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PubMedDate not supplied

The invention and early manufacture of bifocals.

Benjamin Franklin, who died 200 years ago, is generally credited with the invention of bifocals. However, serious historians have from time to time produced evidence to suggest that others may have preceded him in the invention. This historical article includes correspondence from George Whatley, a London philanthropist, and John Fenno, editor of The Gazette of the United States, which convincingly documents that Franklin invented bifocals, perhaps 50 years earlier than has been generally thought. Appendices detail the many difficulties encountered in the early manufacture of bifocals.

Eyeglasses↗
PubMed1996

Patentable invention in biotechnology.

Biotechnology is a rapidly advancing field of technology which offers many benefits to society. It is perceived that an important part of maintaining the momentum, and stimulating further advances, is to protect inventions in biotechnology, where appropriate, with a patent. Here, from the perspective of invention in biotechnology, we examine in brief, the critical elements of proper subject-matter, novelty, utility, non-obviousness and sufficiency of disclosure, as requirements of patentable invention for both the United States and Canada. Topical issues which have arisen in respect of these elements are also canvassed briefly. As will be seen, Canadian Patent Law, while still unresolved with respect to the patenting of higher life forms, is in other respects in step with the pro-patent model of the United States.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2001

The myth of DSM's invention of new categories of disorder: Houts's diagnostic discontinuity thesis disconfirmed.

Houts (2001) argues that increases in DSM diagnostic categories are due to the invention of new disorders that are discontinuous with old conceptions of disorder and would not have been previously diagnosed. He maintains that DSM category increases are not comparable in nature to ICD category increases, which are mainly refinements of recognized disorders. I survey categories of disorder introduced after DSM-II and assess whether they are discontinuous with old concepts and categories of disorder. Candidate categories are identified from: Houts and Follette (1998), Mentalism, mechanisms, and medical analogues: Reply to Wakefield. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology; Kutchins and Kirk (1997) Making us crazy: DSM: The psychiatric bible and the creation of mental disorders. New York: Free Press; and my own list. The result is that virtually none of the candidate categories are invented, discontinuous categories. In almost every case, the newly labeled conditions were considered disorders at the time of DSM-II and would have been diagnosed under DSM-II categories. I also reexamine DSM-IV sleep disorder categories, which Houts claims are discontinuous with past diagnostic conceptions. The result is that all DSM-IV sleep disorders were recognized as disorders at the time of DSM-II, and most were recognized as mental disorders. I conclude that DSM category increases are comparable in nature to ICD category increases, and that the invention-of-disorder account cannot explain the vast majority of such increases.

Diagnosis-Related Groups↗
PubMed1994

Category invention in unsupervised learning.

This research aimed to discriminate between 2 general approaches to unsupervised category learning, one based on learning explicit correlational rules or associations within a stimulus domain (autocorrelation) and the other based on inventing separate categories to capture the correlational structure of the domain (category invention). An "attribute-listing" paradigm was used to index unsupervised learning in 3 experiments. Each experiment manipulated the order in which instances from 2 different categories were presented and evaluated the effects of this manipulation in terms of the 2 competing theoretical approaches to unsupervised learning. Strong evidence was found for the use by Ss of a discrete category invention process to learn the categories in these experiments. These results also suggest that attribute listing may be a valuable method for future investigations of unsupervised category learning.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

On the late invention of the stereoscope.

It was not until 1838, when Wheatstone published his account of the stereoscope, that stereoscopic depth perception entered into the body of binocular phenomena. It is argued that the stereoscope was not invented earlier because the phenomenon of stereopsis based on disparity had not been adequately described. This was the case despite the fact that there had been earlier descriptions of tasks that could be performed better with two eyes than with one; the perceptual deficits attendant upon the loss of one eye had been remarked upon; analyses of the projections to each eye were commonplace, and binocular disparities were accurately illustrated; moreover, binocular microscopes and telescopes had been made over a century earlier. Theories of binocular vision were generally confined to accounting for singleness of vision with two eyes, and the concepts employed to account for this were visible direction, corresponding retinal points, and union in the brain. The application of these concepts inhibited any consideration of disparities, other than for yielding diplopia. When perception of the third dimension was addressed by Berkeley at the beginning of the eighteenth century, it was in the context of monocular vision and binocular convergence. Thereafter visual direction became the province for binocular vision and it was analysed in terms of geometrical optics, whereas visual distance was examined in the context of learned associations between vision and touch. This artificial division was challenged initially with respect to visual direction and later with respect to stereopsis. An additional factor delaying the invention of the stereoscope was that experiments on binocular vision generally involved abnormal convergence on extended objects. Wheatstone's accidental observation of stereopsis was under artificial conditions in which disparity alone defined the binocular depth perceived. Once invented the stereoscope was enthusiastically embraced by students of vision. It is suggested that the ease with which retinal disparity could be manipulated in stereopairs has led to an exaggeration of its importance in space perception. "The appearances, which are by this simple instrument rendered so obvious, may be easily inferred from the established laws of perspective; for the same object in relief is, when viewed by a different eye, seen from the two points of sight at a distance from each other equal to the line joining the two eyes. Yet they seem to have escaped the attention of every philosopher and artist who has treated of the subjects of vision and perspective." (Wheatstone 1838, page 371).

