Great Innovators Research Articles

Professor Natan Goldblum and the Combined Vaccination Program in Gaza

Blum et al. in November 2010 described the pioneering work of Natan Goldblum, a great Israeli virologist and innovator in polio immunization.1 Another important facet of his work was as a key contributor to development of the combined or sequential oral polio vaccine (OPV) and inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) programs used in the West Bank and Gaza since the late 1970s. Goldblum and Joseph Melnick from Baylor University were asked to consult in 1978 with the Israel Ministry of Health and the Gaza and West Bank public health services. During this time, I was the Coordinator for Health in the West Bank and Gaza for the Israeli Ministry of Health (from 1978-1994), with oversight responsibility for health in the West Bank and Gaza including immunization policy and other aspects of health services and training of Palestinian health providers. At that time, we faced continuing polio epidemics, mostly in Gaza where sanitary conditions were poor, despite high levels of OPV coverage. As an outcome of the discussions with Goldblum and Melnick, a new approach they recommended was jointly agreed to by the Israeli and Palestinian health officials. This accord expanded the routine immunization program from four doses of OPV by adding three doses of IPV given in a mixed sequence during the first year of life. This method was later dubbed the Gaza system. Coverage was soon greater than 85%, and catch-up campaigns were conducted for persons aged up to 18 years. Polio disappeared during the next two years and was effectively eradicated from these previously endemic areas.2 During the 1980s, Israel maintained an OPV-only policy, but with a trial IPV program in 2 districts of the country. In 1988, an outbreak of paralytic poliomyelitis occurred mainly among adolescents and young adults in one of these trial districts where the IPV-only policy was in effect (15 cases and one death). As a result of this episode, Israel adopted the Gaza system, and total eradication of polio was rapidly achieved.3,4 After eradication of polio in Gaza, the West Bank, and subsequently in Israel, the Gaza system was adopted and continues in other parts of the Middle East. A combined or sequential OPV and IPV program is an important policy option for polio control.5,6 In light of challenges in countries in which the virus is still endemic (Nigeria, India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), with recent spread to other countries, the combination of OPV and IPV should again be considered for the end stage of polio eradication in remaining high-risk areas.7,8

Changing the Subject: Marvin Carlson and Theatre Studies, 1959-2009 (review)

Reviewed by: Changing the Subject: Marvin Carlson and Theatre Studies, 1959-2009 Martin Meisel Joseph Roach , ed. Changing the Subject: Marvin Carlson and Theatre Studies, 1959-2009. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2009. Pp. xii + 356. $75.00 (Hb). [End Page 112] The great thing about a festschrift for someone like Marvin Carlson is that it so readily lends itself to a retrospective look at a field during a time of radical transformation. Carlson's career overlays the whole modern development of Theatre Studies; his writings and his teaching kept pace with its unfolding, at some junctures pointing the way; and his students, many distinguished in their own right, are at hand to bear witness to the different stages and, not coincidentally, to Carlson's remarkable range. Carlson entered the field when it had a modest presence in Speech-Drama and Language and Literature departments and, otherwise, was still the province of devoted amateurs, meant in the best sense. But a rapprochement between theatre and drama studies — so obvious to us, so necessary — was in the works. (The life of this journal coincides with the dates in the title, and of course, like Carlson, it continues full blast.) "Changing the Subject" is the ingenious, multivalent headline for all this, and Roach's warm introduction offers a concentrated overview, tracing Carlson's trajectory, as scholar, teacher, and theatregoer, in parallel with that of the field. It also places the contributions of the other writers, mostly Carlson's former students, in relation to each other and to the assimilative metamorphoses of their mentor's interests and approaches. These ran from intrinsic and contextual history with a European focus, initially French and German; to the semiotics of the stage and then of the playhouse proper; to performance studies; to the phenomenology of memory, cognitive and cultural; to dramatic heteroglossia; to postmodern director's theatre; to Arabic-speaking theatre. There are fourteen essays in the book, apart from Roach's introduction and afterword, and a charming, rueful, and perfectly tuned preface by Paula Vogel on her experience of Carlson as a teacher: exemplary in himself, shaping the raw materials of passion and intelligence with a benign and artful hand. Doug Peterson's piece extends this perspective anecdotally through the turmoil of the late sixties and the emergence of a "radical pedagogy." A few of the essays that follow seem caught in time, and more than a few exemplify a facet or a phase of Carlson's interests or gracefully tie their subject to a particular book. His Haunted Stage: Theatre as Memory Machine (2001) appears to have particular traction, notably in Eszter Szalczer's "The Case of Strindberg's Modernity," which — apart from its bow to Carlson's long engagement with the great modern innovators of the North — offers an excellent close reading of The Ghost Sonata. The Haunted Stage also percolates through Gay Gibson Cima's "Speaking of Human Trafficking," focused primarily on two "performative" events: one, a bicentennial commemoration, involving Queen Elizabeth II, of Britain's ending its slave trade, which echoed a celebration a hundred years earlier under Queen Victoria; the other, appearances on London lecture platforms, in the year of the earlier celebration and just days [End Page 113] apart, of the African American abolitionist Sarah Redmond and the pro-slavery advocate, the flamboyant Lola Montez. Striking and revelatory is Cima's deployment of visual materials, notably portraits of Queen Charlotte, George III's reputedly mixed-race consort, and Annie Leibovitz's portrait of Elizabeth II. In one of the best pieces in the book, David Savran also invokes Carlson's ghosting trope in putting the case for serious attention to musical theatre, so snobbishly ignored in academic scholarship and curricula until recently. He lays down the criteria for its serious study, as well as identifying the difficulties, and exposes the flimsiness of the "evolutionary romance" that prevails as the received history (226). Best of all, he gives an account of the Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin/Moss Hart collaboration, Lady in the Dark, as an example of what can be done, alert to its barometric immersion in contemporary cultural and social politics (Carlson's "contextualization," with grace notes...

