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 to 30 October 2005

MONDAY, 24 OCTOBER

"Mitogen-Activated Protein (MAP) Kinases at the Crossroads of Diverse Stress-Signaling Pathways in Tomato," Johannes Stratmann, University of South Carolina, 10:30 a.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, College of Agricultural Sciences (863-9164).

(title to be announced), Venkatraman Gopalan, Penn State, 12:00 noon, S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Nanoscale Science/MRSEC, Department of Physics (863-8999).

"The Role of Phosphatidyl Inositol-3-Kinase in the Gibberellic-Acid Response of Rice Aleurone," Phillip Day, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 105 Wartik Laboratory, host: Simon Gilroy, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"Invasive Honeysuckle and Ecologically Mediated Hybrid Speciation in a Native Fruit Parasite," Dietmar Schwarz, Penn State, 1:30 p.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (863-5895).

"Using White Dwarfs to Study Extrasolor Asteroids and Planets," Michael Jura, University of California, 2:00 p.m., videoconferenced to 436 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (865-4074).

"Recent Advances in Carbon-Hydrogen Bond Activations," Peng Liu, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Steven Weinreb, Department of Chemistry (863-0189).

"The Fredholm Index and the Toeplitz-Index Theorem," John Roe, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"A KAM-Theorem Phenomenon for Singular-Holomorphic Vector Fields," Laurent Stolovitch, University of Toulouse 3 (France), 3:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Modeling in Fire Blight," Megan Dewdney, Cornell University, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-6761).

"Regulation of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation by Oxysterols: Implications for Bone Metabolism and Osteoporosis," Farhad Parhami, University of California, 4:00 p.m., 209 Henderson South Building, Graduate Program in Nutrition (865-3448).

"The Allocation of Federal Research and Development Money: Coordinating the Nanotechnology Research Initiative and the Funding of Facilities," Michael Holland, U. S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, 4:00 p.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, host: Darryl Farber, Science Technology and Society Program + Center for Nanoscale Science (MRSEC) + Department of Chemistry + Department of Chemical Engineering + Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics + Materials Research Institute (865-3042, dlf112@psu.edu).

"The Structural Evolution of Cro Proteins," Matthew Cordes, University of Arizona, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Squire Booker, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

TUESDAY, 25 OCTOBER

"Dynamics of Complex Materials: From Flowing Sand to Motile Cells," Wolfgang Losert, University of Maryland, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Peter Schiffer, Department of Physics (865-5982).

"Foraminiferal and Paleoceanographic Changes Associated With Cretaceous-Oceanic-Anoxic Events," Brian Huber, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Lysosomal Aberrations and Cell Death in Mucolipodosis Type Four," Kirill Kiselyov, University of Pittsburgh, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Randen Patterson, Department of Biology (865-1668).

WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER

"Experimental Warming, Phenology, and Carbon Dynamics in a Tallgrass Prairie," Yiqi Luo, University of Oklahoma, 12:10 p.m., 108 Tyson Building, Center for Advanced Carbon-Cycle Research and Education + Environment and Natural Resources Institute (863-8601).

"Powershift" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Fletcher L. Byrom Earth and Mineral Sciences Library (863-7073).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Environmental Interfaces Studied by Nonlinear Optics: From Toxic Metals to Antibiotics in Soils," Franz Geiger, Northwestern University, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Karl Mueller, Department of Chemistry (863-8674).

"Fitting Hyperbolic Pants to a Three-Body Problem," Richard Montgomery, University of California, 3:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Black Hole Grand Unification," Philip Uttley, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 4:00 p.m., 538 Davey Laboratory, Host: Ohad Shemmer, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (863-6841).

"Genetic Markers of Mumps-Virus Neuroattenuation," Steve Rubin, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Biao He, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (863-8533).

"Symmetry in Four Dimensions: A Sculpture," Adrian Ocneanu, Penn State, 5:30 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

THURSDAY, 27 OCTOBER

"Dipolar Field Effects in Organic Semiconductor Devices: Transistor Tunability and Chemical Sensitivity," Howard Katz, Johns Hopkins University, 11:15 a.m., 135 Reber Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Surface Chemistry and Tribology of Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)," Roya Maboudian, University of California, 11:30 a.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, host: Seong Kim, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-4809).

"Overview of Molecular and Isotopic Biogeochemistry," Kate Freeman and Jen Macalady Groups, Penn State, 2:00 p.m., 240 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (865-4074).

"New Solutions to the N-Body Problem," Richard Montgomery, University of California, 2:30 p.m., 113 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"An Overview of High-Performance Computing and Self-Adapting Numerical Software," Jack Dongarra, University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 4:00 p.m., 104 Rackley Building, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Crustal Dehydration and Overpressure Development on the San Andreas Fault," Patrick Fulton, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 202 Research West Building, Department of Geosciences (865-7965).

(title to be announced), Everette Joseph, Howard University, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

"To D or Not to D: The Determination of Pairing Symmetry in Cuprate Superconductors and Its Implications," Chang Tsuei, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Ying Liu, Department of Physics (863-0090).

FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER

"Myogenic Response in Human Skeletal Muscle: Influencing Factors," Mary Lott, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 127 Noll Lab, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

"A Novel Recombinant-Baculovirus Insecticide: Risk Assessment and Mechanism of Action," Bryony Bonning, Iowa State University, 11:15 a.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences Industries Building, host: Kelli Hoover, Department of Entomology (863-6369).

"Mining Activity: A Necessary Evil for Mexican Economic Development," Nadia Martinez-Villegas, Penn State, 12:20 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

TIME CHANGED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Single-Photon Ionization with Vacuum-Ultraviolet (VUV) Radiation," Musahid Ahmed, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Nick Wiinograd, Department of Chemistry (863-0001).

"High-Energy Reactants Access a Low-Energy Intermediate State," Christin Palombo, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Barbara Garrison, Department of Chemistry (863-2103).

"Discoveries in Physical Geography That Can Affect Foreign Policy," John Kelmelis, U.S. Department of State, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Geography (865-3433).

SATURDAY, 29 OCTOBER and SUNDAY, 30 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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