The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 infection demands efforts to reduce spread. In order to eradicate an infectious disease, a method of prevention with low social cost is the most effective way. While we wait for new therapies and a vaccine, we are proposing a solution based on the existing knowledge in biomedical sciences. Here we propose to use low doses of hydroxychloroquine (50-100 mg daily orally) and intranasal interferon alpha-2b (IFN α-2b) spray (0.5 × 106 IU twice daily) for the prophylaxis of COVID-19. Although there are ongoing clinical trials to test the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis, there has not been any proposal to test the efficacy of IFN α-2b together with hydroxychloroquine to increase protection against COVID-19. Since the two act on two different mechanisms, we strongly believe that the two could have additive effects in prophylaxis against COVID-19. We recommend using a randomized control study to prove efficacy and safety.Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease with high incidence of mortality and morbidity. The emergence of drug resistant parasites, severe toxic effects of existing anti-leishmanials, and nonexistence of an effective vector control measures and human vaccine(s) against VL poses a serious problem to VL treatment and control. In VL, the disease pathogenicity is correlated with the up-regulation of Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β), which can deactivate macrophages and favors the growth of intracellular parasite and disease clearance is expedited through the increased levels of Th1 mediated cytokines (IL-12) which can activate macrophages to release IFN-γ; stimulates inducible NOS to release NO and kills the leishmania parasite. Enkephalins (ENKs), are endogenous neuropeptides with immune stimulatory properties.  https://www.selleckchem.com/products/BIBF1120.html  ENKs and its fragmented peptides at lower concentrations activates Th1 type cytokines and inhibits Th2 type cytokines, which may be helpful in parasite clearance. ENKs in combination with currently available anti-leishmanial drugs may be helpful in reducing the toxicity and duration of therapy. Therefore, we hypothesized that the ENKs alone or in combination with current recommended anti-leishmanial agents might be effective in the treatment of VL with enhanced efficacy and safety profile.Percutaneous ventricular restoration is an established treatment that is used in left ventricle (LV) patients with anteroapical regional wall motion abnormality, dilated LV, systolic dysfunction after anterior myocardial infarction, and poor LV ejection fraction of heart failure. A ventricular partitioning device (VPD), which can be delivered percutaneously through the aortic valve, was placed at the apex of the LV. We aimed at improving the LV hemodynamics by isolating the dysfunctional apical region. Existing VPDs used in clinics are not recyclable. If the physician must extract the device owing to disease development, the patient must undergo thoracotomy. It is well known that thoracotomy is a high-risk operation. It may even cause patients to die. Therefore, we propose a recyclable left VPD that can be remove through a recovery snare after the device is implanted into the patient's ventricle. Such novel recyclable VPD could effectively avoid thoracotomy, thus resulting in favorable outcomes with reassuring safety.Background The assessment of fecal volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has emerged as a noninvasive biomarker in many different pathologies. Before assessing whether VOCs can be used to diagnose intestinal diseases, including necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), it is necessary to measure the impact of variable infant demographic factors on VOC signals. Materials and methods Stool samples were collected from term infants at four hospitals in a large metropolitan area. Samples were heated, and fecal VOCs assessed by the Cyranose 320 Electronic Nose. Twenty-eight sensors were combined into an overall smellprint and were also assessed individually. 16s rRNA gene sequencing was used to categorize infant microbiomes. Smellprints were correlated to feeding type (formula versus breastmilk), sex, hospital of birth, and microbial enterotype. Overall smellprints were assessed by PERMANOVA with Euclidean distances, and individual sensors from each smellprint were assessed by Mann-Whitney U-tests. P less then 0.05 was significant. Results Overall smellprints were significantly different according to diet. Individual sensors were significantly different according to sex and hospital of birth, but overall smellprints were not significantly different. Using a decision tree model, two individual sensors could reliably predict microbial enterotype. Conclusions Assessment of fecal VOCs with an electronic nose is impacted by several demographic characteristics of infants and can be used to predict microbiome composition. Further studies are needed to design appropriate algorithms that are able to predict NEC based on fecal VOC profiles.Background and objectives The cognitive model of voices suggests that negative appraisals of hallucinatory experiences result in responses, such as rumination, which maintain voice-hearing. Our principal aim was to investigate the effect of rumination on the frequency of voice-hearing. Methods A two-group randomised experimental design was employed using a non-clinical sample. A total of 106 participants completed baseline measures of trait rumination, hallucination-proneness, mood and state negative affect, and were presented with a voice-hearing paradigm. False feedback designed to cause a negative interpretation of auditory intrusions was provided and participants were randomly allocated to either a distraction or rumination condition. Participants performed the auditory task for a second time, and the total number of false alarms and distress scores were compared between groups. Results A Mann-Whitney U test revealed that the manipulation of rumination was successful (p = 0.007). We did not detect a statistically significant difference between the distraction and rumination groups for total false alarms (p = 0.282) or distress (p = 0.387) scores. Limitations Findings largely relate to a female undergraduate psychology sample. Conclusion Results of this non-clinical study do not support the hypothesis that rumination leads to an increase in the frequency of voice-hearing on a laboratory task.