‘Smart’ potty or dumb idea? Wacky gadgets at CES

LAS VEGAS (AP) — From the iPotty for toddlers to the 1,600-pound mechanical spider and the host of glitch-ridden “smart” TVs, the International CES show is a forum for gadget makers to take big — and bizarre — chances.

Many of the prototypes introduced at the annual gadget show over the years have failed in the marketplace. But the innovators who shop their wares here are fearless when it comes to pitching new gizmos, many of which are designed to solve problems you didn’t know you had.

A search for this year’s strangest (and perhaps least useful) electronic devices yielded an extra-loud pair of headphones from a metal band, an eye-sensing TV that didn’t work as intended and more. Take a look:

—MOTORHEADPHONES

Bass-heavy headphones that borrow the names of hip-hop luminaries like Dr. Dre have become extremely popular. Rock fans have been left out of the party — until now. British metal band Motorhead, famous for playing gut-punchingly loud, is endorsing a line of headphones that “go to eleven” and are hitting U.S. stores now.

Says lead singer and bassist Lemmy Kilmister, explaining his creative input: “I just said make them louder than everybody else’s. So that’s the only criteria, and that it should reflect every part of the sound, not just the bass.”

The Motorheadphone line consists of three over-the-ear headphones and six in-ear models. The initiative came from a Swedish music-industry veteran, and distribution and marketing is handled by a Swedish company, Krusell International AB.

WHO IT’S FOR: People who don’t care about their hearing. According to Kilmister, the headphones are ideal for Motorhead fans. “Their hearing is already damaged, they better buy these.”

PRICE: Prices range from $ 50 to $ 130.

—EYE-SENSING TV

A prototype of an eye-sensing TV from Haier didn’t quite meet viewers eye-to-eye. An on-screen cursor is supposed to appear where the viewer looks to help, say, select a show to watch. Blinking while controlling the cursor is supposed to result in a click. In our brief time with the TV, we observed may quirks and comic difficulties.

For one, the company’s demonstrator Hongzhao Guo said the system doesn’t work that well when viewers wear eyeglasses. (That kind of defeats the purpose of TV, no?) But it turns out, one bespectacled reporter was able to make it work. But the cursor appeared a couple inches below where the viewer was looking. This resulted in Guo snapping his fingers to attract the reporter’s eye to certain spots. The reporter dutifully looked, but the cursor was always a bit low. Looking down to see the cursor only resulted in it moving further down the TV screen.

WHO IT’S FOR: People too lazy to move their arms.

“It’s easy to do,” Guo said, taking the reporter’s place at the demonstration. He later said the device needs to be recalibrated for each person. It worked fine for him, but the TV is definitely not ready for prime-time.

—PARROT FLOWER POWER

A company named after a bird wants to make life easier for your plants. A plant sensor called Flower Power from Paris-based Parrot is designed to update your mobile device with a wealth of information about the health of your plant and the environment it lives in. Just stick the y-shaped sensor in your plant’s soil, download the accompanying app and — hopefully — watch your plant thrive.

“It basically is a Bluetooth smart low-energy sensor. It senses light, sunlight, temperature, moisture and soil as well as fertilizer in the soil. You can use it either indoors or outdoors,” said Peter George, vice president of sales and marketing for the Americas at Parrot. The device will be available sometime this year, the company said.

WHOT IT’S FOR: ‘Brown-thumbed’ folk and plants with a will to live.

PRICE: Unknown.

—HAPIFORK

If you don’t watch what you put in your mouth, this fork will — or at least try to. Called HAPIfork, it’s a fork with a fat handle containing electronics and a battery. A motion sensor knows when you are lifting the fork to your mouth. If you’re eating too fast, the fork will vibrate as a warning. The company behind it, HapiLabs, believes that using the fork 60 to 75 times during meals that last 20 to 30 minutes is ideal.

But the fork won’t know how healthy or how big each bite you take will be, so shoveling a plate of arugula will likely be judged as less healthy than slowly putting away a pile of bacon. No word on spoons, yet, or chopsticks.

WHO IT’S FOR? People who eat too fast. Those who want company for their “smart” refrigerator and other kitchen gadgets.

PRICE: HapiLabs is launching a fundraising campaign for the fork in March on the group-fundraising site Kickstarter.com. Participants need to pay $ 99 to get a fork, which is expected to ship around April or May.

