Blood and virus detection on barber clippers.

Background: Bleeding from the popular clean-shave 'chiskop' haircut was recently reported as prevalent in South Africa (SA), a country with 6.9 million HIV-infected people.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of barber hair clipper contamination with blood and HIV and hepatitis B viruses.

Emerging Diagnostic and Therapeutic Potentials of Human Hair Proteomics.

The use of noninvasive human substrates to interrogate pathophysiological conditions has become essential in the post- Human Genome Project era. Due to its high turnover rate, and its long term capability to incorporate exogenous and endogenous substances from the circulation, hair testing is emerging as a key player in monitoring long term drug compliance, chronic alcohol abuse, forensic toxicology, and biomarker discovery, among other things. Novel high-throughput 'omics based approaches like proteomics have been underutilized globally in comprehending human hair morphology and its evolving use as a diagnostic testing substrate in the era of precision medicine.

Geometric classification of scalp hair for valid drug testing, 6 more reliable than 8 hair curl groups.

Introduction: Curly hair is reported to contain higher lipid content than straight hair, which may influence incorporation of lipid soluble drugs. The use of race to describe hair curl variation (Asian, Caucasian and African) is unscientific yet common in medical literature (including reports of drug levels in hair). This study investigated the reliability of a geometric classification of hair (based on 3 measurements: the curve diameter, curl index and number of waves).