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You are here: Home / Featured / Michael Foods Recalls Hard-Cooked Eggs Packed in Brine
Michael Foods Recalls Hard-Cooked Eggs Packed in Brine
February 1, 2012 by News Desk
After smaller recalls stretching back to January 27, 2012, Michael Foods Inc. is recalling specific lots of hard-cooked eggs packed in brine sold in 10- and 25-pound pails for institutional use. The recall totals more than 150,000 pounds of eggs in 24 production lot dates. The eggs were produced at the company's Wakefield, Nebraska facility and may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.
There have been no "confirmed" reports of illness in connection with consumption of this product. You can see all of the product labels at the FDA site.
Hard-cooked eggs packed in brine
In 10- and 25-pound pails
Produced at Wakefield, Nebraska plant under these brand names:
Columbia Valley Farms
Glenview Farms
Papetti's
Silverbrook
Wholesome Farms
Lot codes of 1 LOT 1350W through 1 LOT 2025W
Expiration dates ranging from 1/30/2012 to 3/10/2012
Only lot codes immediately preceded by the number "1" AND ending in the letter "W" are affected. The number "1" is the line affected by the recall, and the "W" stands for "Wakefield". The FDA says that three lot dates were recalled on January 26, 2012, although Food Poisoning Bulletin has been unable to locate a public posting of that recall, and there is no listing of that recall on that date on the FSIS site.
The eggs were purchased by food distributors and manufacturers located in these states:
The eggs were not sold directly to consumers by Michael Foods. But the companies that bought the eggs from Michael Foods used them in products that were sold to retail outlets or used in foodservice settings. If you believe you purchased these eggs, contact the original place of purchase.
Lab testing revealed that some of the eggs may have been contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. That bacteria is serious because listeriosis kills about 20 to 30% of the people who contract it. Apparently, a repair project in the packaging room was the "likely" source of contamination. If you have questions, please call Michael Foods at 1-877-367-3447, Monday through Friday from 8:00 am through 5:00 pm EST.
Here's the timeline of the different recalls relating to Michael Foods hard-cooked eggs:
On January 27, Dierbergs grocery chain pulled Hawkeye Food Service hard-cooked eggs for Listeria contamination. While Michael Foods was not mentioned in this recall, Hawkeye Food Service is related to Michael Foods on CompanyDataBase.org
On January 27, 2012, 18th Street Deli Inc. recalled salad products produced by Michael Foods, Inc.
Late in the day on January 27, 2012, Sysco Quality Assurance recalled eggs produced by Michael Foods in an internal vendor memo.
Also on January 27, 2012, Michigan Spartan Stores recalled egg products.
On January 29, 2012, US Foods issued an alert that Michael Foods Inc. had put out a Class I voluntary recall on three lots of Papetti's Brand hard-cooked eggs.
Filed Under: Featured, Recalls Tagged With: Food Recall, Listeria


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The Supreme Court to the Minister of Interior: the permanent residency status of an East Jerusalem woman, revoked following her past relocation abroad, must be restored immediately
The Appeals Tribunal accepted HaMoked's position and cancelled the Minister of Interior's decision to revoke the residency status of four family members of an assailant: the Ministry of Interior has to make new decisions in their matter and if they decide to continue this form of collective punishment must initiate new proceedings accordingly
For years a Palestinian widower's humanitarian application remained unanswered: following HaMoked's petition, the Minister of Interior has decided to give him a stay permit allowing him to remain living in the city legally with his two underage children
Following HaMoked's petition: reimbursements are now given to Palestinians who recently received Israeli status pursuant to the Minister of Interior's decision, and earlier on registered with an HMO under the new health regulations
The military continues to impede Palestinians undergoing family unification who need an Israeli driver's licence: of 47 applications filed in 2016, six were approved, and only for limited use
HaMoked to the Chair of the committee reviewing the extension of the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law: the committee must present accurate data relating to the Law's application to children over age 14
At the end of a decade-long legal battle: a stateless Palestinian woman born in East Jerusalem and living there her entire life will receive permanent status in Israel
The HCJ ruled that the Minister of Interior is not authorized to revoke permanent status due to breach of allegiance to the state: however, the decision to revoke the status of four East Jerusalem youths on this ground will not be cancelled for now, to allow the Knesset to make it legal
HaMoked to the Minister of Interior: an adequate solution is needed for Palestinians living in Israel for many years in the framework of the family unification procedure
HaMoked to the Ministry of Interior: the revised procedures for the registration of children under age 14 who have only one parent who is a permanent Israeli resident, are wrongful and illegal

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Investigations on cavitating hydrofoils
Wade, Richard B (1965) Investigations on cavitating hydrofoils. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/8YEC-DS05. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-01222004-112658
Experimental and theoretical results are presented for the non-cavitating and cavitating performances of a plano-convex hydrofoil in both the isolated and cascade configurations. In the isolated hydrofoil tests special emphasis is placed on the unsteady region of cavitation separating the partially cavitating region from the fully cavitating region. The detailed behavior of the oscillating cavity together with the magnitude of the force vibrations that occur in this region are investigated from both a qualitative and a quantitative viewpoint. The dependence of the reduced frequency of these oscillations on the angle of attack, cavitation number and flow velocity is also discussed. The performance of the hydrofoil under steady conditions in both the cavitating and non-cavitating regions is also presented. Details of the test equipment and procedures used and various data corrections made are given. A linearized partially cavitating theory for this plano-convex hydrofoil is also developed which includes camber and thickness effects. The results from this theory are compared with the experimental data obtained. In the cascade experiments a feasibility study is undertaken to determine the possibility of using the high speed water tunnel at the California Institute of Technology as a cascade tunnel for investigating the cavitating performance of compressor and turbine cascades. A comprehensive design study is given of the modifications made to the existing tunnel to achieve this aim. The experimental procedures used in conducting the experiments are then discussed. Tests are performed on two compressor cascades of plano-convex hydrofoils having solidities of 1.25 and 0.625 and cascade angle of 45 degrees, for all conditions of cavitation from the fully wetted to the fully choked conditions. A study is also made of a turbine cascade of solidity 1.25 for the same cascade angle in the non-cavitating region only. Comparisons of the experimental data with several theories indicate that the cascade tests are indeed fulfilling their purpose in proving the methods used in simulating cascade conditions in the tunnel. Proposals for modifying the system used to avoid several experimental difficulties are presented. Finally, a linearized theory for a cascade of partially cavitating flat plate hydrofoils is developed which is compared with the data obtained.
10.7907/8YEC-DS05
PDF (Wade_rb_1965.pdf) - Final Version


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Special Education services are designed to provide administrative and program support through training and technical assistance to school districts and charter schools in the region. These services are based on regional needs collaboratively identified by local districts/charter schools and Education Service Center, Region 20 personnel.
The Legal Framework for the Child-Centered Process is a template in an electronic format that summarizes state and federal requirements for special education by topic.
Below is a list of upcoming special education trainings as well as online trainings that are posted in Connect20. All sessions will be held at ESC-20 unless otherwise indicated in Connect20. To register, you will need a FREE Connect20 account.
Always check Connect20 for the most current information.
Field Trips and Community Based Instruction: What Do I Do?
This is an online webinar; it is not held onsite at ESC-20.
Data Collection for Behavior: Where do I start?
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 a.m.
Co-Teaching in the Early Childhood Setting: Constructing Your Program for Success!
If you would like to receive email updates regarding special education laws/rules, TEA updates regarding special education, ESC-20 special education workshops, and other special education resources, subscribe to our email listserv.


text:
set -x -e

# Use Python from /usr/bin instead of /opt/conda.
export PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH

function retry_apt_command() {
  cmd="$1"
  for ((i = 0; i < 10; i++)); do
    if eval "$cmd"; then
      return 0
    fi
    sleep 5
  done
  return 1
}

function update_apt_get() {
  retry_apt_command "apt-get update"
}

function install_apt_get() {
  pkgs="$@"
  retry_apt_command "apt-get install -y $pkgs"
}

function err() {
  echo "[$(date +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z')]: $@" >&2
  return 1
}

function main() {
  # Determine the role of this node
  local role=$(/usr/share/google/get_metadata_value attributes/dataproc-role)
  # Only run on the master node of the cluster
  if [[ "${role}" == 'Master' ]]; then
    install_oozie
  fi
}

function install_oozie(){
  local master_node=$(/usr/share/google/get_metadata_value attributes/dataproc-master)
  local node_name=${HOSTNAME}

  # Upgrade the repository and install Oozie
  update_apt_get || err 'Failed to update apt-get'
  install_apt_get oozie oozie-client || err 'Unable to install oozie-client'
  # Remove Log4j 2 jar not compatible with Log4j 1 that was brought by Hive 2
  # TODO: remove after upgrade to Oozie 5.1
  if compgen -G "/usr/lib/oozie/lib/log4j-1.2.*.jar" > /dev/null; then
    rm -f /usr/lib/oozie/lib/log4j-1.2-api*.jar
  fi

  if [[ ${node_name} == ${master_node} ]]; then
    # The ext library is needed to enable the Oozie web console
    wget http://archive.cloudera.com/gplextras/misc/ext-2.2.zip || err 'Unable to download ext-2.2.zip'
    unzip ext-2.2.zip -d /var/lib/oozie
    # Install share lib
    install -d /usr/lib/oozie
    tar -xvzf /usr/lib/oozie/oozie-sharelib.tar.gz -C /usr/lib/oozie

    # Workaround to issue where jackson 1.8 and 1.9 jars are found on the classpath, causing
    # AbstractMethodError at runtime. We know hadoop/lib has matching vesions of jackson.
    rm -f /usr/lib/oozie/share/lib/hive2/jackson-*
    cp /usr/lib/hadoop/lib/jackson-* /usr/lib/oozie/share/lib/hive2/

    hadoop fs -mkdir -p /user/oozie/
    hadoop fs -put -f /usr/lib/oozie/share /user/oozie/
    # Clean up temporary fles
    rm -rf ext-2.2 ext-2.2.zip share oozie-sharelib.tar.gz
  fi

