Association between Facial Types and Handedness among Students of Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences Bayero University, Kano

Background: Generally, a person's dominant hand is a simple and precise determinant of his preference for hand use in fine manual tasks. The main tools used in forensics are derived from the relationships between anthropometric features with important physical and /or biological traits. Objective: This study was to determine the association between facial types and handedness among students of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences of Bayero University, Kano. Methodology: Cross-sectional study design with a consecutive sampling of 400 (180 males and 220 females) students (aged 18 and above) of the Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences Bayero University, Kano was carried out. Facial height (FH) and facial width (FW) were measured using established landmarks and the facial index (FI) was calculated from them. The dominant handedness of each participant was determined using the writing component of the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. This procedure involved asking the participants to mention which of their hands was dominant. The participant was then asked to write a sentence regarding the activitieshe/she was carrying out at the point of recruitment to ascertain the claim made by the participants. The sentence was written separately using each hand. All the data obtained were analyzed using statistical software (SPSS version 20.0). Results: The study population was relatively young (21.76 ± 2.77 years). Right-handedness was the commonest hand dominance observed in both males (90.7%) and females (91.7%). The commonest types of face were the hypereuriproscopic 2 (0.5%), Euriproscopic 41 (10.3%), Mesoproscopic 78 (19.5%), Leptoproscopic 127 (31.8%) and Hyperleptoproscopic 152 (37%) facial types. The majority of the participants were right-handed and this was regardless of gender. The prediction of handedness based on facial types (ꭕ2 = 1.39, Df =3, P = 0.85) or facial index (P = 0.92, OR=0.99, CI = 0.82 ­ 1.19) was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The facial types identified among the study population were not associated with their handedness and thus it was not a good predictor of handedness

Oxidative stress and lipid profile among hypertensive patients at a tertiary centre in Kano, Northwest, Nigeria

Background: Hypertension as a global public health challenge is a major risk factor for cardiovascular (CVD) and coronary heart diseases (CHD) because of its chronic sequelae. It is accompanied by dyslipidemia and oxidative stress leading to increase in lipid peroxidation. This study aimed to measure the fasting serum lipid profile and malondialdehyde (MDA) and determine the atherogenic index as well as the cardiovascular risk ratio among hypertensive patients in Kano, Nigeria. Patients and Methods: Two hundred subjects (100 hypertensive patients vs. 100 normotensive controls) were recruited for the study. The fasting serum lipid profile and MDA were assayed using routine laboratory methods. Lipid ratios that predict and identify an individual's increased risk for cardiovascular diseases were then determined from the results of the profile. Results: The serum total cholesterol (7.0±0.5 vs 4.1±0.4 mmol/L), triglycerides (2.9±0.2 vs 2.0±0.3 mmol/Lg/dl), LDL cholesterol (3.8±0.4 vs 2.6±0.4 mmol/L), VLDL cholesterol (3.0±0.2 vs 2.1±0.2 mmol/L) and MDA (TBARS) (9×10-5±1.4×10-5 vs 3×106±0.9×10-6 mol/l) were significantly (p<0.05) increase in hypertensive patients compared to normotensive controls. HDL cholesterol was significantly higher (p<0.05) in normotensive controls compared to hypertensive patients (31.4±8 vs 23.9±6 mg/dl). A statistically significant (p<0.05) positive correlation was observed between LDL cholesterol and MDA only. Both the atherogenic index (AI) ratio and the CardioRisk ratio were significantly higher in Hypertensives than Normal controls (10.4 vs 4.1; 11.7 vs 5.1 respectively). Conclusion: This study demonstrated an increased occurrence of atherogenic lipid profile and oxidative stress among hypertensive patients. It further showed a strong correlation between dyslipidaemia and oxidative stress. Therapeutic lifestyle changes and use of statins should be considered an integral part of the treatment for hypertensive patients in Nigeria

Capillary hemangioma of the gingiva in an adult: a rare case report

Objective: We report a case of a 40-year-old female with gingival overgrowth in the right maxillary anterior region which has been excised at a peripheral hospital that caused displacement, mobility of associated teeth and lip incompetency. Case description: A case of recurrent gingival overgrowth in the right maxillary anterior region in a 40-year-old female with associated teeth displacement and mobility and lip incompetency. There was a radiologic evidence of bone loss. Excisional biopsy was carried out and the histologic diagnosis was Capillary Hemangioma. Conclusion: Capillary Hemangioma should be considered as one of the differential diagnosis in cases of gingival overgrowth ofmaxillary anterior region, which mimics pyogenic granuloma

Antimicrobial resistance activity and molecular characterization of methicillin-resistant staphylococci isolates in Tripoli Central Hospital, Libya

Background: Nosocomial infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococci could lead to increased morbidity and mortality, but little is known about the prevalence of infections with these organisms in healthcare facilities and in the community in Tripoli. This study investigated the in vitro susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci (MRCNS) to antimicrobial agents, and determined the molecular characteristics of MRSA.Methods: This is a retrospective observational study aiming at determining the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of (MRSA) and (MRCNS) isolated from non-duplicated clinical specimens in Tripoli Central Hospital (TCH) between June 2013 and June 2014. Isolates were identified using standard laboratory procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were carried out by disk diffusion method and automated systems. DNA of the MRSA isolates was used for PCR to determine the molecular analysis.Results: 218 isolates of Staphylococci were obtained, 71.6% were coagulase positive staphylococci (CPS) and 28.4% were coagulase negative staphylococci (CNS). 39.7% of CPS were MRSA, while 75.8% of CNS were MRCNS. The rates of hospital-acquired MRSA (HA-MRSA) and community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) among MRSA isolates were 61.3% and 38.7% respectively. A similar trend was detected among MRCNS isolates, where 74.5% were HA-MRCNS and 25.5% were CA-MRCNS. All the MRSA and MRCNS isolates were susceptible (100%) to vancomycin, tigecycline, linezolid, quinupristin/dalfopristin, daptomycin and moxifloxacin. Generally, hospital-acquired strains showed higher resistance rates than community-acquired ones to the most commonly tested non-beta-lactam antibiotics. 35.5% of all staphylococcal isolates exhibited mecA+ gene and 12.9% expressed mecC+. Meanwhile, 38.7% of MRSA isolates harbored both mecA and mecC. However, 12.9% of MSSA isolates were negative for both mecA and mecC. The mecA gene was detectable in 59.1% and 40.9 % of HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA isolates respectively.Conclusion: Hospital-acquired MRSA and MRCNS isolates had higher resistance rates to non-beta lactam antimicrobial drugs than the respective community-acquired isolates. This was shown by early detection of mecC gene among MRSA isolates