Quantifying human decomposition in an indoor setting and implications for postmortem interval estimation

Ceciliason, Ann-Sofie; Andersson, Matilda; Lindström, Anders; Sandler, Håkan

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.12.026

Cited by 34 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The rate of decomposition may be affected by desiccation. Our previous study of indoor decomposition found that the rate was slower; the PMI may therefore be underestimated in cases with desiccation [1]. When dividing the 236 cases into two groups-with or without presence of desiccation-the precision of the model seemed to improve regarding the desiccated cases.…”

Section: Outliers and Possible Ways To Improve The Modelmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…The Box-Cox transformation of TBS was used in Megyesi et al [8] with the exponent 2 and in Moffatt et al [18] with an exponent 1.6. We have previously tested the TBS model in an indoor setting and found that transformation was not necessary for TBS in our dataset [1]. However, it was not known if transformation of the HDS markers would be needed to improve the model fit (i.e.…”

Section: Performance Reliability and Validity Of The Hds Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TBS method was suggested to have a moderate to low precision in an indoor setting [1]. An alternative to only using the sum of the partial body scores, i.e.…”

Section: Strengths Of the Novel Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In decomposed human remains, the PMI is especially difficult to estimate with certainty due to the complexity of the decomposition process. The indoor decomposition of human remains has not been studied to the same extent as that in various outdoor environments [1]. The majority of decomposed human remains are found in an indoor setting [1,2], highlighting the importance to further investigate this specific environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

et al. 2020

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The objective of this study was to determine if a novel scoring-based model for histological quantification of decomposed human livers could improve the precision of post-mortem interval (PMI) estimation for bodies from an indoor setting. The hepatic decomposition score (HDS) system created consists of five liver scores (HDS markers): cell nuclei and cell structure of hepatocytes, bile ducts, portal triad, and architecture. A total of 236 forensic autopsy cases were divided into a training dataset (n = 158) and a validation dataset (n = 78). All cases were also scored using the total body score (TBS) method. We specified a stochastic relationship between the log-transformed accumulated degree-days (log10ADD) and the taphonomic findings, using a multivariate regression model to compute the likelihood function. Three models were applied, based on (i) five HDS markers, (ii) three partial body scores (head, trunk, limbs), or (iii) a combination of the two. The predicted log10ADD was compared with the true log10ADD for each case. The fitted models performed equally well in the training dataset and the validation dataset. The model comprising both scoring methods had somewhat better precision than either method separately. Our results indicated that the HDS system was statistically robust. Combining the HDS markers with the partial body scores resulted in a better representation of the decomposition process and might improve PMI estimation of decomposed human remains.

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Section: Outliers and Possible Ways To Improve The Modelmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Performance Reliability and Validity Of The Hds Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TBS method was suggested to have a moderate to low precision in an indoor setting [1]. An alternative to only using the sum of the partial body scores, i.e.…”

Section: Strengths Of the Novel Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

et al. 2020

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“…From Scandinavia, no outdoor human decomposition study has been presented. In Sweden, gross human taphonomy and PMI have recently become subject to research but have hitherto only addressed indoor decomposition [40][41][42]. To the best of our knowledge, only one case addressing Swedish outdoor decomposition has been published as part of a qualitative study investigating PMI and entomology [43].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Outdoor human decomposition in Sweden: A retrospective quantitative study of forensic‐taphonomic changes and postmortem interval in terrestrial and aquatic settings

Alfsdotter

Petaros

2021

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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Crime Scene and Crime Scene Investigations

Druid¹

2022

Handbook of Forensic Medicine

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Quantifying human decomposition in an indoor setting and implications for postmortem interval estimation

Cited by 34 publications

References 21 publications

Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

Histological quantification of decomposed human livers: a potential aid for estimation of the post-mortem interval?

Outdoor human decomposition in Sweden: A retrospective quantitative study of forensic‐taphonomic changes and postmortem interval in terrestrial and aquatic settings

Crime Scene and Crime Scene Investigations

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