  # Create the Oozie database
  sudo -u oozie /usr/lib/oozie/bin/ooziedb.sh create -run
  # Hadoop must allow impersonation for Oozie to work properly

  bdconfig set_property \
      --configuration_file "/etc/hadoop/conf/core-site.xml" \
      --name 'hadoop.proxyuser.oozie.hosts' --value '*' \
      --clobber

  bdconfig set_property \
    --configuration_file "/etc/hadoop/conf/core-site.xml" \
    --name 'hadoop.proxyuser.oozie.groups' --value '*' \
    --clobber

  # Detect if current node configuration is HA and then set oozie servers
  local additional_nodes=$(/usr/share/google/get_metadata_value attributes/dataproc-master-additional | sed 's/,/\n/g' | wc -l)
  if [[ ${additional_nodes} -ge 2 ]]; then
    echo 'Starting configuration for HA'
    # List of servers is used for proper zookeeper configuration. It is needed to replace original ports range with specific one
    local servers=$(cat /usr/lib/zookeeper/conf/zoo.cfg \
      | grep 'server.' \
      | sed 's/server.//g' \
      | sed 's/:2888:3888//g' \
      | cut -d'=' -f2- \
      | sed 's/\n/,/g' \
      | head -n 3 \
      | sed 's/$/:2181,/g' \
      | xargs -L3 \
      | sed 's/.$//g')

    bdconfig set_property \
      --configuration_file "/etc/oozie/conf/oozie-site.xml" \
      --name 'oozie.services.ext' --value \
        'org.apache.oozie.service.ZKLocksService,
        org.apache.oozie.service.ZKXLogStreamingService,
        org.apache.oozie.service.ZKJobsConcurrencyService,
        org.apache.oozie.service.ZKUUIDService' \
      --clobber

    bdconfig set_property \
      --configuration_file "/etc/oozie/conf/oozie-site.xml" \
      --name 'oozie.zookeeper.connection.string' --value "${servers}" \
      --clobber

  fi

  /usr/lib/zookeeper/bin/zkServer.sh restart
  # HDFS and YARN must be cycled; restart to clean things up
  for service in hadoop-hdfs-namenode hadoop-hdfs-secondarynamenode hadoop-yarn-resourcemanager oozie; do
    if [[ $(systemctl list-unit-files | grep ${service}) != '' ]] && \
      [[ $(systemctl is-enabled ${service}) == 'enabled' ]]; then
      systemctl restart ${service}
    fi
  done
}

main

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Étiquette : Mercenaries
Janjaweed, Chadian mercenaries join Haftar's forces for Tripoli battle, Libya's Interior Minister says
14/07/2019 – The Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha said Saturday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had provided Khalifa Haftar with mercenaries from Sudan's Janjaweed and Chadian rebels for him to continue his offensive against Tripoli.
Bashagha added that those mercenaries were getting ready to join the battle on the outskirts of Tripoli and their main mission is help Haftar enter the capital. Continuer à lire … « Janjaweed, Chadian mercenaries join Haftar's forces for Tripoli battle, Libya's Interior Minister says »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 14 juillet, 2019 Catégories military, SecurityMots-clés Chad, Khalifa Haftar, Mercenaries, Sudan, UAELaisser un commentaire sur Janjaweed, Chadian mercenaries join Haftar's forces for Tripoli battle, Libya's Interior Minister says
Libya's Presidential Council wants oilfields to be outside political conflicts
2019/14/02 – The Presidential Council (PC) in Libya has renewed its call for leaving oil facilities outside political conflicts in the country.
Mohammed El Sallak, the spokesman for the Head of the PC Fayez Al-Sirraj, said the oil facilities should remain under the oversight of the International-recognized National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG.) Continuer à lire … « Libya's Presidential Council wants oilfields to be outside political conflicts »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 14 février, 2019 14 février, 2019 Catégories Sin categoríaMots-clés Central Bank of Libya, Fayez El Sarraj, Libya Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), Mercenaries, Military operations, Mohammed El Sallak, National Oil Corporation, NOC, Presidential Council (PC), UNLaisser un commentaire sur Libya's Presidential Council wants oilfields to be outside political conflicts
Russian Contractors Are Training the Army in Sudan, Moscow Says
2019/10/02 – Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that private Russian companies were training the army in Sudan, confirming for the first time their presence in a country shaken by protests against its president, a close Russian ally.
Demonstrators have been on the streets near-daily since Dec. 19, initially to protest against an economic crisis then to call for an end to the 30-year rule of President Omar al-Bashir. Continuer à lire … « Russian Contractors Are Training the Army in Sudan, Moscow Says »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 10 février, 2019 Catégories Counter-terrorism, Défense, militaryMots-clés Army, Mercenaries, Russia, Russian Federal Security Service, Security companies, Sudan, SyriaLaisser un commentaire sur Russian Contractors Are Training the Army in Sudan, Moscow Says
Ukrainian Security Service: Russian private military company Wagner active in Syria and Sudan
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has published documents belonging to mercenaries from the Private Military Company (PMC) Wagner which confirm that it is a secret detachment of Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
"Russia continues to lie shamelessly, trying to justify its crimes committed throughout the world. The Kremlin doesn't stop 'shouting' that its GRU armed divisions are not protecting dictator regimes in Sudan and Syria, and were not involved in the killing of journalists in the Central African Republic, who were trying to shed light on their 'classified' activity," the SBU said in a statement on its official website.
On 25 January the SBU published materials which it claims prove that Russian mercenaries and weapons are being sent to Sudan and other countries in the region in Russian military aircraft commissioned by LLC M Invest, a company belonging to Yevgeny Prigozhin, also known as "Putin's Chef". Furthermore, it was through M Invest that tickets were booked for these flights by Russia's 223rd Flight Unit for "passengers" – PMC Wagner employees.
"Between August and December 2018, Tu-154M aircraft (tail numbers RA-85041 and RA-85155) were used transfer 1,012 'they-are-not-theres' (soldiers whose presence Russia denies) to Sudan, the Central African Republic and other African countries on a rotation basis. Today, the SBU possesses their tickets, serial and passport information," the SBU stated.
The SBU also published the first list of 149 people who had been directly involved in suppressing democratic protests in Sudan at the start of 2019.
"An analysis of the passport data of more than 1,000 PMC Wagner employees attests that the overwhelming majority of the Russian mercenaries' documents were made in a centralized manner in Moscow by a division of Russia's Federal Migration Service, which also issued cover-up documents for the GRU officers "Petrov" and "Boshirov" who carried out the chemical attack in Salisbury, England. The passport numbers of several hundred 'Wagnerites' also differ only by the last digits. The series and number of the PMC Wagner mercenaries' passports, as well as the place they were made, once again confirm that it is a secret detachment of GRU freelance killers. All that remains is to hear from Russian officials exactly which 'steeple' they were visiting in Sudan or the Central African Republic," said SBU chief Vasyl Hrytsak.
The SBU also established that citizens of other countries – Belarus, Moldova and the Russia-backed Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics" – have been sent as part of the PMC Wagner's African rotations.
"In addition, the available information attests to a targeted recruitment for the Sudan « business trip » of Ukrainian traitors from among the inhabitants of temporarily occupied Crimea, who have received Russian citizenship as a reward for collaborating with the Russian aggressor. It has also been established that one of the ways the PMC Wagner is replenished is through the Russian intelligence service recruiting the close relatives of Russian mercenaries. Overall, the SBU has documented more than 112 people for whom the « Russian blood business » has become a family business," the SBU said.
The SBU says that more than 90% of the African mercenary contingent also took part in military aggression against Ukraine between 2014 and 2015, most notably in the assaults on the Luhansk airport and the city of Debaltseve.
According to the SBU, Russia has also been working since 2018 to establish its own naval logistics point in Sudan with the help of former Ukrainian naval officers who defected to the Russian occupiers in the spring of 2014 and are now serving in the Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet.
PMC Wagner has been linked to the Russian restaurant tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, who also owns one of Russia's largest media holdings which evolved from the "Troll Factory".
© 2019 UAWire
Sahel-Elite Photo: Russian mercenaries
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 10 février, 2019 10 février, 2019 Catégories Counter-terrorism, Défense, military, SecurityMots-clés Africa, CAR, Mercenaries, Private military company, Russia, Russia's Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), Sudan, SyriaUn commentaire sur Ukrainian Security Service: Russian private military company Wagner active in Syria and Sudan
Abu Dhabi recruits mercenaries from Arab tribes of Chad and Niger to fight in Yemeni war
2018/04/10 – Abu Dhabi's envoys are located throughout Africa, not to spread peace, love, or happiness – as promoted by the UAE to be a part of its external policies – but in search of mercenaries from Arab tribes to be recruited to fight in the Yemen war as Emirati soldiers. Continuer à lire … « Abu Dhabi recruits mercenaries from Arab tribes of Chad and Niger to fight in Yemeni war »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 4 octobre, 2018 4 octobre, 2018 Catégories Sin categoríaMots-clés Abu Dhabi, Chad, Libya, Mercenaries, military, Niger, Sahel Region, UAE, UAE Security companies, YemenLaisser un commentaire sur Abu Dhabi recruits mercenaries from Arab tribes of Chad and Niger to fight in Yemeni war
Media: New Russian private military company may be behind killing of Russian journalists in Central Africa
2018/02/10 – The highly publicized murder of Russian investigative journalists in the Central African Republic may be directly connected to the recently founded Patriot private military company (PMC) which operates in the country,reported the Dozhd TV channel, citing its own sources in the Russian Defense Ministry, a mercenary from the Patriot PMC, and an veteran intelligence officer acquainted with a Patriot fighter. Continuer à lire … « Media: New Russian private military company may be behind killing of Russian journalists in Central Africa »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 2 octobre, 2018 2 octobre, 2018 Catégories Conflict, Intelligence, military, SecurityMots-clés Africa, CAR, Dozhd, Intelligence, Mercenaries, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Russia, Wagner Private Military CompanyLaisser un commentaire sur Media: New Russian private military company may be behind killing of Russian journalists in Central Africa
Wagner in the C.A.R: who blesses the Russian mercenaries in Africa?
2018/08/29 – On 27 July 2018, three Russian journalists – Orkhan Dzhemal, Aleksandr Rastorguyev, and Kirill Radchenko – arrived in the Central African Republic. They were in country to film a documentary about the shadowy Russian private military firm the Wagner Group for the Information Control Center, an initiative bankrolled by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovskiy. Continuer à lire … « Wagner in the C.A.R: who blesses the Russian mercenaries in Africa? »
Auteur sahel-elitePublié le 29 août, 2018 29 août, 2018 Catégories Conflit, Intelligence, military, Security, UraniumMots-clés Africa, CAR, Defence, Intelligence, Libya Sudan, Mercenaries, military, Russia, Russian Criminal Code, Uranium, Vladimir Putin, Wagner GroupLaisser un commentaire sur Wagner in the C.A.R: who blesses the Russian mercenaries in Africa?


