All Clinical Trials

This project will study changes that occur during a short period of intensive daily slow-paced breathing and breath hold practice (i.e., "breathwork"). On the first and last days of the week-long practice, investigators will conduct high-density EEG recordings during breathwork to evaluate spectral power, coherence, and causality dynamics of the brain when it is naïve to breathwork and after adaptation to a breathwork practice. Breath, blood, urine, saliva, stool samples, biometric data, and sleep EEG will be collected before the start of daily breathwork practice and again after 1 week of breathwork practice to examine the effect of breathwork on full body biochemistry, molecular biology, and sleep. Investigators will also use questionnaires to assess the impact of breathwork on stress and sleep quality. Read Less

A clinical trial of exercise-similar heart rate acceleration delivered via cardiac pacing vs. sham intervention in subjects at rest will be performed. The study population comprises subjects with guideline-directed medically managed left ventricular dysfunction due to ischemic or non-ischemic cardiomyopathy and an existing implantable cardioverter defibrillator or biventricular implantable cardioverter defibrillator. The purpose of the study is to understand how the heart rate pattern of exercise contributes to the considerable cardiac conditioning effects of exercise and estimate whether the pacing approach may have translational clinical applicability. Fifty-two subjects will be randomized, single-blinded, to either the pacing intervention or a sham intervention which they will receive once daily, 3 days/week for 6 weeks. Baseline symptoms and clinical test results will be compared to the same measures at 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks of intervention/sham and at 3 months and one-year post-intervention. The primary endpoint will be the change in left ventricular ejection fraction from baseline in intervention vs. sham groups (mixed effects linear regression with time and treatment arm as fixed effects and pre-specified covariates of sex and cardiomyopathy type as random effects). Secondary endpoints will include changes in quality of life, 6-minute walk distance, cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) measures, daily activity and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) at 3 and 12 months between pacing and sham groups. A "dose-response" analysis of outcomes at 2, 4, and 6 weeks of the intervention vs. sham compared with baseline will be performed. Read Less

This study aims to collect information on rheumatology patients' dietary habits, autoimmune disease activity, dietary changes, disease symptom improvements, and perceptions on their dietary habits and how it affects their autoimmune disease. The main objective is to see if rheumatology patients change their dietary habits after their diagnosis of an autoimmune disease and if it subjectively improved their disease symptoms. It will also look at rheumatology patients' expectations for their rheumatologist when it comes to dietary advice and what resources they used to choose their new dietary habits. The study also seeks to measure the interest that rheumatology patients have in pursuing dietary changes as a means of controlling the symptoms of their autoimmune disease. It is expected that patients who changed their eating habits to healthier diets such as a Mediterranean diet would report less severe autoimmune disease symptoms. There are limited dietary recommendations for the management of many rheumatological diseases, so this study seeks to assess rheumatology patients' willingness to try dietary modifications, what improvements they had, and why they decide to make these changes in light of limited information. Read Less

The goal of this observational study is to compare endometrial stripe thickness in adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients with a uterus on estrogen replacement therapy using oral progesterone versus the etonogstrel implant for endometrial protection. The main questions it aims to answer are: Aim 1: Characterize the mean endometrial thickness in AYA on estrogen hormone replacement therapy before initiation of progesterone therapy Aim 2: Characterize the mean changes and variability in endometrial thickness in AYA treated for 6 months with either the etonogestrel implant or continuous oral progesterone Aim 3: Assess satisfaction, side effects, bleeding patterns, any progesterone modifications, and adherence in AYA treated for 6 months with either etonogestrel implant or continuous progesterone Participants will be asked to: * Get two pelvic ultrasounds * Fill out two surveys * Continue their current hormone replacement therapy * Initiate one of two progesterone therapies (prometrium 100mg daily or Nexplanon) Researchers will compare the change in endometrial thickness after 6 months of progesterone use to see if there is a significant difference in the mean change between the prometrium and Nexplanon groups. Read Less

The PI propose to conduct a genomic epidemiology study of pneumococcal carriage among children and adults in a large metropolitan city. These data will allow PI to assess the post-pandemic population structure, investigate the phylogenetic relationship between isolates from children and adults, and compare pneumococcal populations across diverse geographic areas. Read Less

This study is evaluating a behavioral treatment program that uses diabetes coaching and financial rewards in addition to continuous glucose monitoring to improve diabetes management in adult patients with type 2 diabetes. This study will evaluate if this behavioral treatment program increases individual adherence to a diabetes treatment plan and improves blood sugar management. Read Less

