Abstract: A method for identifying therapeutically effective immunosuppressive agents by screening such agents for those which induce apoptosis in activated T cells is disclosed. T cells were isolated then activated and treating with various test compounds. A caspase substrate is added to detect caspase activation and apoptosis in the cells. Compounds which stimulate caspase activation and apoptosis are also tested against resting T cells to determine those agents which are more effective in activated T cells compared to resting T cells. Compounds with this selectivity are effective in treating immunopathological disorders such as arthritis, graft rejection, graft versus host disease, inflammatory bowel syndrome and the like.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to derivatives of gambogic acid and analogs thereof. Exemplary gambogic acid derivatives of the present invention include, among others, derivatives substituted in the C10 and C28 positions of gambogic acid. The present invention also relates to the discovery that certain preferred compounds of the present invention are activators of caspases and inducers of apoptosis. Therefore, the activators of caspases and inducers of apoptosis of this invention can be used to induce cell death in a variety of clinical conditions in which uncontrolled growth and spread of abnormal cells occurs.

Abstract: A multi-service network switch capable of providing multiple network services from a single platform. The switch incorporates a distributed packet forwarding architecture where each of the various cards is capable of making independent forwarding decisions. The switch further allows for dynamic resource management for dynamically assigning modem and ISDN resources to an incoming call. The switch may also include fault management features to guard against single points of failure within the switch. The switch further allows the partitioning of the switch into multiple virtual routers where each virtual router has its own wet of resources and a routing table. Each virtual router is further partitioned into virtual private networks for further controlling access to the network. The switch supports policy based routing where specific routing paths are selected based on a domain name, a telephone number, and the like.

Abstract: A roll mounted T-shirt bag and dispensers for same are described. The bag is designed for fresh produce and includes front and rear panels, first and second side gussets, a bottom seam, a top seam and a U-shaped cutout forming an openable bag mouth and a pair of carrying handles. The bags are joined above and below the upper and lower seams at first and second perforation lines. The bags are wound onto a cylindrical core to form a compact roll. In a variant of the invention, the bags are folded inwardly from the side edges prior to rolling onto the core to form a more compact roll. Dispensers are described that are designed to hold the roll mounted bags in both folded and unfolded form. The dispensers include a separating tongue designed to engage the U-shaped cutout and permit the bags to be dispensed from the bottom of the bag roll. The dispensers are designed for mounting to either vertical or horizontal surfaces and function efficiently in very limited spaces.

Abstract: A roll mounted T-shirt bag and dispensers for same are described. The bag is designed for fresh produce and includes front and rear panels, first and second side gussets, a bottom seam, a top seam and a U-shaped cutout forming an openable bag mouth and a pair of carrying handles. The bags are joined above and below the upper and lower seams at first and second perforation lines. The bags are wound onto a cylindrical core to form a compact roll. In a variant of the invention, the bags are folded inwardly from the side edges prior to rolling onto the core to form a more compact roll. Dispensers are described that are designed to hold the roll mounted bags in both folded and unfolded form. The dispensers include a separating tongue designed to engage the U-shaped cutout and permit the bags to be dispensed from the bottom of the bag roll. The dispensers are designed for mounting to either vertical or horizontal surfaces and function efficiently in very limited spaces.

Abstract: A roll mounted T-shirt bag, method for making and dispenser for same are described. The bag is designed for fresh produce and includes front and rear panels, first and second side gussets, a bottom seam, a top seam and a U-shaped cutout forming an openable bag mouth and a pair of carrying handles. The bags are joined above and below the upper and lower seams at first and second perforation lines. The bags are wound onto a cylindrical core to form a compact roll. In a variant of the invention, the bags are folded inwardly from the side edges prior to rolling onto the core to form a more compact roll. A method is described for forming the bags from an extruded tube of plastic film material. Dispensers are described that are designed to hold the roll mounted bags in both folded and unfolded form. The dispensers include a separating tongue designed to engage the U-shaped cutout.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to gambogic acid, analogs and derivatives thereof, represented by the general Formulae I-III: wherein R1-R5 are defined herein. The present invention also relates to the discovery that compounds having Formula I-III are activators of caspases and inducers of apoptosis. Therefore, the activators of caspases and inducers of apoptosis of this invention can be used to induce cell death in a variety of clinical conditions in which uncontrolled cell growth and spread of abnormal cells occurs.