text:
American Horror Story: Freak Show – Episode 11 Review
January 9, 2015 by Gary Collinson
Alice Rush reviews the eleventh episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show…
After taking a midseason break Freak Show is back and, thankfully, seems to be keeping on the right track. Kind of. This week's episode 'Magical Thinking' introduced an exciting new character, said goodbye to another and brought some much needed gore and horror. All great stuff, however I still have a nagging concern in the back of my mind: is it all too little too late? With the amount of characters being thrown around the shop, different narrative tangents to follow and with only three episodes left I find it hard to believe that it's going to give the audience a satisfying sense of closure. The ends of Murder House and Asylum, whilst maybe not to everyone's taste, at least covered all the grounds and finished what they started. It's all very well having a great cast but if you can't support that with strong storylines it just seems a waste. And that's the feeling I got this week when we were introduced to Neil Patrick Harris' character, Chester.
Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great fit for the show, and his character seems fantastic. A war veteran with a metal plate in his head, Chester spends his time as a wandering salesman, practicing magic as a hobby as well as ventriloquism with his adored puppet Marjorie. Dot and Bette take quite a shine to him as they explain to their diaries (aka the audience) that their main goal now is sex after having their hearts broken by falling in love. Elsa too seems to like him and even sells him the camp as she's still planning to move to Hollywood, probably the longest running storyline of the season now. However, in true AHS style there's more to him than meets the eye, and the answers lie in Marjorie who seems to have much more life than your ordinary wooden doll. His obsession with her is less than healthy, as is his own state of mind which we can only presume was damaged by the war. He talks to her and imagines her as a real person, telling him what to do. The symbol the show drills home to us in this character is that the magician himself is actually the puppet, as Chester bows to Marjorie's every whim, and she doesn't seem to like the twins. Not one bit.
The classic creepy doll homage is always great in a show like this, and even better that it sees AHS veteran Jamie Brewer making a return. She's perfect for the role of a ventriloquist doll come to life; her cheekiness is balanced perfectly by her menace, meaning she can look the part of the innocent young girl but pack the punch of an evil, all knowing villain. But the star of the show is Harris who plays the messed up Chester delicately and beautifully, and though the episode feels like another tangent it's an entertaining tangent at least.
Elsewhere in the camp Jimmy tries to deal with having his lobster claws cut off by Stanley who promised money in return. I'm sensing a tie in here with all of these Pinocchio style references: we've got Chester and Marjorie, Elsa's wooden legs and her doctor who "crafted" them and now Jimmy who is in dire need of some shiny new hands. It's satisfying when the writing pays off, as it always does in AHS, but as I said previously it all seems a bit of a waste if it can't come to a climatic and decisive conclusion. I feel like I should hate American Horror Story more than I do for all it's put me through as a viewer, but it's the little touches of symbolism, metaphor and, let's face it, art that have me forgiving it time and time again.
The end of the episode hopefully sets up the next few to be exciting and back on narrative track. The police turn up looking for Jimmy who's been busted out of prison by Del, reigniting the "us vs them" feeling of the beginning of the series, and Elsa takes matters into her own hands when she discovers what really happened to Ma Petite. However I'm not getting my hopes up for a nail biting finale. I think Freak Show has passed the point of recovery in the sense of storyline. It's thrown everything it could think of into the mix and the result is an overload of seemingly menial plot points drowning out what could have been a strong series. It's a real shame, but I'm sure that my stupid self will no doubt forgive and forget yet again.
Alice Rush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszH_jfuJoo8HCG1-lGjvfH2F&v=JoHXAqSnD5g&feature=player_embedded
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Filed Under: Alice Rush, Reviews, Television Tagged With: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Freak Show
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Body 'U'-shaped, tapering at the ends. Tentacles 10, dendritic, ventral two of which shorter. Calcareous ring tubular having the radial plates composed of several small pieces. Spicules consisting of small nodular buttons with a few holes and large perforated plates.


text:
Burma or Myanmar: One Country With Two Names?
Lin Yang
FILE - A Myanmar soldier prepares to hoist a national flag during a ceremony to mark the 71st anniversary of the nation's independence day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Jan. 4, 2019.
One coup. One country. Two names?
Myanmar is the official name of the country upended by a military coup this week. In official documents issued by the Biden administration, the country with beaches on the Andaman Sea is Burma.
And whenever the country is in the news, the question of what's in a name returns.
"Our official policy is that we say 'Burma' but use 'Myanmar' as a courtesy in certain communications," Jen Psaki, the White House spokesperson, said when asked to address the issue during a press conference this week. "So, for example, the embassy website refers to Burma — Myanmar because they are by definition dealing with officials and the public. The State Department website uses 'Burma (Myanmar)' in some places and 'Burma' in others."
The conundrum emerged in 1989 when the ruling military government changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar after quashing a pro-democracy uprising by killing thousands of people. The military changed the English-language spelling of Rangoon, the nation's major city, to Yangon at the same time.
The military government believes that the term Burma only covers Burman, the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, and does not include the other 134 ethnic minority groups. The military position is that if the name of the main ethnic group is used as the name of the country, it would be racially discriminatory, according to the United States Institute of Peace blog. And, Burma, which became the country's official name under British rule and stuck after independence, was a reminder of the colonial past.
The United Nations and some countries such as France and Japan recognized the change. The United States and Britain did not.
FILE - Then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tours Shwedegon Pagoda, a Buddhist temple founded between the 6th and 10th centuries AD, in Yangon, Myanmar, Dec. 1, 2011.
Decades later, when Hillary Clinton, then the U.S. secretary of state, visited in 2011, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told Agence France-Presse that U.S. policy believed that "any change of the name of a country should be a decision" for its people, according to the BBC.
Richard Coates, a linguistics professor emeritus with the University of the West of England, who has a special interest in the area where linguistics, history and geography meet, told VOA Mandarin that deciding what name to use for the Southeast Asian nation bordered by India, China, Laos and Thailand was a sensitive topic because the choice indicated political allegiance.
"The form Myanmar — the older and more 'classical' name, of which Burma is a vernacular derivative — was, I believe, introduced by the military, so refusing to use it might well have a political dimension," he said.
Mark Farmaner, director of the Burma Campaign UK, told the BBC that using Burma or Myanmar often reveals where someone's sympathies lie.
"Myanmar is a kind of indicator of countries that are soft on the regime," he said, while using Burma may indicate that "they just challenge the legitimacy of the regime."
FILE - People eat at a restaurant along a street in Yangon, Myanmar, Aug. 18, 2013.
The two words mean the same thing, and one is derived from the other. Burmah, as it was spelled in the 19th century, is a local corruption of the word Myanmar, according to the BBC.
They have both been used within Burma for a long time, anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, who has written extensively about Burmese politics, told the BBC.
The situation now is that the Burmese verbally refer to their country as Burma, but generally use the term Myanmar in official written documents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's state counselor and democratic movement leader who is currently in custody, has publicly stated that she likes to call her country Burma.
'Will of the people'
In her speech at the Singapore Summit in September 2013, she said, "I have explained very often that the main reason why I prefer to use Burma is because the name change was made without reference to the will of the people. To me, that's basic. We have to respect the people. We have to respect the will of the people if we truly want to make the transition to a democratic society."
"Democracy means choice, widening choice, making our choice more varied and making choice more accessible to more of us," she said.
After becoming the counselor of the state in 2016, she again emphasized that there is no explicit stipulation in the national constitution on which name must be used, so foreign countries can choose either of these two names at will.
She said that while she uses Burma, others need not, and at times, she also uses Myanmar.
Journalists in Myanmar and Across the Globe Report Through Internet Blackouts
Myanmar Diplomat in US Seeks Asylum After Military Coup
Myanmar Military Blocks Access to Facebook as Resistance to Coup Grows
'Unacceptable' Myanmar Coup Must Fail, UN Chief Says
More Asia News
At UN: US, Partners Call for North Korea Sanctions Enforcement
Myanmar's Junta Arrests More Journalists
Tongan Man Dubbed 'Aquaman' After He Survived 27 Hours at Sea
French Parliament Passes Motion Calling China's Treatment of Uyghurs Genocide
North Korea Expands China Trade, But Wider Pandemic Approach Unclear


