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Filter by:The investigators will study motor recovery after robot-assisted therapy after stroke. A small clinical trial will be conducted to quantify the central nervous system changes associated with robotic or standard training, and identify trends across high and low responders in terms of patterns of change in cortical activity and type of white matter connectivity.The investigators hypothesize that robot training will lead to larger improvements as compared to standard occupational therapy. The investigators hypothesize that high responders to the robot training will have reduced compensatory activation in the bilateral area and will connectivity in the motor tracts.
This project aims at understanding better the role of the frontal lobe of the brain in our capacity to perceive visual information consciously, and also, in our capacity to perceive others' actions. It includes a test where we ask subjects to detect visual information in front of a computer screen, and another test where we ask them to imitate finger movements.
This protocol is designed for a single specific patient. It uses busulfan as a conditioning agent in a second stem cell transplant procedure for a patient with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a disorder in which a certain type of white cells, called myeloid cells, do not function properly. This causes increased risk of serious bacterial and fungal infections that can lead to organ dysfunction, such as kidney disease, as well as formation of granulomas-non-cancerous masses that can cause obstructions in the esophagus, stomach, and intestines, and block urine flow from the kidneys and bladder.). The child in this study has previously undergone a stem cell transplant to treat CGD, and, as a result, he is now producing normal lymphocytes (another type of white cell). However, the myeloid cells from the donor did not engraft successfully, and the patient is still producing his own defective myeloid cells. In this study, the child will undergo a second stem cell transplant in combination with busulfan, a drug that targets myeloid cells, killing them to make way for healthy, donated myeloid cells. Treatment includes the following procedures: - Medical evaluation to confirm that the patient is healthy enough to undergo the transplantation - Treatment with busulfan, injected through the patient's central venous line - Stem cell transplantation through the central venous line - Blood tests on days 25, 56, and 91 after the transplant to assess how many cells are of donor origin - Bone marrow aspiration on day 100, and then at 12, 24, and 36 months to assess how many cells are of donor origin - Pulmonary function (breathing) test at 12 and 24 months - Physical examination and blood tests, weekly or twice weekly for the first 2 to 3 months and at 4, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months after transplant - Treatment for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), if this complication develops. GVHD is the attack of lymphocytes from the donor against the patient's own cells. This is good if it is against abnormal cells, but bad if serious damage occurs to the patient's vital organs. GVHD is treated with steroids and cyclosporine, and possibly other drugs if needed.
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of an experimental drug called LMB-2 for treating chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in patients who have a protein called cluster of differentiation 25 (CD25) on their cancer cells. LMB-2 is a recombinant immunotoxin. It is made up of two parts: a genetically engineered monoclonal antibody that binds to cancer cells with CD25 on their surface, and a toxin produced by bacteria that kills the cancer cells to which it binds. LMB-2 has killed CD 25-containing cells in laboratory experiments and has caused tumors in mice to shrink. Preliminary studies in humans have shown some effectiveness in shrinking tumors in patients with various types of lymph and blood cancers. Patients 18 years of age and older with CLL who have CD25 receptor proteins on their cancer cells and whose disease has progressed within 2 years of treatment with fludarabine may be eligible for this study. Candidates are screened with a medical history and physical examination, blood and urine tests, electrocardiogram (EKG), echocardiogram, chest x-ray, computed tomography (CT) scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis, and a bone marrow biopsy. Participants receive up to six cycles of LMB-2 therapy. Each 28-day cycle consists of 30-minute infusions of LMB-2 on cycle days 1, 3, and 5. The drug is infused through an intravenous (IV) catheter (plastic tube placed in a vein) or a central venous line-an IV tube placed in a large vein in the neck or chest that leads to the heart. Patients are admitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center for the first treatment cycle. If the infusion is well tolerated, subsequent cycles may be given on an outpatient basis. In addition to drug therapy, patients undergo the following procedures: - Blood draws: Blood is drawn before, during, and after each LMB-2 infusion to measure blood levels of the drug, evaluate its effects on the cancer cells, and monitor side effects. Blood tests are also done before and during each cycle to determine how the immune system is interacting with the drug. - Disease evaluations: Patients undergo a physical examination, blood tests, chest x-ray, and EKG before each treatment cycle and at follow-up visits. With the patient's permission, CT scans, echocardiogram, and bone marrow biopsies may be repeated before some treatment cycles if these tests prove useful in evaluating the disease response to LMB-2. Patients may receive up to six cycles of LMB-2 as long as their cancer does not worsen and they do not develop serious side effects. At the end of the treatment cycles, patients will have blood tests done weekly by their local physician, and the results will be sent to the NCI study investigators.