State issues restrictions for painkiller Zohydro

BOSTON — After a federal judge struck down Massachusetts' first-of-its-kind ban of the painkiller Zohydro, Gov. Deval Patrick is trying another approach: imposing more requirements on doctors who prescribe the powerful new drug.

The governor's office announced late Tuesday that the state's Board of Registration in Medicine has voted to require doctors to complete a risk assessment and "pain management treatment agreement" before prescribing drugs like Zohydro that are extended-release medications, contain only hydrocodone and are "not in abuse-deterrent form."

Patrick's public health commissioner also issued an emergency order requiring that prescribers use the state's online Prescription Monitoring Program, which tracks prescriptions of controlled substances, before prescribing drugs like Zohydro.

The governor, in a statement, said further state restrictions around opioids could be forthcoming. "We are in the midst of a public health emergency around opioid abuse, and we need to do everything in our power to prevent it from getting worse," Patrick said.

Earlier this month, Vermont issued similar requirements for prescribers of Zohydro but did not pursue an outright ban of the drug.

Patrick's announcement comes after a federal judge prevented the state from enforcing its ban on Zohydro, which the governor issued through an executive order in late March as the drug was going to market.

U.S. District Judge Rya Zobel said in her decision last week that federal law pre-empted the governor's order and that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration already had approved the drug's use for treatment of severe and chronic pain. The maker of the drug, San Diego-based Zogenix, had argued that Patrick's ban violated the U.S. Constitution.

The state's ban officially ended Tuesday. Patrick has said he won't appeal the judge's decision.

Zohydro contains up to five times the amount of narcotic hydrocodone previously available in pills. But some health authorities say the drug can be easily crushed and then inhaled or injected, making it susceptible to abuse.

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Delta navigates nasty winter, tops profit forecast

DALLAS — Delta Air Lines Inc. is making more money by filling more seats on its planes and paying a bit less for fuel.

Delta's first-quarter profit beat expectations and underscored how most big airlines are prospering with a combination of strong business travel, slightly higher fares and money from extra fees.

Even bad weather couldn't stop Delta from boosting profit, although it canceled more than 17,000 flights in January and February — double the number from a year ago — which trimmed $90 million off the company's revenue.

Ed Bastian, president of the Atlanta airline, said Delta expects revenue to remain strong through the year thanks to solid demand. He said that a key statistic of revenue per mile should grow in the mid-single digits during the April-through-June second quarter.

Delta said Wednesday that net income in the first quarter was $213 million, or 25 cents per share, up from $7 million, or a penny per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items such as fleet-restructuring costs and fuel-hedging, Delta earned 33 cents per share. Analysts, who usually exclude one-time costs and benefits like that, were expecting 29 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $8.92 billion, matching analysts' forecasts.

Passengers flew 4 percent more miles than in early 2013, which helped boost occupancy to 82.7 percent on the average flight, up from 81.2 percent a year ago. The average fare per mile rose 1 percent.

Including Delta Connection regional flights, the company spent $2.70 billion on fuel, its largest expense in the quarter. Still, that was a savings of $109 million, or 4 percent, as Delta paid $3.03 per gallon instead of last year's $3.24. The company expects total fuel costs of $2.97 to $3.02 per gallon in the second quarter.

The break on fuel spending more than offset an increase of $58 million, or 3 percent, in labor costs, the company's second-biggest expense at $1.97 billion.

As long as travel demand holds up, Delta should be able to cover those costs.

The company overcame severe winter weather and the shift of Easter travel into April.

"We see continued revenue strength as we move through the year from corporate revenue gains, the benefits of the Virgin Atlantic joint venture and improved ancillary revenues," Bastian said.

Ancillary revenues include fees for checking bags, changing reservations, getting an economy seat with more legroom, and other perks.

The financial strength of U.S. airlines has increased as mergers have reduced competition and made it easier for the carriers to control the supply of seats. Later this week, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines are expected to report that their first-quarter profits also rose sharply from last year. Among the largest four U.S. airline companies, only United Continental Holdings Inc. is expected to report a loss

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Supreme Court justices cautious about broadcasters’ bid to shut Aereo

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices sounded uncertain and conflicted Wednesday in trying to decide whether a TV streaming service that allows users to receive their favorite programs through tiny, rented antennas violates the broadcasters' copyrights.

