The second life of the first generation | Yukon Advanced Optics Worldwide. Find Yukon distributors all over the world. Binoculars, Spotting Scopes, Night Vision Devices and Riflescopes.
Today night vision devices are anything but exotics. They are widely used in everyday life, mainly by hunters, and primarily night vision riflescopes. Nevertheless, a lot of hunters sooner or later realize that for the hunt, especially for the driven one, it is reasonable to have some additional observation device, either binoculars or monoculars. The first ones provide more comfortable observation and the latter give tangible gain in compactness, weight and price.
This is probably for that very reason night vision monoculars are most recognized additional observation devices by hunting community. And this market offers plenty of options in wide price range starting from 5 thousand rubles for the 1st generation devices to 10 thousand US dollars for the 3rd generation night vision devices. Subjectively, the difference in possibilities of budget devices and "premium" class NVD's doesn't correspond to their price difference; it is simply because at a certain moment even insignificant improvements in NVD's are achieved by higher costs. Taking into account that "higher" generation NV devices have technologically exhausted potentialities for cost reduction, the appearance of solutions with improved performance in budget class seems to be consequent.
Exelon night vision monocular of Yukon Advanced Optics Worldwide is the first and one of the few in the NVD market of this kind. The model line consists of devices with 3x and 4x magnification.
The design of Exelons uses Novosibirsk image intensifying tube EP33-SF with a photocathode of a special spherical shape (as far as it is generally known such tube is only used in Exelon and some Pulsar NV devices).
Of course, EP33-SF is inferior to "higher" generation tubes in sensitivity and light amplification, so in "pitch-dark" conditions Exelons require help of a built-in or optional IR-illuminator. However, compared to "standard" 1st Gen NVD's the device shows convincing results: that very light amplification of its tube is higher by at least 60%.
As for the image quality, Exelon is coming very close to the devices of the next price segment. The original combination "Objective lens-Tube" (the lens is also notable for its unconventional design) provides almost complete absence of image distortion across the entire field of view (not a secret that in Gen1 NVD the image remains smooth only in the central zone and gets significantly distorted coming closer to the edge). The same with resolution. If we roughly divide the field of the screen (let's take the screen as a base, because this is what the observer sees in the eyepiece) into three zones (the central, in a shape of a circle for a third of diameter; the medium and the extreme in a shape of rings), the resolution of the central and peripheral zones will differ by approx. 20%, remaining rather stable and high (in Gen 1 NVD's the resolution decrease from the center to the edge of the field of view can be up to five times or more ). As a result, in field conditions at ¼ Moon, Exelon allows to identify a person or a wild boar at a distance of 250-300m. At the same time the declared field of view is confirmed. It is 13 degrees, or 23m at 100m distance, that makes the "area" observation possible, for instance, searching or observation of a running animal.
As a result, having a high image quality, Exelon has a sufficient efficiency supply for its use as an additional observation device on the hunt, not only in a couple with 1st generation riflescopes but with more sophisticated ones; and also it fits within a reasonable price range.


text:
Q: Problems running click command group I am having trouble with command groups. I have been following this guide.
#!/usr/bin/env python

import click

@click.group()
@click.option("--template-id", prompt="Template ID", help="The template to use.")
@click.option("--lang", prompt="Langcode", help="The language to use.")
def cli(template_id, lang):
    pass

@cli.command()
@click.argument('template-id')
@click.argument('lang')
def upload_translations(template_id, lang):
    pass

if __name__ == "__main__":
    cli()

Running this causes problems:
» ~/cli.py upload_translations --template-id=xxxxx --lang=ja
Template ID: sdf
Langcode: asdf
Error: no such option: --template-id

*

*Why is click requesting the options? I am already passing that on the command line!

*Why is there an Error: no such option: --template-id?

A: The --template-id option is not an option to the upload_translations command; it is an option to the base cli.  So you would call it like:
./cli.py --template-id=xxxxxx --lang=ja upload_translations ...

Also, you have a --lang option both on cli and on upload_translations.  Which means this would also be valid:
./cli.py --template-id=xxxxxx upload_translations --lang=ja ...

That's a bit confusing; you may want to either remove the --lang option from one or the other, or give it a different name in one of those two commands if it's not actually the same thing.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
How much fluid is in the child's ear (a sign of an ear infection) alters the soundwaves that bounce back, which the app then uses to help diagnose the illness.
One researcher offered a useful analogy — and one that frustrated parents might relate to.
"It's like tapping a wine glass," author and doctoral student Justin Chan said in a statement. "Depending on how much liquid is in it, you get different sounds. Using machine learning on these sounds, we can detect the presence of liquid."
The app is still in the experimental stages, and before it could be used widely on children it would need to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, NPR reports.
But if it does become available, it could be good news for many parents. Five in six children come down with at least one ear infection — and that's just before the child turns 3, according to the National Institutes of Health, which says that "ear infections are the most common reason parents bring their child to a doctor."
"Designing an accurate screening tool on something as ubiquitous as a smartphone can be game changing for parents as well as health care providers in resource limited regions," said study co-author Shyam Gollakota, a professor in the university's engineering and computer science school. "A key advantage of our technology is that it does not require any additional hardware other than a piece of paper and a software app running on the smartphone."
Researchers said the app detects ear fluid with roughly the same accuracy levels as current more elaborate methods.
Ear infections, which are generally caused by bacteria, sprout up when the middle ear gets inflamed as fluid builds up behind a child's eardrum, according to the NIH. And though the infection is possible in people of any age, kids are the most common victims.
Researchers said that prescribing antibiotics or using a wait-and-see approach can easily treat most ear infections, though chronic ear issues sometimes require draining.
"A quick screening at home could help parents decide whether or not they need to take their child to the doctor," researchers said.
The team said it trained the algorithm used in the app by testing 53 kids — ranging in age from a year and a half to 17 — who were treated at Seattle Children's Hospital. Roughly half of those kids were getting tubes in their ears replaced, while the others were getting their tonsils removed or another non-ear procedure.
"When we put in ear tubes, we make an incision into the eardrum and drain any fluid present," author Dr. Sharat Raju, a surgical resident at the university's medical school, said in a statement. "That's the best way to tell if there is fluid behind the eardrum. So these surgeries created the ideal setting for this study."
Researchers said the app works on kids of all ages and that they were able to train parents involved in the study to use the app at home.
"The ability to know how often and for how long fluid has been present could help us make the best management decisions with patients and parents," study author Dr. Randall Bly, a medical professor, said in a statement. "It also could help primary care providers know when to refer to a specialist."
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Dr. Randall Bly, a professor at the UW School of Medicine who practices at Seattle Children's Hospital, uses the new smartphone app on his daughter. Dennis Wise/University of Washington
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By David Smiley
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


