By their very nature, brands are not for everybody. When we purchase a brand of product, we tacitly join a certain group to the exclusion of others. It's a paradox of brand theory because in reality, brands are both inclusive and exclusive at the same time.
Yogi Berra captured this concept with his infamous quip about a New York nightspot, "Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded." He was talking about that tenuous balance between popularity and exclusivity, which the majority of brands must navigate to be successful.
Some brands seek broad popularity and are about affordability, assurance, safety, the comfort of the herd. I'm thinking of Timex, Dunkin' Donuts, Chevy, or Walmart. Others brands offer a sense of exclusivity such as Rolex, Tiffany's, Ferrari, Starbucks, or maybe a relatively obscure imported or handcrafted product whose brand image relies on word-of-mouth from a trusted source.
The challenge for many marketers and brand managers is how to build a balance of exclusivity and popularity that is most profitable. As brands become more popular they will typically face greater pressure to be affordable as well. It's likely that as a larger percentage of the population buys your product, the lower their average income is likely to be.
Since growth for a company and its brands often means broadening the appeal of their brand, it can be contradictory to their concept of exclusivity. Starbucks is a perfect example. The first Starbucks location was very exclusive. The first one in each new town almost equally so. Then the buzz about this new kind of coffeehouse swept the country. New stores opened at a dizzying pace. Customers lined up for this very special cup of coffee, served in a very special atmosphere. It was a new kind of coffee drinking experience, a perfect example of the "affordable luxury" category, and the price was extraordinary as well: $4 or more for a cup of coffee.
But while one Mona Lisa is priceless, half a million are just hotel/motel art. As Starbucks grew from 165 stores in 1992 to more than 17,000 in 2010, their rapid growth diluted its Italian coffee house approach with every new store in a standard strip mall slot or converted gas station. (Oh, yes they did. I've been to one.) Now there are even several cities in the world with Starbucks locations directly across the street from each other.
Deciding how exclusive you wish your brand to be can be a tough decision. As Starbucks is demonstrating, all out growth for a premium brand can be a risky proposition. In my opinion, Mercedes damaged their brand in this country by offering lower priced small cars of questionable quality in 1990's. (Remember the Baby Benz?) By making the cars less exclusive, they diluted the value of their flagship luxury sedans and failed at their strategy of creating lifelong Mercedes loyalists.
A more successful balance is demonstrated by Toyota. Their cars come at a premium price, without really rising to the level of status symbols. (Their luxury brand, Lexus, handles that.) They are the largest carmaker in the world, but also one of the more profitable over the last decade, looking beyond recent economic and safety problems.
Companies with a clear sense of where they stand on the popularity/exclusivity spectrum tend to make better decisions about new products and pricing. Trying to reach a little too far in either direction-imagine a $1000 Timex or a $50 Rolex-can lead to confusion about the brand and lower sales overall. As Yogi explained year ago, if something gets too popular it just isn't special anymore.


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home Biography Shawn Howell Wayans
Shawn Howell Wayans
Facts of Shawn Howell Wayans
Full Name Shawn Howell Wayans
First Name Shawn
Middle Name Howell
Last Name Wayans
Profession Celebrity Child
Birth City Los Angeles, California
Father Name Marlon Wayans
Father Profession actor, comedian, producer and writer
Mother Name Angelica Zachary
Gender Identity Male
Horoscope Aquarius
Sibilings Amai Zackary Wayans
Date of Birth February 3,2001
Shawn Howell Wayans is a famous American star child born in Wayans Family, a successful Hollywood family.
He is famously known as the son of Marlon Wayans, an actor, comedian, producer and writer and mother, Angelica Zachary.
He was born in Los Angeles, California, alongside his elder sister Amai Zackary Wayans. He is of mixed racial background as his father is an African-American, and his mother is half Japanese and half African-American. He was named after his uncle Shawn.
Shawn Howell Wayans with his father Marlon Wayans. Source: Instagram
Marlon was born in New York City and is the son of Elvira Alethia and Howell Wayans.
He came from a moderate family background as his mother was a homemaker and his father was a manager of a supermarket.
He grew up along with nine siblings as the youngest and tenth child of his parents in the hometown.
Marlon's Rise to Fame
His acting career began with his pedestrian role in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1998.
He is also known for his collaboration with brother Shawn Wayans in the sitcom The Wayans Bros, which aired between 1995 to 1999.
His role in Requiem for a Dream showed a different role apart from the regular line in comedy.
He further appeared in other films, including Norbit, The Heat, Fifty shades of Black, etc.
Marlon and Angelica made a very beautiful couple. They met around the year 1992 and spent decades together as partners.
The couples never got tied into the bond of marriage, but since they were together for so many years, people assumed that they were married.
They separated their ways in 2013. Though being apart as a couple, they still are seen together and share a special bond of parenthood.
Marlon has never left a chance to appreciate what wonder Angelica is and openly expresses his utmost love for her through his social media accounts.
Shawn Howell Wayans parents Marlon Wayans and Angelica Zachary. Source: Instagram
On Parenthood
Shawn is blessed with amazing parents who are affectionate and understanding.
Marlon is passionate about their children's choices and shows support in everything they do. He is seen supporting Shawn in his basketball match.
Amai has revealed her identity as a Male Identified lesbian (MIL), and her parents have full support for her.
On Separation
It came as a heated controversy when Marlon was seen with a woman in a yacht in St. Barts, according to Ice Cream Convos and several photographs surfaced of the event. It is said that he cheated on her.
The separation was very tragic for the kids.
The reason behind their breakup is not disclosed by them; however, it seems he still has a soft spot for her.
In an interview with Hollywood mask, he said that at the end of the day, he only loves the women with whom he had two children with his heart.
Wayans: A Hollywood prodigies
The Wayans Family is blessed with amazing talents.
Along with Marlon, his siblings Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Kim Wayans, Damon Wayans, Chaunte Wayans and Dwayne Wayans are also famous in this line of work.
They are an American show business family who has worked on several projects, including Scary Movie Film Series, The Wayans Bros, In living Color, Little Man and so on.
Marlon has humanitarian attributes within him, and his philanthropic works include support to Get Schooled Foundation, Keep a Child Alive, the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation and so on.
Shawn's dad flashed out his secret to never aging
Shawn's dad Marlon on the show, revealed how he did not age. Marlon instantly replies,
"Black don't Crack unless you smoke it."
So, he further explained that for every crackhead he knows, there is no such thing as a young crackhead. He also says that once your molar goes, you are officially old.
He stays young as he takes lots of vitamins, after which he takes out the packets of vitamins from his suit's pocket. Marlon revealed he takes a total of 150 vitamins a day.
He explained having pro-biotic and all those multivitamin packets. Basically, Marlon says that he looks like a vitamin drug dealer.
When asked why he wanted to take so much of vitamins, the artist says that because he wanted to live. He wanted to live young.
He confronted that he still wanted to be in the club, and all he was waiting is that when his kids got older, he is going to be the daddy in the club with his kids.
Marlon also shared that he tells this thing to his kids, and they get embarrassed by him too. Marlon then recalls attending his high school reunion.
It was his 25th high school reunion.
Marlon shared that he didn't have any idea of him looking young until and unless he went to the reunion. He shared how the people came to him and said he was in their class.
To which Marlon replied, saying was you the teacher of him. Other than that, Marlon stated that his mom is like the groundhog.
His mom came to their movies, and that's when they knew that it was going to be a hit. If his mom walks out of the movie before halfway through, it is always a hit.
He gave an example during the time of the Scary Movie when Shawn got the thing in his ear, his mom had a broken leg at the time, and when that scene came, she was like, Ooh, and his mom military crawled out of the theater.
Shawn is seen having a lavish lifestyle as his father has a successful career. The net worth of his 49 years old father, Marlon, is
$40 Million Actor, writer, producer, director
Shawn Howell Wayans was born in this loving family on February 3, 2002, and is 20 years old now.
Updated On Sat Jul 23 2022 Published On Mon Feb 07 2022 By shaumya
Celebrity child
Nila van Dijk
Alexia Wawrinka
Published Fri Oct 16 2020
Makka Mohamed Salah
Kayan Mohamed Salah
Na'Quelle Tresvant
Damon Wayans Jr.
Laura Lewandowska
Zeplin Black
Mariah Tresvant
Leo Federer
Sophia Olivia Murray

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
WO2019206831A1 - Method of fast nozzle failure detection - Google Patents
Method of fast nozzle failure detection Download PDF
WO2019206831A1 PCT/EP2019/060233 EP2019060233W WO2019206831A1 WO 2019206831 A1 WO2019206831 A1 WO 2019206831A1 EP 2019060233 W EP2019060233 W EP 2019060233W WO 2019206831 A1 WO2019206831 A1 WO 2019206831A1
ejection unit
PCT/EP2019/060233
Amol A. KHALATE
Koen Joan KLEIN KOERKAMP
OCE Holding B.V.
