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 to 23 NOVEMBER 2003

 

MONDAY, 17 NOVEMBER

"Hydroamination of Olefins with Transition-Metal Catalysts," Jae Hong Seo, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (865-6079).

"Coulomb Blockade and Quantum Dynamics of Solid-State Qubits," Dmitri Averin, State University of New York, 12:00 noon, 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physcis (863-1162).

"Gauge Fixing of the Ponzano-Regge Model and the Quantum Double of SU(2)," David Louapre, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Canada), 12:00 noon, 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry + Center for Gravitational Wave Physics (863-9605).

"The Ecophysiology of Tropical Dry-Forest Trees," Marco Gutierrez, University of Costa Rica and Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"The Van der Pol Equation and the Origins of Chaos," John Guckenheimer, Cornell University, 1:25 p.m., 109 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Weak Dynamical Integrability of Distributions," Michael Brin, University of Maryland, 2:20 p.m., 109 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"The Effects of Aphid-Mediated Vectoring on the Microevolution of Plum-Pox Virus," Chris Wallis, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"Amenability, Nuclearity, and Equality of Full- and Reduced-Group-C* Algebras," Nate Brown, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 104 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Dimensions of the Projection of an Invariant Measure for the Geodesic Flow," Francois Ledrappier, University of Notre Dame, 3:45 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Genetic Variation of Regal Pelargonium in Postproduction Quality: Final Seminar," Hye-Ji Kim, Penn State, 3:50 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (863-3371).

"Nutrition and Health of Centenarians," Mary Ann Johnson, University of Georgia, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"The Origin and Evolution of Oceans and Continents: A Modern Geophysical Perspective," Walter Mooney, U.S. Geological Survey, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"The PAT Family of Proteins and Lipid Metabolism," Constantine Londos, National Institutes of Health, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Robert Simpson, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Results and Hopes on Differentiationg Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen (SRB) Measures," David Ruelle, IHES—Institute of Advanced Scientific Research (France), 4:45 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

 

TUESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER

"The Hyper-Weak Distributive Law and Related Infinitary Games in Boolean Algebras," Natasha Dobrinen, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 324 Sackett Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Simple Ideas on Mixing and Fragmentation," Emmanuel Villermaux, University of Provence (France), 2:45 p.m., 207 Thomas Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Antidot Quantum Computing and Edge-State Tunneling in Fractional Quantum-Hall-Effect Systems," Dmitri Averin, State University of New York, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Jainendra Jain, Department of Physics (863-1162).

"The Biochemistry of Visual Cycle," Kanika Vats, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (863-6339).

"The Ecosystem Consequences of Biodiversity Loss: The Role of Multiple Trophic Interactions," Shahid Naeem, Columbia University, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Mike Rubbo, Department of Biology Graduate Student Association (863-0278).

 

WEDNESDAY, 19 NOVEMBER

"Organic-Light-Emitting Diodes for Lighting and Other Applications" by Lisa Dillenbeck and "Bioelectrocatalytical and Electrocatalytical Processes Activated by Magneto-Switches" by Shawn Parry, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (863-9556 or 865-0493).

"Powder Metallurgy: Shaping Our Future" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

"Herbicide-Resistant Weeds: Evolution and Status," Bill Curran, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 105 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"Area vs. Distance Estimates," Chris Croke, University of Pennsylvania, 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Studies of Virus Assembly and Budding," John Wills, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Biao He, Department of Veterinary Science (865-7696).

"Why Intracellular Parasitism Is Not a Degrading Experience for Mycobacterium," David G. Russell, Cornell University, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (video conferenced from College of Medicine), Department of Cell and Molecular Biology + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (717-531-8982).

 

THURSDAY, 20 NOVEMBER

"A Local-Global Method for Showing that Sets of Integers Are Well Distributed in Arithmetic Progressions and Smooth Numbers," Ernest Croot, Georgia Institute of Technology, 11:15 a.m., 325 Sackett Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Evidence for Asymmetric Electron Transfer in Cyanobacterial Photosystem I: Analysis of a Methionine to Leucine Mutation of the Ligand to the Primary-Electron-Acceptor A0," Rachel Cohen, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: John Golbeck, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Protein EGL-26 Controls vulF-Cell Morphogenesis," Hongliu Sun, Penn State, 11:45 a.m. (refreshments at 11:30 a.m.), 317 Mueller Laboratory, Intercollege Program in Genetics (865-6903, lee11@psu.edu, or www.genetics.psu.edu/Seminars/Colloquium.htm).

