Human Hair

The results of the analysis of hair remains from a hunter-gatherer grave from northern Patagonia are presented in this paper. One of the samples analyzed consisted in hair that remained attached to the hide used to manufacture a small pouch left in the burial pit as a funerary offering. The second sample was taken from the inside of the same pouch. The hair taxonomic determination was performed by considering cross-sections of the hairs, the patterns of the medulla, and the shape and disposition of the cuticle scales by microscopic observation of molds of the hair surfaces. Samples were identified as Lagidium viscacia and Homo sapiens, respectively. These results provide the first evidence of both the exploitation of small mammal (Lagidium) hide and the offering of human hair in a grave, among Patagonian hunter-gatherers.

Herbs & herbal drugs are clinically proved good for hair growth. Hair loss problem is
of great concern to both males & females & the main problems associated with hair loss are hair fading, dandruff & falling of hair. Various synthetic medicines are available for hair loss which does not treat permanently & also shows severe side effects. The main objective of this work is to develop such an herbal hair oil formulation which can resolve the problem related to hair fall & other hair diseases. Herbal drugs like Emblica officinalis, Bacopa monniera and Cyperus rotundus were selected for the formulations of poly herbal hair oil. The hair oil was prepared individually and in a varying concentration of all three herbs and a mixture of all the three herbs in fixed proportion using coconut oil as base. The formulated oil in varying concentration was evaluated physical, chemical and hair growth properties of formulated oil by applying it topically on shaved skin of albino rats. Primary skin irritation test, hair length test were performed and the hair growth was compared with standard Minoxidil 2% ethanolic solution using healthy albino rats. It was observed that hair oil formulation (HF3) showed the best result among the other formulation evaluated by showing an enlargement of follicular size and prolongation of the anagen phase.

In the last few decades, a curious thing has happened to Herbal medicines. Instead of being killed off by medical science and pharmaceutical chemistry, it has made come back. Herbal medicine has benefited from the objective analysis of the medical science, while fanciful and emotional claims for herbal cures have been thrown out, herbal treatments and plant medicine that works have been acknowledge. Moreover, herbal medicine has been found to have impressive credentials. Developed empirically by trial and error, many herbal treatments were nevertheless remarkably effective. In a recent survey estimated that 39% of all 520 new approved drugs in 1983-1994 were natural products or derived from natural products and 60-80% of antibacterial and anticancer drugs were derived from natural products. Medicinal plants play an important role in the development of potent therapeutic agents. Plant-derived drugs came into use in the modern medicine through the uses of plant material as an indigenous cure in folklore or traditional systems of medicine. Bacopa monnieri, Cyperus rotundus, and Emblica officinalis (Brahmi, Nagarmotha, Amla) have several chemical compounds have been isolated from these herbs which are useful in treating number of diseases such as diarrhea, vomiting, indigestion, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, hair growth, hair wash, antioxidant, anticonvulsant, analgesic, anti-allergic, antifungal, cardiac depressant, and cardio-tonic. These reported therapeutic activities are due to the presence of phytochemicals present in these Herbs. Even Ayurveda has recognizes the nutritional elements derived from foods and Rasayanas which help to optimize the availability of " essential nutrients " in the body.

It is said that the use of Bacopa monnieri (BM) for memory enhancement goes back 3000 years or more in India, when it was cited for its medicinal properties, especially the memory enhancing capacity, in the vedic texts " Athar-Ved Samhila " (3:1) of 800 BC and in Ayurveda. In the folklore of Indian medicine, several herbs have been used traditionally as brain or nerve tonics. One of the most popular of these neurotonics is BM, a well-known memory booster. Brahmi has been administered at religious institutions to help students to enhance their memory for learning ancient, religious hymns. It is also used as cardio-tonic, tranquilizer and sedative, improves the process of learning, restores memory, and enhances power of speech and imagination, diuretic and nervine tonic, antistress, for nervous and mental strain, use in insanity, epilepsy, hysteria, esthenia, nervous breakdown. It is a small, creeping succulent herb. The leaf and flower bearing stems are 10-30 cm long and arise from creeping stems that form roots at the nodes with pale blue or pinkish white flowers belonging to family Scrophulariaceae grown nearly banks of freshwater streams and ponds, paddy fields, and other damp places. The chief phytoconstituents present are brahmine, herpestine, alkaloids, and saponins.

