Perspectives on Creating a Chronic Pain Support Line in Portugal: Results of a Focus Group Study among Patients and Healthcare Professionals.

Chronic pain (CP) patients frequently feel misunderstood and experience a lack of support. This led to the creation of support telephone lines in some countries. However, there is no scientific data grounding their development or evaluating their performance.

Enhanced Antimalarial Activity of Extracts of L. Achieved with Aqueous Solutions of Salicylate Salts and Ionic Liquids.

Artemisinin, a drug used to treat malaria, can be chemically synthesized or extracted from L. However, the extraction method for artemisinin from biomass needs to be more sustainable while maintaining or enhancing its bioactivity. This work investigates the use of aqueous solutions of salts and ionic liquids with hydrotropic properties as alternative solvents for artemisinin extraction from L.

Modeling the Solubility of Monoterpenoids with Hybrid and Predictive Thermodynamic Tools.

The Abraham and NRTL-SAC semipredictive models were employed to represent the solubility of (-)-borneol, (1R)-(+)-camphor, l-(-)-menthol, and thymol in water and organic solvents, using data measured in this work and collected from the literature. A reduced set of solubility data was used to estimate the model parameters of the solutes, and global average relative deviations (ARDs) of 27% for the Abraham model and 15% for the NRTL-SAC model were obtained. The predictive capability of these models was tested by estimating the solubilities in solvents not included in the correlation step.

The Role of the Anion in Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids for Fuel and Terpenes Processing.

The potentialities of methylimidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) as solvents were evaluated for some relevant separation problems-terpene fractionation and fuel processing-studying selectivities, capacities, and solvent performance indices. The activity coefficients at infinite dilution of the solute (1) in the IL (3), γ13∞, of 52 organic solutes were measured by inverse gas chromatography over a temperature range of 333.2-453.

Juçara Fruit ( Martius) Valorization Combining Emergent Extraction Technologies and Aqueous Solutions of Alkanediols.

Anthocyanins from juçara fruits were extracted by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) or ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), using aqueous solutions of 1,2-alkanediols and glycerol ethers as biobased solvents. The PLE (100 bar, 13 min, 1 mL/min flow rate) in the optimal extraction conditions originated 23.1 mg·g.

Imidazolium Chloride Ionic Liquid Mixtures as Separating Agents: Fuel Processing and Azeotrope Breaking.

Relevant chemical separations for the petrochemical and chemical industries include the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons from aliphatics, the desulfurization and denitrification of fuels, and the separation of azeotropic mixtures containing alkanols. In an attempt to contribute to the development of novel technologies, the potentialities of imidazolium chloride ionic liquid (IL) mixtures as separation agents were investigated. Selectivities, capacities, and solvent performance indices were calculated through the activity coefficients at infinite dilution of organic solutes and water in the imidazolium chloride IL: [Cmim]Cl, [Cmim]Cl, and the equimolar mixture of [Cmim]Cl and [Cmim]Cl.

Solubilities of Amino Acids in Aqueous Solutions of Chloride or Nitrate Salts of Divalent (Mg or Ca) Cations.

The solubilities of glycine, l-leucine, l-phenylalanine, and l-aspartic acid were measured in aqueous MgCl, Mg(NO), CaCl, and Ca(NO) solutions with concentrations ranging from 0 to 2 mol/kg at 298.2 K. The isothermal analytical method was used combined with the refractive index measurements for composition analysis guaranteeing good accuracy.

Patients and healthcare professionals perspectives on creating a chronic pain support line in Portugal: A qualitative study protocol.

Chronic pain affects almost 38% of the Portuguese adult population, with high costs for both patients and society. Those who suffer with chronic pain frequently complain of feeling misunderstood and of lack of support. These complaints are the main reason why support telephone lines for chronic pain were created in some countries.

Acceptance and Adherence to COVID-19 Vaccination-The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Representations.

Vaccine hesitation is a topic of utmost importance, with the COVID-19 pandemic serving as a clear reminder of its timeliness. Besides evaluating COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in a sample of Portuguese people, this study aims at understanding cognitive and emotional representations related to vaccination, and their influence on vaccination hesitation. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between 27 December 2020 and 27 January 2021.

Behaviour Change Interventions in Healthcare.

