Science Seminars is a weekly list of science-related seminars sponsored by colleges, research institutes, and other organizations throughout Penn State. Science Seminars is published by the Penn State Eberly College of Science as a service to Penn State and its surrounding communities

Science Seminars

17 March to 23 March 2008

MONDAY, 17 MARCH

"Root Traits for Sustainable Low-Input Agro-Ecosystems," Amelia Henry, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Frosty Pod Rot of Cacao: Advances in the Control of Moniliophthora roreri," Aaron Brown, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-6761).

"Bacterial Nickel Sensors," Peter Chivers, Washington University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Kenneth Keiler, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-0787).

"Preventing Childhood Obesity: What Works," Leann Birch, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"Touching the Universe--Measuring the Cosmic Background Radiation, Past and Future" (Chemerda lecture), John C. Mather, NASA, 4:00 p.m., 102 Joab L. Thomas Building, host: Peter Meszaros, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"From the Big Bang to the Nobel Prize and on to the James Webb Space Telescope" (Chemerda lecture), John C. Mather, NASA, 8:00 p.m., Board Room of the Nittany Lion Inn, host: Peter Meszaros, Department of Physics (865-7533).

TUESDAY, 18 MARCH

"Inventory Management in Supply Chains and Adaptive Interventions in Behavioral Health:  Insights Gained from a Process-Control Perspective," Daniel E. Rivera, Arizona State University, 10:00 a.m., 102 Chemistry Building, Department of Chemistry (863-1375).

"Disease and Range Limits,"  Janis Antonovics, University of Virginia, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Jamie Lloyd-Smith, Department of Biology (863-9545).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Inverse Homogenization--Recovery of the Structure of Composite Materials," Elena Cherkaev, University of Utah, 4:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (863-9017).

"NASA's Next Great Observatory: The James Webb Space Telescope Project" (Chemerda lecture), John C. Mather, NASA, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Peter Meszaros, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Total Internal Reflection with Fluorescence-Correlation Spectroscopy," Nancy Thompson, University of North Carolina, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Erin D. Sheets, Department of Chemistry (863-0044).

WEDNESDAY, 19 MARCH

"Precision-Integrated Scalable Monitoring," Navendu Jain, University of Texas, 10:00 a.m., 333 Information Sciences and Technology Building, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Physics Beyond Einstein: Contemplating Time's Beginning and End," Abhay Ashtekar, Penn State, 12:00 noon, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (127 S. Allen Street), Office of the Senior Vice President for Research (865-3477 or www.rps.psu.edu/unplugged/)

"Probing Molecular-Level Organizational Structure and Electronic Decoupling of Weakly Surface-Bound Chiral Domains and Biomolecular Species," Thomas P. Pearl, North Carolina State University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Paul S. Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

(title to be announced), Mark Trodden, Syracuse University, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Irina Mocioiu, Department of Physics (865-3721).

"The Analytic Aspects of Ricci Flow II," Bing Long Chen, Sun Yat-Sen University (China), 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The Assembly of Cellular Structures During Bacterial Differentiation," Charles P. Moran Jr. (department head candidate), Emory University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Ross Hardison, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-0113).

"Exploring Macrophage Arachidonic-Acid Metabolism Through Global Lipid Profiling," Carol Rouzer, Vanderbilt University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Sandeep Prabhu, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-8976).

"High-Redshift Quasars as Early-Star-Formation Probes," Matthias Dietrich, Ohio State University, 4:00 p.m., 538 Davey Laboratory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0418).

"How Age Affects Developmental Song-Learning in the Zebra Finch," Ofer Tchernichovski, City University of New York, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (with videoconferencing to Room CG623 at College of Medicine), host: Alexay Kozhevnikov, Penn State Neuroscience Institute (865-7533).

"New Criteria for Ergodicity and the Pugh-Shub Conjecture," Federico Rodriguez Hertz, Universidad de la Republica (Uruguay), 4:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

THURSDAY, 20 MARCH

"Large-Scale Identification of Sites Bound in Vivo by the GATA-1 Gene on Mouse Chromosome Seven Reveals Major Determinants of Occupancy," Yong Cheng, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Ross Hardison, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-0113).

(title to be announced), Maosheng Xiong, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Root Cortical Aerenchyma: A Useful Adaptation to Drought Stress in Maize," Raul Jaramillo, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"Water Oxidation from Photosystem II to the Blue Dimer," Thomas Meyer, University of North Carolina, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, hosts: Sharon Hammes-Schiffer and Mary Elizabeth Williams, Department of Chemistry (865-6553).

"Family Algebras and Generalized Exponents," Alexandre Kirillov, University of Pennsylvania, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Quantum Transport of 2D Dirac Fermions: Topological Insulator, Topological Metal, and Graphene," Shinsei Ryu, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, 4:00 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Nitin Samarth, Department of Physics (863-0136).

(title to be announced), Kasra Rafi, University of Chicago, 5:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

FRIDAY, 21 MARCH

"Obesity and Aging: A New Look at An Old Problem," Gordon Jensen, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"The Agronomic and Economic Potential of Spring Canola (Brassica napus L.) in Pennsylvania," Mary Carol Frier, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (865-6541).

"The Hamiltonian Approach to Yang-Mills (2+1): Basics and Update," Parameswaran Nair, City College of New York, 1:30 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or http://www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Boundary-Value Problems and Elliptic Equations," John Roe, Penn State, 2:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Studying Movement Behavior to Understand Gene Flow," Suann Yang, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Working with Undergraduates on Research: Cancer-Drug Design and Modeling Atmospheric-Chemistry Processes Using Computational Methods," George Shields, Hamilton College, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Sharon Hammes-Schiffer, Department of Chemistry (865-6442).

"Most of Our Universe is Missing: Dark Matter and Dark Energy" (video), 3:35 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Laboratory (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"A Step Toward Temporal Multi-Scale Problems," Andrew Christlieb, Michigan State University, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

SATURDAY, 22 MARCH

(none)

SUNDAY, 23 MARCH

(none)

 

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Cancellations and additions will be noted on weekly Science Seminar listings on the Web at
< www.science.psu.edu/scisem/scisem.htm > or
< www.events.psu.edu/cgi-bin/cal/webevent.cgi?cmd=opencal&cal=cal250& >.

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Science Seminars is a weekly list of science-related seminars sponsored by colleges, research institutes, and other organizations throughout Penn State. Science Seminars is published by the Penn State Eberly College of Science as a service to Penn State and its surrounding communities.

For more information about Science Seminars, or for instructions on how to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE, visit the links at http://www.science.psu.edu/scisem/scisemData.htm

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This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Kristen Devlin and Sara LaJeunesse.