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

24 March to 30 March 2008

MONDAY, 24 MARCH

"Computational Biomolecular Modeling and Analysis for Drug Discovery," Chandrajit Bajaj, University of Texas, 10:00 a.m., 113 Information Sciences and Technology Building (Cybertorium), Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Unusual Transport Behavior in Bi Nanowires: Co-existence of Fermion and Boson Mechanisms," Mingliang Tian, Penn State, 12:00 noon, S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Science (MRSEC) (863-0007).

"Role of Arabidopsis Alpha-Expansins in Auxin and Acidic pH-Mediated Hypocotyl Growth and Elongation," Yong Bum Park, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Cationic Boranes-Reduction Chemistry and Anion Complexation," Francois P. Gabbai, Texas A&M University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Raymond Schaak, Department of Chemistry (865-8600).

"Coffee Leaf Rust and Other Important Diseases of Cultivated Coffea species: A Lesson in Global Plant Disease Epidemics," Steve Conaway, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-6761).

(title to be announced), Jose Fuentes, University of Virginia, 3:35 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

(title to be announced), Yuri Kifer, Hebrew University (Israel), 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"BEAF-Dependent Chromatin-Domain Insulators: Linking Chromatin Structure and Gene Regulation," Craig Hart, Louisiana State University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host:  David Gilmour, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8905).

"The Effects of Energy Density and Portion Size on Pre-School Children's Energy Intake," Kathleen Leahy, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-209 Henderson Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

TITLE ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Afterglows of Short-Hard Gamma-Ray Bursts," Derek Fox, Penn Sate, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

TUESDAY, 25 MARCH

"Manifestly Gauge-Invariant Relativistic-Perturbation Theory," Kristina Giesel, Max Planck Institute for Graviational Physics (Germany), 10:00 a.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Self-Assembly Approaches to Proton-Conductive Polymer Membranes," Kui Xu, Penn State, 10:00 a.m., 301 Steidle Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Numerical Simulations of High-Energy Collisions of Black Holes," Uli Sperhake, University of Jena (Germany), 12:00 noon, 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

(title to be announced), Andrew Randono, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 315 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Assessing Errors of Post-Newtonian and Numerical-Relativity Waveforms for LIGO and LISA Data Analysis," Sean McWilliams, University of Maryland, 4:00 p.m., 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Engineering the Protein-Folding Landscape of Simple Bacteria for Solving Complex Problems in Biology and Medicine," Matthew DeLisa, Cornell University, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Christine Keating, Department of Chemistry (863-7832).

"Preparing for Carbon Capture and Storage: Policy and Legal Considerations," Kenneth Richards, Indiana University, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

WEDNESDAY, 26 MARCH

"Genome-Wide Analysis of NELF: NELF is Linked to Promoter-Proximal Pausing Throughout the Drosophila Genome," Chanhyo Lee, Penn State, 9:00 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: David Gilmour, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8905).

"Biomarker and Isotope Signatures of Plants: What Can They Tell Us About Water, Mountains, and Ecology?" Kate Freeman, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 541 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-0478).

"Estuary: Columbia's Link with the Sea" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Using Biomass to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Corn-Ethanol Plants," Douglas G. Tiffany, University of Minnesota, 1:30 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (867-0371).

"Hard-Scattering with Transversely-Polarized Beams,"  John Collins, Penn State, 2:30 p.m. in 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Irina Mocioiu, Department of Physics (865-3721).

"Gromov-Hyperbolic Spaces and the Sharp-Isoperimetric Constant," Stefan Wenger, New York University, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Competing for Control of Spinal-Motor Circuits by Developing Corticospinal Tract Neurons," John Martin, Columbia University, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (with video conferencing to Room CG623 at College of Medicine), host: Robert Sainburg, Penn State Neuroscience Institute (865-7938).

"Reovirus Cell Entry and Innate-Immune-Response Signaling," Terence Dermody, Vanderbilt University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Biao He, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-8533).

"Powering the Planet: Where in the World Will Our Energy Come From?" Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology, 7:30 p.m., Hetzel Union Building (HUB) Auditorium, host: Paul S. Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

THURSDAY, 27 MARCH

"Signals for Engulfment of Apoptotic Cells: The Beginnings of a Good Meal," Kodi Ravichandran (department head candidate), University of Virginia, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Ross Hardison, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-0113).

"Environmental Education Technique for Demonstrating Ozone-Pollution Effects on Vegetation," Sabrina Chrzanowski, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"Sunlight-Driven Hydrogen Formation by Membrane-Supported Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting," Nathan Lewis, California Institute of Technology, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Paul S. Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

TITLE ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Parameter Estimation of Spinning Binary Inspirals Using Markov-Chain Monte Carlo," Mark van der Sluys, Northwestern University, 1:30 p.m, 320 Whitmore Laboratory, Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (863-9605 or www.gravity.psu.edu).

"Finite Groups and Zeta Functions," Jiping Zhang, Peking University, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Statistical Models for the Sequential Dyadic Interaction in Japanese and U.S. Mother-Preschooler Dyads," Makram Talih, Hunter College, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"Thinking 'Inside the Box': Quantum Dots in Photonic-Crystal Cavities," Evelyn Hu, University of California, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Nitin Samarth, Department of Physics (863-0136).

(title to be announced), Mark Panning, Princeton University, 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

(title to be announced), Omri Sarig, Penn State, 5:00 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

FRIDAY, 28 MARCH

"Image and Video Parsing: a Gestalt Approach," Xiaofeng Ren, Toyota Technological Institute, 10:00 a.m., 113 Information Sciences and Technology Building (Cybertorium), Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Does Being Overweight Have an Impact on Bone Strength?" Thomas A. Lloyd, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"Effects of Trinexapac-ethyl Applications and Cultivation on the Divot Resistance of Kentucky Bluegrass Cultivars," Tom Serensits, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (865-6541).

"Electrokinetic Hydrogen Generation from Liquid-Water Microjets," Sarawut Cheunkar, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Paul S. Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

"Farm, Field, and Plant Scale Effects on European Corn Borer Oviposition," Katie Ellis, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Cosmic Time: From Atoms to Black Holes" (video), 3:35 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"Geographic Insights on the Human Dimensions of Biodiversity Conservation," L. J. Gorenflo, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

"Patient Response to Hepatitis C Treatment," Tim Reluga, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 510 Mueller Laboratory, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics (863-5895).

SATURDAY, 29 MARCH

(none)

SUNDAY, 30 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 Sara LaJeunesse and Barbara K. Kennedy.