problemEven impactful projects may look unimpressive if the project team sets unrealistic goals, or doesn't develop some way to measure their progress ahead of time.
solutionWhen you plan a project, identify a small number of important things you intend to accomplish, how you'll do it, and how you'll know you've succeeded. Be ambitious, but realistic.
Setting ambitious goals can motivate you to work harder, and attract more interest to your project. However, if your goals are so ambitious that they can't be achieved in the timeframe, talent, and resources you have available, you run the risk of winding up with an incomplete project and a disappointed audience. Setting unrealistic goals can actually result in a project that is less impactful than it would have been with more modest goals. This kind of outcome can diminish your credibility among the people you want to impress and support.
Set realistic goals! Devote time at the beginning of your project to thinking about, discussing, and documenting not only what you want to achieve, but how you're going to achieve it. Be critical of your own plans. It may be helpful to sketch out "worst case scenarios" where circumstances beyond your control interfere with your ability to complete a task or reach a deadline. Identify dependencies within your project: can you anticipate sequential steps in your project, where you'll only be able to complete a task if someone else has completed another task? Are there elements of your plan that depend on your ability to gain access to a particular technology, or to form a relationship with another organization? If so, it may be useful to have a backup plan in case those arrangements fall through.
When you set goals for your project, don't just rely on your own judgement to determine whether they're achievable. Ask for feedback from other people, especially those who have done similar work before. Search for relevant data: it can be very helpful to look at reports (or learning patterns!) based on previous projects with similar goals, methods, budgets, or timelines, and work out what they were able to achieve, given their resources.
Many projects, including those funded by WMF grants, require the team to include specific measures of success in their plan. These measures are usually quantitative, such as "100 new editors recruited" or "50 new articles created". These measures and targets may seem arbitrary, but it's actually very important to choose them carefully and make them realistic. Realistic targets allow you to evaluate your progress as you work. If you don't think you're on track to hit your targets three months through a six-month project, you probably still have time to assess the plan and try out new approaches.
Realistic targets should provide you with good reference points for how you're doing. For example, timing was the problem for the Replay Edits project; they set a target of 3700 users by the end of the grant period, but were unable to measure usage of the software they created before the project was completed. For another project, the extent of reach was the issue: although the PRChina project did manage to build a substantial following of nearly 10,000 users  on the Chinese social media network Weibo, this number fell far short of the somewhat arbitrarily selected goal of 60,000 followers stated in the original project plan.
In 2010, the Wikimedia Foundation identified a set of strategic priorities for growing our projects and keeping our movement healthy and dynamic. These priorities are the product of a huge amount of research and discussion by hundreds of Wikimedians, much of which is documented on Strategy Wiki. Aligning the goals of your own project with these larger strategic goals will not only help you focus your energy on the most important outcomes—it will make it easier for you to explain to other community members why your project matters.
Set goals that are more conservative than what you expect to achieve. The Wikipedia Library project expected to achieve donations of database licenses worth $100,000, and to secure research database access for 1000 Wikipedians. The project managed to exceed both of these measures in secured contracts by the end of six months, and reported additional positive outcomes that could lead to substantial increases in both measures in the near term. Exceeding a more conservative goal gives a more positive impression of your project than failing to achieve an unrealistically optimistic one, even if you accomplished the same amount. If the goals and targets you set in your project plan are too conservative, the people you ask to review and comment on your plan should be able to tell you so (this is especially true if you're asking them to support the project with money or time).
Writing the grant proposal for the project "Script encoding proposals for Nepal" involved careful forethought, in order to identify goals that would be definitely attainable. The project itself involved holding a meeting in Nepal with different constituencies to discuss proposals for two scripts of Nepal. The goals put forward for the project were very modest: a meeting would take place and the proposed outcome would be to come to an agreement on the future steps. By setting modest goals, anything that the project accomplished beyond them would be rewarding, whereas making grander goals that couldn't be met could lead to disappointment and frustration.
WLMIE was the first event organised and run by the newly formed Ireland Community Wikimedia User Group so we were eager to impress. But we also knew that with a small group of volunteers we wouldn't be able to do everything we wanted to. We set very modest goals for the competition. Overall we reached our goals, and in many cases exceeded them. If we had set loftier goals and didn't reach them we would have become discouraged and the group might have fallen apart.
Wikipedia Connection is a student organization at the Ohio State University. Our PEG grant was interesting as it wasn't for one particular event; it funded an entire semester's event worth of workshops, edit-a-thons, and projects. This presented a unique opportunity to come up with a set of achievable goals that encompass an entire semester's worth of activities. Two of the target outcomes we set were creating 1-2 new articles and improving 7+ more at our weekly workshops, along with creating 5-10 new articles and improving 20+ more at our edit-a-thons. On average, we created 1.71 articles per weekly workshop and improved 5.83 more. We hosted one Art+Feminism edit-a-thon, which resulted in 6 new articles and improving 28 more. While we did not fulfill the full target outcome for our workshops, we were still pleased with the results. The best thing to come from not meeting the target was identifying why we did not meet the target. One of the biggest reasons was that many of our workshops included presentations that didn't necessarily involve editing, such as presentations on various aspects of Wikipedia, or a photography guide as we prepared for a photography event. Some of our workshops also focused on improving non-articles, such as uploading images or editing portals. While all our target outcomes were not reached, we managed to identify a positive reason why it did not happen, and will now look at how we can better work to meet our target outcomes in the future.
The GLAMpipe project set high expectations for a Swiss knife tool for data and media upload. The tool has taken a different trajectory to be developed from the original project plan. It has taken more time, it has become much more powerful and versatile at parts while some of the intended parts have been less developed. Because of this it has been difficult to engage users and spread information about the results. This project would not have benefited from a more compact approach. Rather, the development has required the lengthy period of exploration. More direct engagement with end-users and Wikimedia developers would benefit it now and in the future. The GLAMmers will be able to pinpoint the workflows that need to be served and pain points that developers may not notice. The project would benefit from technical support, either from skilled Wikimedia developers or the staff, who could help to incorporate the tool into the Wikimedia fabric.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tracked by Wikimedia UK; an example from Q1 2014.


Warren Keller is a published astro-imager (APOD, Sky & Telescope and Astronomy magazines) and teacher of image processing. He has written extensively on the subject and is four-time Sky & Telescope author. Keller has also produced the definitive commercial video tutorial series on PixInsight.


Pair skating is a figure skating discipline. International Skating Union (ISU) regulations describe pair teams as consisting of "one lady and one man." The sport is distinguished from ice dancing and single skating by elements unique to pair skating, including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals, and throw jumps. The teams also perform the elements of single skating in unison. Pair skating requires similar technique and timing on all elements of the performance, as well as practice and trust between the partners. The aim is to create an impression of "two skating as one". Serious skating accidents are most common in the pair discipline.
In February 1908, pair skating first appeared at the World Championships, with three teams from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Russia competing in Saint Petersburg. Its Olympic debut was in October 1908, with three teams competing in London, one from Germany and two from the U.K. Since then, the discipline has been dominated by Canada, China and particularly Russia; from 1964 to 2006, the Soviet Union/Russia won every pairs Olympic gold medal. Pair skating has evolved significantly since its early beginnings. Some elements common in the modern-day sport were not introduced until decades later.


text:
Leading Health Indicators 2030: Advancing Health, Equity, and Well-Being (2020)
Leading Health Indicators 2030
Advancing Health, Equity, and Well-Being (2020)
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Committee on Informing the Selection of Leading Health Indicators for Healthy People 2030
Beginning in 1979 and in each subsequent decades, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has overseen the Healthy People initiative to set national goals and objectives for health promotion and disease prevention. At the request of HHS, this study presents a slate of Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) that will serve as options for the Healthy People Federal Interagency Workgroup to consider as they develop the final criteria and set of LHIs for Healthy People 2030.
Health and Medicine — Public Health and Prevention
Health and Medicine — Policy, Reviews and Evaluations
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Leading Health Indicators 2030: Advancing Health, Equity, and Well-Being. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25682.
Front Matter i-xiv
1 Introduction 9-12
2 The Process for Identifying Candidate Leading Health Indicators 13-26
3 Details of the Top-Down Procedure 27-30
4 Results of the Bottom-Up Procedure: Gaps in the Draft Objectives 31-64
5 Conclusion 65-66
Appendix A: Committee Member Biosketches 77-82
Appendix B: Public Information-Gathering Meeting Agendas 83-86
Appendix C: Two Social Determinants of Health Frameworks 87-88
Appendix D: Leading Health Indicator Contender Form 89-92
Appendix E: Department of Health and Human Services Proposed Objectives for Inclusion in Healthy People 2030 93-158
Click here to obtain permission for Leading Health Indicators 2030: Advancing Health, Equity, and Well-Being.
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Purchase Tessa's Tangled Tongue on Amazon!
Tessa's Tangled Tongue has been in the works for a very long time, and it just makes me so happy that it is finished. It may not have taken as many hours to write as Little Cabin on the Trail, but it was every bit as involved. An illustrated book required the collaboration with an artist, and I had the privilege to work with Hannah Susan Crane. She is amazing, and you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
Tessa's Tangled Tongue is a book that gifts the reader with laughter and hope. Although it specifically deals with the frustration of a speech delay or word confusion, everyone can benefit from the way Tessa and her smart mommy choose to deal with the challenge.
Purchase Little Cabin on the Trail on Amazon!
Have you ever taken on a project that you were sure you'd never complete short of a miracle? Well, that is what writing this book has been for me: the project that needed a miracle. From the call to completion took three and a half years. A hundred and fifty pages may not seem like a substantial return on the time spent, but I believe the journey I took with God and my memories through the process could not have been rushed.
The message I wanted to communicate was clear from the beginning, but the chapters and the stories came ever so slowly. Sometimes I had to walk the trails at the cabin and plead with God for something--anything at all--because I had nothing. Many times I wondered if it was ever going to be worth it. Again and again, God sent confirmation and encouragement from friends, family, and even strangers. Please know that with every chapter, every story, I've given a piece of my heart to you, my readers.
Find my interview (4-13-16) with Amy on Daytime Tricities here. Yes, it was my first time on television!
My good friend, Shona of Faith Baked Cakes--the one with all the connections--cooks on Daytime Tricities every month.
Below are posts relating to writing as well as posts that contain that correspond to the chapters in the book. If you want to know what the Little Crooked House looked like or to see photos of our unexpected trip in a Mercedes with a stranger, you can find them here!


text:
Mydrosoma sinaloa is een vliesvleugelig insect uit de familie Colletidae. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1986 door Michener.