In September 2021, the Special Issue "Evidence-based Behaviour Change Interventions in Healthcare" was proposed as the manifestation of a will to compile multidisciplinary works of academic research focused on the effect of health education, psychology, and socio-cultural dimensions on the improvement in health habits in the population [...

Extensive characterization of choline chloride and its solid-liquid equilibrium with water.

The importance of choline chloride (ChCl) is recognized due to its widespread use in the formulation of deep eutectic solvents. The controlled addition of water in deep eutectic solvents has been proposed to overcome some of the major drawbacks of these solvents, namely their high hygroscopicities and viscosities. Recently, aqueous solutions of ChCl at specific mole ratios have been presented as a novel, low viscous deep eutectic solvent.

Saponins as Natural Emulsifiers for Nanoemulsions.

The awareness of sustainability approaches has focused attention on replacing synthetic emulsifiers with natural alternatives when formulating nanoemulsions. In this context, a comprehensive review of the different types of saponins being successfully used to form and stabilize nanoemulsions is presented, highlighting the most common natural sources and biosynthetic routes. Processes for their extraction and purification are also reviewed altogether with the recent advances for their characterization.

Liquefying Flavonoids with Terpenoids through Deep Eutectic Solvent Formation.

The formation of deep eutectic solvents (DES) is tied to negative deviations to ideality caused by the establishment of stronger interactions in the mixture than in the pure DES precursors. This work tested thymol and menthol as hydrogen bond donors when combined with different flavonoids. Negative deviations from ideality were observed upon mixing thymol with either flavone or flavanone, two parent flavonoids that only have hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) groups, thus forming non-ionic DES (Type V).

The impact of size and shape in the performance of hydrotropes: a case-study of alkanediols.

Inspired by the recently proposed cooperative mechanism of hydrotropy, where water molecules mediate the aggregation of hydrotrope around the solute, this work studies the impact of apolar volume and polar group position on the performance of hydrotropes. To do so, the ability of two different families of alkanediols (1,2-alkanediols and 1,-alkanediols) to increase the aqueous solubility of syringic acid is initially investigated. Interestingly, it is observed that in the dilute region (low hydrotrope concentration), the relative position of the hydroxyl groups of the alkanediols does not impact their performance.

Comparison of two computational methods for solvent screening in countercurrent and centrifugal partition chromatography.

Countercurrent and centrifugal partition chromatography are techniques applied in the separation and isolation of compounds from natural extracts. One of the key design parameters of these processes is the selection of the biphasic solvent system that provides for the adequate partitioning of the solutes. To address this challenging task, the fully predictive Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) and the semi-predictive Non-Random Two-Liquid Segment Activity Coefficient (NRTL-SAC) model were applied to estimate the partition coefficients (K) of four model phenolic compounds (vanillin, ferulic acid, (S)-hesperetin and quercetin) in different solvent systems.

Portuguese Version of the Intentional Non-Adherence Scale: Validation in a Population of Chronic Pain Patients.

Despite the effectiveness of pain medicines, nonadherence to prescribed medication remains a major problem faced by healthcare systems. The aim of present study was to perform the translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Intentional Non-Adherence Scale (INAS) for the European Portuguese language in a sample of chronic pain patients. A Portuguese version of the INAS scale was constructed through a process of translation, back translation, and expert's panel evaluation.

Improving medication adherence in hypertensive patients: A scoping review.

In recent years, interest in medication adherence has greatly increased. Adherence has been particularly well studied in the context of arterial hypertension treatment. Numerous interventions have addressed this issue, however, the effort to improve adherence has been often frustrating and frequently disorganized.

The role of ionic vs. non-ionic excipients in APIs-based eutectic systems.

Aiming to contribute to drug pre-formulation, new eutectic mixtures were developed. Thymol, coumarin, or quaternary ammonium chlorides as excipients, were combined with the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, or lidocaine. Their solid-liquid equilibrium (SLE) binary phase diagrams were measured to study eventual phase separation between the compounds, preventing manufacturing problems, and to study the molecular interactions between the APIs and ionic or non-ionic excipients.

Understanding the Formation of Deep Eutectic Solvents: Betaine as a Universal Hydrogen Bond Acceptor.

