Marty Walsh wants 1,000 new mentors for school kids

Mayor Martin J. Walsh put out a call yesterday looking for 1,000 adults — from business executives to scientists to City Hall employees — to step up and volunteer as mentors to help guide Boston school kids.

"There is nothing better than helping somebody shape the future of their life by being a positive role model, a positive influence in their life so they can reach their dreams," Walsh said of his new initiative, the Mayor's Mentoring Movement.

Felix G. Arroyo, Walsh's chief of health and human services, said the administration, "in an attempt to put our money where our mouth is," is looking to recruit 10 percent of the volunteers from the city's own workforce.

"When you ask successful adults, and particularly so for men of color and women, when you ask them did you have a mentor in your life, those who were self defined as successful in their career choice to a T they all say 'Yes,'" Arroyo said.

The city is teaming up with Boston-based Mass Mentoring, a nonprofit that serves as a clearinghouse referring adult volunteers to agencies such as Catholic Charities, Big Brother, Big Sister and Hyde Square Task Force, that then match mentors with kids.

Marty Martinez, head of the organization, said there is a waiting list with as many as 3,000 youths on it looking for mentors.

Bob Gallery, Massachusetts president of Bank of America, whose employees donated 200,000 hours mentoring children last year, said corporations play a critical role in supporting such programs.

"As we all know, there is a strong correlation between what a young person achieves later in life ... and if they had a mentor earlier in their life. It helps ensure their future success," he said, adding that mentors help teach kids both "soft and hard skills."

To learn more about the Mayor's Mentoring Movement, visit: bostonmentors.org.

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Greece hopes lift global stock markets ahead of Fed minutes

LONDON — Confirmation that Greece will seek an extension of its loan agreement with its euro partners helped shore up stock markets across Europe on Wednesday. Later, traders will also comb through the minutes of the last Federal Reserve policy meeting to get a steer on when the central bank might start raising interest rates.

KEEPING SCORE: Across Europe, markets were trading higher after the Greek government indicated it would present its creditors with an official proposal aimed to save bailout talks from collapse. The main stock market in Athens was up 1.9 percent, while Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent to 10,942. The CAC-40 in France was 0.7 percent higher at 4,791 but the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.1 percent to 6,893 as it struggled to sustain a rare foray through the 6,900 level. Wall Street was poised for a flat opening with both Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures unchanged.

ATHENS IN FOCUS: The main focus in markets was Athens, where the government is set to ask its European creditors to extend a 240 billion-euro international loan agreement — but apparently without the austerity strings attached. Greece's bailout program expires after Feb. 28 and there are worries that a failure to extend it may force the country out of the euro, which could be potentially damaging to the global economy. Though Athens' new proposal, which is expected Thursday, isn't exactly what the eurozone has been asking for, as it won't be accompanied by an acceptance of austerity conditions, investors appear hopeful that it represents some sort of compromise that could eventually lead to a resolution.

ANALYST TAKE: "At the moment the markets are very much operating on fumes, as any potential loan request would still be a long way from providing an actual resolution," said Connor Campbell, a financial trader at Spreadex. Campbell cautioned that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is "unlikely to accept this watered-down" proposal.

FED MINUTES LOOMING: Later Wednesday, the Federal Reserve's minutes from its January policy meeting are due. Investors will want to see if the current view in markets that interest rates will start rising in mid-summer still holds, given falling inflation rates and the rise in the dollar's value. The U.S. currency's strength can weigh on growth by making exports less competitive and weighing on inflation by making imports less expensive. In the run-up to the meeting, the dollar was solid, with the euro 0.3 percent lower at $1.1374.

THE KEY QUESTION: "Is there a concern that the deflationary wave sweeping across the globe could start to cause the Fed to miss its inflation target and delay the expected rate hike which most think is coming this summer?" asked Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 1.2 percent to close at 18,199.17, the highest level in seven and a half years, even though the Bank of Japan did not announce any further action to stimulate the economy following its policy meeting that ended Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.2 percent to close at midday at 24,832.08 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1 percent to 5,915.70. Markets in mainland China are shut for the Lunar New Year holiday and exchanges in South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were also closed. Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore were only open for morning trading, before closing Thursday and Friday.

