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Penn breaks ground on Plainridge slots parlor

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 15 Maret 2014 | 18.38

Penn National Gaming broke ground on its $225 million slots parlor at the Plainridge harness racetrack in Plainville, which is expected to open in "a little over a year," company officials said.

Plainridge Park Casino will be an integrated gaming and racing operation, and the 106,000-square feet facility will have several bars and restaurants along with more than 1,200 slot machines.

"We are elated to begin construction on our 27th property and look forward to opening Plainridge Park Casino," said Jay Snowden, Penn National's chief operating officer.

Penn National was awarded the state's only slots parlor license last month by the state Gaming Commission.


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Cape Wind blows both ways

Cape Wind and its opponents are both claiming victory after a U.S. District Court judge yesterday upheld the Interior Department's approval of the proposed $2.6 billion offshore wind farm but said two federal agencies violated the Endangered Species Act in their reviews of the project.

Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled against four lawsuits challenging the Interior Department's granting of the nation's first offshore wind lease to Cape Wind after a permitting process that spanned a decade.

"These are incredibly important legal victories for Cape Wind," Jim Gordon, the company's president, said in a statement. "It clears the way for completing the financing of a project that will diversify New England's electricity portfolio."

In his 88-page opinion, Walton rejected a lengthy list of legal claims project opponents had raised, including arguments over sea turtles, Native-American artifacts, navigational safety and the adequacy of the project's environmental impact statement.

In what the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound called a "landmark win for the environment," however, the judge ruled that both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service violated the Endangered Species Act in their reviews of Cape Wind, and he ordered them to revisit its impacts on migrating birds and endangered right whales in Nantucket Sound.

Specifically, Walton remanded the case to the wildlife service to independently evaluate a shutdown of turbines during migratory bird season to reduce bird mortality, and instructed the marine fisheries service to assess whether and how many right whales might be harmed by the wind farm's construction and operation.

"This is good news for environmentalists and for all of us who want to see the fragile and unique environment of Cape Cod protected," said Audra Parker, president and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. "The court has validated that federal agencies have taken unacceptable shortcuts in their review of Cape Wind."

The NMFS did not return calls yesterday. An FWS spokesman declined to comment, saying the agency needed time to review the court's decision.


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‘Dynamic’ $hift for Green Monster

Prices for seats and standing-room tickets for Fenway Park's Green Monster will be based on what the market will bear this season.

The Red Sox have adopted so-called "dynamic" pricing for the tickets, which means prices — much like those for airline tickets — will increase or decrease in real time based on demand and market conditions including the date of a game, the opponent and the weather.

The pricing model — a form of which is used by about 80 percent of Major League Baseball teams — is the latest Red Sox move to better align tickets with their market value, according to Red Sox chief operating officer Sam Kennedy.

"There's a lot of research ... that (shows) fans in other markets respond very well to it," he said.

Tickets for the 269 Green Monster seats were $165 last season, and the 150 standing-room tickets were $35. On Tuesday, when the tickets go on sale, initial prices could range from $30 for standing-room to as much as $300 for an Opening

Day seat, the team said.

It has no current plans to expand dynamic pricing to other parts of the ballpark next year, according to Kennedy. "We'll see how it goes and evaluate that middle to end of season or even next off-season," he said. "This is a big shift for us in 2014 for our ticket pricing in general."

The Sox moved to "variable" pricing for the rest of its regular-season tickets this season. Prices were organized into five tiers based on expected demand for each game, but were set in advance of the season. That led to a reduction in average prices for 32 games, according to the team.

The San Francisco Giants was the first MLB team to use dynamic pricing when it started testing it in 2009, according to MLB spokesman Matthew Gould. "Variable (pricing), in some capacity, dates back to at least 2002," he said. "Every MLB club currently does some form of price-shifting."


