The results and methods section of a research paper are the two most essential parts of all research papers. These sections clearly explain the procedures for conducting the research study and how all of the data was gathered. These two sections are critical in the scientific process because they allow other researchers to reproduce the experiment or if they want to assess the data or apply other models to produce different results. Therefore, it is critical for the scientific process to make sure that these are written well. This chapter will delve into what needs to go into both of these sections, and how to format them.

Background: Associated protein biomarkers are thought to be produced by the tumor or other tissues in response to the existence of cancers or associated conditions. Equally, known examples of cancer protein biomarker are used for the diagnosis of colorectal cancers (CRCs). However, these biomarkers suffer from low diagnostic specificity and sensitivity for CRC patients. Single biomarker detection is rarely useful for clinical applications due to the heterogeneity of cancer. Therefore, new sensitive and specific assays are urgently required for CRC diagnosis at an early stage. Methods: In this study, a total of 58 newly diagnosed primary CRC patients in Dianjiang People’s Hospital of Chongqing were included, while 20 controls were also included. Approximately 2 mL of venous blood samples from 58 CRC patients and 20 controls were collected. Then we detected 16 angiogenic cytokines using the Bio-Plex technology to measure multiple cytokines. Results: The results showed that serum levels of Follistatin, HGF, and Osteopontin were significantly higher in CRC patients, while Leptin and PECAM were significantly decreased. ROC curve analyses indicated that the up-regulated markers, including Follistatin, HGF, and Osteopontin, had diagnostic value for CRC. The down-regulated marker, PECAM, also presented diagnostic value for CRC. To maximize the ability to detect CRC, four biomarkers, as well as CEA, were combined and used for linear discriminant analysis. Using the regression equation, the sensitivity and specificity for CRC were calculated as 93.1% (54/58) and 60.0% (12/20). Conclusions: The study demonstrates that the combined analysis of five cytokines (follistatin, HGF, leptin, PECAM and osteopontin) is more useful for CRC diagnosis than the analysis of any individual marker. The combined detection of these five biomarkers is a valuable method for the diagnosis of CRC.

Prostate cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in the developed world and is responsible for a significant number of cancer deaths each year (1). It has become increasingly clear that the epithelial component of the tumour itself is not the only aspect of the disease that determines clinical outcomes.

Circular RNAs were identified more than 20 years ago and thought, at the time, to simply represent rare biochemical curiosities, indicative of an “error-prone” splicing machinery (1-3). It was not until recently, with the advent of next generation sequencing, that such non-linear transcripts were found to be ubiquitously expressed and in certain cases being more abundant that the corresponding linear transcripts (4). Moreover, functional properties have started to be assigned to these molecules, including binding to proteins and acting as miRNAs traps (5,6). In their recent work Yu et al provide convincing evidence for the functionality of a circular RNA from the SWI/SNF related, matrix associated, actin dependent regulator of chromatin, subfamily A, member 5 (SMARCA5) locus, cSMARCA5, containing exons 15 and 16 of the SMARCA5 gene back-spliced together (7).

Background: The aim of the present study was to elucidate the prevalence of cervical spine injury and its age distribution, and the causes and mortality rate in Japan using the Japan Trauma Data Bank. Methods: Patients coded as having a cervical spine injury were extracted from the Japan Trauma Data Bank from 2004 to 2013, which consisted of a total of 152,722 patients. The number of patients, their age distribution and causes of injury were analyzed amongst the patients with Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) coding associated with cervical spine injuries. Next, we extracted data for patients with an AIS coding of cervical spine injuries as a main disease, excluding patients with multiple trauma. We compared the mortality rate between aged and non-aged patients. Results: The total number of patients with an AIS code of cervical spine injuries was 12,116. The peak age range for cervical injury was 60–69 years. The most common causes of cervical spine injuries were falls from a height and traffic accidents. The number of patients with an AIS code of cervical spine injuries as a main disease was 8982. The total number of patients who died from a cervical spine injury was 668. Mortality rate tended to be higher in the older patients. Conclusions: The present results showed that the peak age range for cervical injury was 60–69 years. The mortality rate tended to be higher in patients over 70 years old.