2018-04-23 Priority to EP18168796.3 priority Critical
2018-04-23 Priority to EP18168796 priority
2019-04-19 Application filed by OCE Holding B.V. filed Critical OCE Holding B.V.
239000000976 inks Substances 0 abstract claims description 38
239000011133 lead Substances 0 abstract claims description 3
238000004422 calculation algorithm Methods 0 claims description 4
238000007639 printing Methods 0 description 10
230000000171 quenching Effects 0 description 5
230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0 description 4
230000001066 destructive Effects 0 description 2
230000004075 alteration Effects 0 description 1
230000000903 blocking Effects 0 description 1
239000002305 electric material Substances 0 description 1
230000036962 time dependent Effects 0 description 1
B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
B41J2/01—Ink jet
B41J2/015—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process
B41J2/04—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand
B41J2/045—Ink jet characterised by the jet generation process generating single droplets or particles on demand by pressure, e.g. electromechanical transducers
B41J2/04501—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits
B41J2/0451—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits for detecting failure, e.g. clogging, malfunctioning actuator
B41J2/04581—Control methods or devices therefor, e.g. driver circuits, control circuits controlling heads based on piezoelectric elements
B41J2/04596—Non-ejecting pulses
B41J2/135—Nozzles
B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
B41J2002/14354—Sensor in each pressure chamber
A method of nozzle failure detection in an ink jet printer having a plurality of ejection units (E) each of which comprises a nozzle (14) and an associated liquid chamber with an electromechanical transducer for energizing a pressure wave in the liquid chamber so as to expel an ink droplet from the nozzle (14), the method comprising steps of nozzle failure detection to be performed, for each ejection unit, with a given minimum detection frequency, wherein each nozzle failure detection step comprises: -energizing the transducer with a waveform that does not lead to the ejection of a droplet but creates a pressure fluctuation that is sensitive to whether or notthe ejection unit is in a malfunction state; and -measuring the pressure fluctuation in order to detect the malfunction state, the method comprising: -defining a mask pattern (22) that is independent of image contents to be printed, said mask pattern defining positions of blank pixels (24) on a dark background (26) such that the blank pixels are evenly distributed over an area of an image (20), wherein one blank pixel occurs in each pixel column printed with one of the nozzles (14);and -when an image is being printed, performing the nozzle failure detection steps for each ejection unit at timings at which the respective nozzles (14) are in pixel positions that belong to the mask pattern (22).
Method of Fast Nozzle Failure Detection
The invention relates to a method of nozzle failure detection in an ink jet printer having a plurality of ejection units each of which comprises a nozzle and an associated liquid chamber with an electromechanical transducer for energizing a pressure wave in the liquid chamber so as to expel an ink droplet from the nozzle, the method comprising steps of nozzle failure detection to be performed, for each ejection unit, with a given minimum detection frequency, wherein each nozzle failure detection step comprises: energizing the transducer with a detection waveform that does not lead to the ejection of a droplet but creates a pressure fluctuation that is sensitive to whether or not the ejection unit is in a malfunction state; and
measuring the pressure fluctuation in order to detect the malfunction state.
A known inkjet print head comprises a number of ejection units, wherein each ejection unit comprises a liquid chamber for holding an amount of liquid. Commonly, the liquid is an ink, such as a solvent-based or water-based ink, a hot-melt ink at an elevated temperature or a UV-curable ink, but the liquid may be any other kind of liquid. Other examples include liquids that need to be accurately dosed. Each ejection unit of the inkjet print head further comprises an electromechanical transducer operatively coupled to the liquid chamber for generating a pressure wave in the liquid held in the liquid chamber. A well-known electromechanical transducer is a piezo-actuator, comprising two electrodes and a layer of piezo-electric material arranged therebetween. When an electric field is applied by application of a voltage over the electrodes, the piezo-material mechanically deforms and the deformation of the piezo-actuator generates the pressure wave in the liquid. Other kinds of
electromechanical transducers are also known for use in an inkjet print head, such as an electrostatic actuator. Each ejection unit further comprises a nozzle in fluid communication with the liquid chamber. If a suitable pressure wave is generated in the liquid in the liquid chamber, a droplet of the liquid is expelled through the nozzle. If the liquid is an ink, the droplet may impinge on a recording medium and form an image dot on the recording medium. A pattern of such image dots may form an image on the recording medium as well-known in the art. A known disadvantage of the above-described inkjet print head is the susceptibility to malfunctioning of the ejection units. In particular, it is known that an air bubble may be entrained in the nozzle or in the liquid chamber. Such an air bubble changes the acoustics of the ejection unit and as a consequence a droplet may not be formed when the pressure wave is generated. Another known cause for malfunctioning is dirt particles (partly) blocking the nozzle. The presence of dirt does not only block the liquid flow, but also changes the acoustics.
It is well-known in the art to sense a residual pressure wave in the liquid. After the generation of a pressure wave, the acoustics of the ejection unit result in a residual pressure wave that damps over time. Sensing and analyzing this residual pressure wave provides detailed information on the acoustics of the ejection unit. A comparison between the acoustics derived from the residual pressure wave and the acoustics of an ejection unit in an operative state allows to derive the operating state of the ejection unit. Moreover, it is known to determine a cause for a malfunctioning state from the residual pressure wave, if a malfunction state is derived.
A disadvantage of the known method for detecting an operating state is the time needed for sensing the residual pressure wave and the time needed for analysis of the residual pressure wave. Due to this relatively long period needed for sensing and analyzing, it is not possible to perform the analysis for each ejection unit after each droplet ejection. Moreover, even if there would be sufficient time between consecutive droplet ejections, the computational power needed to analyze each ejection unit after each droplet ejection would be so high, that this would not be commercially feasible.
A method of the type defined in the opening paragraph has been disclosed in WO 2016/113232 A1. In this method, after generating a pressure wave in the liquid, the electromechanical transducer is actuated to suppress the residual pressure wave in the liquid. Such a suppression of the residual pressure wave is commonly also referred to as quenching. After quenching, an amplitude of the residual pressure wave in the liquid is sensed. Based on the sensed amplitude, it is determined that the ejection unit is either (i) in an operative state if the amplitude of the residual pressure wave is below a threshold or (ii) in a malfunctioning or at least failure-prone state if the amplitude of the residual pressure wave is above the threshold. Quenching is known from the prior art for removing any residual pressure wave in an ejection unit in order to prepare the ejection unit for a next droplet ejection. A residual pressure wave affects a subsequently generated pressure wave and hence affects a subsequent droplet in size, speed, and/or any other property. Quenching is known to ensure droplet formation without influence from a previous droplet formation.
The method described in the cited document is based on the consideration that a quench pulse, i.e. an actuation pulse applied to the electromechanical transducer for quenching the residual pressure wave, is highly adapted to the residual pressure wave that normally remains after actuation in a well-functioning (operative) liquid chamber. The acoustics of the liquid chamber are known, and based on such known acoustics the quench pulse has been designed. Such a quench pulse is usually tuned with respect to timing and amplitude and often also with respect to a number of other parameters. If tuned correctly, only then a residual pressure wave with a very low amplitude remains. So, in general, any residual pressure wave remaining after the quench pulse should have a very low amplitude, as the quench pulse has been designed to do so.
If the acoustics of the liquid chamber change due to the presence of dirt particles or a gas (usually air) bubble or any other cause, the quench pulse will not be able to lower the amplitude of the residual pressure wave sufficiently. Under certain circumstances, the quench pulse may even increase the amplitude of the residual pressure wave.
Sensing an amplitude and merely evaluating the value of the amplitude by comparison with a (low) threshold takes a relatively short period of time and requires relatively little computational power. The pressure wave used for detecting the condition of the ejection unit may be such that a suitable residual pressure wave is generated, while no droplet is expelled (i.e. a non-ejecting pressure wave). Then, using a corresponding quench pulse, such residual pressure wave may be quenched and the method according may be carried out without expelling a droplet. Such embodiment allows to easily and quickly detect the operating state of an ejection unit, and the detection waveform may be fine- tuned so as to optimize the sensitivity of the residual pressure wave for the operative or malfunction condition of the ejection unit.
Thus, the method allows to verify the operating state of an ejection unit even during a print job, in particular between two droplets ejected during the print job, e.g. while a gap between two successive recording sheets passes the print head or in a time period in which the image contents of the image to be printed require that the ejection unit is silent.
