A retrospective analysis was conducted for male Han patients aged 46 years or above undergoing serum test of total prostate specific antigen (tPSA) at our hospital from 2007 to 2009.Among them,there were 109 patients with complete clinical data (including a history of hypertension and dyslipidemia),including 36 type 2 diabetics and 73 non-diabetics.For type 2 diabetes and non-diabetes groups,the median values (lower quartile,upper quartile) of serum tPSA test results were 1.01 (0.44,3.43) μg/L and 2.26 (1.04,5.48) μg/L (t =-2.65,P ＜0.01) respectively.The serum level of tPSA in type 2 diabetics was significantly lower than that in non-diabetics.

Objective To investigate the effectiveness of problem-based learning in the biochemistry teaching in merging class of minority and Han students.Methods Totally 460 clinical medical students were divided into PBL group which contained 252 students and the traditional teaching group which involved 208 students,respectively.According to each team of seven to eight students,minority and Han students randomly arranged.Control group used classroom teaching mode,experimental group in addition to classroom lectures,had additional 12 hours of PBL teaching,but the theory classes for the two groups of students were taught by the same six teachers with rich teaching experience,and the teaching content and teaching material selection were also the same.At the end of the course,the learning outcomes were evaluated by using descriptive analysis and t test (α=0.05) based on the combination of theoretical examination,experimental practice and the questionnaire survey method.Results Compared with the traditional teaching group,the final scores were higher than those of PBL group (84.72 ± 6.99 and 80.34 ± 7.12,P＜0.05).There were also statistically significant between two groups according to different nationality(Minority:85.65 ± 5.27 and 79.70 ± 7.14;Han:83.91 ± 8.26 and 80.95 ± 7.08;P＜0.05),and interestingly the increased ratio of scores was higher in minority than that in Han.The questionnaire surveys indicated that the PBL teaching method could enhance professional and comprehensive qualities of students and more than 81.83％ students were satisfied with the new teaching mode.Conclusions The combination of tradition and PBL-based teaching methods improved the quality of biochemistry teaching of clinical medicine in merging class of minority and Han students in Xinjiang Medical University.

Objective To observe the effect of Triclosan( TCS) exposure on Caenorhabditis elegans( c. ele-gans) F1 generation of locomotory behavior, brood size, and generation time. Methods The trial included a control group and 4 TCS treatment groups with different doses (100 nmol/L,1 μmol/L,10μmol/L,20μmol/L),the exposure time being 24 hours,the effect of c. elegans′head thrashes,body bending frequency,the brood size and generation time was observed. Results (1) The control group exposed to 100 nmol/L,1 μmol/L,10 μmol/L,20 μmol/L TCS,their head thrash frequency of c. elegans F1 was(109. 40±8. 61) times/min,(84. 70±7. 82) times/min,(76. 35±7. 44) times/min,(74. 74±5. 93)times/min,(71. 95±4. 19)times/min,respectively,the head thrash ability of c. elegans was significantly inhibited(F=62. 245,P<0. 01). (2) When the control group was exposed to 100 nmol/L,1 μmol/L,10μmol/L,20 μmol/LTCS,the frequency of c.elegans F1 body bent was (19.94±2.46)times/20 s,(15.13±1.99) times/20 s,(14.63±2.31)times/20 s,(14.69±1.96)times/20 s,(12.00±1.86)times/20 s,respectively,and the comparative differences between groups were statistically significant(F=25. 636,P<0. 01). (3) When the control group was exposed to 0,100 nmol/L,1 μmol/L,10 μmol/L,20 μmol/L TCS,the body sizes of the c. elegans F1 generation was (286.83±6.01)articles,(273.33±6.41)articles,(214.17±7.25)articles,(173.67±9.20)articles, (118. 50 ± 6. 98 ) articles, respectively, the brood size of the C. elegans F1 generation exposed to 100 nmol/L, 1μmol/L,10 μmol/L,20 μmol/L TCS levels,were reduced by 4. 71%,25. 60%,39. 45%,58. 67%,the ge-neration time of the c. elegans′F1 generation was shortened by 2. 14%-5. 38% in the TCS treatment groups compared with the control group(F=27. 520,P<0. 01). Conclusions After c. elegans exposure to TCS,locomotory behavior can be severe-ly affected,reproductive damage causes a decline in the number of brood size,and the speeding-up of the breeding rate is related to the concentration of TCS concentration-response.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between receptor-interacting kinase protein 4 (RIPK4) relative copy number (RCN) and prognosis of stage III( colorectal cancer (CRC) patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.

METHODSRIPK4 RCN was determined by real-time PCR and then dichotomized into high RIPK4 RCN group(n=35) and low RIPK4 RCN group (n=104) using the third quartile as the cut-off point. Overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were compared between high and low RIPK4 RCN groups. The subgroup prognostic analysis was also conducted based on tumor site.

RESULTSThe median follow-up period was 49 months (ranged 4 to 98 months). Patients with high RIPK4 RCN had poorer OS than those with low RIPK4 RCN, which reached marginal significance(median OS, 43.0 months vs. 53.5 months, P=0.074). Meanwhile there was no significant difference of RFS between two groups (P=0.352). In colon cancer subgroup, high RIPK4 RCN was significantly associated with poor OS (median OS, 31.5 months vs. 56.6 months, P=0.015) but not with RFS (P=0.135). In rectal cancer subgroup, RIPK4 RCN was not associated with both OS and RFS (P=0.981, P=0.738). Multivariate analysis revealed that high RIPK4 RCN was an independent prognostic factor of OS in stage III( CRC patients treated with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy (HR=2.903, 95% CI: 1.275 to 6.610).

CONCLUSIONRIPK4 RCN is significantly associated with OS in stage III( colon cancer patients receiving oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy and may be a novel biomarker that can predict the efficacy of oxaliplatin in colon cancer patients.