Magaji G. Taura

Variation in the lobar pattern of the right and left lungs: A case report

The right lung has three lobes and two fissures while the left lung has two lobes and one fissure. During a routine dissection we observed a variant complete fissure and three incomplete fissures in the right lung while the left lung presented with a variant transverse fissure separating the superior lingual and anterior bronchopulmonary segments. In the right lung, the incomplete fissures lie between the apical and posterior bronchopulmonary segments; medial and lateral bronchopulmonary segments; apical and basal bronchopulmonary segments. The complete variant fissure separates the medial basal bronchopulmonary segment from the remaining basal segments. Such variant fissures and lobes are clinically important in cases of lobotomy.

Neck circumference: An upcoming tool of adiposity indices

Context: Obesity is one of the most significant contributors to ill health competing with under-nutrition and infectious diseases. Aims: The aims of the study were to determine the presence and level of sexual dimorphism in adiposity indices, correlation of neck circumference (NC) and body mass index (BMI) with other adiposity indices such as waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-height ratio (WHtR) and also to encourage the uses of neck circumferences as valuable tool in assessing upper body central adiposity index. Settings and Design: The study population included 71 undergraduate participants (41 Males and 30 Females) with mean age of 22.68 ΁ 4.23 years. Subjects and Methods: Anthropometric measurements of height, weight, NC, WC and HC were obtained following standard protocols. Statistical Analysis Used: Independent t -test and Pearsons correlation were employed to compare and find the relationship between the variables, using SPSS version 17. Significance level was considered at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The result shows that there was statistically significant ( P r = 0.8, P r = 0.7, P r = 0.7, P Conclusions: Despite the low level of correlation of NC with other adiposity indices compared to the BMI, the NC may serve as an important tool for the assessment of upper body adiposity.

Sex prediction using ridge density and thickness among the Hausa ethnic group of Kano state, Nigeria

Abstract The aim of the study was to determine sexual dimorphism and to predict sex using thumbprint ridge density and thickness among the Hausa ethnic group of Nigeria. A total of 283 subjects comprising 147 males and 136 females participated in the study. The density was determined from the count of ridges found diagonally within 25 mm2 using an indirect method of ridge thickness measurement. The results showed that the ulnar ridge density of males (10.01 ± 1.31) was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that of females (10.91 ± 1.69) in the right thumb. The ridge thickness was observed to have an inverse relation with ridge density. It was also noted that the right ulnar ridge count was the single best variable to predict sex (63.4% accuracy). For the left thumbprints, the proximal ridge thickness predicted the sex (62.8% accuracy). The predicted probabilities of binary logistic regression showed that ulnar ridge count and proximal ridge thickness were the best predictors with a higher area under the curve (>0.5) in the right and left thumbprints respectively. In conclusion, different regions of thumbprints have different potentials in term of sex prediction. Ridge density and thickness hold potential as tools for sex inference among the Hausa population of Nigeria.

Evaluation of Facial Proportions and Their Association with Thumbprint Patterns among Hausa Ethnic Group

Background. Evolutionary forces such as founder effect resulted in reproductive isolation and reduced genetic diversity may have led to ethnic variation in the facial appearance and other features like fingerprints pattern. Aim. To determine the pattern of facial proportion based on neoclassical facial canon. The associations between facial proportions and thumbprint patterns were also investigated. Subject and Methods. A total of 534 subjects of 18–25 years of age participated. Direct sensing and photographs methods were used to determine fingerprint and facial features, respectively. Fisher’s Exact test was used to test for association between variables. Results. It was observed that in both males and females there was no (0%) occurrence of classical canon of facial proportion. There was also no association between sex and facial proportions. A significant association was found in between thumbprint patterns and vertical class III neoclassical facial proportion only when the frequency of both left and right thumbprint patterns was considered a single entity. There is no significant association between the thumbprint patterns of the right and left thumbs with vertical horizontal facial proportions in male and female participants. It was observed that right and left thumbs have more tendency of significance with facial proportion in males and females, respectively. Conclusion. Fingerprint pattern and its associated features may be controlled by a different mechanism such that the two may correlate differently with other features as the case may be with facial features.

Variation of facial features among three African populations: Body height match analyses

Body height is one of the variables that show a correlation with facial craniometry. Here we seek to discriminate the three populations (Nigerians, Ugandans and Kenyans) using facial craniometry based on different categories of body height of adult males. A total of 513 individuals comprising 234 Nigerians, 169 Ugandans and 110 Kenyans with mean age of 25.27, s=5.13 (18-40 years) participated. Paired and unpaired facial features were measured using direct craniometry. Multivariate and stepwise discriminate function analyses were used for differentiation of the three populations. The result showed significant overall facial differences among the three populations in all the body height categories. Skull height, total facial height, outer canthal distance, exophthalmometry, right ear width and nasal length were significantly different among the three different populations irrespective of body height categories. Other variables were sensitive to body height. Stepwise discriminant function analyses included maximum of six variables for better discrimination between the three populations. The single best discriminator of the groups was total facial height, however, for body height >1.70m the single best discriminator was nasal length. Most of the variables were better used with function 1, hence, better discrimination than function 2. In conclusion, adult body height in addition to other factors such as age, sex, and ethnicity should be considered in making decision on facial craniometry. However, not all the facial linear dimensions were sensitive to body height.

Prediction of Nasolabial Distance using Thumbprint Ridge Density among the Hausa Population of Nigeria

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the potentials of thumbprint ridge count in the prediction of nasolabial facial distances among the Hausa population of Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which a total of 457 subjects participated. Plain fingerprints were captured using a fingerprint scanner. Three areas, ulnar, radial and proximal were defined for determination of ridge counts. A photographic method was used to capture the facial images. Pearson’s correlation analysis was used to measure the linear dependence between thumbprint ridge density and Nasolabial distances. Stepwise linear multiple regression analysis was used to predict nasolabial distances from thumbprint ridge density. SPSS statistical software version 20 was used for the statistical analysis and a p -value of < 0.05 was set as a level of significance. Results: Results showed that in males left proximal ridge count correlates negatively with nasal length, philtrum length, and upper lip length and mouth width. The upper lip length and nasal width correlate negatively with left ulnar ridge count and right radial ridge counts, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between ulnar ridge count with nasal length and lower vermilion width. In females, appositive correlation was observed only between lower vermilion width and left proximal ridge counts. Left proximal ridge counts predict most of the nasolabial distances in males. In females, only the left proximal ridge counts showed potential in the prediction of facial distances. Conclusion: The study concluded that the thumbprint correlates with facial distances of the nasolabial region. The proximal part of the thumbprint may respond to the same instruction in utero with the lower part of the face, hence leading to the prediction of nasolabial facial distances from the proximal ridge counts among the Hausa population of Nigeria.