ENERGY: Oil prices remained volatile with the recent strength seemingly running out of steam. Benchmark U.S. crude, which had been on the rise last week, was down a dollar at $52.50 a barrel. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, fell $1.30 to $61.23 a barrel.

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Boston researchers help 
ID key in cancer DNA

Local scientists have unlocked new information about cancer cells that could give late-stage patients hope for better, targeted treatment options down the road, according to a study published today.

"If you're dealing with a tumor, and you're running out of time, you'd better know the best therapy to use to treat it," said Shamil Sunyaev, genetic researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of the lead authors of the paper, published today in Nature.

"Now we have a glimpse into how and where the mutations happen, and this knowledge has potential to help treat it in the future."

The study found that analyzing a cancer cell's DNA can determine with surprising accuracy where in a patient's body the disease originated. That can help treat those who are diagnosed when the cancer has already spread.

"Every cell in our body has the same DNA, but a cell in the eye is very different from a cell in the foot," Sunyaev said. "That information allows you to go back and see where the cancer originated from."

The researchers — made up of a team from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the University of Washington — found that cancer mutation is 
strongly linked with the way the DNA is packaged in each cell, according 
to another lead author, 
Dr. John Stamatoyanno-poulos, associate professor of genome sciences 
and medicine at the University of Washington.

"This is a new biological window on early events in cancer," he said. "It is possible sometimes to put patients with metastatic cancer into remission for some time and prolong life expectancy. You want to treat the patients — the problem is, cancer treatments are different depending on the kind."

The site of origin can be determined with a 90 percent accuracy, Stamatoyannopoulos said. He said he believes getting the cancer cells sequenced will 
become routine in determining treatment options.

He said the research, funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund, also could lead to specialized treatments.

"It can help gain insight into different cells that give rise to the same cancers," Stamatoyannopoulos said. "Different kinds of cells 
require different treatments."

The source of the disease in anywhere from 2 to 5 percent of cancer patients cannot be determined.

The late Mayor Thomas M. Menino was diagnosed shortly before he died last year with an advanced cancer of unknown origin.

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Orphan drugs for rare diseases soar

Treatments for rare diseases — key to the success of several Bay State companies — surged nationally last year, a trend that experts say will likely only continue.

Seventeen of the 41 novel new drugs the Food and Drug Administration approved in 2014 treat rare or "orphan" diseases that affect 200,000 or fewer Americans, offering new hope to patients who previously had few or no drugs available to treat their conditions.

"This really is a time of great interest in orphan drugs," said Mary Dunkle, vice president for educational initiatives at the National Organization for Rare Disorders. "There were a few companies who took a risk early on and made this a successful business model."

An orphan drug designation by the FDA means its developer qualifies for tax benefits and seven years of exclusivity, compared to five years for other drugs.

"Companies are understanding the great value of pushing into new areas where there has not yet been an attempt to develop a drug," said Irving Adler, a spokesman for Alexion Pharmaceuticals, a Connecticut-based firm with operations in Cambridge.

Alexion has one approved orphan drug Soliris, which treats two rare, life-threatening diseases.

Other local companies that have developed orphan drugs include Burlington-based Dyax Corp. and Cambridge-based Genzyme.

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US wholesale prices drop 0.8 percent in January

WASHINGTON — U.S. wholesale prices fell by a record amount in January, led by the biggest drop in gasoline prices in six years.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that its producer price index declined 0.8 percent last month, the biggest drop in a data series that goes back to November 2009 when the government changed the calculation methods for its wholesale price index.

Wholesale prices fell a revised 0.2 percent in December and were also down 0.2 percent in November. The string of declines reflects tumbling energy costs. For January, gas prices plunged 24 percent, the biggest drop since a 25.5 percent fall in December 2008.

The 0.8 percent drop in overall wholesale prices was bigger than the 0.5 percent decline that many economists had been expecting. Much of the decrease reflected a record drop in energy costs. However, food costs also showed a sizable drop.

Economists said they expected further declines in prices in coming months as falling energy prices work through the economy.

"Inflation pressures remain muted," said Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Excluding volatile food and energy costs, wholesale prices edged down 0.1 percent in January after a 0.3 percent rise for core prices in December.