"Highly-Conductive Block-Copolymer Nanowires, Nanocables, Microelectromechanical-System (MEMS) Sensors, and Other Cool-and-Useful Stuff," Richard McCullough, Carnegie Mellon University, 12:15 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Tom Mallouk, Department of Chemistry (865-6553).

"Topics in the Physics of Novel Magnetic Materials," Peter Schiffer, Penn State, 1:15 p.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
What Do Squares Have to Do with Nim, Goldbach's Conjecture, and Windy Planets?" Kenneth Stolarsky, University of Illinois, 2:30 p.m., 103 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Penn State Films of Superconductor Magnesium DiBoride: A Success Story of Interdisciplinary Research," Xiaoxing Xi, Penn State, 3:50 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Physics (865-7534).

"Autoregulatory Mechanisms in the Supraoptic-Nucleus Neurones of the Hypothalamus: Role for Intracellular Calcium," Govindan Dayanithi, University of Occupational and Environmental Health (Japan), 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, Eberly College of Science + Department of Biology + Department of Biobehavioral Health + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences + College of Health and Human Development + Department of Chemistry (865-5549).

"BART: Bayesian-Additive Regression Trees," Robert McCulloch, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

"Models of the Global Ocean-Iron Cycle," Mick Follows, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"q-Analogues, Conformal Mapping, Chebyshev Polynomials, and Prime Numbers," Kenneth Stolarsky, University of Illinois, 4:00 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"An Action of $pi_1(Ham(M))$ on the Floer Homology Groups, $HF_*(M,omega)$," Chris Saunders, Penn State, 5:30 p.m., C105 Smith Building-Penn State Altoona, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Galactic Cannibals" (Friedman lecture), Christopher Palma, Penn State, 7:30 p.m., 100 Thomas Building, host: Eric Feigelson, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0418).

 

FRIDAY, 21 NOVEMBER

"Generalized Boundary Conditions for Quantum Spacetime with Nonzero Cosmological Constant," Artem Starodoubtsev, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (Canada), 11:00 a.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry + Center for Gravitational Wave Physics (863-9605).

"Intercepting Covert Channels on the Internet: Cryptanalysis and Web-Search Algorithms," R. Chandramouli, Stevens Institute of Technology, 11:00 a.m., 302 Pond Laboratory, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Biology and Ecology of Spiders," David Wise, University of Kentucky, 11:15 a.m., 504 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Loren Byrne, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Small Microsolvated Molecules in Gas Phase and Large Noncovalently Bonded Biomolecules in Solution—Both Studied with Infrared Lasers," Bernd Brutschy, Johann Wolfgange Goethe University (Germany), 2:30 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: A. W. Castleman, Department of Chemistry (865-7242).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
Quantum Gravity and Quantum Groups," Karim Noui, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 115 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Analog to Digital Conversion," Ronald DeVore, University of South Carolina, 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Ethnography and Geography: A Match Made in Heaven," Linda Burton, Penn State, 3:30 p.m., 301 Steidle Building, Department of Geography (863-1806).

"Exertional Rhabdomyolysis: Causes and Consequences," Priscilla Clarkson, University of Massachussetts, 4:00 p.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"Liquid-Chromatography/Mass-Spectrometry (LC/MS) Strategies for Profiling of Bioactive Phytochemical Metabolites," Bart O'Brien, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (863-8221).

 

SATURDAY, 22 NOVEMBER and SUNDAY, 23 NOVEMBER

(none)

 

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Additions or cancellations will be noted on weekly Science Seminar listings on this Web page and on the Penn State Web Events calendar at:
< http://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. 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: Lisa Bechtol 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: Sandra Brown] [chemistry: Teresa Beck] [computer science and engineering: Nancy Clark and Karen Alise Corl] [earth and mineral sciences: Debra Lambert] [ecology: Rosemarie Hibbler] [education: Tom Dana] [energy: Kelly Jo Rhoades] [entomology: Thelma Brodzina] [genetics: Lauren Esposito] [life sciences: Janice Kennedy] [mathematics: Flossie Dunlop] [nutrition: Judy Jones] [physics: Amy Long] [physiology: Rosemarie Hibbler] [plant physiology: Janice Kennedy] [poultry science: Linda Houtz] [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 04-51

This issue of SCIENCE SEMINARS was produced by Barbara K. Kennedy and Leta A. Krumrine.