ESEEM study of the location of spin-polarized chlorophyll-quinone radical pair in membrane-oriented spinach photosystems I and II complexes

Light-induced spin-polarized radical pairs, P700⁺A₁ ^? in spinach photosystem (PS) I particles and P680⁺Q_A ^? in Zn-substituted PS II core complexes, in oriented membranes were studied by pulsed electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Based on the determined distance of 25.2 ± 0.2 Å between P700 and A₁, the angular dependence of the spin-polarized electron spin echo envelope modulation (ESEEM) spectra on the magnetic field suggests that the angle between $R_{P700 - {\rm A}_1 } $ , the radius-vector connecting P700 and A₁, and the membrane normaln was 24 ± 4° in PS I particles. Obtained angle and distance of P700-A₁ axis suggested Q_K side in the molecular geometry of cofactors presented in a recent X-ray crystallography of cyanobacterial PS I reaction center to be an active branch of electron transfer. The distance between P680 and Q_A was determined to be 27.4 ± 0.3 Å for a nonoriented PS II. The angle between $R_{P680 - Q_{\rm A} } $ , the radius-vector connecting P680 and Q_A, andn was determined to be 21 ± 5°. The angle of P680-Q_A axis was close to that of 20° of P870-Q_A axis reported in X-ray analysis of the purple bacterial reaction center crystal.     

Resonance Raman effect in thiourea

Raman spectra of thiourea have been observed in H₂O and D₂O solutions with the exciting laser beams of 514.5, 488.0, 457.9, 363.8, 325.0, and 257.3 nm. The resonance Raman excitation profile of the 729-cm^?1 line has been examined in the region of the 237-nm absorption band ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}$) by use of a solvent shift of the absorption band instead of by changing the wavelength of the exciting beam. The depolarization degree of this line was measured and its overtone Raman line was also observed. On the basis of the results of these experiments, it has been concluded that the 729-cm^?1 Raman line, assignable to the CS stretching vibration, derives its intensity solely from the 237-nm band when it is excited at 257.3 or 325.0 nm. On exciting in the region 363.8–514.5 nm, however, contributions of the higher-frequency bands are predominant rather than the contribution from the 237-nm band. The Raman line at 1520 cm^?1 of thiourea-d₄ is assignable to the NCN antisymmetric stretching vibration. From its excitation profile, its intensity has been considered to come from a vibronic coupling between the excited electronic states of the 220-nm ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}\text{? π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}$) and the 197-nm ($\text{π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>CS</mtext>}}{}^1\text{← π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}\text{+ π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>N</mtext>}}$) bands.     

Evidence for B0 --> D+ D- and observation of B- --> D0D- and B- -->D0D*- decays

We report evidence for B(0) --> D(0)D(-) and the first observation of the decay modes B(-) --> D(0)D(-) and B(-) --> D(0)D(*-) based on a sample of 152 x 10(6) BB events collected by the Belle detector at KEKB. The branching fractions for B(0) --> D(+) D(-), B--->D(0)D(-), and B--> D(0)D(*-) are found to be (1.91 +/- 0.51 +/- 0.30) x10(-4), (4.83 +/- 0.78 +/- 0.58) x 10(-4), and (4.57 +/- 0.71 +/- 0.56) x 10(-4), respectively. Charge asymmetries in the B---> D(0)D(-) and B(-) --> D(0)D(*-) channels are consistent with zero.     

Measurement of time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0 decay

We present a measurement of CP-violation parameters in the B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0 decay based on a sample of 275 x 10(6) BB pairs collected at the upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB energy-asymmetric e+e- collider. One neutral B meson is fully reconstructed in the decay B0 --> K(s)0K(s)0K(s)0, and the flavor of the accompanying B meson is identified from its decay products. CP-violation parameters are obtained from the asymmetry in the distributions of the proper-time interval between the two B decays: S = +1.26 +/- 0.68(stat) +/- 0.20(syst) and [symbol: see text] = +0.54 +/- 0.34(stat) +/- 0.09(syst).     

Observation of a near-threshold omegaJ/psi mass enhancement in exclusive B-->KomegaJ/psi decays

We report the observation of a near-threshold enhancement in the omegaJ/psi invariant mass distribution for exclusive B-->KomegaJ/psi decays. The results are obtained from a 253 fb(-1) data sample that contains 275 x 10(6) BB pairs that were collected near the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e(+)e(-) collider. The statistical significance of the omegaJ/psi mass enhancement is estimated to be greater than 8sigma.