Over the past 12 months, the government's producer price index, which measures inflation before it reaches the consumer, was unchanged while core wholesale prices are up 1.6 percent.

For all of 2014, wholesale prices rose a moderate 1.1 percent, slightly below the 1.2 percent increase seen in 2013.

Overall energy costs fell a record 10.3 percent in January with all types of energy products showing big declines.

Gas prices in January dropped as low as $2.03, according to the nationwide average surveyed by AAA. Prices have risen a bit since then and now are averaging $2.24 a gallon nationwide, still about $1.10 below where they were a year ago.

Food costs fell 1.1 percent in January, the biggest one-month decline since April 2013, with the price of eggs, pork and dairy products all falling.

Various inflation measures show prices rising below the 2 percent target set by the Federal Reserve. That has given the central bank the leeway to keep a key interest rate at a record low near zero for the past six years in an effort to boost economic growth and lower employment.

The Fed in January repeated the view that it could be "patient" in deciding when to raise interest rates, reinforcing the view that the Fed's first rate hike is not likely to occur before June. And in fact, some economists have pushed that target back to September or even later, reflecting the big drop in energy prices and a rising value for the U.S. dollar, which lowers inflation by making imported goods cheaper for American consumers.

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Top US labor official arrives as West Coast ports back up

LOS ANGELES — The nation's top labor official flew Monday to California in an attempt to resolve a damaging contract dispute between West Coast dockworkers and their employers.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez arrived in San Francisco, where months-long negotiations between the dockworkers union and a maritime association of companies have come to a halt.

So, too, has the movement of billions of dollars of cargo that is supposed to pass through 29 seaports from Southern California to Seattle. The ports are a critical trade link with Asia and the gateway not just for imports such as electronics, household goods and clothing but also U.S. exports including produce and meat.

Starting Saturday, companies locked out workers who would load or unload ships, saying they would not pay weekend or holiday wage premiums to crews they accuse of intentionally slowing work to gain bargaining leverage. As a result, cranes that would otherwise be moving containers onto dockside yards were raised up, stationary and eerily quiet on normally bustling waterfronts.

Dockworkers deny slowing down and say they want to work.

Full port operations are supposed to resume Tuesday, when Perez is scheduled to speak formally with both sides for the first time. He already has been in touch by phone with representatives of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association, which represents the shipping lines that carry cargo and the terminal operators that handle it once the ships dock.

For now, those massive vessels are forming ever-longer lines outside the ports, laden with imports that are now delayed by weeks. Off the coast of Los Angeles and Long Beach, for example, 33 "congestion vessels" were awaiting space at the docks, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California — a new high since this round of disruptions began.

Cargo congestion at the coast's largest ports predated the contract dispute, though the problems were nothing like those now seen. Congestion worsened in the fall, which is when the maritime association says dockworkers began slowing down. The union blames the slow movement of cargo on larger problems with the supply chain, including a shortage of truck beds to carry containers from dockside yards to distribution warehouses.

Contract negotiations began in May. The last contract expired in July. The two sides have reached tentative agreements on many of the key issues, but are stuck on whether to change the process of arbitrating workplace disputes.

Several other issues have been on the table, including pay. The maritime association says average wages exceed $50 an hour; the union says wages are set between $26 to $36 an hour — though many shifts carry a premium over that range.

___

Contact Justin Pritchard at http://twitter.com/lalanewsman

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After lobbying push, drugmaker resubmits women's sex pill

WASHINGTON — The makers of a twice-rejected pill designed to boost female libido are resubmitting their drug to federal health regulators, following a recent lobbying blitz by politicians, women's groups and consumer advocates aimed at pushing it onto the market.

Sprout Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday it is refiling its application for the drug, flibanserin, adding new information requested by the Food and Drug Administration about how the pill affects driving ability. FDA scientists requested that data after their most recent rejection of the drug, in part, due to results showing nearly 10 percent of women in company trials reported sleepiness as a side effect. The company studied women's driving ability the morning after taking flibanserin compared with women taking placebo and a common sleeping pill.

If approved, Sprout's daily pill would be the first drug for women who report a lack of sexual desire, a market that drugmakers have been trying to break into since the blockbuster success of Viagra for men in the late 1990s. But the drug has already faced a long, winding review at the FDA because of lackluster effectiveness and side effects including fatigue, dizziness and nausea.