In a multi-pass print process, it is generally sufficient if the occurrence of a nozzle failure is detected at some time at or before the end of a scan pass, because it is still possible to compensate for the nozzle failure i.e. to camouflage the visible artefact caused by the nozzle failure, by activating neighboring nozzles in a subsequent scan pass. In a single- pass process, however, it is important that a nozzle failure is detected as soon as possible after it has occurred, so that a failure compensation algorithm can be activated as soon as possible. A not compensated nozzle failure may result in a visible artefact which cannot be eliminated later.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a method of nozzle failure detection which permits to detect a nozzle failure already a short time after it has occurred.
In order to achieve this object, the method according to the invention comprises:
defining a mask pattern that is independent of image contents to be printed, said mask pattern defining positions of blank pixels on a dark background such that the blank pixels are evenly distributed over the image area, wherein one blank pixel occurs in each pixel column printed with one of the nozzles (14); and
when an image is being printed, performing the nozzle failure detection steps for each ejection unit at timings at which the respective nozzles are on pixel positions that belong to the mask pattern.
In an embodiment, said mask pattern defines positions of blank pixels on a dark background such that the blank pixels are evenly distributed over the image area, wherein at least one blank pixel occurs in each pixel column printed with one of the nozzles 14, preferably one blank pixel occurs in each pixel column printed with one of the nozzles. Therefore, the mask pattern contains at least one, but preferably one, blank pixel in each of its columns.
As explained below in relation with the Figures, the mask pattern is applied repeatedly to a plurality of image tiles. In this way, a nozzle failure detecting step is performed for each individual nozzle at least once (and preferably once) per tile for each of the nozzles. The blank pixels of the mask pattern may create an artifact in the printed image, unless measures are taken in the definition of the mask pattern so that the blank pixels, resulting from nozzles being subject to a nozzle failure detection process during printing (and therefore incapable of simultaneously printing) are designed taking into account how their positioning may affect the printed image. Said measures may involve impeding that the blank pixels cluster in the same area of the image, as the clustering of blank pixels would create a visible artifact in the image, especially if the blank pixels clustered in an area printed in a dark color.
Alternatively, or additionally, said measures may involve limiting the number of blank pixels in a certain area of the printed image by means of stablishing a maximum threshold. For example, a maximum threshold of one each two hundred and fifty six pixels of the printed image may be set, such that this maximum proportion of blank pixels is not exceeded in a particular area of the printed image. Alternatively, higher or lower thresholds may be imposed, such as 1/512, 1/128, 1/64, or 1/32, depending upon the sensitivity of the printed image to artifacts caused by evenly distributed blank pixels resulting from the nozzle failure detecting process executed during printing.
As a consequence, the even distribution of the blank pixels in conjunction with a limitation in the number of blank pixels in each area of the printed image allows distributing the blank pixels finely, such that a human observer would have severe difficulties perceiving the blank pixels with the naked eye.
The invention utilizes the method of fast nozzle failure detection (FFD) that has been described above for performing the failure detection steps"on the fly" while an image is being printed. Since no droplet can be ejected during the failure detection step, this detection step will itself produce an artefact, i.e. a blank pixel (white in case of black- and-white printing and a pixel with the wrong color in the case of color printing) in the printed image. However, since the failure detection can be accomplished in a very short time, the resulting artefact will extend only over a very small number of adjacent pixels. Ideally, the detection is so fast that only a single pixel position will be affected. Then, when the pixel positions that are affected by the failure detection steps are selected in accordance with the mask pattern, the artefact consists only of isolated blank pixels that are evenly distributed over the image area and are therefore practically imperceptible. Independently of the image contents to be printed, the mask pattern can be defined such that each ejection unit is tested for possible nozzle failures with a certain minimum detection frequency so that the time delay between the occurrence of a nozzle failure and the detection of that failure will never exceed the period that corresponds to the maximum detection frequency. Then, once the nozzle failure has been detected, suitable counter-measures such as nozzle failure compensation and/or elimination of the nozzle failure may be performed, so that, even in a single-pass process, the artefacts produced by nozzle failures will be confined to relatively short pixel lines the length of which corresponds to the delay time between occurrence and detection of the nozzle failure.
Useful further developments of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.
Additional failure detection steps may be performed for each ejection unit at pixel positions where, in view of the image contents to be printed, the unit is inactive anyway. This will increase the average detection frequency even further.
In one embodiment, a nozzle failure compensation algorithm is called-up immediately when a nozzle failure for a particular ejection unit has been detected.
It will be observed that the very fast nozzle failure detection steps discussed above can in most cases provide only a"yes" or"no" answer to the question whether the ejection unit is in a malfunction state. In order to obtain more detailed information on the nature and cause of malfunction, a more thorough and time-consuming analysis of the residual pressure wave would be necessary. As long as the exact nature of the malfunction is not yet known, it cannot be excluded that the malfunction is due to a partial clogging of the nozzle, resulting in the ejection of a droplet with a certain aberration. Since this may cause an artefact that would be difficult to compensate, it may be preferred to disable the ejection unit completely and to rely only upon the failure compensation in order to obtain a predictable result.
Meanwhile, one or more non-printing pulses may be applied to the transducer of the malfunctioning ejection unit in order to analyze the residual pressure wave in greater detail so as to identify the nature of the malfunction. Then, suitable maintenance operations such as purging the nozzle or wiping the nozzle face of the print head may be initiated on the next occasion, e.g. at the end of the current scan pass or when a printed page has been completed.
Thanks to high sensitivity of the fast failure detection step, it is even possible to detect events in which a very small air bubble has been drawn into the nozzle, the air bubble being still too small to cause a malfunction. However, if the ejection unit is kept operating in such a case, the air bubble tends to grow and eventually cause a malfunction. When the more detailed analysis of the residual wave(s) reveals that such a situation has occurred, the ejection unit may be disabled temporarily, and it may be attempted to cause the air bubble to shrink and eventually disappear by energizing the transducer with wave forms that are specifically shaped for that purpose. In this way, the invention permits to some extent even a nozzle failure preemption.
In color printing, the mask patterns used for the different color components may be identical or differ from one another. In the latter case, the blank pixels will not be white but show only a color deviation.
Embodiment examples will now be described in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an ink jet printer and a print process in which a method according to the invention is employed;
Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of mechanical parts of an ejection unit of a print head, together with an electronic circuit for controlling and monitoring the unit;
Fig. 3 shows time diagrams of a waveform applied to a transducer of the ejection unit and of pressure waves in an ink chamber of the ejection unit; and
Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating essential steps of a method according to the invention.
Fig. 1 shows a page-wide ink jet print head 10 having a nozzle face 12 with a row of nozzles 14 facing a platen 16 and arranged to eject ink droplets onto a recording medium 18 that is passed over the platen 16 in order to form a printed image 20 on the recording medium.
The drawing does not show image contents of the image 20 but instead shows a symbolic representation of a mask pattern 22 that is used in a nozzle failure detection process. The mask pattern 22 can be imagined as a pattern of blank pixels 24 on a dark background 26. For reasons of reproducibility of the drawing, the mask pattern 22 has been shown inverted, i.e. the background 26 has been shown in white and the blank pixels 24 have been shown in black. The pixel positions of the blank pixels 24 appear to be randomly distributed over the area of the image 20 with uniform density, but the distribution of pixel positions is actually only pseudo-random and has been designed to assure that exactly one blank pixel 24 occurs in each pixel column that is printed with an associated one of the nozzles 14.
As will be explained in detail below, the mask pattern 22 controls the timings of nozzle failure detection steps to be performed for each of the nozzles 14. As the sheet 18 is advanced in a sub-scanning direction y and the nozzles 14 are energized to print successive pixel lines that extend in a main scanning direction x, a failure detection step for a given nozzle 14 is performed at the time when the blank pixel 24 that is located in the same pixel column as the nozzle 14 is aligned with the nozzle. When the failure detection step is performed, the nozzle cannot eject a droplet, so that the pixel 24 is left blank. The failure detection process is so fast that it can be completed within a single drop-on-demand period, i.e. before the next pixel in the column reaches the position of the nozzle 14, so that this nozzle is ready again for ejecting a next ink dot. In this way, the printed image 20 will be"pierced" by blank pixels 24 only at the pixel positions designated by the mask pattern 22.
In a printer with a typical resolution of, for example, 400 or 600 dpi, the size of the individual pixels will be so small that the blank pixels 24 are hardly visible with the naked eye, even on a dark background of the image. Of course, if a blank pixel 24 happens to be located in a white image area, it will not be visible at all.
It will be understood that, in a practical embodiment, the number of nozzles 14 is significantly larger than the number of nozzles shown in Fig. 1 , and, accordingly, the size of the blank pixels 24 will be significantly smaller than in Fig. 1.
