Introduction: The outbreak of COVID-19 led to lockdown, which in turn led to the closure of schools and colleges. This situation created an opportunity to transform the conventional learning methods into an online or virtual method using various digital platforms. Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences started online classes as an alternative way to resume education during this pandemic. Therefore, this study aims to identify the prevalence of medical science students with a positive attitude towards online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic in a medical college of Kathmandu, Nepal. Methods: The study was conducted among 513 students using descriptive cross-sectional study design who were currently studying Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, Proficiency Certificate Level Nursing, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and Bachelor of Nursing Science under the Nepalese Army Institute of Health Sciences. Data was collected from June-July 2020 through an online self-administered questionnaire using Google forms. The results were presented through frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Results: In this study, 112 (87.5%) Bachelor of Science in Nursing, 189 (83.6%) Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and 63 (82.9%) Bachelor of Science in Nursing students had a positive attitude towards online classes, while 51 (61.5%) of Proficiency Certificate Level Nursing students had a negative attitude towards it. Conclusions: Most bachelor-level students had a positive attitude towards online classes. With apositive attitude, students’ participation and adaptability in online classes will be high, resulting inbetter academic performance.

In humans, myo‐inositol (MI) is catabolized by myo‐inositol oxygenase (MIOX). Depletion of MI is seen in tissues affected by diabetes mellitus such as kidney, nerve and retina. Up‐regulation of MIOX is a likely mechanism of MI depletion in these tissues. This study examines three possible mechanisms for up‐regulation of MIOX: 1) DNA regulatory elements, 2) additional copies of the gene, 3) alternate splicing resulting in other active isoforms. In silico experiments revealed known and novel regulatory elements in the MIOX gene, which are also present in other genes up‐regulated in diabetes, such as aldose reductase. A genomic sequence 86 % identical to the MIOX gene (chromosome 22) was identified in chromosome 8. This appears to be an intronless version of the MIOX gene. Further examination of the sequence revealed a TATA box and regulatory elements, but translation of the sequence resulted in short peptides with minimal identity with MIOX protein. So, this sequence may be considered a pseudogene. This study has also identified four physiologically relevant alternate splice events in MIOX transcripts evident in the EST database. The amino acid sequences of the translated products of these transcripts retain high percent identity with the known MIOX protein. Structural analyses of MIOX protein and its isoforms will indicate whether the isoforms are more active than the known MIOX protein.

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbances of carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. Objective: To compare the biochemical parameters which included glycated hemoglobin, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol of people with diabetes mellitus and matched nondiabetic controls. Methods: The cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted among 60 diabetics and 30 nondiabetic patients. Fasting blood samples of 5 ml were collected from both the study sample and control sample. Biochemical parameters like glycated hemoglobin, serum total cholesterol, serum triglyceride, serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were analyzed with the help of a semi-automated analyzer, Erba Chem5, and Colorimeter-Systronic. Means of glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein were estimatedamong the cases and controls. The student`s t-test was used to compare the mean values. Results: A statistically significant difference was observed in mean glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein among the cases and controls (p-value<0.05). Conclusions: This study concluded that there was a significant difference in mean glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density cholesterol, and low-density cholesterol among the cases and controls. It is suggestive that lipid profile must be considered among diabetic patients which could be beneficial to prevent the risk of cardiovascular complications.

Early Diagnosis of Rheumatic Fever

Introduction: Anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be managed by regular administration of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) and/or blood transfusion. The response to these therapies can be monitored by serial packed cell volume (PCV). Objective: This study was done to compare the temporal changes in PCV after ESA therapy and blood transfusion in patients with recently diagnosed anemia in CKD stage 5 on hemodialysis (CKD 5 HD). Methods: Medical records of patients undergoing hemodialysis at the National Kidney Center, Balaju, Kathmandu from July to September 2013 were examined retrospectively. The data collected were analyzed using Minitab 16. Results: A total of 44 patients were on ESA therapy while 48 patients were on blood transfusion. The mean PCV at the start of blood transfusion was significantly lower than the mean PCV at the start of ESA therapy (p = 0.000) but at four weeks, the mean PCV in blood transfusion group was significantly greater than that in ESA therapy group (p = 0.008). At eight weeks and twelve weeks, the mean PCVs in both groups were not significantly different from each other (p = 0.949 and p = 0.747). Conclusions: Blood transfusion increases PCV immediately and in sustained manner while with ESA therapy, the response takes a longer time to manifest. A large number of non-responders to ESA therapy may have influenced the findings of this study. It is recommended that adequate dosing of ESA and attention to comorbid conditions be followed during ESA therapy. Keywords: Anemia; chronic renal insufficiency; blood transfusion; hematinics.