The case of ABC v. Aereo has the potential to reshape the broadcast and cable industries if the Brooklyn-based upstart prevails in the high court. And that appeared possible after Tuesday's argument.

An attorney for the broadcasting industry urged the court to shut down Aereo. It allows "tens of thousands of paying strangers" to watch the programs they wish, but without paying any copyright fees to broadcasters. If Aereo prevails, some experts think the cable and satellite companies may decide to stream their own signals in the same way Aereo does and refuse to pay licensing fees to the broadcasters.

Before Wednesday's argument, most legal experts were convinced the justices would rule against Aereo's service as a violation of copyright laws. But that certainty faded during the hour-long argument. Several justices admitted they were struggling for the right answer.

The broadcast industry relies heavily on a provision in the copyright law that a television broadcast may not be aired "publicly" without the permission of the broadcaster. Cable and satellite companies pay fees to broadcast networks to transmit those signals to their subscribers, but Aereo does not.

The competing lawyers argued over whether a customer of Aereo's service is receiving a "public" performance of a copyright broadcast or instead is watching a private show at home.

The attorney for Aereo said its service was like the videocassette recorders that became popular in the 1980s, which allowed homeowners to make copies of programs to be viewed at home.

Aereo "could rent DVRs in Brooklyn, and it would be the same situation," said Washington attorney David Frederick. He added that Aereo's tiny antennas "pick up over-the-air signals that are free to the public."

But former Solicitor General Paul Clement, representing ABC and other broadcasters, said Aereo had devised "a gimmick" to make money by sending TV signals to thousands of paying customers. This large-scale streaming is clearly a "public performance," he said, not a private one at home.

Justice Department attorney Malcolm Stewart said the government agreed with the broadcasters that Aereo was violating copyright laws by transmitting broadcast signals without a license.

Twice during the argument, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Aereo had designed its system to "circumvent" the restrictions in the copyright law. But that did not necessarily mean it was illegal, he added.

The justices are expected to reach a decision by late June.

———

©2014 Tribune Co. Distributed by MCT Information Services

Visit Tribune Co. at www.latimes.com

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Microsoft expands ad-free Bing search for schools

LOS ANGELES — Microsoft is expanding a program that gives schools the ability to prevent ads from appearing in search results when they use its Bing search engine. The program, launched in a pilot program earlier this year, is now available to all U.S. schools, public or private, from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

The program is meant to create a safer online environment for children, but also promote use of Bing, which trails market leader Google.

Microsoft Corp. is also giving away a first-generation Surface tablet computer to schools where community members sign up to use the ad-supported version of Bing outside of the school.

The program is tailored so that 60 parents and friends who do 30 Bing searches a day can earn their school a Surface in a little over a month. There is no limit on the number of Surface devices a school can earn.

Microsoft has some unsold inventory of the first generation Surface in stock after booking a large write-down on the devices last year.

Matt Wallaert, a Microsoft employee who created the "Bing in the Classroom" program, said the company hopes that some of the program's goodwill leads to more Bing usage.

"We absolutely are an ad-supported business, but we think that schools are not the time and place for that," he said. "Obviously we hope that parents will hear that message and want to use Bing at home."

Google Inc. doesn't offer the same ad-free search experience for schools.

Microsoft also has created some 500 lesson plans that encourage the use of search to answer questions. The questions aren't the kind that can be answered by just typing them into the search field.

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Massachusetts homes sales down in March

BOSTON — Two organizations that follow the state's real estate market say a shortage of homes on the market is driving down sales while driving up prices.

The Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that the number of sales of single-family dropped almost 12 percent last month when compared to the same month a year ago, while the median price jumped more than 8 percent to more than $314,000.

The Warren Group, a publisher of business data, reported an 8 percent decrease in sales volume and a nearly 9 percent boost in the median price to $315,000, the 18th consecutive month of higher year-over-year prices.

