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Chronic liver diseases progressively lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and other complications. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and microspectroscopy imaging are rapidly advancing techniques with multiple benefits for early diagnosis, grading, and monitoring of a broad spectrum of liver diseases. FTIR provides a biochemical overview of a sample, which can be used to determine the need for further in-depth investigations. Numerous studies have showed that infrared imaging offers a great promise for understanding of disease pathogenesis compared to that of common histopathological investigations. Moreover, high-throughput infrared characterization of biofluids has attracted increased interests for a wide array of pathologic diagnosis. The use of infrared spectroscopy and microspectroscopy for diagnosis, grading, and monitoring of liver diseases requires an understanding of infrared microspectroscopy, sample preparation, data collection, analysis, and interpretation. This review provides a comprehensive and up-to-date review of FTIR spectroscopy and microspectroscopy characterization of biofluids and tissues related to hepatic diseases. Each section of this review highlights practical problems and solutions for conducting FTIR spectroscopy and microspectroscopy studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports on the use of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy imaging to investigate biochemical changes occurring during C. elegans lifespan. C. elegans wild-type (N2) and the tub-1 mutant strain were cultured in agar plates. FTIR imaging was performed on single worms in transmission mode at day 8, 11, and 15. Principal component analysis was then performed to analyze the spectra acquired during C. elegans lifespan. The FTIR spectra were clustered in three groups corresponding to the spectra acquired from the worms at day 8, 11, and 15. The results showed major changes in lipids (vibration 1744 cm−1 assigned to C O stretching) and proteins (vibrations 1648 cm−1 assigned to C O stretching of amide I and 1548 cm−1 assigned to N H bending and C–N stretching in amid II). The vibration assigned to glycogen around 1155 cm−1 was present in the spectra acquired at day 8 and 11 but the peak area decreased by 49.3% and 73.3% in the spectra acquired at day 15 respectively from WT(N2) and tub-1 mutant strain. Furthermore, PC-1 loadings as a function of wavenumbers show that the presence of the vibration 1698 cm−1, attributed to antiparallel β-sheet, could indicate the formation of lipofuscin. The results obtained demonstrate that FTIR imaging could be used as a tool to monitor biochemical changes during lifespan studies, which could bring additional information to our understanding of longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cotton seed coat neps (SCNs) are among the least cleanable impurities in textile industry. SCNs can cause problems by persisting into yarn and fabric, reducing yarn strength, increasing yarn ends-down, and even resulting in uneven dye uptake. The study presented herein investigated the effects of the cultivar on the seed coat contamination using a suite of analytical techniques. The cultivar with more SCNs showed a significantly higher average fiber detachment force, and had a significantly larger number of seeds that required a higher force (> 8 N) for fiber detachment compared to the cultivar with less SCNs. The seeds with a strong fiber-seed attachment could lead to breakage of the seed coat during ginning and produce more SCNs. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis revealed differences in the biochemical composition in the outer epidermal layers of cotton seeds where the fibers are attached. k -mean cluster analysis of FTIR images and their functional group distribution images revealed that the outer layers and the palisade layer of the seed coats had major differences in molecular concentration and distribution that could contribute to cultivar dependence of SCNs. This study could lead to better understanding of the effects of the cultivar on the generation of SCNs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]