1. A system for stacking bags in which bags are moved from a conveyor system onto a bag stacking table to be uniformly stacked, said system comprising:
an adjustable table capable of being raised and lowered;
a friction paddle assembly in spaced relationship to said table; and
means for raising and lowering said adjustable table,
wherein as bags are transferred onto said table, said friction paddle assembly monitors the stacking of said bags on said table, signaling said means to incrementally lower said table as each of said bags comes into contact with said friction paddle assembly.
2. The system of claim 1 further comprising a conveyor system.
3. The system of claim 2 wherein said conveyor system comprises a conveyor belt apparatus with a small diameter nose roller and a pinch roller assembly.
4. The system of claim 2 wherein said conveyor system comprises a first conveyor section and a second conveyor section, wherein said first conveyor section is a single level conveyor section that feeds bags onto said table and said second conveyor section is a two level conveyor section that uses a diverter to route bags onto a lower level conveyor component and an upper level conveyor component, and wherein said lower level conveyor component and said upper level conveyor component alternate feeding bags onto said first conveyor section.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein means for raising and lowering said adjustable table comprises one or more cylinders.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein said cylinders are fluid powered.
7. The system of claim 5 wherein said cylinders are electric powered.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein said friction paddle assembly comprises a friction paddle and a sensor wherein the actuation of said friction paddle by each of said bags sends a signal from said sensor to the means for raising and lowering said adjustable table.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein said sensor is a proximity sensor.
10. The system of claim 1 further comprising a controller that is configured to receive signals from said friction paddle assembly and control the incremental lowering of said adjusting table.
11. The system of claim 1 further comprising a means for removing stacks of bags from said adjustable table.
12. A system for stacking bags in which bags are moved from a conveyor system onto two or more bag stacking tables to be uniformly stacked, said system comprising:
a conveyor system;
two or more adjustable tables capable of being raised and lowered;
two or more friction paddle assemblies; and
two or more means for raising and lowering said adjustable tables,
wherein said conveyor system transfers individual sets of bags onto any of said adjustable tables and said friction paddle assemblies monitor the stacking of said bags on said tables, signaling said means to incrementally lower said tables as said bags come into contact with friction paddle assemblies.
13. The system of claim 12 wherein said conveyor system is a conveyor belt apparatus with a small diameter nose roller and a pinch roller assembly.
14. The system of claim 12 wherein said each of said means for raising and lowering said adjustable tables comprises one or more cylinders.
15. The system of claim 14 wherein said cylinders are fluid powered.
16. The system of claim 14 wherein said cylinders are electric powered.
17. The system of claim 12 wherein each of said friction paddle assemblies comprises a friction paddle and a sensor wherein the actuation of each of said friction paddles by each incoming bag sends a signal from each of said sensors to each means for raising and lowering said adjustable tables.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein said sensor is a proximity sensor.
19. The system of claim 12 further comprising a controller that is configured to distribute individual sets of bags to each of said adjustable tables.
20. The system of claim 12 further comprising one or more means for removing stacks of bags from each of said adjustable tables.
21. A method for stacking bags in which bags are moved from a conveyor system onto a bag stacking table to be uniformly stacked, said method comprising the steps of:
transferring bags from said conveyor system onto said adjustable table;
applying friction to said bags using a friction paddle assembly to slow the forward progress of said bags;
detecting the stacking of each said bag onto said table by a sensor;
sending a signal from said sensor to a means for raising and lowering said table when said sensor detects that a bag has been stacked; and
incrementally lowering said adjustable table when said signal is received from said sensor.
22. The method of claim 21 further comprising raising said adjustable table to original position by extending said means for raising and lowering said table after a complete set of bags has been stacked.
23. The method of claim 21 further comprising removing stack of bags from said adjustable table.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of treating primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome, the method comprising:
obtaining hematopoietic stem cells from a subject that has primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome;
detecting a higher expression level of a gene encoding VentX in the hematopoietic stem cells as compared to that in control hematopoietic stem cells;
generating expanded hematopoietic stem cells by (a) contacting isolated hematopoietic stem cells with an IRNA agent having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5 that inhibits the expression or activation of a VentX polypeptide, and (b) incubating the isolated hematopoietic stem cells thus contacted under conditions allowing expansion of the isolated cells, whereby expanded hematopoietic stem cells are generated; and administering to the subject an effective amount of the expanded hematopoietic stem cells.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the obtaining step is carried out by isolating the hematopoietic stem cells from a bone marrow or peripheral blood sample from the subject.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome is anemia, myelodysplasia syndrome, or a complication of chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome is anemia.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome is myelodysplasia syndrome.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein the primary or secondary bone marrow failure syndrome is a complication of chemotherapy.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) is carried out by introducing into the cells an oligonucleotide consisting of the sequence of SEQ ID NO:5.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) is carried out by introducing into the cells an expression construct that expresses a short hairpin RNA (shRNA) having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:5.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step is carried out by detecting a higher level of a VentX polypeptide.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step is carried out by detecting a higher level of a VentX mRNA.