Constant Desbordes Painting of Jean-Louis Alibert Administering the Smallpox Vaccine ("La Vaccine"): An Historic Vaccination or Artistic Imagination?

In 1822, France's Ministry of the Interior, concerned about dropping vaccination rates among the population, commissioned the French artist Constant Joseph Desbordes (1761-1828) to create an artwork that would educate the public about the benefits of the smallpox vaccine. The Painting that resulted is entitled: "La Vaccine" ("The Cowpox Inoculation") and a copy of it is entitled "La Vaccine au Chateau de Liancourt" ("Performing the Vaccination against Smallpox in the Chateau of Liancourt"). The highlight of the painting is its central figure, one of France's most distinguished physicians, Jean-Louis Alibert (1768-1837) performing, in dramatic fashion, the arm to arm method of smallpox vaccination that was common at that time.

The Church Spire Sign.

We are pleased to introduce in this issue of Clinics in Dermatology a new section entitled "Art in Dermatology", which explores the interface between the visual arts and dermatology. This contribution focuses on the architectural structure known as a church spire that sits atop a church tower and which has lent its name to a dermatologic sign. Key phrases play an important role in clinical dermatology and dermatopathology.

Editors and Journals: Part III-" (Who Is In Charge)?".

Judging whether an editor is good at the job is essential; however, this task may be difficult or even impossible. Several factors are involved, many of which are beyond the control of an editor. We examined some of such situations, which are as follows: (1) Reviewer's abuse of privileged information, in which a reviewer or an associate, who is likely to be a competitor, directs members of their laboratory to rapidly replicate the data and submit the resulting paper in the same or another journal while delaying publication of the submitted paper; (2) defective micromanagement by a stakeholder or owner, such as failure to order paper for the publication of a journal; (3) penny-wise dollar-foolish mismanagement by the owner, such as limiting the figures allowed to an absurdly low number in a dermatology journal (we have a visual specialty); (4) factional abuse, such as when members of a society use a gimmick to exercise outsized influence to effect a change in journal's content, and (5) " (who is in charge)?," in which changes in the governance of an ownership society or publisher affect quality of the journal.

The dermatologist who delivered a future American President.

Oscar Samuel Hoffman (1856-1926) was the first Jewish physician to settle in Omaha, Nebraska in 1883. He taught dermatology for 25 years at the Omaha Medical College and University of Nebraska, after completing postgraduate work in Vienna under the noted dermatologist Moritz Kaposi (1837-1902). His expertise also included obstetrics, and he became the Professor of Obstetrics and Dermatology at Omaha Medical College.

Jewish women dermatologists who escaped the perils of National Socialism: Triumph over adversity.

The period of National Socialism (1933-1945), including the Holocaust and World War II, has had a profound impact on dermatology. We identify Jewish women dermatologists who escaped the perils of National Socialism, document their struggles, and describe their contributions to medicine and dermatology. Medical, history, and media databases were searched.

Three dermatologists who were nominated for a Nobel Prize: Albert Neisser, Erich Hoffmann, and Aaron B. Lerner.

During the past 125 years, three dermatologists have been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Albert Neisser (1855-1916), Erich Hoffmann (1868-1959), and Aaron B. Lerner (1920-2007). Neisser was nominated 22 times for his discovery of the gonococcus and for his work on the serologic testing for syphilis through complement fixation.

Eponyms that honor Jewish dermatologists: A celebration and a remembrance, Part three: Jewish physicians who practiced during the Holocaust and in its aftermath.

Part III of this contribution continues to celebrate the many contributions that Jewish physicians have made to advance the specialty of dermatology, as reflected by eponyms that honor their names. Part I covered the years before 1933, a highly productive period of creativity by Jewish dermatologists, especially in Germany and Austria. The lives of 17 Jewish physicians and their eponyms were described in Part I.

Epicanthoplasty: Social and historical perspectives.

The epicanthus is a fold of skin covering the inner corner of the eye which blends into the nasal skin. It is a cosmetic feature of many populations of the world. The surgical alteration of this structure was first developed for the epicanthus found in such congenital genetic conditions as Down syndrome in the West.

Eponyms and clinical entities from the land of Israel.

Seven eponyms have been pioneered by dermatologists in Israel: Brenner's sign, Chanarin-Dorfman syndrome, granulated sweetener packet sign, isopathic phenomenon of Sagher, lanolin paradox, Nakar-Ingber disease, and Wolf's isotopic response. In addition, there are three id reactions described by Israeli dermatologists: leishmanid, pediculid, and scabid. There is also the acronym PEMPHIGUS, which stands for the causative reasons for pemphigus.

Editors and Journals: Part II-Relationship between the Editor-in-Chief and the Owner of the Journal: The Consequences When Editorial Independence Dissolves.

A symbiotic relationship between the editor and the owner of a medical journal is important for the journal to fulfill successfully the expectations of its readers and authors. Editorial freedom and transparency by owner of the journal are important qualities that enable the editor to provide valid scientific information in an unbiased manner. Unresolved impedance of editorial freedom or the persistent lack of transparency or both frequently results in untenable consequences for editor and often a substantial defamation of the journal's credibility.

Efficacy and safety of apremilast in patients with moderate-to-severe genital psoriasis: Results from DISCREET, a phase 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background: Genital psoriasis can be stigmatizing, is highly prevalent among patients with psoriasis, and has limited treatment options. Apremilast is a unique oral immunomodulating phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor approved for psoriasis treatment.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of apremilast 30 mg twice daily in patients with genital psoriasis.

Eponyms that honor Jewish dermatologists: A celebration and a remembrance, Part two: Jewish physicians who practiced between 1933 and 1945.

This is the second installment of a three-part contribution that highlights the achievements of Jewish dermatologists as reflected by eponyms that honor their names. It covers the period 1933-1945 when the Nazis took over Germany and how the lives of 14 notable Jewish physicians, mostly in Germany, were impacted during the Holocaust. Many of them fled from the persecution, bringing their academic talents to other lands such as the United States.

Ceratum Galeni: An old eponym honoring Galen and his cold cream.

Ceratum Galeni is an old eponym honoring the name of Galen of Pergamum (129 to cca 216 CE) and a cold cream he described more than 1,800 years ago. We traced this eponym back to the 14th and 16th centuries in published medical texts by Guy de Chauliac (ca 1300-1368) and Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564). We also found a 4th-century reference in a medical work by Oribasius (ca 320-403 CE) to a mixture of wax and oil of roses based on Galen's cold cream formula.

British Royalty and Aristocracy: Their skin maladies Part II. Queen Mary II's death from hemorrhagic smallpox.

In 1694, Queen Mary II (1662-1694) died at age 32 of hemorrhagic smallpox, a rare and fatal form of the viral infection. This contribution presents the clinical features of Queen Mary II's smallpox infection. It also reviews, from a modern-day perspective, the disseminated intravascular coagulopathy involved in the pathophysiology of hemorrhagic smallpox, which is characterized by thrombocytopenia, coagulation factor deficiency, and hypofibrinogenemia.