Few studies have examined the impact of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection on patient reported outcomes in Europe. This study was conducted to assess the burden of HCV infection in terms of work productivity loss, activity impairment, health-related quality of life, healthcare resource utilization, and associated costs.
The 2010 European National Health and Wellness Survey (n = 57,805) provided data. Patients reporting HCV infection in France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Spain were matched to respondents without HCV using propensity scores. Outcome measures included the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-12 (SF-12v2) questionnaire. Subgroup analyses focused on treatment-naïve patients.
HCV Patients (n = 286) had more work impairment (30% vs. 18%, p < .001), more impairment in non-work activities (34% vs. 28%, p < .05), and more annual physician visits per patient (19.8 vs. 13.3, p < .001). Estimated indirect and direct costs were €2,956 (p < .01) and €495 (p < .001) higher than in matched controls, respectively. Health-related quality of life was also lower among HCV patients. Treatment-naïve HCV patients (n = 139) also reported higher work impairment (29% vs. 15%, p < .01), as well as more frequent physician visits (19.5 vs. 12.1, p < .01) than matched controls. Each treatment-naïve HCV infected patient incurred €934 in direct costs vs. €508 (p < .01 in matched controls. Employed treatment-naïve patients reported higher productivity loss per year compared to matched controls (€6,414 vs. €3,642, p < .05).
HCV infection in Europe is associated with considerable economic and humanistic burden. This is also true of diagnosed patients who have never been treated for HCV.
An estimated 160 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide . Approximately 9 million have HCV infection in Europe, with greater prevalence in the southern and eastern regions [2–6]. While the incidence of new cases is low, few patients exposed to the virus spontaneously clear the infection, so exposure typically results in chronic infection that will continue indefinitely. Many chronically infected patients do not know that they have been infected with HCV, as infection is largely asymptomatic .
Though chronic HCV infection does not always cause serious health consequences, patients are at greater risk for development of cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), all of which are associated with high morbidity and mortality [8, 9]. HCV infection is the most common indication for liver transplantation in Europe, and HCV infection of the transplanted liver is common. HCV was estimated to have caused more than 86,000 deaths in Europe in 2002 , a figure expected to increase as the patient population reaches the age at which long-term consequences of chronic infection typically manifest [4, 10–12].
The goal of treatment for HCV is sustained virologic response (SVR), when the virus cannot be detected in the blood six months after the end of treatment. Patients who achieve SVR are at much lower risk for cirrhosis and HCC than those who do not achieve virological cure . However, treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin is often unsuccessful, and is associated with adverse events and patient burden during the course of treatment [14–16]. Newly developed treatments for HCV infection are expected to dramatically increase the rate of SVR , and determining whether novel treatments are cost effective requires an assessment of the burden of HCV infection, including the economic impact as well as any impairment of quality of life.
Research using the US National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) has documented a significant burden of HCV infection on work productivity, with infected respondents missing approximately 9% of working hours in the last week, and reporting an average of 27% impairment while at work , and a database study found that HCV infected patients were 7.5% less productive based on work units per hour . HCV is also associated with increased use of healthcare resources and increased direct healthcare costs [19–24]. The estimates of healthcare resource use vary greatly. DiBonventura et al. reported approximately 30% more physician visits among patients with diagnosed HCV infection than among propensity matched controls, with a similar trend for emergency room (ER) visits . Database studies looking at costs in the year following diagnosis of HCV infection have found even larger differences. Davis et al. found that all-cause healthcare claims in HCV infected patients were, on average, almost US$21,000 in the year after diagnosis, nearly four times that in age, gender, and plan-matched controls , while McCombs et al. found an average cost of over US$37,000 in the year following diagnosis, which represents an incremental cost of more than US$23,000 . Impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in HCV population has also been documented [24–26]. However, almost all of these studies have focused on the US population, with very few studies describing the burden among HCV infected patients in Europe [26, 27], and none from a patient perspective using a representative sample.
The objective of this study was to quantify the burden of HCV infection with respect to work productivity, healthcare resource use, related monetary cost to society, impairment in non-work activities, and HRQoL using a broadly representative sample of European adults.
The National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS; Kantar Health, New York, NY, USA), is an annual, cross-sectional survey of adults aged 18 years or older, with 57,805 respondents across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK in 2010. The NHWS is a self-administered survey which includes questions regarding diagnosed medical conditions, experience with over-the-counter and prescription medical treatments, health-related outcomes, as well as health-related attitudes and behaviors. Heath outcomes, including work productivity, impairment in activities of daily living, and HRQoL are assessed by validated scales (discussed below), and patients self-report the type and number of healthcare resources used during the six months preceding the survey. Potential respondents to the NHWS are recruited through an existing consumer panel selected by using opt-in emails, co-registration with panel partners, e-newsletter campaigns, and online banner placements. All panelists must explicitly agree to be a panel member, register with the panel through a unique email address, and complete an in-depth demographic registration profile. The sample is generated through stratified random sampling within this panel, with quotas based on gender and age to ensure the final sample is representative of each country's adult (18 years of age and older) population. The 2010 NHWS was approved by Essex Institutional Review Board (Lebanon, NJ, USA), and all respondents provided informed consent.
For the present analysis, patients reporting Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HIV, or AIDS were excluded to ensure that any burden documented in the HCV group was not due to HCV-associated comorbidities rather than the HCV itself. Likewise, because HCV infected patients are likely to differ from individuals without HCV in ways that may affect the outcomes measured by the survey, a propensity scoring methodology was employed to match each HCV infected patient with a single member of the control group . Country of residence, age, gender, sexual orientation (heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or decline to answer), education (high school graduate vs. below), income (above or below median for country), number of non-liver comorbidities, smoking (yes/no), exercise (yes vs. no), alcohol use (yes vs. no), and BMI (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese, or decline to answer) were included in a logistic regression to predict a self-reported physician diagnosis of HCV infection. The estimates resulting from this regression—the propensity scores—indicated how likely each HCV patient and non-HCV respondent was to have HCV given their demographic and health characteristics. The widely-used greedy matching algorithm was used to match each HCV patient to a single non-HCV control in the same country whose propensity score most closely matched the patent's score .
The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment (WPAI) questionnaire was used to measure the impact of health on work performance . The WPAI is a 6-item validated instrument that consists of four metrics: absenteeism (the percentage of work time missed because of one's health), presenteeism (the percentage of impairment experienced while at work because of one's health), overall work productivity loss (an overall impairment estimate that is a combination of absenteeism and presenteeism), and activity impairment (the percentage of impairment in daily activities because of one's health). The recall period for all items is seven days. Only respondents who reported being employed full-time, employed part-time, or self-employed were shown the items assessing absenteeism, presenteeism, and overall work impairment, but all respondents provided data for activity impairment. Absenteeism was calculated by dividing the number of work hours a patient missed in the past week because of his or her health by the total number of hours a patient could have worked (the number of hours he/she did work plus the number of hours missed because of his/her health). Presenteeism was computed from patient's rating of his or her level of impairment experienced while at work in the past 7 days on a scale from 0 (no impairment) to 10 (completely unable to function), which was then divided by 10 to create a percentage, with a range from 0% to 100%. Overall work impairment was measured by adding absenteeism and presenteeism to determine the total percentage of lost work time. Activity impairment was derived from patient's rating of the level of impairment experienced in daily activities in the past 7 days on a scale from 0 (no impairment) to 10 (completely unable to function), which was then divided by 10 to create a percentage, with a range from 0 to 100%.
The 2010 NHWS also asked respondents about their use of healthcare resources over the preceding six months. Items included were the number of visits to healthcare providers and emergency room (ER), and hospitalization for the patient's own medical condition. Healthcare providers include general practitioner/family practitioners, internists and dentists as well as more specialized physicians. The reported values were doubled to obtain an annual estimate.
We estimated direct healthcare costs for each NHWS respondent, and indirect costs for each employed respondent. Direct costs were estimated by multiplying the annualized healthcare resource use by the average cost of that service reported in the literature , then adjusting for inflation using the Harmonized Consumer Prices Index to 2010 values . Indirect costs were estimated by projecting each patient's absenteeism and presenteeism into an estimate of hours of lost productivity per year. Lost hours were then multiplied by an estimated hourly wage for each respondent. Hourly wages for all employed respondents (full-time, part-time, and self-employed) were calculated using the median wage of full-time workers using the most recently available (2006) personal income figures from Eurostat for full-time employees in each country . These were inflated to 2010 values by inflating them according to the percentage rise in adjusted household income in each country from 2006 to 2010 as reported by Eurostat for the continental European countries, and by the rise in personal income from 2006–2010 for the UK as reported by the Office of National Statistics. The yearly wage was divided by the number of weeks typically worked each year to estimate the weekly value of the individual's labor while at work. This weekly figure was then divided by the number of hours in a work week to create an hourly estimate. Figures for weeks and hours worked were obtained from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions .
The Medical Outcomes Study 12-Item Short Form Survey Instrument (SF-12v2) was used to assess HRQoL . The instrument is designed to accurately report on eight health concepts (physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role emotional, and mental health) using the fewest questions possible. The SF-12 questions were selected from the widely used SF-36 health survey. The SF-12 allows calculation of physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores comparable to the ones calculated from SF-36. The present analysis included the PCS and MCS norm-based scores, which are scaled to have a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10 in the US population. Consequently, a 3 to 5-point difference is typically considered clinically significant [36–38]. In addition to generating summary PCS and MCS scores, the SF-12 can also be used to generate health state utilities using the SF-6D algorithm. The SF-6D is a preference-based single index measure for health using general population values . The 18,000 health states that the SF-6D is able to describe are correlated with preference weights obtained from a sample of the UK general population using the recognized standard gamble valuation technique. The SF-6D index has interval scoring properties and yields summary scores on a theoretical 0–1 scale, where 0 is a state equivalent to death, and 1 is equivalent to perfect health. A .03 point difference is typically considered the minimally clinically important difference .
Mean and standard deviation were calculated for all continuous measures, and frequencies and percentages were computed for categorical variables. Comparisons between HCV infected patients and controls (unmatched and matched) were made using chi-square tests for categorical outcomes and independent-samples t-tests for continuous outcomes. Because distributions of work impairment, activity impairment, and healthcare resource utilization were positively skewed, the Mann–Whitney U test was used in lieu of the t-test. An error rate of 5% was adopted for all hypothesis tests, which were conducted in SPSS version 19.0.
Of the 57,805 respondents in the 2010 European NHWS, 633 reported HBV, HIV, or AIDS, and were excluded from the sample. An additional 6 individuals were excluded because they reported HCV infection but indicated they had not been diagnosed by a physician. This resulted in a total sample size of 57,166, of which 286 reported a physician diagnosis of HCV. Of those reporting a diagnosis, 36 (12.6%) reported currently receiving prescription treatment for HCV, an additional 111 (38.8%) reported receiving prescription treatment in the past, and 250 (48.6%) reported never receiving prescription treatment. The 56,880 respondents who did not report ever experiencing HCV served as an unmatched control group.
As displayed in Table 1, HCV infected patients differed in a variety of ways from the non-HCV respondents in the European NHWS. Those with HCV infection were less likely to come from the UK or Germany, and more likely to come from Italy and Spain, consistent with the differences in HCV prevalence in those countries (all p < .05). HCV infected patients were older (53 vs. 46, p < .001), more likely to be male (58% vs. 48%, p < .001), or smoke cigarettes (46% vs. 28%, p < .001), and were less likely to decline to report their sexual orientation (2% vs. 4%, p < .001) or drink alcohol (68% vs. 79%, p < .001), although over two-thirds of the HCV infected patients reported doing so. HCV infected patients also had more co-morbid conditions, excluding liver disease (.69 vs. .27, p < .01).
HCV patients generally reported worse outcomes than unmatched controls, presented in Table 2. HCV infected patients reported more impairment on all measures of work and activity impairment than unmatched control patients (all p < .001). Likewise, HCV patients also used more healthcare resources across all categories (all p < .01). The higher work productivity impairments and healthcare resource use observed among HCV patients resulted in higher estimated costs (all p < .01), presented in Table 3. HCV patients also had significantly worse HRQoL than non-HCV patients on all measures (all p < .001).
Comparisons of work impairment include only the employed subsamples: 138 HCV patients, 32,179 non-HCV, and 134 matched controls.
*Indicates the significance comparing the HCV group with the unmatched control group.
†Indicates the significance comparing the HCV group with the matched control group.
Comparisons indirect costs include only the employed subsamples: 138 HCV patients, 32,179 non-HCV, and 134 matched controls. Comparisons of direct and total costs include the full samples. Unemployed respondents' indirect costs are included in total costs as €0.
*Indicates the significance comparing the HCV group with the unmatched control group. †Indicates the significance comparing the HCV group with the matched control group.
There were no significant differences on demographics between HCV infected patients and propensity matched controls (data not presented), though many of the decrements in outcomes associated with HCV remained significant (Table 2). Among HCV infected patients who reported being employed, health problems resulted in missing 43% more work than controls (7.8% vs. 5.5%, p < .05), and 80% greater impairment while at work (26.3% vs. 14.5%, p < .001), leading to 66% greater overall work impairment (30.5% vs. 18.3%, p < .001). Likewise, HCV was associated with greater impairment in non-work activities (34.4% vs. 28.5%, p < .05).
HCV patients also had more physician visits per year than matched controls (19.8 vs.13.3, p < .001). However, lack of power prevented the detection of differences between HCV patients and controls for annual ER visits (.68 vs. .39, p = .33) and hospitalizations (.52 vs. .27, p = .07), though these differences were of a similar magnitude as the significant differences between HCV patients and the unmatched non-HCV sample.
Costs were also estimated to be higher among HCV patients (Table 3). Employed HCV patients lost an average of €1,914 worth of productivity to absenteeism per year, 60% more than their matched controls (€1,195, p < .05). Impairment while at work (presenteeism) is also significantly more costly in HCV patients than controls, with annual productivity losses averaging €5,268 and €3,154 (p < .05), respectively, for an overall indirect cost of €7,182 per year, €2,810 more per employed patient per year than controls (p < .01 for the difference). Direct costs were also significantly elevated among HCV patients, with annual costs 76% greater than matched controls (€1,147 vs. €652, p < .001), driven by significantly greater costs due to physician visits (€487 vs. €330, p < .001) and hospitalization, though lack of power prevented the difference in hospitalization costs from reaching statistical significance (€589 vs. €280, p < .08).
HCV infection also impacted the three measures of HRQoL. HCV patients had a clinically meaningful .04 decrement in health utilities compared to matched controls (.67 vs. .71, p < .01). MCS scores in HCV were about 2 points lower than matched controls (44.17 vs. 46.36, p < .05), while PCS scores were about 2.5 points lower in HCV (43.61 vs. 46.36, p < .01), though these differences are slightly smaller than would be considered clinically meaningful.
Worse outcomes were also seen among the treatment-naïve subgroup (n = 139) relative to matched controls. Employed treatment-naïve patients reported significantly greater work impairment than matched controls. As displayed in Table 4, untreated HCV infection was associated with nearly twice the impairment while at work (presenteeism; 24.8% vs. 12.9%, p < .01). Overall work impairment was elevated to a similar degree (28.7% vs. 14.8%, p < .01). However, the difference in absenteeism did not reach statistical significance (6.7% vs. 2.4%, p = .16). Impairment in non-work activities was also similar across HCV status (31.7% vs. 29.3%, p = .38).
Comparisons of work productivity impairment are based on 65 treatment-naïve HCV patients and 65 matched controls. All other comparisons include the entire samples.
Consistent with the trend observed in the larger HCV sample, treatment-naïve patients also used more healthcare resources than matched controls. HCV patients used all forms of healthcare at least as much as matched controls. Significantly, patients had about 60% more physician visits than controls (19.5 vs. 12.1, p < .01). Differences in ER visits (.45 vs. .35, p = .97) and hospitalizations (.36 vs. .19, p = .12) were not statistically significant.
The greater work impairment among employed treatment-naïve HCV patients is associated with significantly higher economic costs due to lost productivity. Table 5 shows the estimated value of the lost productivity. The incremental cost of HCV infection is €2,773 per employed patient per year, primarily because of greater presenteeism than matched controls. Likewise, more frequent healthcare use is reflected in higher estimated direct medical costs, which were greater to a significant degree for physician visits and total direct costs, incurring €427 more per year on average than matched controls. Overall, each treatment-naïve HCV patient was associated with an average overall incremental cost of €1,715 above the matched controls per year.
Indirect costs apply only to the 65 HCV patients and 65 matched controls who report being employed. Direct and total costs apply to the entire sample. Unemployed respondents' indirect costs are included in total costs as €0.
Treatment-naïve patients also reported worse mean physical quality of life than matched controls (43.49 vs. 45.99, p < .05), though the magnitude of this effect is slightly below the level considered clinically meaningful. There was also a trend for patients to have lower health utilities (.68 vs. 71, p = .08), which would be considered clinically meaningful. The decrement on MCS scores associated with untreated HCV did not reach statistical significance (44.72 vs. 45.93, p = .36).
The present study included data from a large survey of European adults with and without HCV infection across five counties, which measured outcomes through widely used validated scales. Patients reporting a physician diagnosis of HCV infection had significantly impaired work productivity, greater impairment in non-work activities, more healthcare resource utilization, and worse HRQoL than both the general population without HCV and propensity-matched individuals without HCV infection. The economic costs of HCV infection are considerable. We estimated work-productivity impairment due to HCV costs over €7,500 per employed patient per year, an incremental indirect cost of almost €3,000 over matched controls. Direct costs are also elevated by almost €500 per patient when compared to matched controls. The intangible cost of lower HRQoL observed in this sample was also significant, particularly regarding physical quality of life and health utility. HCV patients had consistently worse outcomes than matched controls across almost all outcome measures, though some measures of healthcare resource use did not reach significance. This seems to be primarily an issue of statistical power, as those that did not reach significance—ER visits and hospitalizations—were those measuring rare events experienced by a minority of respondents. A previous study using the same measures but using a larger, US sample found significant results, despite observing numerically smaller differences between HCV patients and controls . Otherwise, the HRQoL decrements and work impairment observed in the present analysis are consistent with those measured in the US NHWS, and of a similar magnitude .
In addition to examining HCV infected patients as a whole, the present study also considered treatment-naïve patients separately. The treatment-naïve patients are an especially interesting subgroup, as they are neither burdened by the adverse events of treatment, nor benefited from a successful therapy, and so may better represent the burden of untreated HCV infection. Relative to matched controls, these patients reported greater impairment at work and more frequent physician visits, and estimated costs were also higher. Unlike treatment-experienced patients, these individuals' elevated resource use would not be due to treatment or adverse events associated with such treatment, nor would work impairments or reduced HRQoL be due to side effects. The pattern of results in this subgroup was generally consistent with the findings in the broader comparisons, with few exceptions. Treatment-naïve patients did not show significantly elevated absenteeism relative to matched controls, but the magnitude of the difference was actually larger than in the broader comparison, suggesting that this difference is simply due to a lack of power rather than a different pattern among treatment-naïve patients.
The use of propensity scoring matching ensures that none of the effects observed could be attributed to any demographic or health history variables included in the matching analyses. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that additional variables (such as prior drug use) not included in the matching may explain the observed differences in health outcomes. However, most of the likely factors (co-morbid health conditions, health behaviors, etc.) were equated by the matching procedure.
The self-report survey methodology did not allow us to verify HCV diagnosis. However, the findings coincide with those of previous studies, suggesting this HCV sample is similar to that of other, clinically-verified HCV samples. We were also unable to confirm that controls were free of HCV infection, and given that many HCV patients are unaware of the infection it is possible that HCV patients were in the control group, causing us to underestimate the impact of HCV infection. The current study did not assess reasons for healthcare resource utilization but, given the propensity score methodology, the assumption was made that the additional resources used by the HCV group were due to the virus itself, as none of the assessed demographic or non-HCV health history variables differed between the groups. Some selection bias may also be present, in that individuals who completed the survey may have differed in some meaningful way from those who did not respond. However, for such a bias to affect the conclusions, the effect of HCV would have to be different among those who chose not to complete the survey than in those who did respond, which seems unlikely. Finally, the modest number of HCV infected respondents limits the precision of the estimates of the associated burden, though this would not contribute to spurious positive findings.
The humanistic and economic burden of HCV in Europe is substantial. The pattern of results is similar among treatment-naïve patients, which suggests that the burden of treatment is not driving the elevated resource use and lower HRQoL observed in the broader sample. Effective treatment of HCV may alleviate the work impairment associated with HCV and lower use of healthcare resources, while providing improved quality of life to the individual.
Merck & Co. funded the analysis for this study, and markets a treatment for hepatitis C infection. JV is an employee of Kantar Health, which conducted the study with funding from Merck & Co. ACEK was an employee of Merck & Co. at the time the study was completed, and GP is a contractor to Merck & Co.
JV and ACEK conceived the study. JV conducted the data analysis. All authors reviewed the results and contributed to the writing of the final manuscript.