Colletidae

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Earthenware, pottery that has not been fired to the point of vitrification and is thus slightly porous and coarser than stoneware and porcelain. The body can be covered completely or decorated with slip (a liquid clay mixture applied before firing), or it can be glazed. For both practical and decorative reasons, earthenware is usually glazed. To overcome its porosity (which makes it impracticable for storing liquids in its unglazed state, for example), the fired object is covered with finely ground glass powder suspended in water and is then fired a second time. During the firing, the fine particles covering the surface fuse into an amorphous, glasslike layer, sealing the pores of the clay body. There are two main types of glazed earthenware. One is covered with a transparent lead glaze; when the earthenware body to which this glaze is applied has a cream colour, the product is called creamware. The second type, covered with an opaque white tin glaze, is variously called tin-enameled, or tin-glazed, earthenware, majolica, faience, or delft.
A crude, soft earthenware, excavated at a Neolithic settlement at Çatalhüyük, on the Anatolian Plateau of Turkey, and thought to be about 9,000 years old, is the earliest known pottery. Earthenware is still widely used in the 21st century, much of the commercially produced ware being heatproof and coldproof and thus practicable for cooking and freezing as well as for serving.


text:
News Sports Politics Opinion For Subscribers NKY Obituaries E-Edition Legals
Fallen officer's visitation, funeral: What you need to know
Sheila Vilvens
Visitation and funeral services are Thursday and Friday for fallen Chattanooga Police Officer and Cincinnati area native Nicholas Galinger.
Over the next two days, Cincinnati Police say to expect visitation and funeral related temporary road closures and traffic delays in Mt. Washington, Anderson and Union Townships.
Beechmont Avenue will be closed between Campus Lane and Berkshire Road at the following times:
11 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
5:15 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
10 to 10:15 a.m. Friday, March 1
Beechmont will be closed between Beacon Avenue and Mt. Moriah for the funeral procession between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m. Drivers can expect complete road closures in both directions and at cross streets during the procession.
Visitation and funeral
Visitation for Galinger is at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church, 6474 Beechmont Ave, noon to 5 p.m. today. The funeral service will be 11 a.m. Friday, March 1, also at Mt. Washington Presbyterian Church. Burial will be around 12:15 p.m. at Mt. Moriah Cemetery in Union Township, Clermont County.
Galinger, 38, was inspecting a road hazard on Feb. 23 when he was hit by a motorist who fled the scene. He later died at the hospital.
Janet Elaine Hinds, 54, of Hixon, Tennessee, turned herself in Feb. 25. She was arrested on nine charges including suspicion of vehicular homicide, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report, failure to render aid, and speeding.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM:Subscribe now for access to all our coverage
Galinger is a 1999 graduate of Clermont Northeastern High School near Owensville, Ohio. He moved to Chattanooga last August to pursue his dream of becoming a police officer, according to his obituary posted by Heritage Funeral Home.
He is survived by his son, Ethan Galinger, daughter, Hailey Galinger, both of Cincinnati, and parents Barry and Gretchen Galinger of Ellabell, Georgia, and siblings.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Chattanooga Police Department or to the American Cancer Society.
More:Tennessee officer killed Sunday had Cincinnati roots
© 2021 www.cincinnati.com. All rights reserved.


