavily subsidize $39B nuclear plant

BRUSSELS — The European Union has approved Britain's bid to heavily subsidize a new nuclear power plant, overriding opposition from environmentalists and questions over the project's 24.5 billion pound ($39 billion) price tag.

The EU's executive Commission said Wednesday it found the subsidies for construction and operation of the Hinkley Point plant won't distort fair competition.

Britain will guarantee all the loans for the project's construction and grant plant operators a fixed above-market electricity price — roughly double the current wholesale price — for 35 years to ensure their investment will break even.

To gain EU approval, Britain agreed to change some terms, including raising the price for the loan guarantees, which should save British taxpayers 1 billion pounds, the Commission said.

The project is to be carried out by France's EDF energy and a group of Chinese investors who estimate the construction costs to be 16 billion pounds. However, the EU Commission says it will cost 24.5 billion pounds plus another 10 billion pounds for operational costs such as waste management.

When asked about the price difference, EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told reporters his service has worked with these numbers in its exchanges with British authorities for a year, and he had no explanation for the lower figures. Queries to EDF remained unanswered.

The few nuclear power plants built in the West over the past decades were all plagued by significant cost overruns. Analysts say building new nuclear power plants isn't economically viable without state subsidies.

The EU decision was controversial as the 28-nation bloc seeks to switch its electricity supply to renewable sources like wind and solar energy. But securing approval for the two Hinkley Point reactors was a top priority for the British government as older plants will go offline in coming years. British Treasury chief George Osborne hailed the EU decision as "excellent news."

Environmental groups were furious.

"This is a world record sell-out to the nuclear industry at the expense of taxpayers and the environment," said Andrea Carta, a legal adviser for Greenpeace EU. "There is absolutely no legal, moral or environmental justification in turning taxes into guaranteed profits for a nuclear power company whose only legacy will be a pile of radioactive waste," she added.

Several EU countries, including Germany and Austria, are also hostile to new nuclear power projects as they bet on renewables. The Austrian government has floated the idea of suing the Commission at a European court to overthrow the approval of the Hinkley Point subsidy.

The Commission said its decision didn't involve a judgment on the merits of nuclear power, only the legality of this particular subsidy.

"This will not create any precedents," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia.

The two nuclear reactors, planned to start working in 2023 for 60 years, would have a production capacity equivalent to 7 percent of Britain's electricity generation. The government contract guarantees operators an electricity price of 92.5 pounds per megawatt hour, or about twice the current wholesale price. The guaranteed price will be raised annually in line with inflation.

The reactors will use the so-called EPR technology, which has yet to go online anywhere in the world. There are only three similar projects currently under construction, in France, Finland and China. Finland's Olkiluoto 3 power plant is already nine years behind schedule and faces billions of dollars in cost overruns.

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Matti Huuhtanen in Helsinki and Greg Katz in London contributed to this report.

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Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

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Fox Networks Group streamlines global business affairs for Fox Sports

Fox Networks Group is expanding the portfolio of Claudia Teran, promoting the veteran business affairs exec to general counsel of Fox Sports.

The move expands Teran's turf to include all global business and legal affairs for Fox Sports, giving her oversight of the legal and biz affairs teams tasked with cutting sports rights and affiliate pacts for various Fox entities around the world. Teran previously supervised all international sports deals for Fox Sports in her role as exec vp and deputy general counsel for Fox Networks Group.

Teran has served as the No. 2 exec to FNG exec VP and general counsel Rita Tuzon since 2011. Tuzon is one of the most influential behind-the-scenes execs in driving Fox's global TV strategy with 21st Century Fox COO Chase Carey and FNG boss Peter Rice.

"Claudia has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to ensure that both the company and our team, league, association, and conference partners benefit fully from our efforts," Tuzon said. "In a new and expanding multi-platform world she and her tremendous team will play an even more vital role as we expand our ability to bring the most exciting live sports coverage to every corner of the globe."