Abstract: A method for identifying therapeutically effective immunosuppressive agents by screening such agents for those which induce apoptosis in activated T cells is disclosed. T cells were isolated then activated and treating with various test compounds. A caspase substrate is added to detect caspase activation and apoptosis in the cells. Compounds which stimulate caspase activation and apoptosis are also tested against resting T cells to determine those agents which are more effective in activated T cells compared to resting T cells. Compounds with this selectivity are effective in treating immunopathological disorders such as arthritis, graft rejection, graft versus host disease, inflammatory bowel syndrome and the like.

Abstract: An adapter for use with dispensing racks having a central mounting hook and T-shirt style bags with tab openings providing a rupturable portion of the tab between the tab opening and the bag mouth is described. The adapter includes a hollow body with a cavity that is sized and shaped to fit frictionally over the central mounting hook. The body has a front surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, first and second side edges and a back surface. The back surface includes a vertically oriented tearing ridge. The adapter's cavity is fitted over the central mounting hook with the front surface facing a direction in which the support arms extend. When a pack of T-shirt style bags that have the tab opening with a rupturable portion mounted on the support arms with the tab openings of the bags placed over the adapter, the tearing ridge will serve to facilitate tearing the rupturable portion of the mounting tab as a bag is removed from the dispensing rack so that the mounting tab will remain attached to the bag.

Abstract: A pack of plastic shopping bags, each being in a rectangular configuration with a central opening below the upper edge to serve as both a means for mounting with other members of the pack on a forwardly and upwardly projecting support arm, and as a handle for the bag when removed from the support arm; and a method for making such bag packs to provide a stiff inner wall and a tacky outer wall for each bag, by co-extruding HMW HDPE of suggested ranges of density and melt index in a specified percentage of the total bag wall thickness with MLDPE of suggested ranges of density and melt index in the complementary percentage of the total wall thickness. The co-extruded tubing is flattened, subjected to corona treatment, may then receive printing and be gusseted, and thereafter cut transversely, sealed at one end of each cut blank, stacked and subjected to a die operation to cut the openings in all stacked blanks.

Abstract: A pack of registering plastic T-shirt bags in which the walls of each bag are provided with registering central tabs projecting into the bag mouth, the tabs each having a rack retainer mounting orifice comprising a lower transverse cut portion extending between points spaced inwardly from the side edges of the tab with one end of the cut portion curving back and upwardly to extend toward, but terminating before reaching, the upper edge of the tab; and the other end of the cut portion also curving back upwardly and terminating in a segment of the cut extending back parallel to the lower transverse portion for a distance less than half the extent of said latter portion; thereby, the tabs of the bags may be mounted on a rack retainer by passing the retainer through the lower transverse cut portion of the mounting orifice.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing automatic consecutively opened thermoplastic T-shirt bags for dispensing from a conventional supporting rack. The method involves providing a continuous flattened tube of thermoplastic film and applying adhesive solution using a printing press to form adhesion regions on the outside of the tube. The adhesive solution can be applied using a flexo or gravure printing process. The method then involves forming side gussets in the tube and making traverse seals in the tube, thereby dividing the tube into pillowcases. The pillowcases are separated at the seals to form a series of end-sealed gussetted pillowcases which are stacked to form a bag pack. Next, the bag pack is cut along a bag-mouth contour to from a plurality of T-shirt bags. The bag-mouth contour forms a set of laterally spaced handles each having a receiving aperture for a conventional support rod of a dispensing rack, a central tab having a mounting aperture, and an open mouth region.