The Phoenix: St Paul’s Cathedral and the Men who Made Modern London by Leo Hollis

253 Plot forced the court into even greater strictness about access and security. The king showed his colors during this period through ceremony, for example by the warm or cold reception of addresses. This period also saw a planned withdrawal from unruly central London: the Oxford Parliament, renovations at Windsor, and the erection of the English Versailles at Winchester. The book relies on a wide range of primary sources, including guidebooks, household ordinances, establishments and accounts, diaries and letters, and palace art and architecture. The result provides a useful counterpoint to Brian Weiser’s account of access at the court of Charles II. Still, one might ask for more. Although Ms. Keay asserts in the Introduction that gesture symbolized human relationships, there is relatively little semiotic interpretation of the various ceremonies she describes. Nor does she address court entertainments, the royal patronage of the theater, or the king’s frequent alfresco appearances in St. James’s Park. Given the success of the Restoration and Coronation entries, one wonders why a monarch so concerned with image and fine-tuning his relations with his subjects did not go on more progresses or processions through London. While Ms. Keay quotes eyewitness accounts, there is too little on the audience’s pushback: how did Charles II’s subjects attempt to manipulate him through ceremony or their responses to it? Finally, there is only a brief discussion of the king’s loose morality and its effect on his image. The Charles II that emerges from this book is always certain, always in control, and always concerned with what his subjects would think. But that does not quite square with the monarch who chose indiscreet drinking companions or inflicted his mistress on his consort as a lady in waiting. Still, Ms. Keay has given us a magnificent book on Charles II’s ceremonial life. Robert Bucholz Loyola University, Chicago LEO HOLLIS. The Phoenix: St Paul’s Cathedral and the Men who Made Modern London. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008. Pp. x ⫹ 390. £20. These days you have to look hard to find the tallest freestanding stone column in the world. The Monument, which once soared high above London’s skyline, is now rather hidden from view among the much taller skyscrapers of the modern city. Christopher Wren, who designed it, first planned for the column to be surmounted by a phoenix, an apt symbol with which to commemorate the devastating fire that destroyed much of the City in September 1666. However, concerned that the wings of the bird might act dangerously as a sail, such was the column’s exposure, he opted finally for a flaming urn, a solution that may have been suggested to him by Robert Hooke, with whom Wren worked closely on the project. In the last few years, the Monument has itself been revitalized, undergoing significant restoration , and it has a new ‘virtual’ prominence . From its top a camera takes panoramic images of the city, which are available, constantly updated, in real time on the Internet [http://www. themonument.info/views/]. It is the work of the video artist Chris MeighAndrews . We can imagine that Wren and Hooke, great technological innovators both, would have approved, for the Monument was designed by them to have a double purpose: to be a place 254 of experiment (its primary scientific purpose was to act as a zenith telescope ) as well as a memorial. Wren and Hooke were both significant figures in London’s rebuilding. Hooke, with apparently unflagging energy , worked as one of the City’s Surveyors , designing a number of buildings in addition, and Wren led a large number of projects, not least the rebuilding of the City’s churches. His most important building was of course St Paul’s, which became perhaps the more prominent symbol of the City’s renaissance after the Fire. Like the Monument, the Cathedral no longer dominates the cityscape as it did, although for the past 80 years a handful of long views of it have been protected in recognition of the building’s historical importance in the urban landscape and its wider national significance. In 1709, the poet James Wright recorded in Phoenix Paulina a rebuilt cathedral and...

