Recent Progress in the Medical Therapy of Pituitary Tumors

Fabienne Langlois,Shirley McCartney,Maria Fleseriu 대한내분비학회 2017 Endocrinology and metabolism Vol.32 No.2

Management of pituitary tumors is multidisciplinary, with medical therapy playing an increasingly important role. With the exception of prolactin-secreting tumors, surgery is still considered the first-line treatment for the majority of pituitary adenomas. However, medical/pharmacological therapy plays an important role in controlling hormone-producing pituitary adenomas, especially for patients with acromegaly and Cushing disease (CD). In the case of non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFAs), pharmacological therapy plays a minor role, the main objective of which is to reduce tumor growth, but this role requires further studies. For pituitary carcinomas and atypical adenomas, medical therapy, including chemotherapy, acts as an adjuvant to surgery and radiation therapy, which is often required to control these aggressive tumors. In the last decade, knowledge about the pathophysiological mechanisms of various pituitary adenomas has increased, thus novel medical therapies that target specific pathways implicated in tumor synthesis and hormonal over secretion are now available. Advancement in patient selection and determination of prognostic factors has also helped to individualize therapy for patients with pituitary tumors. Improvements in biochemical and “tumor mass” disease control can positively affect patient quality of life, comorbidities and overall survival. In this review, the medical armamentarium for treating CD, acromegaly, prolactinomas, NFA, and carcinomas/aggressive atypical adenomas will be presented. Pharmacological therapies, including doses, mode of administration, efficacy, adverse effects, and use in special circumstances are provided. Medical therapies currently under clinical investigation are also briefly discussed.

Effect of structure configurations and wind characteristics on the design of solar concentrator support structure under dynamic wind action

Kaabia, Bassem,Langlois, Sebastien,Maheux, Sebastien Techno-Press 2018 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.27 No.1

Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic (CPV) is a promising alternative to conventional solar structures. These solar tracking structures need to be optimized to be competitive against other types of energy production. In particular, the selection of the structural parameters needs to be optimized with regards to the dynamic wind response. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the main structural parameters, as selected in the preliminary design phase, on the wind response and then on the weight of the steel support structure. A parametric study has been performed where parameters influencing dynamic wind response are varied. The study is performed using a semi-deterministic time-domain wind analysis method. Unsteady aerodynamic model is applied for the shape of the CPV structure collector at different configurations in conjunction with a consistent mass-spring-damper model with the corresponding degrees of freedom to describe the dynamic response of the system. It is shown that, unlike the static response analysis, the variation of the peak wind response with many structural parameters is highly nonlinear because of the dynamic wind action. A steel structural optimization process reveals that close attention to structural and site wind parameters could lead to optimal design of CPV steel support structure.

Decoupling the artificial special pair to slow down the rate of singlet energy transfer

Harvey, P.D.,Langlois, A.,Filatov, M.,Fortin, D.,Ohkubo, K.,Fukuzumi, S.,Guilard, R. John Wiley Sons 2012 Journal of porphyrins and phthalocyanines Vol.16 No.5

Effect of structure configurations and wind characteristics on the design of solar concentrator support structure under dynamic wind action

Bassem Kaabia,Sébastien Langlois,Sébastien Maheux 한국풍공학회 2018 Wind and Structures, An International Journal (WAS Vol.27 No.1

Concentrated Solar Photovoltaic (CPV) is a promising alternative to conventional solar structures. These solar tracking structures need to be optimized to be competitive against other types of energy production. In particular, the selection of the structural parameters needs to be optimized with regards to the dynamic wind response. This study aims to evaluate the effect of the main structural parameters, as selected in the preliminary design phase, on the wind response and then on the weight of the steel support structure. A parametric study has been performed where parameters influencing dynamic wind response are varied. The study is performed using a semi-deterministic time-domain wind analysis method. Unsteady aerodynamic model is applied for the shape of the CPV structure collector at different configurations in conjunction with a consistent mass-spring-damper model with the corresponding degrees of freedom to describe the dynamic response of the system. It is shown that, unlike the static response analysis, the variation of the peak wind response with many structural parameters is highly nonlinear because of the dynamic wind action. A steel structural optimization process reveals that close attention to structural and site wind parameters could lead to optimal design of CPV steel support structure.

Fuzzy Fault Tolerant Predictive Control for a Diesel Engine Air Path

Lamia Ben Hamouda,Mounir Ayadi,Nicolas Langlois 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2016 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.14 No.2

This paper proposes a Fuzzy Fault Tolerant Predictive Control (FFTPC) with integral action method fora class of nonlinear systems. The Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy approach is introduced as a modelling technique inorder to consider the active control methods adapted to linear models. The proposed control strategy is based on acombination between Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) control law and Model Predictive Control (MPC)where the T-S fuzzy aspect uses the Unmeasurable Premise Variables (UPV). A T-S fuzzy observer provides an L2norm estimation of system state vector and faults. The controller and observer gains are obtained by solving LinearMatrix Inequalities (LMIs) derived from the Lyapunov theory. The validity of the proposed Fault Tolerant Control(FTC) strategy is illustrated through an application to a Diesel Engine Air Path (DEAP) system.

Photoinduced Development of Antibacterial Materials Derived from Isosorbide Moiety

Lorenzini, Cedric,Haider, Adnan,Kang, Inn-Kyu,Sangermano, Marco,Abbad-Andalloussi, Samir,Mazeran, Pierre-Emmanuel,Lalevé,e, Jacques,Renard, Estelle,Langlois, Valé,rie,Versace, Davy-Louis American Chemical Society 2015 Biomacromolecules Vol.16 No.3

<P>A straightforward method for immobilizing in situ generated silver nanoparticles on the surface of a photoactivable isosorbide-derived monomer is developed with the objective to design a functional material having antibacterial properties. The photoinduced thiol–ene mechanism involved in these syntheses is described by the electron spin resonance/spin trapping technique. The resulting materials with or without silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were used as films or as coatings on glass substrate. The surface of the synthesized materials was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, and their thermal and mechanical properties were evaluated by dynamic-mechanical thermal tests, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analyses, along with pencil hardness, nanoindentation, and scratch resistance tests. The photoinduced formation of Ag NPs is also confirmed by UV spectrophotometry. Finally, a primary investigation demonstrates the antibacterial properties of the isosorbide-derived material against <I>Staphylococcus aureus</I> and <I>Escherichia coli</I>, as well as its cytocompatibility toward NIH 3T3 fibroblastic cells.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/bomaf6/2015/bomaf6.2015.16.issue-3/bm501755r/production/images/medium/bm-2014-01755r_0016.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/bm501755r'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>