In an effort to break the regulatory logjam, groups sponsored by Sprout and other drugmakers have begun publicizing the lack of a "female Viagra" as a women's rights issue.

"Women deserve equal treatment when it comes to sex," states an online petition to the FDA organized by one such group, Even the Score, which garnered almost 25,000 supporters. The group's corporate backers include Sprout Pharmaceuticals, Palatin Technologies and Trimel Pharmaceuticals — all companies developing drugs to treat female sexual disorders. A spokeswoman for Blue Engine Media, the public relations group for Even the Score, declined to disclose how much of the group's funding comes from companies. The group's nonprofit supporters include the Women's Health Foundation, the Institute for Sexual Medicine and other organizations.

The FDA first rejected flibanserin in 2010 after a panel of expert advisers unanimously voted against the drug, saying its benefits did not outweigh its risks. The drug's initial developer, Boehringer Ingelheim, abandoned work on the drug in 2011 and sold it to Sprout, a startup headed by a husband-and-wife team from Raleigh, North Carolina.

Sprout resubmitted the drug with additional effectiveness and safety data, but the FDA again rejected the drug in October 2013. After Sprout filed a formal dispute over the decision, FDA regulators requested the driving study and other details on the drug's interactions with other medications.

As Sprout gathered that data, the company also enlisted support from influential allies in Washington and beyond. Last January four members of Congress, including Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, sent a letter to the FDA, urging a careful reassessment of the drug and lamenting the lack of drug options for low female libido.

"There are 24 approved medical treatments for male sexual dysfunction and not one single treatment yet approved for the most common form of female sexual dysfunction," states the letter, which was also signed by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-New York, and two other Democratic congresswomen.

The talking point about the imbalance of drugs for men versus women was picked up by a coalition of seven women's and consumer health groups who met with the FDA early last year.

"We see this not only as an important unmet women's health issue, but an inflection point for the agency to ensure that similar standards are applied for drug approvals in conditions uniquely affecting women," states a follow-up letter to the agency from leaders of the National Organization for Women, the National Consumers League and four other groups.

Then last October the FDA held a two-day meeting at its headquarters to get public input on the problem of female sexual dysfunction and the challenge of developing treatments.

If approved, flibanserin would be labeled for premenopausal women with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, described as a lack of sexual appetite that causes emotional distress. Because so many factors affect female sexual appetite, there are a number of other possible causes doctors must rule out before diagnosing the condition, including relationship problems, hormone disorders, depression and mood issues caused by other drugs like sleeping aids and pain medications.

Sprout and other drugmakers frequently cite a 1999 survey in the Journal of the American Medical Association that found 43 percent of U.S. women had some type of sexual dysfunction.

While earlier female libido drugs worked on hormone levels, flibanserin is the first attempt to increase sexual desire by acting on brain chemicals linked to appetite and mood.

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Boston cathedral to lease parking lot to developer

BOSTON — The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is looking to boost its income by signing a 99-year lease with a developer on a parking lot owned by the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End.

The developer is transforming the parcel into a 160-unit apartment building with retail space.

Both parties say the lease will produce steady income for the cathedral, though it is unclear how much because the details are confidential.

The cathedral will also essentially keep its parking lot because 70 spaces in the new building's underground garage will be assigned to the church.

Deborah Dillon, director of property services for the archdiocese, tells The Boston Globe the deal could serve as a model for the church, whose parishes tend to be property rich but cash poor.

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American lobster: the new Chinese New Year delicacy

PORTLAND, Maine — Now on the menu in Beijing for Chinese New Year: lots and lots of American lobster.

Exports of U.S. lobster to China have rocketed in the past few years, largely to satisfy the appetites of the communist country's growing middle class, to whom a steamed, whole crustacean — flown in live from the United States — is not just a festive delicacy and a good-luck symbol but also a mark of prosperity.

And that's good news for Maine, far and away the nation's No. 1 lobster state, where the boom has put more money in the pockets of lobstermen and kept shippers and processors busy during the usually slack midwinter months.

