1. An assembly for sterilizing of a plurality of microbiologically contaminated objects, using in situ generated heat and humidity, the assembly comprising:
a unit comprising a closable, portable, hand carried carry case weighing up to about 35 pounds and having an inner chamber for accepting microbiologically contaminated objects:
an interior vessel disposed in the inner chamber for serving as a reaction chamber, said vessel for receiving and combining dry chemical precursors with water, within the case, said vessel being adapted for rinsing and cleaning, independently from the case, for reusing the vessel on other contaminated objects;
a combination of dry chemical precursors which upon combining with water generates in situ at least minimally sufficient conditions of heat and humidity to effect microbiological sterilization of the objects, said combination of dry chemicals excluding acids and consisting of iron-activated magnesium being combined with water for producing heat and humidity in amounts sufficient to effect said sterilization, for affecting said objects to expose any contaminating microorganisms and sterilizing said objects;
a pressure release outlet valve mounted on said unit for automatically controlling pressures at ambient during sterilization
wherein the assembly, including the unit, vessel, combination of dry chemical precursors with water, and outlet valve is self-contained, reusable and is free of any external source of power for controllably generating sufficient amounts of heat and humidity to sterilize the contaminated objects.
2-4. (canceled)
5. The assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said unit comprises a generally rectangular-shaped bottom wall, four side walls respectively upstanding from side edges of said bottom wall, and a top wall pivotally mounted on one of said side walls and adapted to be moved between an open position and a closed position so as to define, in conjunction with said bottom wall and said side walls, the inner chamber, said vessel being placed in the inner chamber and adapted to receive said combination of dry chemical precursors for combining with water, and a support structure for receiving and supporting the contaminated objects, said outlet valve being mounted in at least one of said walls, and wherein the chemical combination comprises water and iron-activated magnesium.
6-15. (canceled)
16. The assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said unit is insulated aluminum.
17-21. (canceled)
22. The assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said chemical combination comprises 600 mL H2O and 140 g Mg(Fe).
23-25. (canceled)
26. The assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sterilizing is thermal.
27-32. (canceled)
33. The assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said unit is plastic.
34. The assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said combination of chemical precursors and water is varied in relative proportions of chemical components depending on size of unit in which sterilization occurs.
35. The assembly in accordance with claim 1, wherein said combination of chemical precursors and water is varied in relative proportions of chemical components depending on different characteristics of the combination of chemicals.
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 increasing the relative number of CD34+ cells in a cell population comprised of hematopoietic cells, including committed cells, which method comprises:
(i) contacting the cell population with an antibody that operably engages an MHC class I antigen or an MHC class II antigen on said committed cells; and
(ii) incubating committed cells that are engaged by said antibody such that the relative number of CD34+ cells increases as a result of said engaging.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the committed cells are hemopoietic cells.
3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said MHC class I antigen is a Human Leukocyte-Associated (HLA)-A receptor, an HLA-B receptor, an HLA-C receptor, an HLA-E receptor, an HLA-F receptor or an HLA-G receptor and said MHC class II antigen is an HLA-DM receptor, an HLA-DP receptor, an HLA-DQ receptor or an HLA-DR receptor.
4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the MHC class I antigen is an HLA-DR receptor.
5. The method according to claim 4 wherein the HLA-DR receptor comprises a \u03b2-chain.
6. The method according to claim 5 wherein the \u03b2-chain has homologous regions.
7. The method according to claim 6 wherein the HLA-DR receptor comprises at least the homologous region of the \u03b2-chain of HLA-DR.
8. A method according to claim 1 wherein the antibody is a monoclonal antibody.
9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the antibody is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibody CR343 and monoclonal antibody TAL 1B5.
10. A method according to claim 9, wherein the antibody is CR343.
11. The method according to claim 1 wherein said incubating is from 2 to 24 hours.
12. The method according to claim 1 wherein the committed cells are non-cancer cells.
13. The method according to claim 1 wherein the committed cells are differentiated cells.
14. The method according to claim 1 wherein the committed cells include at least one cell type selected from the group consisting of T-cell colony-forming cells (CFC-T cells), B-cell colony-forming cells (CFC-B cells), cosinophil colony-forming cells (CFC-Eosin cells), basophil colony-forming cells (CFC-Bas cells), granulocytemonocyte colony-forming cells (CFC-GM cells), megakaryocyte colony-forming cells (CFC-MEG cells), erythrocyte burst-forming cells (BFC-E cells), erythrocyte colony-forming cells (CFC-E cells), T-cells and B cells.
15. The method according to claim 1 wherein the CD34+ cells are Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class I+ and MHC class II+ cells.
16. A method according to claim 1 wherein the antibody is used in conjunction with a biological response modifier.
17. A method according to claim 16 wherein the biological response modifier is an alkylating agent.
18. A method according to claim 17 wherein the alkylating agent is or comprises cyclophosphoamide.