The mask pattern 22 extends over the entire width of the print head 10 in the main scanning direction x, but its dimension in the sub-scanning direction y may be smaller than the dimension of a page to be printed. Thus, the image 20 shown in Fig. 1 should be considered only as a tile of a complete printed image, and the image of an entire page will be composed of a plurality of successive tiles. The mask pattern 22 will be applied repetitively to each tile, so that a nozzle failure detection step will be performed once per tile for each of the nozzles 14. Consequently, the minimum detection frequency with which a failure detection step is performed for each individual nozzle is given by the speed of advance of the sheet 18 in the sub-scanning direction y, divided by the length of the mask pattern 22 in that direction y. Whenever a nozzle failure occurs during the print process, the time delay between the occurrence of the failure and the detection of the failure in the next failure detection step for that nozzle will never be larger than the inverse of the minimum detection frequency.
The blank pixels of the mask pattern may create an artefact in the printed image, unless measures are taken in the definition of the mask pattern so that the blank pixels, resulting from nozzles being subject to a nozzle failure detection process during printing (and therefore incapable of simultaneously printing) are designed taking into account how their positioning may affect the printed image. Said measures may involve impeding that the blank pixels cluster in the same area of the image, as the clustering of blank pixels would create a visible artefact in the image, especially if the blank pixels clustered in an area printed in a dark color.
Alternatively, or additionally, said measures may involve limiting the number of blank pixels in a certain area of the printed image by means of stablishing a maximum threshold. For example, a maximum threshold of one each two hundred and fifty six pixels of the printed image may be set, such that this maximum proportion of blank pixels is not exceeded in a particular area of the printed image. Alternatively, higher or lower thresholds may be imposed, such as 1/512, 1/128, 1/64, or 1/32, depending upon the sensitivity of the printed image to artefacts caused by evenly distributed blank pixels resulting from the nozzle failure detecting process executed during printing.
The failure detection step for an individual nozzle 14 will now explained in conjunction with Fig. 2 which shows a single ejection unit E of the print head 10. The print head is constituted by a wafer 28 and a support member 30 that are bonded to opposite sides of a thin flexible membrane 32.
A recess that forms a liquid chamber 34 is formed in the face of the wafer 10 that engages the membrane 32, e.g. the bottom face in Fig. 2. The liquid chamber 34 has an essentially rectangular shape. An end portion on the left side in Fig. 2 is connected to an ink supply line 36 that passes through the wafer 28 in thickness direction of the wafer and serves for supplying liquid ink to the liquid chamber 34.
An opposite end of the liquid chamber 34, on the right side in Fig. 2, is connected, through an opening in the membrane 32, to a chamber 38 that is formed in the support member 30 and opens out into the nozzle 14 that is formed in the bottom face of the support member.
Adjacent to the membrane 32 and separated from the chamber 38, the support member 30 forms another cavity 40 accommodating a piezoelectric transducer 42 that is bonded to the membrane 32.
The ink supply line 36, the liquid chamber 34, the chamber 38 and the nozzle 14 are filled with liquid ink. An ink supply system which has not been shown here keeps the pressure of this liquid ink slightly below the atmospheric pressure, e.g. at a relative pressure of -1000 Pa, so as to prevent the ink from leaking out through the nozzle 14. In the nozzle orifice, the liquid ink forms a meniscus 44.
The piezoelectric transducer 42 has electrodes that are connected to an electronic circuit that has been shown in the lower part of Fig. 2. In the example shown, one electrode of the transducer is grounded via a line 46 and a resistor 48. Another electrode of the transducer is connected to an output of an amplifier 50 that is feedback- controlled via a feedback network 52, so that a voltage V applied to the transducer will be proportional to a signal on an input line 54 of the amplifier. The signal on the input line 54 is generated by a D/A-converter 56 that receives a digital input from a local digital controller 58. The controller 58 is connected to a processor 60.
When an ink droplet is to be expelled from the nozzle 14, the processor 60 sends a command to the controller 58 which outputs a digital signal that causes the D/A- converter 56 and the amplifier 50 to apply a voltage pulse to the transducer 42. This voltage pulse causes the transducer to deform in a bending mode. More specifically, the transducer 42 is caused to flex downward, so that the membrane 32 which is bonded to the transducer 42 will also flex downward, thereby to increase the volume of the liquid chamber 34. As a consequence, additional ink will be sucked-in via the supply line 36. Then, when the voltage pulse falls off again, the membrane 32 will flex back into the original state, so that a positive acoustic pressure wave is generated in the liquid ink in the liquid chamber 34. This pressure wave propagates to the nozzle 14 and causes an ink droplet to be expelled.
The electrodes of the transducer 42 are also connected to an A/D converter 62 which measures a voltage drop across the transducer and also a voltage drop across the resistor 48 and thereby implicitly the current flowing through the transducer.
Corresponding digital signals are forwarded to the controller 58 which can derive the impedance of the transducer 42 from these signals. The measured impedance is signalled to the processor 60 where the impedance signal is processed further, as will be described below.
The acoustic wave that has caused a droplet to be expelled from the nozzle 14 will be reflected (with phase reversal) at the open nozzle and will propagate back into the liquid chamber 34. Consequently, even after the droplet has been expelled, a gradually decaying acoustic pressure wave is still present in the duct 16, and the corresponding pressure fluctuations exert a bending stress onto the membrane 32 and the actuator 42. This mechanical strain on the piezoelectric transducer leads to a change in the impedance of the transducer, and this change can be measured with the electronic circuit described above. The measured impedance changes represent the pressure fluctuations of the acoustic wave and can therefore be used to derive a time-dependent function P(t) that describes these pressure fluctuations. Fig 3(A) shows a waveform 64 of a voltage signal V(t) that may be applied to the transducer 42. In a normal print mode, the waveform comprises an actuation pulse 66 causing the membrane 32 to deflect as described above and having an amplitude large enough to expel an ink droplet through the nozzle. The waveform further includes a quench pulse 68 that has opposite polarity in this example. The timing and the amplitude of the quench pulse 68 are selected such that it cancels (quenches) a residual pressure wave that oscillates in the ink chamber 34 and gradually decays after the droplet has been expelled. In the normal print mode, the quench pulse 68 assures that the pressure fluctuations in the liquid chamber 34 are practically reduced to zero at the time when another actuation pulse 66 is applied in the next drop-on-demand cycle.
Fig. 3 shows one complete drop-on-demand cycle ranging from the time t1 to the time t4 and having a duration of 10 me, for example. The actuation pulse is applied at a time t2, and the quench pulse is applied at a time t3.
However, Fig. 3 does not actually illustrate a normal print operation in which an ink droplet is expelled, but instead applies to a nozzle failure detection step. Consequently, the waveform 64 shown in Fig. 3(A) is a detection waveform in which the amplitudes and timings (and optionally the shapes) of the actuation pulse 66 and the quench pulse 68 have been optimized for detection of nozzle failures rather than for expelling a droplet. In fact, the amplitude of the actuation pulse 66 shown in Fig. 3(A) is so small that no droplet will be expelled. Consequently, the energy of the actuation pulse is not transferred onto a droplet that is being created, but remains in the liquid in the ink chamber 34, which results in a"residual" pressure wave with a higher amplitude.
In Fig. 3(B), a curve 70 shown in dashed lines represents the pressure function P(t) for the residual pressure wave that is created in the failure detection step in case that the ejection unit is in an operating state, i.e. a droplet would have been expelled as desired, had the amplitude of the actuation pulse 66 been large enough. The timing and amplitude of the quench pulse 68 have been designed such that the residual pressure wave shown by the curve 70 is cancelled almost completely by destructive interference so that, in Fig. 3(B), the amplitude of the pressure wave sharply decreases at the time t3.
On the other hand, if the ejection unit E is in any kind of malfunction state, e.g. a state in which the nozzle 14 is partly or completely clogged or a state in which an air bubble is present in the nozzle or in the chamber 38 or in the liquid chamber 34 or the ink supply duct 36, the acoustics, i.e. the reflection and transmission behaviour of the acoustic wave will be changed such that the timing and amplitude of the quench pulse 68 is no longer tuned to destructive interference with the residual pressure wave and fails to suppress this pressure wave efficiently or even boosts the residual pressure wave by constructive interference, as has been illustrated by a solid curve 72 in Fig. 3(B).
Consequently, the amplitude of the pressure wave represented by the curve 72 is significantly larger in the time interval between t3 and t4.
The malfunction state of the ejection unit can therefore be detected very easily and within a short time simply by checking whether the amplitude of the pressure wave between the times t3 and t4 is above a certain threshold f. If that is the case, it can be decided that the ejection unit is in a malfunction state, although it cannot yet be determined in what kind of malfunction state the unit is in. On the other hand, if the amplitude remains below the threshold f, it can be concluded that the ejection unit is in an operating state.
