By: Maury Roque
Introduction:
How often do we use aerosol spray cans? If your answer was often, you were wrong, as it should very well be extremely often. Aerosol spray cans are used on a day to day basis, whether its in the use of bug spray when taking your daily walk into the forest, or whether it’s shaving cream for the beard that you just noticed you had grown and you really need to get rid of. These little jewels of human creativity were first made possible in as early as the 1790’s, when self-pressurized carbonated beverages we’re developed in France. Though it was an invention, it took many individual inventors to create the aerosol spray cans we have today. From Perpigna to Robert H. Abplanalps, inventors kept improving the aerosol spray can until we finally got the clog-free, pump-mechanized, water-soluble hydrocarbon-activated cans we use today.
Discovery:
In 1837, a man by the name of Perpigna developed a container of soda that featured a valve. Bulky steel cans with valves were being tested, as early as 1862, but for the same bulkiness that was just mentioned, they could not be issued commercially as they weren’t the most convenient items to carry around. In 1899, a duo of brilliant scientists came up with a new way to propel fluids out of the can using methyl and ethyl chloride, and in 1927 a great engineer from Norway that went by the name of Eric Rotheim developed and patented the first aerosol can and valve that could hold and dispense products other than the reactors. During the later years of World War II, the Government of the United States funded scientific studies to develop a portable way for soldiers to deal with the elimination of malaria carrying. In 1943 Lyle Goodhue and William Sullivan, researchers of the Department of Agriculture, created a small aerosol can that was pressurized by fluorocarbon. It’s their design, in conjunction with the work of Robert Abplanalp, which makes products like Axe deodorant and hair spray possible. What Abplanalp’s work consisted of was the creation of a valve that enabled liquids to be sprayed from a can under the pressure of an inert gas, and this gas was first a fluorocarbon, but then became a water-soluble hydrocarbon after complaints that the fluorocarbons were depleting the ozone layer.
Biography:
Robert Abplanalp (1922– 2003) was born in New York City to Swiss immigrants. He studied mechanical engineering at Villanova University in his time before joining the army in 1943 to help out with the World War going on at the time. He’s best known for pretty much creating the spray cans we use today, and at the time of his death, he held over 300 patents relating to aerosol spray cans.
Impact on the World/Humanity:
His invention has been one of the inventions that we can imagine living without, but it does make life MUCH easier. The main uses of this invention are spray paints, a very popular choice for painting cars, instruments, city walls, and many other things, deodorant, which is heavily used by men to smell “good”, and insecticides, used to rid of those annoying bugs that bother you when out in the wilderness.
Cool video ☺ :
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Shelby Carbary
Anesthesia
Introduction:
Its hard to think of what it would be like to not have anesthesia. For what today is considered minor surgery with anesthesia, would have been very major and extremely painful without the use of anesthesia. Humphry Davy was an English chemist who first discovered that nitrous oxide relieved headache and dental pain, but his report when unnoticed, but did however lead to the invention of laughing gas. This was the first step in discovering anesthesia that would allow us to perform a surgery completely pain free.
Discovery:
Like stated above laughing gas to clear headaches and block dental pain was discover by Humphry Davy by self experimentations. The first demonstration of surgical anesthesia was by Horace Wells. Wells was an American dentist who first observed the effects of nitrous oxide at a traveling medicine show. Wells attempted to perform his own dental procedure but was judged a failure because the patient struggled and screamed through the whole thing. Wells failure was observed by another dentist, William Morton, who began to experiment with ether( used as an inhalant anesthetic). In 1846, Morton demonstrated the surgical removal of a tumor in a patient who expressed nor documented any signs of pain. Later it was discovered the morphine lessened the amount of chloroform needed to produce complete anesthesia. Although people new the effects of the treatment they did not fully understand how the substance worked. For this reason anesthesia was initially ignored by well known and well established medical practitioners because they did not trust any treatment that they did not understand. Although anesthesia is not completely understood, there is one common theory. The most commonly identified theory is that general anesthetics operate directly on the central nervous system to temporarily inhibit synaptic transmission.
Types of Anesthetics
Local- numbs one small area of the body. You stay awake and alert.
Conscious or intravenous (IV) sedation- uses mild sedative to relax you and pain medicine to relieve pain. You stay awake but may not remember procedure after.
Regional anesthesia- blocks pain in an area of the body. Ex. Epidural.
General Anesthesia- affects whole body. You go to sleep and feel nothing and no memory of the procedure after.
Bibliography of Discoverer:
William Morton was born in 1819. Before going in to the study of dentistry he tried his hand as a clerk, printer, and a salesmen but found neither one satisfying. In 1840, Morton enrolled at the worlds first dental school, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He left without graduating but instead in 1842-43 became partners with Horace wells but ended soon there after. He then entered Harvard Medical School in 1844. He signed up, one to increase his medical knowledge but also to impress the women he loved and later married. There he attended lectures of Professor Charles Jackson from whom he first learned the properties of ether. During the presentation of former business partner Horace Wells, Morton thought of the possibility of using a stronger agent than that of Horace Wells. He talked to Professor Jackson whom scholars believe advised him to use ether. After many experiments on himself and various animals, Morton successfully performed a dental extraction in his office on Boston merchant Eben Frost. On the account of the procedure Henry Bigelow arranged MGH head surgeon John Collins Warren to stage a public performance of the revolutionary experiment.