Teran's promotion fills the void left at Fox Sports by the departure of Karen Brodkin, who was named prexy of business affairs for IMG last month.

Before joining Fox in 2000, Teran was a transactional attorney at Sidley & Austin.

© 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Robots to learn from nurses

On the labor and delivery floor of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about 20 so-called ninja nurses use their sixth sense to efficiently assign staff and resources to patients to make sure everyone gets the care and attention they need.

Now, a doctor and an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor are teaming up to use their medical and robotics expertise to improve how machines work with humans, and make hospitals a bit better in the process.

"What we're aiming to do is learn from people who are outstanding at these resource allocation jobs and potentially teach a machine," said Julie Shah, the professor who leads the Interactive Robotics group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.

Shah and her husband Neel Shah, an obstetrician at Beth Israel, will spend the next two years learning from these "ninja" nurses — officially called resource nurses — to try to understand how they make certain choices to improve decision making in the hospital and in machines.

The Shahs will develop a simulation test for the resource nurses, with the goal of translating instinctive decisions into specific explanations for certain actions. The project is funded by the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.

"If we can learn what these rules are that the best people are using, we'll be able to train people better," Neel Shah said.

The Shahs said they hope to have a training tool that can help other nurses make better decisions within two years, but eventually hospital floors could have intelligent machines to help hospital staff make decisions.

"Any tools we can give clinicians on the front line and control as best we can are really helpful and (can) make care safer," said Carol Keohane of CRICO, which awarded the grant. "It will help to hone in, and help people identify what resources are needed and take care of this population as well as possible."

There is no intent to take jobs away from hospital staff, Julie Shah said. Instead, the research will be used to help nurses make decisions and train new nurses to have the same "ninja" prowess.

"This is an area where long term it's not practical to have machines doing the work," Julie Shah said. "We still need people doing it, the question is how do we support people doing it."

For Julie Shah, the research will also help with what she calls "re-planning," making decisions and adapting to new scenarios without explicit instructions.

Her research focuses on the decisions that machines — largely robots — make autonomously, without having to be explicitly told to complete a task or alter a plan as well as how machines work with humans.

But, if machines have a better understanding of the decisions that humans make, the machines could re-plan and adapt to changing scenarios better.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

On the witness list: Paulson, Geithner, Bernanke

WASHINGTON — It could be an awkward reunion.

Three top former government leaders who devised the 2008 financial bailouts — Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke — are set to testify this week in a lawsuit over the government's rescue of the insurance giant AIG.

Six years ago, their rescue plan revived AIG, protected its far-flung financial partners and helped save the financial system. Yet AIG's former CEO, 89-year old Maurice Greenberg, argues that the government's bailout was illegitimate and is demanding roughly $40 billion in damages for shareholders.

This despite the fact that Greenberg orchestrated a 2010 deal in which he unloaded $278 million in AIG shares that his holding company owned — a windfall that might have been impossible without the government's intervention.

The lawsuit alleges that the bailout violated the Constitution's Fifth Amendment by taking control of AIG without "just compensation." Greenberg objects to the government's takeover of a company approaching bankruptcy in exchange for what would eventually become $180 billion-plus in taxpayer-backed loans.

Many legal experts deem the lawsuit a longshot. But the trial serves as a reminder that few were satisfied by the government's response to the crisis — even those who, like Greenberg, fared far better than the millions who lost homes and jobs.

For Greenberg, the case represents a chance to make the former Federal Reserve chairman (Bernanke) and two past Treasury secretaries (Paulson and Geithner) defend a landmark action made at the most perilous moment for the U.S. financial system since the Great Depression.

All three, of course, have well-honed and oft-repeated arguments in defense of the AIG bailout. Geithner released his memoirs this year, while Paulson appeared in a Netflix documentary film about his experiences last year. The tight-lipped Bernanke is now writing his own book.

During the height of the crisis, no private company was willing to provide loans to AIG. The insurer "faced severe liquidity pressures that threatened to force it imminently into bankruptcy," Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee in 2009.

