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Jul 2024 • Frontiers in Biomaterials Science 3, 1338115, 2024

Correlated multimodal imaging in life sciences: lessons learnt

Pavitra Sokke Rudraiah, Rafael Camacho, Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez, Dror Fixler, Jan Grimm, Florian Gruber, Matúš Kalaš, Christopher Kremslehner, Claudia Kuntner, Daniela Kuzdas-Wood, Joakim Lindblad, Julia G Mannheim, Martina Marchetti-Deschmann, Perrine Paul-Gilloteaux, Paula Sampaio, Peter Sandbichler, Anna Sartori-Rupp, Nataša Sladoje, Paul Verkade, Andreas Walter, Samuele Zoratto

Correlated Multimodal Imaging (CMI) gathers information about the same specimen with two or more modalities that–combined–create a composite and complementary view of the sample (including insights into structure, function, dynamics and molecular composition). CMI allows one to reach beyond what is possible with a single modality and describe biomedical processes within their overall spatio-temporal context and gain a mechanistic understanding of cells, tissues, and organisms in health and disease by untangling their molecular mechanisms within their native environment. The field of CMI has grown substantially over the last decade and previously unanswerable biological questions have been solved by applying novel CMI workflows. To disseminate these workflows and comprehensively share the scattered knowledge present within the CMI community, an initiative was started to bring together imaging, image analysis, and biomedical scientists and work towards an open community that promotes and disseminates the field of CMI. This community project was funded for the last 4 years by an EU COST Action called COMULIS (COrrelated MUltimodal imaging in the LIfe Sciences). In this review we share some of the showcases and lessons learnt from the action. We also briefly look ahead at how we anticipate building on this initial initiative.

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Jul 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.01874

Nonrelativistic spatiotemporal quantum reference frames

Michael Suleymanov, Ismael L Paiva, Eliahu Cohen

Quantum reference frames have attracted renewed interest recently, as their exploration is relevant and instructive in many areas of quantum theory. Among the different types, position and time reference frames have captivated special attention. Here, we introduce and analyze a non-relativistic framework in which each system contains an internal clock, in addition to its external (spatial) degree of freedom and, hence, can be used as a spatiotemporal quantum reference frame. Among other applications of this framework, we show that even in simple scenarios with no interactions, the relative uncertainty between clocks affects the relative spatial spread of the systems.

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Jul 2024 • Journal of Power Sources

Optimisation and effect of ionomer loading on porous Fe–N–C-based proton exchange membrane fuel cells probed by emerging electrochemical methods

Angus Pedersen, Rifael Z Snitkoff-Sol, Yan Presman, Jesús Barrio, Rongsheng Cai, Theo Suter, Guangmeimei Yang, Sarah J Haigh, Dan Brett, Rhodri Jervis, Maria-Magdalena Titirici, Ifan EL Stephens, Lior Elbaz

The next generation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) require a substantial reduction or elimination of Pt-based electrocatalyst from the cathode, where O2 reduction takes place. The most promising alternative to Pt is atomic Fe embedded in N-doped C (Fe–N–C). Successful incorporation of Fe–N–C in PEMFCs relies on a thorough understanding of the catalyst layer properties, both ex situ and in situ, with tailored electrode interface engineering. To help resolve this conundrum, we provide a quantitative protocol on the optimisation of I/C for Fe–N–Cs. It is demonstrated that a high pore volume (3.33 cm3 g−1FeNC) Fe–N–C catalyst requires a sufficiently high ionomer to catalyst mass ratio (I/C, 2.8≤I/C ≤ 4.2) for optimum PEMFC activity under H2/O2. Emerging electrochemical techniques (distribution of relaxation times and Fourier transformed alternating current voltammetry) were used to …

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Jul 2024 • Nano Letters

Non-Classical Euler Buckling and Brazier Instability in Cylindrical Liquid Droplets