Duo Duo: Master of Wishful Thinking

COVER FEATURE Author note:Ofthe poems cited inthisnomination statement,Iwould liketo acknowledge translations fromthe followingthree pioneeringbooks on Duo Duo inthe English-speaking world:GregoryLee and JohnCayley'sLookingOut from Death: FromtheCultural RevolutiontoTiananmen Square (1989), Maghiel van Crevel'sLanguage Shattered:Contemporary ChinesePoetry and Duoduo (1996), and GregoryLee's TheBoyWhoCatches Wasps (2002). Atsome places I have modifiedthem or have used myown translations fromContemporary Chinese Literature: FromtheCultural Revolution totheFuture(2007). Duo is a great lonetraveler crossingborders ofnation, language, and history as well as a resolute seerof someofthemost basic,universal human values that haveoften beenshadowedinourtroubled modern time:creativity, nature, love,dreams, andwishful thinking. Bornin 1951,Duo Duo's poetrycareer began in the early1970sin Beijingduring theisolated,midnight hoursof theCultural Revolution. Asa lone,disillusioned RedGuard youth, hewasinspired byhisclandestine readingofBaudelaire and other Western authors. His veryfirst poemsimmediately strike one withunusually intense and abstract yetvivid visions, suchas in thebeginning linesofthe shortpoem "Unti tied " (1972):"Thesoundof singing eclipsesthebloodstench ofrevolution / Augustis stretched likea cruelbow."Or,in "Untitled" (1973):"Thebloodofone classhas drainedaway / The archers ofanother class are stillloosingtheir arrows." Or,in "To the Sun" (1973),whereastheentire poemsounds likea reformulated ode to theomnipresence andomnipotence ofthesun,anorthodox referencetothe "great helmsman" Chairman Maoat thattime, thelastlineunderscores, orexposes, theparadoxical fateofthesunitself: "Youcreate ,risingin theEast / You are unfree, like a universally circulating coin!"Thesepowerful ,bare-boned epiphaniesall critiquedthe Cultural Revolution from an insider's pointof viewand ina highly sophisticated, dialectical, and original style.In Duo Duo's 1976poem "Instructions," he further summarizes hisand hiscontemporaries' artistic deedsconducted in theunderground oftheCultural Revolution and delivers a soberconclusion: "Whattheyhave experienced - isonlythetragedy ofbirth." Through suchnegative visions, Duo Duo gainedhisownhistorical subjectivity andindividualagency . He paid a highpriceforthese insights. An abandoned, bad-blooded bastard childofrevolution and modernism, Duo Duo from theveryonsetofhiscareer foresees a life thatis exiledfrom butalsoimprisoned byhistory : "From that superstitious moment on/The motherland was led awayby another father" ("Blessings," 1972);"Ah moonlight, hinting at theclearly seenexile. . ." ("Night," 1973).In "Marguerite's TravelswithMe" (1974),Duo Duo revealstheultimate existential gap faced by thelyrical protagonist tornbetween a real Chinaandanimaginary West. Thepoem'sfirst partstarts withlines"Likeyoupromised the Sun / Getcrazy, Marguerite," echoing Baudelaire 'sfamous"Invitation totheVoyage," and inviting a certain Marguerite toa spontaneous, freewheeling rhapsody ofcosmopolitan travel. Butsucha fantastic voyage onlyendsup,inthe secondpart,in pledgingthisimaginary "Ah, noble Marguerite / Ignorant Marguerite" to takean alternate, heavyhearted, utterly soberingvisittotheimpoverished Chinesecountrysidethat hadbeenhopelessly stuck inthemire ofa failedrevolutionary utopia.Theidealized, romantic bondbetween Marguerite and "me" thushas tobe rendered as an impossible culde -sac.Duo Duo's early poetry hencegenerates meaningful andnuancedreflections onhistory 48 1WorldLiterature Today kUUAI||UMKUWjUUWBI ^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H and revolution as well as on modernity and modernism, sketching a Sisyphean fate imposed uponindividuals from within andwithout the borders ofnation andhistory. Duo Duo's poemsofthe1980scontinued butalso expandedon hispoeticexperimentation . Inparticular, Duo Duoproves himself tobe a great innovator oflinguistic forms andpoetic craft whoseliberating poweris alwaysinspiringandsublime . Constantly, Duo Duo betson "wishful thinking": "Ifthemaking oflanguage comesfrom thekitchen / Theheart is thebedroom .Theysay:/ Iftheheart is thebedroom / Wishful thinking is thebedroom's master" ("LanguageIs Made In the Kitchen," 1984). Meanwhile, Duo Duo increasingly focuseson thetheme ofthenorthern landscapes ofChina, intending to invokeand restore an abundant correspondence betweennatureand ancient human spirit against theensnarement ofmodern history anditsrigid, harsh noisethat lacksany humanor natural breath. Thiselemental tendency is showninhispoem"Northern Voices" (1985), whoseending linesremind oneofLaozi, theancient Taoistphilosopher's teaching that "thegreatest utterance issilence": "Alllanguages /Shallbeshattered bythewordless voice." Butitwouldbea gravemistake tosaythat Duo Duo isa poetwhohasrenounced hopeand theprospect ofhumancommunication. While cleansing andreforming a polluted, ossified language ,Duo Duo seeksto speak,nevertheless, through a different medium, and paystribute to itsgreatpowerand awe. Another poemin this"North" sequence, "Northern Sea" (1984), depicts a vast, almost eschatological, panoramic sceneofsolitude, alienation, and desolateness. Andyetthesamepoemcloseswith anultimate affirmation ofhumanlove,evenifsuchlove maybemerely a phantom evoked from thepast "Butfrom a largebasket lifted up high/ I see allthose whohavelovedme/Closely, closely, closely-huddledtogether " In a mostdramatic fashion, Duo Duo left Chinaon precisely June 4, 1989,after witnessingtheincidents ofTiananmen Squareat first hand.Duringtheensuingfifteen years,Duo Duo lived in exile and traveledthroughout westernEurope,NorthAmerica,and many otherpartsoftheworld,seemingto literally fulfill the darkprophecies of his own early poetry written during theCultural Revolution. Inpoemswritten shortly after hesettled inthe ^^^^^^^Em¥mSI^^^^^^^^M ^^^Hüü^^^^ ■ •'• ..'übe ^Fì^ wji^^^K^^^H^^^B ^^^^^^^^^M EHHI^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H COVER FEATURE Mai Mang (YibingHuang) was borninChangde, Hunan, in 1967 and inherited Tujia ethnicminority blood from hismother.He established himself as a poet inthe 1980s and received hisBA,MA,and PhD...