— IPOTTY

Toilet training a toddler is no picnic, but iPotty from CTA Digital seeks to make it a little easier by letting parents attach an iPad to it. This way, junior can gape and paw at the iPad while taking care of business in the old-fashioned part of the plastic potty. IPotty will go on sale in March, first on Amazon.com.

There are potty training apps out there that’ll reward toddlers for accomplishing the deed. The company is also examining whether the potty’s attachment can be adapted for other types of tablets, beyond the iPad.

“It’s novel to a lot of people but we’ve gotten great feedback from parents who think it’d be great for training,” said CTA product specialist Camilo Gallardo.

WHO IT’S FOR: Parents at their wit’s end.

PRICE: $ 39.99

—MONDO SPIDER, TITANOBOA

A pair of giant hydraulic and lithium polymer battery controlled beasts from Canadian art organization eatART caught some eyes at the show. A rideable 8-legged creature, Mondo Spider weighs 1,600 pounds and can crawl forward at about 5 miles per hour on battery power for roughly an hour. The 1,200-pound Titanoboa slithers along the ground at an as yet unmeasured speed.

Computer maker Lenovo sponsored the group to show off the inventions at CES.

Hugh Patterson, an engineer who volunteers his time to making the gizmos, said they were made in part to learn more about energy use. One lesson from the snake is that “side winding,” in which the snake corkscrews its way along the ground, is one of the most efficient ways of moving along soft ground, like sand.

Titanoboa was made to match the size of a 50-foot long reptile whose fossilized remains were dated 50 million years ago, when the world was 5 to 6 degrees warmer. The creature was built “to provoke discussion about climate change,” Patterson said.

The original version of Mondo Spider, meanwhile, first appeared at the Burning Man arts gathering in Nevada in 2006.

WHO IT’S FOR: Your inner child, Burning Man participants, people with extra-large living rooms.

PRICE: The spider’s parts cost $ 26,000. The Titanoboa costs $ 70,000. Engineers provided their time for free and both took “thousands of hours” to build, Patterson said.

___

Ortutay contributed from New York. AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson and Luke Sheridan from AP Television contributed to this story from Las Vegas.

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Adele to make post-baby debut at Golden Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Adele is coming to the Golden Globes.

The executive producer of the show says the 24-year-old Grammy-winning pop star is set to make her first post-baby appearance at Sunday's ceremony, where she is nominated for original song for the James Bond theme "Skyfall."

Adele welcomed her first child, with boyfriend Simon Konecki, in October. The singer has kept a low profile since announcing her pregnancy in June after sweeping the Grammy Awards last February with six wins.

Her single, "Skyfall," will compete at the Golden Globes with Taylor Swift's song from "The Hunger Games," Jon Bon Jovi's number from "Stand Up Guys," Keith Urban's track from "Act of Valor," and "Suddenly" from "Les Miserables."

The Globes will be presented Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

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Pap Test May Prove Useful at Detecting More Types of Cancer, Study Suggests

The Pap test, which has prevented countless deaths from cervical cancer, may eventually help to detect cancers of the uterus and ovaries as well, a new study suggests.

For the first time, researchers have found genetic material from uterine or ovarian cancers in Pap smears, meaning that it may become possible to detect three diseases with just one routine test.

But the research is early, years away from being used in medical practice, and there are caveats. The women studied were already known to have cancer, and while the Pap test found 100 percent of the uterine cancers, it detected only 41 percent of the ovarian cancers. And the approach has not yet been tried in women who appear healthy, to determine whether it can find early signs of uterine or ovarian cancer.

On the other hand, even a 41 percent detection rate would be better than the status quo in ovarian cancer, particularly if the detection extends to early stages. The disease is usually advanced by the time it is found, and survival rates are poor. About 22,280 new cases were expected in the United States in 2012, and 15,500 deaths. Improved tests are urgently needed.

Uterine cancer has a better prognosis, but still kills around 8,000 women a year in the United States.

These innovative applications of the Pap test are part of a new era in which advances in genetics are being applied to the detection of a wide variety of cancers or precancerous conditions. Scientists are learning to find minute bits of mutant DNA in tissue samples or bodily fluids that may signal the presence of hidden or incipient cancers.

Ideally, the new techniques would find the abnormalities early enough to cure the disease or even prevent it entirely. But it is too soon to tell.