The organizations use slightly different figures in their calculations.

Realtors President Peter Ruffini says rising home values provides an incentive for owners to put their homes on the market.

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Venerable Somerville Theatre celebrates its centennial with time-honored movies

You can't watch "Jurassic Park" on an iPad.

Oh, sure, technically you can. But if you reduce Steven Spielberg's terrible lizards down to something you can hold in your lap, you lose too much — nobody wants to see a jeep racing away from a T. rex the size of a butterfly.

Unless your plasma TV has a thousand-inch display, you need to see "Jurassic Park" on the big screen. Thankfully, you can see it tomorrow at the Somerville Theatre.

Curated by theater general manager Ian Judge and hosted by Judge and projectionist David Kornfeld, the movie house's centennial celebration is in full swing with loads of classics from the last century — still to come: screenings of "The Princess Bride," "The Last Waltz," "The Departed" and more.

"We wanted something that honored the anniversary and encapsulated it," Judge said. "We got some amazing movies, the best print of 'Sunset Boulevard' I've ever seen. I didn't really know what to expect with attendance. I knew it'd be good for 'Singing in the Rain' and 'Casablanca' but 90 percent of the films in the 100-day countdown to the May 11 anniversary have made us money."

One of the joys of the celebration is watching Judge and Kornfeld introduce the films. Witty and knowledgeable, the cinephiles put the films in context with history and humor. For Judge, who grew up coming to the theater and began in the business as an usher at the now-shuttered Harvard AMC, the series has put the glory of an old movie house in the spotlight.

"Other than the seats and the light bulbs, most of what you see in the theater is 100 years old," he said.

The final film in the program will be "The Wizard of Oz" on May 11 — the screening will also include three vaudeville acts, live music and classic short subjects. Judge loves a lot of the films in the series (he urges everybody to search out "A Thousand Clowns"). But he says nothing compares to "The Wizard of Oz."

"Going to see this movie in a theater like ours is such a magical experience," he said. "That magic is lost when you go to a multiplex. Sure, you can watch it on your phone or on DVD anytime. But that won't leave an imprint. I'm hoping there's some kid at our screening that grows up to take their kid to 'The Wizard of Oz' in 50 years."

For details and tickets to 
the Somerville Theatre's 
centennial programming, go to 
somervilletheatreonline.com.

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Coachella's young audience a marketers paradise

INDIO, Calif. — When it first started in 1999, Coachella was a couple of stages and a dance tent. Tickets were $65. A few dusty stands sold hot dogs and Cokes. It was the end of grunge and the start of a new millennium, and it was all about the music. All for one weekend.

Now, tickets start at $375. Gourmet menus and VIP packages abound. And dozens of companies have hopped on the Coachella bandwagon, turning the music festival — now two back-to-back weekends — into a marketing hotspot. Adidas, Details magazine, Harper's Bazaar and Lacoste are just some of the brands that host offsite festival events for stylish celebrity guests.

Rolling Stone executive editor Nathan Brackett said the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival has become a destination for fans and brands because organizers consistently deliver compelling lineups of diverse and unconventional musical acts. A reunited OutKast headlines this year's festival, and other acts include Arcade Fire, Lorde, Haim, Lana Del Rey and Muse.

"They made great, cool choices and now they're enjoying the fruits of that," he said.

The Coachella crowd may be there to listen to music under the hot desert sun, but the retailers are there for the celebs and the crowd, which is young, hip and with money to spend.

"Music is a marketing platform for many lifestyle brands," said marketing expert Tom Julian, a director of merchandising and retail consulting firm The Doneger Group. "The festival circuit becomes as important as an ad campaign or social-media campaign. ... It just gets back to: This is where the millennial is, and this is a way to connect."

The idea is to transfer Coachella's cool factor to the brand itself, and translate that into sales: Festival fashion becomes synonymous with spring style for young consumers, right at the start of vacation season. Coachella's casual, summery look provides a sweet spot for fashion brands, said Megan Reynolds, senior shopping editor for Harper's Bazaar, which held its second annual event at this year's festival.

