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Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Article
Research Reports (2006)

Trucking productivity can be significantly increased by moving freight with longer combination vehicles (LCVs). However, LCV operations not only raise safety concerns for the surrounding traffic and the LCV drivers themselves but also can damage roadways and bridges not equipped to support the operations. All the discussion about truck size and weight limitations or about the pros and cons of LCV operations is predicated on the use of conventional tractors and trailers. We however observed that a root cause of several major issues associated with LCV operations is the problem of off-tracking. Through this one-year $58K project, we have demonstrated that this off-tracking problem can be drastically reduced with a new partial-automation technology: automated trailer steering (ATS).

ATS can provide safety benefit for all existing large-truck operations, including non-LCVs and LCVs. However, the degree of the benefit is difficult to assess. Perhaps a real potential of ATS lies in the expansion of LCV operations. Although ATS can reduce the cost of infrastructure modification, it may significantly increase the safety of LCV operations in denser-traffic areas or non-Interstate roadways. If nationwide LCV use is proven safe, the estimated total public cost for a 20-year planning horizon (excluding the undetermined trucking-company equipment-upgrade cost) will be $7,652 billion. Although the saving of $53 billion from the estimated total cost of $7,705 billion of a base case is less than 1%, the cost saving of $568 billion for shippers (from $4,980 billion to $4,412 billion) is almost 15%.

ATS can be used to create a new mode of operations in which a tractor can pull a larger number of short trailers - Shorter Trailer Combination Vehicles (STCVs). We demonstrated the benefit of STCV operations for the household-goods moving industry.

    Cover page: Automatic Steering For Conventional Truck Trailers: Development and Assessment of Operating Concepts for Improving Safety, Productivity and Pavement Durability
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2018)

    Background

    Adding modified FOLFOX6 (folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin) after chemoradiotherapy and lengthening the chemoradiotherapy-to-surgery interval is associated with an increase in the proportion of rectal cancer patients with a pathological complete response.

    Objective

    The purpose of this study was to analyze disease-free and overall survival.

    Design

    This was a nonrandomized phase II trial.

    Settings

    The study was conducted at multiple institutions.

    Patients

    Four sequential study groups with stage II or III rectal cancer were included.

    Intervention

    All of the patients received 50 Gy of radiation with concurrent continuous infusion of fluorouracil for 5 weeks. Patients in each group received 0, 2, 4, or 6 cycles of modified FOLFOX6 after chemoradiation and before total mesorectal excision. Patients were recommended to receive adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery to complete a total of 8 cycles of modified FOLFOX6.

    Main outcome measures

    The trial was powered to detect differences in pathological complete response, which was reported previously. Disease-free and overall survival are the main outcomes for the current study.

    Results

    Of 259 patients, 211 had a complete follow-up. Median follow-up was 59 months (range, 9-125 mo). The mean number of total chemotherapy cycles differed among the 4 groups (p = 0.002), because one third of patients in the group assigned to no preoperative FOLFOX did not receive any adjuvant chemotherapy. Disease-free survival was significantly associated with study group, ypTNM stage, and pathological complete response (p = 0.004, <0.001, and 0.001). A secondary analysis including only patients who received ≥1 cycle of FOLFOX still showed differences in survival between study groups (p = 0.03).

    Limitations

    The trial was not randomized and was not powered to show differences in survival. Survival data were not available for 19% of the patients.

    Conclusions

    Adding modified FOLFOX6 after chemoradiotherapy and before total mesorectal excision increases compliance with systemic chemotherapy and disease-free survival in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Neoadjuvant consolidation chemotherapy may have benefits beyond increasing pathological complete response rates. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A739.
    • 1 supplemental PDF
    Cover page: Consolidation mFOLFOX6 Chemotherapy After Chemoradiotherapy Improves Survival in Patients With Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
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