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Obama touts overhaul of rules on who gets overtime

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says it's not right that businesses that treat their employers fairly can be undercut by competitors who don't.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama is promoting his plan to update rules about which workers are eligible for overtime pay. Obama says he wants to restore the principle that if you have to work more, you should earn more.

Businesses can avoid paying overtime for some workers who earn above a certain threshold. Obama says under the current rules, some salaried workers are actually paid less than the minimum wage.

In the Republican address, Rep. Bill Johnson of Ohio says seniors deserve better than what Obama's health care is delivering. He says if Obama won't help Republicans repeal the law, Obama should at least protect seniors.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.speaker.gov


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Endangered: Boston condos under $500G

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 13 Maret 2014 | 18.38

The number of Boston condominiums for sale for under $500,000 has plummeted by 84 percent over the past four years, leaving many people priced out of the market, statistics show.

There were 424 active condo listings in the city as of March 10, and only 178 — 42 percent — were priced at less than $500,000, according to the Greater Boston Association of Realtors. In 2010, 1,145 of the 1,836 condo listings — or 62.4 percent — were in that price range.

"These are really dramatic drops," said David Bates, a broker at Gibson Sotheby's International Realty and author of the blog The Bates Real Estate Report. "People are getting priced out."

A general rule of thumb for prospective buyers is that their monthly mortgage payment shouldn't exceed one-third of their monthly gross income. So in Boston, where the Census Bureau says the median household income was $53,136 in 2012, $500,000 is the most many people can afford to pay for the convenience of living in the city.

The reason the number of condos beneath that price point has dwindled so dramatically is because the demand for them has increased at a much faster rate than new inventory has come on the market, said Michael DiMella of Charlesgate Realty Group.

Adam Stearns, a 30-year-old sales manager, has been looking for a two-bedroom condominium around $350,000 but has seen only six to eight properties in the past six months, even though he has been preapproved and has been looking in places as varied as East Boston, Dorchester and Mission Hill.

"Your money doesn't go that far in the Boston real estate market," Stearns said. "I think sellers are taking advantage of the fact that it's a seller's market and asking for far too much."


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Shops focus on race, recovery

Nearly a year after the first bomb exploded in front of Marathon Sports during the 117th Boston Marathon, the Boylston Street store has recovered financially, but emotionally the scars linger.

"That's going to be there for a while," owner Colin Peddie said. "That's something that we're going to have to keep an eye on, especially as we get closer (to next month's race). We're having a big meeting well before the marathon just to make sure everybody's on the same page and if there are any concerns or questions. Other than that, it's a time of reflection."

The retailer's insurer fully covered the loss of business and damage sustained from the blast. And business has been good since.

"For better or worse, (the store) is a destination because we're so close to the marathon finish line," Peddie said. "There's a lot of tourist traffic."

Marathon Sports will be open during this year's race, providing customers with clear shopping bags because of security restrictions. "We want to support what's going on out there," Peddie said. "It's going to be a great day."

Vlora, meanwhile, saw lots of customer support when it reopened after the bombings, but the Boylston Street restaurant lacked the proper insurance to cover its 11-day shutdown and spoiled food. And then a tough winter kept many customers away.

"We ended up closing on snowy days," co-owner Aldo Velaj said. "So I'm really looking forward to the marathon."

Boylston Street candy store Sugar Heaven will be selling "Boston Strong" lollipops and T-shirts during this year's race. Its business is back to normal after an $80,000-$90,000 marathon-related loss that wasn't covered by insurance.

"We're very positive," owner David Sapers said. "We hope people come and … that this catastrophe hasn't shaken (them) to the point where they can't enjoy the marathon."


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Twitter feathers nest in Cambridge

Twitter plans to aggressively hire local brainiacs for its new Kendall Square headquarters for Twitter TV and Crashlytics — two ventures the San Francisco social media colossus sees as the keys to its future.

"This is absolutely critical stuff that's very important to the future of Twitter," Alex Roetter, vice president of engineering, told the Herald at Twitter's new Cambridge office yesterday. "The two projects that we started with here are just centrally important projects to the company."