For Stephanie Nadeau, owner of The Lobster Co., a wholesaler in Arundel, Maine, the demand has meant 14-hour nights spent stuffing wriggling lobsters into crates so they can reach China in time for the Lunar New Year, which falls on Thursday this year. She said she sends 100,000 pounds a week to China this time of year.

"There's lot of orders, lots of demand right now — it is a race to get them there for Chinese New Year," Nadeau said.

On the other side of the world, every morning at 9, the Auspicious Garden restaurant in Beijing receives 800 lobsters that have just crossed the Pacific aboard a cargo plane. In the evening, hundreds of diners fill the two-story restaurant in the gigantic Pangu Seven Stars Hotel for a nearly $80 all-you-can-eat buffet with the New England specialty as the main attraction.

Xu Daqiang, a 35-year-old businessman who was at the restaurant for the first time on a romantic date with his girlfriend, said food-safety concerns in China make him choose expensive high-class restaurants where he can find imported seafood.

Cao Lijun, a 24-year-old Shanghai resident celebrating her friend's birthday in a party of four, alluded to lobster's reputed aphrodisiac properties when she said with a half-laugh: "How to say it? It makes my husband healthier. Really, this is what we say, because it is high in proteins."

Lobsters and other foods seen as luxuries are popular at Lunar New Year and other festive occasions. The bright red of a cooked lobster is considered lucky, as is its resemblance to a dragon.

China also imports lobsters from Canada, Australia, South Africa, the Caribbean and elsewhere, but the market for the U.S. variety is exploding, with the demand strong year-round, not just at New Year's.

American exports of live or processed lobster to China climbed from $2.1 million in 2009 to $90.5 million in 2014, federal statistics show. China took about 12 percent of U.S. lobster exports in 2014, up from 0.6 percent in 2009.

American lobsters often appear on menus in China as "Boston lobster" and sell for $50 to $100 each in restaurants — expensive, but more affordable than the Australian rock lobster, which can cost hundreds of dollars and doesn't have the big meaty claws of the American variety.

For the Chinese, the preferred way of enjoying lobster is to cook it in plain water and then dip the pieces in soy sauce and wasabi. Another popular way is to braise it with green bean vermicelli noodles in garlic sauce, said Lv Hui, the cook in charge of the daily buffet at the Auspicious Garden.

Wang Kang, a marketing manager at Zhangzidao Group, a seafood distributor and processor in Shanghai, attributed lobster's popularity in China to rising incomes.

"That naturally means that people are buying more foreign luxury goods," Wang said. "Chinese people are also more concerned with healthy living, as well as foreign goods still being a new thing to them."

New England lobstermen have been recording epic catches in recent years and are grateful for the business from the world's second-largest economy. Maine, which accounts for more than 80 percent of all U.S. lobster, hauled in more than 250 million pounds in 2012-13, the highest two-year total in the record books, which go back to the 1800s.

Chinese New Year is on the verge of becoming Maine's second-biggest lobster shipping week of the year, behind Christmas week, according to industry officials. As for the lobstermen, Gerry Cushman of Port Clyde said the year-round demand from China has helped drive prices up, and he is using the extra money to build a new boat.

But so far, Cushman said, the surge has not driven large numbers of Maine fishermen to go out in the middle of winter, a punishingly cold and wet time of year in the Atlantic when lobsters head out into deeper, more dangerous waters and most lobstermen pack it in.

Maine's small corps of winter lobstermen, Cushman said, consists of "stragglers who are stupid like me, or who have kids."

___

Associated Press writers Paul Traynor in Shanghai and Aritz Parra in Beijing contributed to this report.

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NY tourism website urges visitors to visit Florida instead

ITHACA, N.Y. — The tourism office of Ithaca, New York, is waving the white flag on winter and advising visitors to its website to check out the Florida Keys instead.

VisitIthaca.com's home page displays Sunshine State vacation photos and provides links to the website for tourism information about the Florida Keys and Key West.

The top of the Ithaca page reads: "That's it. We surrender. Winter, you win. Key West anyone?"

Referring to "this ridiculously stupid winter," the Ithaca website suggests visiting the Florida Keys this week and returning "when things thaw out."

Ithaca and the rest of upstate New York have been in the grips of a snowy and brutally cold winter. The most recent cold snap sent temperatures plunging as low as 28 degrees below zero in the Adirondacks early Tuesday.

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