A charging device includes a corona charger, provided with an opening opposing a photosensitive member, for electrically charging the photosensitive member; a sheet-like member provided so that the sheet-like member can cover the opening; a movable device for moving the sheet-like member; and a regulating device for regulating a shape of the sheet-like member so that a central portion of the sheet-like member protrudes toward the corona charger with respect to a circumferential direction of the photosensitive member.
1. A charging device comprising: a corona charger, provided with an opening opposing a photosensitive member, for electrically charging the photosensitive member; a sheet-like member provided so that said sheet-like member can cover the opening; movable means for moving said sheet-like member; and regulating means for regulating a shape of said sheet-like member so that a central portion of said sheet-like member protrudes toward said corona charger with respect to a circumferential direction of the photosensitive member.
 The present invention relates to a corona charger used in an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multi-function machine having a plurality of functions of these machines.
 In an image forming apparatus of an electrophotographic type, an image has been conventionally formed through an electrophotographic process including steps of charging, exposure, development and transfer. Of these steps, in the charging step a photosensitive member has been electrically charged uniformly to a potential of a predetermined polarity by a corona charger provided closely to the photosensitive member. In the charging step using the corona charger, corona discharge is utilized, so that an electric discharge product such as ozone (O3) or nitrogen oxides (NOx) is generated. When such an electric discharge product is deposited on the photosensitive member and takes up moisture, a so-called "image deletion (flow)" phenomenon such that a surface resistance at a opening on which the electric discharge product is deposited is lowered, thus failing to faithfully reproduce an electrostatic latent image depending on image information.
 Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application (JP-A) 2007-072212 discloses prevention of deposition of the electric discharge product on the photosensitive member during non-image formation by providing a shutter to the corona charger so as to cover an opening of the corona charger. Specifically, JP-A 2007-072212 proposes opening and closing movement of the shutter along a longitudinal direction of the charging shutter. According to a study by the present inventor, as shown in FIG. 13, in the case where a corona charger 200 is intended to be brought nearer to a photosensitive member 100 compared with a conventional image forming apparatus, the following findings have been obtained. Incidentally, a reference symbol 2a' represents a grid electrode.
 That is, in the case where the corona charger 200 is provided in proximity to the photosensitive member 100, the shutter is configured to move to be opened and closed between the corona charger 200 and the photosensitive member 100. Therefore, it has been found that the shutter as a sheet-like member may preferably be employed so as not to deteriorate the photosensitive member 100 even when the shutter can contact the photosensitive member 100.
 However, a space, between the corona charger 200 and the photosensitive member 100, through which the shutter passes has a shape of curvature (FIG. 13) corresponding to a shape of an outer circumferential surface of the photosensitive member, so that there is a possibility that the shutter forms a sliding relation with the photosensitive member or the corona charger by the opening and closing movement thereof.
 That is, in the case where the shutter has a linear and flat shape with respect to a short direction thereof as in JP-A 2007-072212, the shutter shape does not correspond to the shape of curvature of the space between the corona charger and the photosensitive member, with the result that the shutter forms the sliding relation with the photosensitive member or the corona charger (a shield or a grid electrode).
 Thus, when the shutter forms the sliding relation with the corona charger, the shutter is caught by the corona charger, so that the opening and closing movement of the shutter cannot be properly effected.
 Further, when the shutter forms the sliding relation with the photosensitive member every opening and closing movement thereof, deterioration of the photosensitive member cannot be disregarded.
 A principal object of the present invention is to provide a charging device capable of properly effecting opening and closing movement of a sheet-like member even when a corona charger is provided in proximity to a photosensitive member.
 regulating means for regulating a shape of the sheet-like member so that a central portion of the sheet-like member protrudes toward or is convex toward the corona charger with respect to a circumferential direction of the photosensitive member.
 Another object of the present invention is to provide a charging device capable of preventing deterioration of the photosensitive member by the opening and closing movement of the sheet-like member even when the corona charger is provided in proximity to the photosensitive member.
 FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a state in which a charger shutter is opened.
 FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view showing a state in which the charger shutter is closed.
 FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of an image forming apparatus.
 FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing a layer structure of a photosensitive member.
 FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of a corona charger.
 FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing an opening and closing mechanism for the charger shutter.
 FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view of a winding-up device.
 FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in which the winding-up device is set in a guide fixing member.
 FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view showing an opening and closing mechanism for the corona charger.
 FIG. 10(A) is a schematic view showing a state before a shutter fixing member is attached, and FIG. 10(B) is a schematic view showing a state after the shutter fixing member is attached.
 FIG. 11 is a block diagram for illustrating opening and closing control of the charging shutter.
 FIG. 12 is a flow chart for illustrating the opening and closing control of the charging shutter.
 FIG. 13 is a schematic perspective view showing a positional relationship between the photosensitive member and the corona charger.
 FIG. 14 is a schematic sectional view showing a guiding member having a shape of curvature.
 FIG. 15 is a schematic perspective view showing the guiding member having the shape of curvature.
 FIG. 16 is a schematic sectional view showing a charging shutter which has been subjected to a curvature shape imparting process (treatment) in advance.
 Hereinbelow, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Incidentally, in the respective drawings, members or means indicating by identical reference numerals or symbols have the same constitutions or functions, thus being appropriately omitted from redundant explanation.
 First, a general structure of the image forming apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The image forming apparatus in this embodiment is a laser beam printer of an electrophotographic type.
 As shown in FIG. 3, a charging device 2, an exposure device 3, a potential measuring device 7, a developing device 4, a transferring device 5, a cleaning device 8, and an optical discharging device 9 and disposed in this order around a photosensitive member (image bearing member) 1 along a rotational direction (indicated by an arrow R1) of the photosensitive member 1. Further, a fixing device 6 is disposed downstream of the transferring device 5 with respect to a conveying direction of a recording material P.
 Next, individual image forming devices associated with image formation will be described specifically.
 The photosensitive member 1 in this embodiment as the image bearing member is a cylindrical (drum-type) electrophotographic photosensitive member as shown in FIG. 3. The photosensitive member 1 has a diameter of 84 mm and is rotationally driven in the arrow R1 direction about a center shaft (not shown) at a process speed (peripheral speed) of 500 mm/sec.
 Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the photosensitive member 1 includes a photosensitive layer of a negatively chargeable organic photoconductor. Specifically, the photosensitive member 1 includes an aluminum cylinder 1a as an electroconductive support at an inner position with respect to a radial direction (a lower portion in FIG. 4). On the cylinder 1a, a three-layer structure consisting of an under coat layer 1b for suppressing interference of light and improving an adhesiveness with an upper layer, a charge generation layer 1c, and a charge transport layer 1d is formed. The charge generation layer 1c and the charge transport layer 1d constitute the photosensitive layer described above.
 The charging device 2 in this embodiment is, as shown in FIG. 3, a corona charger of a scorotron type including a discharging wire 2h, a U-shaped electroconductive shield 2b which is provided so as to surround the discharging wire, and a grid electrode 2a provided at an opening of the shield 2b. In this embodiment, in order to meet high-speed image formation, the corona charger 2 includes two discharging wire 2h and a partition wall provided between the two discharging wires 2h. The corona charger 2 is provided along a generatrix direction of the photosensitive member 1. Therefore, a longitudinal direction of the corona charger 2 is parallel to an axial (shaft) direction of the photosensitive member 1. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the grid electrode 2a is disposed along the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member so that a central portion thereof with respect to a widthwise (short) direction (a photosensitive member movement direction) is separated from the photosensitive member in a larger distance than that at both end portions thereof. Therefore, in this embodiment, compared with the conventional image forming apparatus, the corona charger 2 can be brought nearer to the photosensitive member 1, so that a charging efficiency can be improved.
 Further, to the corona charger 2, a charging bias application source S1 for applying a charging bias is connected, so that the corona charger 2 has the function of uniformly charging the surface of the photosensitive member 1 to a potential of a negative polarity at a charging position a by the charging bias applied from the application source S1. Specifically, a DC voltage is applied to the discharging wires 2h and the grid electrode 2a.
 The exposure device 3 in this embodiment is a laser beam scanner including a semiconductor laser for irradiating the photosensitive member 1 charged by the corona charger 2 with laser light L. Specifically, on the basis of an image signal (information) sent from a host computer connected to the image forming apparatus through a network cable, the image exposure device 3 outputs the laser light L. The charged surface of the photosensitive member 1 is exposed to the laser light L along a main scan direction at an exposure position b. By repeating the exposure along the main scan direction during the rotation of the photosensitive member 1, of the charged surface of the photosensitive member 1, a portion irradiated with the laser light L is lowered in potential, so that an electrostatic latent image is formed correspondingly to the image information.
 Here, the main scan direction means a direction parallel to the generatrix of the mechanism 1 and a sub-scan direction means a direction parallel to the rotational direction of the photosensitive member 1.
 The developing device 4 deposits a developer (toner) on the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member 1 by the charging device 2 and the exposure device 3 to visualize the latent image. The developing device in this embodiment employs a two component magnetic brush developing method and also employs a reverse developing method. The developing device 4 includes a developing container 4a, a developing sleeve 4b, a magnet 4c, a developing blade 4d, a developer stirring member 4f, and a toner hopper 4g. Incidentally, a reference symbol 4e shown in FIG. 3 represents a two component developer accommodated in the developing container 4a. The developing sleeve 4b is a non-magnetic cylindrical member and is rotatably provided to the developing container 4a while a part of an outer peripheral surface thereof is outwardly exposed. The magnet 4c is provided in the developing sleeve 4b in a state in which it is non-rotatable and fixed. The developing blade 4d regulates a thickness of the two component developer 4e coated on the developing sleeve surface. The developer stirring member 4f is disposed on a bottom side in the developing container 4a and feeds the two component developer 4e toward the developing sleeve 4b while stirring the developer. The toner hopper 4g is a container containing toner to be supplied to the developing container 4a. The two component developer 4e in the developing container 4a is a mixture of the toner and a magnetic carrier and is stirred by the developer stirring member 4f. The magnetic carrier has a resistance of about 1013 ohmcm and a particle size of 40 μm. The toner is triboelectrically charged to a negative polarity by rubbing with the carrier. The above-described developing sleeve 4b is disposed oppositely to the photosensitive member 1 so as to provide the closest distance of 350 μm from the photosensitive member 1. A portion at which the photosensitive member 1 and the developing sleeve 4b oppose each other constitutes a developing portion c. The developing sleeve 4b is rotationally driven so that a movement direction of its surface is opposite from the movement direction of the photosensitive member 1 surface at the developing portion c. That is, the developing sleeve 4b is rotationally driven in a direction indicated by an arrow R4 with respect to the arrow R1 direction of the photosensitive member 1. A part of the two component developer 4e in the developing container 4a is held as a magnetic brush layer at the outer peripheral surface of the developing sleeve 4b by a magnetic force of the inner magnet 4c and is fed to the developing portion c by the rotation of the developing sleeve 4b. The magnetic brush layer is regulated as a predetermined thin layer by the developing blade 4d, so that the layer contacts the photosensitive member 1 at the developing portion c.
 To the developing sleeve 4b, a developing bias application source S2 is connected, and the toner in the developer carried on the surface of the developing sleeve 4b is selectively deposited correspondingly to the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member 1 by an electric field generated by a developing bias applied from the application source S2. As a result, the electrostatic latent image is developed as the toner image. In this embodiment, the toner is deposited at an exposed portion (laser light irradiation portion) on the photosensitive member 1, so that the electrostatic latent image is reversely developed. At this time, a charge amount of the toner subjected to the development on the photosensitive member 1 is about -25 μC/g. The developer on the developing sleeve 4b having passed through the developing portion c is collected in the developing container 4a by subsequent rotation of the developing sleeve 4b.
 Further, in order to keep the toner content of the two component developer 4e in the developing container 4a in a substantially constant range, an optical toner content sensor is provided in the developing container 4a. The toner in an amount corresponding to the toner content detected by the toner content sensor is supplied from the toner hopper 4g to the developing container 4a.
 The transfer device 5 in this embodiment includes a transfer roller 5 as shown in FIG. 3. The transfer roller 5 is urged against the surface of the photosensitive member 1 with a predetermined urging force to form a nip therebetween as a transfer portion d. To the transfer portion d, the recording material P (e.g., paper or a transparent film) is sent from a sheet-feeding cassette with predetermined control timing.
 The recording material P sent to the transfer d is subjected to transfer of the toner image formed on the photosensitive member 1 while being nip-conveyed between the photosensitive member 1 and the transfer roller 5. At this time, to the transfer roller 5, a transfer bias (+2 KV in this embodiment) of an opposite polarity to the normal charge polarity (negative) of the toner is applied from a transfer bias application source S3.
 The fixing device 6 in this embodiment includes a fixing roller 6a and a pressing roller 6b as shown in FIG. 3. The recording material P on which the toner image is transferred by the transfer device 5 is conveyed to the fixing device in which the toner image is heated and pressed between the fixing roller 6a and the pressing roller 6b to be fixed on the recording material P. The recording material P subjected to the fixing is then discharged outside the image forming apparatus.
 The cleaning device 8 in this embodiment includes, as shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning blade. After the toner image is transferred on the recording material P by the transfer device 5, untransferred toner remaining on the photosensitive member 1 surface is removed by the cleaning blade.
 The optical discharging device 9 in this embodiment includes, as shown in FIG. 3, a discharging exposure lamp. Residual charges remaining on the surface of the photosensitive member 1 subjected to the cleaning by the cleaning device 8 are removed by light irradiation by the discharging exposure lamp.
 A series of the image forming process described above is completed and the image forming apparatus prepares for a subsequent image forming process.
 Then, a charger shutter 10 as a sheet-like member for covering and uncovering the opening of the corona charger 2 will be described. The opening of the corona charger 2 refers to the opening formed with respect to the shield and corresponds to a charging area (W in FIG. 1) of the corona charger 2. Therefore, the charging area W of the corona charger 2 substantially coincides with an area in which the photosensitive member 1 is electrically chargeable.
 FIG. 1 shows a state in which the charger shutter 10 as the sheet-like member is opened by being wound up so as to move in X direction (an opening direction. FIG. 6(B) shows a state in which the charger shutter 10 as the sheet-like member is closed by being pulled so as to move in Y direction (a closing direction).
 In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a non-endless sheet-like shutter capable of being wound up in a roll shape by a winding-up device 11 is employed as the charger shutter 10 for covering and uncovering the opening of the corona charger 2. This is attributable to the following reason in addition to prevention of passing of the corona discharge product falling from the corona charger 2 onto the photosensitive member 1. That is, the charging shutter 10 moves through a narrow gap (spacing) between the photosensitive member 1 and the grid electrode 2a, so that the sheet-like shutter capable of being wound up is employed for preventing the photosensitive member 1 from being damaged to cause image defect when the charger shutter 10 contacts the photosensitive member 1 by some possibility. Therefore, in this embodiment, as the charger shutter 10, a 30 μm-thick sheet-like member formed of polyimide resin is employed.
 Further, the reason why a constitution in which the charger shutter 10 is retracted (wound up) in a roll shape on one end side with respect to a longitudinal direction (main scan direction) of the corona charger 2 during the image formation is employed is that a space during the retraction (opening) of the charging shutter 10 is reduced.
 An opening and closing mechanism (movable means) for the charger shutter 10 will be described. FIGS. 1 and 2 show open and closed states of the charger shutter 10, respectively. FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the corona charger as seen from one longitudinal end side of the corona charger. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing details of the opening and closing mechanism.
 The opening and closing mechanism includes a driving motor M, a winding-up device 11, a movable member 12, a connecting member 12a, a connecting member 12b, and a rotatable member 13 and performs the function of moving the charger shutter 10 along the longitudinal direction (the main scan direction) of the charger shutter 10 so as to be opened and closed.
 In this embodiment, a shutter detecting device 15 for detecting completion of an opening operation of the charger shutter 10 is provided. The shutter detecting device 15 includes a photo-interrupter. When the movable member 12 reaches the opening operation completion position, the opening operation completion of the charger shutter 10 is detected by utilizing light-blocking of the photo-interrupter 15 by a light-blocking member 12c. That is, at the time when the shutter detecting device 15 detects the light-blocking member 12c, the rotation of the motor M is stopped.
 As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, on a leading end side of the charging shutter 10 with respect to a closing direction of the charging shutter 10, a shutter fixing member 17 functioning as a regulating means for regulating the shape of the charging shutter is provided so that a short direction central portion of the charging shutter protrudes toward the corona charger. The shutter fixing member is locked and fixed to the connecting member 12b provided integrally with the movable member 12. The movable member 12 includes a drive transmission member 20 provided threadably mounted on the rotatable member 13 and is driving-connected with the rotatable member 13 through the drive transmission member 20. Further, the movable member 12 is threadably mounted so as to be movable only in the main scan direction on a rail 2c provided on the shield 2b, thus being prevented from rotating together with the rotatable member 13.
 To the rotatable member 13, a spiral groove is provided as shown in FIG. 6 and a gear 18 is connected at one end of the rotatable member 13. On the other hand, to an end of the motor M, a warm gear 19 is connected and transmits a driving force of the driving motor M to the rotatable member 13 through an engaging portion between the warm gear 19 and the gear 18.