“Is this the harbinger of things to come? I would answer yes,” said Dr. Bert Vogelstein, director of the Ludwig Center for Cancer Genetics and Therapeutics at Johns Hopkins University, and a senior author of a report on the Pap test study published on Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. He said the genomes of more than 50 types of tumors had been sequenced, and researchers were trying to take advantage of the information.

Similar studies are under way or are being considered to look for mutant DNA in blood, stool, urine and sputum, both to detect cancer and also to monitor the response to treatment in people known to have the disease.

But researchers warn that such tests, used for screening, can be a double-edged sword if they give false positive results that send patients down a rabbit hole of invasive tests and needless treatments. Even a test that finds only real cancers may be unable to tell aggressive, dangerous ones apart from indolent ones that might never do any harm, leaving patients to decide whether to watch and wait or to go through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation with all the associated risks and side effects.

“Will they start recovering mutations that are not cancer-related?” asked Dr. Christopher P. Crum, a professor at Harvard Medical School who was not involved in the research.

But he also called the study a “great proof of principle,” and said, “Any whisper of hope to women who suffer from endometrial or ovarian cancer would be most welcome.”

DNA testing is already performed on samples from Pap tests, to look for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, which causes cervical cancer. Dr. Vogelstein and his team decided to try DNA testing for cancer. They theorized that cells or DNA shed from cancers of the ovaries and the uterine lining, or endometrium, might reach the cervix and turn up in Pap smears.

The team picked common mutations found in these cancers, and looked for them in tumor samples from 24 women with endometrial cancer and 22 with ovarian cancer. All the cancers had one or more of the common mutations.

Then, the researchers performed Pap tests on the same women, and looked for the same DNA mutations in the Pap specimens. They found the mutations in 100 percent of the women with endometrial cancer, but in only 9 of the 22 with ovarian cancer. The test identified two of the four ovarian cancers that had been diagnosed at an early stage.

Finally, the team developed a test that would look simultaneously for cancer-associated mutations in 12 different genes in Pap samples. Used in a control sample of 14 healthy women, the test found no mutations — meaning no false-positive results.

Dr. Luis A. Diaz, the other senior author of the report and an associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, called the research a step toward a screening test that at first blush appears very effective at detecting endometrial cancer, though obviously less so at finding ovarian cancer.

“Probably one of the most exciting features of this approach,” Dr. Diaz said, “is that we wanted a test that would seamlessly integrate with routine medical practice that could be utilized with the same test that women get every day all over the world, the Pap smear.”

But, he added: “We can’t say it’s ready for prime time. Like all good science, it needs to be validated.”

He and other members of the team said it might be possible to improve the detection rate for ovarian cancer by looking for more mutations and by changing the technique of performing Pap tests to increase the likelihood of capturing cells from the ovary. The change might involve timing the test to a certain point in a woman’s monthly cycle, using a longer brush to collect cells from deeper within the cervix or prescribing a drug that would raise the odds of cells being shed from the ovary.

The technique also needs to be tested in much larger groups of women, including healthy ones, to find out whether it works, particularly at finding cancers early enough to improve survival. And studies must also find out whether it generates false positive results, or identifies cancers that might not actually need to be treated.

Michael H. Melner, a program director in molecular genetics and biochemistry for the American Cancer Society, called the research “very promising,” in part because it is based on finding mutations.

“It tells you not just that cancer is there, but which mutation is there,” Dr. Melner said. “As we learn more and more about which mutations are associated with more or less severe forms of cancer, it’s more information, and possibly more diagnostic.”

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SEC enforcement chief is latest to leave agency

Robert Khuzami, who revamped the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division after the agency failed to stop Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, is stepping down. He's pictured above at a news conference in November. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images)

By Andrew Tangel

January 9, 2013, 5:21 p.m.

Robert Khuzami, who revamped the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division after the agency failed to stop Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, is stepping down.

Khuzami, a former federal prosecutor and general counsel for Deutsche Bank, becomes the latest senior SEC official to leave as President Obama's second term gets underway.

Mary Schapiro stepped down as chairman of the agency in mid-December. The SEC lost two other major figures last month: Robert Cook, who was head of the SEC's division of trading and markets; and Meredith Cross, who was director of the agency's division of corporation finance.

Quiz: How well do you remember 2012?

