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Aims.A substantial proportion of persons with mental disorders seek treatment from complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professionals. However, data on how CAM contacts vary across countries, mental disorders and their severity, and health care settings is largely lacking. The aim was therefore to investigate the prevalence of contacts with CAM providers in a large cross-national sample of persons with 12-month mental disorders.Methods.In the World Mental Health Surveys, the Composite International Diagnostic Interview was administered to determine the presence of past 12 month mental disorders in 138 801 participants aged 18–100 derived from representative general population samples. Participants were recruited between 2001 and 2012. Rates of self-reported CAM contacts for each of the 28 surveys across 25 countries and 12 mental disorder groups were calculated for all persons with past 12-month mental disorders. Mental disorders were grouped into mood disorders, anxiety disorders or behavioural disorders, and further divided by severity levels. Satisfaction with conventional care was also compared with CAM contact satisfaction.Results.An estimated 3.6% (standard error 0.2%) of persons with a past 12-month mental disorder reported a CAM contact, which was two times higher in high-income countries (4.6%; standard error 0.3%) than in low- and middle-income countries (2.3%; standard error 0.2%). CAM contacts were largely comparable for different disorder types, but particularly high in persons receiving conventional care (8.6–17.8%). CAM contacts increased with increasing mental disorder severity. Among persons receiving specialist mental health care, CAM contacts were reported by 14.0% for severe mood disorders, 16.2% for severe anxiety disorders and 22.5% for severe behavioural disorders. Satisfaction with care was comparable with respect to CAM contacts (78.3%) and conventional care (75.6%) in persons that received both.Conclusions.CAM contacts are common in persons with severe mental disorders, in high-income countries, and in persons receiving conventional care. Our findings support the notion of CAM as largely complementary but are in contrast to suggestions that this concerns person with only mild, transient complaints. There was no indication that persons were less satisfied by CAM visits than by receiving conventional care. We encourage health care professionals in conventional settings to openly discuss the care patients are receiving, whether conventional or not, and their reasons for doing so. more...

This paper reports on the spectroscopic investigation of 12 Cepheids which are situated in the crucial region of galactocentric distances from 9 kpc to 12 kpc, where according to our previous results (Andrievsky et al. [CITE]; Luck et al. [CITE]) the radial metallicity distribution experiences an obvious change. In particular, the wriggle in the iron abundance distribution is found to fall approximately at galactocentric distances 10–11 kpc (assuming galactocentric distance of the Sun $R_{\rm G, \odot} = 7.9$kpc). Within the transition zone from 10 to 11 kpc the relative-to-solar iron abundance decreases approximately to –0.2 dex. The new sample of stars, analyzed in present paper, gives results supporting the previous conclusion about the multimodal character of the metallicity distribution in galactic disc. Using a quite simple consideration of galactic chemical evolution we show that the observed distribution can be explained in the framework of a model which includes the spiral arms. In particular, the wriggle feature associated with $R_{\rm G} \approx$11 kpc can be interpreted as a change of metallicity level in the vicinity of the galactic corotation resonance. more...

We investigate the spatial distribution, the space velocities and age distribution of the pre-main sequence (PMS) stars belonging to Ophiuchus, Lupus and Chamaeleon star-forming regions (SFRs), and of the young early-type star members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association. These young stellar associations extend over the galactic longitude range from $280\degr$to $360\degr$, and are at a distance interval of around 100 and 200 pc. This study is based on a compilation of distances, proper motions and radial velocities from the literature for the kinematic properties, and of basic stellar data for the construction of Hertzsprung-Russel diagrams. Although there was no well-known OB association in Chamaeleon, the distances and the proper motions of a group of 21 B- and A-type stars, taken from the Hipparcos Catalogue, lead us to propose that they form a young association. We show that the young early-type stars of the OB associations and the PMS stars of the SFRs follow a similar spatial distribution, i.e., there is no separation between the low and the high-mass young stars. We find no difference in the kinematics nor in the ages of these two populations studied. Considering not only the stars selected by kinematic criteria but the whole sample of young early-type stars, the scattering of their proper motions is similar to that of the PMS stars and all the young stars exhibit a common direction of motion. The space velocities of the Hipparcos PMS stars of each SFR are compatible with the mean values of the OB associations. The PMS stars in each SFR span a wide range of ages (from 1 to 20 Myr). The ages of the OB subgroups are 8–10 Myr for Upper Scorpius (US), and 16–20 Myr for Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and for Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC). Thus, our results do not confirm that UCL is older than the LCC association. Based on these results and the uncertainties associated with the age determination, we cannot say that there is indeed a difference in the age of the two populations. We analyze the different scenarios for the triggering of large-scale star-formation that have been proposed up to now, and argue that most probably we are observing a spiral arm that passes close to the Sun. The alignment of young stars and molecular clouds and the average velocity of the stars in the opposite direction to the Galactic rotation agree with the expected behavior of star formation in nearby spiral arms. more...