It will be appreciated that this decision can be made within an extremely short time, even within a single drop-on-demand period of the print head.
As has further been shown in Fig. 3(B), regardless of whether the unit is in a malfunction state or an operating state, the amplitude of the pressure wave remains always below a threshold j which is a threshold above which an ink droplet would be jetted-out. Consequently, no pixel can be printed with the ejection unit E in the drop-on- demand period between the times t1 and t4 shown in Fig. 3(B) and, consequently, a blank pixel 24 will be formed in the printed image.
Essential steps of a print process with nozzle failure detection in accordance with the principles of the invention have been summarized in a flow diagram in Fig. 4.
In step S1 , the mask pattern 22 is defined such that the minimum detection frequency determined by the pattern matches the quality requirements for the print job.
In step S2, the image 20 or several images or tiles are printed on the media sheet 18 and the fast nozzle failure detection steps as described in conjunction with Figs. 2 and 3 are performed for each nozzle 14 as soon as it reaches a pixel position of a blank pixel 24. Since it is known in advance that no ink dot will be printed at that position, a failure compensation routine may be activated for that particular pixel position in order to further reduce the visibility of the blank pixel 24. For example, the volume of the ink droplets for the neighbouring pixel positions (in neighbouring pixel columns and also in the same column but preceding and following the blank pixel 28) may be increased by increasing the amplitude of the respective actuation pulses 66.
In step S3, it is checked whether a nozzle failure has been detected for any of the nozzles 14.
As soon as a nozzle failure has been detected, the malfunctioning nozzle is switched off in step S4 and failure compensation is continued for the pixels in the neighbouring pixel columns.
Then, in step S5, a detailed failure analysis is performed for the malfunctioning ejection unit in order to further characterize the nature of the malfunction. To that end, the transducer of the ejection unit is energized with a waveform having an activation pulse 66 too small to eject a droplet. A subsequent quench pulse 68 may be included or omitted and the pressure wave decaying in the ink chamber 34 will be analysed over an extended period of time in order to identify the type of nozzle failure that has occurred.
Then, depending upon the result of the failure analysis in step S5, a nozzle treatment may optionally be performed in step S6 in order to return the nozzle into the operating state (e.g. by wiping the nozzle face 12 or by purging the nozzle in a time gap between two sequent pages to be printed).
In step S7, it is checked whether the end of the mask pattern 22 has been reached. If that is the case (Y), the mask pattern is repeated in step S8, so that the next tile or image 20 can be printed and fast nozzle failure detection can be continued by looping back to step S2.
If no nozzle failure is detected in step S3 (M), the steps S4 to S6 are skipped.
It will be understood that the step S3 is performed whenever one of the nozzles 14 has reached a pixel position of one of the blank pixels 28 in the mask pattern. Consequently, there may be cases where two or more nozzle failures are detected, and the steps S4 to S6 are then performed for each of the malfunctioning nozzles.
1. A method of nozzle failure detection in an ink jet printer having a plurality of ejection units (E) each of which comprises a nozzle (14) and an associated liquid chamber (34) with an electromechanical transducer (42) for energizing a pressure wave in the liquid chamber so as to expel an ink droplet from the nozzle (14), the method comprising steps of nozzle failure detection to be performed, for each ejection unit, with a given minimum detection frequency, wherein each nozzle failure detection step comprises:
- energizing the transducer (42) with a waveform (64) that does not lead to the ejection of a droplet but creates a pressure fluctuation that is sensitive to whether or not the ejection unit is in a malfunction state; and
measuring the pressure fluctuation in order to detect the malfunction state, the method being characterized by comprising:
- defining a mask pattern (22) that is independent of image contents to be printed, said mask pattern defining positions of blank pixels (24) on a dark background (26) such that the blank pixels are evenly distributed over an area of an image (20), wherein one blank pixel occurs in each pixel column printed with one of the nozzles (14); and
when an image is being printed, performing the nozzle failure detection steps for each ejection unit (E) at timings at which the respective nozzles (14) are in pixel positions that belong to the mask pattern (22).
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mask pattern (22) is repeatedly applied to successive tiles of an image to be printed.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the detection waveform (64) includes an actuating pulse (66) followed by a quench pulse (68) that is designed to suppress a residual pressure fluctuation in the ink chamber (24) only if the ejection unit is in an operating state, and the malfunction state is detected by comparing an amplitude of the residual pressure fluctuation after the quench pulse (68) to a threshold
(f)·
4. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the nozzle failure detection step for an individual nozzle (14) is performed within a time interval (t1 - 14) which has a duration not larger than a drop-on-demand period of the printer.
5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein, when a malfunction state has been detected for any nozzle (14), a nozzle failure compensation algorithm is activated for that nozzle and is kept active as long as the nozzle failure persists.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, when a malfunction state of a particular ejection unit has been detected, that detection unit is switched off.
7. The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein, when a malfunction state has been detected for a particular nozzle, another nozzle failure detection process is performed for that nozzle in order to further characterize the nature of the malfunction and, when and if the nature of the malfunction has been identified, a maintenance step is performed for removing the malfunction.
8. The method according to any of the preceding claims 3, wherein a nozzle failure compensation algorithm is performed for the pixel positions of the blank pixels (24).
PCT/EP2019/060233 2018-04-23 2019-04-19 Method of fast nozzle failure detection WO2019206831A1 (en)
EP18168796.3 2018-04-23
PCT/EP2019/060233 WO2019206831A1 (en) 2018-04-23 2019-04-19 Method of fast nozzle failure detection
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WO2017125380A1 (en) * 2016-01-21 2017-07-27 OCE Holding B.V. Fluid jetting device, printing apparatus, and method therefor
WO2017144335A1 (en) * 2016-02-25 2017-08-31 OCE Holding B.V. Method for detecting disturbance in droplet ejection of an inkjet print head
2019-04-19 WO PCT/EP2019/060233 patent/WO2019206831A1/en unknown
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JP2003326716A (en) 2003-11-19 Liquid ejection head and liquid ejector comprising it
US9381740B2 (en) 2016-07-05 Ink jet printing
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EP0751873B1 (en) 1998-11-11 Improvements relating to pulsed droplet deposition apparatus
JPH0732651A (en) 1995-02-03 Method for optimizing characteristics of image forming apparatus
EP1000742A3 (en) 2000-09-06 Recording method for use in ink jet type recording device and ink jet type recording device
NL1021015C2 (en) 2004-01-06 Method for controlling an inkjet printhead, an inkjet printhead suitable for applying this method and an inkjet printer provided with this printhead.
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US6739690B1 (en) 2004-05-25 Ink jet apparatus


text:
Deputies: Woman arrested after child, multiple animals found in deplorable conditions in Citrus County home
Mugshot for Shannon Morgan. Courtesy: Citrus County Sheriff's Office.
BEVERLY HILLS, Fla. - A Citrus County woman was arrested after deputies found a child and multiple animals living in filthy, deplorable conditions in her Beverly Hills home, the sheriff's office said.
Deputies said they responded to 38-year-old Shannon Marie Morgan's home in Citrus County on Wednesday about an animal cruelty complaint.
The Citrus County Sheriff's Office said the deputies were immediately overwhelmed by the pungent smell of ammonia inside the home. They found several cages and glass aquariums containing snakes and rodents as well as rats and cats running around the home, investigators said.
READ: Citrus deputies fatally shoot Homosassa man who pointed gun at them, officials say
The animals were deprived of all their basic necessities, CCSO said. Te build-up of fecal matter and urine in the house and cages also caused an infestation of flies, roaches and other bugs, according to deputies.
Trash, dirty dishes and rotten food were scattered throughout the home, bringing in more roaches and flies, the sheriff's office said.
In one of the bedrooms, deputies said they found two more cages, containing a ferret and a dog. The ferret's cage was littered with urine and feces and the dog's cage was too small, according to investigators with CCSO.
Deputies said both animals were being deprived of food and water.
MORE: Drunk driver gets 12 years in prison for killing Tampa woman in hit-and-run crash
Inside a second bedroom in the home, the sheriff's office said they found a juvenile surrounded by trash that was built up all over the floor. Insects were also all over the floor and the mattress was covered in roaches, according to deputies. Investigators said blood was also on the floor from one of the cats eating a rat.
CCSO said about 50 rodents were found in a third bedroom in cages as well as more than 300 other rodents roaming freely.
Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast said the conditions inside the home were so bad, sheriff's office personnel were cautioned about going inside the home.
