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

10 to 16 February 2003

 

MONDAY, 10 FEBRUARY

"Agricultural Sciences at Penn State's Berks Campus," Mike Fidanza, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 10 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (863-3371).

"Recent Developments in Aza Diels-Alder Reactions," Adiel Coca, Penn State, 1:15 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (865-2374).

"Swift Pointing and Gravitational Waves From Gamma-Ray Bursters," Patrick Sutton, Penn State, 3:00 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9608).

"A Morse-Theory Approach to Studying Configuration Spaces," David Handron, Carnegie Mellon University, 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Armillaria Root Disease: Biology of the Humongous Fungus and Its Role in Forest Health," Matt Fromm, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"The Importance of Regional Scale Variation in Governing Species Invasions," Jeb Byers, University of New Hampshire, 3:35 p.m., 216 Thomas Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-6679).

"Are Interdomain Contacts Conserved in Families of Multi-Domain Proteins?: A Study of Interdomain Interfaces in Prokaryotic Switch Proteins," Victoria Robinson (faculty candidate), Rutgers University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Song Tan, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Role of the Strearoyl-CoA Desaturase Protein in Metabolism," James Ntambi, University of Wisconsin, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

 

TUESDAY, 11 FEBRUARY

"Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory: Electron Dynamics in Atoms, Molecules, and Solids," Neepa Maitra, Rutgers University, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Renee Diehl, Department of Physics (865-9251).

"Modeling Aspects of Fractured Rock," Frederick Day-Lewis, Bucknell University, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"Dendritic Cells and the Control of the Immune System," Ralph Steinman, Rockefeller University, 4:15 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (with video conferencing to the College of Medicine), Huck Institute for Life Sciences (863-3650).

 

WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY

"Great Lakes Alive: To the Last Drop," Video #2, noon and 7:00 p.m., 105 Deike Building, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences (863-7073).

"Improving Home Health Care Through Just-In-Time E-Mail Reminders: Outcomes and Issues in Translating Research into Practice," Penny H. Feldman, Visiting Nurse Service of New York, noon, 108 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Health Policy and Administration (863-2900).

"Functional and Evolutionary Analyses of Arabidopsis SKP1-Gene Homologs," Hong Ma, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 317 Mueller Laboratory, host: Masatoshi Nei, Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics (863-7334).

"Regulation of Auxin Transport During Development and Gravity Response," Gloria Muday, Wake Forest University, 12:20 p.m., 107 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"Host Defense Against Bacterial Polysaccharides," John Schreiber, Case Western Reserve University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Eric Harvill, Department of Veterinary Science (863-8522).

 

THURSDAY, 13 FEBRUARY

"Beyond Piezoelectric Transducers (PZT): Development of New High-Performance Piezoelectric Composites" by Rich Eitel and "Viscosity of Ploy (acrylic acid) Solutions with Oppositely Charged Surfactant" by Nop Plucktaveesak, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-2262).

"Identification of Proteins That Interact With the Cytoplamic Domain of the Sticks-and-Stones Protein During Drosophila Myogenesis," Sue-Jean Hong, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Susan Abmayr, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Modeling Gene Regulatory Networks," Reka Albert, University of Minnesota, 4:00 p.m. 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Peter Schiffer, Department of Physics (865-5982).

"Local Geometry of Random 3-D Young Diagrams," Nicolai Reshetikhin, University of California, 4:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

 

FRIDAY, 14 FEBRUARY

(title to be announced, Daniel Sudarsky, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry (863-9605).

"New Approaches in the Understanding, Prevention, and Treatment of Cardiac Arrythmias," Antonis Armoundas, Johns Hopkins University, noon, 210 Hallowell Building, (with video conferencing to the College of Medicine), Department of Bioengineering (865-1407).

"Topography and Kinetics Associated with Multidimensional Potential-Energy Surfaces," Chet Swalina, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (865-1354).

"Rehearsing Environmental Change: Synthesizing Solutions to Environmental Problems," Brian Orland, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 301 Steidle Building, Department of Geography (865-1915).

(title to be announced), Alex Novikov, California Institute of Technology, 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Investigating Phosphorous Loss from Agricultural Soils: From the Lab to the Model," Peter Vadas, United States Department of Agriculture, 3:35 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-0779 and 863-1601).

 

SATURDAY, 15 FEBRUARY

"Living on Other Worlds: Can Humans Take It?" (Frontiers lecture #4 of 6), James Pawelczyk, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 100 Thomas Building, Eberly College of Science (863-8453).

 

SUNDAY, 16 FEBRUARY

(none)

 

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Additions or cancellations will be noted on weekly Science Seminar listings on the Web.

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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. Click here for additional information about Science Seminars, or for instruction on how to SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE.

Reporters for Science Seminars and the areas they cover are as follows: [agriculture: Kay Moore] [agronomy: Madeline Laubach] [anthropology: Alan Walker] [astrobiology: Linda Decker] [astronomy and astrophysics: Sue Tighe and Laura Sproat] [biochemistry and molecular biology: Tamara Housel] [biology: Paula Farwell] [gravitational physics and geometry: Karen Brewster] [ceramic science and engineering: April Benson] [chemical engineering: Ruth Smith] [chemistry: Teresa Beck] [computer science and engineering: Nancy Clark and Karen Alise Corl] [earth and mineral sciences: Debra Lambert] [ecology: Debra Putt] [education: Tom Dana] [energy: Kelly Jo Rhoades] [entomology: Thelma Brodzina] [genetics: Paula Farwell] [life sciences: Janice Kennedy] [mathematics: Flossie Dunlop] [nutrition: Judy Jones] [physics: Amy Long] [physiology: LuAnn Weatherholtz] [plant physiology: Janice Kennedy] [poultry science: Ruth Nyman] [science, technology, and society: Karen Snare] [statistics: Bonnie Cain] [veterinary science: Loretta Muchinsky].

NOTICE: PRESS RELEASES AVAILABLE
Press releases occasionally are written for some of the lectures sponsored by the Eberly College of Science. If you would like to receive copies of these press releases in the future, send a note to Barbara K. Kennedy at SCIENCE@PSU.EDU. Your e-mail address will be added to a distribution list.

This publication is available in alternative media on request.

Penn State is an affirmative action, equal opportunity university. Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the office in charge of the seminar in advance of your attendance. U.Ed. SCI 03-76

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Barbara K. Kennedy.