"It's so important not only because it's the only (event) of its kind — fashion is usually so focused on being dressed up all the time," she said. "It's kicking off this whole season."

For women, the look is super-short denim cutoffs, ankle boots, bikini top and/or sheer, macrame blouse, and floral headband. For guys, it's board shorts and an Abercrombie-and-Fitch body.

Celebrities embrace the dress code. De-facto Coachella mascot Vanessa Hudgens rocked the uniform perfectly in a shot on Instagram on Coachella's opening weekend. Katy Perry paired jean shorts with a mesh crop top at Bazaar's off-site pool party. Selena Gomez threw a crochet white dress over her bikini-and-shorts combo. Julianne Hough and Sarah Hyland also followed the rules.

Kellan Lutz and Joe Jonas sported buff biceps in drapey tank tops. Steven Tyler wore a sheer shirt at the Lacoste party, where Emma Roberts paired an alligator-logo top with the requisite denim shorts.

Brands set up shop at the posh Palm Springs hotels nearby where the beautiful people stay, then offer parties, merchandise and festival access to celebrities in exchange for publicity and the attention of a coveted Twitter audience. Social media gives the festival a reach far beyond music fans and readers of celebrity magazines.

"People have Instagram accounts just for Coachella fashion," Reynolds said.

The brands have followed the stars, Reynolds said.

"It really started as a place (stars) just wanted to go. It was like a more digestible version of Burning Man: You could be at a festival that wasn't totally marketed and had underground appeal," she said. "Now it's not like that, but people still really like it. ... It's evolved into just a fun place to be. We like the audience there, and a lot of the fashion industry is coming on board. It's taken on its own ambiance for the weekend."

Other festival sponsors, including Heineken and Fruttare, host "houses" on the concert grounds where all 100,000 attendees are invited to cool off, hear tunes and sample products (Representatives for festival promoter Goldenvoice declined to be interviewed for this story).

H&M, a festival sponsor for the last five years, also held its second annual Coachella after-party last weekend, drawing such stars as Jared Leto, Robert Pattinson, Kate Bosworth and Fergie. Company spokeswoman Marybeth Schmitt described the festival as "the ideal venue" to launch new H&M lines — it announced its collaboration with designer Alexander Wang last weekend.

"It is extremely exciting for us to be able to reach a significant number of our target consumers," she said in a statement. "The music culture has always been a source of inspiration for our collections — music is the perfect complement to fashion."

___

Online:

http://www.coachella.com

___

Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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4 French journalists abducted in Syria freed, safe

PARIS — Ten months after their capture in Syria, four French journalists crossed the border into neighboring Turkey and reached freedom Saturday, though dozens more remain held in the country's chaotic civil war.

Edouard Elias, Didier Francois, Nicolas Henin and Pierre Torres — all said to be in good health — were freed over the weekend in unclear circumstances in what has become the world's most dangerous, and deadliest, conflict for journalists.

"We are very happy to be free ... and it's very nice to see the sky, to be able to walk, to be able to ... speak freely," said Francois, a noted war correspondent for Europe 1 radio, in footage recorded by the private Turkish news agency DHA. Smiling broadly, he thanked Turkish authorities for their help.

French President Francois Hollande's office said in a statement that he felt "immense relief" over the release despite the "very trying conditions" of their captivity.

Elias, a freelance photographer, also was working for Europe 1 radio. Henin and Torres are freelance journalists.

A DHA report said soldiers on patrol found the four blindfolded and handcuffed in Turkey's southeast Sanliurfa province late Friday. Turkish television aired images of the four at a police station and a local hospital.

It wasn't clear whether a ransom had been paid for their release, nor which group in Syria's chaotic 3-year-old conflict held the men. In his statement, Hollande thanked "all those" who contributed to the journalists' release without elaborating. Longstanding French practice is to name a specific country that contributed to hostage releases. France denies it pays ransom to free its hostages.

Several of the journalists' families told French television stations that they were recently told a "target window" was opening that could mean a return by Easter Sunday.

The four are expected to touch down in France on Sunday morning.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement that freedom for the hostages "was the result of long, difficult, precise, and necessarily discrete work."