Emery Hsu, Daeyeon Lee, Eli Sloutskin

Crystalline monolayers prevalent in nature and technology possess elusive elastic properties with important implications in fundamental physics, biology, and nanotechnology. Leveraging the recently discovered shape transitions of oil-in-water emulsion droplets, upon which these droplets adopt cylindrical shapes and elongate, we investigate the elastic characteristics of the crystalline monolayers covering their interfaces. To unravel the conditions governing Euler buckling and Brazier kink formation in these cylindrical tubular interfacial crystals, we strain the elongating cylindrical droplets within confining microfluidic wells. Our experiments unveil a nonclassical relation between the Young’s modulus and the bending modulus of these crystals. Intriguingly, this relation varies with the radius of the cylindrical crystal, presenting a nonclassical mechanism for tuning of elasticity in nanotechnology applications.

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Jul 2024 • 2024 24th International Conference on Transparent Optical Networks (ICTON), 1-1, 2024

Fiber based photonic sensor for sensing of vital bio-signs and of glucose concentration in blood stream as well as for its usage in smart building related applications

Jonathan Philosof, Deep Pal, Aviya Bennett, Yevgeny Beiderman, Sergey Agdarov, Yafim Beiderman, Zeev Zalevsky

In this presentation, we introduce a new technique for fiber based noninvasive sensing. The sensor consists of a laser, a multi-mode optical fiber, video camera and a computer. The operation principle is based on tracking of temporal variations in the speckle patterns field generated by interference of the light modes within the fiber when it is subjected to deformation. The speckle patterns are created when the light at the tip of the fiber is diffracted through a diffuser and imaged by a camera. The fiber-based sensor is used for bio-medical applications such as monitoring of vital bio-signs as respiration, heart beats and blood pressure even when integrating it into a fabric to provide non-tight contact wearable wellness monitoring device. It can also be used as a non-wearable portable sensor to estimate, in a non-invasive way, the concentration of glucose in the blood stream when the measurement is combined with …

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Jul 2024 • Carbon

Carbon nanotubes as efficient anode current collectors for stationary aqueous Zn–Br2 batteries

Noam Levi, Gil Bergman, Amey Nimkar, Merav Nadav Tsubery, Arie Borenstein, Alex Adronov, Doron Aurbach, Daniel Sharon, Gilbert Daniel Nessim, Netanel Shpigel

Static Zn-Br2 batteries are considered an attractive option for cost-effective and high-capacity systems for large energy storage. Yet, the corrosive nature of the Zn-Br2 electrolytes entails a careful selection of all cells’ ingredients to avoid rapid degradation of the batteries upon cycling. Thanks to their high chemical resistance and excellent conductivity, carbonaceous electrodes are typically utilized as current collectors for the cathode side, while thin Zn or Ti foils are most widely used as the anodes’ current collectors. However, these metals tend to corrode fast, thus undermining the desirable performance of the cells as durable and stable rechargeable batteries. We demonstrate the effective utilization of carbon nanotubes (CNT) films as highly stable anode current collector for Zn-Br2 batteries. Dispersion of the CNT beforehand in slurries containing anionic, cationic, or neutral surfactants yielded distinct chemical and …

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Jun 2024 • Quantum 2.0, QW3A. 42, 2024

Joint spectral characterization of SOI integrated directional coupler using Hong-Ou-Mandel interference

Yoel Olivier, Dan Cohen, Leonid Vidro, Hagai Eisenberg, Matan Slook, Mirit Hen, Avi Zadok

We characterize the spectral response of a silicon chip integrated non-perfect directional coupler by measuring the biphoton joint spectrum at the Hong-Ou-Mandel dip and show the resulting spectral coupling dependency.

