BackgroundThe extent to which reproductive tract infections (RTIs) are associated with poor menstrual hygiene management (MHM) practices has not been extensively studied. We aimed to determine whether poor menstrual hygiene practices were associated with three common infections of the lower reproductive tract; Bacterial vaginosis (BV), Candida, and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV).MethodsNon-pregnant women of reproductive age (18–45 years) and attending one of two hospitals in Odisha, India, between April 2015 and February 2016 were recruited for the study. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect information on: MHM practices, clinical symptoms for the three infections, and socio-economic and demographic information. Specimens from posterior vaginal fornix were collected using swabs for diagnosis of BV, Candida and TV infection.ResultsA total of 558 women were recruited for the study of whom 62.4% were diagnosed with at least one of the three tested infections and 52% presented with one or more RTI symptoms. BV was the most prevalent infection (41%), followed by Candida infection (34%) and TV infection (5.6%). After adjustment for potentially confounding factors, women diagnosed with Candida infection were more likely to use reusable absorbent material (aPRR = 1.54, 95%CI 1.2–2.0) and practice lower frequency of personal washing (aPRR = 1.34, 95%CI 1.07–1.7). Women with BV were more likely to practice personal washing less frequently (aPRR = 1.25, 95%CI 1.0–1.5), change absorbent material outside a toilet facility (aPRR = 1.21, 95%CI 1.0–1.48) whilst a higher frequency of absorbent material changing was protective (aPRR = 0.56, 95%CI 0.4–0.75). No studied factors were found to be associated with TV infection. In addition, among women reusing absorbent material, Candida but not BV or TV - infection was more frequent who dried their pads inside their houses and who stored the cloth hidden in the toilet compartment.ConclusionThe results of our study add to growing number of studies which demonstrate a strong and consistent association between poor menstrual hygiene practices and higher prevalence of lower RTIs.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12879-018-3384-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Polyvinylalcohol=date palm leaf fiber (PVA=DPL) biocomposites were prepared by the melt mixing fabrication technique with various proportions of fibers. DPL fibers were chemically modified with the purpose of improving the dispersion and better compatibility with PVA matrix. Different chemical processes of modification were adopted and the tensile strengths of both treated and untreated fibers were compared. It was noticed that the tensile strength of acrylic acid treated fiber was optimum in comparison to other methods. The interaction of DPL fibers with PVA matrix were studied by Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) was used to study the morphology of biocomposites. The tensile strength, Young's modulus, elongation at break, flexural strength, and impact strength of PVA=DPL biocomposites were investigated and compared with that of virgin PVA matrix. It was found that the above properties were first increased with fiber loading and then decreased. The optimum properties were obtained at 28 wt% of DPL fiber. The storage modulus and tan delta values of PVA=DPL biocomposites were analyzed. The thermal properties of biocomposites were also studied through the results of thermogravimetric (TGA). POLYM. COMPOS., 34:959-966,

In this research, a newly explored natural fiber named sea purslane fiber (SP) was applied as a reinforcing material with widely used thermosetting polymer epoxy polymer. Chemical treatments on the fibers were done with NaOH followed by acrylic acid treatment. Reinforcing acrylic acid treated and untreated SP fibers at variable weight percentages of fiber loading, variety of composite samples (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 wt%) were developed. The mechanical characteristics of the composites were found to improve initially with increasing filler content until reaching the optimum (20 wt%) fiber loading, after which they began to fall. At 20 wt% filler loading various properties like physical & chemical (density, water absorption, X-ray diffraction), mechanical (tensile, flexural, impact, micro-hardness) and thermal (thermogravimetric analysis) properties were examined and compared with untreated fiber reinforced composites. It was noticed that the treated fiber composites reveal better result as compared with untreated fibers composites. The findings provide manufacturers and engineers with a broad concept of how to use this composite to reduce weight, particularly in automotive applications.