The mechanism of formation of betaine-based deep eutectic solvents (DES) is presented for the first time. Due to its polarity unbalance, it was found that betaine displays strong negative deviations from ideality when mixed with a variety of different organic substances. These results pave the way for a comprehensive design of novel deep eutectic solvents.

Unveiling the mechanism of hydrotropy: evidence for water-mediated aggregation of hydrotropes around the solute.

A recent proposal attributes the origin of hydrotropy to the water-mediated aggregation of hydrotrope molecules around the solute. Experimental evidence for this phenomenon is reported for the first time in this work, using H-NMR. A new computational technique to quantify apolarity is introduced and is used to show that apolarity of both solute and hydrotrope is the driving force of hydrotropy.

Liquefying Compounds by Forming Deep Eutectic Solvents: A Case Study for Organic Acids and Alcohols.

The criterion to distinguish a simple eutectic mixture from a deep eutectic solvent (DES) lies in the deviations to thermodynamic ideality presented by the components in the system. In this work, the current knowledge of the molecular interactions in types III and V DES is explored to liquefy a set of three fatty acids and three fatty alcohols, here used as model compounds for carboxyl and hydroxyl containing solid compounds. This work shows that thymol, a stronger than usual hydrogen bond donor, is able to form deep eutectic solvents of type V with the fatty alcohols studied.

Formulation and Optimization of Nanoemulsions Using the Natural Surfactant Saponin from Bark.

Replacing synthetic surfactants by natural alternatives when formulating nanoemulsions has gained attention as a sustainable approach. In this context, nanoemulsions based on sweet almond oil and stabilized by saponin from bark with glycerol as cosurfactant were prepared by the high-pressure homogenization method. The effects of oil/water (O/W) ratio, total surfactant amount, and saponin/glycerol ratio on their stability were analyzed.

The Role of Charge Transfer in the Formation of Type I Deep Eutectic Solvent-Analogous Ionic Liquid Mixtures.

It was recently shown that tetramethylammonium chloride presented negative deviations to ideality when mixed with tetraethylammonium chloride or tetrapropylammonium chloride, leading to a strong decrease of the melting points of these salt mixtures, in a behavior akin to that observed in the formation of deep eutectic solvents. To better rationalize this unexpected melting point depression between two structurally similar compounds devoid of dominant hydrogen bonding capability, new solid-liquid equilibria data for tetramethylammonium-based systems were measured and analyzed in this work. Molecular dynamics was used to show that the strong negative deviations from ideality presented by these systems arise from a synergetic share of the chloride ions.

Ion speciation: a key for the understanding of the solution properties of ionic liquid mixtures.

Recently, combinations of two (or more) ionic liquids, known as ionic liquid mixtures, have become popular and have a broad range of applications. However, the fundamental knowledge on the molecular interactions that exist in ionic liquid mixtures is far from being understood. In this work, the experimental measurement of the water activity coefficient and computational modelling using Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvent (COSMO-RS) were carried out to get an insight into the molecular interactions that are present in ionic liquid mixtures in aqueous solution.

Solid-Liquid Equilibria for Hexafluorophosphate-Based Ionic Liquid Quaternary Mixtures and Their Corresponding Subsystems.

The present work describes an experimental study and the thermodynamic modeling for the solid-liquid phase diagram of an ionic liquid quaternary system constituted by hexafluorophosphate ([PF]) as the common anion and by 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium ([Cmim]), 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium ([Cmpyrr]), 1-methyl-3-propylpyridinium ([Cmpy]), or 1-methyl-1-propylpiperidinium ([Cmpip]) as the cations. The Modified Quasichemical Model was used to model the liquid solution, and the Compound Energy Formalism was used for the relevant solid solutions. The liquidus projections of the four ternary subsystems (1) [Cmim][PF]-[Cmpip][PF]-[Cmpyrr][PF], (2) [Cmpy][PF]-[Cmpip][PF]-[Cmpyrr][PF], (3) [Cmpip][PF]-[Cmpy][PF]-[Cmim][PF], and (4) [Cmpyrr][PF]-[Cmpy][PF]-[Cmim][PF] were predicted using a standard symmetric (for systems 3 and 4) or asymmetric (for systems 1 and 2) interpolation method.