The void means Chairman Elisse Walter could significantly reshape the agency by picking their replacements.

Aside from Schapiro, Khuzami was the most visible regulator after Madoff's fraud and the financial crisis that plunged the economy into turmoil.

During Khuzami's tenure, the SEC brought major insider-trading cases, many of them resulting from the investigation of hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam.

The SEC also embarked on a major overhaul of how it collects and analyzes tips and complaints. The agency also launched a program that offered leniency in exchange for cooperation in investigations, and opened an office to gather complaints from whistle-blowers.

“Rob’s leadership and bold ideas transformed and reinvigorated the enforcement program,” Walter said in a statement. “Under his direction, the division not only produced record results, but embraced changes that in the years to come will enable the talented staff to better protect investors through increased efficiency, expertise, and strategic focus.”

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Boy accused of killing neo-Nazi father opts not to testify

The Riverside boy accused of murdering his neo-Nazi father decided not to take the witness stand Tuesday, bringing an end to testimony in a juvenile court trial that attracted nationwide interest.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jean P. Leonard must decide whether the boy knew it was wrong to shoot and kill his father as he slept on the family's living room couch in May 2011. If found responsible for the murder, the boy could remain in juvenile custody until he is 23.

The boy was 10 years old when he shot Jeffrey Hall, regional director of a neo-Nazi organization called the National Socialist Movement.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning and the judge said she expects to release her ruling Monday.

Testimony and evidence in the case, which began in October, revolved around the boy's upbringing and a family life steeped in the hatred and violence of the neo-Nazi movement, with psychologists focusing on whether those circumstances altered his capacity to realize that killing his father was wrong.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Soccio argued that the boy plotted to kill his father because of fears that the father was about to divorce the boy's stepmother and break up the family. Soccio presented evidence that the boy expressed remorse within hours after the shooting.

Public Defender Matthew Hardy focused on the boy's abusive home life, where gunplay and neo-Nazi gatherings were commonplace. Witnesses testified that Hall beat his son repeatedly, often in drunken or drug-addled rages.

Social workers responded to the Hall household more than 20 times. At the time of the shooting, the boy was a dependent of the court, an effort designed in part to shield him from further abuse, Hardy said.

Clinical psychologist Anna Salter, a mental health expert called by the prosecution, testified that the boy's birth mother used heroin, LSD and other drugs while she was pregnant, which she called "devastating" to the boy's development. The boy also has an extensive history of violence dating to when he was 3. In school, he once tried to strangle a teacher with a telephone cord, she said.

Hall and his first wife divorced shortly after the boy was born. Hall won full custody when the boy was 3.

If the judge rules that the boy did not comprehend that his actions were wrong, he would be set free. If she finds the boy responsible for the killing, a hearing will be held to determine where to place him.

phil.willon@latimes.com

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U.S. Franciscan friars go digital, accept prayer requests via text

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The largest group of Franciscan friars in the United States is offering the faithful a new way to pray in the digital age by accepting prayer requests via text messages.

The Friars of Holy Name Province, who staff 40 parishes and have colleges, soup kitchens and food centers along the eastern seaboard, as well as groups in Peru and Tokyo, are among a few religious groups offering this type of digital service.

Its “Text a Prayer Intention to a Franciscan Friar” initiative, which is described as faith at your fingertips, is a novel way for Roman Catholics to connect.

“People are always saying to friars, ‘Can you say a prayer for me?’ Or ‘Can you remember my mother who has cancer?’” Father David Convertino, the New York-based executive director of development for the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Name Province, said in an interview.

“I was thinking that a lot of people text everything now, even more than email, so why not have people have the ability to ask us to pray for them … by texting.”

The faithful simply text the word ‘prayer’ to 306-44, free of charge. A welcome message from the friars comes up along with a box to type in the request. When the it is sent, the sender receives a reply.

The intentions are received on a website and will be included collectively in the friars’ prayers twice a day and at Mass.

It is one of several ways the friars hope to reach a younger audience, increase the number of faithful and spread the faith. They have already renovated their website and the next step is moving into Facebook and tweeting.

“If the Pope can tweet, friars can text,” said Father David.

The friars also have a presence on LinkedIn and have been streaming some of their church services.

“We’re trying,” said Father David when asked if the friars are well into the digital age, adding that they were “rushing madly into the 19th century.”

