Multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of virtual-reality simulator training in acquisition of competency in colonoscopy.

Background: The GI Mentor is a virtual reality simulator that uses force feedback technology to create a realistic training experience.

Objective: To define the benefit of training on the GI Mentor on competency acquisition in colonoscopy.

Design: Randomized, controlled, blinded, multicenter trial.

Outcome of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy feeding in patients on peritoneal dialysis.

Protein malnutrition is now well established as an important contributory factor to the high mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. Low dietary protein calorie intake is one of the factors leading to protein malnutrition. If PD patients develop difficulty eating, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding may prove beneficial in providing adequate nutrition.

Genomania of p53 protein in gastric cancer.

The role of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer has recently received considerable attention. p53 is a tumor suppressor gene that is essential in the cell cycle; it prevents G1/S phase transition, after exposure to ionizing radiation or DNA-damaging chemotherapy. This allows the cell to repair its DNA or, if the damage is irreversible, to elicit apoptotic cell death.