 When the rotatable member 13 is rotationally driven by the driving motor M, the movable member 12 is moved in the main scan direction (X or Y direction) along the spiral groove. Therefore, when the rotatable member 13 is driven by the driving motor M, through the connecting member 12b formed integrally with the movable member 12, a moving force toward the opening and closing direction is transmitted to the charger shutter 10.
 Further, the movable member 12 is integrally provided with the connecting member 12a for holding a cleaning member 14 for cleaning the discharging wire 2h, in addition to the connecting member 12b for engaging with the charging shutter 10.
 Therefore, simultaneously, with the movement of the charging shutter 10 in the main scan direction (X or Y direction) by the driving motor M as described above, the cleaning member 14 is also moved in the same direction.
 As a result, it becomes possible to drive the discharging wire 2h and the charging shutter 10 by the same driving motor M.
 Next, the winding-up mechanism of the charging shutter 10 will be described, FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a constitution of the winding-up device 11 as the winding-up means, and FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a state in which the winding-up device 11 is mounted in a guiding member 35 for being attached to the corona charger 2.
 The winding-up device 11 includes a cylindrical winding-up roller (winding-up member) 30 for fixing one end of the charging shutter 10 and for winding up the charging shutter 10, a shaft member 32 for shaft-supporting one end of the winding-up roller 30, and a shaft-supporting the other end of the winding-up roller 30. Further, the winding-up device 11 includes a parallel pin 34 which is a fixing member for fixing the shaft-supporting member 31 and the shaft member 32 and includes a spring (urging member) 33 provided in the winding-up roller 30 and engaged with the winding-up roller 30 and the shaft-supporting member 31.
 Further, the winding-up device 11 is configured so that a projection 31a of the shaft-supporting member 31 is abutted against a projection 35a of the guiding member 35 by being mounted in the guiding member 35 as shown in FIG. 8. As a result, the shaft-supporting member 31 and the shaft member 32 are fixed in a non-rotatable manner, so that only the winding-up roller 30 is shaft-supported in a rotatable manner.
 For the mounting, before the winding-up device 11 is mounted in the guiding member 35, the shaft-supporting member 31 is mounted in a state in which it is turned several times in a direction indicated by an arrow B while the winding-up roller 30 is fixed, in order to exert a rotational force in a direction indicated by an arrow A on the shaft-supporting member 31.
 As a result, when the charging shutter 10 is pulled in its opening direction (Y direction), torsional stress of the spring 33 is exerted in a direction in which the winding-up roller 30 winds up the charging shutter 10 and the shaft-supporting member 31 receives the force exerted in the A direction, so that the shaft-supporting member is abutted against the guiding member 35 to be fixed in the non-rotatable manner.
 In this case, in order to prevent slack of the charging shutter 10, the following constitution is employed. That is, such a constitution that a winding-up force is exerted so that a speed V1 of the movable member 12 moved in the X direction by the motor M and a speed V2 of the charging shutter 10 moved in the X direction by the winding-up device 11 always satisfy a relationship of: V2>V1 is employed. For that reason, in this embodiment, an urging force of the winding-up device 11 is weakest when the charging shutter 10 is moved to the opening operation completion position (FIG. 1) and therefore a speed at which the charging shutter 10 is pulled with an urging force F1 at this position is configured to be set at V2. That is, before the winding-up device 11 is mounted in the guiding member 35, the number of turns of the shaft-supporting member 31 in the B direction is adjusted and determined.
 Therefore, when the charger shutter 10 is opened, in interrelation with the movement of the charger shutter 10 in the X direction by the motor M, the winding-up roller 30 winds up the charger shutter 10 at any time with no downward slack of the charger shutter 10.
 On the other hand, when the charger shutter 10 is closed (FIG. 2), the driving motor M pulls the charger shutter 10 from the winding-up roller 30 against the urging force of the spring 33 in the winding-up roller 30, so that the charger shutter 10 is moved in the Y direction.
 Incidentally, when the charger shutter 10 is in a completely closed state, by the urging force toward the X direction by the spring 33 in the winding-up roller 30 is exerted on the charger shutter 10, so that the charging shutter 10 does not slack down toward the photosensitive member.
 Therefore, when the charging shutter 10 is closed, a constitution in which the gap is not readily created between the charging shutter 10 and the corona charger 2 is employed, so that it becomes possible to keep a state in which the corona product is less liable to be leaked to the outside.
 In this embodiment, the corona charger 2 is, as described above, disposed so that the central portion of the grid electrode 2a with respect to the short direction of the grid electrode 2a (the circumferential direction of the photosensitive member) is separated from the photosensitive member 1 along the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 1 in a distance longer than that at the both end portions of the grid electrode 2a. For this purpose, in this embodiment, a curvature shape imparting mechanism as the regulating means is provided so that the shape of the charging shutter 10 also follow (corresponds to) the shape of curvature of the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 1. In this embodiment, as the curvature shape imparting mechanism, the curvature shape imparting mechanism for the leading end of the charging shutter 10 and the curvature shape imparting mechanism for the charging shutter 10 on the winding-up port side are provided and will be described below in this order.
 First, the curvature shape imparting mechanism for the leading end of the charging shutter 10 will be described. FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the corona charger as seen from its short direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 5) side, FIG. 10(A) shows a state before the shutter fixing member 17 as the regulating member is attached to the connecting member 12b, and FIG. 10(B) shows a state after the shutter fixing member 17 is attached to the connecting member 12b.
 As shown in FIG. 9, on one longitudinal end side of the charging shutter 10 located out of a winding-up range of the winding-up device 11, the shutter fixing member 17 for fixing the charging shutter 10 to the movable member 12 is attached.
 This shutter fixing member 17 is constituted by a member having elasticity so as to follow the shape of curvature of the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 1 when the shutter fixing member 17 is attached to the connecting member 12b.
 Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10(A), the shutter fixing member 17 is circumferential by a thin plate having resiliency and is configured to have a width L2 (before elastic deformation) set to be smaller than a width L1 of the connecting member 12b. Further, a mounting portion 17a of the shutter fixing member 17 to be mounted to the connecting member 12a is set to form an angle α of 90 degrees or less (45 degrees in this embodiment) between the mounting portion 17a and a mounting surface 17b for fixing the back surface of the charging shutter 10 (the surface of the charging shutter 10 facing the corona charger).
 As a result, when the shutter fixing member 17 is attached to the connecting member 12b, as shown in FIG. 10(B), the shutter fixing member 17 is elastically deformed to receive a force F2 exerted in a direction in which the shutter fixing member 17 is moved apart from the photosensitive member 1. For that reason, the short direction central portion of the shutter mounting surface 17b has the shape of curvature protruding toward the corona charger, so that it is possible to impart the shape of curvature to the leading end of the charging shutter 10.
 Incidentally, in this embodiment, as the shutter fixing member 17, the thin metal plate having resiliency is described as an example but a film material having elasticity may also be used. Further, it is also possible to use the thin metal plate having a predetermined shape of curvature in advance.
 In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, a rotatable member, i.e., a so-called roller which is guiding member 16 is provided, as a second curvature shape imparting mechanism, for the charging shutter 10 on the winding-up port side of the winding-up device 11.
 The guiding member 16 is different from the shutter fixing member 17 and is rotatably supported by the guide fixing member 35 fixed to a charging block 36 of the corona charger 2, thus having the function of guiding the charging shutter 10 so as to permit the opening and closing movement of the charging shutter 10. That is, the guiding member 16 has a structure such that it is rotated by the opening and closing movement of the charging shutter 10. Therefore, the guiding member 16 which is the roller can prevent an increase in load required for the opening and closing movement of the charging shutter 10 when the guiding member 16 regulates the shape of the charging shutter 10 so as to be a desired shape of curvature.
 Further, the guiding member 16 is disposed at a position which is out of a winding-up range of the winding-up device 11 and is closer to the winding-up device 11 than the photosensitive member 1. In other words, the guiding member 16 is provided at a position downstream of the opening of the corona charger (the opening to which the grid electrode is attached), i.e., the charging area W of the corona charger, with respect to the opening direction of the charging shutter.
 Therefore, the guiding member 16 guides the charging shutter so that the charging shutter 10 protrudes toward the corona charger at its short direction central portion.
 Further, an uppermost portion of the roller as the guiding member 16 is located closer to the corona charger than the closest position (the outer circumferential surface) of the photosensitive member with respect to the corona charger 2, so that the charging shutter 10 always forms a sliding relation with the guiding member 16.
 In this case, in order to ensure positional accuracy of the guiding member 1 with respect to the photosensitive member 1 or the corona charger 2, the guide fixing member 35 is provided with a positioning projection which is configured to position the photosensitive member 1, the corona charger 2, and the guide fixing member 35 to the same member.
 Further, the guide fixing member 35 is fixed to the corona charger 2 and therefore is configured to have a structure such that the position projection and a portion constituting the guiding member 16 are elastically deformable, so that the guide fixing member 35 can always maintain the positional relationship with the photosensitive member 1.
 Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the guiding member 16 is disposed only at the short direction central portion of the corona charger 2 and is, similarly as in the shutter fixing member 17, configured to impart the shape of curvature to the charging shutter 10.
 In addition, the guiding member 16 also has, as shown in FIG. 9, the function as a shutter insertion guide for guiding the charging shutter 10 to the small gap (spacing) between the grid electrode 2a and the photosensitive member 1.
 Therefore, also on the side where the charging shutter 11 is wound up by the winding-up device 11, it is possible to keep such a shape that the short direction central portion of the charging shutter 10 protrudes toward the corona charger 2. By imparting such a shape to the charging shutter 10, the gap between the corona charger 2 (the grid electrode 2a) and the photosensitive member 1 can be decreased as small as possible.
 Incidentally, the shape of curvature of the charging shutter 10 is not necessarily required to coincide with the shape of curvature of the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member 1 within a range not hindering the opening and closing operation of the charging shutter 10.
 In the above description, the roller used as the guiding member 16 is explained as an example but it is also possible to employ a constitution as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a sectional view of the corona charger and the photosensitive member as seen from their longitudinal direction, and FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing the guide fixing member 35 and the winding-up device 11. In FIGS. 14 and 15, members performing the same functions are represented by identical reference numerals or symbols, thus being omitted from detailed description.
 As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, a guide 35b having the shape of curvature which is provided to the guide fixing member 35 is, similarly as in the case of the roller, disposed at the position which is out of the winding-up range of the winding-up device 11 and is closer to the winding-up device 11 than the photosensitive member 1. Further, the guide 35b is located closer to the corona charger than the closest position (the outer circumferential surface) of the photosensitive member with respect to the corona charger 2, so that the charging shutter 10 always forms a sliding relation with the guide 35b having the shape of curvature.
 Further, with respect to the ensuring of positional accuracy of the guide 35b, similarly as in the case of the roller, a positioning projection provided to the guide 35b is positioned to the same member together with the photosensitive member 1 and the corona charger 2.
 Further, the guide fixing member 35 is fixed to the corona charger 2 and therefore is configured to have a structure such that the position projection and a portion constituting the guide 35b are elastically deformable, so that the guide fixing member 35 can always maintain the positional relationship with the photosensitive member 1.
 Further, in this embodiment, the entire portion constituting the uppermost portion of the guide 35b is closer to the corona charger 2 than the closest position β of the photosensitive member 1 with respect to the corona charger 2 but, e.g., only the short direction central portion of the guide 35b may also protrude toward the corona charger 2.
 Further, in the above description, as the curvature shape imparting mechanism, the two mechanisms consisting of the shutter fixing member 17 and the guiding member 16 (or the guide 35b) are used but it is also possible to provide at least the curvature shape imparting mechanism consisting of the shutter fixing member 17. However, in order to prevent the charging shutter 10 from contacting the photosensitive member 1 or the corona charger 2, it is preferable that the two mechanisms as described above are used in combination.
 Further, in order to prevent the charging shutter 10 from contacting the photosensitive member 1 or the corona charger 2 at a high level, it is also possible to employ a constitution in which the charging shutter 10 itself has been subjected to a shape processing treatment (curing treatment) in advance, thus having the same shape of curvature as that of the above-described charging shutter 10. Specifically, the shape of curvature of the charging shutter 10 after the shape processing treatment is that as shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is a sectional view of the charging shutter 10 as seen from its longitudinal direction and such a positional relationship that the corona charger 2 is located over the charging shutter 10 and the photosensitive member 1 is located below the charging shutter 10 is satisfied.
 In this embodiment, as the shape processing treatment, a heat treatment processing method was employed. First, a flat charging shutter 10 before the heat treatment is brought into intimate contact with a hollow metal roller having a diameter equal to that (84 mm in this embodiment) of the photosensitive member 1 and is fixed to the metal roller. Then, the metal roller to which the charging shutter 10 is fixed is left standing for about 10 minutes in a state in which the metal roller is heated from the inside thereof by a heating source so as to be kept at a predetermined temperature (150° C. in this embodiment). As a result, the shape of curvature is imparted to the charging shutter 10 so as to substantially follow the shape of curvature of the circumferential surface of the photosensitive member. Incidentally, with respect to the curvature shape imparting treatment (processing), in place of the above-described heat treatment processing method, it is also possible to employ other treatment methods. In this case, it is possible to achieve a sufficient effect by just imparting the shape of curvature to the charging shutter 10 by using the above-described shutter fixing member 17.
 Next, the opening and closing control of the charging shutter 10 will be described. FIG. 11 shows a block diagram for illustrating the opening and closing control of the charging shutter 10, and FIG. 12 shows control flow of the control.
 As shown in FIG. 11, a controller portion 200 for controlling the opening and closing of the charging shutter 10 includes an ROM 201 in which a control program for realizing the opening and closing control of the charging shutter 10 is stored, and includes a CPU 202 for executing the opening and closing control in accordance with this control program. Further, the controller portion 200 is provided with an interface (input means) 203 through which information is input from a host computer via a network cable. The interface performs the function of obtaining the information from the host computer and sends the information to the CPU 202.
 The CPU 202 executes the opening and closing of the charging shutter 10 by turning on and off the driving motor M connected to the charging shutter 10 through the movable member 12a and the like.
 With reference to FIG. 12, the control flow during the execution of an image forming job, i.e., from input of an image formation start signal together with an image signal indicating information of an image to be output until a series of image forming processing is completed will be described. This control flow is processed and executed by the CPU 202. Incidentally, the above-described image signal and image formation start signal (image formation instruction signal) are input into the CPU 202 through the interface 203.
 First, when the image formation start signal is input from the host computer (S100), whether or not the charging shutter 10 is located at the open position is judged on the basis of an output of the shutter detecting device 15 (S101).
 In the case where the charging shutter 10 is not opened and is located at the closed position, the opening operation of the charging shutter 10 is executed (S102), and the processing is returned to the step S101. In the step S101, when the location of the charging shutter 10 at the open position is detected, a rotating operation of the photosensitive member 1 is started (S103). Then, after the start of the rotating operation of the photosensitive member 1, a charging bias is applied to the corona charger 2 (S104).
 Then, upon completing preparatory operation of other image forming devices, image formation is started (S105).
 Then, when the series of image formation is completed (S106), the charging bias application to the corona charger 2 is stopped (S108) and the rotation of the photosensitive member 1 is stopped (S109). Further, in the step S106, in the case where the image formation (image forming job) is judged as being not completed, the charging shutter 10 is controlled so as to be kept in the open state (S107).
 Incidentally, in the case where an execution reservation of a subsequent image forming job is input, in the step S106, the judgment of "image formation completion" is not made and the subsequent image forming job is continued while the charging shutter 10 is kept in the open state (S107). That is, in the step S106, the judgment of "image formation completion" is made in the case where the execution reservation of the subsequent image forming job is not input from the start to completion of the current image forming job. Correspondingly to the stop of the rotation of the photosensitive member 1 (S109), the driving motor M is driven to rotate the rotatable member 13 in a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the rotatable member 13 during the opening operation, so that a closing operation of the charging shutter 10 is performed (S110) and the opening of the corona charger 2 is blocked (sealed).
 As described above, by imparting the shape of curvature to the charging shutter 10, it is possible to smoothly and stably perform the opening and closing operation of the charging shutter 10. Further, it is also possible to prevent the photosensitive member 1 from being deteriorated by the charging shutter 10. Even when the corona charger 2 is provided in proximity to the photosensitive member 1, it is possible to prevent the photosensitive member 1 from being deteriorated by the opening and closing movement of the sheet-like member.
 Therefore, the occurrence of improper charging due to the electric discharge product which is generated by the corona charger 2 and is transferred onto the photosensitive member 1 can be prevented. As a result, a degree of the occurrence of image defect such as image density non-uniformity or strips in the image can be alleviated.
 Incidentally, in the above-described embodiments, the case where the corona charger 2 is used for substantially uniformly charging the photosensitive member 1 in a pre-step for forming the electrostatic image on the photosensitive member is described but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention is similarly applicable to the case where the corona charger 2 is used for electrically charging the toner image formed on the photosensitive member 1.
 Further, in the above-described embodiments, the case where the grid electrode is provided at the opening of the corona charger 2 is described but the present invention is similarly applicable to also the case where the grid electrode is not provided to the corona charger 2.
 This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 324404/2008 filed Dec. 19, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.


