The Susceptibility of Non-UV Fluorescent Membrane Dyes to Dynamical Properties of Lipid Membranes

Fluorescence spectroscopy and microscopy are powerful techniques to detect dynamic properties in artificial and natural lipid membrane systems. Unfortunately, most fluorescent dyes that sense dynamically relevant membrane parameters are UV sensitive. Their major disadvantage is a high susceptibility to fluorescence bleaching. Additionally, the risk for hazardous damages in biological components generally increases with decreasing excitation wavelength. Therefore the use of non-UV–sensitive membrane dyes would provide significant advantage, particularly for applications in fluorescence microscopy, which usually implies high local excitation intensities. We applied steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy techniques to several UV and non-UV membrane dyes to detect and compare dynamically relevant excitation and emission characteristics. Small unilamellar liposomes (composed of egg yolk phosphatidylcholine) served as a model system for biological membranes. The dynamic properties of the membranes were varied by two independent parameters: the intrinsic cholesterol content (0–50 mol%) and temperature (10–50°C). We tested four non-UV–sensitive membrane dyes: 9-diethylamino-5H-benzophenoxazine-5-one (Nile Red), 4-(dicyanovinyl)julolidine (DCVJ), N-(3-triethylammoniumpropyl)-4-(4-(dibutylamino)styryl) pyridinium dibromide (FM 4-64), and 1,1-dioctadecyl-3,3,3,3-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate (DiIC₁₈). We also tested three derivatives of DiIC₁₈: DiIC₁₆ and DiIC₁₂ differ in acyl chain length and Fast-DiIC₁₈ provides double bonds between hydrocarbon atoms. The spectral results were compared to established fluorescence characteristics of four UV membrane dyes: the anisotropy of 1-6-phenyl-1,3,5,-hexatrien (DPH), two derivatives of DPH (TMA-DPH and COO^–-DHP), and the generalized polarization of 6-dodecanoyl-2-dimethyl-aminonaphthalene (Laurdan). Our results indicate that the tested non-UV dyes do not reveal dynamically relevant membrane parameters in a direct manner. However, spectral characteristics make DiIC₁₈, Nile Red, and DCVJ promising probes for the microscopic detection of lateral lipid organization, an indirect indicator of membrane dynamics. In particular, DiIC₁₈ showed very selective shifts in the emission spectra at defined temperatures and cholesterol contents that have not been reported elsewhere.     

Measurement of B0-B-0 flavor oscillations in hadronic B0 decays

Flavor oscillations of neutral B mesons have been studied in e+e- annihilation data collected with the BABAR detector at center-of-mass energies near the upsilon(4S) resonance. The data sample used for this purpose consists of events in which one B0 meson is reconstructed in a hadronic decay mode, while the flavor of the recoiling B0 is determined with a tagging algorithm that exploits the correlation between the flavor of the heavy quark and the charges of its decay products. From the time development of the observed mixed and unmixed final states, we determine the B0-B-0 oscillation frequency deltamd to be 0.516+/-0.016(stat)+/-0.010(syst) ps-1.     

Measurement of B --> K*gamma branching fractions and charge asymmetries

The branching fractions of the exclusive decays B0-->K(*0)gamma and B+-->K(*+)gamma are measured from a sample of (22.74+/-0.36)x10(6) BB decays collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. We find B (B0-->K(*0)gamma) = [4.23+/-0.40(stat)+/-0.22(syst)]x10(-5), B(B+-->K(*+)gamma) = [3.83+/-0.62(stat)+/-0.22(syst)]x10(-5) and constrain the CP-violating charge asymmetry to be -0.170K(*)gamma)<0.082 at 90% C.L.     

Dynamics of long-living excitons in tunable potential landscapes

A novel method to experimentally study the dynamics of long-living excitons in coupled quantum well semiconductor heterostructures is presented. Lithographically defined top gate electrodes imprint in-plane artificial potential landscapes for excitons via the quantum confined Stark effect. Excitons are shuttled laterally in a time-dependent potential landscape defined by an interdigitated gate structure. Long-range drift exceeding a distance of at an exciton drift velocity is observed in a gradient potential formed by a resistive gate stripe.     