The Mayo Brothers: An American Surgical Legacy

ABSTRACTFew in the history of surgery and just as few in the history of medicine can reach the level of clinical visibility as achieved by the Mayo brothers. The brothers changed the face of medicine while they were alive, and their fame and influence continued to grow after their death in 1939. The Mayo American surgical legacy had incredible proportions. The brothers systematically modified the field as few others had done before. They were great surgical innovators who took the surgical techniques of others and added a touch of their own to make the surgical procedure better and more secure. The Mayos were the stars regionally, nationally, and around the world. They attracted attention from their generation and occupied center stage long after. To speak of the Mayos is to speak of the quintessential American values of professionalism, respect, commitment, and caring for their fellow human beings. Their creation, the Mayo Clinic, surpassed the wildest hopes and predictions that anyone could have had regarding their best dreams.

Nash Mills—The Endless Web Revisited

A watermill is known to have existed on the river Gade since the 11th century on the site of Nash Mills, Hertfordshire, where a purpose-built paper mill was constructed in the late 18th century. In 1810 the mill was purchased by John Dickinson, one of the great innovators of the paper industry. The mill evolved significantly during the 19th and early 20th centuries as part of Dickinson's expanding business, which at one stage comprised five mills in the locality. Nash Mills remained in the ownership of John Dickinson and his successors until 1990, ceasing production in 2006, the last of Dickinson's mills to do so. Using documentary and building evidence, this article examines the development of the mill, emphasising the relationships between personalities, events, structures, processes, and changing business and technological influences.

Tata Nano: Poor Man's Car or Radical Innovation?

A perusal of the history of innovation shows that great innovators brought the goods enjoyed by the elite to the masses. Tata’s Nano will go up as another example in this inspiring history. While some argue that the recession is a bad time to launch new products, a body of research shows that new products are the least resistant to recessions. Indeed, the Nano has the potential of flourishing despite the recession, becasue of its extraordinary low price. It’s a radical innovation precisely because it is a poor man’s car.

