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Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2025-08-21"

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  • Soft gels in food systems: recent advances, applications, and technological innovations
    Publication . Machado, Manuela; Costa, Eduardo Manuel Aguiar da; Silva, Sara
    Soft gels, such as hydrogels, organogels, aerogels, and bigels, represent versatile materials that are increasingly utilized within food systems to modify texture, regulate nutrient delivery, serve as fat substitutes, and enhance product shelf life. Their structural diversity and tunable properties enable targeted solutions for healthier, more sustainable, and consumer-centric products. This review provides a critical overview of recent advances in soft gel science, emphasizing industrial feasibility, regulatory compliance, and strategies to overcome commercialization barriers such as cost, scalability, and consumer acceptance. For each gel type, we compare functional performance with conventional structuring and encapsulation systems, highlighting cases where soft gels offer superior stability, bioactive protection, or caloric reduction. We also examine emerging applications, including gel-based frying media, 3D printing, and nano-enabled formulations, alongside potential risks related to long-term exposure and bioaccumulation. Regulatory frameworks across major jurisdictions are summarized, and sustainability considerations, from sourcing to life cycle impact, are discussed. By integrating technological innovation with safety, regulatory, and market perspectives, this review identifies key research priorities and practical pathways for translating soft gel technologies from laboratory concepts into commercially viable, health-driven food solutions.
    2025-08-21Review article Open access Show more
  • Monitoring beta-blocker therapy in adolescents with exercise-induced intraventricular gradients using exercise stress echocardiography
    Publication . Cotrim, Nuno; Café, Hugo M.; Guardado, Jorge; Cordeiro, Pedro; Martins, Rui; Cotrim, Hortense; Cotrim, Carlos
    Background: Treadmill exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) is both feasible and safe in the pediatric population. Although regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMAs) have limited diagnostic utility, Doppler studies frequently demonstrate significant intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPGs) during exercise. These IVPGs, which were observed in 39% of 258 previously studied adolescents, are absent at rest. Their detection provides valuable insight into exercise-related symptoms and abnormal findings on resting or stress electrocardiograms (ECGs). Purpose: To evaluate the effect of ?-blocker therapy on the occurrence of intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPGs) in adolescents presenting with symptoms or abnormal findings on resting or stress electrocardiograms (ECGs). Methods: Exercise stress echocardiography (ESE) was repeated in 66 of 101 adolescents who were found to have developed intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPGs) during the initial assessment. All participants had normal resting echocardiograms, and all underwent follow-up evaluation while receiving ?-blocker therapy. The study cohort included 15 females (23%) and the mean age of participants was 14.6 ± 1.7 years (range: 11–17 years). Comprehensive two-dimensional and Doppler echocardiographic assessments were performed at baseline and during ?-blocker treatment. Results: During the initial ESE, the mean intraventricular pressure gradient (IVPG) was 105 ± 38 mmHg. Under ?-blocker therapy, 37 adolescents no longer developed IVPGs while, in the remaining 29 adolescents, the IVPG was significantly reduced to a mean of 58 ± 32 mmHg (p < 0.0001). The mean heart rate at peak exercise decreased from 178 ± 15 bpm at baseline to 157 ± 9 bpm during the repeat ESE under ?-blocker treatment (p < 0.0001). Clinical symptoms were reproduced in forty-seven adolescents during the initial ESE, but occurred in only seven adolescents during treatment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: In adolescents presenting with symptoms or abnormal resting or stress ECG findings, and exertional intraventricular pressure gradients (IVPGs), oral ?-blocker therapy either prevented the occurrence of IVPGs or significantly reduced their severity. These hemodynamic improvements were associated with the resolution of clinical symptoms in 85% of the symptomatic cohort.
    2025-08-21Research article Open access Show more
  • 2025-08-21Conference object Open access Show more