Built around two Cambridge-based acquisitions the social media giant made last year, Bluefin Labs and Crashlytics, Twitter's local office is working on connecting advertisers with users watching live television and tracking bugs and crashes in mobile apps.

Twitter's television efforts, including targeted advertisements through its Twitter Amplify program — being developed in Cambridge — will be crucial for Twitter's future revenue and user experience.

"I can get you messages that not only are really valuable and interesting to you but also valuable to marketers," Roetter said. "It's a really big part of our strategy going forward."

Twitter this week hired Baljeet Singh, a veteran of YouTube and Google, to head the television and video products, seen as a key path to profitability. Singh developed YouTube's pre-video ads, among other projects.

The other project based in Cambridge, Crashlytics, still sells its bug and crash tracking system for apps to other developers. Roetter and senior vice president of engineering Chris Fry see Crashlytics as a significant part of Twitter's "mobile first" strategy.

"We care that the world's mobile developers have the best tools to build the best experience for end users," Roetter said.

The company also plans to increase the head count in Cambridge, currently at more than 100 employees spread over two floors. While the company won't say how many people it plans to hire, the new office has rows of empty desks ready to be filled. Twitter's job listings show 16 openings in Boston.

"We've already been hiring a bunch of new people, and we plan to keep doing that," Roetter said. "We're aggressively investing in not just the projects that they were doing as independent companies but new projects on top of them."

Tim Rowe, founder and CEO of the Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square, said the arrival of Twitter and other tech giants brings jobs, money and talent to the area's startup culture.

"It's not just that it's cool," Rowe said. "It helps ensure every­one's future."

Fry said the products being developed in Cambridge will shape what Twitter becomes.

"You can come work in Boston and make fundamental changes to what Twitter is," he said. "We decided to go big in Boston."


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The Ticker

Flood bill passes Mass. House

The state House of Representatives has unanimously approved a bill aimed at softening the impact of new federal flood insurance rules on many coastal homeowners.

The measure would tie the level of flood insurance that must be purchased to a homeowner's outstanding mortgage balance, rather than the full replacement value of the home. The bill now goes to the Senate.

FTC probing 
Herbalife

The Federal Trade Commission opened a formal investigation into Herbalife's operations yesterday, pushing shares of the nutrition and weight loss company sharply lower.

Shares of Herbalife plunged as much as 
15 percent after being temporarily halted but gradually recovered from lows, ending the day down 7.3 percent. Shares were up more than
4 percent prior to the halt. A circuit breaker also briefly halted trading in shares of rival Nu Skin due to volatility.

Today

 Labor Department releases jobless claims.

 Commerce Department releases retail sales data for February.

 Commerce Department releases business inventories for January.

TOMORROW

 Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for February.

THE SHUFFLE

Hortensia Roig, general secretary of the Escuela de Empresarios in Valencia, Spain, has joined Berklee College of Music's presidential advisory council. With this appointment, Roig becomes the first Spanish woman to serve on the council.


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Japan lab weighing retraction of stem cell paper

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 12 Maret 2014 | 18.39

TOKYO — A Japanese government-funded laboratory said Tuesday it is considering retracting a research paper describing a simple way of turning ordinary cells from mice into stem cells.

The RIKEN Center for Development Biology in Kobe, Japan, has been looking into questions raised over images and wording in the paper, co-authored by lab scientist Haruko Obokata.

RIKEN said Tuesday that it may retract the paper because of credibility and ethics issues, even though an investigation is continuing.

The paper was published in the scientific journal Nature in late January. It was praised as a possible groundbreaking method for growing tissue for treating illnesses such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease using a simple lab treatment.

RIKEN and Nature are investigating allegations including anomalous lines in an image of DNA fragments and a partial plagiarism.

