This study aims to improve the breastfeeding skills of premature or sick term infants with non-invasive, transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS). taVNS is microcurrent stimulation to the ear, which targets a vagus nerve branch. Pairing taVNS with motor activity, such as breast feeding, may help with motor learning in infants as it does in adults with stroke. Ten premature infants older than or equal to 35 weeks gestational age, or convalescing sick term infants whose mothers want to breastfeed will participate in this study with parental consent. Infants will receive 1 taVNS treatment paired with breastfeeding per day for up to 14 days. Before each treatment, the researcher will determine how much electrical stimulation is needed for the infant to feel a slight tingle without discomfort. This level of electrical stimulation will be delivered by a TENS unit (Transcutaneous elecrical nerve stimulation) and neonatal electrodes applied just in front of the ear and our custom made carbon electrode used in the BabyStrong studies (#10881, #67997). Stimulation will be timed with latching and sucking for the duration of the feed and will be on with sucking and off with rest. Pre- and post-feed weights, the length of time for each feed, and observations of latch, suck, and swallow efficiency will be recorded. Parental satisfaction will be assessed by questionnaires at the beginning, after 1 and 2 weeks, and 3 months after the end of treatment to assess infants' progress in and maintenance of breastfeeding abilities.
If pairing breastfeeding with taVNS is able to improve effective breastfeeding in infants in the neonatal intensive care units, it might help premature and sick term infants to successfully breastfeed at the time of discharge and maintain breast feeding at home after discharge. Premature infants may benefit from longer time receiving maternal breastmilk.

The purpose of this study is to determine if patients with heart failure (HF, meaning a weak heart) with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 50% and with an abnormal heart beat can benefit from having pacemaker leads placed in a different location in the heart. We know that people with a weak heart and an abnormal heart beat can benefit from having a pacemaker. Participants in this study will be randomly assigned (like flipping a coin) to one of two treatments (A or B), both of which are standard of care heart pacing treatments:
A. Pacing the heart from two locations in the left ventricle (lower left chamber of the heart)
B. Pacing the heart from one of two other places in the heart (the "His" or the left bundle branch)

The purpose of this study is to compare side by side these two treatments and evaluate if one is better than the other.

Newborns who are born premature or infants who suffer brain injury are at risk for motor problems. The common motor skills of reaching and grasping that infants have to learn can be weaker on one side of the body, depending on the site of the brain injury. These skills are routinely practiced with an occupational therapist once or twice a week, to help the infant strengthen these skills. A high intensity therapy program of constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) may be available for the infant, but it takes from 40-120 hours total treatment time for most infants to improve their motor skills.
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) stimulates a branch of a major nerve by the ear, called the vagus nerve, that may help improve your child's ability to learn motor skills. CIMT involves placing a soft mitt constraint on the stronger arm and hand while encouraging your child to use the weaker arm and hand during intensive therapy sessions. By using both CIMT and the nerve stimulation together, we hope your child's movement skills will improve more than with therapy alone.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of taVNS to improve motor skills when paired with the minimal amount of CIMT and whether a measure of the strength of the brain circuit to the arm and hand muscles can tell us how well a child may respond to this therapy.