On being a pathologist: a turning point in my career

I was born and bred in Argentina. I completed my medical education and basic pathology training in Buenos Aires. Soon after, in 1968, my husband, Professor Daniel Catovsky and I, with a very young child, came to London, England, for further postgraduate education. It was then when I had the fortune of meeting and working with the late Professor Anthony Everson Pearse, the great innovator and histochemist. The technique of immunocytochemistry, as originally proposed by Coons et al [1], had begun to emerge as a potential method to understand mechanisms of disease by demonstrating specific cellular products. In parallel the nascent field of “gut hormones” had begun to take center stage, in particular with the isolation, purification, and subsequent synthesis of 2 putative gut hormones: secretin and enteroglucagon. Armed with specific antibodies and the nascent immunocytochemistry method, I was able to improve the original methods and demonstrate the cellular origin, in the gut, of these 2 hormones [2,3]. This was followed by the demonstration that there was a third endocrine cell type in the pancreatic islets, the so-called D cell, that produced the paracrine regulator, somatostatin [4]. These discoveries earned me the honor of being the eighth most quoted author, and a couple of the papers were selected by the “current content watch dog” as scientific highlights. The early 1970s were exciting times for endocrine pathology. Ignited with enthusiasm and following the concept of Feyrter [5] of the presence of “clear” cells (possibly endocrine/paracrine cells), I began to search, using specific antibodies, for the presence of these cells in other endodermal derivatives, like the lung. Lo and behold the

An actor's work: a student's diary

Stanislavski’s ‘system’ has dominated actor-training in the West since his writings were first translated into English in the 1920s and 30s. His systematic attempt to outline a psycho-physical technique for acting single-handedly revolutionized standards of acting in the theatre. Until now, readers and students have had to contend with inaccurate, misleading and difficult-to-read English-language versions. Some of the mistranslations have resulted in profound distortions in the way his system has been interpreted and taught. At last, Jean Benedetti has succeeded in translating Stanislavski’s huge manual into a lively, fascinating and accurate text in English. He has remained faithful to the author's original intentions, putting the two books previously known as An Actor Prepares and Building A Character back together into one volume, and in a colloquial and readable style for today's actors. The result is a major contribution to the theatre, and a service to one of the great innovators of the twentieth century.

Address of the President, Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt PRS, given at the anniversary meeting on 30 November 2007

Address of the President, Lord Rees of Ludlow OM Kt PRS, given at the anniversary meeting on 30 November 2007

Notes on NOTES: The emperor is not wearing any clothes

Laparoscopic surgeons are a curious lot. When we were accused of surgical adventurism in the early 1990s and were ostracized from presenting our early findings at the American College of Surgeons, we decided to invest our academic achievements in the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). All of the early laparoscopic pioneers suffered the indignity of being the object of derogatory comments by the surgical establishment about ‘‘Nintendo’’ surgery (as if they knew what a video game was) and the ridiculousness of statements such as, ‘‘what’s wrong with a four-inch incision to remove the gallbladder that gets the patient back to work in 3 to 4 weeks?’’. We kept our council (silence), in spite of some misgivings, as the next technological revolution, robotics, swept the minimal invasive world. After the first year or so there were about 12–14 publications in our literature, all proclaiming this robotic surgery as being as ‘‘safe and effective’’ as laparoscopic surgery, but none actually proving it to be better. When the publications were looked at closely, all of the operations cost more and took longer (how is that effective?). While no one has actually said so, no one is taking robotics very seriously other than for its obvious use as a marketing tool. If there is anyone who thinks this million-dollar instrument has any utility in urology, I invite him or her to watch Dr. George Ferzli do a laparoscopic prostatectomy. Then, in 2006, we all heard about or saw a remarkable edited video of the removal of an appendix, albeit very normal appearing, through a gastroscope. By early 2007, there was one publication in a human subject about surgery done through a natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) technique, and that was about the rescue of a dislocated Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy (PEG), hardly something we see every day [1]. At the SAGES meeting in 2007 we were treated to edited videos that showed scopes introduced through the rectum, with stool affixed, used to guide surgery on gallbladders that were poorly grasped and dissected with no discernable anatomic landmarks, all often culminating in an explosion of bile. To those that state that these videos resemble the early era of laparoscopy, I paraphrase the Lloyd Bentsen/ Dan Quayle 1988 Vice Presidential debate: I knew the great surgical innovators of the early era of laparoscopy like Barry McKernan (gallbladder and hernia), Joe Petelin and Maurice Arregui (common bile duct), Dennis Fowler (colon), Lee Swanstrom (esophagus), Michel Gagner (adrenal and pancreas), and we never operated like that. If we did we certainly never filmed it. All of these pioneers did not work in traditional academic powerhouses but were rather busy general surgeons in smaller hospitals; such was the nature of early laparoscopy that in able hands it translated well from the open approach. At the SAGES 2007 meeting we were also treated to videos of endoscopic gastric plications (what exactly was plicated to what is difficult to determine), in the guise of performing an endoluminal vertical banded gastroplasty (VBG). In 2000 Michael Sarr’s group published excellent follow-up data on the VBG, showing that this operation worked to sustain weight loss less than 25% of the time and required reoperation about 20% of the time [2]. American surgeons have essentially abandoned this operation. It was Karl Marx who said that history repeats itself first as a tragedy and then as a farce. Why on Earth would we A. Pomp (&) Section of Laparoscopic and Bariatric Surgery, Frank Glenn Faculty Scholar in Surgery, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY, USA e-mail: alp2014@med.cornell.edu