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Jun 2024 • Molecular Cancer Therapeutics

Abstract PR008: Targeting mechanisms of dosage compensation to selectively kill aneuploid cancer cells

Hajime Okada, Eran Sdeor, Miriam Karmon, Erez Levanon, Uri Ben-David

Aneuploidy is an abnormal chromosome composition and a general hallmark of human cancer. Aneuploidy causes detrimental cellular stresses, but cancer cells evolve to cope with these stresses. Consequently, targeting such mitigation mechanisms is a promising potential therapeutic strategy. As an abnormal dosage of gene products from altered chromosomes can cause RNA and proteotoxic stress, dosage compensation (DC) of imbalanced gene products was reported to mitigate these stresses in aneuploid cells. However, the mechanisms that regulate DC remain elusive. To address these mechanisms, we focused on the role(s) of stress granules (SGs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in aneuploid cancer cells. Our recent study revealed that aneuploid cancer cells preferentially depend on RNA and protein metabolism, and need to attenuate translation in order to cope with proteotoxic stress (Ippolito & …

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Jun 2024 • Diabetes

349-OR: Reduction of RNA-Editing Enzyme ADAR1 in Human Islets Triggers an Interferon Response and Impairs Beta-Cell Function

CHUNHUA DAI, AJAY K SINGH, REBEKAH BRANTLEY, AMBER BRADLEY, REGINA JENKINS, DIANE C SAUNDERS, MARCELA BRISSOVA, EREZ LEVANON, AGNES KLOCHENDLER, YUVAL DOR, ALVIN C POWERS

Method: To elucidate the role of ADAR1 in human islets, we first studied ADAR expression and distribution in human pancreas across postnatal developmental timeline (1 day, 4 months, 2, 6, 10, 35 years). Then we transduced human pseudoislets with a shRNA for ADAR and examined their function and gene expression. The transduced pseudoislets were also transplanted into NSG mice. Insulin secretion was measured and grafts were studied.Results: We found that ADAR1 expression at all ages was greater in endocrine cells than acinar cells. Using the shRNA approach, ADAR mRNA levels were reduced by 70%(n= 11 donors). After 7-day culture, expression of dsRNA sensors, IFNB1, IRF7, IRF9, and interferon-stimulated genes was increased while INS and MAFA expression was reduced in ADAR knockdown islets without changes in insulin secretion. However, 3 weeks post transplantation, glucose/arginine …

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Jun 2024 • Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience 17, 1371738, 2024

Can repetitive mechanical motion cause structural damage to axons?

Allegra Coppini, Alessandro Falconieri, Oz Mualem, Syeda Rubaiya Nasrin, Marine Roudon, Gadiel Saper, Henry Hess, Akira Kakugo, Vittoria Raffa, Orit Shefi

Biological structures have evolved to very efficiently generate, transmit, and withstand mechanical forces. These biological examples have inspired mechanical engineers for centuries and led to the development of critical insights and concepts. However, progress in mechanical engineering also raises new questions about biological structures. The past decades have seen the increasing study of failure of engineered structures due to repetitive loading, and its origin in processes such as materials fatigue. Repetitive loading is also experienced by some neurons, for example in the peripheral nervous system. This perspective, after briefly introducing the engineering concept of mechanical fatigue, aims to discuss the potential effects based on our knowledge of cellular responses to mechanical stresses. A particular focus of our discussion are the effects of mechanical stress on axons and their cytoskeletal structures. Furthermore, we highlight the difficulty of imaging these structures and the promise of new microscopy techniques. The identification of repair mechanisms and paradigms underlying long-term stability is an exciting and emerging topic in biology as well as a potential source of inspiration for engineers.

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Jun 2024 • Quantum Technologies 2024, PC129930R, 2024

Entanglement-preserving measurement of the Bell parameter on a single entangled pair

Francesco Atzori, Salvatore Virzì, Enrico Rebufello, Alessio Avella, Fabrizio Piacentini, Rudi Lussana, Iris Cusini, Francesco Madonini, Federica Villa, Marco Gramegna, Eliahu Cohen, Ivo Pietro Degiovanni, Marco Genovese

