Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2023-10-23"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- MentalSense. A ludic and didactic game for people with dementiaPublication . Conceição, Maria João Pereira Gouveia da; Cameirão, Mónica da SilvaCom o envelhecimento da população, é cada vez mais comum encontrar pessoas com demência. A demência é caracterizada pela perda de habilidades emocionais e cognitivas. Nesta dissertação, propomos um novo sistema para estimulação cognitiva através de jogos, o MentalSense, onde pessoas em estado demencial podem realizar alguns exercícios cognitivos para cuidar de um animal de estimação, trabalhando no mínimo cinco domínios cognitivos: atenção, memória episódica, raciocínio lógico, pensamento abstrato e funções executivas. O jogo está implementado em tablet para poder ser usado em diversos lugares e situações. Foram realizados diversos estudos, desde questionários online e entrevistas a cuidadores formais e informais, e seguiu-se um design participativo com psicólogo e psicomotricista, onde obtivemos informação sobre as necessidades desta população e de quem presta cuidados a estes. Realizámos um estudo piloto, o qual culminou em sugestões para o melhoramento da aplicação final. O protótipo final foi testado através de um estudo de caso com dois participantes acompanhados por um psicólogo, que realizaram várias sessões com o MentalSense, com resultados positivos.
- From Citrus Waste to a Promising Biopesticide: Hesperidin Extraction, Nanoformulation, and Bioactivity EvaluationPublication . Pereira, Verónica Raquel Sousa; Castilho, Paula Cristina Machado FerreiraBotanical pesticides have gained attention as potential biopesticides and complements to traditional pesticides. Flavonoids have been extensively studied for this purpose because of their involvement in plant defense responses. In particular, hesperidin (HES) is a glycosylated flavanone abundant in citrus waste, whose bactericidal and insecticidal activities have been reported. Despite its potential as a biopesticide, its extraction is usually time-consuming and nonselective, coupled with the use of organic solvents. Moreover, botanical pesticides have some limitations such as rapid biodegradability and low efficiency. The present master’s dissertation addresses these issues by proposing an innovative consecutive extraction scheme for pectin and HES from citrus albedo waste. This process describes a new HES extraction method using a basified hydroethanolic mixture, as well as a less time-consuming precipitation method. The efficiency, selectivity, and environmental impact of this method were compared with those of the conventional methanolic HES extraction. The proof of concept for assessing HES purity with quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance technique (qNMR), using benzoic acid as an internal standard, was addressed, along with the attempted HES encapsulation in polysaccharides. The developed consecutive extraction method allowed the extraction and isolation of two highly valued bioactive compounds from citrus waste with high reproducibility and efficiency, with HES extraction yields and purity reaching approximately 0.68% and 84% (determined by HPLC-PDA), respectively, under the best conditions tested (30 minutes, 70 °C, and 1:10 (w/v)). qNMR showed great potential for use in determining HES purity, but further optimization of the method is needed. Pectin-hesperidin nanoparticles formulated with a HES concentration of 0.5 mg/mL (HES-PecNPs 0.5) revealed satisfactory physicochemical properties (452.8 ± 22.1 nm and -16.9 ± 0.7 mV), an encapsulation efficiency of 85.0 ± 1.5%, and a controlled release of HES over 26h.