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Telephone-based interventions can be effective in increasing child fruit and vegetable intake in the short term (<6 mo). The long-term efficacy of such interventions, however, is unknown.

Aims. The nature of the thick disc and its relation to the thin disc is presently an important subject of debate. In fact, the structural and chemo-dynamical transition between disc populations can be used as a test of the proposed models of Galactic disc formation and evolution. Methods. We used the atmospheric parameters, [alpha/Fe] abundances, and radial velocities, which were determined from the Gaia-ESO Survey GIRAFFE spectra of FGK-type stars (first nine months of observations) to provide a chemo-kinematical characterisation of the disc stellar populations. We focussed on a subsample of 1016 stars with high-quality parameters, covering the volume vertical bar Z vertical bar < 4.5 kpc and R in the range 2-13 kpc. Results. We have identified a thin to thick disc separation in the [alpha/Fe] vs. [M/H] plane, thanks to the presence of a low-density region in the number density distribution. The thick disc stars seem to lie in progressively thinner layers above the Galactic plane, as metallicity increases and [alpha/Fe] decreases. In contrast, the thin disc population presents a constant value of the mean distance to the Galactic plane at all metallicities. In addition, our data confirm the already known correlations between V-phi and [M/H] for the two discs. For the thick disc sequence, a study of the possible contamination by thin disc stars suggests a gradient up to 64 +/- 9 km s(-1) dex(-1). The distributions of azimuthal velocity, vertical velocity, and orbital parameters are also analysed for the chemically separated samples. Concerning the gradients with galactocentric radius, we find, for the thin disc, a flat behaviour of the azimuthal velocity, a metallicity gradient equal to -0.058 +/- 0.008 dex kpc(-1) and a very small positive [alpha/Fe] gradient. For the thick disc, flat gradients in [M/H] and [alpha/Fe] are derived. Conclusions. Our chemo-kinematical analysis suggests a picture where the thick disc seems to have experienced a settling process, dur

Context. Galactic open clusters (OCs) mainly belong to the young stellar population in the Milky Way disk, but are there groups and complexes of OCs that possibly define an additional level in hierarchical star formation? Current compilations are too incomplete to address this question, especially regarding radial velocities (RVs) and metallicities ([M/H]). Aims. Here we provide and discuss newly obtained RV and [M/H] data, which will enable us to reinvestigate potential groupings of open clusters and associations. Methods. We extracted additional RVs and [M/H] from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) via a cross-match with the Catalogue of Stars in Open Cluster Areas (CSOCA). For the identified OCs in RAVE we derived (RV) over bar and ([M/H]) over bar from a cleaned working sample and compared the results with previous findings. Results. Although our RAVE sample does not show the same accuracy as the entire survey, we were able to derive reliable (RV) over bar for 110 Galactic open clusters. For 37 OCs we publish (RV) over bar for the first time. Moreover, we determined ([M/H]) over bar for 81 open clusters, extending the number of OCs with ([M/H]) over bar by 69.

Non-axisymmetries in the Galactic potential (spiral arms and bar) induce kinematic groups such as the Hercules stream. Assuming that Hercules is caused by the effects of the outer Lindblad resonance of the Galactic bar, we model analytically its properties as a function of position in the Galaxy and its dependence on the bar's pattern speed and orientation. Using data from the RAVE survey we find that the azimuthal velocity of the Hercules structure decreases as a function of Galactocentric radius, in a manner consistent with our analytical model. This allows us to obtain new estimates of the parameters of the Milky Way's bar. The combined likelihood function of the bar's pattern speed and angle has its maximum for a pattern speed of Omega(b) = (1.89 +/- 0.08) x Omega(0), where Omega(0) is the local circular frequency. Assuming a solar radius of 8.05 kpc and a local circular velocity of 238 km s(-1), this corresponds to Omega(b) = 56 +/- 2km s(-1) kpc(-1). On the other hand, the bar's orientation phi(b) cannot be constrained with the available data. In fact, the likelihood function shows that a tight correlation exists between the pattern speed and the orientation, implying that a better description of our best fit results is given by the linear relation Omega(b)/Omega(0) = 1.91+0.0044 (phi(b)(deg) - 48), with standard deviation of 0.02. For example, for an angle of phi(b) = 30 deg the pattern speed is 54.0 +/- 0.5 km s(-1) kpc(-1). These results are not very sensitive to the other Galactic parameters such as the circular velocity curve or the peculiar motion of the Sun, and are robust to biases in distance.