Eurotux – Informática, S.A. was founded in the year 2000, having been initially created based on the Distributed Systems group of the University of Minho.
At its beginning, the company's goal was to present global solutions for managing intra-business services networks, as well as online access and presence.
From the start, Eurotux has focused on open source technology (Linux, in particular, but also other renowned open source applications). This is due to the fact that these products are inherently transparent, reliable, and of high performance. This focus remains, to this day, at the centre of Eurotux's activity.
The company has always understood the needs of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and although it also accepts opportunities to work with large companies, it presents products and services with SMEs in mind.
Eurotux has significantly grown its customer base, managing to obtain an interesting market position due to its supply of IT services and consulting.
True to its roots in open source, the company's symbol is a penguin.
The company's core-business are its global solutions for developing Internet services, with requirements of high performance and availability, as well as its security and systems integrity services.
Eurotux was also present at an important moment for open source technology in Portugal. In 2007, the company was one of the founding members of ESOP (Association of Portuguese Open Source Software Companies).
Currently, the company is expanding its business horizons beyond borders, particularly in Mozambique, where it has opened as subsidiary, ITMZ, and in Brazil, where it's joined Picture Informática, headquartered in São Paulo, to found MORE Sec, a company specializing in IT security.
Eurotux's success and effort in conducting its business ethically and fairly – in its relationships with suppliers, customers, and employees – have been recognized by external entities.
The company was granted the PME Excellence award – given by the IAPMEI, the Portuguese Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation – for four consecutive years: 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Additionally, in 2011 and 2012 it appeared on the ranking of Top Companies to Work For in Portugal.