As a continuation of our previous work, which concerned the radial abundance distribution in the galactic disc over the distances 4–10 kpc this paper presents the first results on the metallicity in the outer disc ($R_{\rm G} > 10$kpc). Based on high-resolution spectra obtained for 19 distant Cepheids we sampled galactocentric distances from 10 to 12 kpc. Combined with the results of our previous work on the inner and middle parts of the galactic disc, the present data enable one to study the structure of the radial abundance distribution over a large baseline. In particular, we find indications of a discontinuity in the radial abundance distribution for iron as well as a number of the other elements. The discontinuity is seen at a galactocentric distance $R_{\rm G} = 10$kpc. This finding supports the results reported earlier by Twarog et al. ([CITE]). more...

We determined the mean absolute proper motion of 94 open clusters situated farther than 1 kpc from the Sun. The results are derived from the stellar proper motion data given in the Tycho2 Catalogue. The mean proper motion of the clusters and membership probability of individual stars were obtained from the proper motion data by applying the statistical method proposed by Sanders ([CITE]). The measurements made use of a large number of stars, usually several tens, for each cluster. The total number of stars investigated in the fields of the clusters is 4864 of which 2021 were considered members. For 55 clusters, this is the first determination of the proper motion. more...

Based on spectra obtained at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, we present a discussion of the metallicity of the galactic disc derived using Cepheids at galactocentric distances of 4–6 kpc. Our new results together with previous gradient determination (Paper I) show that the overall abundance distribution within the galactocentric distances 4–11 kpc cannot be represented by a single gradient value. The distribution is more likely bimodal: it is flatter in the solar neighbourhood with a small gradient, and steepens towards the galactic center. The steepening begins at a distance of about 6.6 kpc. more...

A number of studies of abundance gradients in the galactic disk have been performed in recent years. The results obtained are rather disparate: from no detectable gradient to a rather significant slope of about -0.1 dex kpc-1. The present study concerns the abundance gradient based on the spectroscopic analysis of a sample of classical Cepheids. These stars enable one to obtain reliable abundances of a variety of chemical elements. Additionally, they have well determined distances which allow an accurate determination of abundance distributions in the galactic disc. Using 236 high resolution spectra of 77 galactic Cepheids, the radial elemental distribution in the galactic disc between galactocentric distances in the range 6–11 kpc has been investigated. Gradients for 25 chemical elements (from carbon to gadolinium) are derived. The following results were obtained in this study. Almost all investigated elements show rather flat abundance distributions in the middle part of galactic disc. Typical values for iron-group elements lie within an interval from ${\approx}$-0.02 to ${\approx}$-0.04 dex kpc-1(in particular, for iron we obtained d[Fe/H]/d$R_{\rm G}= -0.029$dex kpc-1). Similar gradients were also obtained for O, Mg, Al, Si, and Ca. For sulphur we have found a steeper gradient (-0.05 dex kpc-1). For elements from Zr to Gd we obtained (within the error bars) a near to zero gradient value. This result is reported for the first time. Those elements whose abundance is not expected to be altered during the early stellar evolution (e.g. the iron-group elements) show at the solar galactocentric distance [El/H] values which are essentially solar. Therefore, there is no apparent reason to consider our Sun as a metal-rich star. The gradient values obtained in the present study indicate that the radial abundance distribution within 6–11 kpc is quite homogeneous, and this result favors a galactic model including a bar structure which may induce radial flows in the disc, and thus may be responsible for abundance homogenization. more...

