An ode on the odyssey of lipids.

The poem Ode on the Odyssey of lipoproteins describes the structure, functions and metabolism of lipoproteins namely Chylomicrons, LDL, VLDL and HDL. This poem is a triolet with eight lines in each stanza. Odyssey is the travel experience of an adventurous journey when someone travels far and wide. This poem describes the transport adventures of Lipids when they travel in the form of lipoproteins. The poetic form of describing the metabolism of lipoproteins was intended to kindle the interest of the learners and to gain an imaginary experience in the metabolism of lipoproteins.

Comparison of academic performance of medical undergraduate students between routine class room teaching and online assisted teaching in biochemistry during COVID pandemic.

The new curriculum of competency based medical education (CBME) implemented for phase1 medical undergraduates could not go on to completion due to the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The educational institutions therefore resorted to online teaching modalities over conventional class room teachings. Hence this study aimed to compare the academic performance of students between routine classroom teaching and online assisted teaching with assignments.94 phase 1 MBBS students admitted in the year 2019-2020 was divided into low (<50%), medium (51%-70%) and high performers (71%-100%) based on the average marks in the initial formative assessments. Academic performance of students in three types of teaching modalities namely classroom teaching (CRT), classroom teaching with assignment (CRA), and online assisted teaching (OAT) were compared using ANOVA. Wilcoxon signed ranks test was used to find the difference in marks between CRT and CRA which was calculated as gain 1 and that between OAT and CRT is gain 2. Out of 94 students, 19 were low performers, 53 were medium performers and 22 were high performers when grouped at baseline. All these groups performed significantly well with OAT compared to CRT and CRA. The overall performance of girls was found to be significantly higher. There was no significant difference between Gain 1 and Gain 2. All group of students scored high in assessments following online teaching compared to conventional classroom teaching. The gain of online teaching did not outweigh the conventional teaching methods implying that face to face lectures is still an effective teaching modality.

A Study on Omentin-1 and Prostate Specific Antigen in Women on Treatment for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Omentin-1 and prostate specific antigen (PSA) are known to be markers of insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism respectively in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study aimed to assess the changes in serum omentin-1 and PSA levels in PCOS patients while on treatment. Serum omentin-1, PSA, BMI and Ferriman gallwey score (FG score) were measured in 80 women with PCOS. The subjects were treated depending on their presenting complaints. The parameters were analysed at baseline and after 3 months of treatment viz. lifestyle modification (Group I), oral contraceptive pills (OCP) (Group II), clomiphene citrate (Group III), medroxy progesterone acetate (Group IV) or metformin (Group V) and was compared using paired-t test. Group II showed significant increase in serum omentin-1 (271.7 ± 112.2 vs 378.1 ± 242 ng/ml; P = 0.025) and decrease in serum PSA (0.014 ± 0.02 vs 0.005 ± 0.008 ng/ml; P = 0.027) after 3 cycles of OCP. Group I and IV also showed a decrease in serum PSA while FG score decreased in group II and group III. There was a negative correlation observed between serum omentin-1 and BMI. To conclude, PCOS women showed increase in serum omentin-1 levels after 3 cycles of OCP while serum PSA decreased after 3 months of lifestyle modification or on treatment with OCP or medroxy progesterone acetate.