In July 2013 Tony Bray, Scott Miles, Zippy Davies and Dave Pearce swam from Ryde to Portsmouth to raise funds and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease.
The idea had come to Tony as a personal challenge in July 2012 when, having worked away from home for a while, eating all the wrong stuff, Tony felt he he needed to get back into shape. Tony announced to all that would listen that he was going to swim the Solent – much to everyone's amusement. However he trained hard, changed his diet and lost nearly 5 stone. During 2013 Tony picked up other swimmers and together the goal was achieved.
The event grew in 2014 when many others decided they would also like to take on what is now known as the "Ian Pratt MND Challenge". Ian is someone Tony has met through taking on the challenge in 2013 and is a truly inspirational person.
In 2015 37 swimmers completed the crossing, despite having to cancel twice due to bad weather. Since 2016 so many swimmers have wanted to undertake the challenge that the swims now take place over two days.
Since 2014 the swims have raised over £160,000 on behalf of people living with MND.
Bring forth an image not just to me.
And organisers such work they make. Why all this? It's for Motor Neurone Disease!
Raising funds and awareness across the Sea Breeze.
The above poem was written by Phillip just a few days before he passed away from MND. He was born 20th October 1948 and he died on 10th October 2015.
The 2018 swims completed successfully on 26th and 27th July, with 61 swimmers completing the crossings.
Provisional dates for the 2019 swims are 25th and 26th July.
Swimmers who want to register an interest for the 2019 swims can do so here .
To donate to the Ian Pratt MND Foundation click below.


