Does inhibitory control capacity in overweight and obese children and adolescents predict success in a weight-reduction program?

It has been assumed that inhibitory control capacity might influence the success of overweight or obese subjects in reducing weight. However, empirical research on this association is scarce. The present study, therefore, examines whether success in an outpatient weight-reduction program for children and adolescents can be predicted by pre-intervention inhibitory control capacity. The study sample consisted of 111 overweight and obese children and adolescents (7.5–15 years) who attended an outpatient weight-reduction program of 1 year's duration. Inhibitory control was assessed by two computerized neuropsychological procedures, a Go-NoGo and an interference task. Principal component analysis revealed "impulsivity" (fast but less valid reactions) and "inattention" (slow and highly variable reaction times) component. Those who succeeded in the intervention (losing more than 5% of BMI-SDS; n=63) scored significantly higher in the first component than those who failed, while controlling for pre-intervention BMI-SDS, age, gender, and maternal education level. The association was moderated by age. Although in younger children no effect was found, in adolescents high "impulsivity" predicted success. Our result supports the scant evidence for a role of inhibitory control. However, further studies are required to substantiate that weak inhibitory control, and thus high reactivity to external cues, entails a better outcome in behavior modification interventions

On the dual of (non)-weakly regular bent functions and self-dual bent functions

For weakly regular bent functions in odd characteristic the dual function is also bent. We analyse a recently introduced construction of nonweakly regular bent functions and show conditions under which their dual is bent as well. This leads to the denition of the class of dual-bent functions containing the class of weakly regular bent functions as a proper subclass. We analyse self-duality for bent functions in odd characteristic, and characterize quadratic self-dual bent functions. We construct non-weakly regular bent functions with and without a bent dual, and bent functions with a dual bent function of a dierent algebraic degree

Baseline Dietary Restraint Predicts Negative Treatment Outcomes after 12 Months in Children and Adolescents with Obesity Participating in a Lifestyle Intervention

Objective: Current lifestyle interventions for children and adolescents with obesity often exclude patients with an eating pathology, leaving the impact of eating pathologies on treatment outcomes largely unconsidered. We investigated the predictive value of disordered eating symptoms on BMI z-score reduction in a sample of 111 German children and adolescents with overweight (90th percentile ≤ BMI < 97th percentile) and obesity (BMI > 97th percentile) aged 7–15 years in an outpatient lifestyle intervention program. Methods: We defined a BMI z-score reduction of more than 5% after 12 months as a successful outcome. Disordered eating symptoms (i.e., dietary restraint, emotional eating, external eating, and binge eating) were assessed at baseline with the Eating Pattern Inventory (EPI-C) and the “bulimia” scale of the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-2). Covariates were: baseline z-BMI, age, gender, and maternal education level. Results: Multiple regression analysis revealed that dietary restraint significantly predicted change in BMI z-scores between baseline and T1. Higher levels of dietary restraint were associated with a lower BMI z-score reduction between T0 and T1. To compare non-completers with completers on the 4 eating behavior scales, we used MANCOVA. At baseline, children who subsequently dropped out of the program prematurely showed significantly higher dietary restraint scores than children who completed the intervention, irrespectively of their gender, age, and BMI z-score at baseline and their mother’s education level. Discussion: Our results provide further evidence that the analysis of treatment processes in lifestyle intervention programs for children and adolescents with overweight and obesity should take into account a broader multidimensional approach including eating and dietary habits

Zur Persönlichkeitsentwicklung bei im Kindesalter beginnenden Epilepsien mit komplex-fokalen Anfällen

Zusammenhänge zwischen dem Schweregrad und Verlauf der Epilepsie mit komplex-fokalen Anfällen beginnend im Kindesalter und dem Auftreten psychischer Symptome sowie der Persönlichkeitsentwicklung wurden untersucht. 84 Patienten, die bei Erkrankungsbeginn durchschnittlich acht Jahre alt waren, wurden nach durchschnittlich 13 Jahren nachuntersucht. Bereits bei der Erstvorstellung zeigten fast die Hälfte der Patienten eine psychiatrische Erkrankung, etwa ein Viertel eine Entwicklungsverzögerung und 35 % eine Intelligenzminderung. Je häufiger bereits zu Beginn der Behandlung die komplex-fokalen Anfälle auftraten, desto häufiger wurde eine depressive Verstimmung beobachtet. Im Verlauf waren Patienten, die keine Anfallsfreiheit erreichten, häufiger unzufrieden, weniger leistungsorientiert und emotional instabiler als anfallsfreie Patienten. (ZPID

Successful Treatment with Atomoxetine of an Adolescent Boy with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Extreme Obesity, and Reduced Melanocortin 4 Receptor Function

Objective: Recent case reports suggest a link between reduced melanocortinergic tone and both obesity and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We present the case of a 13-year-old, male, obese MC4R mutation carrier with ADHD. Case Report: The boy carries a heterozygous mutation in the melanocortin 4 receptor gene (MC4R; Met281Val), that leads to a reduced receptor function. Dominant mutations of this type represent major gene effects for obesity. He participated in a lifestyle intervention program for obesity and received treatment with the selective norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor atomoxetine for 31 months. The boy markedly reduced his BMI from 47.2 to 29.6 kg/m². Conclusion: Atomoxetine proved to efficiently reduce weight in a severely obese MC4R mutation carrier with ADHD. We briefly discuss possible mechanisms for our observation, including evidence for the functional connectivity between melanocortinergic, dopaminergic, and norepinephrinergic brain circuitries

Linear codes and incidence structures of bent functions and their generalizations

In this paper we consider further applications of $(n,m)$-functions for the construction of 2-designs. For instance, we provide a new application of the extended Assmus-Mattson theorem, by showing that linear codes of APN functions with the classical Walsh spectrum support 2-designs. On the other hand, we use linear codes and combinatorial designs in order to study important properties of $(n,m)$-functions. In particular, we give a new design-theoretic characterization of $(n,m)$-plateaued and $(n,m)$-bent functions and provide a coding-theoretic as well as a design-theoretic interpretation of the extendability problem for $(n,m)$-bent functions

Generalized Maiorana-McFarland class and normality of p-ary bent functions

A class of bent functions which contains bent functions with various properties like regular, weakly regular and not weakly regular bent functions in even and in odd dimension, is analyzed. It is shown that this class includes the Maiorana-McFarland class as a special case. Known classes and examples of bent functions in odd characteristic are examined for their relation to this class. In the second part, normality for bent functions in odd characteristic is analyzed. It turns out that differently to Boolean bent functions, many - also quadratic - bent functions in odd characteristic and even dimension are not normal. It is shown that regular Coulter-Matthews bent functions are normal