Deconstructing interventions: approaches to studying behavior change techniques across obesity interventions

Deconstructing interventions into the specific techniques that are used to change behavior represents a new frontier in behavioral intervention research. This paper considers opportunities and challenges in employing the Behavior Change Techniques Taxonomy (BCTTv1) developed by Michie and colleagues, to code the behavior change techniques (BCTs) across multiple interventions addressing obesity and capture dose received at the technique level. Numerous advantages were recognized for using a shared framework for intervention description. Coding interventions at levels of the social ecological framework beyond the individual level, separate coding for behavior change initiation vs. maintenance, fidelity of BCT delivery, accounting for BCTs mode of delivery, and tailoring BCTs, present both challenges and opportunities. Deconstructing interventions and identifying the dose required to positively impact health-related outcomes could enable important gains in intervention science

Structural and functional analysis of the middle segment of hsp90: implications for ATP hydrolysis and client protein and cochaperone interactions

Activation of client proteins by the Hsp90 molecular chaperone is dependent on binding and hydrolysis of ATP, which drives a molecular clamp via transient dimerization of the N-terminal domains. The crystal structure of the middle segment of yeast Hsp90 reveals considerable evolutionary divergence from the equivalent regions of other GHKL protein family members such as MutL and GyrB, including an additional domain of new fold. Using the known structure of the N-terminal nucleotide binding domain, a model for the Hsp90 dimer has been constructed. From this structure, residues implicated in the ATPase-coupled conformational cycle and in interactions with client proteins and the activating cochaperone Aha1 have been identified, and their roles functionally characterized in vitro and in vivo

Transgenic amplification of glucocorticoid action in adipose tissue causes high blood pressure in mice

Obesity is closely associated with the metabolic syndrome, a combination of disorders including insulin resistance, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension. A role for local glucocorticoid reamplification in obesity and the metabolic syndrome has been suggested. The enzyme 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) regenerates active cortisol from inactive 11-keto forms, and aP2-HSD1 mice with relative transgenic overexpression of this enzyme in fat cells develop visceral obesity with insulin resistance and dyslipidemia. Here we report that aP2-HSD1 mice also have high arterial blood pressure (BP). The mice have increased sensitivity to dietary salt and increased plasma levels of angiotensinogen, angiotensin II, and aldosterone. This hypertension is abolished by selective angiotensin II receptor AT-1 antagonist at a low dose that does not affect BP in non-Tg littermates. These findings suggest that activation of the circulating renin-angiotensin system (RAS) develops in aP2-HSD1 mice. The long-term hypertension is further reflected by an appreciable hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the distal tubule epithelium of the nephron, resembling salt-sensitive or angiotensin II–mediated hypertension. Taken together, our findings suggest that overexpression of 11β-HSD1 in fat is sufficient to cause salt-sensitive hypertension mediated by an activated RAS. The potential role of adipose 11β-HSD1 in mediating critical features of the metabolic syndrome extends beyond obesity and metabolic complications to include the most central cardiovascular feature of this disorder

Sexual violence in the protracted conflict of DRC programming for rape survivors in South Kivu

BACKGROUND: Despite international acknowledgement of the linkages between sexual violence and conflict, reliable data on its prevalence, the circumstances, characteristics of perpetrators, and physical or mental health impacts is rare. Among the conflicts that have been associated with widespread sexual violence has been the one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). METHODS: From 2003 till to date Malteser International has run a medico-social support programme for rape survivors in South Kivu province, DRC. In the context of this programme, a host of data was collected. We present these data and discuss the findings within the frame of available literature. RESULTS: Malteser International registered 20,517 female rape survivors in the three year period 2005-2007. Women of all ages have been targeted by sexual violence and only few of those - and many of them only after several years - sought medical care and psychological help. Sexual violence in the DRC frequently led to social, especially familial, exclusion. Members of military and paramilitary groups were identified as the main perpetrators of sexual violence. CONCLUSION: We have documented that in the DRC conflict sexual violence has been - and continues to be - highly prevalent in a wide area in the East of the country. Humanitarian programming in this field is challenging due to the multiple needs of rape survivors. The easily accessible, integrated medical and psycho-social care that the programme offered apparently responded to the needs of many rape survivors in this area

Sexual violence in the protracted conflict of DRC programming for rape survivors in South Kivu

BACKGROUND: Despite international acknowledgement of the linkages between sexual violence and conflict, reliable data on its prevalence, the circumstances, characteristics of perpetrators, and physical or mental health impacts is rare. Among the conflicts that have been associated with widespread sexual violence has been the one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). METHODS: From 2003 till to date Malteser International has run a medico-social support programme for rape survivors in South Kivu province, DRC. In the context of this programme, a host of data was collected. We present these data and discuss the findings within the frame of available literature. RESULTS: Malteser International registered 20,517 female rape survivors in the three year period 2005-2007. Women of all ages have been targeted by sexual violence and only few of those - and many of them only after several years - sought medical care and psychological help. Sexual violence in the DRC frequently led to social, especially familial, exclusion. Members of military and paramilitary groups were identified as the main perpetrators of sexual violence. CONCLUSION: We have documented that in the DRC conflict sexual violence has been - and continues to be - highly prevalent in a wide area in the East of the country. Humanitarian programming in this field is challenging due to the multiple needs of rape survivors. The easily accessible, integrated medical and psycho-social care that the programme offered apparently responded to the needs of many rape survivors in this area

Quorum Decision-Making in Foraging Fish Shoals

Quorum responses provide a means for group-living animals to integrate and filter disparate social information to produce accurate and coherent group decisions. A quorum response may be defined as a steep increase in the probability of group members performing a given behaviour once a threshold minimum number of their group mates already performing that behaviour is exceeded. In a previous study we reported the use of a quorum response in group decision-making of threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) under a simulated predation threat. Here we examine the use of quorum responses by shoals of sticklebacks in first locating and then leaving a foraging patch. We show that a quorum rule explains movement decisions by threespine sticklebacks toward and then away from a food patch. Following both to and from a food patch occurred when a threshold number of initiators was exceeded, with the threshold being determined by the group size