An AIG collapse "would have posed unacceptable risks for the global financial system and for our economy," Bernanke said. The viability of state and local governments, banks and 401(k) plans was at risk, he warned.

Greenberg's lawyer, David Boies, is famed for fighting for gay marriage and arguing before the Supreme Court on behalf of Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election. But in congressional hearings and news conferences, the three witnesses he intends to grill before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims have learned to measure their words carefully.

The challenge is whether Boies can use the multitude of their past comments about AIG to trap them in an inconsistency, said Hester Peirce, a senior research fellow at George Mason University and former Senate Banking Committee staffer.

"They are in a pretty difficult position because they might have to contradict what they previously said," Peirce said.

For Americans who yearn to see reckless bankers held accountable in court, it's somewhat surreal to have a lawsuit based on the premise that the government's rescue unfairly punished a company whose collapse would have threatened the global financial system.

How so? AIG was overexposed to subprime mortgages back in 2008. That's because of a financial instrument known as a credit default swap. It obligated AIG to pay out if the mortgages defaulted.

Its stock and credit ratings had nosedived. The company largely built by Greenberg appeared to be freefalling into bankruptcy, possibly dragging down several major investment banks with it.

So the government provided an initial $85 billion loan — ultimately $182 billion — in return for an 80 percent stake in AIG.

That 80 percent stake angered Greenberg. He remained the company's most vocal shareholder after being ousted as CEO and chairman in 2005 amid a New York state investigation into suspicious financial transactions under his watch. Greenberg contends that AIG shareholders were singled out for retribution, while the government chose to extend loans on far more generous terms to banks such as Citigroup.

The division within AIG that undermined the company's balance sheet was established under Greenberg's watch, noted James Cox, a law professor at Duke University.

"Greenberg probably did create a culture at AIG that nurtured the aggressiveness of the swaps business and the excessive greed that we associated with the crisis," Cox said. "I don't see him as a choir boy in this process."

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Navy: Self-guided unmanned patrol boats make debut

NORFOLK, Va. — Self-guided unmanned patrol boats that can leave warships they're protecting and swarm and attack potential threats on the water could join the Navy's fleet within a year, defense officials say, adding the new technology could one day help stop attacks like the deadly 2000 bombing of the USS Cole off Yemen.

The Arlington-based Office of Naval Research demonstrated the autonomous swarm boat technology over two weeks in August on the James River near Fort Eustis in Virginia — not far from one of the Navy's largest fleet concentration areas. It said the Navy simulated a transit through a strait, just like the routine passage of U.S. warships through the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf.

In the demonstrations, as many as 13 small unmanned patrol boats were escorting a high-value Navy ship. Then as many as eight of the self-guided vessels broke off and swarmed around a threat when a ship playing the part of an enemy vessel was detected, the office said, calling the demonstrations a success.

Robert Brizzolara, program manager at the Office of Naval Research, said that the boats can decide for themselves what movements to make once they're alerted to a threat and work together to encircle or block the path of an opposing vessel, depending on that vessel's movements and those of other nearby vessels.

The rigid-hull inflatable patrol boats can also fire .50 caliber machine guns if called upon to do so. However, a human will always be the one to make the decision to use lethal force, officials said. A sailor on a command ship would be in charge of each of the unmanned boats and could take control over any of the boats at any moment. And if communication between the unmanned boats and the sailor overseeing them were ever broken, the boat would automatically shut down.

"I never want to see the USS Cole happen again," said Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder, chief of naval research, speaking about the attack by a small boat packed with explosives that killed 17 sailors and injured 39 on that warship. "I can tell you the systems we just put out on the water would've prevented the Cole."

Brizzolara said the technology is intended to allow sailors who would ordinarily be manning such boats to stay out of harm's way while the self-guided boats seek to "deter, damage or destroy" enemy vessels.

Officials said while the Cole bombing was not the sole inspiration for the program, it was a significant one. Researchers have been working on the technology for about a decade. The kit can be placed on any small vessel and includes sensors and radar that tells it what's happening in the area. Advanced algorithms help the boat plan its route and determine its course of action and speed.