We performed computer simulations of interstellar cloud-cloud collisions using the three-dimensional smoothed particle magnetohydrodynamics method. In order to study the role of the magnetic field on the process of collision-triggered fragmentation, we focused our attention on head-on supersonic collisions between two identical spherical molecular-clouds. Two extreme configurations of the magnetic field were adopted: parallel and perpendicular to the initial clouds motion. The initial magnetic field strength was approximately 12.0 μG. In the parallel case, much more of the collision debris were retained in the shocking region than in the non-magnetic case where gas escaped freely throughout the symmetry plane. Differently from the non-magnetic case, eddy-like vortices were formed. The regions of highest vorticity and the the regions of highest density are offset. We found clumps formation only in the parallel case, however, they were larger, hotter and less dense than in the analogous non-magnetic case. In the perpendicular case, the compressed field works as a magnetic wall, preventing a stronger compression of the colliding clouds. This last effect inhibits direct contact of the two clouds. In both cases, we found that the field lines show a chaotic aspect in large scales. Also, the field magnitude is considerably amplified in the shock layer. However, the field distribution is almost coherent in the higher density regions. more...

We present mean absolute proper motions of 112 open clusters, determined using the data from the Tycho2 Catalogue. For 28 clusters, this is the first determination of proper motion. The measurements made use of a large number of stars (usually several tens) for each cluster. The total number of stars studied in the fields of the 164 open clusters is 5016, of which 4006 were considered members. The mean proper motions of the clusters and membership probability of individual stars were obtained from the proper motion data by applying the statistical method proposed by Sanders ([CITE]). more...

Computer experiments of interstellar cloud collisions were performed with a new smoothed-particle-hydrodynamics (SPH) code. The SPH quantities were calculated by using spatially adaptive smoothing lengths and the SPH fluid equations of motion were solved by means of a hierarchical multiple time-scale leapfrog. Such a combination of methods allows the code to deal with a large range of hydrodynamic quantities. A careful treatment of gas cooling by H, H2, CO and HII, as well as a heating mechanism by cosmic rays and by H2production on grains surface, were also included in the code. The gas model reproduces approximately the typical environment of dark molecular clouds. The experiments were performed by impinging two dynamically identical spherical clouds onto each other with a relative velocity of 10 km s-1but with a different impact parameter for each case. Each object has an initial density profile obeying an r-1-law with a cutoff radius of 10 pc and with an initial temperature of 20 K. As a main result, cloud-cloud collision triggers fragmentation but in expense of a large amount of energy dissipated, which occurred in the head-on case only. Off-center collision did not allow remnants to fragment along the considered time ($\sim6$Myr). However, it dissipated a considerable amount of orbital energy. Structures as small as 0.1 pc, with densities of $\sim{10}^{4}$cm-3, were observed in the more energetic collision. more...

Le fardeau lié aux problèmes de santé, troubles mentaux inclus, a été peu étudié en France. Aussi avons-nous analysé les données françaises résultant de l’enquête sur la santé mentale dans le monde (World Mental Health[WMH]) mise en place par l’Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS), en nous intéressant aux journées d’activité perdues liées à des problèmes de santé courants en population générale. Des entretiens en face-à-face ont été réalisés chez 2894 sujets (taux de réponse 45,9 %) afin de repérer dix maladies physiques et neuf troubles mentaux et d’évaluer les jours où les sujets interrogés n’avaient pas pu assurer leurs activités habituelles. L’association entre le nombre de jours d’inactivité et des troubles spécifiques, comorbidités comprises, a été évaluée par régression multiple. Mille quatre cent trente-six sujets ont été inclus dans l’analyse. Le nombre de jours d’inactivité liés à des problèmes de santé était le plus élevé chez les sujets souffrant de troubles mentaux, tant au niveau individuel que sociétal. Les données de l’étude de santé mentale de l’OMS confirment l’importance des troubles mentaux dans les coûts sociétaux en France et devrait permettre d’affiner les futures politiques de santé publique. more...