Depth Perception↗
PubMed1994

What if alcoholism had not been invented? The dynamics of American alcohol mythology.

This essay speculates on what might have been had alcoholism not been invented. The invention is viewed as a product of the ongoing myth-making process whereby society continuously defines and redefines alcohol, seeking to integrate it into the culture in ways that allow enjoyment of its pleasures with minimum pain. Had alcoholism not been invented, (a) the myth-making process might have yielded another simplistic explanation of drunkenness, but more likely alcohol would have remained the supposed cause; (b) the per capita alcohol consumption uptrend of some 50 years standing might not have reversed as it did in 1982; (c) chronic drunkards might still be denied life-saving hospitalization which gains them more time for the natural reform process to work for them; and (d) local communities nationwide might have taken common-sense actions to facilitate the natural rehabilitation process and provided more benefit to more alcoholics for less cost than treating alcoholism. It is expected that Americans will continue to drink and will continue to seek a more harmonious relationship with alcohol. The informal social controls will continue to largely constrain individual appetites for alcohol's pleasures, and most alcoholics will continue to gain control of their excessive drinking in the natural course of events with or without exposure to alcoholism treatment.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2005

Patenting and licensing of university-based genetic inventions--a view from experience at Stanford University's Office of Technology Licensing.

University technology transfer offices license inventions created at universities to companies looking for tools, additions to their product pipelines, improvements or start-up opportunities. This paper will cover the motivations for conducting university technology transfer, an overview of Stanford's Office of Technology Licensing and its patenting and licensing practices, models of royalty sharing at university technology transfer offices, and patenting and licensing genetic information inventions at Stanford University. The terms 'invention' and 'technology' are used interchangeably throughout the paper.

California↗
PubMed1990

Process evaluation. Assessing re-invention of community-based interventions.

Although complete program evaluation includes assessment of the program implementation process as well as examination of impact and outcome variables, such process evaluation does not always occur. During field implementation programs may be changed, or re-invented, by those adopting the innovation. A case study of the Arthritis Self-Care Project, a rural community-based intervention study, demonstrates the importance of process evaluation in determining the actual independent variable. Instances of re-invention uncovered by the Arthritis Self-Care Project are explored, and suggestions are provided for dealing with the re-invention inevitable in field research.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Increased reliability of the legal protection of Soviet inventions in the field of microbiology].

The reliability of juridical protection of microbiological inventions which may result in the production of a commercial product is discussed in the paper. If the structure of an invention is strain-method-product, then juridical protection of each of the objects is possible. Protection of a product would be most reliable, but this is not always possible. Protection of a microbial strain is less typical of an invention, and is not reliable. Protection of a microbiological method of production has advantages over protection of a microbial strain since, in this case, the theory of equivalents can be applied.

Legislation as Topic↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Cystoscopy (1879-1979) (centennial of a transcendental invention)].

The authors make a historical review of the successive stages in Man's attempt to be able to observe directly the inside of the cavities of the human body and more precisely of the bladder, which from the start long ago, led to the apparatuses invented during the first half of the 19th Century (Bozzini, Ségalas, Bonbalgini, Fisher, Avery, Desormeaux, Hacken, Cruise, Grünfeld, Luys, etc.) until the 9th March 1879 when Maximilian Nitze presented in the Vienna Medical Society and published in the journal Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift his brilliant invention of the apparatus which completely changed the knowledge of vesical pathology: the cystoscope. Reference is made to the successive alternations that the primitive cystoscope invented by Nitze has undergone before arriving at the present-day cystoscopes of such great precision and usefulness in hospitals. Reference is also made to another series of creations designed by Nitze, such as a cystoscope for ureteral catheterism (which, however, was of no practical use and it was not until Albarrán's creation that the catheterism of the ureters could be achieved), an operating cystoscope, a ureteral probe with a dilating ball to enable stones to be expelled from the ureter, a "camera" for endoscopic photography, etc.