Klunder said that manpower can sometimes be an issue as to why more patrol boats aren't escorting larger ships, and that potential enemies may try to outnumber those boats. He said such technology could put more protective boats in the water, freeing up sailors for key roles aboard ship.

"We've really put our sailors back where they need to be anyway, which is back manning our combat systems, manning our weapons systems, steering our ships," Klunder said.

Klunder said the technology should be rolled out to fleet commanders within a year. He said the parts for the small, transportable kit cost about $2,000 and can be applied to existing patrol boats present at Navy installations and aboard many large warships.

The Navy said some of the components were adapted for from technology originally developed by NASA for the Mars Rover spaceflight programs. What made the August demonstration so important is that it showed that numerous boats could coordinate with each other, Klunder noted.

He said it's the first time the technology has ever been employed with more than one or two boats. And he spoke of possibly wider applications in the future outside military use.

"This is something that you might find not only just on our naval vessels, we could certainly see this utilized to protect merchant vessels, to protect ports and harbors, used also to protect offshore oil rigs," Klunder said.

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Brock Vergakis can be reached at www.twitter.com/BrockVergakis

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

Robots to learn from nurses

On the labor and delivery floor of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about 20 so-called ninja nurses use their sixth sense to efficiently assign staff and resources to patients to make sure everyone gets the care and attention they need.

Now, a doctor and an Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor are teaming up to use their medical and robotics expertise to improve how machines work with humans, and make hospitals a bit better in the process.

"What we're aiming to do is learn from people who are outstanding at these resource allocation jobs and potentially teach a machine," said Julie Shah, the professor who leads the Interactive Robotics group at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.

Shah and her husband Neel Shah, an obstetrician at Beth Israel, will spend the next two years learning from these "ninja" nurses — officially called resource nurses — to try to understand how they make certain choices to improve decision making in the hospital and in machines.

The Shahs will develop a simulation test for the resource nurses, with the goal of translating instinctive decisions into specific explanations for certain actions. The project is funded by the Harvard Risk Management Foundation.

"If we can learn what these rules are that the best people are using, we'll be able to train people better," Neel Shah said.

The Shahs said they hope to have a training tool that can help other nurses make better decisions within two years, but eventually hospital floors could have intelligent machines to help hospital staff make decisions.

"Any tools we can give clinicians on the front line and control as best we can are really helpful and (can) make care safer," said Carol Keohane of CRICO, which awarded the grant. "It will help to hone in, and help people identify what resources are needed and take care of this population as well as possible."

There is no intent to take jobs away from hospital staff, Julie Shah said. Instead, the research will be used to help nurses make decisions and train new nurses to have the same "ninja" prowess.

"This is an area where long term it's not practical to have machines doing the work," Julie Shah said. "We still need people doing it, the question is how do we support people doing it."

For Julie Shah, the research will also help with what she calls "re-planning," making decisions and adapting to new scenarios without explicit instructions.

Her research focuses on the decisions that machines — largely robots — make autonomously, without having to be explicitly told to complete a task or alter a plan as well as how machines work with humans.

But, if machines have a better understanding of the decisions that humans make, the machines could re-plan and adapt to changing scenarios better.

22.26 | 0 komentar | Read More

California drought worries pool industry

SANTA ANA, Calif. — The drought in California has made waves in the state's swimming pool industry.

More than three dozen water districts have placed some kind of restrictions on swimming pool water and the industry worries that future restrictions could mean changes in their business.

The industry took a huge hit during the recession and is just recovering.

Now, some water districts are placing strict new guidelines on using drinking water to fill or refill pools and ordering conservation techniques for existing pools.

Those in the business are looking at everything from using huge plastic bladders to reuse pool water to new technologies to prevent evaporation.

Industry lobbyists are also fighting back with research that says by the third year after installation, a pool uses less water than a traditional lawn.

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