Four recently discovered frozen child mummies from two of the highest peaks in the south central Andes now yield tantalizing evidence of the preparatory stages leading to Inca ritual killing as represented by the unique capacocha rite. Our interdisciplinary study examined hair from the mummies to obtain detailed genetic and diachronic isotopic information. This approach has allowed us to reconstruct aspects of individual identity and diet, make inferences concerning social background, and gain insight on the hitherto unknown processes by which victims were selected, elevated in social status, prepared for a high-altitude pilgrimage, and killed. Such direct information amplifies, yet also partly contrasts with, Spanish historical accounts. ancient DNA bioarchaeology South America stable light isotopes ice mummies

Background: Human hair can be used as an inexpensive and accessible adsorbent to remove a variety of pollutants from air. Although several studies have been done on removal of formaldehyde from wastewater by human hair, to date no study has investigated using hair to remove formaldehyde from air. Therefore, the aim of this study was to remove formaldehyde from synthetic contaminated air by a reactor packed with human hair. Methods: Air contaminated with formaldehyde was introduced into a cylindrical reactor packed with human hair at the initial concentration of 8500 mg/L. Formaldehyde concentration was measured in the influent and effluent of the reactor to indicate formaldehyde removal efficiency. Other measurements of parameters effective on formaldehyde removal were taken including amount of human hair and environmental temperature. Results: Results of this study revealed that each gram of human hair was able to remove 0.13 to 0.49 g of formaldehyde from air. Human hair adsorbed 98% of formaldehyde from synthetic contaminated air under 20˚C. These results demonstrate that increased temperature had a negative effect on formaldehyde removal. Conclusion: Results of this study show that human hair can be applied as a simple and inexpensive adsorbent to remove formaldehyde from industrial air exhaust. In addition, results of these tests can be considered as a small step to promote better air quality.

The aim of this paper is to present a new instrumental
evaluation method of hair movement in order to propose
new criteria in the performances of hair products. The in vitro
evaluation of hair swatches movement allows us to better understand
the phenomena that appear when various hair care and
styling technologies are applied upon the mechanisms of hair
movements. The method consists of a video acquisition system
with fast cameras (100 frames/second). The swatch is placed on a
motor drive and moved with a back and forth movement. The frequency
and amplitude are set by the operator. Facing each camera,
a backlight provides high contrast to capture all the fibres of the
swatch. A software was specifically developed to analyse the video
recordings and provide the physical parameters that characterize
the movement. Accordingly, it is possible to follow the surface and
shape of the swatch during movement from the ‘skeleton’ of the
swatch and to study the contraction and expansion phases of the
swatch(es) during the movement together with ‘the envelope’ of
the swatch. Results show that applying various hair treatments
modifies the behaviour of the swatch through the hair shapes contraction
or expansion induced by the oscillating movement. Expansion
of the swatch suggests that the interactions between hair
fibres (adhesions or frictions) play an important role, leading to an
‘individualization’ of hair swatch (more ‘space’ between fibres) or
to a ‘wider’ movement related to the increase of the total surface
developed by the swatch. As an example, the application of a
highly conditioning formula on a hair swatch largely decreases its
expansion by a two-fold factor during movements and increases
the horizontal amplitude by a two-fold factor, as compared to a
commercial bland shampoo. In conclusion, this method is complementary to
the ones used generally to characterize global visual perceptions
(colour, styling, shine). This dynamic component not only opens
doors to new qualitative evaluations, linked with sensorial experts
and consumers perceptions, but also to new quantitative parameters.

One of such pollutants which can be detected in many different industrial wastewaters is formaldehyde.The biological treatment of wastewater contaminated with formaldehyde is very difficult due to its antibacterial property. However the removal of formaldehyde using adsorption process such as activated carbon is passable but it may be expensive.The main aim of this study is the adsorption of formaldehyde on human hair and sheep wool as an adsorbent. Human hair and sheep wool are cheap and they can be disposed by common methods such as  incineration. In this study, the concentration of formaldehyde in wastewater was measured during the adsorption process using chemical oxygen demand method (COD). Then  the effects of different parameters such as pH, temperature, hydraulic retention time, formaldehyde concentration, and weight of human hair and sheep wool were evaluated. Finally, based on our results, optimum values of the parameters were investigated. The obtained results showed that formaldehyde can be adsorbed on human hair significantly. Also it was revealed that formaldehyde can be removed from wastewater during 5 min, and the increase of hydraulic retention time from 5 to 25 min is not effective on formaldehyde adsorption efficiency. The results elaborated that, formaldehyde adsorption efficiency using white hair, colored hair by chemical colors or natural ones (e g. Henna), and sheep wool is as efficient as common human hair. The results attained from this research showed that using human hair or  sheep wool for removing formaldehyde from industrial wastewater is possible.

Until now, the oldest known human hair was from a 9000-year-old South American mummy. Here we report fossil hairs of probable human origin that exceed that age by about 200,000 years. The hairs have been discovered in a brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea) coprolite from Gladysvale cave in South Africa. The coprolite is part of a hyaena latrine preserved in calcified cave sediment dated between 195,000 and 257,000 years ago. This find supports the hypothesis that hyaenas accumulated some of the early hominin remains found in cave sites, and provides a new source of information on Pleistocene mammals in the Sterkfontein Valley.