Behavioral Treatment Approaches to Obesity: Successes with the Nonretarded and Retarded

This article discusses the successful use of behavioral approaches, which have been adopted from research with non-retarded individuals, to the treatment of obese retarded individuals. The first section delineates a variety of approaches with non-retarded obese individuals whereas the second section summarizes the efficacy of these approaches with the obese retarded. The last section discusses practical and future research implications

Multicomponent Behavioral Program for Achieving Weight Loss in Adult Mentally Retarded Persons

Only minimal attention has been directed towards demonstrating the effectiveness of behavioral approaches to weight control with mentally retarded individuals (Foreyt & Parks, 1975; Foxx, 1972; Staugatis, 1978). The paucity of research in this area is unfortunate because the association between intelligence and obesity is high and negative (Krege, Zelina, Juhas & Garbara, 1947). The purpose of the present study was to assess whether a multicomponent behavioral weight reduction treatment program could produce and maintain weight loss overweight formerly institutionalized adult retarded individuals residing in a community-living facility

Umbral Moonshine and the Niemeier Lattices

In this paper we relate umbral moonshine to the Niemeier lattices: the 23 even unimodular positive-definite lattices of rank 24 with non-trivial root systems. To each Niemeier lattice we attach a finite group by considering a naturally defined quotient of the lattice automorphism group, and for each conjugacy class of each of these groups we identify a vector-valued mock modular form whose components coincide with mock theta functions of Ramanujan in many cases. This leads to the umbral moonshine conjecture, stating that an infinite-dimensional module is assigned to each of the Niemeier lattices in such a way that the associated graded trace functions are mock modular forms of a distinguished nature. These constructions and conjectures extend those of our earlier paper, and in particular include the Mathieu moonshine observed by Eguchi-Ooguri-Tachikawa as a special case. Our analysis also highlights a correspondence between genus zero groups and Niemeier lattices. As a part of this relation we recognise the Coxeter numbers of Niemeier root systems with a type A component as exactly those levels for which the corresponding classical modular curve has genus zero.Comment: 181 pages including 95 pages of Appendices; journal version, minor typos corrected, Research in the Mathematical Sciences, 2014, vol.

Mathematical Modelling of Tyndall Star Initiation

The superheating that usually occurs when a solid is melted by volumetric heating can produce irregular solid-liquid interfaces. Such interfaces can be visualised in ice, where they are sometimes known as Tyndall stars. This paper describes some of the experimental observations of Tyndall stars and a mathematical model for the early stages of their evolution. The modelling is complicated by the strong crystalline anisotropy, which results in an anisotropic kinetic undercooling at the interface; it leads to an interesting class of free boundary problems that treat the melt region as infinitesimally thin

Treatment of Obesity in Mentally Retarded Persons: The Rehabilitator\u27s Role

Obesity is a common problem for the mentally retarded and nonretarded populations. Prevalence estimates ranging from 40 to 80 million obese Americans have been reported. The relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and other health related problems is strong. Also, the greater the degree of obesity, the higher the risk of medical problems. In addition to the health problems associated with obesity, the obese mentally retarded person is likely to be the object of increased social prejudice and nonacceptance as a result of being mentally retarded and obese. Fortunately, this solution does not need to be an intractable one. Van Itallie cited studies reporting a positive influence for weight reduction on health. Another treatment goal has been enhanced self-esteem. Given these promising outcomes for weight reduction, the field of obesity has witnessed an explosion of diet programs and exercise regimes to promote weight loss. These programs have varied in their initial success but nearly all have failed to produce long-term maintenance of weight loss. The application of behavioral procedures to the problem of obesity has produced more promising results. This approach has also been successfully extended to the mentally retarded population. This article describes the treatment rationale and procedures for a behavioral self-control package that has been developed for the obese retarded population. Implications of this approach for professionals concerned with rehabilitation efforts for mentally retarded persons will be delineated

Why older adults spend time sedentary and break their sedentary behavior: a mixed methods approach using life-logging equipment

Older adults are recommended to reduce their sedentary time to promote healthy ageing. To develop effective interventions identifying when, why, and how older adults are able to change their sitting habits is important. The aim of this mixed-method study was to improve our understanding of reasons for (breaking) sedentary behavior in older adults. Thirty older adults (74.0 [+/- 5.3] years old, 73% women) were asked about their believed reasons for (breaking) sedentary behavior, and about their actual reasons when looking at a personal storyboard with objective records of activPAL monitor data and time-lapse camera pictures showing all their periods of sedentary time in a day. The most often mentioned believed reason for remaining sedentary was television/radio (mentioned by 48.3%), while eating/drinking was most often mentioned as actual reason (96.6%). Only 17.2% believed that food/tea preparation was a reason to break up sitting, while this was an actual reason for 82.8% of the study sample. Results of this study show that there is a discrepancy between believed and actual reasons for (breaking) sedentary behavior. These findings suggest developing interventions utilizing the actual reasons for breaking sedentary behavior to reduce sedentary time in older adults