Another author, University of Yamanashi professor Teruhiko Wakayama, said Monday that he believed his part of the research — stem cell production by using the cells provided by Obokata — was appropriate but wanted a third party to run detailed analysis on the stem cells produced. He said he'd rather drop the paper and resubmit it after addressing all questions.

The two scientists were part of a group of researchers, in Boston and Japan, who exposed cells from spleens of newborn mice to a more acidic environment that they're used to. That turned them into stem cells, they said. Cells from other tissue of newborn mice appeared to go through the same change, which could be triggered by exposing cells to any of a variety of stressful situations.

Scientists hope to harness stem cells to replace defective tissue in a wide variety of diseases. By making stem cells from the patient, they can get around the problem of transplant rejection.


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CBS chief Les Moonves: We’ll move online if Aereo wins in high court

The head of CBS ratcheted up the rhetoric yesterday, threatening to move the network off the airwaves and onto the Internet if Aereo's television streaming service prevails before the U.S. 
Supreme Court, but experts say it's likely just talk.

Broadcasters say Aereo, a New York City-based start-up with most of its staff in Boston, is violating copyright law by charging users to view over-the-air channels through the Internet. The case goes to the high court April 22.

CBS Chief Executive Les Moonves said at an investor conference yesterday that the network could offer its content over the Internet if Aereo's model is ruled legal.

"If Aereo should work, if they should win, which we don't think will happen, we can go OTT with CBS," Moonves said, referring to "over the top" Internet television. "If people want to steal our signal, if the government wants to give them permission to steal our signal, then we will come up with some other way to get them our content and still get paid for it."

Such a move would likely signal the end of local CBS programming, said John 
Barrett, a director of consumer analytics at Parks Associates.

"Depending on the way that this goes legally, there could be so much turned upside down," said Barrett.

An Aereo spokeswoman declined to comment.

Still, Barrett and others do not see that happening.

"Do you really want to make it harder for people to watch your content?" Barrett asked.

Michael Carrier, a law professor at Rutgers University, said Moonves and CBS are lobbying ahead of the Supreme Court hearing.

"My guess is that this is just a threat, that there are too many people that would be affected by this," he said.


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Alibaba buying media company ChinaVision for $804M

BEIJING — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is expanding into media by acquiring control of a Hong Kong film and television company, ChinaVision, for $804 million.

Alibaba Group will buy new shares giving it a 60 percent stake in the TV company, ChinaVision Media Group Ltd. said Wednesday in a statement. Alibaba is allied with two ChinaVision board members whose stake is diluted to about 11 percent from 27 percent.

Alibaba and other Chinese Internet companies are spending heavily to expand beyond their core businesses into instant messaging, games and other areas to compete for China's 618 million Internet users.

ChinaVision produces Chinese-language films and television programs and has a unit that develops content for mobile phones.

Alibaba rival Tencent Holdings Ltd. owns 8 percent of ChinaVision, which will be reduced to 3 percent after additional shares are issued as part of the latest investment, according to the company statement issued through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Alibaba, based in the eastern city of Hangzhou, near Shanghai, makes most of its revenue from operating online commerce platforms for businesses and consumers. It has expanded into instant messaging, online finance services and other businesses.

___

Alibaba Group: www.alibaba.com

ChinaVision: www.chinavision.hk


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Agency sues American Airlines over tax incentives

CHICAGO — The agency that oversees public transportation in Chicago has filed a lawsuit claiming American Airlines is running a "sham" office in a small town to avoid paying taxes in the nation's third-largest city.

The Regional Transportation Authority filed its lawsuit late Tuesday afternoon. It claims American is actually doing the work of buying millions of dollars in jet fuel in Chicago, not in the small community of Sycamore.

The agency says the setup cost Chicago, Cook County and the RTA $23.6 million in lost sales taxes in 2013 alone and far more than that since the office opened in 2004.

Sycamore's city manager and American declined to comment. But when the RTA filed a similar lawsuit against United Airlines last year, American said it was following the law.


