Abstract
The method of seismic refraction is widely used in many applied Geology fields and problems today. Although it has some limitations, in the case of detecting a lower velocity bounded layer, this method is well tailored to a crystalline environments where, more often, weathering degree is highest on the surface and gradually decreases in depth and thus can aid in associating the weathering degree to velocity. Some relationships have been made to establish a connection between velocities and the elastic properties of rocks. In recent years seismic refraction methods have evolved in terms of improved equipment, especially by means of better seismographs, but particularly due to better inversion techniques that consider the subsurface as a more heterogeneous environment. The later are commonly known as travel time tomography techniques. In crystalline environments this is useful due to the occasional heterogeneity of the near surface but also because of the gradual character of velocity change as opposed to sudden velocity breaks at boundaries that were associated with intercept time methods and even GRM. With this in mind we sought, over the years, to apply this method to projects throughout Portugal. In the northern part it is even more adequate due to the dominant granitic and schistose environments that we encounter. In the past few years High Speed railway networks have been planned to integrate with the European network, already existing in some countries namely Spain and France among others. The project requires detailed planning for excavation in hilly and mountainous terrain due to both engineering and environmental considerations. We had access to a seismic refraction dataset, acquired by a local geophysical company, comprising of around a 190 individual 60m profiles and we interpreted them with a travel time tomography technique. Each section easily permits the filtering of velocity domains and we considered the 800m/s as an empirical limit to separate geotechnical soil from soft rock. Afterwards, by georeferencing in GIS every test over the corresponding lithology, we were able to establish, through simple descriptive statistical parameters, defining characteristic relationships between each lithological group and the geophysical results. These relationships could surely be useful for the sustainable development of the project in this highly variable geologic environment.

Abstract
The growing concern for the preservation of heritage in face of natural hazards led to the appearance of the Regional Framework Operation (OQR) NOE - Heritage and Prevention of Natural Hazards under the Community Initiative INTERREG III C. The OQR NOE, led by the Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (PACA, France) region, together with the Northern Portuguese regional coordination agency (CCDR-N), Molise and Sicily regions (Italy) and eastern region of Attica (Greece) aimed at developing preventive measures to safeguard the cultural heritage due to occurrence of natural hazards. The main aims, were to undertake an evaluation of existing practices through a strategy of inter-regional cooperation among the partners NOE and develop concrete actions in the field including strategies for prevention, early warning and intervention adapted to the heritage, awareness and accountability of officials and local decision makers, implementation of trans European experience, development of new technologies, cooperation and support for Euro innovative operations. In this context arised the subproject (SP) GEORISK, that joined an inter-regional cooperation of the City Council Port (CMP), the Bureau de Recherches et Geologiques Mini (BRGM), the Department of Geology, Faculty of Science of the University of Porto (DGFCUP) and the Portuguese Institute of Architectural Heritage (IPPAR), now called the Institute for Management Architectural and Archaeological Heritage (IGESPAR). For the implementation of the SP four main lines of action were defined: (i) Know the methods of assessment of geological hazards in France and Portugal and to foster the exchange of experiences, (ii) identify the specific level of management in relation to heritage geological risks; (iii) define the relevant actions to develop from local and regional decision makers, and (iv) Prepare a "Map of Geological Hazards in Historic Area of Porto (ZHP), to then therefore define a set of management measures, prevention, protection and intervention that can be generalized to other similar cases and to preserve the existing assets and then outline a plan for sustainable recovery. With these objectives in mind we sought map and integrate in GIS all the available information in order to assess the main geologic hazards of Porto: slope stability and seismic hazard

Abstract
This paper presents the results of a series of experiments aiming at the optimisation of vital sign monitoring using textile electrodes to be used in a swimsuit The swimsuit will integrate sensors for the measurement of several physiological and biomechanical signals, this paper will focus on ECG and respiratory movement analysis The data obtained is mainly intended to provide tools for evaluation of high-performance swimmers, although applications can be derived for leisure sports and other situations A comparison between electrodes based on different materials and structures, behaviour in dry and wet environments, as well as the behaviour in different extension states, will be presented The influence of movement on the signal quality, both by the muscular electrical signals as well as by the displacement of the electrodes, will be discussed The final objective is the integration of the electrodes in the swimsuit by knitting them directly in the suit's fabric in a seamless knitting machine

Abstract
This article describes a complete system prototype to be used in aesthetic mesotherapy. The system is composed by two main blocks: a Master block, whose chief component is a CPU, which provides the user interface and a Slave block, implemented with a micro controller and a wave generator, which produces the appropriated voltages and currents compatible with the mesotherapy treatments. The whole system is powered by a 12V power supply and the output signal has a voltage that range between -54 V and 54 V. The output signal is composed by the overlap of two frequencies: the first one is selected in the range from 1.2 kHz to 1.8 kHz and the second one is in the range from 0.07 Hz to 2 Hz. The system is being tested in clinical environment with real patients showing very good promising results.

Abstract
This article describe the design, fabrication steps and experimental results of a dilatometer that will be used to characterize ceramic samples in terms of thermal expansion. The basic idea is to heat a 25 mm ceramic sample up to 1000 degrees C and register its dimension variations during the rising and the falling of the temperature. The device prototype consists in a master-slave structure since there are two control units: the high-level one (master) and a low-level one (slave). The high-level control unit will be responsible for supporting the user interface, exchanging and processing the necessary information between the user and the low-level control unit. The low-level control unit main component is a microcontroller. It is responsible for acquiring data from the strain and temperature sensors and controlling the temperature of the samples. The experimental results show that the prototype is appropriate for dilatometry essays once the maximum error was 0.037% of full-scale.

Abstract
Sailing has been for long times the only means of ship propulsion at sea. Although the performance of a sailing vessel is well below the present power driven ships, either in terms of navigation speed and predictability, wind energy is absolutely renewable, clean and free. Unmanned autonomous sailing boats may exhibit a virtually unlimited autonomy and be able to perform unassisted missions at sea for long periods of time. Promising applications include oceanographic and weather data collecting, surveillance and even military applications. The Microtransat competition, launched in Europe in 2006, has been a key initiative to promote the development of robotic unmanned sailing boats. Various regattas have taken place across Europe and the ultimate challenge will be a transatlantic race. This paper presents an autonomous sailing boat developed at the University of Porto, Portugal, with emphasis on the hardware and software computing infrastructure. This platform is capable of carrying a few kilograms of sensing equipment that can be hooked to the boat's main computer, also providing support for short and long range data communications.