PREVIOUS: Polk County traffic stop leads to arrest of brother of accused Capitol rioter, deputies say
"Abuse of any kind should not be tolerated," said Sheriff Prendergast. "Neither children nor animals should ever endure this type of environment. It is crucial that our citizens report any possible signs of child or animal neglect."
CCSO animal control officers removed seven cats, one dog and one ferret from Morgan's home. The house was secured for the sheriff's office's investigation, so they can remove other remaining animals.
Morgan was arrested on 12 counts of animal cruelty and one count of child neglect, and her bond was set at $26,000, Citrus County deputies said.
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Planning is underway to launch an official Yorke Peninsula food brand!
We continue to received positive feedback from multiple Gout sufferers who have managed to alleviate gout attacks since drinking PH8 Water. It's thought our high alkaline water reduces uric acid that builds up in the blood and helps prevent dehydration.
PH8 Natural Alkaline Water is proud to support South Australia's largest CrossFit competition, the Affiliate Super League.
The second event in the series, ASL2, will be held on December 12 in Adelaide and is going to be a huge day/night with high profile athletes coming in from interstate and hundreds of locals coming to watch.
PH8 Natural Alkaline Water is on board as a partner to Race 2 of the 27th annual Dare2Tri Triathlon Series on 6 December, 2015 which will be held at Midcourse Reserve, West Lakes.


text:
Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease
Mustafa F. Usta, Trinity Bivalacqua, George W. Jabren, Leann Myers, Jose Sanabria, Suresh C. Sikka, Wayne J G Hellstrom
Purpose: We investigated the relationship between penile curvature severity and comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease (PD) and assessed whether the severity of curvature had an impact on penile vascular status and/ or erectile function. Materials and Methods: Based on a 10-year period 469 patients with PD were retrospectively evaluated in regard to age at diagnosis, type and degree of penile curvature, erectile dysfunction (ED) and other comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, serum lipid abnormalities, smoking and ischemic heart disease. To assess penile vascular status all men with PD underwent penile duplex Doppler ultrasound evaluation. The severity of penile curvature was classified using the Kelami system, that is grade 1-curvature 30 degrees or less, grade 2-30 to 60 degrees and grade 3-greater than 60 degrees. Results: Mean patient age was 54.8 ± 4.3 years (range 18 to 79) and the mean duration of symptoms was 24.8 ± 13.7 months (range 3 to 120). The most common penile abnormality was dorsal curvature in 47.1% of patients. The most frequently documented co-morbid conditions in association with PD were hypertension in 27.2% of cases, smoking in 25.5%, hypercholesterolemia in 18.3%, diabetes mellitus in 17.2%, hyperlipidemia in 15.7% and a history of penile trauma in 13.2%. There was no relationship between the number or severity of each of these co-morbid conditions and the severity of the penile abnormality. In addition, there was no relationship between the severity of penile curvature and penile vascular status in patients with PD. Moreover, the prevalence of these comorbidities, except smoking and penile trauma history, was significantly higher in patients with PD and concurrent ED than in patients with PD only. Conclusions: While co-morbid conditions, such as hypertension, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia, are commonly seen in patients with PD and may seem to be risk factors for PD, there was no statistical relationship between penile curvature severity and any of these comorbidities. Similarly there was no statistically significant relationship between the severity of curvature and penile vascular status or ED. The fact that the prevalence of associated comorbidities is higher in patients with PD and ED than in patients with PD only indicates that these comorbidities are more likely related to ED than to the pathogenesis of PD.
https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
Penile Induration
Hyperlipidemias
Doppler Ultrasonography
Myocardial Ischemia
Penile erection
Usta, M. F., Bivalacqua, T., Jabren, G. W., Myers, L., Sanabria, J., Sikka, S. C., & Hellstrom, W. J. G. (2004). Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease. Journal of Urology, 171(2 I), 775-779. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease. / Usta, Mustafa F.; Bivalacqua, Trinity; Jabren, George W.; Myers, Leann; Sanabria, Jose; Sikka, Suresh C.; Hellstrom, Wayne J G.
In: Journal of Urology, Vol. 171, No. 2 I, 02.2004, p. 775-779.
Usta, MF, Bivalacqua, T, Jabren, GW, Myers, L, Sanabria, J, Sikka, SC & Hellstrom, WJG 2004, 'Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease', Journal of Urology, vol. 171, no. 2 I, pp. 775-779. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
Usta MF, Bivalacqua T, Jabren GW, Myers L, Sanabria J, Sikka SC et al. Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease. Journal of Urology. 2004 Feb;171(2 I):775-779. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
Usta, Mustafa F. ; Bivalacqua, Trinity ; Jabren, George W. ; Myers, Leann ; Sanabria, Jose ; Sikka, Suresh C. ; Hellstrom, Wayne J G. / Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease. In: Journal of Urology. 2004 ; Vol. 171, No. 2 I. pp. 775-779.
@article{9b54bbf2622b4d5b9650637eff26ffaa,
title = "Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease",
abstract = "Purpose: We investigated the relationship between penile curvature severity and comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease (PD) and assessed whether the severity of curvature had an impact on penile vascular status and/ or erectile function. Materials and Methods: Based on a 10-year period 469 patients with PD were retrospectively evaluated in regard to age at diagnosis, type and degree of penile curvature, erectile dysfunction (ED) and other comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, serum lipid abnormalities, smoking and ischemic heart disease. To assess penile vascular status all men with PD underwent penile duplex Doppler ultrasound evaluation. The severity of penile curvature was classified using the Kelami system, that is grade 1-curvature 30 degrees or less, grade 2-30 to 60 degrees and grade 3-greater than 60 degrees. Results: Mean patient age was 54.8 ± 4.3 years (range 18 to 79) and the mean duration of symptoms was 24.8 ± 13.7 months (range 3 to 120). The most common penile abnormality was dorsal curvature in 47.1{\%} of patients. The most frequently documented co-morbid conditions in association with PD were hypertension in 27.2{\%} of cases, smoking in 25.5{\%}, hypercholesterolemia in 18.3{\%}, diabetes mellitus in 17.2{\%}, hyperlipidemia in 15.7{\%} and a history of penile trauma in 13.2{\%}. There was no relationship between the number or severity of each of these co-morbid conditions and the severity of the penile abnormality. In addition, there was no relationship between the severity of penile curvature and penile vascular status in patients with PD. Moreover, the prevalence of these comorbidities, except smoking and penile trauma history, was significantly higher in patients with PD and concurrent ED than in patients with PD only. Conclusions: While co-morbid conditions, such as hypertension, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia, are commonly seen in patients with PD and may seem to be risk factors for PD, there was no statistical relationship between penile curvature severity and any of these comorbidities. Similarly there was no statistically significant relationship between the severity of curvature and penile vascular status or ED. The fact that the prevalence of associated comorbidities is higher in patients with PD and ED than in patients with PD only indicates that these comorbidities are more likely related to ED than to the pathogenesis of PD.",
keywords = "Blood circulation, Comorbidity, Penile erection, Penile induration, Penis",
author = "Usta, {Mustafa F.} and Trinity Bivalacqua and Jabren, {George W.} and Leann Myers and Jose Sanabria and Sikka, {Suresh C.} and Hellstrom, {Wayne J G}",
doi = "10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c",
number = "2 I",
T1 - Relationship between the severity of penile curvature and the presence of comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease
AU - Usta, Mustafa F.
AU - Bivalacqua, Trinity
AU - Jabren, George W.
AU - Myers, Leann
AU - Sanabria, Jose
AU - Sikka, Suresh C.
AU - Hellstrom, Wayne J G
N2 - Purpose: We investigated the relationship between penile curvature severity and comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease (PD) and assessed whether the severity of curvature had an impact on penile vascular status and/ or erectile function. Materials and Methods: Based on a 10-year period 469 patients with PD were retrospectively evaluated in regard to age at diagnosis, type and degree of penile curvature, erectile dysfunction (ED) and other comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, serum lipid abnormalities, smoking and ischemic heart disease. To assess penile vascular status all men with PD underwent penile duplex Doppler ultrasound evaluation. The severity of penile curvature was classified using the Kelami system, that is grade 1-curvature 30 degrees or less, grade 2-30 to 60 degrees and grade 3-greater than 60 degrees. Results: Mean patient age was 54.8 ± 4.3 years (range 18 to 79) and the mean duration of symptoms was 24.8 ± 13.7 months (range 3 to 120). The most common penile abnormality was dorsal curvature in 47.1% of patients. The most frequently documented co-morbid conditions in association with PD were hypertension in 27.2% of cases, smoking in 25.5%, hypercholesterolemia in 18.3%, diabetes mellitus in 17.2%, hyperlipidemia in 15.7% and a history of penile trauma in 13.2%. There was no relationship between the number or severity of each of these co-morbid conditions and the severity of the penile abnormality. In addition, there was no relationship between the severity of penile curvature and penile vascular status in patients with PD. Moreover, the prevalence of these comorbidities, except smoking and penile trauma history, was significantly higher in patients with PD and concurrent ED than in patients with PD only. Conclusions: While co-morbid conditions, such as hypertension, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia, are commonly seen in patients with PD and may seem to be risk factors for PD, there was no statistical relationship between penile curvature severity and any of these comorbidities. Similarly there was no statistically significant relationship between the severity of curvature and penile vascular status or ED. The fact that the prevalence of associated comorbidities is higher in patients with PD and ED than in patients with PD only indicates that these comorbidities are more likely related to ED than to the pathogenesis of PD.