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Casinos’ projections trump panel’s

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 09 Maret 2014 | 18.39

The annual gaming revenue projected by the competing Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts casino proposals exceed a new state Gaming Commission study, which factors in competition from the slots parlor the commission green-lighted to open at the harness racetrack in Plainville.

The commission's study, released late last month by the firm HLT, projects the Boston-area casino will generate $749 million in gross gaming revenue with a slots parlor open in Plainville, with $606.9 million coming from Massachusetts and $142 million from neighboring states. The state will take 25 percent of that revenue in taxes.

Mohegan Sun projects $857 million in gross gaming revenues in its first year for a casino at Suffolk Downs in Revere, while Wynn projects $804 million for its Everett site.

Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby said the board will study the discrepancies.

"We'll be looking at their projections, looking at their assumptions and giving them a good scrub," Crosby said.

Clyde Barrow, a University of Massachusetts Dartmouth professor and gaming expert, said his independent studies have projected well north of $800 million, particularly for a Suffolk Downs casino, because it's in such a dense population area.

"They're high," Barrow said, "but I came out in the same space as they did."

Wynn says it's been conservative in its estimates, and supporters of the Everett casino say the Las Vegas company has the economic strength to deliver on promises.

"The hastily devised Mohegan Sun casino proposed in Revere at the last minute will not attract visitors from outside our region or even take away any business from Mohegan Sun's main operation in Connecticut," Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria said in a statement. "Wynn Resorts has a proven track record of attracting international customers to their facilities — that's the type of operator Massachusetts needs."

Gary Luderitz, Mohegan Sun's vice president of operations and development, stuck by the projections, saying the company is better positioned to tap customers in the region due to its existing database and that the commission's estimate that the average adult will leave $375 at the Boston-area casino per visit '"sounds a little low to me."

"We're starting from a very strong position in the Northeast," Luderitz said. "Our data analysis consultants used figures that had held up in other work that they've done. We feel pretty good about it."


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Austin tech firm had 20 employees on missing plane

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin, Texas, technology company says 20 of its employees were aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing over the South China Sea.

Jacey Zuniga, a spokeswoman for Freescale Semiconductor, says 12 Malaysian and 8 Chinese employees are "confirmed passengers." She says no American citizen Freescale employees were on the flight.

"At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families," Gregg Lowe, president and CEO of Freescale says in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event." The company, the statement reads, has assembled a team of counselors for those impacted by the tragedy.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 airplane, was last seen on radar at 1:30 a.m. (1730 GMT Friday) above the waters where the South China sea.

Freescale Semiconductor is a technology company focused on what it calls "embedded processing solutions." It works with clients in a variety of markets, including automotive and consumer electronics, to address technology issues using microprocessors and sensors.


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Buick is showing classic symptoms of vapor lock

Here is a problem that I have fought for almost two years. My 2001 Buick Regal will not start after a shutdown and heat soak. The car has 128,000 miles, never shuts down while driving, starts and runs perfectly in the morning. When it won't restart, you can crank it until the battery runs down, but the car won't start. After shutting the engine off it will start immediately — if you don't wait too long! Engine operating temperature is normal, it never overheats and has a new thermostat and ECT sensor. There are no intake manifold leaks, either vacuum or coolant. Fuel pressure is normal, but a new regulator was installed along with a new MAF sensor. In a no-start condition the spark will jump a gap of at least one inch at the coil.

In the summer I carry a jug of water in the trunk (in winter I use snow) and in a no-start condition I pour about a quart of water on the intake plenum. The car will start right away and will run perfectly until the next no-start condition.

I can't recall a better description of vapor lock. The proper term is fuel percolation, which describes residual engine heat boiling the ready fuel supply in the fuel rails near the plenum/intake manifold. When this occurs, fuel pressure fades due to the aerated fuel disrupting fuel delivery from the injectors. Even though fuel pressure may be "normal" when tested with the engine running, I suspect fuel pressure drops quickly after shutdown due to percolation.

