The Wright Patent Lawsuit: Reflections on the Impact on American Aviation

The Wright brothers, it must be conceded, were the first to fly a powered, heavier-than-air machine in sustained flight and under control. To deny them this rightful distinction is to willfully ignore fact (Hayward, 1912). Their contributions to aviation are innumerable, and without their insight, man may have been years awaiting what they accomplished in 1903. The Wrights\u27 status as first in flight notwithstanding, their treatment of the issues surrounding the patent which was taken on their aircraft was harmful to the progress of aviation in the years following their success at Kitty Hawk. To claim that they owed the world the whole of their invention, and by extension, the profits arising from it, is unreasonable; but to suppose that in pursuit of their rightful gains, they would not impede any other from pursuing experimentation and improvement of aircraft is an expectation that is difficult to argue. In litigating against all those they deemed infringers upon their basic ideas, the Wrights forestalled what may well have been more collaborative and productive progress in aircraft design

Tracing the History of the Ornithopter: Past, Present, and Future

Since the earliest recorded history, humans have shared a nearly universal desire for the freedom of flight. This obsession with escaping gravity\u27s unblinking gaze to somehow slip aloft, even for a fleeting moment, has inspired many to wax poetic about the dream of flight. Looking to nature\u27s design, man for years attempted to replicate the flight of the bird, and even its predecessor, the pteranodon, in many a bid to break free of his earthly bonds. Though science eventually shifted its focus to balloons, and then to fixed-wing flight, as a means of sustaining flight, the freedom and effortless grace of birds is as captivating now as it ever was. From the earliest days of man\u27s dreams of launching himself skyward to today\u27s advanced designs, flapping-wing craft, known generally as ornithopters, have held a constant place in the quest to achieve the flowing elegance of flight so easily mastered by nature\u27s own aeronauts. In the past several years, aircraft which capitalize on the mechanics of bird flight have enjoyed a renaissance of sorts. From the recent first flight of a human-powered ornithopter, to flapping-wing designs incorporated in nano-scale unmanned vehicles, aviation design has in many ways come full circle. This paper examines the history of, and influences on, ornithopters and their design, and investigates developments and future trends of this uniquely inspired aircraft

Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Benchmark Safety Culture in Aviation Organizations

While organizations are increasingly encouraged to evaluate safety culture in the context of measurement of leading safety indicators within a safety management system, there remains no generally agreed upon means by which this should be accomplished. In fact, few tools exist that allow an operator to make such measurement with any substantial practical value. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been used extensively to compare organizational production efficiency, with techniques such as stochastic frontier analysis or the double-bootstrapped form of DEA infusing the process with a stochastic element. This study applies native DEA methodology toward the evaluation of safety culture and safety program effectiveness among similar organizations and proposes future research directions utilizing stochastic DEA methods toward achieving more reliable, generalizable results upon which statistical inferences may be based. This research produces and tests a model for the evaluation of efficiency in creating a positive safety culture along an estimated efficiency frontier using DEA and further extends the model for future research in applying double-bootstrapped DEA methods to the problem. The results of this study offer evidence that DEA is a viable means of comparison of safety culture measures among organizations or organizational units, and show that it provides a tool for empirically-based prioritization of safety climate intervention at an operational level

Measurable Outcomes of Safety Culture in Aviation - A Meta-Analytic Review

Though the complimentary concepts of safety culture and safety climate have become increasingly popular over the past three decades, they have only infrequently been central to research designed to examine the empirical relationship between safety culture and safety performance. This tenuous link between culture and safety performance outcomes is especially prevalent in the aviation sector. This study systematically examined the existing literature for empirical evidence and explored the available data via meta-analysis to determine whether safety culture was significantly predictive of safety performance in an aviation operational environment. Although a broad, careful review of the literature was accomplished, the results of the meta-analysis and conclusions to be drawn were limited by the small number of studies in the area of interest that also contained the necessary quantitative data for meta-analysis. Recommendations were made for future work in aviation safety culture in the interest of establishing an empirical link between safety culture and safety performance

Toward a microRNA signature of endometrial cancer

A simple meta-analysis of eight microRNA (miRNA) expression surveys of endometrial cancers reveals a panel of sixteen miRNAs that are significantly over-expressed (n = 15) or under-expressed (n = 1) in at least three surveys. Examination of these miRNAs indicates that they target mRNAs involved in a number of basic cellular processes including the crucial epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and hypoxia response. The central role played by these miRNAs is reinforced by the demonstration that they are all among the most ancient of all animal miRNAs. This suggests that they are members of a core set of miRNAs dysregulated as part of the carcinogenic cellular reprogramming process

Wnt signaling in granulosa cell tumors of the ovary

Granulosa cell tumors (GCT), a malignant type of sex-cord stromal tumor, account for approximately 2-5% of all ovarian malignancies. They are often identified before they have spread beyond the ovary, but advanced disease can be quite challenging to treat. Wnt signaling has been suggested to contribute to the formation of GCT. We hypothesized Wnt signaling was involved in human GCT

H19/miR-675 non-coding RNA expression differentiates among cancers of the human endometrium.

H19 is a maternally expressed non-coding RNA located at chromosome 11p15.5 near the reciprocally imprinted insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) gene. Though the function of H19 is unknown, it is transcribed during embryonic development after which transcription is absent in all but a few tissues including cardiac muscle, breast, ovary, uterus, and placenta. Linking H19, miR-675 and RB1 expression with serous tumors of the endometrium suggests that RB1 suppression may be a differentiating event in serous tumorigenesis

Ultrasound evaluation of pelvic masses seen within a university gynecologic oncology clinic: does the scan location matter?

To quantify variations in the reporting of ultrasound characteristics of adnexal masses between local ultrasound centers and a tertiary care center for women referred to gynecologic oncology for evaluation of a pelvic mass. This study also sought to evaluate whether a gynecologic oncologist’s impression regarding the suspicion for malignancy differed based upon the information provided in the local ultrasound report as compared to the tertiary care center ultrasound report

Small cell carcinoma of the cervix: a retrospective analysis of characteristics important in outcomes

To assess clinical characteristics and treatment modalities in patients with small cell carcinoma of the cervix and the effect this has on overall (OS) and recurrence free survival (RFS)

Primary radiation as initial management in endometrial cancer: investigating EBRT, IMRT and HDR brachytherapy

For patients with endometrial cancer at increased risk of perioperative morbidity, primary radiation therapy is an effective alternative treatment option. However, there has been no consensus on radiation technique and little data on outcomes. Our aim was to identify factors which determine patient selection for primary radiation, investigate treatment efficacy of radiation compared to surgical management of endometrial cancer and to evaluate different radiation modalities including external beam radiation therapy alone or with a boost of either high dose rate brachytherapy or intensity-modulated radiation therapy for differences in toxicities, recurrence-free interval, cancer-specific survival and overall survival