Bell tests serve as a fundamental tool in both quantum technologies and quantum foundations investigation. The traditional Bell test framework involves the use of projective measurements, which, because of the wavefunction collapse and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, do not allow for the full estimation of the Bell parameter from each entangled pair. In this work, we propose a novel weak-measurement-based scheme enabling the complete estimation of the entire Bell parameter from each entangled pair. Moreover, this approach prevents the collapse of the quantum state wavefunction, thereby preserving the entanglement within it. Our results, showing a 6 standard deviations violation of the Bell inequality tested, are obtained while leaving the entanglement within the photon pair almost unaltered after the weak measurement scheme (as demonstrated by our quantum tomographic reconstructions), allowing …

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Jun 2024 • Specialty Optical Fibres VIII, PC130010C, 2024

Opto-mechanical sensors of media outside the fiber

Avi Zadok

A new concept for the sensing of media outside the cladding boundary of standard unmodified fibers will be presented. Light in the single optical mode is used to stimulate mechanical modes of the entire cladding cross-section. The boundary conditions for the oscillations of the mechanical modes are modified by surrounding substances: the outward dissipation of mechanical waves manifests in faster decay rates. The process is monitored through photoelastic scattering of additional optical probe waves. Point-measurements, spatially distributed analysis, and monitoring of coating layers will be presented.

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Jun 2024 • Electrochimica Acta

Probing Interfacial Stress on Au Cathode in DMSO Electrolyte during Electrochemical Polarization in Aprotic Li-O2 Batteries

Hannah Dykes, Sri Harsha Akella, Bertan Ozdogru, Daniel Sharon, Malachi Noked, Ömer Özgür Çapraz

The practical performance of Li-O2 batteries suffers from interfacial instabilities associated with the reaction intermediates. These instabilities on the cathode-electrolyte interface dictate the direction of the oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER/ORR) in Li-O2 batteries. Despite intensive research on chemical instabilities in the reaction intermediates, there is limited work on understanding the importance of stress on the interfacial dynamics. To address this gap, in-situ curvature measurements were conducted to probe interfacial stress generation during electrochemical polarization on Au cathode in DMSO electrolytes. Charge accumulation induces tensile stress, whereas compressive stress generation is associated with the adsorbate-induced stress and mismatch strain between reaction intermediates and the Au surface. Abrupt stress relaxation on the onset of discharge presents evidence for a contribution …

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Jun 2024 • Genes & Immunity

Resolving haplotype variation and complex genetic architecture in the human immunoglobulin kappa chain locus in individuals of diverse ancestry

Eric Engelbrecht, Oscar L Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Shields, Steven Schultze, David Tieri, Uddalok Jana, Gur Yaari, William D Lees, Melissa L Smith, Corey T Watson

Immunoglobulins (IGs), critical components of the human immune system, are composed of heavy and light protein chains encoded at three genomic loci. The IG Kappa (IGK) chain locus consists of two large, inverted segmental duplications. The complexity of the IG loci has hindered use of standard high-throughput methods for characterizing genetic variation within these regions. To overcome these limitations, we use long-read sequencing to create haplotype-resolved IGK assemblies in an ancestrally diverse cohort (n = 36), representing the first comprehensive description of IGK haplotype variation. We identify extensive locus polymorphism, including novel single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and novel structural variants harboring functional IGKV genes. Among 47 functional IGKV genes, we identify 145 alleles, 67 of which were not previously curated. We report inter-population differences in allele frequencies …

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Jun 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.16209

