Saturday, May 2, 2020

Guess who came to visit?

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Baltimore Grand Prix - Congratulations Will Power!

Will Power wins inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix

Will Power's #12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone

BALTIMORE (AP) – Will Power wrapped his hand around a big bottle of champagne, shook it up, let the bubbly fly and took a long drink. What better way to celebrate an absolutely perfect weekend?

Power put on a masterful performance Sunday over a difficult street course to win the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. The Australian deftly negotiated hairpin turns and confidently gripped the wheel over bumpy roads to earn his second straight win and career-high sixth of the season.

Power had the best time in Friday's practice session, captured the pole Saturday, then led in 70 of the 75 laps to earn the $35,000 top prize. "I'm just exhausted," Power said, "but that was a championship run."

Spain's Oriol Servia finished second, 10.2096 seconds back, and Tony Kanaan of Brazil was third. Kanaan lost his brakes during a practice run Sunday morning, soared over Helio Castroneves' car and had to drive a backup. Read the rest here and other news here.

Baltimore Grand Prix, continued again

Check out the Firestone Fast 6 from Baltimore at --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=d3pObViiY3g

and here are Will Power and Dario Franchitti on Baltimore Quals --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0SEBy4gwE8&feature=relmfu

Friday, September 2, 2011

Baltimore Grand Prix, continued

The practice runs have begun -- vroom, vroom --

Thursday, September 1, 2011

The Inaugural 2011 Baltimore Grand Prix

Bleachers along Light Street

Light Street facing north

Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Simona De Silvestro's newly sponsored Entergy Nuclear Unites/HVM Racing car. Check out how she demos it in front of Camden Yards at --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlFtg2YLZ9k&feature=related

Excitement is in the air -- the Grand Prix will be taking place this Labor Day weekend on the streets of Charm City.

Check out the virtual lap of the new Baltimore Grand Prix Circuit at --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbDXDT7Ykzg&feature=player_embedded

Also --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=963TzAaLu9I&feature=related

and the schedule --
http://www.baltimoregrandprix.com/schedule.cfm

Friday, March 25, 2011

FDA Okays Shingles Vaccine for Younger Age Group

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/FDAGeneral/25532

By Cole Petrochko, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: March 24, 2011
WASHINGTON -- The FDA has approved use of the varicella zoster vaccine Zostavax in patients ages 50 to 59 for prevention of shingles.

The vaccine was approved in 2006 for prevention of shingles in patients 60 and older.

Approval for the new indication was based on a 22,000-patient multicenter study in the U.S. and four other countries. Patients ages 50 to 59 were randomized equally to the vaccine or placebo and were followed for a year.

Shingles risk was 70% lower in the treatment group than in the placebo group.

Adverse events in the study included injection site redness, pain, and swelling, as well as headache.

Shingles affects some 200,000 healthy patients in the newly approved younger age group each year in the U.S., an FDA statement said.

"The likelihood of shingles increases with age. The availability of Zostavax to a younger age group provides an additional opportunity to prevent this often painful and debilitating disease," Karen Midthun, MD, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said in the statement.

The vaccine is manufactured by Merck.

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Late-breaking news: FDA expands approval of shingles vaccinehttp://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/FDA+Approvals/Late-breaking-news-FDA-expands-approval-of-shingle/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/713419?contextCategoryId=40152

Publish date: 3.25.2011
By: Formulary staff

... Zostavax is the only shingles vaccine licensed for use in the United States.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1 in 3 people will experience shingles in their lifetime and nearly 1 million cases of shingles occur each year. The incidence and severity of shingles increase with age. Once a person has had chickenpox, the varicella-zoster virus stays inside the body and can resurface later as shingles.

Zostavax is not indicated for the treatment of shingles or postherpetic neuralgia, or for the prevention of chickenpox. Zostavax is contraindicated for individuals who are allergic to any of its ingredients, including gelatin or neomycin; have a weakened immune system; or take high doses of steroids. It is also contraindicated for individuals who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Vaccination with Zostavax may not result in protection of all vaccine recipients.

Zostavax is currently on back order. Merck will continue to release doses of Zostavax as supply becomes available, but as inventory is building, back orders will still occur. Timely information about the shipping schedule for ZOSTAVAX can be found at MerckVaccines.com.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

My Phalaenopsis hybrid

It was the only one of the ones I entered in the SOS orchid show which won an individual award. It was placed second and won a red ribbon. I'm as pleased as Punch.

Update: Upon checking the official printed results later, not only did my Phalaenopsis hybrid win an individual award, all the other three orchids I entered in the 2010 Susquehanna Orchid Society (SOS) 27th Annual Show also won individual awards. The Psychopsis Memoria Bill Carter and the Aliceara Pacific Nova also placed second. The Odontobrassia FANGtastic Bob Henley came in third in its category. Hurray!