Visual spatial memory is enhanced in female rats (but inhibited in males) by dietary soy phytoestrogens

Background  

In learning and memory tasks, requiring visual spatial memory (VSM), males exhibit superior performance to females (a difference attributed to the hormonal influence of estrogen). This study examined the influence of phytoestrogens (estrogen-like plant compounds) on VSM, utilizing radial arm-maze methods to examine varying aspects of memory. Additionally, brain phytoestrogen, calbindin (CALB), and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) levels were determined.     

Neuromodulation by soy diets or equol: Anti-depressive &; anti-obesity-like influences,age- &; hormone-dependent effects

Background  

Soy-derived isoflavones potentially protect against obesity and depression. In five different studies we examined the influence of soy-containing diets or equol injections on depression, serotonin levels, body weight gain (BW) and white adipose tissue (WAT) deposition in female Long-Evans rats at various stages of life [rats were intact, ovariectomized or experienced natural ovarian failure (NOF)].     

The application of homotopy analysis method to solve nonlinear differential equation governing Jeffery–Hamel flow

In this paper Jeffery–Hamel flow has been studied and its nonlinear ordinary differential equation has been solved through homotopy analysis method (HAM). The obtained solution in comparison with the numerical ones represents a remarkable accuracy. The results also indicate that HAM can provide us with a convenient way to control and adjust the convergence region.     

Properties of the acoustic intensity vector field in a shallow water waveguide

Acoustic intensity is a vector quantity described by collocated measurements of acoustic pressure and particle velocity. In an ocean waveguide, the interaction among multipath arrivals of propagating wavefronts manifests unique behavior in the acoustic intensity. The instantaneous intensity, or energy flux, contains two components: a propagating and non-propagating energy flux. The instantaneous intensity is described by the time-dependent complex intensity, where the propagating and non-propagating energy fluxes are modulated by the active and reactive intensity envelopes, respectively. Properties of complex intensity are observed in data collected on a vertical line array during the transverse acoustic variability experiment (TAVEX) that took place in August of 2008, 17 km northeast of the Ieodo ocean research station in the East China Sea, 63 m depth. Parabolic equation (PE) simulations of the TAVEX waveguide supplement the experimental data set and provide a detailed analysis of the spatial structure of the complex intensity. A normalized intensity quantity, the pressure-intensity index, is used to describe features of the complex intensity which have a functional relationship between range and frequency, related to the waveguide invariant. The waveguide invariant is used to describe the spatial structure of intensity in the TAVEX waveguide using data taken at discrete ranges.     

The physics of diamond

The accurate measurement of the thermal conductivity of metals still poses considerable experimental difficulty. The reasons for this, and the main ways in which the problem has been approached, are summarized. A detailed examination of the development in technique and methods of measurement shows that while most of the steady-state methods introduced over 50 years ago are still being improved, the emphasis in the last few years has been on the development of methods which give more rapid results, particularly at high temperatures.     

Quantum: Einstein,Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality,by Manjit Kumar

The history of absolute measurements of gravity is mentioned and the reasons for making absolute measurements are indicated. The principles and main advantages and difficulties of the main method—reversible pendulum, free fall, symmetrical free motion—are discussed and examples of each method are described. Problems of comparison of different determinations and of estimating systematic errors are considered.