Fingerprints are classified and documented on the basis of ridge patterns. The impressions made by the pattern of any individual remain unchanged throughout life. The study was carried out on 400 individuals among which 200 were males and 200 were females subjects having different ABO blood groups, all the 10 fingerprints were divided into loops, whorl and arches. The results showed that majority of the subjects belonged to blood group O. The finger print pattern of loops had the highest frequency while arches were the least. Blood group O were mostly associated with the loop pattern while AB had the least frequency in all the fingerprint patterns. Males had the highest number with the loops and whorls while females had the highest number of arches. It was concluded that there was an association between distribution of fingerprint patterns, blood group and gender and thus prediction of gender and blood group of a person was possible based on the fingerprint patterns.

No abstract

Lamivudine is an anti-retroviral drug used for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis B. It is one of the essential medicines needed in a basic health system. This study was carried out to investigate the detrimental effect of lamivudine on the cerebellum based on the adverse effects of gait disorders manifested by patients using lamivudine. Twenty male Wistar rats divided into two groups of ten rats each were used for the study. Control group A was administered with 1ml of distilled water, while treatment group B was treated with 4.28mg/kg of lamivudine daily for 30 days. On the 30 th day, the rats were euthanized and each cerebellum was harvested immediately. The cerebella were put through routine tissue processing for H/E staining and GFAP immunohistochemical method. The resulting specimens were mounted with DPX and viewed under the light microscope at ×400. Photomicrographs showed shrunken Purkinje cells and distorted granular layer in the cerebellum of group B rats while those of group A rats were healthy. Also, image J counting showed reduced number of cells in the lamivudine group. This correlated with the higher staining intensity for GFAP in the granular layer of group B rats suggesting cellular inflammation and damage. More research is needed to ascertain the molecular mechanism of these distortions.

No abstract

The ability to estimate the length of the bone is a major step towards estimating the stature of an individual in forensic investigation of mass fatalities where body parts are dismembered, scattered and mixed up. This is so because researchers have established that long bone length correlates with stature. Nine parameters of the tibia bone were measured using anthropometric board, anthropometric tape and digital caliper. Five of the nine parameters that could be read on anterior-posterior x-ray radiograph of the tibia measured using a transparent meter rule were used in this study. A total of 600 sample of N = 600, (300 right and 300 left bones) and (320 males: right = 160; left = 160; 280 females: right = 140; left 140 radiographs) obtained from Anatomy museums and hospitals in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria were used in this study. No significant difference (p < 0.05) in the mean value was found between measurements from the bones and those from the anteroposterior x-ray radiographs. The difference in mean for all variables were seen to be significantly (p < 0.05) higher for males compared to females. Results show that the tibia proximal breadth (TPB), medial-lateral diameter at mid-shaft (MLDM) and tibia distal breadth (TDB) were the best predictors of the length of tibia. Thus, in cases of mass fatalities as could happen in a plane crash or bomb blast, the estimate of the fragmented remains of the tibia, when compared with the estimate from an anti-mortem x-ray radiograph, may reveal the identity of the missing individual.