Spasticity is characterized by increased muscle tension and is a classic consequence of upper motor neuron (UMN) damage in the central nervous system, such as from stroke or trauma. Clinically, it presents as muscle resistance to passive stretching, along with clasp-knife rigidity, clonus, increased tendon reflexes, and muscle spasms. An imbalance of the descending inhibitory and muscle stretch reflexes is thought to be the cause of spasticity. Post-stroke spasticity is a common condition that occurs in 37.5-45% of cases in the acute stage and 19-57.4% in the subacute stage after a stroke. At 6 months post-stroke, spasticity develops in 42.6-49.5% of cases, and at one year, it affects 35-57.4% of individuals. In patients with cerebral palsy (CP), incidence is almost 80% while in those living with spinal cord injury the number approaches up to 93%. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients have a higher prevalence on initial admission to neurorehabilitation but one in three patients will have chronic spasticity. However, the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center report a rate of TBIs amongst deployed veterans to be around 11-23% mostly from blast and explosive trauma. There have been studies as early as the 1980s exploring the efficacy of SCS for spasticity control, however, the credibility of many of these studies is constrained due to an incomplete comprehension of spasticity's underlying mechanisms, outdated research methods, and early limitations in implantable device technology. Intrathecal pumps for baclofen have remained as the mainstay for refractory spasticity, however, it comes with associated risks such as chemical dependence leading to acute baclofen withdrawal and requiring frequent refill requirement. Most importantly, it does not yield functional improvement of muscle activity, just suppression of spasticity. Botox is also routinely used but due to heterogeneity in muscle involvement as well as variability in provider skill, results may be inconsistent and short-lasting, requiring frequent clinic visits for repeat injections to the affected muscle groups. SCS may be able to address that gap in spasticity management. Read Less

This pilot and feasibility study aims to assess the effectiveness of a nutrition education intervention using the Cooking Matters for Adults Curriculum (SNAP-Ed). The study compares this standard curriculum with an enhanced version that includes the same curriculum but has additional components, incorporating specific information related to type 2 diabetes. Additionally, participants in the enhanced group will receive continuous glucose monitors to wear during the study for 10 days. The primary outcomes of the study include evaluating the acceptability of the intervention, and the feasibility of conducting the intervention at the UNLV Nutrition Center. The investigators will also assess participants' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Intentions regarding produce consumption. Alongside feasibility and acceptability, the study aims to explore the preliminary effectiveness of the intervention in increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, reducing HbA1c, managing cardiometabolic risk, and improving gut microbiome composition and diversity among participants in the program. The investigators will also assess changes in other lifestyle behaviors from baseline to post-intervention (6 weeks) (sleep, stress, physical activity, and sedentary behavior). Read Less

This is a Phase I study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the \[68Ga\]Ga DOTA-5G and \[177Lu\]Lu DOTA-ABM-5G theranostics pair in patients with metastatic cancer. Read Less

It is well established that rehydration with a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution is more effective in comparison to plain water. This is primarily based on the sodium-glucose co transporter, based on which the world health organization has based its oral rehydration solution recommendations. Also, rehydration with a solution that includes sodium and glucose plasma osmolality should not drop as much as it happens during rehydration with water. As a result, we should have higher fluid intake due to higher thirst perception and lower urinary output due to higher levels of vasopressin. The present study aims to examine the effectiveness of a electrolyte-glucose drink on rehydration following exercise-induced dehydration. Read Less

Adjustment Disorder (AjD) is the most common mental health condition diagnosed in Active Duty personnel, and is diagnosed following an extreme stress event such as traumatic loss of a comrade, serious accident or injury, or other intense stress event. Despite its high prevalence, no evidence based treatment for AjD has been subjected to randomized controlled trials. This study seeks to build on the research team's pilot work across several disorders study to benefit service members and Veterans with AjD, a highly prevalent but frequently inadequately treated condition. The investigators will compare the effects of Transdiagnostic Behavior Therapy (TBT) vs treatment as usual which is Moving Forward Problem Solving Therapy (TAU-PST) on AjD symptom outcomes. The investigators hypothesize that TBT will result in greater overall symptom reduction compared to TAU-PST. Read Less

Exercised induced hypoalgesia (EIH) (reduction in pain) after exercise has been studied in the literature, but no comparisons have been made specifically looking at different types of exercise (isometric/dynamic moving through a range of motion with resistance versus isotonic/applying static resistance to a joint not moving) with neck muscle strengthening. This study will explore to see if one form of exercise is superior to the other in providing EIH. Another benefit of exercise is improving proprioception (knowing where our body is in space). Again no specific investigation has been done comparing isometric versus isotonic exercises for neck muscles. Both of these exercises are often prescribed in physical therapy so further understanding the benefits of them can help improve the prescription of exercises for patients. Read Less