Publications by authors named "A M Blackburn"

Background: Although Vancouver B2 periprosthetic fractures (PPFs) have been historically managed with revision total hip arthroplasty (rTHA), open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) has been proposed as an alternative option for reasons including lower cost and surgical time. The purpose of this study was to, therefore, create a Markov model to assess the cost effectiveness of ORIF versus rTHA for Vancouver B2 periprosthetic femur fractures and evaluate various inflection points for varying costs and outcome measures.

Methods: A Markov model was built using discrete and mutually exclusive health states of the hypothetical patient with Vancouver B2 PPF.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) improve survival of patients with mature B-cell malignancies. Fcγ-receptor dependent effector mechanisms kill tumor cells but can promote antigen loss through trogocytosis, contributing to treatment failures. Cell-bound mAbs trigger the complement cascade to deposit C3 activation fragments and lyse cells.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

One of the key technical challenges before the widespread adoption of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is increasing the durability of the platinum catalyst layer to meet a target of 8000 operating hours with only a 10% loss of performance. Carbon corrosion, one of the primary mechanisms of degradation in fuel cells, has attracted attention from researchers interested in solving the durability problem. As such, the development of catalyst supports to avoid this issue has been a focus in recent years, with interest in hydrophobic supports such as highly graphitized carbons.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Guidance recommends that prescribed opioids for acute pain should not be continued beyond the expected period of healing and may lead to long-term use if a large supply is provided or repeat prescriptions are requested. This project investigated how opioids are used by opioid-naïve trauma patients in the first 6 months following discharge from hospital. The findings indicate that patients are frequently discharged from hospital with an opioid prescription and for some this will continue beyond the recommended maximum duration of 3 months and will include dose escalation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF