Predifood - Predictive and Accelerated Models for Food Shelf-Life Assessment

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Using m-health apps in oncology : A review from 2015 to 2022

Publication . Lima, Laíres; Martins, Danilo M.D.; Vaz, Clara B.; Pereira, Ana I.

The increased use of smartphones and the COVID-19 pandemic directly influenced the development of remote tools in several areas. In the context of oncology, it was no different, as several studies address health care or services related to mobile devices. Apps aimed at the medical field (m-health) focus directly on monitoring symptoms and improving interaction between health professionals and patients, combined with the convenience of smartphones. In this context, this work aims to address recent studies on the use of m-health in the clinical practice of oncological diseases and report the characteristics of the apps involved. For this, a review of m-health focused on oncology was conducted using the PubMed and Science Direct databases. The investigation was carried out using tools inherent in international databases and was limited to articles published between 2015 and 2022. In total, 34 articles were analyzed, with a higher frequency of publications between 2019 and 2022. The resources observed were patient follow-up, prevention of signs and symptoms, monitoring of treatment and aid in prognosis and diagnosis of patients. It is concluded that a close collaboration among patients, health professionals, and information technology professionals is necessary to optimize symptom recognition and improve patientprofessional communication. Although the pandemic has intensified the increase in the use of m-health, its use is expected to increase in the post-pandemic scenario, bearing in mind the changes in social dynamics and the growing dissemination of technologies.

2023Conference paper

Open access

Optimization of heat and ultrasound-assisted extraction of Eucalyptus globulus leaves reveals strong antioxidant and antimicrobial properties

Publication . Lima, Laíres; Pereira, Ana I.; Vaz, Clara B.; Ferreira, Olga; Dias, Maria Inês; Heleno, Sandrina A.; Calhelha, Ricardo C.; Barros, Lillian; Carocho, Márcio

The extraction of phenolic compounds from eucalyptus leaves was optimized using heat and ultrasound-assisted techniques, and the bioactive potential of the resulting extract was assessed. The independent variables, including time (t), solvent concentration (S), and temperature (T) or power (P), were incorporated into a fivelevel central composite design combined with Response Surface Methodology. Phenolic content was determined by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS and used as response criteria. The developed models were successfully fitted to the experimental data to identify the optimal extraction conditions. Heat-assisted extraction proved to be the most efficient method for phenolic recovery, yielding 27 ± 2 mg/g extract under optimal conditions (120 min, 76.5 ◦C, and 25 % ethanol, v/v). The extracts exhibited a high concentration of phenolic glycoside derivatives, including gallotannin, quercetin, and isorhamnetin. These findings suggest that the extracts hold promise as natural additives in food technology, owing to their moderate antimicrobial activity and strong antioxidant properties.

2025Journal article

Open access