The Common Sense Model in Raynaud's Phenomenon:Do illness perceptions account for variance in symptom severity and quality of life?

People with Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) experience poorer mental health and quality of life than the general population, and there is limited evidence for treatment options in RP. The Common Sense Model of illness representations (CSM) is a well-established theoretical model, which has not yet been robustly investigated in RP, but may provide potential avenues for psychological interventions with the ability to explore perceptions and beliefs, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The study aims were to investigate illness perceptions and examine the relationship between illness perceptions and symptom severity and quality of life in RP to explore a theoretical basis for potential treatment avenues. A cross-sectional online questionnaire design was employed and 169 adults with RP (primary or secondary) were analysed. Illness perceptions significantly differed between primary and secondary RP types on all but one domain (p &lt; .05). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that illness perception subscales made a significant unique contribution to the models explaining 65% variance in symptom severity (R2 = .65, p &lt; .001) and 30% variance in quality of life (R2 = .30, p &lt; .001). This novel study provides preliminary evidence regarding the applicability of the CSM to RP in a clinically meaningful way. CBT, which can specifically target illness perceptions within a wider psychological formulation, may be helpful for individuals with RP who are experiencing psychological distress in relation to symptom severity. Further work is needed to develop outcome measures specific to RP and tailor interventions to manage distress and impaired quality of life.<br/

Array-based iterative measurements of SmKS travel times and their constraints on outermost core structure

Vigorous convection in Earth's outer core led to the suggestion that it is chemically homogeneous. However, there is increasing seismic evidence for structural complexities close to the outer core's upper and lower boundaries. Both body waves and normal mode data have been used to estimate a P wave velocity, V_p, at the top of the outer core (the E’ layer), which is lower than that in the Preliminary Reference Earth Model. However, these low V_p models do not agree on the form of this velocity anomaly. One reason for this is the difficulty in retrieving and measuring SmKS arrival times. To address this issue, we propose a novel approach using data from seismic arrays to iteratively measure SmKS-SKKS-differential travel times. This approach extracts individual SmKS signal from mixed waveforms of the SmKS series, allowing us to reliably measure differential travel times. We successfully use this method to measure SmKS time delays from earthquakes in the Fiji‐Tonga and Vanuatu subduction zones. SmKS time delays are measured by waveform cross correlation between SmKS and SKKS, and the cross‐correlation coefficient allows us to access measurement quality. We also apply this iterative scheme to synthetic SmKS seismograms to investigate the 3‐D mantle structure's effects. The mantle structure corrections are not negligible for our data, and neglecting them could bias the V_p estimation of uppermost outer core. After mantle structure corrections, we can still see substantial time delays of S3KS, S4KS, and S5KS, supporting a low V_p at the top of Earth's outer core

The Common Sense Model in Raynaud's Phenomenon:Do illness perceptions account for variance in symptom severity and quality of life?

People with Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) experience poorer mental health and quality of life than the general population, and there is limited evidence for treatment options in RP. The Common Sense Model of illness representations (CSM) is a well-established theoretical model, which has not yet been robustly investigated in RP, but may provide potential avenues for psychological interventions with the ability to explore perceptions and beliefs, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). The study aims were to investigate illness perceptions and examine the relationship between illness perceptions and symptom severity and quality of life in RP to explore a theoretical basis for potential treatment avenues. A cross-sectional online questionnaire design was employed and 169 adults with RP (primary or secondary) were analysed. Illness perceptions significantly differed between primary and secondary RP types on all but one domain (p &lt; .05). Hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that illness perception subscales made a significant unique contribution to the models explaining 65% variance in symptom severity (R2 = .65, p &lt; .001) and 30% variance in quality of life (R2 = .30, p &lt; .001). This novel study provides preliminary evidence regarding the applicability of the CSM to RP in a clinically meaningful way. CBT, which can specifically target illness perceptions within a wider psychological formulation, may be helpful for individuals with RP who are experiencing psychological distress in relation to symptom severity. Further work is needed to develop outcome measures specific to RP and tailor interventions to manage distress and impaired quality of life.<br/

Mantle Transition Zone Receiver Functions for Bermuda:Automation, Quality Control, and Interpretation

The origin of the Bermuda rise remains ambiguous, despite, or perhaps because of, the existence of sometimes incongruous seismic wave‐speed and discontinuity models in the sub‐Bermudian mantle. Hence, whether Bermuda is the surface manifestation of a mantle plume remains in question. Using the largest data set of seismic records from Bermuda to date, we estimate radial receiver functions at the Global Seismographic Network station BBSR in multiple frequency bands, using iterative time‐domain deconvolution. Motivated by synthetic experiments using axisymmetric spectral‐element forward waveform modeling, we devise a quality metric for our receiver functions to aid in the automation and reproduction of mantle transition zone discontinuity studies. We interpret the complex signals we observe by considering the mineralogical controls on mantle transition zone discontinuity structure, and conclude that our results are likely to be indicative of a thicker than average mantle transition zone. Our result is incompatible with the canonical model of a whole mantle plume in an olivine dominated mantle; however, considerations of phase transitions in the garnet system would allow us to reconcile our observations with the possible presence of a through‐going hot thermal anomaly beneath Bermuda

Evidence for a kilometre-scale seismically slow layer atop the core-mantle boundary from normal modes

Geodynamic modelling and seismic studies have highlighted the possibility that a thin layer of low seismic velocities, potentially molten, may sit atop the core-mantle boundary but has thus far eluded detection. In this study we employ normal modes, an independent data type to body waves, to assess the visibility of a seismically slow layer atop the core-mantle boundary to normal mode centre frequencies. Using forward modelling and a dataset of 353 normal mode observations we find that some centre frequencies are sensitive to one-dimensional kilometre-scale structure at the core-mantle boundary. Furthermore, a global slow and dense layer 1 - 3 km thick is better-fitting than no layer. The well-fitting parameter space is broad with a wide range of possible seismic parameters, which precludes inferring a possible composition or phase. Our methodology cannot uniquely detect a layer in the Earth but one should be considered possible and accounted for in future studies

Equine or porcine synovial fluid as a novel ex vivo model for the study of bacterial free-floating biofilms that form in human joint infections

Bacterial invasion of synovial joints, as in infectious or septic arthritis, can be difficult to treat in both veterinary and human clinical practice. Biofilms, in the form of free-floating clumps or aggregates, are involved with the pathogenesis of infectious arthritis and periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Infection of a joint containing an orthopedic implant can additionally complicate these infections due to the presence of adherent biofilms. Because of these biofilm phenotypes, bacteria within these infected joints show increased antimicrobial tolerance even at high antibiotic concentrations. To date, animal models of PJI or infectious arthritis have been limited to small animals such as rodents or rabbits. Small animal models, however, yield limited quantities of synovial fluid making them impractical for in vitro research. Herein, we describe the use of ex vivo equine and porcine models for the study of synovial fluid induced biofilm aggregate formation and antimicrobial tolerance. We observed Staphylococcus aureus and other bacterial pathogens adapt the same biofilm aggregate phenotype with significant antimicrobial tolerance in both equine and porcine synovial fluid, analogous to human synovial fluid. We also demonstrate that enzymatic dispersal of synovial fluid aggregates restores the activity of antimicrobials. Future studies investigating the interaction of bacterial cell surface proteins with host synovial fluid proteins can be readily carried out in equine or porcine ex vivo models to identify novel drug targets for treatment of prevention of these difficult to treat infectious diseases