Morphological analysis of human hair among Ashanti and Dagomba ethnic groups of Ghana
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Date
September, 2017
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Abstract
Hair is an important piece of evidence in forensic investigations. Analysis of the morphological features (medulla) of hair has been reported since the early 1800's. However, many questions still remain unanswered especially as to, how local populations could be analysed and separated from each other based on the morphology (medulla) of their hair?This investigation examined the medulla types of hair among Ashanti and Dagomba ethnic groups of Ghana by using the Comparison and Compound microscopy together with Computer imaging.Statistical analysis was performed on the data to determine the variability and relationships between the populations. Generally, 51.5% of the Ashanti population examined had no medulla while of the Dagomba 33 % have no medulla and 48.5% and 33% have at least one of the three type medulla respectively . There was no significant difference between the two ethnic groups examined with respect to hair medulla index, medulla diameter or hair shaft diameter. The closerelationship and overlap between these two populations is a limiting factor in attempting to discriminate between these two populations using their medulla morphology and should be taken into account in future investigations.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Forensic Science.