United Kingdom

Eminently civilized, but not as buttoned-down as England; fanciful, but not as ephemerally as Ireland; witty, but not as barbed as Scotland, Wales has its own buzzwords.Portmeirion Hay-on-Wye Cardiff Castle.These are just three of the whimsical and amazing landmarks you'll find in this part of the British isles that will tickle your fancy in ways you won't find anywhere else. And many of these locations have a man-made wackiness and inventiveness about them that reveal imagination, wit and the occasional sense of sheer lunacy.

For the first time in this country, an approved injectable drug will be used as an alternative to the stress test to evaluate the effects of suspected coronary artery disease.The drug will make it possible for a "tremendous number of people," who cannot tolerate exercise up to peak levels, to be diagnosed for this disease, researchers said yesterday.I.V. Persantine is a new intravenous form of oral Persantine, which has been used in this country for chest pain since the 1960s. The drug, also known as dipyridamole, will be available next month.

Baltimore QFest, one of two LGBT film festival set for 2012, will unspool June 21-24 at various locations throughout the city. Organizers plan to show some 60 feature films, documentaries and shorts during the four-day festival. Where the films will be shown has yet to be determined, said Raymond Murray, the event's artistic director. Venues under consideration include the Charles Theatre , the Maryland Institute College of Art , the Creative Alliance at the Patterson and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland.

Michael Eastwood and Jennifer Reiff adored Burt, the black-and-tan miniature Dachshund they adopted from a rescue shelter in Brooklyn, N.Y., three years ago. The couple lavished him with love and dog treats -- and are now distraught that one of those treats, they say, apparently killed him. Burt died last summer after eating a popular dog treat called Greenies, they say. A veterinary surgeon removed 3 1/2 -feet of small intestine along with a spongy green...

The da Vinci robotic technology allows doctors to perform more precise surgeries. The technique also enables patients to recover more quickly with fewer complications in many cases. The technique is used to perform many different types of surgeries. Dr. Gavin Henry, program director of the surgical residency at Saint Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, uses it over traditional lobectomy surgery to treat patients with lung cancer. The hospital said Henry is poised to outpace every surgeon in Maryland in the use of robotic technology for this operation.

The sales pitch to 46 uniformed men was simple: Welcome to Baltimore. Next time, bring a tall ship. City and state officials and the nautical community have begun a marketing drive aimed at filling the Inner Harbor with majestic sailing vessels and gray-hulled warships for the War of 1812 commemoration finale, Sept. 6-14, 2014. On Wednesday, they pitched military attaches from 40 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Navies begin planning their sea exercises and courtesy calls about a year in advance, and there's a lot of jockeying among East Coast seaports to secure the biggest and best ships for summer events.

Think of Dorry Segev and Sommer Gentry as intellectual magpies. The glittery ideas they filch from fields as diverse as swing dancing, systems analysis, water skiing and medicine seemingly have little in common. But Segev and Gentry weave them together into a strong yet flexible structure designed to protect fragile lives. Segev, 41, is a transplant surgeon at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, a pianist who studied at Juilliard and a former computer prodigy. Gentry, 35, an assistant mathematics professor at the Naval Academy, was a doctoral student when she caught the public's attention by designing a dancing robot.

The Under Armour brand is poised for continued growth with a soon-to-be-released football cleat that's expected to drive footwear sales, as well as plans to keep expanding into international markets, executives told stockholders Tuesday. Consumers who choose Under Armour over other sports apparel brands do so because the products help solve problems for athletes, said Kevin Plank, the company's chairman, president and CEO, during the company's annual stockholders' meeting at its South Baltimore headquarters.

The Clocktower Centre, a shopping center for which Columbia-based LDR International provided initial market research and retail development strategy, opened recently at the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda.Princess Margaret of the United Kingdom participated in the center's official opening.LDR is preparing a feasibility study for a conference center and public function rooms at the dockyard.

Trafalgar House Residential, Maryland, has begun building the first homes at Montgomery Meadows, a community of 112 luxury single-family homes off Route 103 in Ellicott City.Priced from the low $200,000s, the homes have three to four bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. Features include 9-foot ceilings, large eat-in kitchens and family rooms with fireplaces. Master bedroom suites have vaulted ceilings.Trafalgar House is a United Kingdom-based international group engaged in commercial and residential property, construction and engineering, passenger shipping, hotels and cargo shipping.