Perception of Alcohol Use and Alcohol Use Disorder among Persons Involved in Road Accidents at an Emergency Department: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Alcohol plays a significant role in road traffic accidents in Ghana. However, little is known about the perspectives of victims who suffer road traffic accidents, RTAs, and the extent to which alcohol use disorder is involved. Methodology: We conducted a three-month cross-sectional study in a teaching hospital involving 102 patients involved in a road accident and presented to the hospital's emergency. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test, AUDIT, was used to assess for Alcohol Use Disorder, AUD, at a score of 8. In addition, we used open-ended questionnaires to assess their perception of alcohol use and road accidents. Results: Of the 102 respondents, 75% were males, and 60% were between 15 and 35 years old. About 69% of respondents admitted to using alcohol, while 31%, including a single female, screened positive for alcohol use disorder. A significant majority of about 90% of respondents believed in some myths of alcohol use in Ghana, and a similar percentage were aware of the risks alcohol use posed to road use. Over 30% of respondents, mainly drivers or riders, had used alcohol within 12 hours of the accident. All but three respondents knew alcohol-induced aggression and poor coordination of movements. A similar number of respondents knew alcohol made people cross roads carelessly and were hyperactive or disinhibited. Conclusion: Alcohol use and alcohol use disorder are significantly high among persons presenting with RTA to the emergency. Knowledge of the deleterious effects of alcohol is high, yet their behavior did not reflect the knowledge. Therefore, a significant reduction in RTA can be achieved by enforcing blood alcohol concentration limits for road users and intensive education to the populace.

Microscopic Characteristics Of Scalp Hair Subjected To Cultural Styling Methods In Ghanaian African Females.

PURPOSE: To provide data for forensic use and provoke ideas to preserve shaft integrity, we studied microstructural alterations of female scalp hair subjected to Ghanaian cultural styling methods. Hence, topographical features of female hairs styled by braiding/weaving, and chemical relaxation sampled from five different scalp regions were assessed and compared with natural (Afro) hair. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Ninety-six indigenous Ghanaian females volunteered 480 hairs, which were analyzed by light microscopy. Hairs were plucked using a pair of cosmetologist's tweezers from frontal, left temporal, right temporal, vertex, and occipital regions of the scalp. Hairs were categorized by their grooming styles as Afro (natural-unstyled), natural-styled (weaved/braided), and chemically relaxed. These were studied according to shaft/medulla dimensions and conventional cuticular scale features, and comparisons were made between styling procedures and scalp regions. RESULTS: Chemically styled hair had the widest shaft diameter, but the lowest incidence of continuous medullation. Medullary diameter and index increased from chemically relaxed, natural-styled, to Afro hair. A positive but modest correlation between shaft and medullary diameters existed for Afro (r = 0.320, p = 0.011) and natural-styled hairs (r = 0.235, p = 0.022) but not chemically relaxed hair (r = 0.122, p = 0.2). Scale margins were predominantly smooth in Afro hair, crenate in natural-styled hair, and rippled in chemically relaxed hair. With respect to scalp regions, hair shaft diameter was widest in vertex hair and smallest in right temporal hair in all styling methods. CONCLUSION: Medulla was thickest in Afro hair, which also exhibited a correlation with shaft diameter in conformity with the published data. Chemically relaxed hairs did not exhibit these characteristics, which affirm altered morphology. Research on how chemicals affect these changes should help find antidote. The dimensional variations of hairs from different scalp regions are instructive for both cosmetic and forensic examination of hairs.

Natural cocoa inhibits maternal hypercholesterolaemia-induced atherogenesis in rabbit pups.

Atherosclerosis begins during foetal development and is enhanced by maternal hypercholesterolaemia during pregnancy. This study assessed the effect of natural cocoa on atherosclerosis in offspring conceived in maternal hypercholesterolaemia. Female rabbits were fed a cholesterol-enriched diet for two weeks and hypercholesterolaemia was confirmed, after which they were crossed with normocholesterolaemic males. One group of hypercholesterolaemic mothers (HCC) received natural cocoa powder (NCP) in their drinking water, whereas the other group (HC) received only water. Histological analysis of three segments of the aorta (arch, thoracic and abdominal) from offspring of both groups was compared with a control group (NC). Intima-media thickness of the aortic arch in offspring born to hypercholesterolaemic rabbits (HC: 146 µm) was higher compared to HCC (99 µm) and control rabbits (58.5 µm). All the sections from the aortic arch of the HC group had atherosclerotic lesions while none of the sections of the aortic arch from the NC and HCC groups had lesions present. Inferentially, regular and voluntary consumption of NCP during pregnancy may inhibit aortic atherogenesis in offspring of hypercholesterolaemic mothers.

Light Microscopic Morphology of Indigenous Ghanaian African Hair from Scalp, Eyebrow, Axilla, and Pubic Regions.

CONTEXT: Relatively scanty literature on autochthonic African Negroid hair morphology provokes research interest for anthropological, forensic, and cosmetic purposes. AIMS: This study aimed to contribute basic morphological information on Ghanaian African hairs. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was done in selected second-cycle schools in Accra, Ghana, using convenient sampling. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Hairs were obtained by pluck method, from 30 males and 30 females aged 15-20 years. Ghanaian African autochthony was established if individuals had two generations of indigenous Ghanaian parentage. Scalp, eyebrow, axilla, and pubic hairs were image captured using a digital light microscope eyepiece connected to a computer. Diameters of hair strands were measured; types of the medulla and the form and shape of the hair roots were studied. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: ANOVA test (SPSS Version 17.0) was used to compare the means of quantitative hair features among the sexes and the four regions of the body studied. RESULTS: Pubic hair shaft was thickest (respective male and female diameters were 100.21 µm, 88.40 µm) and eyebrow hair was thinnest (53.97 and 46.69-µm diameters in males and females, respectively). Axillary and scalp hairs were the closest in diameters with 76.21 and 72.02 µm, respectively, in males and 73.07 and 71.15 µm, respectively, in females. Continuous type medulla was predominant in all hairs, with a trend of percentage occurrence in descending order from the pubic, axilla, eyebrow, and scalp in both sexes. CONCLUSIONS: Bodily regional differences in diameter of hair shaft and medullary presence were affirmed.

An ultrasonographic analysis of the activation patterns of abdominal muscles in children with spastic type cerebral palsy and in typically developing individuals: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal muscles have stiffer appearance in individuals with spastic type cerebral palsy (STCP) than in their typically developing (TD) peers. This apparent stiffness has been implicated in pelvic instability, mal-rotation, poor gait and locomotion. This study was aimed at investigating whether abdominal muscles activation patterns from rest to activity differ in the two groups. METHOD: From ultrasound images, abdominal muscles thickness during the resting and active stages was measured in 63 STCP and 82 TD children. The thickness at each stage and the change in thickness from rest to activity were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Rectus abdominis (RA) muscle was the thickest muscle at rest as well as in active stage in both groups. At rest, all muscles were significantly thicker in the STCP children (p <  0.001). From rest to active stages muscle thickness significantly increased (p <  0.001) in the TD group and significantly decreased (p <  0.001) in the STCP children, except for RA, which became thicker during activity in both groups. In active stages, no significant differences in the thickness in the four abdominal muscles were found between the STCP and the TD children. CONCLUSION: Apart from the RA muscle, the activation pattern of abdominal muscles in individuals with STCP differs from that of TD individuals. Further studies required for understanding the activation patterns of abdominal muscles prior to any physical fitness programmes aimed at improving the quality of life in individuals with STCP. TRIAL REGISTRATION: HREC REF: 490/2011. Human Research Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. November 17, 2011.