Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2021-04-27"
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- Surfing the third wave of ionic liquids: a brief review on the role of surface-active ionic liquids in drug development and DeliveryPublication . Silva, Ana Teresa; Teixeira, Cátia; Prudêncio, Cristina; Marques, Eduardo F.; Gomes, Paula; Ferraz, RicardoThe relevance of ionic liquids (ILs) is now well established in many fields, as their unique properties make them appealing as 1) greener alternatives to organic solvents (first-generation ILs), 2) tunable task-specific materials (second-generation ILs), and 3) multifunctional players in life and pharmaceutical sciences (third-generation ILs). This third wave of ILs encompasses a wide range of compounds, from bioactive molecules with single or even dual therapeutic action, to potential ingredient molecules for drug formulation and transport systems. In this context, the focus of this review is the emergent role of surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs) in drug development and delivery.
- PROMETHEE-SAPEVO-M1 a Hybrid Approach Based on Ordinal and Cardinal Inputs: Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Helicopters to Support Brazilian Navy OperationsPublication . Moreira, Miguel Ângelo Lellis; de Araújo Costa, Igor Pinheiro; Pereira, Maria Teresa; dos Santos, Marcos; Gomes, Carlos Francisco Simões; Muradas, Fernando MartinsThis paper presents a new approach based on Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), named PROMETHEE-SAPEVO-M1, through its implementation and feasibility related to the decision-making process regarding the evaluation of helicopters of attack of the Brazilian Navy. The proposed methodology aims to present an integration of ordinal evaluation into the cardinal procedure from the PROMETHEE method, enabling to perform qualitative and quantitative data and generate the criteria weights by pairwise evaluation, transparently. The modeling provides three models of preference analysis, as partial, complete, and outranking by intervals, along with an intra-criterion analysis by veto threshold, enabling the analysis of the performance of an alternative in a specific criterion. As a demonstration of the application, is carried out a case study by the PROMETHEE-SAPEVO-M1 web platform, addressing a strategic analysis of attack helicopters to be acquired by the Brazilian Navy, from the need to be evaluating multiple specifications with different levels of importance within the context problem. The modeling implementation in the case study is made in detail, first performing the alternatives in each criterion and then presenting the results by three different models of preference analysis, along with the intra-criterion analysis and a rank reversal procedure. Moreover, is realized a comparison analysis to the PROMETHEE method, exploring the main features of the PROMETHEE-SAPEVO-M1. Moreover, a section of discussion is presented, exposing some features and main points of the proposal. Therefore, this paper provides a valuable contribution to academia and society since it represents the application of an MCDA method in the state of the art, contributing to the decision-making resolution of the most diverse real problems.
- InspirerMundi—remote monitoring of inhaled medication adherence through objective verification based on combined image processing techniquesPublication . Pedro, Vieira-Marques; Rute, Almeida; Teixeira, João F.; Valente, José; Jácome, Cristina; Cachim, Afonso; Guedes, Rui; Pereira, Ana; Jacinto, Tiago; Fonseca, João A.The adherence to inhaled controller medications is of critical importance for achieving good clinical results in patients with chronic respiratory diseases. Self-management strategies can result in improved health outcomes and reduce unscheduled care and improve disease control. However, adherence assessment suffers from difficulties on attaining a high grade of trustworthiness given that patient self-reports of high-adherence rates are known to be unreliable. Objective Aiming to increase patient adherence to medication and allow for remote monitoring by health professionals, a mobile gamified application was developed where a therapeutic plan provides insight for creating a patient-oriented self-management system. To allow a reliable adherence measurement, the application includes a novel approach for objective verification of inhaler usage based on real-time video capture of the inhaler's dosage counters. This approach uses template matching image processing techniques, an off-the-shelf machine learning framework, and was developed to be reusable within other applications. The proposed approach was validated by 24 participants with a set of 12 inhalers models. Results Performed tests resulted in the correct value identification for the dosage counter in 79% of the registration events with all inhalers and over 90% for the three most widely used inhalers in Portugal. These results show the potential of exploring mobile-embedded capabilities for acquiring additional evidence regarding inhaler adherence. This system helps to bridge the gap between the patient and the health professional. By empowering the first with a tool for disease self-management and medication adherence and providing the later with additional relevant data, it paves the way to a better-informed disease management decision.