Search

Purpose: Before radiology and arthroscopy, an arthrotomy had to be made for a definitive diagnosis and treat intraarticular pathology. Before arthroscopy, endoscopy was performed on other organs, and particularly the bladder. This paper aimed to investigate the transition of the cystoscope to the arthroscope, and all the bright innovations about light and optics that finally allow arthroscopy. Methods: Physicians have always wanted to examine their patients' body cavities. Some cavities are quite accessible for diagnostic purposes, using specula and light, while others are difficult to inspect. The female bladder was the first organ to be examined using an endoscope with some light by Philipp Bozzini in 1806. We report the important innovations and inventions done by surgeons but also by scientists in optic and electricity during two centuries before arriving to arthroscopy. Results: Whereas the urologists immediately embraced the idea of endoscopy, and adapted the rules of optic and the progress in electricity to allow bladder illumination and examination with cystoscopes, the orthopedic surgeons were reluctant. We focus on the early history of endoscopy and arthroscopy specifically. Our story ends in 1918 with Dr. Severin Nordentoft in Germany and Professor Kenji Takagi in Japan began with cystoscopes before designing the first arthroscopes for performing the first knee arthroscopies. Conclusion: We document some crucial figures on the thorny path, from cystoscopy to adopting the arthroscope as a useful orthopaedic tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual adaptations of the Frankenstein myth highlight the role ocularcentrism and scopic power play. By engaging with the concept of the gaze, this paper analyzes remediations of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece and discusses how visual narratives frame potentially monstrous bodies in order to assimilate or question traditional privileged visions and their construction of otherness, as well as to (re) orient spectators towards recognition of or detachment from the onscreen monster. It will address particularly relevant examples: Edison’s Frankenstein, the YouTube series Frankenstein M.D., Whale’s and Branagh’s iconic remediations, as well as the less known Murders of the Rue Morgue and Frankenhooker. Ultimately, this work will vindicate the role of remediations as an arena within which contemporary imaginaries regarding otherness and who holds the visual and narrative power are either legitimized or challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the Web site Thomas A. Edison Papers from the State University of New Jersey in Piscataway.

This paper assesses the technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of photovoltaic (PV)/wind turbines (WT)/diesel generator (DG)/battery‐based hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) using lead acid (LA), lithium‐ion (LI), and iron Edison nickel‐iron (IE) battery technologies (BTs). The energy cost is optimized, and the obtained results are compared to select the best hybrid system. The LI battery employed in the PV/DG/battery system (206.43 kW PV, 50 kW DG, 53.04 kWh LI batteries, and 61.1 kW converter) performed comparatively much better, as levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was reduced by around 28% and 20%, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were reduced by 31% and 6% as compared to the LA and IE batteries employed in HRES, respectively. In addition, sensitivity analysis reveals that the capital cost of PV and the discount rate are more critical to determining the LCOE and renewable penetration. In contrast, the effect of the battery cost and inflation rate is relatively small. Finally, comparing the optimal resource configuration has confirmed that PV/DG/LI has significantly reduced LCOE (58% less than DG/LI) and GHG emissions (87% less than DG/LI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a comparative case study of Nikola Tesla's use as a symbol in interwar Yugoslavia and the contemporary United States to build upon Anderson's theory of modular nationalism. The modularity of national symbols, I argue, is driven by their utility in addressing similar social, political and economic transformations in different countries and may be transmissible through emigrant communities—albeit not without some changes in substance. Just as Yugoslavia used Tesla to bridge ethnic divisions, Yugoslav emigrants deployed Tesla to enhance their status in the United States. The cult of Tesla, moreover, is doubly modular, with its Yugoslav incarnation drawing inspiration from the American cult of Thomas Edison, just as Edison's current obsolescence as a symbol led to the cult of Tesla's adoption in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates the microform `Thomas A. Edison Papers: A Selective Microfilm Edition. Part I: 1850-1878.'

