Percorrer por autor "Santos, Pedro"
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- Dual critic conditional wasserstein gAN for height-map generationPublication . Ramos, Nuno; Santos, Pedro; Dias, JoãoTraditionally, video-game maps are either made by hand, requiring many man-hours to produce good results, or made using Procedural Content Generation (PCG) techniques, which rely on a predetermined algorithm to generate every feature of the map. More recent studies have tried an approach using Deep Learning algorithms, which have their own limitations, in particular taking away the creative freedom of the designers. To circumvent this problem we propose a system that transforms low fidelity sketches into realistic height-maps through a Deep Learning model we call the Dual Critic Conditional Wasserstein GAN (DCCWGAN), thus providing high visual quality without removing control from the user. The presented system is capable of producing images that resemble the received input, and a user study with 79 participants showed that observers are not able to distinguish between earth-based height-map images and the images generated by our system.
- FlexiDialogue: Integrating dialogue trees for mental health with large language modelsPublication . Fernandes, João; Antunes, Ana; Campos, Joana; Dias, João; Santos, PedroThe increasing prevalence of mental health issues among university students is exacerbated by limited access to support due to shortages of mental health professionals and the stigma associated with seeking help. Virtual mental health assistants can extend the reach of existing resources, but traditional systems reliant on scripted dialogues are constrained by inflexibility and limited adaptability to diverse user inputs. This paper introduces FlexiDialogue, a system that transforms rigid dialogue trees into instruction sets for large language models, facilitating dynamic, contextually appropriate, and multilingual interactions while maintaining the structure and quality of expert-validated dialogue flows. The system was evaluated in three phases: (1) determining how effectively large language models could map open-ended user responses to predefined dialogue tree options, allowing for more natural interaction without compromising control; (2) assessing the models’ ability to paraphrase scripted dialogues to improve conversational fluidity while remaining grounded in the original tree; and (3) conducting an expert review to assess overall performance. Results demonstrated that FlexiDialogue enhanced the flexibility and coherence of interactions, with expert evaluations confirming its potential for mental health support.
- Insights from bacteroides species in children with Type 1 DiabetesPublication . Matos, José; Matos, Isabel; Calha, Maria; Santos, Pedro; Duarte, Isabel; Cardoso, Yameric; Faleiro, Maria Leonor: In our previous study the enrichment of the intestinal proteome of type 1 diabetes (T1D) children with Bacteroides proteins was observed, which led us to our current study that aimed to isolate and characterize Bacteroides species from fecal samples of T1D and control children. Repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR) was used for typing the isolated Bacteroides species. The antibiotic susceptibility and mucinolytic activity of the isolates was determined. The quantification of specific bacterial groups in the fecal samples was determined by qPCR. The ability to adhere and invade the human colonic cell line HT29-MTX-E12 of strains of P. dorei, B. uniformis and P. distasonis was determined and their whole genome sequencing was performed. The results showed similar numbers of Bacteroides species in T1D and control samples, but unique Bacteroides species and a higher recovery of P. distasonis from T1D samples was observed. Rep-PCR grouped the different Bacteroides species, but no discrimination by origin was achieved. T1D children showed a significant increase in Proteobacteria and a depletion in Lactobacillus sp. All tested P. dorei, B. uniformis and P. distasonis were able to adhere to HT29-MTX-E12 cells but significant differences (p < 0.05) in the ability to invade was observed. The highest ability to invade was exhibited by P. distasonis PtF D14MH1 and P. dorei PtFD16P1, while B. uniformis strains were unable to invade. The damage to tight junctions was also observed. The presence of Lactobacillus sp. inhibited the invasion ability of P. distasonis PtF D14MH1 but not P. dorei PtFD16P1. Sequences of agonist peptides of the human natural preproinsulin and the insulin B chain insB:9-23 peptide mimics were identified. The results reported in our study stresses the continued efforts required to clarify the link between T1D and gut microbiota.
- MentalRAG: developing an agentic framework for therapeutic support systemsPublication . Silva, Francisco; Santos, Pedro; Dias, JoãoThis paper introduces MentalRAG, a multi-agent system built upon an agentic framework designed to support mental health professionals through the automation of patient data collection and analysis. The system effectively gathers and processes high-sensitivity mental health data from users. It employs locally run opensource models for most tasks, while leveraging advanced state-of-the-art models for more complex analyses, ensuring the maintenance of data anonymity. The system’s models have showed improvements in delivering empathetic and contextually adaptive responses, particularly in sensitive contexts such as emotional distress and crisis management. Notably, an integrated agent for detecting levels of suicidal ideation allows the system to assess and respond sensitively to diverse levels of risk, promptly alerting mental health professionals as needed. This innovation represents a stride towards creating a more reliable, efficient, and ethically responsible mental health support tool, capable of addressing both patient and doctor needs effectively while minimizing associated risks.
- Villagers’ perceptions of tourism activities in Iona National Park: locality as a key factor in planning for sustainabilityPublication . Morais, Jorge; Castanho, Rui Alexandre; Loures, Luis; Pinto-Gomes, Carlos; Santos, PedroLocal people's perception of nature-based tourism evolution and consequent impacts on their well-being are crucial in promoting ecotourism and achieving sustainable development. This study focused on indigenous populations' attitudes concerning tourism activities taking place in the Iona National Park, located in the Namibe Province of Angola, where ecotourism is considered an anchor product and is expected to become an economic driver of major importance. To obtain information that is useful for a changing tourism management in order to increase rural communities' well-being, we conducted a survey addressing local people's perceptions about the following main topics: perception of the presence of visitors and of their activities; present and prospective positive and negative effects of the park; and government policies that should be developed in the near future. The research shows that most respondents' perceptions strongly vary according to locality. The level of urbanization and the distance to the core areas of touristic activities appear to be the main factors driving the villagers' perception polarization. Thus, conflicting interests between nature conservation and local populations' well-being should be addressed and managed according to locality profiles, with some exceptions, such as ensuring the entire population has access to pastoral lands.