No rise in cancer seen from Japan's nuclear disaster-UN experts

VIENNA (Reuters) - Cancer rates are not expected to rise after Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident as people quickly left the area hit by the world's worst such disaster in 25 years, a U.N. scientific committee said on Friday.

Wolfgang Weiss, a senior member of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), said the evacuation of tens of thousands of people had sharply lowered radiation exposure.

The dose levels were "so low that we don't expect to see any increase in cancer in the future in the population", he told reporters during an UNSCEAR meeting to discuss a draft report to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly later this year.

A magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, killed nearly 19,000 people and devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, spewing radiation and forcing about 160,000 people to flee their homes.

It was the biggest nuclear accident since a reactor exploded at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine in 1986. Studies into that accident have linked thyroid cancer to radioactive iodine from Chernobyl.

UNSCEAR's findings appeared to differ somewhat from a World Health Organization (WHO) report published in February which said people in the area worst affected have a slightly higher risk of developing certain cancers.

Weiss suggested the UNSCEAR study, carried out by 80 experts and with the involvement of five international organizations including the United Nations health agency, was based on information covering a longer period after the accident.

"So they (the WHO) didn't have the full picture. We don't have the full picture either but we have more than one year in addition," he said.

UNSCEAR's 27 member states and 180 experts met this week in Vienna to scrutinize the report.

"The results are very straightforward ... the evacuation of many, many thousands of people resulted in a reduction of the dose that they would have received if they had stayed in the evacuation zone by a factor of 10," he said.

Highlighting the differences between Chernobyl and Fukushima, he said people close to the plant in the then Soviet Union were exposed to radioactive iodine that contaminated milk.

The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there. Children are deemed especially vulnerable.

"In Chernobyl, many children used milk which had high iodine concentrations, resulting in high thyroid doses, resulting in an increase of thyroid cancer," Weiss said. "The doses through the thyroid in Japan are much, much lower."

Also when it came to exposure to another radioactive contaminant, the longer-lasting caesium, "we wouldn't expect any increase of ... cancers during the next decades", he said.

But he said a few workers at the plant had received very high radioactive doses in the early stages of the accident and they continued to be under medical surveillance.

(Reporting by Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/no-rise-cancer-seen-japans-nuclear-disaster-un-120010026.html

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LG Optimus G Pro gets wider Asian launch

LG 5.5-incher to hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia

As expected, LG has announced wider Asian availability for its high-end, big-screened handset, the Optimus G Pro. The G Pro, which is already available in Korea, Japan and the U.S., will hit Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia throughout the next month. The version going on sale in these countries will be the 5.5-inch model, as opposed to the 5-incher released in Japan earlier in the year.

Besides that massive 1080p screen, the Optimus G Pro features a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD, a 13-megapixel camera and a whopping 3140mAh battery. For more on the Optimus G Pro, be sure to check out our reviews of the Korean and AT&T versions.

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ParStream And Panopticon Partner To Provide Analytics And Data

ParStream And Panopticon are partnering to offer data analytics and data visualization by integrating their respective platforms. ParStream offers an in-memory analtytics technology that it markets as offering sub-second response. Panapticon is known for its visual analytics and in-memory engine that can push out graphics in an event stream.

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SmartThings opens up its home automation platform to developers

To say SmartThings' Kickstarter campaign was a success is an understatement: the Internet of Things outfit, which offers a clever array of home automation sensors, routers and smartphone apps, raised more than $1.2 million (over four times the company's original goal), nabbed over 6,000 backers and quickly sold out of its first batch of kits. Naturally, the company isn't stopping there -- it's making good on its goal of providing an open-source platform for developers, as it announced the availability of its Developer and Inventor Toolkit. Now, interested parties can create and develop their own SmartThings, and can collaborate with like-minded folks to come up with even more ways to take advantage of the platform. Additionally, it supports several types of wireless standards, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, ZigBee and Z-Wave, giving it interoperability with various home automation systems.

As a refresher, SmartThings connects a large number of household items -- appliances, automatic door locks, thermostats, humidity sensors, presence sensors, power outlet switches, IR remotes, secret bookcase doors and plenty more -- to a central router which then can be controlled through a smartphone app. Thanks to the openness of the platform, the number of use-case scenarios is rather significant, which certainly makes it more appealing to users. If you're interested in learning how to get started, head below to the press release and go here to get the whole enchilada of information.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Mobile

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Tornadoes touch down in Oklahoma, Arkansas

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) ? At least three tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma, including one in Tulsa, and two more hit Arkansas on Thursday as a powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country. At least nine people were injured.

The National Weather Service confirmed at least one tornado touched down Thursday night in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow. However, the tornado did not appear to be a strong twister like the deadly one in suburban Oklahoma City last week.

Meteorologist Pete Snyder with the weather service's Tulsa office said it appeared the roofs of some buildings were damaged, and police told the Tulsa World that they didn't have any reports of buildings being destroyed.

Earlier in the day, tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma and Arkansas, injuring at least nine people.

The National Weather Service reported two tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma and another west of Oden, Ark.

Thursday's tornadoes all appeared to be much less dangerous than the top-of-the-scale EF5 storm that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20 and killed 24 along its 17-mile path. The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, but top-of-the-scale storms like the one in Moore ? with winds over 200 mph ? happen only about once per year. The tornado last week was the nation's first EF5 since 2011.