Despite significant investment in many countries, the extent of schools' adoption of obesity prevention policies and practices has not been widely reported. The aims of this article are to describe Australian schools' adoption of healthy eating and physical activity policies and practices over an 8-year period and to determine if their adoption varies according to schools' size, geographic or socio-economic location. Between 2006 and 2013, a representative randomly selected cohort of primary schools (n = 476) in New South Wales, Australia, participated in four telephone interviews. Repeated measures logistic regression analyses using a Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) framework were undertaken to assess change over time. The prevalence of all four of the healthy eating practices and one physical activity practice significantly increased, while the prevalence of one physical activity practice significantly decreased. The adoption of practices did not differ by school characteristics. Government investment can equitably enhance school adoption of some obesity prevention policies and practices on a jurisdiction-wide basis. Additional and/or different implementation strategies may be required to facilitate greater adoption of physical activity practices. Ongoing monitoring of school adoption of school policies and practices is needed to ensure the intended benefits of government investment are achieved.

The diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) are absorption lines observed in visual and near-infrared spectra of stars. Understanding their origin in the interstellar medium is one of the oldest problems in astronomical spectroscopy, as DIBs have been known since 1922. In a completely new approach to understanding DIBs, we combined information from nearly 500,000 stellar spectra obtained by the massive spectroscopic survey RAVE (Radial Velocity Experiment) to produce the first pseudo–three-dimensional map of the strength of the DIB at 8620 angstroms covering the nearest 3 kiloparsecs from the Sun, and show that it follows our independently constructed spatial distribution of extinction by interstellar dust along the Galactic plane. Despite having a similar distribution in the Galactic plane, the DIB 8620 carrier has a significantly larger vertical scale height than the dust. Even if one DIB may not represent the general DIB population, our observations outline the future direction of DIB research.

Background: The implementation of healthy school canteen policies has been recommended as a strategy to help prevent unhealthy eating and excessive weight gain. Internationally, research suggests that schools often fail to implement practices consistent with healthy school canteen policies. Without a population wide implementation, the potential benefits of these policies will not be realised. The aim of this trial is to assess the effectiveness of an implementation intervention in increasing school canteen practices consistent with a healthy canteen policy of the New South Wales (NSW), Australia, government known as the 'Fresh Tastes @ School NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy'.Methods/design: The parallel randomised trial will be conducted in 70 primary schools located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Schools will be eligible to participate if they are not currently meeting key components of the healthy canteen policy. Schools will be randomly allocated after baseline data collection in a 1:1 ratio to either an intervention or control group using a computerised random number function in Microsoft Excel. Thirty-five schools will be selected to receive a multi-component intervention including implementation support from research staff, staff training, resources, recognition and incentives, consensus and leadership strategies, follow-up support and implementation feedback. The 35 schools allocated to the control group will not receive any intervention support as part of the research trial. The primary outcome measures will be i) the proportion of schools with a canteen menu that does not contain foods or beverages restricted from regular sale ('red' and 'banned' items) and ii) the proportion of schools where healthy canteen items ('green' items) represent the majority (>50%) of products listed on the menu. Outcome data will be collected via a comprehensive menu audit, conducted by dietitians blind to group allocation. Intervention effectiveness

The velocity dispersions of stars near the Sun are known to increase with stellar age, but age can be difficult to determine, so a proxy like the abundance of alpha elements (e. g., Mg) with respect to iron, [alpha/Fe], is used. Here we report an unexpected behavior found in the velocity dispersion of a sample of giant stars from the Radial Velocity Experiment survey with high-quality chemical and kinematic information, in that it decreases strongly for stars with [Mg/Fe] > 0.4 dex (i.e., those that formed in the first gigayear of the Galaxy's life). These findings can be explained by perturbations from massive mergers in the early universe, which have affected the outer parts of the disk more strongly, and the subsequent radial migration of stars with cooler kinematics from the inner disk. Similar reversed trends in velocity dispersion are also found for different metallicity subpopulations. Our results suggest that the Milky Way disk merger history can be recovered by relating the observed chemo-kinematic relations to the properties of past merger events.

We determine the Galactic potential in the solar neigbourhood from RAVE observations. We select red clump stars for which accurate distances, radial velocities, and metallicities have been measured. Combined with data from the 2MASS and UCAC catalogues, we build a sample of 4600 red clump stars within a cylinder of 500 pc radius oriented in the direction of the South Galactic Pole, in the range of 200 pc to 2000 pc distances. We deduce the vertical force and the total mass density distribution up to 2 kpc away from the Galactic plane by fitting a distribution function depending explicitly on three isolating integrals of the motion in a separable potential locally representing the Galactic one with four free parameters. Because of the deep extension of our sample, we can determine nearly independently the dark matter mass density and the baryonic disc surface mass density. We find (i) at 1kpc Kz/(2piG) = 68.5 pm 1.0 Msun/pc2, and (ii) at 2 kpc Kz/(2piG) = 96.9 pm 2.2 Msun/pc2. Assuming the solar Galactic radius at R0 = 8.5 kpc, we deduce the local dark matter density rhoDM (z=0) = 0.0143 pm 0.0011Msun pc3 = 0.542 pm 0.042 Gev/cm3 and the baryonic surface mass density Sigma = 44.4 pm 4.1 Msun/pc2 . Our results are in agreement with previously published Kz determinations up to 1 kpc, while the extension to 2 kpc shows some evidence for an unexpectedly large amount of dark matter. A flattening of the dark halo of order 0.8 can produce such a high local density in combination with a circular velocity of 240 km/s . Another explanation, allowing for a lower circular velocity, could be the presence of a secondary dark component, a very thick disc resulting either from the deposit of dark matter from the accretion of multiple small dwarf galaxies, or from the presence of an effective phantom thick disc in the context of effective galactic-scale modifications of gravity.

Observations of diffuse Galactic gamma ray emission (DGE) by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) allow a detailed study of cosmic rays and the interstellar medium. However, diffuse emission models of the inner Galaxy underpredict the Fermi-LAT data at energies above a few GeV and hint at possible nonastrophysical sources including dark matter (DM) annihilations or decays. We present a study of the possible emission components from DM using the high-resolution Via Lactea II N-body simulation of a Milky Way - sized DM halo. We generate full-sky maps of DM annihilation and decay signals that include modeling of the adiabatic contraction of the host density profile, Sommerfeld-enhanced DM annihilations, p-wave annihilations, and decaying DM. We compare our results with the DGE models produced by the Fermi-LAT team over different sky regions, including the Galactic center, high Galactic latitudes, and the Galactic anticenter. This work provides possible smooth component templates of DM to fit the observational data. The subhalo contributions can be considered to provide statistically meaningful templates and demonstrate how spatial profiles are significantly modified according to different annihilation or decay scenarios. We argue that a subhalo-based approach can help constrain the DM physics.

We aim to characterize high-velocity (HiVel) stars in the solar vicinity both chemically and kinematically using the fourth data release of the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). We used a sample of 57 HiVel stars with Galactic rest-frame velocities larger than 275 km s$^{-1}$. With 6D position and velocity information, we integrated the orbits of the HiVel stars and found that, on average, they reach out to 13 kpc from the Galactic plane and have relatively eccentric orbits consistent with the Galactic halo. Using the stellar parameters and [$\alpha$/Fe] estimates from RAVE, we found the metallicity distribution of the HiVel stars peak at [M/H] = -1.2 dex and is chemically consistent with the inner halo. There are a few notable exceptions that include a hypervelocity star (HVS) candidate, an extremely high-velocity bound halo star, and one star that is kinematically consistent with the halo but chemically consistent with the disk. High-resolution spectra were obtained for the metal-rich HiVel star candidate and the second highest velocity star in the sample. Using these high-resolution data, we report the discovery of a metal-rich halo star that has likely been dynamically ejected into the halo from the Galactic thick disk. This discovery could aid in explaining the assembly of the most metal-rich component of the Galactic halo., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