We have compiled a new catalogue of open clusters in the Galaxy which updates the previous catalogues of Lyngå ([CITE]) and of Mermilliod ([CITE]) (included in the WEBDA database). New objects and new data, in particular, data on kinematics (proper motions) that were not present in the old catalogues, have been included. Virtually all the clusters (1537) presently known were included, which represents an increment of about 347 objects relative to the Lyngå ([CITE]) catalogue. The catalogue is presented in a single table containing all the important data, which makes it easy to use. The catalogue can be accessed on line either at http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~wilton/or as an electronic table which will be made available at the CDS. more...

This study compared the efficacy and safety of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline with that of the tricyclic antidepressant clomipramine in patients with severe depression, as defined by a baseline 17item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale HAMD of at least 25. The study included 166 outpatients, randomized to doubleblind treatment with sertraline 50200 mg or clomipramine 50150 mg for 8 weeks. The efficacy of both treatments was similar, 74 of patients in the sertraline group and 71 of clomipramine patients being classified as responders at the endpoint, as defined by a Clinical Global ImpressionImprovement CGII score of 1 or 2. Mean HAMD scores fell from 29.8 at baseline to 12.3 at endpoint in the sertraline group, and from 29.612.7 in the clomipramine group. There were more withdrawals due to adverse events in the clomipramine group than in the sertraline group 17 versus 12. Dry mouth, tremor, dizziness and constipation were all substantially more common in the clomipramine group, whereas diarrhoea loose stools was more common in the sertraline group. Overall, sertraline was as effective as clomipramine in this group of severely depressed outpatients, and showed better tolerability. more...

DEPRES II (Depression Research in European Society II), the first in-depth, pan-European survey of depression in the community, provided an opportunity to identify depressed patient types and their treatment needs. Cluster analysis applied to data generated from DEPRES II interviews revealed six depressed patient types with clearly differentiated profiles. The patient type with moderately impaired depression has episodic depression and minimal disability. By contrast, severe depression associated with anxiety presents with chronic symptoms, including anxiety and panic, and causes considerable disruption to normal life and employment. Depression associated with chronic physical problems and depression associated with social problems are characterized by chronic physical illness and relationship or financial difficulties, respectively, and sufferers are pessimistic about recovery. Depression associated with sleep problems is associated with symptoms of tiredness and broken or inadequate sleep, and is commonly caused by stress. Tiredness is also a principal symptom of depression associated with tiredness or fatigue, but sufferers' ability to sleep is unaffected. All patient types would benefit from antidepressant therapy. The depressed patient types identified from the DEPRES II data make intuitive sense, but now need to be tested for face validity in the primary care setting. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 14:153–165 © 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins more...

The first pan-European survey of depression in the community (DEPRES I) demonstrated that 17 of the general population suffer from depression (major depression, minor depression, or depressive symptoms). This article describes findings from a second phase of DEPRES (DEPRES II), in which detailed interviews based on a semi-structured questionnaire (78 questions) were conducted with 1884 DEPRES I participants who had suffered from depression and who consulted a healthcare professional about their symptoms during the previous 6 months. The mean time from onset of depression was 45 months, and the most commonly experienced symptoms during the latest period were low mood (76), tiredness (73) and sleep problems (63). During the previous 6 months, respondents had been unable to undertake normal activities because of their depression for a mean of 30 days, and a mean of 20 days of work had been lost to depression by those in paid employment. Approximately one-third of respondents (30) had received an antidepressant during the latest period of depression. Significantly more respondents given a selective serotonin reputake inhibitor found that their treatment made them feel more like their normal self than those given a tricyclic antidepressant, and fewer reported treatment-related concentration lapses, weight problems, and heavy-headedness (all P< 0.05). Approximately two-thirds of respondents (70) had received no antidepressant therapy during the latest period of depression, and prescription of benzodiazepines alone, which are not effective against depression, was widespread (17). There is a need for education of healthcare professionals to encourage appropriate treatment of depression. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 14:139–151 © 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins more...

