RESUMO
Background and objectives: Tribal men’s reluctance in sharing responsibilities as supportive partners in reproductive and sexual health matters debar women from their sexual rights coupled with their negligence in health care and lesser utilization of reproductive health facilities. As a matter of fact a large proportion of ill health particularly related to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) suffered not only by men but also by their spouses. The present study was planned among one of the primitive tribes of Madhya Pradesh to understand the knowledge of males about reproductive tract infection (RTI)/STI/HIV/AIDS, RTI symptoms suffered, perception on sexual health, utilization of health services and to improve the knowledge by intervention of need based IEC (information, education, communication) strategy. Method: The study was conducted among 400 currently married men in the age group of 15-40 yr in one of the primitive tribes, Baigas of Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh. Eighteen villages were explored in the study. The IEC intervention was made by using quasi-experimental before and after with control design. Result: The baseline data generated indicated that Baigas male were poorly informed about RTI (18%), STI (21.5%) and HIV/AIDS (10%). Further, men also projected misconception on different aspects of sexuality. Women’s views recorded also suggested a disturbing trend regarding male involvement in reproductive health particularly related to STIs. Interpretation & conclusions: After intervention of IEC targeting male population in age group 15 - 40 yr by adopting a before and after with controls design the awareness was improved significantly. The utilization of the health services was also improved significantly. The study recommends replication of the IEC strategy designed in other Baiga villages for improving the reproductive health of the tribe.
RESUMO
The objective of the study was to check the laccase (purified from Hypsizygus ulmarius) for decolorization of different dyes. The purified laccase from Hypsizygus ulmarius was studied for its decolorization of different dyes (Remazol brilliant blue R (RBBR), Alizarin red, Congo red, methyl orange and methyl violet). The results indicated that the percent of decolorization was increased when the time course and enzyme concentration was increased. The purified laccase showed maximum amount of decolorization in RBBR (85%) and followed by Methyl Orange (75%), Alizarin Red (73%), Methyl Violet (72%) and Congo Red (69%) without any additional redox mediator which suggest that this enzyme could be used in industries for effluent treatment.