text:
Martin Müller (ur. 25 lipca 1966) – szwajcarski zapaśnik walczący w stylu wolnym. Dwukrotny olimpijczyk. Siódmy w Barcelonie 1992 i dwudziesty w Atlancie 1996. Walczył w kategorii 62 kg. Cztery razy brał udział w mistrzostwach świata a jego najlepszy wynik to jedenaste miejsce w 1994. Zajął czwarte miejsce w mistrzostwach Europy w 1995 i piąte w 1992. Wicemistrz świata juniorów z 1983 roku.

 Turniej w Barcelonie 1992
W pierwszej rundzie wygrał z zawodnikiem Indii Dharanem Singhem Dahiyą i Grekiem Georgiosem Moustopoulosemem a przegrał z Asgari Mohammadianem z Iranu i Musą Ilhan z Australii. W pojedynku o siódme miejsce pokonał Sin Sang-Gyu z Korei Południowej.
 Turniej w Atlancie 1996
Przegrał z Białorusinem Siarhiejem Smalem i Kanadyjczykiem Marty Calderem.

Przypisy

Bibliografia
 Dane na foeldeak.com

Uczestnicy Letnich Igrzysk Olimpijskich 1992
Uczestnicy Letnich Igrzysk Olimpijskich 1996
Szwajcarscy zapaśnicy
Szwajcarscy olimpijczycy
Urodzeni w 1966

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hallvord's suggested text for this issue makes sense and is clearer than the existing text. I confirmed interoperability for keydown/keypress repeating (noting the exception for Opera which Hallvord identified as a bug). I modified the text to clarify that some user agents may not support keypress (it is deprecated) and that textinput is only fired when generating text input. Let me know if there are issues.
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Two of our best juniors were part of the Wellesley House School U13s team that won the Kent Schools Championship at Polo Farm this year.
They will now go onto play in the regional school finals, later in 2018.
Congratulations to two of our junior members, Christian Jacob-King and Byron Matthews, who can runners up in the East Kent Clay Court Championships.
This was the first time they have competed together on the Kent County Tour and showed true sportsmanship, throughout the tournament.
Well done boys and good luck for the rest of the season.
All of you grave now graduated to an intermediate level and are integrating into our social tennis program.
Thank you to our head coach for his coaching throughout the year and also to the participants of this group, who have turned up in rain and shine to practice and hone their skills on court.
This years conference went very well with our head coach, Julian Matthews assisting his friends and colleagues, Clive Carrigan, former head of PTR UK and Alejandro Rossi who is the former Davis Cup coach for Chile and coach to former wold number 1, Marcelo Rios.
A big thank you for the invitation and sharing your knowledge and time with him on court.
Our top performing juniors were treated to a trip to Eastbourne to see Jason Barnet, Andy Murray's former coach and world number 1 in over 35's.
He was competing with his team mates in the the GB over 35 championships, which they subsequently won for the second year in a row, much to the delight of our juniors.
We thank him for his continued support and endorsement of the coaching program at Broadstairs & St Peter's LTC.
Our Aegon U18s Summer 2017 team, had a thrilling match at the Canterbury High Performance Centre, last week. They were playing in Division 1 and beat the competition in a shootout: 10-6, with a solid performances from Jake Roe and Dylan Jacobs.
Also a special mention to one of our U12s boys Christian Jacob-King, who stepped in at the last minute and won his doubles to help secure the win.
The club is investigating the option of refurbishing courts 1, 2 & 3 in the future, with artificial clay.
The club is waiting for the lease to be renewed by Thanet District Council and is preparing to access funding from the LTA and Sport England, to improve the tennis facilities in Broadstairs.
Star player, Christian Jacob - King has won the Deal Indoor Christmas Open (U12s).
Christian lost the first set and then had to save five match points in the second set, before evening the score at one set all.
He then went on to power through the the third set, to win the final, two sets to one.
The club and the coaching team our very proud of his efforts. His determination and strength of will, carried him through, to win this title.
We wish him every success in 2017.
Congratulations to Jason Barnett, being part of the first Scottish Team, to win at the Men's 35 & Over Inter County Championships 2016, resulting in the North of Scotland team being crowned GB champions!
Following this great achievement, Jason travelled from Eastbourne to Broadstairs with our head coach, where they went on to run group clinics and individuals lessons, over a two day period.
Then Jason endorsed the coaching program once again and presented the clubs junior Aegon teams, with their winning rosettes for 2016.
Two of our our star junior players were treated to centre court and number 1 court seats, during the first week of Wimbledon. After a winning Aegon season for both players, they were able to experience the show courts and saw both Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in action.
Congratulations to both our U12s and U9s East Kent Aegon teams, who both won their respective finals.
Both teams were competing in the Aegon East Kent Leagues and won convincingly.
Also a special mention for both the U10s, U16s and U18s for reaching the finals of their leagues too.
Our U14s competed for the first time in division 1, where they had some tough matches, but learned a great deal from the experience.
This has been a very successful season for all the teams and the club is very proud of all the effort and dedication, that all the players have shown throughout the season.
Well done to all the players and we wish them all, the best of luck for next season.