Innovation According to Cushing

Harvey Cushing (1869–1939) is considered one of the great surgical innovators of his generation. His strong determination, self-driven attitude, intense desire to succeed, and clear intellect aided him in his ascent to the top of a new field of medicine, neurosurgery. His innovative force is characterized within the context of his personality and the development of the specialty. Details associated with his innovative spirit, as well as the discipline's history, and Cushing's immense contributions to neurosurgery are discussed. Harvey Cushing, in spite of strong personality drawbacks such as his egotistical attitude and hard-driven character, propelled the field of neurosurgery to levels not conceived before because of his innovative principles.

Unifying themes in host defence effector polypeptides

It is said that nature is the greatest innovator, yet molecular conservation can be equally powerful. One key requirement for the survival of any host is its ability to defend against infection, predation and competition. Recent discoveries, including the presence of a multidimensional structural signature, have revealed a previously unforeseen structural and functional congruence among host defence effector molecules spanning all kingdoms of life. Antimicrobial peptides, kinocidins, polypeptide venoms and other molecules that were once thought to be distinct in form and function now appear to be members of an ancient family of host defence effectors. These molecules probably descended from archetype predecessors that emerged during the beginning of life on earth. Understanding how nature has sustained these host defence molecules with a potent efficacy in the face of dynamic microbial evolution should provide new opportunities to prevent or treat life-threatening infections.

Purpose, Partnership, and The Permanente Federation's Tenth Anniversary

Sidney Garfield, MD, the physician co-founder of Kaiser Permanente (KP) and father of Permanente Medicine, is often hailed as a great visionary and innovator in American medicine. He was the man who joined prepayment to multispecialty group practice and articulated the principles of a new and revolutionary model of health care financing and delivery. But as revealed in his remarks to a group of Permanente physicians (see: Advice to Permanente Physicians from Dr Sidney Garfield, page 60), Dr Garfield's genius was not limited to grand-scale ideas. He also understood a great deal about the everyday, real-world workings of organizations, partnerships, and power—lessons that are as relevant today as they were 33 years ago and lessons that strongly informed the creation of The Permanente Federation, which observes its tenth anniversary this year.

Kourouma, the Myth: The Rhetoric of the Commonplace in Kourouma Criticism

In winning so many prestigious literary prizes on the international scene, Ahmadou Kourouma achieved in his lifetime what most African writers can only dream of: notoriety, superstardom, impressive book sales, a mythical stature. This study examines the underpinnings of Kourouma's status by analyzing the scholarly and journalistic reception of his works as inventoried through the Klapp bibliography. It offers an important background for better understanding the rhetoric that sustains the myth while raising very interesting guiding questions. For if Kourouma is elevated to the rank of Great Innovator of literature, is he read as such, and does this revolution in African letters that he embodies also extend to critical discourse? When the novelist writes differently, is the reader (general or scholarly) inclined and obliged to read differently? What has been the consequence on Kourouma's writings of the spectacular reversal from a Eurocentric view of African literature to an Afrocentric perspective? Have Kourouma's works not suffered paradoxically from the laudatory scholarly reception because of its overemphasis on realism and truthfulness? Is the truth discourse, which feeds such reception, not contributing to minimizing the literariness of Kourouma's writings?

Oliver Cromwell--Soldier: The Military Life of a Revolutionary at War (review)

