All Clinical Trials

Corneal collagen crosslinking has been demonstrated as an effective method of reducing progression of both keratoconus and post-refractive corneal ectasia, as well as decreasing the steepness of the cornea in these pathologies. Performing an accelerated CXL procedure with pulsed UVA light may increase the oxygenation of the cornea, which may improve the crosslinking efficacy. Read Less

Understanding speech is essential for good communication. Individuals with hearing loss and poor speech discrimination often have little success with hearing aids because amplifying sound improves audibility, but not clarity of the speech signal. The purpose of this study is to determine the relative importance of the sensory cells of the inner ear and auditory neurons on speech discrimination performance in quiet and in noise. This information may be used as a predictor of hearing aid benefit. The investigators expect to find decreased speech understanding ability resulting from both loss of sensory cells and the loss of auditory neurons. Read Less

Arterial disease is the leading cause of morbidity/mortality in Metabolic syndrome (MetS). This occurs early as evidenced by arterial dysfunction that, in turn, raises blood pressure and glucose. Health organizations recommend exercise in an intensity based manner to promote cardiovascular adaptation and prevent disease. Metformin is a common anti-diabetes medication that reduces future type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk. However, the optimal exercise dose to be combined with metformin for additive effects on vascular function is unknown. Based on the investigator's preliminary work, the overall hypothesis is that metformin blunts adaptation following high intensity exercise training (HiEx) by lowering mitochondrial derived oxidative stress signaling. The investigators further hypothesize that low intensity exercise (LoEx) training combined with metformin will promote additive effects on vascular function compared to LoEx or HiEx+metformin, and maintain/improve non-exercise physical activity patterns. In this double-blind trial, obese 30-60y MetS participants will be randomized to: 1) LoEx+placebo; 2) LoEx+metformin, 3) HiEx+placebo; or 4) HiEx+metformin for 16 weeks. Read Less

The objective of the project is to implement the LENA Start Program at the Alief The objective of the project is to implement the LENA Start Program at the Alief Independent School District in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the study is to learn how maternal expectations about language development influence the child's language development. Also, the study will evaluate how much the mothers believe can affect their child's language development. More specifically, the program implementation will serve as a model that other school districts can readily replicate. Read Less

Cow's milk contains two types of β-casein: A1 and A2. It is evident from human clinical trials that milk with A1 protein produces more hydrogen and symptoms of lactose intolerance. A pro-inflammatory μ-opioid peptide BCM-7 is released from A1 but not from A2. Milk containing A1 β-casein produced more inflammatory markers than A2 β-casein. This is a double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial conducted to determine if A1 beta-casein containing milk causes acute effects on inflammatory markers following a single milk feeding, as compared to milk containing only A2 beta-casein. Read Less

Although the majority of premature neonates \< 30 weeks gestion require positive pressure ventilation (PPV) at birth, the optimal interface to provide PPV has not been determined. Preferably this support would be provided by non-invasive means to prevent the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Resuscitation with a face mask, single nasal tube, nasal prongs, and/or LMA are all approved methods of resuscitation per NRP as of 2010. Face masks have been associated with more dead space, air leak and airway obstruction however are the most commonly used interface. Recently, the Trigeminal Cardiac Reflex has been described, which can be induced with the placement of a facemask, resulting in bradycardia and apnea. Bi-nasal prongs (RAM cannula) have been found in studies to be associated with lower intubation rates in the delivery room (down to 24 weeks gestation), less need for epinephrine, chest compressions, and subsequent invasive ventilation. In addition to the potential practical advantages of bi-nasal prong resuscitation, there is evidence to suggest that ventilation through the nose may stimulate the subepithelial receptors of the upper airways causing an increase in respiratory rate and depth. Read Less

Food allergies are now a major problem. These experiments involve getting blood from people with food allergies and from people without food allergies. The blood collected will be used to answer questions and find information about peanut and other food allergies. Samples will come from: * People signed up by the investigators at the University of Colorado Denver * University of North Carolina, Massachusetts General Hospital, Children's Hospital of Colorado and the Immune Tolerance Network (Benaroya Research Institute) where people have been treated for peanut allergies * University of North Carolina, Massachusetts General Hospital, National Jewish Health and The Children's Hospital in Denver where people have taken part or will take part in clinically indicated oral food challenges. Blood and health histories from the University of North Carolina, Massachusetts General Hospital, National Jewish Health, The Children's Hospital and the Immune Tolerance Network will not have personal information linked. The specific aims of this experiment are: 1. Come up with a lab test that will predict how bad an allergic reaction will be to peanuts. 2. Find out what part of a peanut causes allergic reactions. 3. Come up with preventions that can block peanut allergies. 4. Find the strongest proteins in walnuts. Read Less

Approximately 5.3 million people live with a long-term disability resulting from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and between 5-8% of those older than 60 suffer from Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia (ADRD). Consequences of these conditions can result in dramatic and persistent changes in functioning, impacting not only the patients, but also loved ones who become informal support persons. Many existing services help the family in the moment, but do not address long-term wellness. Thus, the purpose of this research study is to compare the effect of two different types of group wellness treatments for individuals with chronic mild TBI, moderate to severe TBI, and ADRD and their support persons. Read Less

Injection of intradetrusor OnabotulinumtoxinA (BTX-A) is a highly efficacious therapy with a reliable safety profile and demonstrable improvements in subjective and objective measures for overactive bladder (OAB) symptom control. This procedure can be performed in the office with an evidence-based standard dosing of 100 units for idiopathic OAB. This is a single-blinded, randomized control trial is to evaluate and optimize the technique for performing intradetrusor injections of BTX-A for idiopathic OAB. This trial proposes two different reconstitution and injection schema to study patient-centered outcomes related to procedural discomfort and symptom relief. Read Less

Chromosomal aneuploidies are linked with spontaneous miscarriages and abnormal offspring in human pregnancies. In addition, some types of aneuploidies are reported to prevent implantation. Thus, there is a need to identify the embryos with highest implantation potential on in vitro fertilization (IVF) programs. Since embryo morphology and kinetics have a weak association with embryo ploidy, trophectoderm biopsy plus Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is becoming a very popular approach to determine the embryo chromosomal status. This technique is called Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (PGT-A). Although shown to be efficient, it is invasive for the embryo, requires specific technical skills and it remains expensive. Therefore, the development of a non-invasive, rapid and cheaper method for assessing embryo ploidy status would represent a progress in the field of IVF. The non-invasive approach has been explored by some groups that analyzed the Spent Blastocyst Medium (SBM) where the embryo was incubated up to the time of transfer or freezing. In daily routine, this media is discarded after finishing the culture of the embryo. Importantly, though, this media reportedly contains traces of embryonic cell-free DNA (cfDNA) that can represent the genetic load of the embryo. On the basis of that, the hypothesis of this study is that embryo prioritization according to the analysis of the embryonic cfDNA in the SBM could improve ongoing pregnancy rate in 10 percentual points compared to standard blastocyst transfer based on morphology. Read Less

This study will non-invasively obtain levels of GABA in the brain of children with SCN1A+DS and neurodeveloping children through evoked and induced cortical responses, correlate them with the BOLD responses, and with the levels of GABA in their blood. Read Less

This study is a first-in-human, Phase 1 study of the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of PanChol in healthy volunteers. There will be three modules in this clinical trial assessing dosing, safety, and immunogenicity: 1. a fixed dose-ranging module, 2. an adaptive dose-finding/optimization module, and 3. a placebo-controlled expansion module. Read Less