The fate of redundant cues: Further analysis of the redundancy effect

Pearce, Dopson, Haselgrove, and Esber (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 38, 167–179, 2012) conducted a series of experiments with rats and pigeons in which the conditioned responding elicited by two types of redundant cue was compared. One of these redundant cues was a blocked cue X from A+ AX+ training, whereas the other was cue Y from a simple discrimination BY+ CY–. Greater conditioned responding was elicited by X than by Y; we refer to this difference as the redundancy effect. To test an explanation of this effect in terms of comparator theory (Denniston, Savastano, & Miller, 2001), a single group of rats in Experiment 1 received training of the form A+ AX+ BY+ CY–, followed by an A– Y+ discrimination. Responding to the individual cues was tested both before and after the latter discrimination. In addition to a replication of the redundancy effect during the earlier test, we observed stronger responding to B than to X, both during the earlier test and, in contradiction of the theory, after the A– Y+ discrimination. In Experiment 2, a blocking group received A+ AX+, a continuous group received AX+ BX–, and a partial group received AX± BX± training. Subsequent tests with X again demonstrated the redundancy effect, but also revealed a stronger response in the partial than in the continuous group. This pattern of results is difficult to explain with error-correction theories that assume that stimuli compete for associative strength during conditioning. We suggest, instead, that the influence of a redundant cue is determined by its relationship with the event with which it is paired, and by the attention it is paid

Anaesthesia and airway management in mucopolysaccharidosis

Abstract This paper provides a detailed overview and dis-cussion of anaesthesia in patients with mucopolysacchari-dosis (MPS), the evaluation of risk factors in these patients and their anaesthetic management, including emergency airway issues. MPS represents a group of rare lysosomal storage disorders associated with an array of clinical mani-festations. The high prevalence of airway obstruction and restrictive pulmonary disease in combination with cardio-vascular manifestations poses a high anaesthetic risk to these patients. Typical anaesthetic problems include airway obstruction after induction or extubation, intubation diffi-culties or failure [can’t intubate, can’t ventilate (CICV)], possible emergency tracheostomy and cardiovascular and cervical spine issues. Because of the high anaesthetic risk, the benefits of a procedure in patients with MPS shoul

Irinotecan and oxaliplatin: an overview of the novel chemotherapeutic options for the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies in humans and an important cause of cancer death. Metastatic colorectal cancer remains incurable with available systemic therapeutic options. The most active cytotoxic drug against this malignancy, the antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil, was developed more than forty years ago, and as a single agent produces responses in only 10 to 15% of patients which in general last less than one year. Efforts to ameliorate these poor results resulted in the 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin combination, which enhances response rates about two-fold, without, however, significantly improving survival rates. The recent emergence of a handful of new 5-fluorouracil analogues and folate antagonists, as well as the topoisomerase I inhibitor irinotecan, and the third-generation platinum compound oxaliplatin, is likely to alter this gloomy scenario. These agents are at least as effective as 5-fluorouracil in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma, both untreated and previously treated with 5-fluorouracil-based regimens. This has led to the approval of irinotecan as second-line treatment for 5-fluorouracil-refractory disease, while the use of oxaliplatin has been suggested for patients having a defective 5-fluorouracil catabolism. Recently, FDA approved the combination of irinotecan with 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin for first-line treatment of advanced colon cancer. Based on the synergistic preclinical antitumor effects of some of these agents, their meaningful single-agent activity, distinct mechanisms of cytotoxicity and resistance, and only partially overlapping toxicity profiles, effective combination regimens are now being developed, which are likely to lead to a new, more hopeful era for patients suffering from advanced colorectal carcinoma