Most of the 325 friars, whose average age is about 60, are comfortable with the technology.

“We have a friar who is 80 who was texting today,” said Father David.

The friars are following the example of 85-year-old Pope Benedict, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics, whom the Vatican said had 2.1 million followers on Twitter just eight days after sending his first tweet.

The Pontiff tweets in several languages, including Arabic, and plans to add Latin and Chinese to them.

“We’re really excited about this working,” said Father David, about the new program. “I think we’ll be able to keep up (with all the intentions). That’s what we do, we pray for people.”

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Piya Sinha-Roy)

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Ned Wertimer, doorman on 'Jeffersons,' dies at 89

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ned Wertimer, who played Ralph the Doorman on all 11 seasons of the CBS sitcom "The Jeffersons," has died.

Wertimer's manager Brad Lemack said Tuesday that the 89-year-old actor died at a Los Angeles-area nursing home on Jan. 2, following a November fall at his home in Burbank.

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., and a Navy pilot during World War II, Wertimer had one-off roles on dozens of TV shows from the early 1960s through the late 1980s, including "Car 54 Where Are You?" and "Mary Tyler Moore."

But he was best known by far as Ralph Hart, the uniformed, mustachioed doorman at the luxury apartment building on "The Jeffersons," the "All In the Family" spinoff that ran from 1975 to 1985.

The show's star, Sherman Hemsley, died July 24.

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Gaps Seen in Therapy for Suicidal Teenagers

Most adolescents who plan or attempt suicide have already received at least some mental health treatment, raising questions about the effectiveness of current approaches to helping troubled youths, according to the largest in-depth analysis to date of suicidal behaviors in American teenagers.

The study, in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, found that 55 percent of suicidal teenagers had received some therapy before they thought about suicide, planned it or tried to kill themselves, contradicting the widely held belief that suicide is due in part to a lack of access to treatment.

The findings, based on interviews with a nationwide sample of more than 6,000 teenagers and at least one parent of each, linked suicidal behavior to complex combinations of mood disorders like depression and behavior problems like attention-deficit and eating disorders, as well as alcohol and drug abuse.

The study found that about one in eight teenagers had persistent suicidal thoughts at some point, and that about a third of those who had suicidal thoughts had made an attempt, usually within a year of having the idea.

Previous studies have had similar findings, based on smaller, regional samples. But the new study is the first to suggest, in a large nationwide sample, that access to treatment does not make a big difference.

The study suggests that effective treatment for severely suicidal teenagers must address not just mood disorders, but also behavior problems that can lead to impulsive acts, experts said. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,386 people between the ages of 13 and 18 committed suicide in 2010, the latest year for which numbers are available.

“I think one of the take-aways here is that treatment for depression may be necessary but not sufficient to prevent kids from attempting suicide,” said Dr. David Brent, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, who was not involved in the study. “We simply do not have empirically validated treatments for recurrent suicidal behavior.”

The report said nothing about whether the therapies given were state of the art or carefully done, said Matt Nock, a professor of psychology at Harvard and the lead author, and it is possible that some of the treatments prevented suicide attempts. “But it’s telling us we’ve got a long way to go to do this right,” Dr. Nock said. His co-authors included Ronald C. Kessler of Harvard and researchers from Boston University and Children’s Hospital Boston.

Margaret McConnell, a consultant in Alexandria, Va., said her daughter Alice, who killed herself in 2006 at the age of 17, was getting treatment at the time. “I think there might have been some carelessness in the way the treatment was done,” Ms. McConnell said, “and I was trusting a 17-year-old to manage her own medication. We found out after we lost her that she wasn’t taking it regularly.”

In the study, researchers surveyed 6,483 adolescents from the ages of 13 to 18 and found that 9 percent of male teenagers and 15 percent of female teenagers experienced some stretch of having persistent suicidal thoughts. Among girls, 5 percent made suicide plans and 6 percent made at least one attempt (some were unplanned).

Among boys, 3 percent made plans and 2 percent carried out attempts, which tended to be more lethal than girls’ attempts.

(Suicidal thinking or behavior was virtually unheard-of before age 10.)

Over all, about one-third of teenagers with persistent suicidal thoughts went on to make an attempt to take their own lives.