Impact on Humanity:
Before the use of anesthesia, people were expected to suffer through the surgeries with nothing but alcohol and opiates to numb the pain. Today we are now able to perform much larger procedures pain free. Anesthesia has been able to save many peoples lives because doctors are able to go into a body and get rid of cancer causing tumors or other life threatening issues.
This also gives people the ability to have surgery without as much fear. The surgery room used to be a loud place because of the screams and moans of pain but now surgery can be performed much quicker and much more calm.
Journal Article:
Although uncommon, some people experience inadequate anesthesia. In this instance the patient may be aware of the surgery as it goes on. Preoperative sedation may reduce anxiety, and the analgesic may reduce worry, but the muscle relaxant prevents the patient from communicating that he or she is awake until after the procedure is over. Fortunately the incidence of surgical awareness is extremely low ( well under 1%). It is most common in surgeries where the standard care permits only light amounts of anesthesia to begin with.
Resources:
Anesthesia and Surgery, http://www.instituteshot.com/anesthesia_and_surgery.htm
Anesthesia,(2010) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/anesthesia.html
William Morton, http://www.general-anesthesia.com/images/william-morton.html
Anesthesia
Introduction:
Its hard to think of what it would be like to not have anesthesia. For what today is considered minor surgery with anesthesia, would have been very major and extremely painful without the use of anesthesia. Humphry Davy was an English chemist who first discovered that nitrous oxide relieved headache and dental pain, but his report when unnoticed, but did however lead to the invention of laughing gas. This was the first step in discovering anesthesia that would allow us to perform a surgery completely pain free.
Discovery:
Like stated above laughing gas to clear headaches and block dental pain was discover by Humphry Davy by self experimentations. The first demonstration of surgical anesthesia was by Horace Wells. Wells was an American dentist who first observed the effects of nitrous oxide at a traveling medicine show. Wells attempted to perform his own dental procedure but was judged a failure because the patient struggled and screamed through the whole thing. Wells failure was observed by another dentist, William Morton, who began to experiment with ether( used as an inhalant anesthetic). In 1846, Morton demonstrated the surgical removal of a tumor in a patient who expressed nor documented any signs of pain. Later it was discovered the morphine lessened the amount of chloroform needed to produce complete anesthesia. Although people new the effects of the treatment they did not fully understand how the substance worked. For this reason anesthesia was initially ignored by well known and well established medical practitioners because they did not trust any treatment that they did not understand. Although anesthesia is not completely understood, there is one common theory. The most commonly identified theory is that general anesthetics operate directly on the central nervous system to temporarily inhibit synaptic transmission.
Types of Anesthetics
Local- numbs one small area of the body. You stay awake and alert.
Conscious or intravenous (IV) sedation- uses mild sedative to relax you and pain medicine to relieve pain. You stay awake but may not remember procedure after.
Regional anesthesia- blocks pain in an area of the body. Ex. Epidural.
General Anesthesia- affects whole body. You go to sleep and feel nothing and no memory of the procedure after.
Bibliography of Discoverer:
William Morton was born in 1819. Before going in to the study of dentistry he tried his hand as a clerk, printer, and a salesmen but found neither one satisfying. In 1840, Morton enrolled at the worlds first dental school, Baltimore College of Dental Surgery. He left without graduating but instead in 1842-43 became partners with Horace wells but ended soon there after. He then entered Harvard Medical School in 1844. He signed up, one to increase his medical knowledge but also to impress the women he loved and later married. There he attended lectures of Professor Charles Jackson from whom he first learned the properties of ether. During the presentation of former business partner Horace Wells, Morton thought of the possibility of using a stronger agent than that of Horace Wells. He talked to Professor Jackson whom scholars believe advised him to use ether. After many experiments on himself and various animals, Morton successfully performed a dental extraction in his office on Boston merchant Eben Frost. On the account of the procedure Henry Bigelow arranged MGH head surgeon John Collins Warren to stage a public performance of the revolutionary experiment.
Impact on Humanity:
Before the use of anesthesia, people were expected to suffer through the surgeries with nothing but alcohol and opiates to numb the pain. Today we are now able to perform much larger procedures pain free. Anesthesia has been able to save many peoples lives because doctors are able to go into a body and get rid of cancer causing tumors or other life threatening issues.
This also gives people the ability to have surgery without as much fear. The surgery room used to be a loud place because of the screams and moans of pain but now surgery can be performed much quicker and much more calm.
Journal Article:
Although uncommon, some people experience inadequate anesthesia. In this instance the patient may be aware of the surgery as it goes on. Preoperative sedation may reduce anxiety, and the analgesic may reduce worry, but the muscle relaxant prevents the patient from communicating that he or she is awake until after the procedure is over. Fortunately the incidence of surgical awareness is extremely low ( well under 1%). It is most common in surgeries where the standard care permits only light amounts of anesthesia to begin with.
Resources:
Anesthesia and Surgery, http://www.instituteshot.com/anesthesia_and_surgery.htm
Anesthesia,(2010) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/anesthesia.html
William Morton, http://www.general-anesthesia.com/images/william-morton.html
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)