Background:In today's world, use of Internet has become indispensable. Medical students have much to gain from the Internet technology that has revolutionized the medical field. There is a very rapid change in the way communication technology is being handled and our medical students should also be ready to embrace it. Very few studies have been done on this topic in India. The aim was to find out the knowledge, practice, and barriers of Internet use among the medical undergraduates of Subharti Medical College, Meerut.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted among the MBBS students belonging to the first, second, third, and fourth years of their course during August to October 2009. A pretested questionnaire was used collecting information on their Internet usage patterns, knowledge about information technology, and barriers to using it. Data were entered in Microsoft Excel and appropriate statistical tests were applied for analysis.Results:The proportion of respondents having a laptop were more in cohort of students belonging to the admission year 2009 (65.8%) followed by 2008 (54.7%), 2007 (53.0%), and 2006 (38.0%), i.e., a gradual increase in newer cohorts. About half (57.4%) of the students had some sort of formal training in computer and Internet use. Knowledge about Internet was more among the junior cohorts compared to the senior cohorts (P<0.0001). Only about one-fifths of the respondents used Internet for searching literature for projects from medical journals on the Internet. Majority of the respondents accessed Internet for less than 3 hours per week. About one-tenth (8.0%) of the students felt that Internet is totally useless in medical field. The major barrier (54.4% of the respondents) to using Internet was lack of time.Conclusions:Further research should focus on designing and implementing computer and Internet training for medical students.

Integrons by means of horizontal gene transfer carry multidrug resistance genes (MDR) among bacteria, including E. coli. The aim of this study was to determine the antibiotic resistance profiles and the genes associated with them, to gain insights in the distribution of phylogroups, prevalence, and characterization of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons among Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) isolates, from children upto 5 years of age from Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR), India. A total of 120 E. coli isolates, including 80 from diarrheagenic E. coli (cases) and 40 from healthy isolates (controls) were recruited in this study. After isolation of E. coli, screening for EPEC was done by conventional multiplex PCR. Antibiotic suseptibility test was performed using disk diffusion method and further confirmed by minimum inhibitory concentration (MICs) by E-test. The presence and characterization of integrons and antimicrobial resistance genes were performed by PCR and DNA sequencing. Phylogeny determination was carried out by quadruplex PCR. EPEC strains were found in 64 of the 80 diarrheagenic cases, out of which 38 were MDR. In the 40 healthy controls, 23 were found to be EPEC strain, out of which only 2 were MDR. Amongst 80 diarrheagenic cases, class 1 integron were observed in 43 isolates, class 2 integron in 12 isolates and 9 isolates were found with co-existence of both. Similarly, in healthy controls; class 1 integron in 9 and class 2 integron in 7 isolates were observed with co-existence in 3 isolates. None of the isolates included class 3 integron. The dfr was the most commonly identified gene cassette within the integron-positive isolates. Phylogenetic studies showed considerable representation of phylogroup B2 in both diarrheagenic cases and healthy controls. This study reiterates the importance of class 1 integron predominantly for acquisition of antibiotic resistance genes among EPEC isolates. Furthermore, it also ascertains the possible association between multidrug resistance and presence of integrons. Approximately 91% of isolates were easily assigned to their respective phylogroups. Assessment of the relationship between antibiotic resistance and dominant phylogroups detected was also attempted. This study also highlights the increased burden of antimicrobial resistance in healthy controls.

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Janani Suraksha Yojana: Its utilization and perception among mothers and health care providers in a rural area of North IndiaBackground: Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) is a maternal protection scheme that promotes institutional delivery by providing cash incentive to the mothers who deliver their babies in a health facility. With the purpose of improving maternal and neo-natal mortality and morbidity indicators, the investment and emphasis on JSY is continued. Utilization pattern and perception in the community regarding a particular health program is important to study for assessing the success or failure of the program. Objectives: To assess the utilization of JSY and its perception among mothers and health care providers. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, crosssectional, community based study was Conducted at Agra district of Uttar Pradesh, among 246 married women of reproductive age group who had childbirth after JSY implementation for assessing their utilization pattern and perception regarding JSY services. Perception regarding the strengths and weaknesses of JSY among the health care providers was also studied. Results: Nearly half (53.25%) of the mothers studied had an institutional delivery and were eligible for the JSY benefi ts. Postnatal home visits by Accredited Social Health Activists were done in 48% of home and 100% of institutional deliveries. Nearly half (48.09%) of the benefi ciaries were benefi ted by free transport facility under JSY. Although all of the health care providers perceived JSY as benefi cial for improving maternal health, 44% of them had the notion that cash incentives under JSY can have a negative effect on family planning practices. Conclusion: The utilization rate of the JSY services was found to be low in certain aspects like institutional deliveries, transport facility etc., and there is scope for improvement. Key words: Institutional delivery, Janani Suraksha Yojana, perception, utilizationOriginal Article INTRODUCTIONGlobal data show that maternal mortality ratio (MMR) ranges from 8/100,000 live births in developed countries to 500/100,000 live births in developing regions. There is gradual improvement in the scenario in the previous year.[1] In India, the MMR declined from about 520/100,000 live births in 1990 to nearly 254/100,000 in 2004-2006 and to 212/100,000 in 2007-2009. [2] Despite this progress, the numbers of maternal deaths remained high, that is, 56,000 deaths in the year 2010, due to pregnancy related causes, the main cause of which is that a large number of deliveries are being conducted at home by untrained persons. [1] "Janani Suraksha Yojana" (JSY) is the name in Hindi language that literally means "maternal protection scheme." JSY is an ambitious scheme launched in 2005 under the National Rural Health Mission, the Government of India's fl agship health programme. The scheme is intervention for safe motherhood and seeks to reduce maternal and neo-natal mortality by promoting institutional delivery, that is, by providing a cash incentive to mothers who ...