(Abridged) We analyzed the stellar parameters and radial velocities of ~1200 stars in five bulge fields as determined from the Gaia-ESO survey data (iDR1). We use VISTA Variables in The Via Lactea (VVV) photometry to obtain reddening values by using a semi-empirical T_eff-color calibration. From a Gaussian decomposition of the metallicity distribution functions, we unveil a clear bimodality in all fields, with the relative size of components depending of the specific position on the sky. In agreement with some previous studies, we find a mild gradient along the minor axis (-0.05 dex/deg between b=-6 and b=-10) that arises from the varying proportion of metal-rich and metal-poor components. The number of metal-rich stars fades in favor of the metal-poor stars with increasing b. The K-magnitude distribution of the metal-rich population splits into two peaks for two of the analyzed fields that intersects the near and far branches of the X-shaped bulge structure. In addition, two lateral fields at (l,b)=(7,-9) and (l,b)=(-10,-8) present contrasting characteristics. In the former, the metallicity distribution is dominated by metal-rich stars, while in the latter it presents a mix of a metal-poor population and and a metal-intermediate one, of nearly equal sizes. Finally, we find systematic differences in the velocity dispersion between the metal-rich and the metal-poor components of each field. Our chemo-kinematical analysis is consistent with a varying field-to-field proportion of stars belonging to (i) a metal-rich boxy/peanut X-shaped component, with bar-like kinematics, and (ii) a metal-poor more extended rotating structure with a higher velocity dispersion that dominates far from the Galactic plane. These first GES data allow studying the detailed spatial dependence of the Galactic bulge populations, thanks to the analysis of individual fields with relatively high statistics., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We provide APASS photometry in the Landolt BV and Sloan g'r'i' bands for all the 425,743 stars included in the latest 4th RAVE Data Release. The internal accuracy of the APASS photometry of RAVE stars, expressed as error of the mean of data obtained and separately calibrated over a median of 4 distinct observing epochs and distributed between 2009 and 2013, is 0.013, 0.012, 0.012, 0.014 and 0.021 mag for B, V, g', r' and i' band, respectively. The equally high external accuracy of APASS photometry has been verified on secondary Landolt and Sloan photometric standard stars not involved in the APASS calibration process, and on a large body of literature data on field and cluster stars, confirming the absence of offsets and trends. Compared with the Carlsberg Meridian Catalog (CMC-15), APASS astrometry of RAVE stars is accurate to a median value of 0.098 arcsec. Brightness distribution functions for the RAVE stars have been derived in all bands. APASS photometry of RAVE stars, augmented by 2MASS JHK infrared data, has been chi2 fitted to a densely populated synthetic photometric library designed to widely explore in temperature, surface gravity, metallicity and reddening. Resulting Teff and E(B-V), computed over a range of options, are provided and discussed, and will be kept updated in response to future APASS and RAVE data releases. In the process it is found that the reddening caused by an homogeneous slab of dust, extending for 140 pc on either side of the Galactic plane and responsible for E(B-V,poles)=0.036 +/- 0.002 at the galactic poles, is a suitable approximation of the actual reddening encountered at Galactic latitudes |b|>=25 deg., Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press. Resolution of Figures degrated to match arXiv file size limits

We provide new constraints on the chemo-dynamical models of the Milky Way by measuring the radial and vertical chemical gradients for the elements Mg, Al, Si, Ti, and Fe in the Galactic disc and the gradient variations as a function of the distance from the Galactic plane ($Z$). We selected a sample of giant stars from the RAVE database using the gravity criterium 1.7$<$log g$<$2.8. We created a RAVE mock sample with the Galaxia code based on the Besan\c con model and selected a corresponding mock sample to compare the model with the observed data. We measured the radial gradients and the vertical gradients as a function of the distance from the Galactic plane $Z$ to study their variation across the Galactic disc. The RAVE sample exhibits a negative radial gradient of $d[Fe/H]/dR=-0.054$ dex kpc$^{-1}$ close to the Galactic plane ($|Z|<0.4$ kpc) that becomes flatter for larger $|Z|$. Other elements follow the same trend although with some variations from element to element. The mock sample has radial gradients in fair agreement with the observed data. The variation of the gradients with $Z$ shows that the Fe radial gradient of the RAVE sample has little change in the range $|Z|\lesssim0.6$ kpc and then flattens. The iron vertical gradient of the RAVE sample is slightly negative close to the Galactic plane and steepens with $|Z|$. The mock sample exhibits an iron vertical gradient that is always steeper than the RAVE sample. The mock sample also shows an excess of metal-poor stars in the [Fe/H] distributions with respect to the observed data. These discrepancies can be reduced by decreasing the number of thick disc stars and increasing their average metallicity in the Besan\c con model., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, A&A accepted