Jaco Pastorius is arguably the greatest bassist of the 20th century. With his melodic sense, delicate touch, and groundbreaking bass grooves that influenced generations of musicians, Jaco forged a landmark bass style that still resonates today.
Modern Electric Bass is an intimate look into Jaco's signature style, a guide to the musical elements and characteristics that made Jaco such a unique and once-in-a-generation talent. The book features note-for-note transcriptions of the lessons from the companion video---where you are treated to Jaco performing several standout solos as well as a bass duet with legendary bassist Jerry Jemmott, who also serves as host. Also on the video is a 20-minute trio performance, featuring guitarist John Scofield and drummer Kenwood Dennard. As the only official instructional book or video released by Jaco himself, Modern Electric Bass is a treasured document of one of the true legends of music.


Hotel Fortebraccio, Montone, Grand Inauguration!
After years of very hard work and effort, the Hotel Fortebraccio threw open their doors yesterday evening and welcomed the town of Montone to a grand inauguration party. It was a marvelous event, so well planned and organized with tables of dolce, tons of delicious nibbles, a huge porchetta that was being devoured by everyone, lovely wines, and even a gelato cart. But above all there is the feeling that this is a great addition to the town of Montone. Bravi and Complimenti for all the hard work, and thank you so much for inviting everyone to share this moment.
The hotel is situated right outside the walls of a town and has 31 air-conditioned rooms (not something that is easily found!). They've wisely chosen a welcoming modern interior design that is clean and fresh without being overly austere. It also has a fantastic swimming pool with a jaw dropping view.
If last evening's food is any sign of things to come, then we've got a great new restaurant in town. We're very much looking forward to trying Lucca's cooking at the Ristorante Il Gonfalone.
I have a feeling that based on the astounding hospitality and excellent food and drink that we experienced yesterday, a visitor to the Hotel Fortebraccio would be made to feel very, very welcome.


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Dulwich Hamlet 1 Dartford 1: Andy Pugh's broken hand adds to Dartford's injury crisis
Andy Pugh faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after breaking his hand in training.
The Dartford forward becomes the latest injury blow for manager Steve King, who has also lost Ky Marsh-Brown to a hamstring injury.
Jordan Wynter slides in on his return to the Dartford side. Picture: Keith Gillard
It means the Darts had eight first-team players missing for the 1-1 draw at Dulwich on Saturday, despite welcoming back Jordan Wynter and Billy Crook.
"Pughy broke his hand in training, he fell on his thumb awkwardly," said King.
"It's just Pughy's luck. He didn't just break it in one place, he broke it in three places.
"I think he is seeing a specialist on Monday and there are possibilities of operations and plates and stuff to be put in there.
"We'll know more on Monday but he's going to be out for a good while, he can't play with that.
"If it was a single break then you can play with something but you can't play with a triple break."
Dartford's Billy Crook is closed down by Dulwich's Dominic Vose. Picture: Keith Gillard
King felt a point was the least his team deserved at Dulwich, but he was delighted the display of his patched-up side.
"I thought we were the better side for the majority of the game," said King.
"They had two or three chances in the first half but people might not realise that we had eight players out.
"We had a central midfield made up of a full-back who hasn't played for two or three months, Billy Crook who has been out for a month and Tyrique Hyde, who has just come in from Colchester.
"They never knew each other but the difference was that we had legs in there.
"I was worried about their central midfield area, I thought they would overpower us but the three boys in there did a magnificent job."
Elliott Romain converts from the penalty spot for Dartford at Dulwich. Picture: Keith Gillard
Dartford had two earlier shouts for a penalty turned down by referee Rob Whitton before it was a case of third time lucky.
The Darts boss felt that the one that was given was probably the least likely.
"Even their players said the first one on Darren McQueen was a penalty and for me the one that was given wasn't a penalty," added King. "But you get some you shouldn't and you don't get ones you should.
"I though Elliott Romain had a shout for a penalty, not to get booked. I thought he got in front of the keeper and the keeper's punched over the top of him. I think he was hard done by, especially to get a yellow card.
"From my point of view, it would have been an injustice if we didn't get something from the game."
Dulwich Hamlet 1 Dartford 1 - match report
On loan-signing Tyrique Hyde, who joins from Colchester for an initial month, King said: "Great physique. I've known him since he was at Dagenham, I know his dad (Micah) well.
"I've watched him develop to be fair. When I worked at Dagenham he was tall, thin and skinny but now he's grown into that body. He's got good energy levels, understands the game and uses the ball well.
"He's a good asset for us and has got legs which is really important for us in the midfield areas."
Dartford FootballDartford SportFootballNon LeagueSport Football


The Great Sacandaga Lake is located in eastern central New York near the Adirondack Preserve. Renting a boat can be an excellent way to view this wonderful lake. Below are the boat rental companies that we know of on Great Sacandaga Lake.
Photo by Scott Saghirian on Flickr.
Northampton Marina rents pontoon boats, ski boats, and fishing boats.
Edinburgh Marina rents runabouts and pontoon boats on the Great Sacandaga Lake.
Majestic Mountain Marina rents pontoon boats, kayaks, and pedal boats.


Michael Power is the editor of Supply Chain magazine.
those of you who visit our website, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, you have likely noticed some big changes. The first and most obvious change is to the name: as of this issue, PurchasingB2B has been renamed and re-launched as Supply Professional.
This isn't the first time, as the magazine has gone through a handful of name changes in its 60 years of publishing. When it began in 1958, we were known as Modern Purchasing. We changed to PurchasingB2B at the beginning of the last millennium.
Each change reflects a change in the times, as well as in the focus and priorities for the magazine. For this most recent iteration as Supply Professional, we landed on the name after a good amount of soul searching. We considered options, discussed them internally and consulted our editorial advisory board. We also commissioned and completed a full redesign through an agency specializing in this type of redesign.
We intend the new name to reflect the direction we plan for the magazine—covering all aspects of the supply chain—as well as our desire to focus on the professionals who work in the field in Canada. Purchasing and procurement will be a big part of that, as it always has been. But we're expanding our scope. We'll also work to cover the changing nature of that supply chain, as AI, Industry 4.0, robotics and other developments change the nature of the field.
Each issue will feature one of you on the cover. This, we hope, allows you to share your expertise with one another, learn from other industry professionals and stay abreast of trends in the field.
But while much has changed, some things will stay the same. Supply Professional will still strive, as always, to provide the insights, tips and best practices that help you to do your jobs as best you can.
We're keeping the same quality content, the same national circulation, but changed a few things to ensure we continue to capture the needs of our readers, industry partners, advertisers and other stakeholders.
On page 13, for example, under our "Thought Leadership" banner, you'll find a roundtable discussion of the RFP process.
Our Fleet Management section begins on page 21, providing you with comprehensive coverage of the fleet management world.
For Supply Professional's inaugural profile on page 40, we spoke with VersaCold president and CEO and SCMA fellow award winner for 2018 Doug Harrison, who shares insights into supply chain, professional development and other areas.
Make North America great again!


BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (CN) - A baby girl, born purple and floppy, has brain damage from lack of oxygen, her mom claims in Kern County Court.
Esmeralda Sandoval, on her own behalf and as guardian ad litem of her daughter Ahtziri Valeria Sandoval, sued San Joaquin Community Hospital, Adventist Health Southern CA Medical Foundation, Adventist Health, Adventist Health System West, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., six doctors, six nurses, two nurse anesthetists and two other individuals, for medical negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
According to Sandoval's lawsuit, baby Ahtziri was born on Jan. 1, 2014. It does not say which of the defendant hospitals handled the delivery. An undiagnosed and untreated condition left Ahtziri with brain damage, Sandoval claims.
"The true condition of plaintiff was neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy resulting in severe permanent brain injury," the complaint states. The baby had stopped breathing, according to the complaint.
"As a result of negligent care and treatment during the birth of her daughter, Ms. Sandoval suffered severe emotional distress as well as her own injuries. When Ms. Sandoval arrived at the hospital, she explained that the baby was not moving. Despite an initial reading of a strong heartbeat, the baby went into fetal distress two times. After the second episode, an emergency Caesarean was performed. When the baby was born, Ms. Sandoval could see that the baby was purple and floppy. The baby was not breathing and manually given oxygen. Ms. Sandoval was a witness to this, was at all times aware that the negligence of the defendants had caused this situation and was aware of what was happening," the complaint states.
Esmeralda and Ahtziri Sandoval seek general and non-economic damages, hospital, medical and incidental expenses, loss of earnings and earning capacity, prejudgment interest and costs of suit. They are represented by Daniel Rodriguez and Joel T. Andreesen of Rodriguez & Associates in Bakersfield, and by Janice F. Mulligan and Elizabeth A. Banham of Mulligan, Banham & Findley in San Diego.