DEPRES (Depression Research in European Society) is the first large pan-European survey of depression in the community. A total of 13359 of the 78463 adults who participated in screening interviews across six countries were identified as suffering from depression, a 6-month prevalence of 17. Major depression accounted for 6.9 of the cases of depression and minor depression for 1.8. Depressed subjects in both these categories perceived that their working or social lives were substantially impaired by depressive symptoms. The remaining 8.3 of depressed subjects considered that their functional impairment was not substantial. A significant proportion of sufferers from depression (43) failed to seek treatment for their depressive symptoms. Of those who did seek help (57), most consulted a primary care physician, the frequency of consultation increasing with the severity of depression. Sufferers from major depression imposed the greatest demand on healthcare resources, making almost three times as many visits to their GP or family doctor as non-sufferers (4.4 vs 1.5 visits over 6 months). More than two-thirds of depressed subjects (69) were not prescribed any treatment and when drug therapy was prescribed (31), only 25 of these subjects were given antidepressant drugs. The number of days of work lost due to illness increased with the severity of depression. Major depression had most impact on productive work, with sufferers losing four times as many working days over 6 months as non-sufferers. The results of the DEPRES survey confirm the high prevalence of depression in the community and the burden imposed on the individual sufferer in terms of impaired quality of life and on society in terms of healthcare utilization and lost productivity. more...

Solar mappings with moderate angular resolution at 7 GHz seem to support the hemispherical dependence of the sense of circular polarization being right-handed for the southern hemisphere, and left-handed for the northern hemisphere. One explanation of the effect can be found by taking into account the ‘missing’ fields from active centers, emerging from one hemisphere and immersing into the other. more...

We simulated collisions of High Velocity Clouds with the galactic disk with a simple hydrodynamical code. Main aspects of the morphology of nearby (d < 500 pc) cloud complexes, like the? Oph, Orion and Taurus-Auriga-Perseus complexes, are reproduced. These aspects include total mass, distance from the galactic plane, orientation of elongated gas structures with respect to the plane, and relative position of clusters of O-B stars with respect to the main concentrations of molecular gas. The space distribution of stars of different ages, usually explained in terms of sequential star formation, is interpreted in a new way in our model. more...

AFTER the first detection of the 616–523transition of water vapour in an external galaxy by Churchwell et al.1in M33, other detections were reported by Lépine and dos Santos2in NGC253, and by Huchtmeier et al.3in M33 and IC342. We report here the detection of H2O maser emission from NGC4945, a bright edge-on spiral galaxy in the Centaurus group. This is intrinsically the most powerful H2O maser yet detected in any astronomical source. The search for H2O emission in NGC4945 was motivated by the previous detection of OH and H2CO absorption by Whiteoak and Gardner4and Gardner and Whiteoak5, and also by the similarity of this galaxy to NGC253. The observations were made on 20–22 September 1978, with the 13.7-m Itapetinga radiotelescope equipped with a ruby maser amplifier with an apparent SSB system temperature of about 150 K. The signal was analysed by a 46-channel, 100–kHz (1.35 km s−1) resolution filter bank, and observations were made with the filter bank centred at different frequencies to obtain greater velocity coverage. The 4′ beam was pointed towards the nucleus of the galaxy. The overall dimensions of the galaxy are 17′ × 3′. The telescope was beam switched at a rate of 100 Hz. The beams were separated by 9.4 arc min and the reference beam was displaced in azimuth, which did not correspond to a fixed direction with respect to the equatorial plane of NGC4945. Antenna temperatures were corrected for atmospheric attenuation and random attenuation using the standard procedure at Itapetinga6and then converted to flux units, the error in the flux scale being ∼10%. more...

We have compiled a new catalogue of open clusters in the Galaxy which updates the previous catalogues of Lyngå (1987) and of Mermilliod (1995) (included in the WEBDA database). New objects and new data, in particular, data on kinematics (proper motions, radial velocities) that were not present in the old catalogues, have been included. Virtually all the clusters (1622) presently known were included, which represents an increment of about 450 objects relative to the Lyngå (1987) catalogue. The catalogue is presented in a single table containing all the important data (positions, reddenings, distances, ages, kinematics) which makes it easy to use. The catalogue includes mean absolute proper motions for hundreds of open clusters (Dias et al.2001, 2002a) obtained using the Tycho2 proper motions. Unpublished mean radial velocities of several dozens of clusters are also presented in this work. The catalogue is being constantly updated and the latest version can be accessed on-line at http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~wilton/were more data such as membership probabilities for individual stars can also be accessed. more...