Effects of zero-filling and apodization on spectral integrals in discrete Fourier-transform spectroscopy of noisy data

The influence of noise on the standard deviation of spectral integrals is examined. Calculations assuming discrete Fourier-transform data are compared with Monte-Carlo simulations. The effects of zero-filling and apodization are examined for free-induction-decay (FID) signals and for symmetric spin-echo signals in one and two dimensions, with particular attention to features not previously presented in the literature. Findings suggest that for mild apodization, the known sensitivity enhancement due to zero-filling in either the real or the imaginary part signal [E. Bartholdi, R.R. Ernst, Fourier spectroscopy and the causality principle, J. Magn. Reson., 11 (1973) 9-19] is maintained; however, for stronger apodization filters, this enhancement can be obliterated completely. It is shown that results obtained by analysis of one-dimensional signals can be readily applied to multi-dimensional data. Furthermore, zero-filling has a negligible effect for symmetric spin-echo signals with implications for signal averaging in magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopic imaging.     

A Two Dimensional Fermi Liquid. Part 2: Convergence

Using results established in other papers in our series, we prove the existence of the infinite volume, temperature zero, thermodynamic Greens functions of a two dimensional, weakly coupled fermion gas with an asymmetric Fermi curve and short range interactions. This is done by showing that our sequence of renormalization group maps converges.Research supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Forschunginstitut für Mathematik, ETH Zürich.     

Study of high momentum eta' production in B --> eta'Xs

We measure the branching fraction for the charmless semi-inclusive process B --> eta'Xs, where the eta' meson has a momentum in the range 2.0 to 2.7 GeV/c in the upsilon4S center-of-mass frame and Xs represents a system comprising a kaon and zero to four pions. We find B(B --> eta'Xs) = [3.9 +/- 0.8(stat) +/- 0.5(syst) +/- 0.8(model)] x 10(-4). We also obtain the Xs mass spectrum and find that it fits models predicting high masses.     

Inadequacy of perfect-reflector models in cavity QED for systems with low-frequency excitations

It is shown that the model of perfectly reflecting boundaries widely employed in cavity QED is unsuitable for systems that have long-wavelength excitations. A prime example is a free charged particle near a reflecting wall. Modeling the wall as perfectly reflecting from the outset ignores evanescent waves that couple to the particle through virtual excitations at low energies, which can lead to errors in order of magnitude and even sign. The example of a free electron near an imperfectly reflecting wall characterized by a constant frequency-independent refractive index n is investigated in detail by determining its energy shift relative to an electron in vacuum through both nonrelativistic and relativistic calculations.     

Limits on the decay-rate difference of neutral B mesons and on CP, T, and CPT violation in B(0-0)B oscillations

Using events in which one of two neutral B mesons from the decay of an Upsilon(4S) meson is fully reconstructed, we determine parameters governing decay (DeltaGamma(d)/Gamma(d)), CP, and T violation (|q/p|), and CP and CPT violation (Re z,Im z). The results, obtained from an analysis of 88 x 10(6) Upsilon(4S) decays recorded by BABAR, are sgn(Re lambda(CP))DeltaGamma(d)/Gamma(d)=-0.008+/-0.037(stat)+/-0.018(syst)[-0.084,0.068],|q/p|=1.029+/-0.013(stat)+/-0.011(syst)[1.001,1.057],(Re lambda(CP)/|lambda(CP)|) Re z=0.014+/-0.035(stat)+/-0.034(syst)[-0.072,0.101],Im z=0.038+/-0.029(stat)+/-0.025(syst)[-0.028,0.104]. The values inside the square brackets indicate the 90% confidence-level intervals. These results are consistent with standard model expectations.     

Measurement of the inclusive charmless semileptonic branching ratio of B mesons and determination of |V ub|

We report a measurement of the inclusive charmless semileptonic branching fraction of B mesons in a sample of 89 x 10(6) (-)BB events recorded with the BABAR detector at the Upsilon(4S) resonance. Events are selected by fully reconstructing the decay of one B meson and identifying a charged lepton from the decay of the other B meson. The number of signal events is extracted from the mass distribution of the hadronic system accompanying the lepton and is used to determine the ratio of branching fractions B((-)B-->X(u)lnu;)/B((-)B-->Xlnu;)=[2.06+/-0.25(stat)+/-0.23(syst)+/-0.36(theo)]x10(-2). Using the measured branching fraction for inclusive semileptonic B decays, we find B((-)B-->X(u)lnu;)=[2.24+/-0.27(stat)+/-0.26(syst)+/-0.39(theo)]x10(-3) and derive the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |V(ub)|=[4.62+/-0.28(stat)+/-0.27(syst)+/-0.48(theo)]x10(-3).