
A Novel Pharmacological Therapy for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Sleep ApneaA pharmacological, non-mechanical therapy for OSA that is efficacious and tolerable remains elusive. Here the investigators study the effect on sleep apnea severity of a combination of pharmacological agents (atomoxetine and oxybutynin, "AtoOxy") over a 1 month period of time. The current study will answer the following questions: Does ongoing, repeated-dose administration of atomoxetine-plus-oxybutynin (referred to as "AtoOxy") improve OSA severity, and do patients exhibit signs of symptomatic relief? Most importantly, which phenotypic subgroup of patients preferentially benefit from this intervention?

Optimizing Psychotherapy for Older Veterans With Chronic Pain
Musculoskeletal PainThis study is being performed to compare the effects of two alternate types of psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET), for chronic musculoskeletal pain in older adults. In addition, the investigators will evaluate which patients respond better to each treatment and further investigate how each treatment works. CBT, which focuses on improving coping skills for pain, is the standard form of psychotherapy offered at VA. EAET instead focuses on understanding how life stress, relationships, and emotions may cause and perpetuate pain. The investigators are performing the study because pain is a large problem among Veterans. Studies show that chronic pain affects as many as 50% of male Veterans and 75% of female Veterans. The investigators are focusing on older adult Veterans because they have the highest rates of chronic pain at VA, perhaps as high as 80%. The investigators are looking at psychotherapy in this study because VA, the Department of Defense, and the CDC recently recommended psychosocial treatments, such as psychotherapy, as first treatments for chronic pain, along with medications other than opioids (e.g., oxycodone). However, only one form of psychotherapy, CBT, is currently available in clinical practice at VA, and this study may provide evidence for making EAET available to Veterans as well.

Dabrafenib Combined With Trametinib After Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Newly-Diagnosed...
Anaplastic AstrocytomaAnaplastic Astrocytoma6 moreThis phase II trial studies how well the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib works after radiation therapy in children and young adults with high grade glioma who have a genetic change called BRAF V600 mutation. Radiation therapy uses high energy rays to kill tumor cells and reduce the size of tumors. Dabrafenib and trametinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking BRAF and MEK, respectively, which are enzymes that tumor cells need for their growth. Giving dabrafenib with trametinib after radiation therapy may work better than treatments used in the past in patients with newly-diagnosed BRAF V600-mutant high-grade glioma.

Complex Exercise Intervention to Normalize Blood Pressure and Nocturnal Dipping in Patients With...
HypertensionBackground: Non-dipping hypertension(HT) (as defined by lack of decrease in systolic blood pressure (BP) by 10% during sleep) predicts cardiovascular events and mortality; however, there is a lack of evidence based treatment for non-dipping HT. While exercise is recommended to management HT, its effect on dipping status is not known. There is a lack of trials describing the relationship of exercise and blood pressure in Chinese. Method: This will be a two-arm randomized controlled trial in which Chinese non-dippers (n= 198) will be randomized to an exercise program plus usual care or to usual care by stratified randomization. The randomization sequence is blinded to the investigators and allocation is disclosed only after valid consent. The exercise program utilizes various motivational techniques to enhance exercise maintenance.

ASTX727 in Recurrent/Progressive Non-enhancing IDH Mutant Gliomas
Neurological Cancerthis research study is evaluating the highest dose of ASTX727 that can be administered safely to recurrent/progressive non-enhancing IDH mutant gliomas patients.