Almost all of the suicidal adolescents in the study qualified for some psychiatric diagnosis, whether depression, phobias or generalized anxiety disorder. Those with an added behavior problem — attention-deficit disorder, substance abuse, explosive anger — were more likely to act on thoughts of self-harm, the study found.

Doctors have tested a range of therapies to prevent or reduce recurrent suicidal behaviors, with mixed success. Medications can ease depression, but in some cases they can increase suicidal thinking. Talk therapy can contain some behavior problems, but not all.

One approach, called dialectical behavior therapy, has proved effective in reducing hospitalizations and suicide attempts in, among others, people with borderline personality disorder, who are highly prone to self-harm.

But suicidal teenagers who have a mixture of mood and behavior issues are difficult to reach. In one 2011 study, researchers at George Mason University reduced suicide attempts, hospitalizations, drinking and drug use among suicidal adolescent substance abusers. The study found that a combination of intensive treatments — talk therapy for mood problems, family-based therapy for behavior issues and patient-led reduction in drug use — was more effective than regular therapies.

“But that’s just one study, and it’s small,” said Dr. Brent of the University of Pittsburgh. “We can treat components of the overall problem, but that’s about all.”

Ms. McConnell said that her daughter’s depression had seemed mild and that there was no warning that she would take her life. “I think therapy does help a lot of people, if it’s handled right,” she said.

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Another Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner encounters a problem

Another Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Japan Airlines encountered a problem at Boston's Logan International Airport, just one day after a fire erupted on a different Dreamliner parked at a gate.

About 12:25 p.m. EST Tuesday, a Japan Airlines Dreamliner headed to Tokyo was taxiing to the runway for takeoff when a fuel leak forced it to return to the terminal.

Japan Airlines, or JAL, did not immediately provide any information on the incident. A person on the scene said the leak dumped about 40 gallons of fuel on the taxiway.

"Facilities personnel responded to clean the area," said airport spokesman Richard Walsh, who could not confirm the quantity of fuel leaked.

Boeing Co. spokeswoman Julie O'Donnell said, "We are aware of the incident and are working with our customer."

2012 Quiz: The year in business

The news pushed the Chicago company's stock lower Tuesday. Boeing shares fell $2, or 2.6%, to $74.13 after dropping 2% on Monday.

The plane was the first JAL jet to attempt to return to Tokyo since another JAL Dreamliner caught fire Monday, not long after landing at Logan. The fire broke out less than a half-hour after 183 passengers and crew members had disembarked from a 12-hour transpacific flight from Tokyo. A maintenance crew mechanic noticed smoke in the cabin.

The cause of the fire is being investigated by Boeing and the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB on Tuesday said it found "severe fire damage" in a rack of lithium-ion batteries in the jet's electronics bay.

Using high-capacity lithium-ion batteries is part of Boeing's new design for the 787's electrical system, which consumes more power than other jets.

The identification of the lithium-ion batteries as the potential source of the fire will heighten concern over the use of these types of batteries on airplanes.

In 2007 the Federal Aviation Administration, noting that the Dreamliner's use of high-capacity, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries differs significantly from the nickel-cadmium or lead acid batteries used on other jets, attached special safety conditions governing the design and maintenance of the 787 batteries.

The FAA said commercial aviation has "limited experience" with the use of such batteries, but noted that in other applications "lithium-ion batteries are significantly more susceptible to internal failures that can result in self-sustaining increases in temperature than their nickel-cadmium or lead-acid counterparts."

Overcharging of lithium-ion batteries can generate high temperatures. "The metallic lithium can ignite, resulting in a self-sustaining fire or explosion," the FAA said.

The agency therefore added requirements that the 787's design and maintenance procedures for the jet's batteries must specifically preclude any heat buildup and include monitoring and warning systems in case of any failures.

It is suspected that two fiery crashes of Boeing 747 cargo planes that killed four pilots — a UPS jet in 2010 and an Asiana Airlines jet in 2011 — may have been caused by fires in their cargo bays, which contained large shipments of lithium-ion batteries used in laptops and cellphones.

Those accidents have prompted stricter standards for the packaging and shipping of large quantities of such batteries.

The NTSB has three safety investigators examining the cause of the fire as well as the emergency response to the incident.

The agency's statement said the group would look at the jet's "airworthiness," but NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss later described the use of this term as a bureaucratic classification and said that "we are in no way looking at the airworthiness of the 787."

