Low temperature pressure broadening of NH3 by D2

We report experimentally measured cross sections for pressure broadening of ammonia inversion transitions by J=0, ortho-D2 at temperatures of 18-40 K. These measurements were made in a quasiequilibrium cell using the collisional cooling technique. Cross sections for broadening of the metastable (J,K)=(1, 1), (2, 2) and (3, 3) inversion transitions ranged from 67.5 A2 for (1, 1) at 20.0 K to 100.1 A2 for (3, 3) at 25.0 K. The J=0, ortho-D2 cross sections were found to be consistently larger than previously measured cross sections for low temperature broadening of NH3 by both He and H2.     

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.