Reviewed by: Oliver Cromwell—Soldier: The Military Life of a Revolutionary at War Peter Gaunt Oliver Cromwell—Soldier: The Military Life of a Revolutionary at War. By Alan Marshall. London: Brassey’s, 2004. ISBN 1-85753-343-7. Maps. Photographs. Illustrations. Figures. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. 320. £20.00. This convincing and well-presented military life of Oliver Cromwell focuses on his active career in the field. Some episodes are passed over rather briefly—for example, the final year of the principal civil war is slightly rushed, with surprisingly little on Cromwell at Winchester and Devizes, Bovey Tracey and Torrington. However, there is good and detailed discussion of the main phases of his career, with thoughtful comment about his role at Winceby, Marston Moor, Newbury, and Naseby and full coverage of the second civil war of 1648 and the campaigns in Ireland and Scotland of 1649–51. Both within the narrative and more fully in a fine concluding chapter, Dr. Marshall stresses Cromwell's aggressive approach to warfare, his willingness to engage in "wars of annihilation" (p. 9) to secure complete military victory, a bold, direct, and belligerent style which usually brought swift victory but which sometimes shaded into impulsive, risky, or brutal actions. Dr. Marshall notes his sometimes "faulty generalship" (p. 191) in Ireland, highlighting his "severe tactical defeat" (p. 232) at Clonmel and condemning Drogheda as "an appalling atrocity, even by seventeenth-century standards" (p. 233). In common with other historians, Dr. Marshall sees Cromwell's faith underpinning his military career and concludes that he was at his best in battle, leading from the front, while he was less adept at campaigns of manoeuvre and attrition and at siege warfare. Dr. Marshall also argues that Cromwell was not a great innovator and did not revolutionise the art of war. Instead, as a committed, courageous, and energetic military leader, with an eye for discipline and logistics, he learnt quickly—interestingly, Dr. Marshall suggests that his military learning curve was largely complete by 1644–45—and he operated well and effectively within the existing parameters of war. This study, too, works well within its own parameters in providing a very good account of Cromwell's soldiering. The balanced and readable narrative draws upon an impressive array of printed primary and secondary sources, there are plentiful and well-selected quotations from contemporary sources and the text is supported by fourteen maps and plans, plus some black and white photographs. No archival discoveries are evident here and there is little that is entirely new or revelatory; the judgments are clear, crisp, and well-made, but they generally follow recent historiographical trends. The book takes a while to get going, with opening chapters setting the scene and context, before turning to Cromwell's own military contribution. Thereafter, there is a tight focus on Cromwell's active soldiering, while his role in military politics is largely ignored. More might have been said about his relationship with Manchester in 1644 and Fairfax in 1645–46, perhaps leading on to analysis of his influence in shaping the command and campaigns of the Eastern Association and New Model armies respectively, and his role in the army politics of 1646–47 is merely outlined here. Equally, Dr. Marshall is not concerned with Cromwell the politician and, although it is stated several [End Page 222] times that his military career advanced and shaped his unfolding political career, the precise ways in which this happened and the degree to which his military experiences moulded his political goals are not explored much here. In short, within the clear parameters which Dr. Marshall set himself, he has succeeded admirably in producing a fine account of Cromwell the soldier, clear and accessible in its tone, informed and judicious in its judgements and conclusions, while leaving the field open for further detailed work on some key questions. Peter Gaunt University of Chester Chester, United Kingdom Copyright © 2006 Society for Military History

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection: a review of risks and complications

In the mini‐review section this month, there are four reviews on different subjects: intracytoplasmic sperm injection, photodynamic therapy in prostate cancer, and the roles of re‐TUR and intravesical chemotherapy in superficial bladder cancer.There is a fifth paper in the section which is not a mini‐review, but rather a short appreciation of Terence Millin, a pioneer in urological surgery, and a great surgical innovator.

ASIS Award of Merit: On the Shoulders of Giants

ASIS Award of Merit: On the Shoulders of Giants

Emilio de' Cavalieri "Gentiluomo Romano": His Life and Letters, His Role as Superintendent of all the Arts at the Medici Court, and His Musical Compositions. With Addenda to L'aria di Fiorenza and The Court Musicians in Florence (review)

Reviewed by: Emilio de’ Cavalieri “Gentiluomo Romano.” His Life and Letters, His Role as Superintendent of all the Arts at the Medici Court, and His Musical Compositions. With Addenda to L’aria di Fiorenza and The Court Musicians in Florence Murray C. Bradshaw Emilio de’ Cavalieri “Gentiluomo Romano.” His Life and Letters, His Role as Superintendent of all the Arts at the Medici Court, and His Musical Compositions. With Addenda to L’aria di Fiorenza and The Court Musicians in Florence. By Warren Kirkendale . ( Historiae Musicae Cultores, 86.) Florence: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 2001. [ 551 p. ISBN 88-222-4949-0. €77.] Plates, bibliography, discography, indexes. Warren Kirkendale's study of the "Roman gentleman," Emilio de' Cavalieri (ca. 1550- 1602) is a careful analysis of the life and works of this important composer. It is also a clear investigation into the immense changes taking place in Western music, art, and aesthetics around 1600, and the role that Cavalieri played in bringing them about. This volume concludes a trilogy that began with L'aria di Fiorenza (1972) and The Court Musicians in FlorenceDuring the Principate of the Medicis (1993). Letters and documents, many being addenda to these earlier books, along with an extensive bibliography, discography, and indexes (persons, subjects, etc.), account for over half of its 551 pages. It is a work of thorough scholarship, bringing to fruition Kirkendale's lifelong devotion to Cavalieri, and is of value not only to musicologists but to general historians as well. Kirkendale's studies have centered on music in Florence but above all on this Roman musician who spent twelve crucial years (1588-1600) in the city of the Medici as superintendent of all artistic activities. He was an aristocrat and a man of many parts: [a] caporione [or Roman administrator], city councillor, conservator of the S.P.Q.R., animator, diplomat, composer, theatrical producer, choreographer, connoisseur of art (agent and collector), literature (who corresponded with Tasso and Guarini; religious literature and Latin liturgical texts), and of organs [even writing music for an enharmonic organ]. (p. 295) He was, in short, "the embodiment of Castigilione's courtier," the ideal personification of a "Roman gentleman," even though he finally became disgusted with court life (p. 295). In his last years he turned, as Carlo Gesualdo was to do, to the musical setting of sacred texts. These works, along with three earlier lost musical pastorales, mark him as one of the great innovators of Western music. Cavalieri's fame rests primarily on his Rappresentatione di anima e di corpo, the first opera to be produced (February 1600) and [End Page 428] published (September 1600), and which over the years has proven to be far more popular with performers than Peri's Euridice (October 1600), long considered to be the first drama sung throughout. At least five complete performances of Cavalieri's morality play have been recorded since 1990, and close to fifty performances were staged during the last century (pp. 463- 464). Even more recordings and performances have taken place since the publication of Kirkendale's book, and, for performers and audiences alike, Cavalieri's Rappresentatione is patently a far more rewarding musical experience than Euridice. Yet, the Rappresentatione is a work that musicologists curiously overlook and pass off as unimportant. The usual criticisms are that it is too tuneful, too full of choruses, too close to the sixteenth century in musical style, too much like the earlier intermedi, and its recitatives are far less expressive than those of the Florentines. It is this seminal composition that provides the ending for Kirkendale's study of Cavalieri. The three initial performances of the opera took place in February of 1600 in a small room off the right transept of Filippo Neri's Chiesa Nuova with a distinguished audience of many cardinals and others in attendance. Kirkendale's exhaustive treatment of this influential work includes a description of these first performances, the publication of the work in late September 1600 (a publication that includes crucial information about its staging and thus an early example of operatic dramaturgy), its powerful dedicatee, Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini (1571-1621), the libretto, which was probably written by the Oratorian priest, Agostino Manni, the...

John David DesPrez, M.D., 1922 to 2003

John David DesPrez, M.D., passed away in Sanibel, Florida, on November 7, 2003. He was born on August 1, 1922, in Canton, Ohio. After receiving an bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University, he graduated from Harvard Medical School. In July of 1947, he completed a rotating internship at Cincinnati General Hospital, and in 1948, he earned a master’s degree in pathology from the University of Minnesota. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corp in the United States and Germany from 1948 to 1950. In 1954, he finished a residency in general surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. A fellowship in plastic surgery at John Hopkins Hospital with Dr. M. Edgerton was concluded in 1956. John was truly a gentleman. His concern for his patients was obvious and his love of teaching was limitless. He will be deeply missed. Along with his partner of many years, Dr. Clifford Kiehn, John taught plastic surgery at University Hospitals of Cleveland. In 1979 he became the chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery. He was a great teacher and innovator. He authored one of the first descriptions of a myocutaneous flap. The topics of his other publications included head and neck cancer, cleft lip and palate, arteriovenous malformations, malignant melanoma, mandibular fractures, and hypospadias. He was a member of the following societies: American Medical Association, Ohio State American Medical Association, Cleveland Surgical Society, New York Academy of Sciences, John Hopkins Hospital Medical and Surgical Society, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Society for Head and Neck Surgeons, American Association for Cleft Palate Rehabilitation, Ohio Valley Plastic Surgery Society, American College of Surgeons (fellow), Plastic Surgery Research Council, American Association of Plastic Surgeons, American Society for Surgery of the Hand, Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons, Northeast Ohio Plastic Surgical Society, North American Plastic Surgery Society, Plastic Surgery Society of the Americas, and the Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons.Figure: John David DesPrez, M.D., 1922 to 2003.Among the many positions he held were director of the Academy of Medicine of Cuyahoga County, medical director of the American Cancer Society, associate editor of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (1973 to 1977), director of the Educational Foundation of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, president of the Ohio Valley Plastic Surgery Society, founder and president of the Northeast Ohio Plastic Surgery Society, and member of the American Board of Plastic Surgery. John loved animals. One of his passions in life was breeding Welsh corgis. He theorized that his dogs could have therapeutic value to humans. One of his dogs was purchased by a family with an autistic child. The child formed a very close relationship with the dog, and in fact the child’s first spoken word was “doggie.” He is survived by his wife, Caroline Herbruck DesPrez, his son, John D. DesPrez, III, his daughter, Catherine Gibbs DesPrez-Bonin, and five grandchildren.