Yee-King, Matthew John (2011) Automatic sound synthesizer programming: techniques and applications. Doctoral thesis (DPhil), University of Sussex.
for visualisation of sound synthesis space and low dimensional control of sound synthesizers; a general purpose framework for the deployment and testing of sound synthesis and optimisation algorithms in the SuperCollider language sclang; a comparison of a variety of optimisation techniques for sound synthesizer programming; an analysis of sound synthesizer error surfaces; a general purpose sound synthesizer programmer compatible with industry standard tools; an automatic improviser which passes a loose equivalent of the Turing test for Jazz musicians, i.e. being half of a man-machine duet which was rated as one of the best sessions of 2009 on the BBC's 'Jazz on 3' programme.


Petrobras announces that the P-58 FPSO production platform and the SS-88 TAD drilling support vessel (Tender Assisted Drilling), strategic projects in the 2013-2017 Business and Management Plan, are on their way to their respective locations in Parque das Baleias and Papa Terra, respectively.
Yesterday, 12/04/2013, the P-58 left the Honório Bicalho shipyard in Rio Grande (RS) where it was converted along with 15 modules being integrated to the unit. The platform is expected to reach the Parque das Baleias complex in the Campos Basin within six to eight days, depending on sea conditions.
The 88 – TAD submersible platform, built at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company-DSIC, in China, and Superior Derrick Services-SDS, in the U.S. is coming to Brazil and is expected to arrive in January 2014. After the competent authorities have cleared it, the platform will go to the Papa-Terra field, south of the Campos Basin to operate together with the P-61 production platform, in the Papa Terra field.
The FPSO (which produces, stores and offloads oil) can process 180,000 barrels of oil daily as well as six million cubic meters of natural gas from pre and post-salt reservoirs.
The P-58 will be located about 85 km off the Espírito Santo coast, in 1,400 meters of water. It will be interconnected to 15 production wells, of which eight are pre-salt and seven are post-salt with nine injection wells in the Baleia Franca, Cachalote, Jubarte, Baleia Azul and Baleia Anã fields, along 250 km of flexible pipe and two underwater manifolds (Equipment to transfer the oil from the wells to the platform). The oil will be pumped into tankers, and natural gas sent by pipeline to the Cacimbas Gas Treatment Unit, in Linhares, Espírito Santo.
Together with other Petrobras projects, building the P-58 consolidates the expansion of the Brazilian shipping industry. Work generated about 4,500 direct jobs, 13,500 indirect jobs and reached 64% local content. The 15 modules were built in Brazil as well as the hulls converted and the unit integrated.
As part of the Federal Government Program to Accelerate Growth (PAC), the platform is among nine new units that will be delivered to the Company in 2013. The launching ceremony for the P-58 took place at Honório Bicalho Shipyard on Nov. 08 in the presence of President of the Federative Republic of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and the Petrobras CEO, Maria das Graças Silva Foster.
Total weight of the platform: 63,300 tons.
The SS-88 TAD is a semi-submersible platform type TAD (Tender Assisted Drilling), a unit chartered by Petrobras together with the American company Bass Drill to provide drilling and well completion services. The SS-88 TAD will work together with the P-61 Production Platform in the Papa-Terra field.
The SS-88 TAD, which will be anchored alongside the P-61 platform, has a modularized drilling package that will be set up on the deck of the P-61 platform. The SS-88 TAD will supply energy, provide accommodation, store drilling fluid and support systems to enable wells to be drilled from the P-61 platform.
The P-61 platform, now one hundred percent complete, is the first TLWP platform (Tension Leg Wellhead Platform) to operate in Brazil and will be installed in the Papa-Terra field. Thirteen production wells will be drilled and completed from it. The hull was built and integrated at the BrasFels Shipyard in Angra dos Reis (RJ). The topside was built in Singapore. In Brazil, work generated nearly 2,450 direct jobs, 7,350 indirect jobs and achieved local content of 67%. It will be moved to the Campos Basin in December 2013.
In the Papa-Terra field, P-61 and the TAD will work together with the P-63 FPSO, which began oil production.
Posted on December 5, 2013 with tags FPSO, Locations, Move, Offshore, Petrobras, TAD, their.


Homeschooling is something both you and your children will delight in. You get to be involved in their education, and they get your undistracted attention. This short article will help you make the best options for your own homeschooling endeavors.Do not be scared to get help with a troublesome subject. You might find that mathematics is not your strength when teaching your kid, which suggests you need to search homeschool community forums for assistance, or hire family or good friends. It is best to find someone who can provide a better understanding of the material and assist your kid flourish.When you homeschool your kids, many monetary obstacles will need to be overcome. Can you afford for one moms and dad to stay at home and not work? How will you pay for all the products, lesson material and getaways essential to provide a terrific learning environment? Think carefully before you engage down this path.Treat homeschooling like a task. You're a teacher now, and that suggests you likewise need to look for more education. Expert instructors take "PA" days to attend conferences and training, so you should, too! Discover homeschooling events near you and even go to one as a trip. You'll find they teach you not just particular topics you may not understand a lot about, however likewise how to be a much better instructor and how to plan homeschooling lessons like a pro.You can employ paid for housework or have your kids help you. It will be difficult to manage all the obligations yourself. Cooking, shopping, cleaning, and homeschooling can drain you mentally and physically. Do not feel bad about accepting help.Do extensive research on the kind of curriculum that you are considering getting. The quality and approach can vary commonly. The material needs to engage your child to keep his interest high.
a private school within their state. While other states mandate that homeschooled children are given standardized testing in particular grades. By knowing your state's laws, you can guarantee that you are following your state's mandates as they relate to homeschooling.Now that you understand how to get going on your homeschooling journey, you ought to feel great about taking the primary step. There is still a great deal of learning to do about homeschooling, however ideally you can make an informed choice now.


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The Queen of 'Pop': How an innovative KC pastry chef developed an iconic treat
Martin Cizmar
Helen Jo Leach, creator of the Cake Pop/Photo by Caleb Condit and Rebecca Norden
From chicken wings to oxtail to burnt ends, a number of iconic American recipes started as a creative way to upcycle scraps. Add cake pops to that list.
Starbucks didn't invent the cake pop; they just stuck it on a stick. The ball-shaped treats were originally made from small scraps of trimmed cake at Milk Bar, a wildly influential New York bakery that spun off from David Chang's Momofuku restaurants. At Milk Bar, which has locations on both coasts and in Canada, they're called cake truffles.
If you want to be even more specific about it, the cake pop was the brainchild of Helen Jo Leach, a pastry chef who used to work at Milk Bar and is now at the Hotel Kansas City's dining operations, including Town Company, Nighthawk and the slept-on Lobby Market.
Leach, a Chicago native, first encountered a ball-shaped cake at a bakery in her native Chicago. They were Chicago-sized and nothing like the cute bite-sized bonbons that rose to popularity throughout the Obama years.
"They were like giant cake balls—bigger than a tennis ball—and I was just like, 'Wow, that's crazy. How did they do that?'" she says. "In my head, I was like, 'I bet I could figure it out.' When I got back to work [in New York], I decided I was going to utilize all this cake scrap we had and make cake balls, but Munchkin-sized."
And so she did. The first bite-sized balls of cake were "smooshed together" with the help of vanilla milk, then refrigerated and dusted "in ground-up cereal that we had at the time—like Lucky Charms or whatever we had." (The flavor "Cereal Milk" is a trademark owned by Leach's former boss, Milk Bar don Christina Tosi, who has made a career out of nostalgia-baiting Millennials.)
"Eventually people were like, 'You should make more of those,' and I was like, 'You should sell those,'" Leach says. "Christina asked me, 'What should we call them?' and I said cake truffles because [they're] kind of enrobed in chocolate and have a coating, but the inside is cake."
The name did not last as well as the concept—most people would probably call them cake pops even if they're off the stick—but the idea itself spread. Before long, Milk Bar ran out of scraps to meet demand and had to make cakes to cut up and turn into balls.
At Hotel Kansas City, the cake truffles (known as cake bonbons) make occasional appearances on the menu. But Leach and her team are always working on something new, often with a whimsical twist. Many of Leach's pastries use Asian ingredients, and she's always looking to keep things as seasonal as possible.
At the Lobby Market, you'll find fresh pastry concepts from Leach and her staff including a new gooey butter coffee cake—inspired by St. Louis-style butter cake that's turned into a pancake-inspired coffee cake—and a gluten-free power bar known as the Zenergy bar with black sesame paste, goji berries and puffed brown rice.
And who knows: You may encounter the next cake pop there.
"I'm trying to use the Lobby Market as a place to feature things developed by my staff and give them a shout-out," Leach says. "I have someone on my staff who focuses on bread, and I really want to do a kimchi focaccia bread. I can be like, 'Do you want to work on that?' I'm blessed to have a team that gets really excited about new projects and wants to own it."
Martin Cizmar is the editor of Kansas City magazine.
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