Efficient Reduction of Casimir Forces by Self‐Assembled Bio‐Molecular Thin Films

René IP Sedmik, Alexander Urech, Zeev Zalevsky, Itai Carmeli

Casimir forces, related to London-van der Waals forces, arise if the spectrum of electromagnetic fluctuations is restricted by boundaries. There is great interest both from fundamental science and technical applications to control these forces on the nano scale. Scientifically, the Casimir effect being the only known quantum vacuum effect manifesting between macroscopic objects, allows to investigate the poorly known physics of the vacuum. In this work, we experimentally investigate the influence of self-assembled molecular bio and organic thin films on the Casimir force between a plate and a sphere. We find that molecular thin films, despite being a mere few nanometers thick, reduce the Casimir force by up to 14%. To identify the molecular characteristics leading to this reduction, five different bio-molecular films with varying chemical and physical properties were investigated. Spectroscopic data reveal a broad absorption band whose presence can be attributed to the mixing of electronic states of the underlying gold layer and those of the molecular film due to charge rearrangement in the process of self-assembly. Using Lifshitz theory we calculate that the observed change in the Casimir force is consistent with the appearance of the new absorption band due to the formation of molecular layers. The desired Casimir force reduction can be tuned by stacking several monolayers, using a simple self-assembly technique in a solution. The molecules - each a few nanometers long - can penetrate small cavities and holes, and cover any surface with high efficiency. This process seems compatible with current methods in the production of micro …

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Jun 2024 • Photonics

Spatio-temporal dynamics of pulses in multimode fibers

Yuval Tamir, Sara Meir, Hamootal Duadi, Moti Fridman

Time lenses can measure ultrafast signals but are based on single-mode fibers (SMFs). To develop multimode time lenses that are based on a four-wave mixing process, we must have full control of the nonlinear interaction between the modes. Specifically, we need to generate an idler from each mode without any cross-talk between the modes. Here, as a first step toward a multimode time lens, we study how stable a short pulse is traveling in a multimode fiber, and how pulses at different modes interact with each other. We utilize a single-mode-based time lens to measure the dynamics of these pulses in the time and spectral domains. We found that there is cross-talk between the modes and that the pulses are not stable and excite other modes, rather than staying in the same modal order. These findings indicate that developing a multimode time-lens may be more challenging than expected.

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Jun 2024 • Addiction Neuroscience

A novel delta opioid receptor specific peptide reduces craving in an animal model of cocaine seeking

Pnina Shirel Itzhak, Hevroni Yael, Erez Matsree, Hilla Pee'r-Nissan, Shira Ofer Lancman, R Barnea, G Luboshits, Menachem Motiei, Oshra Betzer, Iris Gispan, Rachela Popovtzer, Yaakov Anker, MA Firer, G Yadid

Substance use disorder, and particularly cocaine use disorder, is a complex disease that affects societal, economic, and psychological factors. Endogenous β-endorphin released after prolonged cocaine withdrawal has been reported to activate the accumbal delta-opioid receptor (DOR), leading to attenuated cocaine seeking. However, using DOR β-endorphin activation to treat cocaine use disorder is impractical since β-endorphin does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Also, only activation of the sub-group DOR1 efficiently attenuates craving, as activation of DOR2 yields an opposite effect. Here, we isolated a specific peptide, PEP1, from a phage display peptide library with similar biological properties to β–endorphin, demonstrating specificity for DOR1 and functioning as full receptor agonists. Our pharmacodynamic results showed fast trafficking incorporation of DOR into the cell membrane, interpreted as superior …

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Jun 2024 • Metamaterials XIV, PC129901G, 2024

Mapping local optical constants in deep-subwavelength resonant structures of ultra-high index topological insulators Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3

Sukanta Nandi, Shany Cohen, Danveer Singh, Michal Poplinger, Pilkhaz Nanikashvili, Doron Naveh, Tomer Lewi

Optical properties of chalcogenide topological insulators (TIs), namely, Bi2Se3 (BS) and Bi2Te3 (BT) were studied across the NIR to MIR spectral ranges. In this spectral range, the experimentally measured optical constants revealed an extremely high permittivity values amounting to refractive indices as high as n≈11 and n≈6.4, for BT and BS respectively. These ultra-high index values were then utilized for demonstrating ultracompact, deep-subwavelength nanostructures (NSs), with unit cell sizes down to ~λ/10. Finally, using scattering-type Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM), local variations in the optical constants of these nanostructured TIs were studied. Nanoscale phase mapping on a BS NS revealed the role of the imaginary component of the refractive index in the observed phase shifts, varying from as low as ~0.37π to a maximum of ~2π radians across a resonance. This work thus highlights …