We determine the Galactic potential in the solar neigbourhood from RAVE observations. We select red clump stars for which accurate distances, radial velocities, and metallicities have been measured. Combined with data from the 2MASS and UCAC catalogues, we build a sample of 4600 red clump stars within a cylinder of 500 pc radius oriented in the direction of the South Galactic Pole, in the range of 200 pc to 2000 pc distances. We deduce the vertical force and the total mass density distribution up to 2 kpc away from the Galactic plane by fitting a distribution function depending explicitly on three isolating integrals of the motion in a separable potential locally representing the Galactic one with four free parameters. Because of the deep extension of our sample, we can determine nearly independently the dark matter mass density and the baryonic disc surface mass density. We find (i) at 1kpc Kz/(2piG) = 68.5 pm 1.0 Msun/pc2, and (ii) at 2 kpc Kz/(2piG) = 96.9 pm 2.2 Msun/pc2. Assuming the solar Galactic radius at R0 = 8.5 kpc, we deduce the local dark matter density rhoDM (z=0) = 0.0143 pm 0.0011Msun pc3 = 0.542 pm 0.042 Gev/cm3 and the baryonic surface mass density Sigma = 44.4 pm 4.1 Msun/pc2 . Our results are in agreement with previously published Kz determinations up to 1 kpc, while the extension to 2 kpc shows some evidence for an unexpectedly large amount of dark matter. A flattening of the dark halo of order 0.8 can produce such a high local density in combination with a circular velocity of 240 km/s . Another explanation, allowing for a lower circular velocity, could be the presence of a secondary dark component, a very thick disc resulting either from the deposit of dark matter from the accretion of multiple small dwarf galaxies, or from the presence of an effective phantom thick disc in the context of effective galactic-scale modifications of gravity., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, accepted to Astronomy and Astrophysics