Cystoscopes↗
PubMed1994

Patenting medical inventions.

Medical, dental, nursing, and biomedical personnel often perform critical research that can lead to patents. Similarly, patentable discoveries can be made during the normal course of medical practice, e.g., the development of new biocompatible polymers, improved dental materials, new or modified catheters, new laboratory diagnostic tests, and improved medical devices. Many inventions may not be patented in federal organizations due to the lack of information available on the patenting process. In this article, the financial benefits that can be derived from patenting inventions are discussed, as well as the different types of patents that can be obtained, the conditions for patentability, bars or restrictions to obtaining a patent, the importance of proper record keeping, and the steps to take toward getting an invention patented.

Patents as Topic↗
PubMed1996

Self-invented addition strategies by children with mental retardation.

Children with mental retardation often seem incapable of self-initiated learning. A training experiment was designed to determine whether such children could spontaneously invent more efficient addition strategies for calculating simple sums; apply these strategies to larger, unpracticed combinations; and retain these strategies after 5 months. An experimental group and a control group were shown a basic concrete counting procedure. Over 6 months, the experimental group was given regular opportunities to practice computing sums. Many of them invented calculational short cuts. On immediate and delayed posttests, they used significantly more sophisticated strategies than did control participants. Results suggest that children with mental retardation can invent, transfer, and retain strategies for learning tasks.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Intra-and interpopulational differences in orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) activity and diet: implications for the invention of tool use.

Tool manufacture and use have been described for wild orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), with appreciable interpopulational differences in tool complexes. The ecological factors that contribute to these differences require investigation. Significant interpopulational differences in diet suggest that ecological factors contribute to variation in tool-based insect foraging. Using 4 years of behavioral data from the Suaq Balimbing Research Station (Sumatra, Indonesia), we tested predictions of two ecological hypotheses for the invention of tool use for insect foraging. We found limited evidence for inter- and intrasexual differences, as well as temporal variation, in activity budget and diet. However, differences did not correspond to variation in either rate of tool use or specialization on tool-based insectivory. Compared to other populations, orangutans at Suaq Balimbing ate significantly more insects. Low temporal variation in insectivory and an abundance of social insects at Suaq Balimbing suggest that insects formed a staple in the diet rather than a fallback food. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that tool use is a response to the low availability of primary food sources. Rather, greater opportunities for invention likely contributed to insect-extraction tool use at Suaq Balimbing.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2007

Posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy: a comparison between the initial experience in the invention phase and introductory phase of the new surgical technique.

BACKGROUND: Today, the posterior retroperitoneoscopic technique has become a standard procedure in adrenal surgery. The procedure allows direct access to the adrenal glands, but it seems to be difficult because of the uncommon anatomic view. This study compares the learning period of the new procedure of "posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy" in the primary invention phase and the secondary introductory phase in a different hospital 10 years later. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The analysis included 100 posterior retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomies (PRA) and involved 50 procedures in each center. Group A consisted of 44 patients (14 males, 30 females; age: 48.7 +/- 14.5 years) undergoing surgery between 07/1994 and 8/1996 (24 right, 26 left; 8 Cushing adenomas, 14 Conn adenomas, 11 pheochromocytomas, 7 nonfunctioning adrenocortical adenomas, 10 ACTH-dependent adrenal hyperplasias). Group B consisted of 50 patients (12 males, 38 females; mean age 59.3 +/- 10.7 years) operated between 01/2004 and 01/2006 (28 right, 22 left tumors; 5 Cushing adenomas, 12 Conn adenomas, 4 pheochromocytomas, 29 nonfunctioning adrenocortical adenomas). All PRAs were performed with the patient in the prone position with 3-4 trocars placed caudally in the region of the 11th and 12th ribs. In group A, the surgical team developed the technique of PRA themselves. Before their first PRA, the surgical team of group B was introduced to the technique by the group A surgeons and afterwards were supervised continuously. RESULTS: No serious intraoperative or postoperative complication occurred in either group. Group A experienced 7 conversions to open surgery, whereas group B had one conversion and one early reoperation due to bleeding (P = 0.03; chi(2)-test). The mean operative time was 117 +/- 41 minutes versus 83 +/- 35 minutes (group A and B respectively; P < 0.001; t-test). Estimated blood loss was similar in the two groups (47.2 +/- 46.2 ml versus 54 +/- 16.3 ml, group A versus B, respectively; P = 0.36; t-test). CONCLUSIONS: The study demonstrates the feasibility, safety, and reproducibility of the new surgical method of PRA both when it is employed in the early phase of invention, as well as when performed by surgeon-learners. After comprehensive training, the operative time and conversion rate are dramatically reduced, allowing for a short learning period.

