This review paper reports near-infrared(NIR)imaging studies using a newly-developed NIR camera,Compovision.Compovision can measure a significantly wide area of 150mm×250mm at high speed of between 2and 5s.It enables a wide spectral region measurement in the 1 000~2 350nm range at 6nm intervals.We investigated the potential of Compovision in the applications to industrial problems such as the evaluation of pharmaceutical tablets and polymers.Our studies have demonstrated that NIR imaging based on Compovision can solve several issues such as long acquisition times and relatively low sensitivity of detection.NIR imaging with Compovision is strongly expected to be applied not only to pharmaceutical tablet monitoring and polymer characterization but also to various applications such as those to food products,biomedical substances and organic and inorganic materials.
The liver is often involved in systemic infections,resulting in various types of abnormal liver function test results.In particular,hyperbilirubinemia in the range of 2-10 mg/dL is often seen in patients with sepsis,and several mechanisms for this phenomenon have been proposed.In this review,we summarize how the liver is involved in various systemic infections that are not considered to be primarily hepatotropic.In most patients with systemic infections,treatment for the invading microbes is enough to normalize the liver function tests.However,some patients may show severe liver injury or fulminant hepatic failure,requiring intensive treatment of the liver.
Branched chain amino acids(BCAAs)have been shown to affect gene expression,protein metabolism,apoptosis and regeneration of hepatocytes,and insulin resistance.They have also been shown to inhibit the proliferation of liver cancer cells in vitro,and are essential for lymphocyte proliferation and dendritic cell maturation.In patients with advanced chronic liver disease,BCAA concentrations are low,whereas the concentrations of aromatic amino acids such as phenylalanine and tyrosine are high,conditions that may be closely associated with hepatic encephalopathy and the prognosis of these patients.Based on these basic observations,patients with advanced chronic liver disease have been treated clinically with BCAA-rich medicines,with positive effects.