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Jun 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2406.18956

Topotaxial mutual-exchange growth of magnetic Zintl Eu3In2As4 nanowires with axion insulator classification

Man Suk Song, Lothar Houben, Yufei Zhao, Hyeonhu Bae, Nadav Rothem, Ambikesh Gupta, Binghai Yan, Beena Kalisky, Magdalena Zaluska-Kotur, Perla Kacman, Hadas Shtrikman, Haim Beidenkopf

Nanomaterials bring to expression unique electronic properties that promote advanced functionality and technologies. Albeit, nanoscale growth presents paramount challenges for synthesis limiting the diversity in structures and compositions. Here, we demonstrate solid-state topotactic exchange that converts Wurtzite InAs nanowires into Zintl phase EuInAs nanowires. In situ evaporation of Eu and As over InAs nanowire cores in molecular beam epitaxy results in mutual exchange of Eu from the shell and In from the core. A continuous EuInAs shell thereby grows that gradually consumes the InAs core and converts it into a single phase EuInAs nanowire. Topotaxy, which facilitates the mutual exchange, is supported by the substructure of the As matrix which is similar across the Wurtzite InAs and Zintl EuInAs. We provide initial evidence of an antiferromagnetic transition at T 6.5 K in the Zintl phase EuInAs nanowires. Ab initio calculation confirms the antiferromagnetic state and classifies EuInAs as a axion insulator hosting both chiral hinge modes and unpinned Dirac surface states. The topotactic mutual-exchange growth of Zintl EuInAs nanowires thus enables the exploration of intricate magneto-topological states of nanomaterials. Moreover, it may open the path for topotactic mutual-exchange synthesis of nanowires made of other exotic compounds.

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Jun 2024 • Energy Storage Materials

Self-discharge in flowless Zn-Br2 batteries and its mitigation

Elad Ballas, Amey Nimkar, Gil Bergman, Ran Elazari, Racheli Wakshlak, Daniel Sharon, Mikhael D Levi, Dan Thomas Major, Daniel Mandler, Netanel Shpigel, Doron Aurbach

Several decades after the invention of the flow Zn-Br2 systems, persistent attempts have been made to develop stationary Zn-Br2 batteries. Such development should increase the energy density of the system simultaneously significantly reducing their cost and opening new challenges associated with the cell design and its performance. One of the major concerns is the rapid self-discharge of stationary systems leading to spontaneous charge loss during battery storage time. While self-discharge in flow cells is generally attributed to the chemical oxidation of the Zn anode, we show that the origin of self-discharge in a static configuration is completely different. By systematic investigations of activated carbon with different surface areas under varied charging conditions, mechanistic insights into this phenomenon were provided. Based on this understanding, we proposed herein an effective way to suppress the cathode …

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Jun 2024 • Biophysical Reports

An efficient EPR spin-labeling method enables insights into conformational changes in DNA

Melanie Hirsch, Lukas Hofmann, Idan Yakobov, Shirin Kahremany, Hila Sameach, Yulia Shenberger, Lada Gevorkyan-Airapetov, Sharon Ruthstein

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) is a powerful tool for elucidating both static and dynamic conformational alterations in macromolecules. However, to effectively utilize EPR for such investigations, the presence of paramagnetic enters, known as spin-labels, is required. The process of spin-labeling, particularly for nucleotides, typically demands intricate organic synthesis techniques. In this study, we introduce a unique addition-elimination reaction method with a simple spin-labeling process, facilitating the monitoring of structural changes within nucleotide sequence. Our investigation focuses on three distinct labeling positions with a DNA sequence, allowing the measurement of distance between two spin-labels. The experimental mean distances obtained agreed with the calculated distances, underscoring the efficacy of this straightforward spin-labelling approach in studying complex biological processes …

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