Background Coronary heart disease is rapidly increasing in developing countries, but access to cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention remains low. In this study, we aimed to assess the effectiveness of a smartphone-based cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention programme delivered via the social media platform WeChat (SMART-CR/SP). Methods In this parallel-group, single-blind, randomised controlled trial, we recruited patients aged 18 years or older with coronary heart disease who had received percutaneous coronary interventions from a large tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) by block randomisation to either a 2-month intensive programme followed by a 4-month step-down phase of SMART-CR/SP or to usual care. In the SMART-CR/SP group, participants received comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention via WeChat. The usual care group received standard outpatient cardiology follow-up but without formal cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention. Assessments were done at baseline, 2 months, 6 months, and 12 months. The primary outcome was change in functional capacity from baseline, measured by 6-min walk distance, at 2 months and 6 months. Analysis was by intention to treat. Research personnel involved in assessments were blinded to group allocation. Adverse-event analysis was based on percentage of patients who discontinued the study owing to adverse events. SMART-CR/SP programme-related safety issues were also recorded. This study was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, number ChiCTR-INR-16009598.

The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (www.rainestudy.org.au) was established 1989-1991 with the then stated purpose: to develop a large cohort of Western Australian children studied from 18 weeks' gestation to ascertain the relative contributions of familial risk factors, fetal growth, placental development and environmental insults to outcome in infancy and to the precursors of adult morbidity. This cohort, with complete intrauterine, perinatal and childhood data, will enable evaluation of the interaction between these factors, subsequent lifestyle patterns and environmental exposures which contribute to ill health during life. 1 Establishment of the cohort involved combining funding for 'a randomised controlled trial of the influence of serial fetal ultrasounds on birth outcomes' from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia 2 and funding to investigate 'the origins of disease in the fetus, the child and the young adult' from the Raine Medical Research Foundation. 1 The conceptual framework for the study was initially based around the developmental origins of health and disease, but has since evolved into a life-course framework taking into account the multiple interacting domains of genetics, phenotypes (cardiometabolic, respiratory, immunological, hormonal, musculoskeletal, psychological, vision and hearing, body composition and growth), behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, diet, drug use, risk taking), the environment (sunlight, chemical exposures, spatial environment) and other developmental outcomes (education, work). Who is in the cohort? Pregnant women presenting at the public antenatal clinic at King Edward Memorial Hospital (at that time it was the only tertiary women's and infants' hospital in Perth, Western Australia) and nearby private practice clinics between May 1989 and November 1991 3 were invited to participate. Women were invited if they were between 16 and 20 weeks pregnant, had sufficient proficiency in

This article summarizes a symposium organized and cochaired by Maria Testa and presented at the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, in Santa Barbara, California. The symposium explored issues relevant to understanding the function of placebo conditions and to interpreting placebo effects. Cochair Mark Fillmore began with an overview of the use of placebo conditions in alcohol research, focusing on methodological issues. Jeanette Norris and her colleagues conducted a review of studies examining placebo conditions among women. They conclude that expectancy effects are limited to a few domains. Maria Testa and Antonia Abbey presented papers suggesting that placebo manipulations may result in unanticipated compensatory effects in actual or hypothetical social situations. That is, placebo participants may compensate for anticipated cognitive impairment through vigilant attention to situational cues. John Curtin's research suggests that the compensatory strategies of placebo participants appear to involve a sensitization of evaluative control, resulting in improved performance. Kenneth Leonard provided concluding remarks on the meaning of placebo effects and the value of placebo conditions in research. KeywordsAlcohol Drinking; Placebo Effect; Methods THE PLACEBO EFFECT is intimately tied to the concept of expectancy that arose out of the need to specify an internal (i.e., cognitive) representation of the learning experience (Bolles, 1972;Tolman, 1932). When an association between 2 events is learned, the first event is said to elicit an expectancy of the second event. Moreover, once learned, the expectancy itself can elicit the associated outcome, and thus expectancies are considered to be an important determinant of behavior (Kirsch, 1999).The placebo has a long history as a control-comparison condition in studies of drug effects on behavior (Kirsch, 1999). Early medical reports of the beneficial effects of placebos led to considerable interest beyond their use as control conditions. In particular, the placebo effect

HCA is associated with a significantly reduced risk of acquiring LOS, both with CoNS and other bacteria. Perinatal inflammation may enhance the functional maturation of the preterm immune system and provide protection against LOS in high-risk preterm infants.

Higher dietary intake of the 'Western' dietary pattern at age 14 is associated with diminished cognitive performance 3 years later, at 17 years.