We examine the star formation in the outer halo of NGC~1275, the central galaxy in the Perseus cluster (Abell 426), using far ultraviolet and optical images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. We have identified a population of very young, compact star clusters with typical ages of a few Myr. The star clusters are organised on multiple-kiloparsec scales. Many of these star clusters are associated with "streaks" of young stars, the combination of which has a cometary appearance. We perform photometry on the star clusters and diffuse stellar streaks, and fit their spectral energy distributions to obtain ages and masses. These young stellar populations appear to be normal in terms of their masses, luminosities and cluster formation efficiency; <10% of the young stellar mass is located in star clusters. Our data suggest star formation is associated with the evolution of some of the giant gas filaments in NGC~1275 that become gravitationally unstable on reaching and possibly stalling in the outer galaxy. The stellar streaks then could represent stars moving on ballistic orbits in the potential well of the galaxy cluster. We propose a model where star-forming filaments, switched on ~50~Myr ago and are currently feeding the growth of the NGC~1275 stellar halo at a rate of ~2-3 solar masses per year. This type of process may also build stellar halos and form isolated star clusters in the outskirts of youthful galaxies., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We use the kinematics of $\sim200\,000$ giant stars that lie within $\sim 1.5$ kpc of the plane to measure the vertical profile of mass density near the Sun. We find that the dark mass contained within the isodensity surface of the dark halo that passes through the Sun ($(6\pm0.9)\times10^{10}\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$), and the surface density within $0.9$ kpc of the plane ($(69\pm10)\,\mathrm{M_\odot\,pc^{-2}}$) are almost independent of the (oblate) halo's axis ratio $q$. If the halo is spherical, 46 per cent of the radial force on the Sun is provided by baryons, and only 4.3 per cent of the Galaxy's mass is baryonic. If the halo is flattened, the baryons contribute even less strongly to the local radial force and to the Galaxy's mass. The dark-matter density at the location of the Sun is $0.0126\,q^{-0.89}\,\mathrm{M_\odot\,pc^{-3}}=0.48\,q^{-0.89}\,\mathrm{GeV\,cm^{-3}}$. When combined with other literature results we find hints for a mildly oblate dark halo with $q \simeq 0.8$. Our value for the dark mass within the solar radius is larger than that predicted by cosmological dark-matter-only simulations but in good agreement with simulations once the effects of baryonic infall are taken into account. Our mass models consist of three double-exponential discs, an oblate bulge and a Navarro-Frenk-White dark-matter halo, and we model the dynamics of the RAVE stars in the corresponding gravitational fields by finding distribution functions $f(\mathbf{J})$ that depend on three action integrals. Statistical errors are completely swamped by systematic uncertainties, the most important of which are the distance to the stars in the photometric and spectroscopic samples and the solar distance to the Galactic centre. Systematics other than the flattening of the dark halo yield overall uncertainties $\sim 15$ per cent., Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We investigate the kinematic parameters of the Milky Way disc using the RAVE and GCS stellar surveys. We do this by fitting a kinematic model to the data taking the selection function of the data into account. For stars in the GCS we use all phase-space coordinates, but for RAVE stars we use only $(l,b,v_{\rm los})$. Using MCMC technique, we investigate the full posterior distributions of the parameters given the data. We investigate the `age-velocity dispersion' relation for the three kinematic components ($\sigma_R,\sigma_{\phi},\sigma_z$), the radial dependence of the velocity dispersions, the Solar peculiar motion ($U_{\odot},V_{\odot}, W_{\odot} $), the circular speed $\Theta_0$ at the Sun and the fall of mean azimuthal motion with height above the mid-plane. We confirm that the Besan\c{c}on-style Gaussian model accurately fits the GCS data, but fails to match the details of the more spatially extended RAVE survey. In particular, the Shu distribution function (DF) handles non-circular orbits more accurately and provides a better fit to the kinematic data. The Gaussian distribution function not only fits the data poorly but systematically underestimates the fall of velocity dispersion with radius. We find that correlations exist between a number of parameters, which highlights the importance of doing joint fits. The large size of the RAVE survey, allows us to get precise values for most parameters. However, large systematic uncertainties remain, especially in $V_{\odot}$ and $\Theta_0$. We find that, for an extended sample of stars, $\Theta_0$ is underestimated by as much as $10\%$ if the vertical dependence of the mean azimuthal motion is neglected. Using a simple model for vertical dependence of kinematics, we find that it is possible to match the Sgr A* proper motion without any need for $V_{\odot}$ being larger than that estimated locally by surveys like GCS., Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

(Abridged) We have used the atmospheric parameters, [alpha/Fe] abundances and radial velocities, determined from the Gaia-ESO Survey GIRAFFE spectra of FGK-type stars (iDR1), to provide a chemo-kinematical characterisation of the disc stellar populations. We focuss on a subsample of 1016 stars with high quality parameters, covering the volume |Z|<4.5kpc and R in the range 2-13kpc. We have identified a thin to thick disc separation in the [alpha/Fe] vs [M/H] plane, thanks to the presence of a low-density region in the number density distribution. The thick disc stars seem to lie in progressively thinner layers above the Galactic plane, as metallicity increases and [alpha/Fe] decreases. The thin disc population presents a constant value of the mean distance to the plane at all metallicities. Our data confirm the already known correlations between V_phi and [M/H] for the two discs. For the thick disc sequence, a study of the possible contamination by thin disc stars suggests a gradient up to 64km/s/dex. The distributions of V_phi, V_Z, and orbital parameters are analysed for the chemically separated samples. Concerning the gradients with galactocentric radius, we find for the thin disc a flat behaviour of V_phi, a [M/H] gradient of -0.058dex/kpc and a small positive [alpha/Fe] gradient. For the thick disc, flat gradients in [M/H] and [alpha/Fe] are derived. Our chemo-kinematical analysis suggests a picture in which the thick disc seems to have experienced a settling process, during which its rotation increased progressively, and, possibly, the V_phi dispersion decreased. At [M/H]-0.25dex and [alpha/Fe]0.1dex, the mean characteristics of the thick disc in distance to the Galactic plane, V_phi, V_phi dispersion and eccentricity agree with those of the thin disc stars, suggesting a possible connection between these populations at a certain epoch of the disc evolution., Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics