Polarisation changes in guided infrared thermography using silver halide poly-crystalline mid-infrared fibre bundle.

Broadband mid-infrared (B-MIR) thermography using fibre optic waveguides can be critical in real-time imaging in harsh environments such as additive manufacturing, personalised medical diagnosis and therapy. We investigate the polarisation effect on thermal measurements through poly-crystalline fibre bundle employing a simple broadband cross-polarisation configuration experimental set-up. Silver halide poly-crystalline fibres AgCl1-xBrx (0 ≤ x≤1) (AgClBr-PolyC) have very wide transmission bandwidth spanning over the spectral range from 1 µm up to 31 µm FWHM. Moreover, they are non-toxic, non-hygroscopic, with relatively good flexibility, which make them very adequate for spectroscopic and thermal measurements in medical and clinical fields. In this study, we used a fibre bundle composed of seven single AgClBr-PolyC fibres, each with a core diameter of about 300 µm, inserted between two broadband MIR polarisers. A silicon carbide filament source was placed at the entrance of the fibre bundle, while a FLIR thermal camera with a close-up lens was employed to measure the spatial temperature distribution over the fibre-bundle end. Indeed, polarisation dependence of temperature measurements has been clearly observed in which the orientation of temperature extrema (minima and maxima) vary from one fibre to another within the bundle. Moreover, these observations have enabled the classification of AgClBr-PolyC fibres following their polarisation sensitivities by which some fibres are relatively highly sensitive to polarisation with polarisation temperature difference (PTD) that can reach 22.1 ± 2.8 °C, whereas some others show very low PTD values down to 3.1 ± 2.8 °C. Many applications can readily be found based on the advantages of both extreme cases.

Loss of MECP2 Leads to Activation of P53 and Neuronal Senescence.

To determine the role for mutations of MECP2 in Rett syndrome, we generated isogenic lines of human induced pluripotent stem cells, neural progenitor cells, and neurons from patient fibroblasts with and without MECP2 expression in an attempt to recapitulate disease phenotypes in vitro. Molecular profiling uncovered neuronal-specific gene expression changes, including induction of a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) program. Patient-derived neurons made without MECP2 showed signs of stress, including induction of P53, and senescence. The induction of P53 appeared to affect dendritic branching in Rett neurons, as P53 inhibition restored dendritic complexity. The induction of P53 targets was also detectable in analyses of human Rett patient brain, suggesting that this disease-in-a-dish model can provide relevant insights into the human disorder.