Alcoholic liver disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality with effective pharmacotherapy being limited at present. As such, abstinence remains the cornerstone of therapy, and requires a multidisciplinary approach to address the medical and psychosocial determinants of addiction to effectively prevent relapse. Liver transplantation has a well-established role in the treatment of chronic alcoholic cirrhosis, with outcomes comparable to other aetiologies of chronic liver disease. Transplantation has been shown to be successful in highly selected candidates with acute alcoholic hepatitis (AAH), with favorable outcomes. However, AAH has not gained universal acceptance as an indication for liver transplantation, and remains controversial at present. Designing and applying objective and reliable selection rules while ensuring fair allocation in an era of organ shortage remains a challenge.

The detailed classification of subspecialties of ophthalmology has helped to boost the development of ophthalmology in the past. However, while such detailed classification enables a clearer and more profound understanding of eye diseases, it has also brought about problems such as fragmentation of knowledge of ophthalmologists. On December 17, 2012, Academician Fan Daiming organized the first “Summit on Integrative Medicine” in Beijing and thus put the “Holistic Integrative Medicine (HIM)” in domestic medical development agenda. Inspired by HIM, the concept of Holistic Integrative Ophthalmology (HIO) was gradually accepted by most ophthalmologists. HIO systematically and integrally studies and analyzes the pathogenesis, treatment and specific issues of eye diseases and makes adjustment and improvement according to the social, environmental and psychological reality so as to produce a new system that can better meet and adapt to eye disease treatment. HIO is the innovation and revolution of the traditional concept of ophthalmology and signifies a new development stage of ophthalmology. This article identifies the challenges faced in the development of traditional ophthalmology, expounds on the concept of HIO, clarifies the necessity and urgency of the establishment of HIO, and proposes future direction of establishing the platform for the development of HIO.

Advanced prostate cancer (PC), including metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) represents the lethal form of PC, yet remains largely dependent on androgen signaling (1). Abiraterone acetate (AA) is a steroid 17-hydroxylase/C17,20-lyase (CYP17) inhibitor targeting testicular, adrenal and intratumoral androgen production.

Background: In obese subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), hepatic iron load may be associated with the risk of toxicity, acting as a comorbidity factor involved in fibrogenesis and carcinogenesis. To evaluate the relationship among biomarkers of iron metabolism and the severity of NASH in adult obese subjects. Methods: Eighty-eight adult subjects with histological diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were evaluated in a prospective study for the biomarkers of iron metabolism: serum iron, transferrin and ferritin, as well as transferrin saturation index (TSI). Iron deposition in the liver, the intensity of steatosis and fibrosis were assessed in liver biopsies. Results: Increased serum levels of ferritin were found in 31/88 (35.2%) subjects and 12/88 (13.6%) had values of TSI above 45%. Histological evaluation of liver biopsies showed the presence of fibrosis in 48/88 cases (54.5%) being 23.8% mild and 30.7% moderate/severe. Analysis of stainable iron in liver biopsies by Perls method, demonstrated fine granular deposits in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes in 17/88 biopsies (19.3%). There was no association between the presence of iron deposits in the liver parenchyma and the intensity of fibrosis. Multiple logistic regression analysis identified type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or fasting glucose >100 mg/dL and dyslipidemia as factors independently associated with fibrosis. Conclusions: The findings from our study did not confirm the association between the presence of iron in the hepatic parenchyma and the severity of NASH in obese subjects.

How to best manage sciatica is not a simple question to answer. Ramaswami, et al . presented the case of Mr. Winston, a 50-year-old patient with low back pain radiating into his L leg with positive nerve root tension signs and a left-sided L4–L5 herniated disk (1). In managing Mr. Winston’s sciatica, Dr. Ramaswami poses two options: to have surgery or to not have surgery.