Abstract: Methods and compositions disclosed herein generally relate to compositions and methods for the treatment of cancers, including disorders such as myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In particular, the invention relates to determining an individual in need of treatment who can be treated with an IRAK1/4 inhibitor.

Abstract: A biodegradable biodelivery device is disclosed. The biodelivery device is formed from a polymer comprising the reaction product of a polyol and a polyacid. When exposed to water, the polymer degrades through hydrolysis. Of particular advantage, the polymer can be formed so as to be elastic and flexible. In one embodiment, the polymer is formed into a vaginal insert. As the polymer degrades, the polymer releases acid to a vaginal environment for decreasing the pH of the environment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method, apparatus and program product for testing the reliability of a disk drive. The head-to-disk clearance of a disk drive is measured at different slider airbearing conditions. The change in head-to-disk clearance between the slider airbearing conditions is calculated. If the calculated head-to-disk clearance change between airbearing conditions for each of the heads in the disk drive exceeds a predetermined threshold, the disk drive is verified as having passed the reliability test. Differences in slider airbearing conditions are generated by varying pressures and/or temperatures under which the drive is operated.

Abstract: A slider having leading and trailing edges is configured to fly on an airbearing adjacent a data storage disk rotating from the leading edge to the trailing edge. Read and write heads are mounted on the slider proximate the trailing edge. An auxiliary thermal sensor is mounted on the slider, but preferably nearer the leading edge. Forward placement of the sensor allows it to sense mechanical defects before they reach the heads, thereby permitting a write inhibit operation, for example. The sensor may also be used to detect airbearing modulation. Appropriate action may be taken when unacceptable airbearing modulation is detected, such as notifying the user and/or scrubbing the slider. The sensor is preferably wider than the heads. This allows, for example, an in-situ glide test to be performed faster using the sensor. An arm electronics module is preferably configured to permit concurrent operation of the sensor and heads.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for implementing in situ low flyheight warning in a direct access storage device (DASD). For each head in the DASD, a readback amplitude ratio is identified from two different disk radii. The initial ratio value is stored for each head in the DASD. During operation of the DASD, readback amplitude is monitored and an operating readback amplitude ratio is identified from two different disk radii. A change between the initial ratio value and the operating readback ratio is calculated and compared with a threshold value to identify a low-flying slider. A warning is generated responsive to the change value being greater than the threshold value.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting lubricant depletion in a disk drive is provided. Disk operation performance parameters are monitored for each of a plurality of zones on the surface of the disk and stored. Examples of performance parameters include dwell time, flying height changes, and data recovery measurements. The performance parameters are compared against predetermined threshold values. If the performance parameters exceed the predetermined threshold values for any of the zones, a potential lubricant depletion or other general degradation problem is flagged for the corresponding zone. Optionally, when a potential lubricant depletion problem is flagged for a particular zone, corrective action is taken. Examples of corrective action include moving recently accessed data from the flagged zone to a zone not identified as having a lubricant depletion problem, moving older archival data to the flagged zone, and/or removing access to the flagged zone.

Abstract: The microwaviness (i.e., surface waviness for wavelengths on the order of the length of the transducing head) of a recording disk surface is measured during manufacture as a quality control process. Preferably, the disk is measured using an actuator-mounted thermal sensor, comprising an electrical resistance element driven with a constant current. At small distances, the disk surface acts as a heat sink and variation in this distance will be detected as a change in resistance of the sensor. Preferably the sensor is initially used to characterize the gross waviness of the surface, and the actuator then follows this gross waviness to measure surface variations in the microwaviness range.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for detecting the presence of contaminants on the slider of a disk drive. By detecting the rate of change of the resistance of a thin film coil of a disk drive write element during drive operation, it can be determined if a foreign material is present on the coil. Nominal resistance change values for write elements of a disk drive are determined at manufacturing time, and are stored within the disk drive. During later operational use, the resistance change for the coil of the write elements is measured and compared with the stored nominal resistance change values. If the difference between the stored nominal resistance values and the measured resistance change values exceeds a predetermined threshold, the drive is presumed to have contaminants on the slider.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for implementing in situ low flyheight warning in a direct access storage device (DASD). For each head in the DASD, a readback amplitude ratio is identified from two different disk radii. The initial ratio value is stored for each head in the DASD. During operation of the DASD, readback amplitude is monitored and an operating readback amplitude ratio is identified from two different disk radii. A change between the initial ratio value and the operating readback ratio is calculated and compared with a threshold value to identify a low-flying slider. A warning is generated responsive to the change value being greater than the threshold value.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for improving the reliability of hot spare disk drives in disk arrays and storage networks is provided. The invention analyzes commands issued to active disk drives in a disk array/storage network, and issues commands to the hot spare drives which attempt to emulate the track usage patterns of the active drives. The track usage patterns can be inferred from examining logical block addresses (LBA) of data stored to the active drives, and/or the ratio of read versus write commands issued to the disk drives. By emulating track usage patterns of the active drives, the spare drives have a roughly equivalent lubricant distribution to that of the active disk drives. This provides increased reliability when the hot spare drives are called into active service.

Abstract: A slider having leading and trailing edges is configured to fly on an airbearing adjacent a data storage disk rotating from the leading edge to the trailing edge. Read and write heads are mounted on the slider proximate the trailing edge. An auxiliary thermal sensor is mounted on the slider, but preferably nearer the leading edge. Forward placement of the sensor allows it to sense mechanical defects before they reach the heads, thereby permitting a write inhibit operation, for example. The sensor may also be used to detect airbearing modulation. Appropriate action may be taken when unacceptable airbearing modulation is detected, such as notifying the user and/or scrubbing the slider. The sensor is preferably wider than the heads. This allows, for example, an in-situ glide test to be performed faster using the sensor. An arm electronics module is preferably configured to permit concurrent operation of the sensor and heads.