Valproate discontinuation in girls and women of childbearing age with epilepsy: An Italian multicenter retrospective study on prescribing patterns and outcomes.

Objective: This study aimed to identify prescribing behaviors in women of childbearing potential (WOCP) with epilepsy already taking valproate (VPA), and to investigate the relationship between VPA maintenance, substitution, reduction, or withdrawal as part of polytherapy, and seizure worsening or relapse.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the prescription behaviors and seizure outcomes in WOCP (16-50 years of age) with epilepsy, referred to eight Italian epilepsy centers, who were taking VPA for at least 1 year between 2014 and 2019.

Results: Among 750 women (~12% of all WOCP), 528 (70.

Nonlinearity of the post-spinel transition and its expression in slabs and plumes worldwide.

Phase transitions in the mantle control its internal dynamics and structure. The post-spinel transition marks the upper-lower mantle boundary, where ringwoodite dissociates into bridgmanite plus ferropericlase, and its Clapeyron slope regulates mantle flow across it. This interaction has previously been assumed to have no lateral spatial variations, based on the assumption of a linear post-spinel boundary in pressure and temperature.

Development of an Alternative Protocol to Study Muscle Fatigue.

When measuring real-time in vivo muscle fatigue with electromyography (), data collection can be compromised by premature sensor removal or environmental noise; therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a postmortem in vivo methodology to induce muscle fatigue and measure it using EMG. Barrows ( = 20) were stratified by weight and randomly allocated into one of two treatments. The treatments consisted of barrows being subjected to a hog electric stunner super-contraction cycle () or not () postmortem.

Patients' reasons for declining a primary care trial online therapy: a mixed methods study.

Background: Integrating therapist-led sessions and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) materials within one online platform may be effective for people with depression. A trial evaluating this mode of delivering CBT is being conducted. To maximize future trial recruitment and understand patients' views of health interventions, it is important to explore reasons for declining to participate.

Urban and Rural Differences in Cancer Treatment Disruption Among Patients With COVID-19: An Analysis of the US ASCO COVID-19 in Oncology Registry.

Introduction: Cancer patients in rural areas experience greater barriers to treatment access compared with patients in urban areas. There is limited research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected cancer treatment delivery for rural patients who were also diagnosed with COVID-19. This study has two objectives: to assess (1) the urban-rural differences in cancer care and (2) the predictors of cancer treatment delay or discontinuation (TDD) among patients diagnosed with COVID-19.