Baseline training sequence affects speed of emergent conditional discriminations.

We examined the effects of baseline training sequence on the emergence of conditional discriminations in an intraverbal naming task. Thirty-two college students were randomly assigned to two groups. The tact-intraverbal (TI) group first learned to vocally tact eight visual stimuli using a unique verbal label for each stimulus, and then to intraverbally relate four pairs of verbal labels.

Learning Skinner's Verbal Operants: Comparing an Online Stimulus Equivalence Procedure to an Assigned Reading.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of an online stimulus equivalence procedure to that of an assigned reading when learning Skinner's taxonomy of verbal behavior. Twenty-six graduate students participated via an online learning management system. One group was exposed to an online stimulus equivalence procedure (equivalence group) that was designed to teach relations among the names, antecedents, consequences, and examples of each elementary verbal operant.

The Effects of Auditory Tact and Auditory Imagining Instructions on the Emergence of Novel Intraverbals.

The current research investigated whether intraverbals would emerge following auditory tact instruction. Participants were first taught to tact auditory stimuli by providing the name of the item or animal that produces the sound (e.g.

Impact of a specialist clinical cancer pharmacist at a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic.

Aim: Medication misadventure contributes to unplanned hospital admissions. General practitioners (GPs) may lack experience in managing problems involving complex cancer-related medication. A previous survey explored the unmet needs of lung cancer outpatients and highlighted their desire for more medication information.

Ipilimumab in pretreated patients with unresectable or metastatic cutaneous, uveal and mucosal melanoma.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of ipilimumab in an Australian clinical setting, and to assess the association of response with melanoma subtype, BRAF mutation status, absolute lymphocyte count and incidence of serious immune-related adverse events (AEs).

Design, Setting And Participants: Retrospective review of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma treated with ipilimumab at an Australian oncology centre between July 2010 and April 2012.

Main Outcome Measures: Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), incidence and severity of AEs.

Implementing the Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP): Teaching Assessment Techniques.

The Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP) is an assessment tool used with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other language delays (Sundberg 2008). The milestones assessment section of the VB-MAPP is used to determine an individual's current skill level. The results of the milestones assessment can be used to identify instructional goals and objectives.

A case of delayed methotrexate clearance following administration of a complementary medication containing chlorophyll.

A 54-year-old male with relapsed primary cerebral lymphoma and normal renal function was treated with methotrexate (MTX) 3 g/m(2) monthly by intravenous infusion. Throughout treatment the patient self-administered a complementary medicine (Jason Winter's chlorophyll®), which he was advised to cease during methotrexate treatment due to the potential for unknown interactions. For the first four cycles, chlorophyll was ceased two days prior to commencement of methotrexate and withheld until clearance.

A critical review of the role of Fc gamma receptor polymorphisms in the response to monoclonal antibodies in cancer.

Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) is a major mechanism of action of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) such as cetuximab, rituximab and trastuzumab. Fc gamma receptors (FcgR) on human white blood cells are an integral part of the ADCC pathway. Differential response to therapeutic mAbs has been reported to correlate with specific polymorphisms in two of these genes: FCGR2A (H131R) and FCGR3A (V158F).

Thromboprophylaxis prescribing and thrombotic event rates in multiple myeloma patients treated with lenalidomide or thalidomide at a specialist cancer hospital.

Aim: To assess thromboprophylaxis prescribing patterns against current guidelines and report thromboembolism (TE) incidence in multiple myeloma (MM) patients treated with thalidomide (thal) or lenalidomide (len) at a specialist cancer hospital over a one-year period.

Method: Dispensing records of thal and len, diagnosis of MM, patients' characteristics, disease status, co-prescribed medicines including thromboprophylaxis and incidence of TE were extracted from patients' records and a patient survey conducted to identify patients who sourced thromboprophylactic medicines outside the hospital.

Results: Enoxaparin was most the commonly prescribed thromboprophylactic agent (43%), followed by low-dose aspirin (26%) and therapeutic warfarin (6%).

Thalidomide thromboprophylaxis in multiple myeloma: a review of current evidence.

Currently multiple antithrombotic agents are used for thalidomide thromboprophylaxis in multiple myeloma patients. Agents used include low-dose aspirin, fixed low-dose and therapeutic warfarin and prophylactic low molecular weight heparin. To evaluate the evidence for the efficacy and safety of aspirin, warfarin and low molecular weight heparin thromboprophylaxis in multiple myeloma patients on thalidomide a literature search was conducted in May and June 2011.

An unusual case of serotonin syndrome with oxycodone and citalopram.

A 77-year-old female with recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer presented to a hospital outpatient clinic with tremor, weakness, inability to coordinate motor movements, and confusion. It was suspected that the symptoms were due to possible central nervous system metastases; however, a CT scan of her head was unremarkable. The lung clinic liaison pharmacist took a medication history from the patient, complimented by extra information from the patient's community pharmacy.

Carmustine infusion reactions are more common with rapid administration.

Purpose: Carmustine is a nitrosurea alkylating agent predominantly used at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre as part of the autologous stem cell transplant induction regimens Stanford BCNU and BEAM. Acute infusion reactions were anecdotally reported to be higher than the reported rates of 10%, and it was suggested that the rate of infusion being employed was excessive. Some references suggest maximum infusion rates of 3 mg/m(2)/min for carmustine, a rate which is exceeded in the 2-h infusions used for Stanford BCNU, but not with BEAM.

A survey of reimbursement practices of private health insurance companies for pharmaceuticals not covered under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme 2008.

Objective: To describe the current practices and policy of Australian private health insurance (PHI) companies with respect to cover for pharmaceuticals not subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

Design, Setting And Participants: A 2008 review of web-published policy statements for top-level hospital and comprehensive general treatment insurance, and survey of reimbursement practices by way of questionnaire, of 31 Australian-registered, open-membership PHI companies.

Main Outcome Measures(s): Description of the level of pharmaceutical cover and important considerations identified by PHI companies for funding non-PBS pharmaceuticals through benefit entitlements or ex-gratia payments.

Clinical guidance on the perioperative use of targeted agents in solid tumor oncology.

The use of targeted anti-cancer agents is increasing. It is common to utilize a multi-modal treatment approach towards solid tumors, often including surgical resection, and it has become apparent that some targeted agents can impair wound healing or cause an increased risk of perioperative complications. This article reviews targeted agents used in solid tumor oncology with an emphasis on clinically relevant details.

TIELLE* hydropolymer dressings: wound responsive technology.

Wound healing may be compromised by many different factors. Certain underlying illnesses, for example diabetes and malignancy, and wound-specific factors such as critical colonization, infection and protease imbalance can all delay or impair healing. Moist wound healing is now generally accepted in clinical practice to facilitate optimum healing under the correct conditions of wound moisture.