AB - Purpose: We investigated the relationship between penile curvature severity and comorbidities in men with Peyronie's disease (PD) and assessed whether the severity of curvature had an impact on penile vascular status and/ or erectile function. Materials and Methods: Based on a 10-year period 469 patients with PD were retrospectively evaluated in regard to age at diagnosis, type and degree of penile curvature, erectile dysfunction (ED) and other comorbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, serum lipid abnormalities, smoking and ischemic heart disease. To assess penile vascular status all men with PD underwent penile duplex Doppler ultrasound evaluation. The severity of penile curvature was classified using the Kelami system, that is grade 1-curvature 30 degrees or less, grade 2-30 to 60 degrees and grade 3-greater than 60 degrees. Results: Mean patient age was 54.8 ± 4.3 years (range 18 to 79) and the mean duration of symptoms was 24.8 ± 13.7 months (range 3 to 120). The most common penile abnormality was dorsal curvature in 47.1% of patients. The most frequently documented co-morbid conditions in association with PD were hypertension in 27.2% of cases, smoking in 25.5%, hypercholesterolemia in 18.3%, diabetes mellitus in 17.2%, hyperlipidemia in 15.7% and a history of penile trauma in 13.2%. There was no relationship between the number or severity of each of these co-morbid conditions and the severity of the penile abnormality. In addition, there was no relationship between the severity of penile curvature and penile vascular status in patients with PD. Moreover, the prevalence of these comorbidities, except smoking and penile trauma history, was significantly higher in patients with PD and concurrent ED than in patients with PD only. Conclusions: While co-morbid conditions, such as hypertension, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia, are commonly seen in patients with PD and may seem to be risk factors for PD, there was no statistical relationship between penile curvature severity and any of these comorbidities. Similarly there was no statistically significant relationship between the severity of curvature and penile vascular status or ED. The fact that the prevalence of associated comorbidities is higher in patients with PD and ED than in patients with PD only indicates that these comorbidities are more likely related to ED than to the pathogenesis of PD.
KW - Blood circulation
KW - Comorbidity
KW - Penile erection
KW - Penile induration
KW - Penis
U2 - 10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
DO - 10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c
IS - 2 I
10.1097/01.ju.0000097498.34847.7c


In 1989, Ralph Rosnow and Robert Rosenthal, two well-respected experts on statistical methods in psychology, wrote the following memorable line: "We want to underscore that, surely, God loves the .06 nearly as much as the .05" (p. 1277).
For researchers in psychology—as well as in the biological and social sciences—this was an amusing statement because .05 is the Holy Grail of statistical significance. It may seem unusual to use religious language when writing about scientific methods, but the metaphor is fitting because, for almost as long as scientists have used statistical methods, achieving a probability of .05 or less (e.g., .04, .027, .004) meant publication, academic success, and another step toward the financial security of tenure. But .06 or even .055 meant nothing. No publication and no progress toward a comfortable retirement.
Rosnow and Rosenthal were arguing that scientists had been overly concerned with a single, arbitrary cut-off score, p < .05, but today their plea sounds a bit antique. In the latest response to the "reproducibility crisis" in psychology (see my December 2015 online column, "Has Science a Problem?") a group of seventy-two accomplished statisticians, biologists, and social scientists have signed a statement proposing that the criterion be changed from .05 to .005. This may seem like a nerdy technical issue, but the proposed change has profound implications for the progress of science and has ignited a vigorous controversy in the field. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's step back and figure out what this is all about.
The idea came from the British biologist and statistician Ronald Fisher, a man Richard Dawkins has called "the greatest biologist since Darwin" (The Edge 2011). Fisher invented many statistical techniques—including the analysis of variance (ANOVA)—and, ever since learning how to use Fisher's methods, has been the bane of graduate students in biology, psychology, and many other disciplines.
Fisher recognized that you cannot affirm the consequent. Scientists are commonly in the position of wanting to prove that a variable they are interested in causes something to happen. For example, imagine a chemist has identified Compound X, which she believes will promote hair growth in balding humans. She creates a Compound X lotion and a placebo lotion and conducts an experiment on balding volunteers. Lo and behold, the people in her Compound X group grow more hair than those in the placebo group. If her experiment was otherwise well designed and conducted, can she safely conclude Compound X grows hair? Of course not. It might just have been a lucky test, and furthermore no number of positive tests can prove the rule.
Understanding this, Fisher proposed to turn the question around, creating a straw person that could be knocked over with statistics. What if we assume the opposite: Compound X has no effect at all? This idea is what Fisher called the "null hypothesis." The hypothesis of nothing going on. No effect. Then, he reasoned, we can determine the probability of our experimental findings happening merely by chance. This is where ANOVA and other statistical methods come in. Fisher suggested that statistical tests could be used to estimate the kinds of outcomes that would be expected due to random variations in the data. If the result obtained in an experiment was very unlikely to occur by chance, then the researcher would be justified in rejecting the null hypothesis of no effect. It would be fairly safe to say something real was going on. For example, if our chemist's statistical analysis found probability of getting the amount of hair growth she saw in the Compound X group to be .04—meaning that by chance alone we could expect the same result in only 4 of 100 similarly run experiments—then it would be reasonable for her to conclude Compound X really worked.
So was born the Null Hypothesis Significance Test (NHST), and before long it was the law of the land. Fisher proposed a probability (p-value) of .05, and it came to pass that researchers in a variety of fields could not expect to get their articles published unless they performed the appropriate statistical tests and found that p was < .05 (a probability of the null hypothesis being true in less than 5 percent of cases). Point zero five became the accepted knife edge of success: p < .055 meant your results were junk, and p < .048 meant you could pop the champagne. P < .05 was not a magical number; it just became the accepted convention—a convention that Rosnow and Rosenthal, as well as others (e.g., Cohen, 1990) have criticized to no avail. It remains a fossilized criterion for separating the wheat from the chaff. But perhaps, not for long.
Statistics is one of those fields that has been plagued by a number of dustups over the years, but this latest controversy over p-values is inspired by the reproducibility crisis, the discovery that many classic experiments—primarily in social and cognitive psychology—could not be reproduced when attempted again. The resulting loss of confidence in research findings has spawned a number of reforms, most notably the Open Science movement, about which I wrote in my December 2016 online column, "The Parable of the Power Pose and How to Reverse It." The open science approach makes research a much more public and collaborative enterprise and makes the common practice of "p-hacking"—fiddling with your data until something significant pops out—much more difficult.
Then, in July of 2017, seventy-two scientists (Benjamin, et al. 2017) wrote the proposal to simply make the criterion for significance more difficult by moving the cut-off from 5 out of 100 to 5 out of 1000 (p < .005). This would greatly help one of the issues the authors presume to be a cause of the reproducibility problem: Type I error. When we say something is statistically significant, we are simply saying that it is unlikely the observed effect is due to chance. But it's not impossible. By definition the choice of the .05 significance level means that we are willing to live with a 5 percent chance of an error—saying there is an effect when actually our results were caused by normal random variation. This is a kind of false positive result. For example, if Compound X is useless, our choice of the .05 criterion means that in five tests out of hundred, we would conclude something was happening when nothing was. And when, as is most often the case, we conduct just a single test, how do we know whether ours is one of the five random cases that just happened to make Compound X look like it works? Based on a single test, we really can't say.
Moving the statistical criterion to .005 would make the chances of a Type I error much lower, which means that the findings that reach publication would be more trustworthy and more likely reproducible. This is a worthy goal, and there is no easier fix than simply requiring a stronger test. But such a change would not be without costs. When you reduce the chances of a Type I error, you increase the chances of a different kind of error with the clever name of Type II. Type II errors are caused when the effect you are studying is real but your test fails to show it. Compound X really can grow hair, but by chance, your test came up nonsignificant: p > .05. A kind of false negative result. The change to .005 proposed by the gang of seventy-two would make false negatives more common, and given the often enormous time and cost involved in modern research, it would mean that important results that would contribute to our knowledge base are likely to die on the vine. Ultimately the progress of science would be slowed.
