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There is now a growing interest in early-life influences on adult diseases in China. A number of birth cohorts have been established. This systematic review provided a better understanding of the development of mother–baby cohorts in China. Systematic review. We conducted a systematic review for research or profile papers in English/Chinese that reported data from mother–baby cohorts in mainland China, with ≥1y follow-up after birth. We identified 315 papers, corresponding to 31 cohorts from 19 provinces/megacities. All cohorts started in 1999–2017 (21 after 2010) and were set up with broad objectives or specific scientific focus. The baseline sample size varied, from <500 to >300,000 mothers. A majority of cohorts were initiated during pregnancy and followed children to <10y, only six to adolescence and none into adulthood. These cohorts mostly collected samples from mothers and babies, in addition to using interviews/questionnaires to collect information about pregnancy, birth and child health. Most cohorts were recruited from a single province/city. The large western region was understudied. Mother–baby cohorts have developed rapidly in China, but usually with a short follow-up duration. Extending the follow-up of children and developing cross-cohort collaboration will increase the diversity, size and coverage of the sample, allow studying early influences on life-course health and identify targets for early intervention in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cancer-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), the EORTC QLQ-C30, is a frequently applied questionnaire to assess cancer patients' self-reported health used as part of research and clinical practice. Normative data obtained from the general population can facilitate the interpretation of these data. Despite its frequent application, no detailed EORTC QLQ-C30 normative data have yet been published for the United Kingdom (UK). This study presents detailed EORTC QLQ-C30 normative data for the United Kingdom overall and by sex and age. The data are drawn from a larger published, international, cross-sectional online survey. For the recruitment, the sample was stratified by sex (males, females) and age in five age groups with a sample size of n = 100 per subgroup. A total of N = 1026 UK respondents completed the survey (n = 517 females, n = 509 males). There were no clear subgroup patterns by sex or age; however, older patients tended to show higher (i.e., better) scores in emotional and social functioning; they also reported some of the lowest (i.e., best) scores for symptoms, such as insomnia, appetite loss, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or financial difficulties. This paper provides EORTC QLQ-C30 general population normative data for the UK, further stratified by sex and age. These data will greatly support the interpretation of EORTC QLQ-C30 scale scores obtained from UK cancer patients, and also enable comparison with other detailed national normative datasets collected in the same project, across several other European countries and the US. • EORTC QLQ-C30 is a cancer quality of life (QoL) tool for functioning and symptoms. • Normative QoL data collected from 1026 respondents in UK general population. • No clear patterns, generally oldest had better functioning and fewer symptoms. • Look-up tables for EORTC QLQ-C30 scales for the UK general population. • Interpretation aid for data from individual and groups of UK cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the exponential growth of new technology, it is timely that social psychologists continue to develop new and effective solutions to old but existing problems, including prejudice. One such solution is virtual reality (VR). This critical review examines VR as a promising new media tool to reduce prejudice and improve intergroup relations. Unlike traditional prejudice reduction strategies, VR provides researchers with a high degree of experimental control and flexibility. However, VR prejudice reduction research is in its infancy, and a myriad of challenges have emerged, including the: i) difficulty of cross-study comparisons and navigation of existing literature due to lack of standardized VR methodologies; ii) limitations of adapting traditional prejudice reduction strategies into VR; and iii) the lack of measurement of behaviors. This paper critically evaluates each of these limitations and, in doing so, proposes a new working framework incorporating two dimensions, the: i) VR input device, and ii) level of interactivity and mobility in the VR environment. This framework attempts to address the lack of standardization of immersion and presence in current VR research by helping guide future VR researchers to better identify the type of research they are conducting, evaluate existing research findings, and thus make cross-comparisons in VR prejudice reduction findings more meaningful. • Highlights three main limitations of current VR prejudice reduction strategies. • Conceptual framework is developed to standardize the immersion and presence in VR. • Solutions to address the limitations of VR prejudice research is proposed. • Call attention to the importance of VR as a research tool to measure prejudice. • Future directions of VR prejudice reduction research are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]