The journey of a startup founder is inherently "lonely" – a word many entrepreneurs use to narrate their stories. There are, of course, highs that kiss the sky, but there are lows, more often than not, which can make founders slip into a deep, dark abyss.
Some though manage to evade them and can successfully run with their ventures – not once, but twice or even more times.
Mukesh Bansal founded Myntra, India's most successful online fashion retailer, and sold it to Flipkart in 2014 in what was then the largest ecommerce transaction (Rs 2,000 crore deal) in the country's startup ecosystem. In Myntra, Bansal not only built a strong brand, but also a successful private labels business that continues to drive Flipkart's fashion sales, and is likely to be a critical cog in the wheel in the Walmart-Flipkart era. Bansal, like most true-blue entrepreneurs, moved on to another idea, and a fresh challenge in 2016. He launched Cure.fit, a health and fitness startup, in Bengaluru and plans to foray into 15 cities by 2020. Cure.fit expanded into the mental wellness space with Mind.fit in 2017, and into the QSR space with Eat.fit in October 2018. The startup is funded by IDG Ventures, Accel Partners, Kalaari Capital among others.
Aprameya Radhakrishna's first stint as an entrepreneur saw him set up a taxi startup for budget riders, grow it to a 15,000-vehicle fleet, and eventually sell it off to market leader Ola for $200 million in a cash-and-equity deal. That was 2015, and IIM-A alumnus Aprameya was deemed a success because he had "built and sold" his venture. Ola, of course, shuttered TaxiForSure a year later, but by then Aprameya had moved on to other pursuits. Towards the end of 2017, he launched his second entrepreneurial venture – Vokal, a peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing platform for India's regional language users. The startup has been active for nearly a year now, and is funded by Accel Partners, Blume Ventures and Shunwei Capital. Aprameya is also an active angel investor having backed about 12 startups, including Unacademy, DailyNinja, Goodbox, YourDost, etc.
Vishal Gondal founded IndiaGames back in 1999 when mobile internet was non-existent and mobile games were unheard of in India. Despite that, he managed to build it into India's largest mobile gaming company, and eventually sold it to Disney in 2011 for a lucrative $100 million. Gondal was restless and loved the "chaos" of entrepreneurship. So, three years on, he returned to the startup space with his wearable tech venture – GOQii. The California-headquartered startup counts New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Edelweiss' VC arm, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, and Ratan Tata among its investors. Gondal wants to make GOQii a holistic, subscription-based health and wellness solution that consists of a fitness band, a health coach, preventive health services, access to hospitals and diagnostic centres, and more.
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K Ganesh is one of the most prominent – and celebrated – faces of India's startup ecosystem. He has under his belt four successful greenfield ventures and exits — TutorVista, Marketics, CustomerAsset (now known as FirstSource), and IT&T (which he founded back in 1990). His fifth – and present – startup, Portea Medical, brings at home to patients the full spectrum of geriatric, chronic, post-operative care as well as allied healthcare services. Besides that, K Ganesh (along with his wife Meena Ganesh) has set up GrowthStory that nurtures and incubates startups across verticals. Ventures promoted by GrowthStory include Bigbasket, Bluestone, Homelane, Housejoy, FreshMenu, Avagmah and Acadgild. K Ganesh has gone on record to say that his modus operandi has always been to "build, scale and exit". He's also an active angel investor in startups such as Pokkt, SilverPush, DogSpot, and Oximity.
Alok Kejriwal is a leading entrepreneur in the mobile gaming and digital space. Back in 1998, when the word "startup" wasn't fashionable, Alok built Contests2Win, India's first online contesting site. In 2001, he launched a mobile-to-TV interactive platform, Mobile2Win, in China and turned it into a "sailing" success by 2005. It was later brought to India, and credited with partnering with multiple TV channels for reality shows. (Alok sold Mobile2win China to Walt Disney and Mobile2win India to Norwest Venture Partners). In 2004, he set up Media2win, an interactive digital agency, as non-conventional forms of marketing and advertising started picking up. In 2007, he launched his fourth – and most successful – startup, Games2Win. It specialised in developing original mobile games, and was a huge hit in the US market. It also ranked among the world's top 20 online gaming businesses. Alok is known for his ability to create value at minimal investments. At present, he mentors first-generation entrepreneurs and helps them connect with VC networks.


