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Robert Wheeler

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Wheeler.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Nanoscopically flat open-ended single-walled carbon nanotube substrates for continued growth.

Continued growth is a way of growing nanotubes targeted to produce continuous and chirality-controlled single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) materials. This growth method strongly depends on efficient preparation of open-ended SWNT substrates. Nanoscopically flat open-ended SWNT substrates have been prepared by cutting the SWNT spun fiber with a focused ion beam cutting technique and followed by etching schemes for cleaning amorphous carbon and opening the ends of the SWNTs. The open ends were effectively characterized through selective etch back of open SWNT ends by carbon dioxide gas at 950 degrees C. High density continued growth was demonstrated from these nanoscopically flat open-ended substrates.

Carbon Dioxide↗
PubMed2006

Consent in surgery.

A review of consent for surgery is timely. As the length of surgeons' training diminishes, despite the increasing interest in the content of the surgical curriculum, the law governing the process of gaining consent has been given scant attention. The advent of non-medically qualified surgical practitioners raises questions about the breadth of knowledge that is required to ensure that valid consent is obtained. Consent is as fundamental as any other basic principle on which surgical practice relies, and its use in patient care is a clinical skill. The 'traditional' approach to consent contained some negative elements. A doctor who was incapable of performing the proposed operation often obtained consent. In a genuine attempt to protect patients from anxiety, the rare-but-grave potential complications were sometimes not discussed. There was uncertainty about what should properly be disclosed, compounded by conflicting messages from the courts. The consent was sometimes taken from people who were ineligible to provide it. These could be viewed as aberrations, and some persist. Having clarified the necessity for consent, this review concludes that it should be obtained by the operating surgeon. The threshold for interventions that need formal consent is discussed, together with the legal tests for capacity. In considering the recent law, it becomes clear that any potential complication that the reasonable patient would need to take into consideration before deciding to give their consent is one that should be disclosed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Mapping of a translocation breakpoint in a Peutz-Jeghers hamartoma to the putative PJS locus at 19q13.4 and mutation analysis of candidate genes in polyp and STK11-negative PJS cases.

Germ-line mutations in the serine-threonine kinase gene STK11 (LKB1) cause Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), a rare autosomal dominantly inherited disease, characterized by hamartomatous polyposis and mucocutaneous pigmentation. STK11 mutations only account for about half of PJS cases, and a second disease locus has been proposed at chromosome segment 19q13.4 on the basis of genetic linkage analysis in one family. We identified a t(11;19)(q13;q13.4) in a PJS polyp arising from the small bowel in a female infant age 6 days. Because the breakpoint in 19q13.4 may disrupt the putative PJS disease gene mapping to this region, we mapped the breakpoint and analyzed DNA from the case and a series of STK11-negative PJS cases. Using two-color interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization, the breakpoint region was refined to a 0.5-Mb region within 19q13.4. Eight candidate genes mapping to the breakpoint region--U2AF2, EPN1, NALP4, NALP11, NALP5, ZNF444, PTPRH, and KIAA1811--were screened for mutations in germ-line and polyp DNA from the case and from 15 PJS cases that did not harbor germ-line STK11 mutations. No pathogenic mutations in the candidate genes were identified. This report provides further evidence of the existence of a second PJS disease locus at 19q13.4 and excludes involvement of eight candidate genes.

AMP-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases↗