A novel optimal method of a Dynamic Voltage Restorer (DVR) supported by solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and its simplified topological structure are proposed. DVR is a power-electronic converter-based device, and the objective of the DVR control system is to minimize supply voltage variations at the load terminals. This is attained by generating a compensating voltage at the series injection transformer. Conventional controllers are mathematical model-based; also, the particular system varies widely, and nonlinear factors make the PI controller tuning more challenging to some extent. As a result, an intelligent PI optimization control method is essential. This paper proposes Hybrid PSOGSA to search for optimal values of two PI control parameters for the d – q -axis components by considering a novel bi-objective function. The performance of the test system is analyzed for five test scenarios using the proposed PI controller with SPSO-optimized and Ziegler–Nichols tuning methods. DVR system provides an excellent control performance in the transient and steady states for compensating the sensitive load voltages with almost zero steady-state errors. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can provide improved performance than PSO-optimized and classical PI controllers for the power quality indices measured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper examines the monetary thought of Arthur Kitson (1861-1937) as expressed in his published works and in recently discovered answers he submitted in 1922 to a questionnaire from Thomas Edison, the US inventor. Design/methodology/approach - Both original source material from the Edison Archive and published sources are used to examine the subject. Findings - It is found that Kitson's monetary thought is more orthodox than has previously been claimed by, among others, John Maynard Keynes, and more recently in the economics literature. It is also found that Kitson was the only person to support, without qualification, Edison's plan to reform the US monetary system. Originality/value - This paper casts a new light on Kitson's monetary thought showing the influence of Irving Fisher on Kitson. The paper also presents Edison's questionnaire and Kitson's contributory thoughts on a fiat monetary standard that the questionnaire stimulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an interpretive framework for understanding the cognitive or mental processes of inventors, and applies this framework to narrating how Thomas Edison developed the kinetoscope, or motion picture. A review of recent developments in the history of technology and cognitive science suggests the need for better conceptual categories for understanding and comparing how inventors approach problems. We show how Edison created a mental model of the kinetoscope from his existing phonograph, and how his assistant William K. L. Dickson (who is often credited with inventing the kinetoscope) developed his own alternative mental model. We further discuss how Edison utilized building blocks or mechanical representations from previous inventions, and what strategies or heuristics he employed, in particular, we examine how Edison divided the project between himself and Dickson. The overall result of applying our framework to this case is to provide a clearer picture of the roles played by Edison and Dickson in this invention. The paper closes with a discussion on the potential relationship between cognitive and sociological approaches to technological innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Edison's phonograph was a landmark acoustic invention. In this paper, the phonograph is presented as a tool for education in acoustics. A brief history of the phonograph is outlined and an analogous circuit model that describes its dynamic response is discussed. Microphone and scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV) measurements were made on a homemade phonograph for model validation and inversion for unknown model parameters. SLDV measurements also conclusively illustrate where model assumptions are violated. The model elements which dominate the dynamic response are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Thomas Edison, experiencing a failure did not mean that he had failed. Through an examination of the process that led to his invention of the carbon microphone, I argue that his positive approach to failure contributed both to his success as an inventor and to the functional success of his inventions. Edison's laboratory notebooks and legal testimony reveal that his seemingly erratic approach and reliance on trial and error methods in fact had a consistent direction and a rational basis, well suited to the under-determined problems he faced. The outcome of this process, the carbon microphone, contributed significantly to the commercial success of the telephone and remains in use today. Thomas Hughes has observed that nineteenth century inventors made use of the unexpected behaviour of their inventions as sources of novel phenomena to exploit in new inventions. This paper identifies other ways in which Edison made use of failure and proposes that, paradoxically, the success of technological artefacts can be determined by the thoroughness with which failure is pursued in their creation. It also notes a parallel between Edison's instrumentalizing of failure and the way in which recent philosophers of science have proposed that scientists should make use of error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific inventor in North America, with over 1000 patents, was the descendant of early settlers from the Netherlands to the Hudson Valley region of New York/New Jersey. However, his genealogical trail encompasses many cities, provinces, states, and countries, including Holland, France, Scotland, New Amsterdam, New York, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Ohio, and Michigan. He was motivated to develop and invent in response to perceived needs of commercial devices and was the creator of the concept of an industrial research laboratory. His activities covered a wide-range of chemical, electrical, medical, metallurgical, entertainment, and communication devices and led to the creation of major worldwide industries. However, his expressed underlying concern was the “service it might give others”. This presentation reviews commercial developments in comparison with the technologies and motivations of the time and is illustrated by material from the Rutgers University ‘Edison Papers Project’, Edison’s personal notes found in the Edison Battery Factory and preserved by Professor Salkind, and records of The Electrochemical Society. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Naval Consulting Board, a civilian brain trust headed by Thomas Edison, was established by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels in July 1915 to advise on naval warfare technology. This article turns conventional wisdom on its head, making the case that the impetus behind its creation came not from the government but from Edison's chief engineer, Miller Reese Hutchison, who conceived it as the centerpiece of a marketing strategy to sell Edison submarine batteries to the navy. After submarine E-2 exploded in January 1916, the navy discontinued the use of Edison batteries and its investigation permanently soured Edison on the U.S. Navy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]