MYRTLE BEACH, S.C., Jan. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Myrtle Beach, South Carolina continues to rank as one of the fastest-growing family and vacation destinations in the nation, attracting roughly 19 million visitors annually. Given the accessibility and multitude of attractions for families, the Myrtle Beach area received several new accolades in 2018 including being ranked by Google as the "Third Most Searched Travel Destination in the World," one of the Travel Channel's "Best East Coast Beaches" and a "Top 10 Beach Town with the Highest Quality of Life" by Coastal Living. The following is the latest information on new tourism developments in the region, listed alphabetically by category.
A new 55,000-square-foot complex along the Myrtle Beach Boardwalk at 14th Avenue North called THEBlvd was completed in October 2018. The new beach club brings several new restaurants, retail stores and a live music venue. They include Tin Roof, a Nashville-based live music venue, and the national chains BurgerFi and a Starbucks. The Mexican restaurant Bandito's, which had formally resided at that location, also moved into the new complex. The building is 70% leased but also plans to include a ground floor retail store selling light groceries, beach essentials, fashionable brands and sundries. New tenants are being sought to fill the remaining space. For more information, visit https://theblvdmyrtle.com.
The City of Myrtle Beach and Coastal Carolina University (CCU) have entered into an agreement to purchase property that will be turned into a new cultural arts center and theater in downtown Myrtle Beach. The center would be located in what is now three properties in the downtown area of Myrtle Beach along Highway 501. The space would include a 250 to 300 seat theater, an art gallery, reception area, dressing rooms and rehearsal space. It would be used for performances by CCU students as well as allow the city to host up to 30 productions per year. A construction date has not yet been set.
EdVenture, previously known as the South Carolina Children's Museum is relocating to The Market Common district in Myrtle Beach. With a planned opening by March 2019, the new location will be on Howard Avenue and will feature a themed environment to be revealed at the opening geared toward learning and activity. EdVenture's mission is to inspire children and the adults who care for them with the joy of learning. This is a temporary location for EdVenture until details are finalized for a more permanent structure planned to be built in partnership with the City of Myrtle Beach in the downtown area. For more information, visit www.edventure.org/about-us/edventure-myrtle-beach/.
Plans have been approved for a mixed-use complex on Seventh Avenue North and Ocean Blvd. in downtown Myrtle Beach called the Gateway Galleria. The $20 million project will include a four-story 75,000-square-foot complex that will house over 40 visitor condos and a bottom floor filled with restaurants, fitness and retail. A completion date has yet to be determined.
A new Grand Strand Arts Trail has been formed by a local group of artists. The trail showcases 18 fine art galleries and three "artsy" restaurants in the region with an easy to follow map. A printed map of the trail can be picked up at the Myrtle Beach International Airport Welcome Center or at the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center and a digital copy can be found at https://TheArtsGrandStrand.org.
The GTS Theatre in Myrtle Beach is getting more shows and cast members in 2019. The award-winning Motown Tribute Show-Motor City Musical has added more cast members, Motown history and songs for an evening of soulful entertainment. New shows include Elvis Live starring Alex Mitchell, which will present the Elvis concert years in an almost two-hour performance, and Michael Bairefoot's Comedy and Magic Show. The Dixie Variety Show is coming in the spring of 2019 and Christmas in Dixie remains the ultimate seasonal holiday variety show. There will also be a new matinee performance of Men of Motor City featuring the legendary sounds of Detroit's all male groups. For more information, visit http://gtstheatre.com.
A new mixed-use development is planned to come to the Socastee area of Myrtle Beach along the Intracoastal waterway. The development is proposed to include 1,600 units of homes and apartments as well as 370,000 square-feet of space for retail and dining. The development would include event space, docks for boats, boat rentals and tours. There would be a mix of indoor/outdoor restaurant space, no chain restaurants, serving local seafood in a village type atmosphere along with a possible farmers market. The developer, Bennett Hofford Construction, received approval by county council in spring 2018 and construction is expected to begin in early 2019 and will take three to seven years to fully complete.
Plans are underway to restore and rebuild the historic Jerry Cox warehouse along the Riverwalk in downtown Conway, just 20 minutes west of Myrtle Beach. The building dates back to 1880 when it was used as a warehouse for the Waccamaw line of steamboats that would carry people and cargo along the river landings between there and Georgetown, SC. Local and owner Trip Nealy plans to construct a new building that meets current building codes and preserves the original history. Once completed, the warehouse will get new life as a restaurant. A construction date has not been set.
With three locations in the Grand Strand, Jump Jam Jungle Floats is sure to make a splash! The first was opened at the Crazy Sister Marina in Murrell's Inlet in the summer of 2018. This "floating water park" offers two trampolines, a rope swing, curvy water slide, six-foot platform leap, 14-foot high dive, and a staff dedicated to fun and safety. This family-friendly attraction is open for extreme sport play-by-the-hour or for private parties. Two additional locations will open the summer of 2019; one in North Myrtle Beach and one in Myrtle Beach just off the 501 in the Intracoastal Waterway. www.jumpjamgs.com.
For the first time in its over 34-year tradition of casting a king as the show's lead role, Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament Myrtle Beach has made changes to the show that include making the queen in charge and sole ruler of the land. The new show was based on guest feedback that they would like to see women having more significant roles. Guests will see one of three Myrtle Beach locals who have been cast as "queens." Other changes to the show include new custom designed and hand-made costumes, armory, music, LED lighting system and other technical upgrades. For more information, visit www.medievaltimes.com/plan-your-trip/myrtle-beach-sc.
The Track Family Fun Park in Myrtle Beach has added a new Blaster Boats attraction. The ride provides guests with an opportunity to battle and soak each other. Water cannons are mounted on each boat, so everyone is fully loaded while riding around. The park also features two multi-level go-kart rides, rookie karts, kiddie karts, Kids Country rides, Fat Daddy's Arcade, and more. Visit www.funatthetrack.com for more details.
Staff at Tradition Golf Club in Pawleys Island and Myrtlewood Pine Hills in Myrtle Beach have replaced the Tifdwarf Bermuda greens at each course with Sunday Ultra-Dwarf Bermudagrass and returned each green to its original design. As a result of the investment into the green resurfacing, greens at both courses have returned to the size of their original designs, resulting in the putting areas being about 20 percent larger. The greens project at Myrtlewood will be followed later in the year by a beautification plan to add Fescue grass in certain roughs to complement the existing mounding. Visit www.MBN.com for more information.
A new Topgolf is planned to open in early 2019 in Myrtle Beach inside a 38,382-square-foot building at 29th Ave. Topgolf features point-scoring golf games, food, drinks, big-screen TVs and live music for golfers and non-golfers alike. The golf games feature micro-chipped golf balls that produce instant scores, while also showing players their accuracy and distance on a TV screen. The venue has two floors of hitting bays features 102 climate-controlled hitting bays that can accommodate up to six players at a time. Topgolf features events for kids and families, golf tournaments, golf instructions and social leagues. Topgolf has 30 venues in the U.S. topgolf.com/us/myrtle-beach/.
Due to a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) will be getting a restored taxiway. The taxiway, which takes airplanes from the terminal to the runway, has begun pavement rehabilitation on Taxiway A and will take about a year to complete as part of the Horry County Department of Airports' multiyear, multiphase project to restore its runway system. This project will keep the airport in compliance with FAA standards and prepare MYR for continued aircraft operational growth in the years to come. The project will not interfere with flight operations as most of the work will be done at night. For more information, visit www.flymyrtlebeach.com.
Allegiant Air is launching new non-stop service to Albany, NY (ALB) and Hagerstown, MD (HGR). The seasonal air service will run two times a week and start on June 5, 2019 for Albany and June 6, 2019 for Hagerstown.
American Airlines is adding new daily non-stop service to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) starting May 3, 2019.
Frontier Airlines is launching new nonstop service operating three times a week to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) starting April 30, 2019.
Spirit Airlines is adding three new non-stop markets to Myrtle Beach International Airport. They are Indianapolis, IN (IND) operating three times a week starting May 2, 2019; Houston, TX (IAH) operating two times a week starting May 3, 2019 and Kansas City, MO operating two times a week starting May 4, 2019.
United is adding new daily non-stop service to Chicago O'Hare (ORD) starting June 6, 2019.
A new restaurant district has opened in the Barefoot Landing shopping and entertainment complex in North Myrtle Beach. The district is called Dockside Village and features waterfront dining along the Intracoastal Waterway as well as new outdoor attractions and live music. It is anchored by Lulu's restaurant, owned by musician Jimmy Buffet's sister, Lucy. The restaurant offers live nightly music, a large sandy beach area, and a ropes climbing course, arcade and other activities in the 20,000 square-foot-space. Additional new restaurants include Taco Mundo Kitchen Y Cantina (Mexican) and Blueberry's Grill (creative breakfast and lunch fare). For more information, visit www.bflanding.com.
A new food tour option is available in the Myrtle Beach area. Corina Whitehead, owner of Carolina Food Tours plans to open new food tour locations in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Conway in 2019. The guided food tours last between two and a half to three hours and include three to four restaurant stops along with historical background of the area. Tours are currently offered in Murrells Inlet, Georgetown and Pawley's Island. Prices range from $70 to $100 a person. For more information, visit www.carolinafoodtours.com.
Crepe Creation Café, located in the Market Common district of Myrtle Beach recently expanded adding a full bar and new menu items. A new daily happy hour has been added as well as new breakfast items including eggs, omelets and French entrees. Visit www.crepecreation.com for more information.
Located in historic Conway, Ms. Margaret's Soul Food Restaurant and catering recently opened, serving up traditional southern and Gullah dishes native to the African-American history of the region. The restaurant offers daily lunch and dinner specials serving regional favorites like chicken bog and staples like fried chicken and flounder. All of the ingredients are fresh and sweet tea is included in the meal price. For more information, visit www.msmargaretscatering.com.
A new music themed restaurant has opened at the former location of The Library restaurant in downtown Myrtle Beach. P. Reynolds by the Ocean features live jazz music and Cajun French style cuisine. Owner Patrice Reynolds, who is also a musician and playwright, hosts an open jazz night where local musicians can sign up to play. Other nights are filled with local and out-of-state recording artists. The venue has 61 seats and can be changed to theater-style seating or restaurant seating. Visit http://preynoldsrestaurantandtheatre.com for more information.
In early 2019, local restauranteur Greg Pranzo is opening Sweet & Sour Asian Kitchen in the Grande Dunes Marketplace in Myrtle Beach. The restaurant will feature an eclectic blend of Asian cuisines with many options served on shareable plates. It will also include unique cocktails, rice and noodle combinations plus classic signature sushi rolls. For more information, visit http://eatatsweetandsour.com.
A new brewery is planned to open in the Market Common district of Myrtle Beach in the spring of 2019 named Tidal Creek Brewhouse. It will be owned by Myrtle Beach entrepreneur, Michael Grossman who has been in the beer brewing industry for over 23 years. Myrtle Beach currently has three brew pubs and one production brewery.
A new South American restaurant has opened in downtown Myrtle Beach named La Vinotinto. The restaurant offers dishes from Venezuela and Columbia and plans to also offer dishes from Peru. Classic dishes include Pabellon Criolla; a shredded beef, rice and beans dish, and Reina Pepiada; bread filled with chicken and avocado. Visit www.facebook.com/lavinotintomb for more information.
A new local chocolate shop has opened in the Market Common district of Myrtle Beach. Uncommon Chocolatier specializes in made-from-scratch, gourmet fudge and other specialty chocolates. Using only fresh ingredients, they have over 100 flavors of fudge available from gluten-free to sugar-free to vegan. Visit www.facebook.com/The-Uncommon-Chocolatier for more information.
The Carolina Country Music Fest (CCMF) will return for its fifth year to Myrtle Beach from June 6-9, 2019. The festival features more than 30 of the industry's biggest stars. The music group Alabama will headline this year's festival as Myrtle Beach is where the group got their start playing at the iconic music club, the Bowery. Other performers announced include Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, Florida Georgia Line, Brothers Osbourne, Midland and many more! For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.carolinacountrymusicfest.com.
The City of Myrtle Beach and Horry County have recently been declared as autism friendly following the nearby beach town of Surfside Beach earning the first-ever designation in 2016. Area restaurants and attractions are collaborating with the Champion Autism Network, an organization spearheaded by a local mother with a son on the autism spectrum, to train staff to spot and react to autism-related challenges, offering sensory-friendly programming and events and create unique perks to ensure the area remains a seamless vacation option for families. For more information, visit https://championautismnetwork.com.
South Carolina is getting its first ever college football bowl game. The Myrtle Beach Bowl is coming to Brooks Stadium at Coastal Carolina University starting in 2020 and will be shared by Conference USA, the Mid-American Conference, and the Sun Belt. ESPN will own, operate and televise the game. The three conferences will participate in the game four times each from 2020 to 2025. Visit https://www.myrtlebeachbowlgame.com/ for more information.
Vacation Myrtle Beach, one of the largest hotel groups in the Myrtle Beach area, featuring 14 oceanfront properties and nearly 4,000 accommodation units, recently completed extensive renovation of The Caravelle Resort main building accommodations. The massive project revamped hundreds of guest rooms to include new contemporary furniture, bedding, kitchens, and bathrooms. This includes the highly-popular and unique Oceanfront Jacuzzi Suites, which each feature a luxurious Jacuzzi tub, two bathrooms, full kitchen, oceanfront balcony and king bed. The top-rated Santa Maria Restaurant also features new renovations, welcoming guests for breakfast, lunch and in-season dinner prepared by an award-winning chef and his team. The Caravelle Resort offers an impressive oceanfront location on the famous Golden Mile in Myrtle Beach. For more information, visit www.thecaravelle.com.
A new luxury RV resort will be developed in the Myrtle Beach area beginning the summer of 2019. The first phase of Carolina Pines RV Resort developed by Sun Communities will include approximately 470 RV sites and cabins but may be doubled in years to come. The resort will also include a waterpark, pools, dog park, playgrounds, walking trails, mini golf, bistro dining and more. Visit www.suncommunities.com/carolinapines for more information.
A new Marriott-branded resort hotel managed by local Brittain Resorts & Hotels is coming to central Myrtle Beach. The development is happening in two phases. One resort tower is currently under construction and then another proposed tower will be built in the second phase with the addition of public space at the end of 21st Avenue North in Myrtle Beach. The public space would consist of a 60-foot vista to represent a maritime forest. The resort is also planned to have space for an outdoor pool, lazy river and a rooftop bar and restaurant on the 26th floor. Developers also plan to add two mixed-use areas that would house retail, restaurants and entertainment. The second phase does not currently have a start date.
Strand Capital Group is collaborating with Hilton Grand Vacations to build a new hotel featuring 330 luxury oceanfront units reaching 27 stories high. Now under construction with a projected completion date in the summer of 2019, the hotel is located at 1600 North Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach and will be named Ocean Enclave by Hilton Grand Vacations Club. All units will be between one to three-bedroom suites and include full kitchens, private balconies and spacious living and dining areas. Visit https://www.hiltongrandvacations.com/south-carolina/ocean-enclave-hgvc for information.
A new Residence Inn Marriott on 26th Avenue South Ocean Boulevard is planned to be completed in February 2019. The 305,964-square-foot hotel will be 17 stories high and include its own parking structure and pool. The property will be comprised of spacious studio, one and two-bedroom suites with separate living and sleeping areas along with a fully equipped kitchen. Complimentary grocery delivery service will be an amenity of the property as well as a free hot breakfast and evening social hours. The hotel will also be pet-friendly. Visit www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/myrrm-residence-inn-myrtle-beach-oceanfront for more information.
A new oceanfront resort property, South Bay Inn & Suites, recently opened in Myrtle Beach on 6th Avenue North Ocean Blvd in Myrtle Beach along the boardwalk. Developed by Buchanan Motels LLC, the resort totals 237,000-square-feet, is 19-stories high and includes 242 guest rooms, an exercise gym, game room, full service bar area and sit-down restaurant. This family-friendly resort also has an onsite waterpark featuring two slides, a lazy river, a small kids water play area, a larger pool and two separate hot tubs. For more information, visit www.southbayinnandsuites.com.
A historic hotel in central Myrtle Beach got a new retro makeover in August 2018. The Waikiki Village Retro Hotel located on 15th Avenue South across the street from the beach originally opened in 1963. This Mid-Century Modern building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was renovated with historic tax credits to highlight its original "retro" splendor and retain its mid-century charm. The property also has an outdoor grill, Bocci Ball, outdoor pool and hot tub. Visit www.waikikimyrtlebeach.com for more information.
The Myrtle Beach area, popularly known as the Grand Strand, stretches from Little River to Pawleys Island, comprising 14 distinct cities along the South Carolina coast. Home to 60 miles of sandy beaches, an assortment of entertainment and family attractions, Southern hospitality and world-class golf, the Myrtle Beach area presents the quintessential vacation experience.


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