Phase II study of paclitaxel combined with capecitabine as second-line treatment for advanced gastric carcinoma after failure of cisplatin-based regimens

Purpose To determine the safety and the efficacy of paclitaxel and capecitabine as second-line combination chemotherapy after failure of platinum regimens in advanced gastric cancer. Methods Patients with histologically proven gastric cancer and measurable metastatic disease received capecitabine 825 mg/m2 twice daily (1,650 mg/m2 per day) on days 1–14 and paclitaxel 175 mg/m2 by intravenous infusion on day 1 every 3 weeks until disease progression or unacceptable toxicities. Results Between June 2003 and October 2005, 26 patients, of median age 59 years (range 41–84 years) were included in the study and were treated by paclitaxel/capecitabine combination. Overall response rate was 34.6% (95%CI = 17.2–55.7%) with one complete response and 42.3% (95%CI = 17.2–55.7%) of patients achieved a stable disease. Median progression-free survival was 4.5 months (95%CI = 4–4.5 months). Median overall survival was 7.5 months (95%CI = 6–10 months). Cumulated overall survival including cisplatin regimens was 15.5 months (95%CI = 11–18 months). Grade 3/4 adverse events included alopecia (30.8%), neutropenia (11.5%), hand foot skin reaction (11.5%), neuropathy (11.5%), arthralgias (7.5%), and anemia (3.8%). Conclusions Paclitaxel and capecitabine combination was safe and effective in advanced gastric cancer after failure of cisplatin regimens. The cumulated overall survival of 15.5 months suggests a particular interest of taxanes in second-line treatment after failure of platinum salts

Design and evaluation of lightweight IEEE 802.11p-based TDMA MAC method for road side-to-vehicle communications

Wireless vehicular communications (WVC) has been identified as a key technology for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) for a few years ago. IEEE 802.11p is the proposed standard for physical and MAC layer of WVC devices. The main objective of the standard is to change the frame format and increase delay spread tolerance introduced by vehicle mobility, in which the channel bandwidth is scaled from 20 MHz i.e.802.11a to 10 MHz i.e. 802.11p. This paper proposes TDMA technique with fixed time slots and guard band between slots to ensure interoperability between wireless devices communicate in rapidly changing environment where transactions must be completed in small timeframe. The new TDMA sub-layer is proposed to be ontop of the conventional 802.11p MAC. The simulation results present the performance analysis and validate the efficiency of the proposed scheme

The challenges of wireless internet access in vehicular environments

The economics of currently available broadband access technologies motivate for innovate and deploy new system designs and applications in vehicular communication. The widely available and flexible Wi-Fi technique meets the cost and suitability targets for vehicular applications. To cope with the special requirements of vehicular, amendments of 802.11 standards at the MAC and PHY protocol level has been introduced in IEEE802.11p. IEEE 802.11p is the proposed standard for physical and MAC layer of wireless access in vehicular environment (WAVE) devices. The main objective of the new standard is to amend 802.to support vehicle mobility up to 150km/hr and distance 1000km by changing the frame format and increase delay spread tolerance introduced, in which the channel bandwidth is scaled from 20 MHz in 802.11a to 10 MHz in 802.11p. This paper reviews the challenges of wireless internet connectivity in vehicular communication. Transmission range, data handover and security are also covered in the paper. Other related works is reviewed and analyzed as well

Control of the UV flux of a XeCl dielectric barrier discharge excilamp through its current variation

International audienceThe efficiency of the electrical power transfer to the gas mixture of a XeCl dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) exciplex lamp is analysed. An equivalent circuit model of the DBD is considered. It is shown that the excilamp power can be controlled by applying current to the lamp. This highly desired property is ensured by means of a specific power supply topology, whose concepts and design are discussed. The experimental prototype of a current-mode converter operating in the pulsed regime at pulse repetition rate of 50 kHz is presented and its capability to control the amount of energy transferred during each current pulse is demonstrated. The capability of this power supply to maintain specific operating conditions for the DBD lamp, with a very stable behaviour (even at a very low current, in the regime of a single discharge channel), is illustrated. The experimental results of a combined use of this converter and a XeCl excilamp are presented. The influence of the supply parameters on the 308-nm XeCl excilamp is analysed. The shape of the UV pulse of the lamp is experimentally shown to be similar to that of the current, which actually flows into the gas mixture. The UV radiation power is demonstrated to be tightly correlated to the current injected into the gas and controlled by the available degrees of freedom offered by the power supply. The measured UV output characteristics and performance of the system are discussed. Time resolved UV imaging of a XeCl DBD excilamp is used to analyse the mechanisms involved in the production of exciplexes at various power supply regimes. It is shown that a pulsed voltage source leads to formation of short high intensity UV peaks, while current pulses lead to formation of sustained discharge filaments. Based on the results of modelling of the above-mentioned operation conditions, the two power supply regimes are compared and analysed from the point of view of the UV power and radiative control