Adrenal Cortex Neoplasms↗
PubMed2006

How Laënnec invented the stethoscope.

Although it is well known that Laënnec invented the stethoscope, the story of how he invented it is less well known. This article discusses the many theories behind the story as well as the impact of Laënnec's discovery on the practice of cardiology in the 21st century.

Equipment Design↗
PubMed2003

Intellectual property protection for plant-related inventions in Europe.

The economic and political issues that accompany the commercial growing of genetically modified crops, as well as the risk of transgene spread, are often top of the agenda for debate. But one important aspect is frequently overlooked--the intellectual property protection of plant-related inventions. What protection does European patent law afford to such inventions, how does it compare with the United States law and what are the consequences of the differences between them?

Biotechnology↗
PubMed1995

[From otoscope to ophthalmoscope and back. The interwoven history of their invention and introduction into medical practice. Pictures from the history of otorhinolaryngology, illustrated by instruments from the collection of the Ingolstadt German Medical History Museum].

Friedrich Hofmann, medical officer in Burgsteinfurt, Westphalia, Germany, in 1841 described a concave mirror with a central aperture in it as the ideal instrument that allowed reflecting and focussing light into the external auditory canal and simultaneously inspecting the tympanic membrane without obstructing either the light or the view. He recommended his device also for the inspection of other concealed regions of the body. His invention was referred to by Martell Frank in his textbook of otology in 1845, but otherwise attracted no attention. Hermann Helmholtz, physiologist in Königsberg, East Prussia, devised his ophthalmoscope in 1850-51 in order to study the phenomenon of glowing eyes. With this instrument he was the first to see the retina of a living human. As means of illumination he used small panes of glass similar to cover-glasses which were introduced into the common visual axis of the observer and the subject at such an angle that light from a lamp was reflected into the subject's eye while the observer inspected the subject's retina through the glass and an appropriate lens. He recommended this type of illumination also for otoscopy. His invention was at once acclaimed throughout the world and opened completely new opportunities in ophthalmology. The slanting panes of glass, however, were not the ideal solution for illumination. It was only one year later that Ruete in Göttingen replaced them with a concave mirror with a central aperture, and there is every indication that Frank's report on Hofmann's mirror had suggested this technique to him. During the following two years quite a number of other modifications of the ophthalmoscope were constructed, all of them using the concave mirror with a central aperture, which soon became synonymous with the ophthalmoscope as such. Von Tröltsch, otologist and ophthalmologist in Würzburg, presented a concave mirror with a central aperture for otoscopy in Paris in 1855-56. His instrument was obviously derived from the already well known ophthalmoscope by adapting the diameter and focal distance to this special application. His primary concern was to use daylight instead of artificial light for otoscopy. Von Tröltsch did not know Hofmann's publication, but later did not hesitate to acknowledge Hofmann's priority. It was von Tröltsch who popularized the concave reflector with a central aperture as the instrument of choice in otoscopy, and subsequently also for rhinoscopy and laryngoscopy. Further modifications were devised to have the hands free for operations. Thus the reflector was fixed to the forehead by strap and buckle or a vulcanite band, or it was provided with a handle that was to be held between the teeth, or it was attached to a spectacle frame. The details of this interwoven history are related and highlighted by numerous quotations and historical illustrations.

Ear↗
PubMed2006

Colours in black and white: the depiction of lightness and brightness in achromatic engravings before the invention of photography.

What is it like to see the world in black and white? In the pioneer days of cinema, when movies displayed grey worlds, was it true that no 'colours' were actually seen? Did every object seen in those projections appear grey in the same way? The answer is obviously no--people in those glorious days were seeing a world full of light, shadows, and objects in which colours were expressed in terms of lightness. But the marvels of grey worlds have not always been so richly displayed. Before the invention of photography, the depiction of scenes in black-and-white had to face some technical and perceptual challenges. We have studied the technical and perceptual constraints that XV-XVIII century engravers had to face in order to translate actual colours into shades of grey. An indeterminacy principle is considered, according to which artists had to prefer the representation of some object or scene features over others (for example brightness over lightness). The reasons for this lay between the kind of grey scale technically available and the kind of information used in the construction of 3-D scenes. With the invention of photography, photomechanical reproductions, and new printing solutions, artists had at their disposal a continuous grey scale that greatly reduces the constraints of the indeterminacy principle.

Art↗