Perhaps anticipating this objection, the seventy-two authors propose that results falling between the traditional .05 and the new .005 might still be published as "suggestive" rather than statistically significant. Furthermore, the < .005 criteria would only be applied to tests of new phenomena, and replications of previously published studies could remain at .05. But it is clear the change would still have a powerful impact. As someone on one of my Internet discussion groups suggested, this change might make many psychology journals much thinner than they are now. I haven't checked, but I am fairly certain several of my own published studies would have to be demoted to the "suggestive" category.
The proposal by the seventy-two researchers is scheduled to appear in a future issue of the journal Nature Human Behavior, but the prepublication copy posted online has already attracted much publicity and considerable comment from the scientific community. Many researchers have welcomed the .005 suggestion, which has been offered by others in the past (Resnick 2017), but there has also been some pushback. Psychologist Daniel Lakens is organizing a group rebuttal. According to an article in Vox, one of Laken's primary objections is that such a technique will slow the progress of science. It may strengthen the published research literature at the cost of discouraging graduate students and other investigators who have limited resources.
Typically, the most effective way to increase the power of a statistical test and the likelihood of reaching a stringent significance level, such as < .005, is to increase the number of participants in your study. Although the Internet provides new opportunities for collecting large amounts of survey data, consider the difficulties of developmental psychologists who study infant behavior in the laboratory. As important as this work is, it might end up being limited to a few well-funded centers. Psychologist Timothy Bates, writing in Medium, makes the more general argument that a cost-benefit analysis of the switch to .005 comes up short. Research will become much more expensive without, in his view, yielding equal benefit (Bates 2017).
Finally, there is the question of placing too much emphasis on one issue. John Ioannidis is a Stanford University statistician and health researcher whose 2005 paper "Why Most Published Research Findings are False" is a classic document of the reproducibility movement. He is also one of the seventy-two signers of the .005 proposal. But Ioannidis admits that statistical significance is not the only way to judge a study: "statistical significance [alone] doesn't convey much about the meaning, the importance, the clinical value, utility [of research]" (quoted in Resnick 2017). Even if Compound X produced a significant increase in hair growth (p < .005), the hair growth in question might not be noticeable enough to make the treatment worth using. Under the proposed, more stringent statistical criteria, researchers might concentrate on getting results that are likely to get them over the statistical goal line and pass up more meaningful topics.
So how likely is it that the goalposts will get moved and journals will begin to require a p < .005 level of significance? I suspect the probability is low. Not five chances out of a thousand, but less than 50:50. There are good reasons for making this correction, particularly at this time when confidence in social science research is at a low point. But, for a couple of reasons, I don't think it will happen.
First, because this controversy is relatively new, the objectors are still developing their responses. As the conversation gets going, I suspect we will hear more concerns about Type II errors—real phenomena that will be missed because they fail to meet the p < .005 criterion—and about discouraging young investigators from going into research. No one is in favor of that.
But I suspect one of the biggest sources of resistance will be based in economics rather than in arcane technical and professional issues. It turns out that academic publishing is enormously profitable—a $19 billion worldwide business that, according to The Guardian, is far more profitable than either the film or music industries (Buranyi 2017). A large portion of this success comes from a unique business model in which the product being sold—academic scholarship—is obtained essentially for free. Research that often costs millions of dollars in research grants and salaries to produce is handed to publishers such as Elsevier or Springer for nothing. Even peer reviews of submitted manuscripts are done by researchers who donate their time for free.
Academic publishing is a kind of crazy incestuous feedback loop. Researchers must get their work published in high quality journals if they wish to advance their careers, and scholars and university libraries must pay exorbitant subscription costs to gain access to the same journals. The current system is being threatened by Sci-Hub, a pirated archive of scientific publications, and by a growing number of scholars who are posting prepublication versions of their work online (Rathi 2017). Eventually, all scientific publishing may be entirely free and open, but until that day, the publishing industry will continue to be hungry for material. As a result, the prospect of much less content and thinner journals will not be a welcome thought, and I suspect this attitude will be communicated down the line to editors who must choose whether to adopt the new standard or not. The publishing gods love .05 much more than .005.
Bates, Timothy. 2017. "Changing the default p-value threshold for statistical significance ought not be done, and is the the least of our problems" Medium. July 23. Accessed August 13, 2017. Available online at https://medium.com/@timothycbates/changing-the-default-p-value-threshold-for-statistical-significance-ought-not-be-done-in-isolation-3a7ab357b5c1.
Buranyi, Stephen. 2017 "Is the staggeringly profitable business of scientific publishing bad for science?" The Guardian. June 27. Accessed August 14, 2017. Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/27/profitable-business-scientific-publishing-bad-for-science.
Cohen, Jacob. 1990. "Things I have learned (so far)." American psychologist 45, no. 12:1304.
The Edge. 2011. "Who is the greatest biologist of all time?" Edge.org. March 11. Accessed August 13, 2017. Available online at https://www.edge.org/conversation/who-is-the-greatest-biologist-of-all-time.
Ioannidis, John PA. 2005. "Why most published research findings are false." PLoS medicine 2, no. 8: e124. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124.
Rathi, Akshat. 2017. "Soon, nobody will read academic journals illegally – the studies worth reading will be free." Quartz. August 09. Accessed August 14, 2017. Available online at https://qz.com/1049870/half-the-time-unpaywall-users-search-for-articles-that-are-legally-free-to-access/.
Resnick, Brian. 2017. "What a nerdy debate about p-values shows about science – and how to fix it." Vox. July 31. Accessed August 13, 2017. Available online at https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/7/31/16021654/p-values-statistical-significance-redefine-0005.
Rosnow, Ralph L., and Robert Rosenthal. 1989. "Statistical procedures and the justification of knowledge in psychological science." American Psychologist 44, no. 10: 1276.
Vyse, Stuart. 2015. "Has Science a Problem?" CSI. June 18. Accessed August 13, 2017. Available online at http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/has_science_a_problem.


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Bullet Music
KISS Could Go on the Road Without the Original Members
Image Credit: Pinterest
After decades of entertaining music fans, it appears that KISS may be coming to an end. Paul Stanley hinted that the band is planning a major tour in 2019 that is being called "The End of the Road." Yet, despite the original lineup planning to hang up their costumes for the final time, there have been talks of KISS continuing beyond the farewell tour.
Talks of a band sans Paul Stanley (The Starchild), Gene Simmons (The Demon), Ace Frehley (The Spaceman) and Peter Criss (The Catman) first emerged when Stanley insinuated in a Pure Grain Audio interview that KISS could continue without any of the original members.
"When a band or anything, a team, lasts 40 years, 50 years, the only way for it to continue is to evolve," Stanley said. "That means in terms of personnel, otherwise it's impossible. There are bands touring at this point with one or no original members and I have no problem with that because it didn't happen overnight. It was a series of changes over years or decades." The Starchild also pointed out how he, Simmons and the original KISS members have set a very high bar in terms of performance standards, which new-generation members are expected to meet whenever they perform as KISS.
In a report by Ultimate Classic Rock about the possible tour, KISS manager Doc McGhee seconded Stanley's suggestion that the band can continue without any original members. For the outspoken manager, what matters is that the new KISS members wear makeup and put on memorable performances as The Starchild, The Demon, The Spaceman, The Catman (plus The Fox and The Ankh Warrior). McPhee stated that KISS is "a way of life," even noting that the band was as large today as it had been for decades. "Every band's a different animal," McPhee argued. "Kiss is, 'If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing.' You come to expect that out of Kiss. No matter who I have in my office — CEOs of companies and airlines — they go to the Kiss closet and they've got to have something. This happens every day."
Both Stanley and McPhee are right on point. The KISS brand is as popular as ever and will continue to be so as long as the new members meet the extraordinarily high standards set by their predecessors. And when Stanley and company decide to ride off into the proverbial sunset, they will retire as royalty, as they will continue to rake in royalties from a large amount of merchandise that the band has licensed throughout their nearly 5-decade run. KISS have purportedly licensed their name to more than 3,000 product categories, including lunch boxes, comic books, credit cards, toys, condoms and now online games. The Foxy Bingo game 'KISS – Shout It Out Loud' is a recent addition to this unbelievably long list of KISS merchandise and shows how the band has been able to successfully curate their online presence. This means that KISS on stage could live on through new members, while the original lineup will continue to be represented on different mediums.
Whether they will let new members take over entirely remains to be seen, though, as there have been no formal announcements on this matter.
Written by Jonathan Clover
Tagged: Kiss Band, Foxy Bingo, Kiss, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons
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