Evidence map›Paper›PMID 15932096›Full record

ArticleJournal of forensic sciences2005

Using accumulated degree-days to estimate the postmortem interval from decomposed human remains.

Mary S Megyesi, Stephen P Nawrocki, Neal H Haskell

Abstract readEvaluation Study
PubMed
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of forensic sciences, 2005. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 146 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
146citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

146 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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86 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Mary S MegyesiDepartment of Anthropology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1118, USA. megyesim@msu.edu
Stephen P Nawrocki
Neal H Haskell

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Forensic anthropologists often rely on the state of decomposition to estimate the postmortem interval (PMI) in a human remains case. The state of decomposition can provide much information about the PMI, especially when decomposition is treated as a semi-continuous variable and used in conjunction with accumulated-degree-days (ADD). This preliminary study demonstrates a supplemental method of determining the PMI based on scoring decomposition using a point-based system and taking into account temperatures in which the remains were exposed. This project was designed to examine the ways that forensic anthropologists could improve their PMI estimates based on decomposition by using a more quantitative approach. A total of 68 human remains cases with a known date of death were scored for decomposition and a regression equation was calculated to predict ADD from decomposition score. ADD accounts for approximately 80% of the variation in decomposition. This study indicates that decomposition is best modeled as dependent on accumulated temperature, not just time.

Indexed as

Cause of DeathModels, TheoreticalPostmortem ChangesAdolescentAdultAgedChildFemaleForensic PathologyHumansIndianaMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsRetrospective StudiesTemperature

Identifiers

PMID15932096

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.