All nine of the injured Thursday were in Arkansas; two of the injuries were attributed to a lightning strike in Rogers. Lightning was also believed to have started a fire that destroyed two floors of a condominium building in northwestern Indiana.

Some trees, homes and power lines were damaged in Arkansas, and the National Weather Service confirmed that tornadoes touched down in Montgomery County and in Clark County. Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said first responders had trouble reaching a destroyed home where one person was hurt because a number of trees were blocking the road.

In Oklahoma, Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles east of Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage. The Payne County emergency management director did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Storms also caused problems in the western Iowa town of Onawa, damaging buildings, breaking windows, tearing awnings and blowing down trees and a stoplight. National Weather Service meteorologist Dave Fobert told the Sioux City Journal that the damage apparently was caused by a thunderstorm, not a tornado.

Some strong winds blew through Moore, in suburban Oklahoma City, on Thursday, but the weather didn't cause significant problems for crews cleaning up from last week's tornado.

Organizers pushed back Thursday's start of the Wakarusa Music Festival north of Ozark, Ark., as threatening weather approached. After a series of storms moved through the area, Franklin County Emergency Manager Fred Mullen said no flooding was reported at the site, located along Arkansas' Pig Trail scenic highway.

In addition to tornadoes, the storms were bringing rain and hail. Flooding was also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.

This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.

Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been struck the most, seven times each. More than half of these top-of-the-scale twisters have occurred in just five states: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

___

Associated Press writers Ken Miller in Oklahoma City, Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tornadoes-touch-down-oklahoma-arkansas-030940006.html

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3 feet of snow for Memorial Day? Yes, in NY.

3 feet of snow fall over Memorial Day weekend on Whiteface Mountain in New York. Authorities forced to close mountain highway after 3 feet of snow.

By Associated Press / May 27, 2013

Whiteface Mountain Veterans' Memorial Highway was blanketed with 3 feet of snow Sunday, forcing authorities to close part of the highway.

Courtesy of ORDA/Whiteface/AP

Enlarge

A Memorial Day weekend storm has dropped three feet of?snow?on a?New?York?ski mountain near the Vermont boarder.

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Whiteface Mountain spokesman Jon Lundin says 36 inches of white powder has blanketed the nearly 5,000-foot tall mountain in the Adirondacks. That has forced the Olympic Regional Development Authority to close Whiteface Veteran's Memorial Highway on the backside of the mountain.

Lundin says the?snow?began lightly falling Saturday and steadily dropped Sunday, finishing in the evening. He didn't know if the 3-foot snowfall was a record for Whiteface.

Burlington, Vt., National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Muccilli says the mountain experienced steady?snowand gusty winds throughout the weekend.

He says Mount Mansfield, in Stowe, Vt., had 13.2 inches of?snow?Sunday, the latest in the season it's ever had a foot.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/cw9XbIyxxrw/3-feet-of-snow-for-Memorial-Day-Yes-in-NY

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Texas makes teachers' pensions less reliant on markets

By Karen Brooks

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas lawmakers passed sweeping changes to the state's $116 billion teacher pension system on Sunday, including the first cost-of-living increase in a dozen years and a new requirement that school districts pay part of the expense.

The state, the teachers themselves and the school districts will increase contributions, making the Teachers Retirement System of Texas less reliant on market returns.

Without the changes, the healthcare account alone would have faced a $1 billion shortfall by 2017, supporters of the legislation said.

"We were upside-down earlier, because we were relying too much on investment returns," said state Senator Robert Duncan, Republican of Lubbock, who authored the legislation. "This puts us in a situation where we are actually having long-term fixed contributions rates that should support this system for a long time."

Teacher contributions to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas would increase over the next four years from 6.4 percent of their pay to 7.7 percent, and school districts would contribute 1.5 percent of total salary costs, up from zero.

The state contribution would increase from 6.4 percent of covered payroll to 6.8 percent starting in September.

Those three sources are expected to add some $600 million to the pension fund over the first two years, according to state documents.

The last time the state passed a cost-of-living increase for retired teachers was in 2001.

Under the plan passed Sunday, teachers who have been retired since early 2004 will see a three-percent increase in benefits, affecting some 195,000 teachers, or 60 percent of those in the system.

The law increases their monthly benefits by an average of $42, though it caps that increase at $100.

Teacher groups said they were disappointed the legislation decreased the pension and health benefits of hundreds of thousands of current employees who had already earned those benefits under the existing system.

Current employees with less than five years of service by August 2014 will have to work two extra years to get full retirement benefits under the new plan. The legislation raises the minimum retirement age for those employees from 60 to 62, according to the Texas branch of the American Federation of Teachers.

It also raises to 62 the minimum age at which a retiree is eligible for the TRS-Care health benefits beyond catastrophic coverage, reducing the benefits for hundreds of thousands of current employees, the group said.

That new requirement does not apply to members who by August 2014 meet a rule of 70, or age plus years of service equal to 70 or more, or have at least 25 years of service credit.

"One of our goals was to continue the stability of the system, and that has been done with the increased state contributions," said Linda Bridges, president of the Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. "There's still more work to be done to improve the system for retirees and active members."

The Texas teachers' pension fund offers a defined-benefit plan and serves more than 1.3 million employed and retired teachers. The average annual teacher benefit is $22,764.

The pension fund is one of the world's largest private equity investors and has invested billions of dollars with firms including Apollo and KKR.

(Editing by Daniel Trotta and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/texas-makes-teachers-pensions-less-reliant-markets-234802827.html

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