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The Wonderful World of Hairs and Fibers. Different Scopes used to analyze hair and fiber. Compound light Comparison Dissecting Polarized Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Stages of Hair “Life”. Anagen Growing stage Up to 6 years possible Root shaped like “flame”
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Different Scopes used to analyze hair and fiber • Compound light • Comparison • Dissecting • Polarized • Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)
Stages of Hair “Life” • Anagen • Growing stage • Up to 6 years possible • Root shaped like “flame” • Hair grows ~1cm/month (1” every 10 weeks)
Stages of Hair “Life” • Catagen • ~3 weeks long • Dormant, resting stage • Root gets longer and thinner
Stages of Hair “Life” • Telogen • ~6 months • Root • Club shaped • Pushes out and is shed • Lose approximately 70 hairs/day
Human Hair Parts • 1. Root • 2. Follicle • 3. Shaft • 4. Tip 4 2 3 1
Human Hair Parts • 1. Distal (tip) • 2. Proximal (root end) • 3. Medulla • 4. Cuticle (contains scale pattern) • 5. Cortex 1 4 3 5 2
Scale patterns • Imbricated • Mosaic • Petal • Pectinate • Chevron
Medulla Types • Continuous • Fragmented • Intermittent/interrupted
Medullary Index of Hair • To find the MI • Diameter of medulla/hair shaft diameter • Humans = <1/3 • Other animals = >1/2 • Classify Medulla as: • Continuous, Interrupted, Fragmented, or Absent
Example Medulla Patterns that can be seen • Lattice • Vacuolated • Uniserial • Multiserial
Deer, Dog & Muskrat hair Deer Muskrat
Which is Caucasian, Negroid, Mongoloid Head Hair? Caucasian, Europeans, Mexicans, Middle Easterners: oval to round Negroid, Africans oval to flat Mongoloid, Orientals, American Indians: round
Pulled Hair v. Shed Hair Anagen Stage Pulled Hair Telogen stage
Razor, Cut hair & Split hair Split Razor Cut
Hair match • This is the view that a comparison scope can give when comparing two matching hairs
Dust Mite The small things in life Eyelash mites Bedbug feeding on flesh
Types of fibers • Natural fibers • Animal fibers are most common at crime scene • Man-made
Natural fibers • Animal: • Wool from sheep most common • Goats, camel, alpaca, rabbit, mink, llamas, beaver • Plant: • Cotton most common • Flax (linen), ramie, sisal, jute, hemp • Excrement: • Silk from silkworm (cellulose from mulberry leaves) • Mineral: • Asbestos
Wool fibers v. Cotton fibers Cotton Wool
Silk fibers • Raw thrown • Wild silk
Man-Made fibers • Regenerated fibers • Machine made from natural materials like cotton or wood • 1910 rayon, then acetate, then triacetate • Synthetic fibers • Most fibers are made synthetically from chemicals • 1939 nylon, then polyester and acrylic • Shape or cross-section can determine value of the fiber; manufacturer specific