Phase II study of bi-weekly administration of paclitaxel and cisplatin in patients with advanced oesophageal cancer

In a phase I study we demonstrated the feasibility of a bi-weekly combination of paclitaxel 180 mg m−2 with cisplatin 60 mg m−2. In this study we further assessed toxicity and efficacy of this schedule in the treatment of advanced cancer of the oesophagus or the gastro-oesophageal junction. Patients received paclitaxel 180 mg m−2 administered over 3 h followed by a 3-h infusion of cisplatin 60 mg m−2. Patients were retreated every 2 weeks unless granulocytes were <0.75×109 or platelets <75×109. Patients were evaluated after three and six cycles and responding patients received a maximum of eight cycles. Fifty-one patients were enrolled into the study. The median age was 56 years (range 32–78). WHO performance status were: 0 (19 patients); 1 (29 patients); 2 (three patients). All patients received at least three cycles of chemotherapy and all were evaluable for toxicity and response. Haematological toxicity consisted of uncomplicated neutropenia grade 3 in 39% and grade 4 in 31% of patients. Five patients (10%) were hospitalised, three patients because of treatment related complications and two patients because of infections without neutropenia. Sensory neurotoxicity was the predominant non-haematological toxicity; grade 1 and 2 neurotoxicity was observed in 43 and 20% of patients, respectively. Response evaluation in 51 patients with measurable disease: complete response 4%, partial response 39%, stable disease 43% and progressive disease in 14% of the patients. The median duration of response was 8 months. The median survival for all patients was 9 (range 2–29+) months and the one-year survival rate was 43%. Four patients who received additional local treatment (two patients surgery and two patients radiotherapy) are still disease free after a follow-up of 20–29 months. This bi-weekly treatment of paclitaxel and cisplatin is well tolerated by patients with advanced oesophageal cancer. The toxicity profile of this regimen compares favourable to that of previously used cisplatin- and paclitaxel-based regimens. Trials are underway evaluating this bi-weekly regimen in a neo-adjuvant setting

The Cultural Project : Formal Chronological Modelling of the Early and Middle Neolithic Sequence in Lower Alsace

Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the end of the fifth millennium cal BC. Detailed formal estimates are provided for the long succession of cultural groups, from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture (LBK) to the Bischheim Occidental du Rhin Supérieur (BORS) groups at the end of the Middle Neolithic, using seriation and typology of pottery as the starting point in modelling. The rate of ceramic change, as well as frequent shifts in the nature, location and density of settlements, are documented in detail, down to lifetime and generational timescales. This reveals a Neolithic world in Lower Alsace busy with comings and goings, tinkerings and adjustments, and relocations and realignments. A significant hiatus is identified between the end of the LBK and the start of the Hinkelstein group, in the early part of the fifth millennium cal BC. On the basis of modelling of existing dates for other parts of the Rhineland, this appears to be a wider phenomenon, and possible explanations are discussed; full reoccupation of the landscape is only seen in the Grossgartach phase. Radical shifts are also proposed at the end of the Middle Neolithic

ATOMISTIC CALCULATIONS ON EDGE DISLOCATIONS IN IONIC CRYSTALS OF ROCK SALT STRUCTURE

Nous avons calculé la configuration des ions au coeur des dislocations coin dans les cristaux ioniques du type NaCl utilisant, pour la première fois, la théorie élastique de troisième ordre et des potentiels d'interaction améliorés. Pour obtenir une transition continue entre la région extérieure, traitée comme un continuum élastique, et la région intérieure (le coeur de la dislocation), nous avons adapté tous les paramètres qui se présentent dans les divers termes des potentiels d'interaction aux constantes élastiques de 2e et 3e ordre. De cette façon, on peut éviter la formation d'une pseudo-configuration dans le coeur de la dislocation.For the first time atomistic calculations of the core configuration of edge dislocations in NaCl-type crystals have been carried out using nonlinear elasticity theory together with improved interaction potentials. Fitting the parameters appearing in the different potential terms to the elastic constants of second and third order a smooth transition between the elastically and atomistically calculated regions is obtained thus avoiding artifacts in the core configuration

Formation energies of point defects in silver halides : Comparison of atomistically calculated values with values obtained by measurement of surface potentials

Utilisant la corrélation forte entre le désordre thermique et les charges d'espace, opposées aux charges superficielles, dans les cristaux ioniques, nous avons mesuré les potentiels superficiels dans AgCl et AgBr en nous servant de la méthode de Kelvin-Zisman. Les valeurs obtenues pour les énergies de formation des défauts ponctuels (Ag+-interstitiel et Ag+-lacune) ont été comparées avec les valeurs résultant des calculs atomistiques.Taking into account the strong interrelation between thermal disorder and surface potentials in ionic crystals, such potentials have been determined for AgCl and AgBr after the Kelvin-Zisman-Vibrating-Capacitor-Method and the results have been-compared with the formation energies of silver ion vacancies and interstitials calculated atomistically