Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34988414›Full record

ArticleForensic science international. Synergy2021

Harnessing Thor's Hammer: Experimentally induced lightning trauma to human bone by high impulse current.

Nicholas Bacci, Tanya Nadine Augustine, Hugh G P Hunt, Ken J Nixon, Jakobus Hoffman, Lunga Bam, Frikkie de Beer, Patrick Randolph-Quinney

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Forensic science international. Synergy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Nicholas BacciSchool of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Tanya Nadine AugustineSchool of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Hugh G P HuntThe Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ken J NixonThe Johannesburg Lightning Research Laboratory, School of Electrical and Information Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Jakobus HoffmanDepartment Radiation Utilisation, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd. (Necsa), Pelindaba, South Africa.
Lunga BamDepartment Radiation Utilisation, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd. (Necsa), Pelindaba, South Africa.
Frikkie de BeerDepartment Radiation Utilisation, South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd. (Necsa), Pelindaba, South Africa.
Patrick Randolph-QuinneyForensic Science Research Group, School of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Northumbria, NE1 8ST, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lightning fatality identification relies primarily on soft tissue traumatic pattern recognition, prohibiting cause of death identification in cases of full skeletonisation. This study explores the effects of high impulse currents on human bone, simulating lightning-level intensities and characterising electrically induced micro-trauma through conventional thin-section histology and micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (μXCT). An experimental system for high impulse current application was applied to bone extracted from donated cadaveric lower limbs (n = 22). μXCT was undertaken prior to and after current application. Histological sections were subsequently undertaken. μXCT poorly resolved micro-trauma compared to conventional histology which allowed for identification and classification of lightning-specific patterns of micro-trauma. Statistical analyses demonstrated correlation between current intensity, extent and damage typology suggesting a multifaceted mechanism of trauma propagation - a combination of electrically, thermally and pressure induced alterations. This study gives an overview of high impulse current trauma to human bone, providing expanded definitions of associated micro-trauma.

Indexed as

Bone traumaForensic taphonomyHigh current impulseHistologyLightningMicro-focus X-ray computed tomography

Identifiers

PMID34988414
PMCPMC8710840

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.