The FAA issues an aircraft's "airworthiness certificate," a designation that is required for any airplane to fly.

The FAA and Boeing are also taking part in the Logan fire investigation. In addition, the Japan Transport Safety Board has sent a representative and Japan Airlines will assist.

Gates writes for the Seattle Times/McClatchy.

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Wendy Greuel walks tightrope in mayor's race

One big advantage for a Los Angeles city controller aspiring to higher office is the ability to make news with a steady flow of audits exposing wasteful spending at City Hall.

So while stuck in Hollywood Freeway traffic on a recent morning, Wendy Greuel, controller and candidate for mayor, picked up her phone for a radio interview about one of those reports, accusing the city of squandering $325,000 on improper mileage reimbursements.

"That was really just the tip of the iceberg," she told listeners, recycling a line she's used to publicize previous audits finding lavish travel spending at the Housing Authority and credit card abuses at the Coliseum.

In a city beset by chronic budget shortfalls, Greuel is campaigning in the March 5th election primary as a fiscal conservative. She's uniquely qualified, she argues, not just because of her record as a city official, but as a result of her work at DreamWorks and her family's ownership of a building supply business in North Hollywood.

"I have inside knowledge and an outside perspective," she said in an interview.

But Greuel's record, her opponents contend, doesn't match the image she's crafting. They question what she's accomplished with her audits and portray her Hollywood experience — in government relations — as emblematic of a career as a political insider.

"This whole notion that she's some kind of outsider who has an ounce of political courage, it's frankly a bunch of hooey," said Eric Hacopian, chief strategist for mayoral candidate and City Councilwoman Jan Perry. Greuel's audits, he said, amount to "constant headline grabbing" and "a whole bunch of sound and fury that signifies nothing."

With three rivals jostling to cut into her presumed and potentially decisive base of support in the San Fernando Valley, Greuel's prospects for succeeding Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa depend largely on how effectively she can repel that line of attack.

"It's a tightrope act," said Steven P. Erie, a political science professor at UC San Diego, noting that Greuel, in particular, needs to secure support from groups whose priorities may diverge.

"She doesn't want to turn labor off," he said. Indeed, she has courted unions by promising to fight harder than her opponents to protect the city workforce.

At the same time, Erie said, Greuel has to "appeal to a more fiscally moderate-to-conservative base out in the Valley."

A former Valley area City Council member who was elected controller in 2009, Greuel takes credit for identifying $160 million in potential city savings through her audits. But stopping that waste, she says, is up to the council and the mayor under the city's charter.

"I've been the one that has been looking at fiscal responsibility," she said.

Greuel's effort to cast herself as a champion of fiscal restraint is likely to face other tests, among them her support — during seven years on the council — for a rapid rise in spending that worsened the city's budget crisis.

Like her top competitors in the race, Perry and Councilman Eric Garcetti, Greuel now expresses regret for backing generous raises for 22,000 city workers in 2007 — despite a $243-million budget shortfall. The deficit quickly swelled when the economy spiraled downward.

She also has joined calls to abolish the city's business tax, which brings in $439 million a year. The revenue loss would exacerbate budget shortfalls projected to range from $216 million to $327 million in each of the next four years, analysts have warned.

Greuel and Garcetti say getting rid of the tax would spur economic growth. Perry and another candidate, entertainment lawyer Kevin James, say the city can't afford to abolish the tax.

Greuel, who grew up in Granada Hills, said her family's business, Frontier Building Supply, taught her to appreciate the burden of city taxes. "I did everything from cleaning the bathrooms to sweeping the warehouse to doing the accounting to answering the phone to driving the forklift and driving a truck," she said. Now, she co-owns the company with her brother, who runs it.

Greuel, 51, a UCLA graduate, started her career as an aide to Mayor Tom Bradley, working on such issues as homelessness, child care and services for the elderly. A Republican until 1992, when she registered as a Democrat, Greuel was part of a group of Bradley aides who moved to Washington to take jobs in the Clinton administration.

She recalled leafing with colleagues through the "plum book" directory of federal political appointments — named for its "plum" government jobs — as the end of Bradley's tenure approached. Mark Fabiani, a top Bradley aide who became special counsel to President Clinton, passed Greuel's resume to Andrew Cuomo, then Clinton's assistant secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

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