Using water to cool the intake stops the percolation. The first few injector pulses bleed air from the rail and, as fuel pressure returns, the engine starts.

But how to eliminate the problem? Start with three simple steps. Idle the engine for 30 seconds before shutdown to allow coolant to carry residual combustion heat from the cylinder heads into the radiator. Pop the hood open to the safety catch position to allow hot air to escape from under the hood. And try different brands of fuel, looking for a fuel with a vapor pressure less prone to this issue.

In addition, make sure airflow through the A/C condenser and radiator is clear and unobstructed. If the cooling system hasn't been serviced recently a power flush may lower coolant and underhood temperatures measurably.

And to cover all the bases turn the ignition to the "on" position and listen for the fuel pump to run for two seconds and then stop, confirming that the fuel pump relay and fuel pump are operating properly. I'd also test for injector pulse widths from the PCM to confirm that the fuel injectors are being commanded to open/close on a hot restart.

I have a well-maintained 2003 Acura 3.2L TL-S model with 114,000 miles. My Goodyear dealer has continued to propose replacement of the timing belt and water pump. He said the belt should have been replaced at the seven-year mark or 100,000 miles. I can't seem to find any definitive recommendations from Acura or on the Internet about this repair. I want to maintain the car and continue to drive it for a number of years and would value your opinion on this repair.

Acura's service recommendation for this vehicle and engine, as outlined in my Alldata automotive database, calls for timing belt replacement at 105,000 miles/84 months under normal operating conditions. Under severe service conditions — operation at ambient temperatures under minus-20 degrees or above 110 — replacement is recommended every 60,000 miles.

With this engine, a timing belt failure could allow contact between pistons and valves, resulting in catastrophic engine failure, so a new timing belt makes perfect sense. Include pre-emptive replacement of the water pump.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.


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Device aids weight loss

Doctors at three Massachusetts hospitals are recruiting people battling Type 2 diabetes and obesity for a clinical trial of a medical device that has been approved in other countries to reduce blood sugar and body weight without the need for the kind of weight-loss surgery that more than 200,000 Americans undergo each year.

Made by Lexington-based GI Dynamics, the EndoBarrier is a thin, flexible, tube-shaped liner placed via the mouth during a brief endoscopic procedure and inserted in the duodenum, the first section of the small intestine, just beyond the stomach, said Dr. Lee M. Kaplan, the trial's lead investigator and director of the Obesity, Metabolism and Nutrition Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

"The food you eat goes down the middle of the tube," Kaplan said, "but the tube blocks interactions between the food and hormone secretions," which can affect insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism, satiety and food intake.

In commercial use outside the U.S., the device has been shown to achieve as much as a 30 percent reduction in glucose levels within the first week and a 10 percent to 20 percent body-weight loss within the 12-month period for which it has been approved for use in countries including England, France, Germany and Australia, said Stuart Randle, GI Dynamics' president and CEO.

"No one yet knows why, when you bypass the first section of the intestine, these hormones change so dramatically and so immediately," Randle said.

The U.S. trial, which currently is enrolling people at 22 sites, including MGH, Boston Medical Center and UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, will end in two years and, if it shows that the EndoBarrier is safe and effective, the Food and Drug Administration could approve the device in about a year.

If it does, the EndoBarrier could offer new hope to the 26 million people who have been diagnosed with diabetes in this country, including approximately 360,000 adults in Massachusetts, where the disease each week causes an average of 22 deaths, 38 lower-leg amputations, 13 new cases of end-stage renal disease and five new 
cases of blindness, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

"Obesity and diabetes are twin epidemics that remain out of control, and while we have good medical therapies for diabetes and some good therapies for obesity, they don't always work," Kaplan said. "For those patients who need additional therapy, this device may provide a valuable new option. But testing it is critical."


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