Journalists around France rejoiced at the news of their colleagues' liberation.

"What's planned is that we will hold them in our arms," said an exuberant Europe 1 chief Fabien Namias on iTele TV news channel.

The four went missing in June 2013 in two incidents. Two were taken after being interrogated by extremist fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant in the eastern province of Raqqa, said a Syrian activist who said he accompanied the journalists as translator and guide.

Hussam al-Ahmad, 23, told The Associated Press that Henin and Torres aroused the fighters' suspicion after they entered a school and asked to take photographs of the fighters as they played football. Al-Ahmad said the fighters held them for about six hours.

During his interrogation, al-Ahmad said he was asked: "How do you let these infidels enter Syria after they killed our people in Mali?" France launched a military intervention in January 2013 in Mali that scattered Islamic extremists who had taken over the country's north.

"I said, 'These brothers are reporters. They have a humanitarian message,' and then he got angry because I referred to the Frenchmen as my brothers," al-Ahmad said.

Al-Ahmad said Henin and Torres were seized four days after the interrogation, likely by the Islamic State, an al-Qaida breakaway group.

Al-Ahmad, who fled to Turkey months ago after being threatened by jihadis, said he burst into tears when he heard of the journalists' release.

"It's a day of celebration for me," he said.

Syria is considered the world's most dangerous assignment for journalists. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said in April that 61 journalists were kidnapped in Syria in 2013, while more than 60 have been killed since the conflict began.

The widespread abductions of journalists is unprecedented, and has been largely unreported by news organizations in the hope that keeping the kidnappings out of public view may help to negotiate the captives' release. Jihadi groups are believed to be behind most recent kidnappings.

Christophe Deloire, director-general of Reporters Without Borders, told BFM TV the four French journalists were kept in the same place as recently freed Spanish journalists and others. He did not elaborate.

Meanwhile Saturday, the head of the mission charged with destroying Syria's chemical weapons said the government had removed or destroyed around 80 percent of the country's chemical weapons material. In a statement, Sigrid Kaag said at this rate, Syria could reach its deadline to eliminate its chemical weapons program within a United Nations-set deadline of June 30.

Syrian officials came under criticism for missing previous deadlines.

The civil war also bled into neighboring Lebanon. Security officials there said Saturday that soldiers detained six hard-line Syrian rebels in the northeast border town of Beit Lahia. The officials said the rebels planned to go to the nearby Syrian town of Beit Jinn, near the border with the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't allowed to speak to journalists.

___

Hadid reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and Jamey Keaten and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.

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Dart adapter flashes power

Laptops keep getting smaller and lighter, but chargers never seem to change — until now.

A California-based company founded by a group of MIT graduate students has invented what it calls the world's smallest laptop-charger.

Measuring 2.5 cubic inches and weighing just over 2 ounces, FINsix's Dart is barely bigger than a lipstick case — making it four times smaller and six times lighter than the average laptop adapter — but it charges just as quickly.

"Everyone who has a laptop knows the big brick they have to carry around," said CEO Vanessa Green, who co-founded the company as an MBA student at MIT's Sloan School of Management. "We looked at the market and said, 'Hey, we can do something different here.'"

FINsix launched the Dart in January to rave reviews for its practicality at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Last Monday, the company began a monthlong Kickstarter campaign and met its goal of $200,000 on the crowdfunding site within 12 hours. By 7 p.m. Friday, the Dart had 3,104 backers who had pledged $336,706, with 25 days still to go in the campaign.

The money will be used to complete the development and production of the 65-watt charger, which sells on Kickstarter for $79, but which FINsix expects to retail in stores for about $119.

In addition to its small size and light weight, the Dart is designed for use anywhere in the world, and its laptop plus USB port allows people to charge multiple gadgets from a single outlet.

The Dart works well with all major PC brands, as well as with MacBooks 65 watts and under. To make chargers for the latter, though, FINsix has to buy off-the-shelf Apple adapters to get the connectors. So the Dart for MacBook costs $79 more than a standard Dart.

