Effects of psychological treatment of mental health problems in pregnant women to protect their offspring:Randomised controlled trial

Background Perinatal depression and anxiety are associated with unfavourable child outcomes. Aims To assess among women with antenatal depression or anxiety the effectiveness of prenatally initiated cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) on mother and child compared with care as usual (CAU). Trial registration: Netherlands Trial Register number NTR2242. Method Pregnant women (n = 282) who screened positive for symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were randomised to either CBT (n = 140) or CAU (n = 142). The primary outcome was child behavioural and emotional problems at age 18 months, assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Secondary outcomes were maternal symptoms during and up to 18 months after pregnancy, neonatal outcomes, mother-infant bonding and child cognitive and motor development at age 18 months. Results In total, 94 (67%) women in the CBT group and 98 (69%) in the CAU group completed the study. The mean CBCL Total Problems score was non-significantly higher in the CBT group than in the CAU group (mean difference: 1.38 (95% CI -1.82 to 4.57); t = 0.85, P = 0.399). No effects on secondary outcomes were observed except for depression and anxiety, which were higher in the CBT group than in the CAU group at mid-pregnancy. A post hoc analysis of the 98 women with anxiety disorders showed lower infant gestational age at delivery in the CBT than in the CAU group. Conclusions Prenatally initiated CBT did not improve maternal symptoms or child outcomes among non-help-seeking women with antenatal depression or anxiety. Our findings are not in line with present recommendations for universal screening and treatment for antenatal depression or anxiety, and future work may include the relevance of baseline help-seeking.</p

Synthesized grain size distribution in the interstellar medium

We examine a synthetic way of constructing the grain size distribution in the interstellar medium (ISM). First we formulate a synthetic grain size distribution composed of three grain size distributions processed with the following mechanisms that govern the grain size distribution in the Milky Way: (i) grain growth by accretion and coagulation in dense clouds, (ii) supernova shock destruction by sputtering in diffuse ISM, and (iii) shattering driven by turbulence in diffuse ISM. Then, we examine if the observational grain size distribution in the Milky Way (called MRN) is successfully synthesized or not. We find that the three components actually synthesize the MRN grain size distribution in the sense that the deficiency of small grains by (i) and (ii) is compensated by the production of small grains by (iii). The fraction of each {contribution} to the total grain processing of (i), (ii), and (iii) (i.e., the relative importance of the three {contributions} to all grain processing mechanisms) is 30-50%, 20-40%, and 10-40%, respectively. We also show that the Milky Way extinction curve is reproduced with the synthetic grain size distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Earth, Planets, and Spac

Formation of Super-Earths

Super-Earths are the most abundant planets known to date and are characterized by having sizes between that of Earth and Neptune, typical orbital periods of less than 100 days and gaseous envelopes that are often massive enough to significantly contribute to the planet's overall radius. Furthermore, super-Earths regularly appear in tightly-packed multiple-planet systems, but resonant configurations in such systems are rare. This chapters summarizes current super-Earth formation theories. It starts from the formation of rocky cores and subsequent accretion of gaseous envelopes. We follow the thermal evolution of newly formed super-Earths and discuss their atmospheric mass loss due to disk dispersal, photoevaporation, core-cooling and collisions. We conclude with a comparison of observations and theoretical predictions, highlighting that even super-Earths that appear as barren rocky cores today likely formed with primordial hydrogen and helium envelopes and discuss some paths forward for the future.Comment: Invited review accepted for publication in the 'Handbook of Exoplanets,' Planet Formation section, Springer Reference Works, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Ed

Дирда Віталій Ілларіонович (до семидесятиріччя з дня народження)

26 вересня 2008 року виповнилося 70 років з дня народження Віталія Ілларіоновича Дирди – відомого вченого в галузі механіки, зокрема механіки руйнування

Planetary population synthesis

In stellar astrophysics, the technique of population synthesis has been successfully used for several decades. For planets, it is in contrast still a young method which only became important in recent years because of the rapid increase of the number of known extrasolar planets, and the associated growth of statistical observational constraints. With planetary population synthesis, the theory of planet formation and evolution can be put to the test against these constraints. In this review of planetary population synthesis, we first briefly list key observational constraints. Then, the work flow in the method and its two main components are presented, namely global end-to-end models that predict planetary system properties directly from protoplanetary disk properties and probability distributions for these initial conditions. An overview of various population synthesis models in the literature is given. The sub-models for the physical processes considered in global models are described: the evolution of the protoplanetary disk, the planets' accretion of solids and gas, orbital migration, and N-body interactions among concurrently growing protoplanets. Next, typical population synthesis results are illustrated in the form of new syntheses obtained with the latest generation of the Bern model. Planetary formation tracks, the distribution of planets in the mass-distance and radius-distance plane, the planetary mass function, and the distributions of planetary radii, semimajor axes, and luminosities are shown, linked to underlying physical processes, and compared with their observational counterparts. We finish by highlighting the most important predictions made by population synthesis models and discuss the lessons learned from these predictions - both those later observationally confirmed and those rejected.Comment: 47 pages, 12 figures. Invited review accepted for publication in the 'Handbook of Exoplanets', planet formation section, section editor: Ralph Pudritz, Springer reference works, Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Ed

Antidepressants are frequently prescribed but still critized; a perspective on causes and solutions

BACKGROUND: From around 1980, antidepressants (ad) have increasingly been prescribed, for longer periods of time, especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (ssris). Paradoxically, their effectiveness is still doubted, especially outside the psychiatric profession.&lt;br/&gt; AIM: To explain increase and offer a perspective on causes and solutions, and to indicate how to reach consensus.&lt;br/&gt; METHOD: Position paper with critical analysis and synthesis of relevant literature.&lt;br/&gt; RESULTS: The rise in AD prescriptions results from: 1. increased safety and ease of prescribing, 2. increased presentation and recognition of depression in primary care, 3. extension of indication criteria, 4. effective marketing strategies, and 5. effectiveness in acute phase (aad) and of relapse/recurrence prevention in continuation/maintenance phases (coad).Critics point to: 1. low added value of aad relative to placebo, 2. many drop-outs and non-responders, 3. relapse/recurrence prevention with coad works only for responders to aad, 4. relapse/recurrence after AD discontinuation often involves withdrawal symptoms, and 5. publication bias, selective reporting, selective patient selection, and suboptimal blinding, resulting in overestimated effectiveness and underestimated disadvantages.Factors that keep fueling the controversy are: 1. critics stress the net effectiveness of AD whereas proponents point at gross effectiveness which includes spontaneous recovery and placebo effect; 2. persistence of distrust in industry-funded rcts; 3. ideological positions, reinforced by conflicts of interest and selective citations; 4. lack of rcts with relevant long-term outcome measurements.&lt;br/&gt; CONCLUSION: Although consensus is difficult to achieve given the ideological component, there are options. Three factors are critically important: confer to establish which data convince the opposition, response prediction (what works for whom), and rcts with long-term functional outcomes.</p