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

16 to 22 October 2006

MONDAY, 16 OCTOBER

"The Secondary Caustic in the Semiclassical Limit for the Focusing-Nonlinear-Schroedinger Equation," Greg Lyng, University of Wyoming, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

(title to be announced), Charles Doering, University of Michigan, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"A Conserved Trigger for siRNA Biogenesis in Plants," Michael Axtell, Penn State, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Synthetically Tuned Luminophoric Materials: Three-Dimensional Displays, Solar Energy Conversion, and Beyond," Stefan Bernhard, Princeton University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Mary Beth Williams, Department of Chemistry (865-8859).

"What Role Can the Local Trade in Natural Products Play in Strengthening Livelihoods and Ameliorating Poverty: Evidence from South Africa," Sheona Shackleton, Center for International Forestry Research (Indonesia), 2:30 p.m., 106 Forest Resources Building, Penn State Institutes of the Environment (865-0967).

"Factors that Influence the Transmission of Bacterial-Wilt Disease in Cucurbita," Andrew Stephenson, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"Topological Models for Some Quadratic Rational Maps," Vladlen Timorin, State University of New York, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"A Synthetic Family of Cytochrome-P450s by Site-Directed System for Chemical-Engineering Model-Adaption (SCHEMA) Recombination" (Walker lecture #1 of 2), Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, 4:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, host: James Anderson, Department of Chemistry (865-3933).

"Breeding Phalenopsis for the Mass-Market," Rob Griesbach, U.S. National Arboretum, 4:00 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"Sodium (Na+) as a Bioenergetic Currency," Blanca Barquera, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: J. Gregory Ferry, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-5721).

TUESDAY, 17 OCTOBER

"On the Broken-K-Diamond Partition: Part Three," Eric Mortenson, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Engineering by Evolution" (Walker lecture #2 of 2), Frances H. Arnold, California Institute of Technology, 11:30 a.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"Reverse Mathematics and Weak Combinatorial Principles," Carl Mummert, University of Michigan, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Cocycles over Dynamical Systems: Part Four," V. Nitica, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, 3:30 p.m., 216 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Quantum Simulation of Many-Body Physics with Ultracold Atoms," Luming Duan, University of Michigan, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Kurt Gibble, Department of Physics (863-5343).

"Probing Membrane Protein Dimerization in Lipid Bilayers," Kalina Hristova, Johns Hopkins University, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Erin Sheets, Department of Chemistry (863-0044).

WEDNESDAY, 18 OCTOBER

"Discounting in the Long Run," Arthur Small, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 529 Walker Building, Earth Systems Science Center (865-0478).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Research Unplugged: Extreme Tactics--Inside the Mind of a Terrorist," Navin Bapat, Penn State, 12:00 noon, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (127 S. Allen Street), Office of Research Publications (865-3477).

"The Viking Deception: The Truth Behind the Vinland Map" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Obsessing about Supersymmetric-Large-Extra-Dimensions Scenario (SLEDs ): How Extra Dimensions Can Help with the Cosmological-Constant Problem," Cliff Burgess, Perimeter Institute (Canada), 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Stephane Coutu, Department of Physics (865-2015).

SPONSORING UNIT CHANGED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Access to Safe Drinking Water in Kosovo: The Human Rights Perspective!" Bardha Korça, University of Prishtina (Kosovo), 3:30 p.m., 105 Forest Resources Building, School of Forest Resources (863-0914).

"Legendrian Torus Links," Lisa Traynor, Bryn Mawr College, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Controllable Microarray Replication Using DNA," Carl Myers, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Mary Beth Williams, Department of Chemistry (865-8859).

"Memory T-Cells and Chronic Disease: How Memory Develops and is Maintained During Leishmania major Infections," Phillip Scott, University of Pennsylvania, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Andrew Henderson, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-0340 or email: ajh6@psu.edu).

"Vesicle-Encapsulated Ribozymes," Seung-Hyun "Anna" Lee, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Thomas Mallouk, Department of Chemistry (863-9637).

THURSDAY, 19 OCTOBER

"Ferroelectric Memory Materials for 130nm-4Mb-Non-Volatile Embedded Memory," Scott Summerfelt, Texas Instruments, 10:10 a.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Extremely High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos and Relic Neutrinos," Chris Quigg, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 11:00 a.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Irina Mocioiu, Department of Physics (865-3721).

"Calorimetric Studies of the Hydroxylaminbe Family for the Design and Operation of Safer Processes," M. Sam Mannan, Texas A&M University, 11:30 a.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"Proterozoic Snowball Earth," Randall Thomas and Christopher Junium, Penn State, 2:00 p.m., 240 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (865-4074).

"Classification of Legendrian Knots and Links," Lisa Traynor, Bryn Mawr College, 2:30 p.m., 113 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Design of Microarray Experiments and Multiple Testing of Gene-Expression Levels for Pharmacogenomics," Jason Hsu, Ohio State University, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"Fits and Starts in the Land of Steady: Controls on Landscape Disequilibrium in the Oregon Coast Range," Josh Roering, University of Oregon, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"The Coming Revolutions in Particle Physics," Chris Quigg, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, hosts: Irina Mocioiu, Department of Physics (865-3721).

"The Coupling of Exocytosis and Endocytosis at Nerve Terminals," Timothy Ryan, Cornell University, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Andrew Ewing, Penn State Neuroscience Institute and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (863-4653).

"What Processes are Happening at the Top of a Thunderstorm?" Pao Wang, University of Wisconsin, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

FRIDAY, 20 OCTOBER

"New Insights into Formation and Function of the Glyptapaneles indiensis Polydnavirus," Dawn Gundersen-Rindal, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 107 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, hosts: Kelli Hoover and Diana Cox-Foster, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Spaces of Unintended Consequences: The Ground Safety Zone in Kosovo," Mark Corson, Northwest Missouri State University, 12:00 noon, 423 Earth-Engineering Sciences Building, John A. Dutton e-Education Institute and Department of Geography (863-1590).

"Crop Intensification Effects on Forage Yields and the Water Balance in Southeastern Pennsylvania," Ymene Fouli, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"Kinetic Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Cluster-Formation Processes in Free Expansions," Deborah Levin, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Barbara J. Garrison, Department of Chemistry (863-2103).

"Albert Einstein and the Theory of Everything" (video), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

(title to be announced), Alan Demlow, University of Kentucky, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Distinct Contributions of GABA-A Receptors and Dephyrin for GABAergic-Synapse Formation," Jean-Marc Fritschy, University of Zurich (Switzerland), 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Bernhard Luscher (865-5549).

"Will the Poor Always be with Us? Reflections on Public Scholarship and Discourse Theory," Lakshman Yapa, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

SATURDAY, 21 OCTOBER and SUNDAY, 22 OCTOBER

(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.

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This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Leta A. Krumrine and Kristen Devlin.