The charger is not compatible with 15- and 17-inch MacBook Pros and the 15-inch MacBook Pro with retina display because they require more than 65 watts. It also is not compatible with the Microsoft Surface tablet and the Google Chromebook Pixel.

The good news for gadget buffs: The Dart is just the first of a full line of the smallest, lightest and highest-performing power electronics FINsix intends to make.

To accomplish that, the company has raised more than $6 million in venture capital and angel investments and assembled a team of 18 employees — five in Boston and the remainder in Menlo Park, Calif.

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Robot gives telecommuters a presence in the workplace

Technology is already allow­­ing people to tele­commute across vast distances, giving companies the luxury of finding the talent they want, even if that talented individual doesn't live in the same city, state or country. And the ability to work remotely is a perk more companies are using­ to retain workers.

But email, tele­conferencing and phone calls still prevent a remote worker from establishing a presence in the workplace. Spontaneous interactions are impossible — there's no brainstorming in the hallway, or popping into a colleague's office to bounce around an idea.

The answer? ROBOT ME!

A number of robotics companies have begun marketing "telepresence robots," upright devices that can roam hallways carrying a screen displaying a live video ­image of a telecommuter. The remote worker can see and hear via a camera and microphone on the robot.

I spoke with Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, the Mass­achusetts-based company that created, among many other things, the robotic Roomba vacuum cleaner that is currently striking fear into the hearts of your house pets.

"If you actually want people to have high-quality remote experiences, you need to solve this remote presence in a creative way," he said. "We're trying to create a true immersive remote presence — I'm trying to build you. So you can attend meetings not as the forgotten, dis­embodied black spider phone thing, or the strange floating head that's up there on a screen until we need to use Power­Point, but as the guy who shows up at the meeting, sits down and participates in a way completely analogous to you being there in person."

iRobot has created — and some companies have begun using — the Ava 500. It looks like a sleek, round-based pedestal with a rectangular high-definition screen mounted on its wide neck.

The screen slides up and down to simulate a standing or sitting position, keeping interactions on roughly the same eye-to-eye level with people. The remote user can pivot the screen 360 degrees and move the robot in any direction. (The robot has sensors so it doesn't run into people or walls.)

Angle said they intentionally steered clear of giving Ava 500 a human form.

"We had to create a stylized,­ attractive form for the robot that wasn't gender specific but had a gravitas and scale volume and fidelity that would make the remote user feel good about representing themselves," he said. "And the people on the other end would look at it in a friendly way where the robot wasn't distracting because of its failed attempt to look like a person."

Basically, if the robot looked too human it would be seriously creepy. So they stuck with a non-human design that makes Ava 500 substantial enough to give people the sense that there's a presence beyond just a face on a screen.

The robot memorizes the layout of an office building, allow­ing a remote user to simply press a point on a map to dispatch Ava 500 to a certain office or conference room. Once there, the worker "teleports" into the robot, appearing on the screen and en­gaging with whoever's around.

On a recent morning, the folks at iRobot allowed me to teleport into an Ava 500 at their facility. Within minutes, I was linked up with the Ava 500 using an app on my iPad and teleconferencing software on my desktop computer. I controlled the robot, the screen height and the camera direction via the iPad touch screen, zipping around with ease and making lots of ­cliche robot sounds.

It was amazing. I spoke with two iRobot employees and a photographer, followed them to different locations and checked out displays in the company's robot museum.

Before long, the inherent strangeness of the experience melted away and I under­stood why they call it an immersive experience. This was different than using Skype or making a conference call — I was able to react to facial cues, turn my attention to other people as they spoke and engage in a much more conversational manner.

"The difference in metaphor is that anything that you can do if you were in a meeting physically, we want to try to mimic and replicate using a robot," Angle said. "The feeling was that if we did a good enough job, meetings could take place identically to how they would take place if you were there in person."

The price for this technology is steep — one Ava 500 costs $69,500. But it can allow companies to bring people from far-off distances into a workplace without paying for flights or hotel rooms.

, and remote workers tend to reduce company costs by requiring less office space.

Devices like Ava 500 are going to become common in many workplaces. It's an inevitable step in sorting out how best to mix technology with our human need for some form of spontaneous interaction.

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