Toripalimab With or Without Celecoxib as Neoadjuvant Therapy in Resectable dMMR/MSI-H Colorectal...
Colorectal CancerMismatch Repair-deficient (dMMR)2 moreColorectal cancer of Mismatch Repair-deficient (dMMR)/ Microsatellite Instability-high (MSI-H) accounts for approximately 15% of all colorectal cancer patients, with a higher proportion in right colon cancer. Previous studies have found that colon cancer patients with dMMR/MSI-H cannot benefit from 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) adjuvant chemotherapy. Once patients have distant metastases, they are not sensitive to traditional palliative chemotherapy, and the prognosis is significantly worse than that of mismatch repair-proficient (pMMR)/microsatellite stability (MSS). A phase II clinical study of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy based on mismatch repair (MMR) status published in 《N Engl J Med》 showed that the objective response rate (ORR) of advanced colorectal cancer patients with dMMR received anti-PD-1 is 40%, and a longer response time can be obtained compared to conventional chemotherapy. Anti-PD-1 neoadjuvant therapy has proven to be safe and feasible in lung cancer, bladder cancer and malignant melanoma, and can achieve more than 40% of major pathological response. However, there are no reports of anti-PD-1 neoadjuvant therapy for the dMMR/MSI-H colorectal cancer. Therefore, the aim of this study was to find the best multidisciplinary treatment for resectable colorectal cancer patient with the dMMR/MSI-H phenotype and to explore whether cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitors combined with anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) could further improve efficacy.

Influence of Dermocorticoids on Bone Mineral Density in Patients With Bullous Pemphigoid
OsteoporosisBullous PemphigoidBullous pemphigoid is the most common type of bullous skin disease and is clinically characterized by clear-tense bullae, which result in post-bullous cutaneous erosions, altering the skin barrier. The treatment of this pathology consists of the application of high doses of topical corticosteroids (clobetasol propionate) for a prolonged period of at least 6 months. The main objective of this study is to demonstrate a change in bone mineral density at 6 months after initiation of treatment, in subjects with bullous pemphigoid and treated with topical corticosteroid.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Hypnosis Support on Patient Perception of Outpatient Surgery...
HypnosisLocal Anaesthesia2 moreMany clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of hypnosis have been conducted in recent years, some of which show that hypnosis reduces pain perception better than drug treatments administered to control groups, and that it is at least as effective as other complementary therapies (such as massage, acupuncture, yoga). However, their conclusions are limited by a significant risk of bias, and further studies with rigorous methodology remain necessary. The hypothesis of this study is that hypnosis support methods can reduce anxiety in patients requiring facial surgery under local anaesthesia, and thus improve their medical management. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of hypnosis support on the patient's state of anxiety before and after outpatient surgery under local anaesthesia in the Maxillofacial Surgery Department.

Cabergoline for the Treatment of Chronic Pain Due to Endometriosis
EndometriosisEndometriosis is dependent on angiogenesis (the sprouting of new blood vessels) for its growth and maintenance, but the side effects of currently approved angiogenesis inhibitors make these agents inappropriate for use in reproductive-age patients. This obstacle will be overcome by performing a randomized, double blind clinical trial aimed at repurposing an existing drug, cabergoline, as a safe, alternative angiogenesis inhibitor for adolescents and young women with endometriosis. This trial proposes a novel, non-hormonal, non-surgical therapeutic approach aimed at alleviating the pain and suffering associated with this common chronic disease that currently has limited treatment options.

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Posture Correction Girdle for Adolescents With Early Scoliosis
Adolescent Idiopathic ScoliosisThrough the ITF-Tier 3 project (ITS/ 237/ 11), a prototype of the posture correction girdle based on the clinical, textile science, material and ergonomics engineering analyses has been developed for preteen and teenage girls aged 10 to 13 who have the early stages of scoliosis. The girdle provides a corrective force onto the torso by the warping and elastic extension of the shoulder straps and waistband and the insertion of semi-rigid EVA padding and uses a point-pressure support system to achieve the target of posture improvement and spinal progression control with physical and psychological comfort. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the posture correction girdle, it is proposed to recruit 10 patients to take low dose x-ray (sterEOS) at QMH at supine position. Then, the patient should wear the girdle for two hours and take another x-ray at standing position. If the Cobb's angle of the patient on girdle at standing position can be same as her supine position. It can prove the effectiveness of the girdle.