Patients taking oral contraceptive steroids (OCS) are known to suffer contraceptive failure while taking anticonvulsants such as phenobarbitone, phenytoin and carbamazepine. We have studied the single dose kinetics of ethinyloestradiol (EE2); 50 ,ug, and levonorgestrel (Ng); 250 p,g in groups of women before and 8-12 weeks after starting therapy with phenytoin (n = 6) and carbamazepine (n = 4). The area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) was measured over a 24 h period for each steroid and significant reductions were seen with both anticonvulsants. Phenytoin reduced the AUC for EE2 from 806 ± 50 (mean ± s.d.) to 411 ± 132 pg ml-' h (P < 0.05) and for Ng from 33.6 ± 7.8 to 19.5 ± 3.8 ng ml-' h (P < 0.05). Carbamazepine reduced the AUC for EE2 from 1163 ± 466 to 672 ± 211 pg ml-' h (P < 0.05) and for Ng from 22.9 ± 9.4 to 13.8 ± 5.8 ng ml-' h (P < 0.05). These changes are compatible with the known enzyme inducing effects of phenytoin and carbamazepine. Patients taking these anticonvulsants will need to be given increased doses of OCS (equivalent to 50-100 ,ug EE2 daily) to achieve adequate contraceptive effects.

The Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in civil engineering faces several challenges. The main issue lies in defining a reliable and precise methodology of damage detection and localization in order to allow preventive maintenance or to enable the definition of repair actions. In this paper, a new methodology of SHM is proposed. Using Vibration-Based Damage Detection Methods (VBDDM), a damage detection and localization algorithm is elaborated and tested on a Finite Element Model (FEM) of an existing building. In a first case, the damage is introduced artificially by a local reduction of stiffness, while in the second case, the damage is calculated according to a real seismic signal from the italian L'Aquila earthquake. The advantages and disadvantages of each dynamic monitoring technique are discussed and the usefulness of the algorithm is highlighted.

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This article contributes to the debate on the social and economic impacts generated by tourism activities using a methodology that is still insufficiently explored in the field of tourism and the impacts that this causes: social return on investment (SROI). Using the analysis of a case as a guiding thread, this article shows how the application of this methodology allows one to know in depth the social value that an emblematic palace (one of the main tourist attractions of a city in the south of Spain that was designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] World Heritage Site) brings, the changes experienced by the interest groups that interact with it, and the theory of change that promotes the very existence of the palace. Its results and conclusions can also inform policies and strategies of these other actors related to the intervention.

Higher education institutions must enable students to acquire skills and capacities that prepare them for working life and enhance their employability. This will lead to an applied learning- and teaching-enhancement-oriented sustainable Higher Education System. This research aims to contribute to that goal by analyzing student interactions in a collaborative learning community. It assesses the impact of visual tools on academic performance and student satisfaction in employment-focused blended studies, in which enrollees were geographically dispersed undergraduates with a diversity of profiles. A financial studies learning community was created to test students’ interactions in a model conducive to participation as visual content creators and users. Three surveys (pre-project, appraisal of classmates’ visual exercises, and post-project) were conducted to assess project impact. First, we used a univariate approach, focused on students’ characteristics, course and project appraisals, and the effects of the project on academic performance and expectations. Secondly, a bivariate approach was conducted to detect relationships between respondents’ appraisals and personal characteristics and to determine whether their mean scores were the same irrespective of such characteristics. The findings showed that: (1) Students’ preferences concur with those of their employers; (2) participation in innovative initiatives improves students’ perception of course procedures; (3) visual tools have a positive impact on learning, in terms of both academic performance and student satisfaction. The study concludes by providing support for educational institutions´ decision-making around courses and the overall curricula by defining the factors determining academic performance and student satisfaction.