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

27 October to 2 November 2003

 

MONDAY, 27 OCTOBER

"Using Enzymes as Polymerization Catalysts: A Green Approach," Timothy Kline, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Chemistry (863-7058).

(title to be announced), Michal Lipson, Cornell University, 12:00 noon, 339 Davey Laboratory, Department of Physics (863-0007).

"The Coordinate Regulation of Leaf Shape and Cell Identity in Maize," Sara Hake, University of California and U.S. Department of Agriculture, 12:20 p.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, hosts: graduate students, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology (863-3892).

"Gravitational Radiation from Globular Clusters," Matthew Benacquista, Montana State University, 3:00 p.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry + Center for Gravitational Wave Physics (863-9605).

"Dissecting Pathogen-Response Networks in Arabidopsis thaliana," John McDowell, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"Harmonic Maps and Property (T) for Sp(n,1) (after Gromov and Shalom)," Alain Valette, University of Neuchatel (Switzerland), 3:35 p.m., 104 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Particle Film Technology: A New Tool for Horticulture," D. Michael Glenn, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 3:50 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (863-3371).

"Mechanistic Studies of the Transfer RNA (tRNA) Modifying Enzyme QueA," Dirk Iwata-Reuyl, Portland State University, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Squire Booker, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Ideal Money and Asymptotically Ideal Money" (Chemerda lecture #1 of 2), John F. Nash Jr., Princeton University, 7:30 p.m., Schwab Auditorium, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

 

TUESDAY, 28 OCTOBER

"Combinatory Complexity: Operators on Complexity Classes," Stathis Zachos, National Technical University of Athens (Greece) and City University of New York, 10:00 a.m., 103 Leonard Building, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"The Probabilistic Method and Ramsey Theory in Bounded Arithmetic," Kerry Ojakian, Carnegie Mellon University, 2:30 p.m., 324 Sackett Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Cell-Cell Communication and Community Behavior in Single-Cell Organisms," Andre Levchenko, Johns Hopkins University, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Reka Albert, Department of Physics (863-6123).

"Application of Proteomics Approach to Investigation of Mammalian Mitochondrial Ribosomes, Emine Koc, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Erin Sheets, Department of Chemistry (863-0044).

TITLE ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Raising Tibet: New Insights from Isotope Based Paleoaltimetry and Paleohypsometry," David Rowley, University of Chicago, 4:00 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

"An Interesting Equation with Relevance to Space-Time and Gravitational Waves" (Chemerda lecture #2 of 2), John F. Nash Jr., Princeton University, 5:30 p.m. (reception at 4:45 p.m., Thomas Building second floor lobby), 101 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

 

WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER

"Characterization of Self-Assembled Monolayer: Electrical Conduction, Thermal Stability, Photo Stability, and Nanotribology," Taiko Ishida, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (Japan), 11:15 a.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Paul Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-3693).

"Can Scientists Make Their Research Understandable, and Should They?" (Research Unplugged), Kevin Furlong, Penn State, 12:00 noon, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, Office of the Vice President for Research (865-3477, www.rps.psu.edu/unplugged).

"A Lady Called (Hurricane) Camille" (video), 12:15 p.m., 105 Deike Building, Earth and Mineral Science Library (863-7073).

"Ameliorating the Impact of Varroa destructor on the Honey Bee: When an Invasive Species Meets a Naturalized Species," Nancy Ostiguy, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 105 Wartik Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"An Old and Distant Planet: Observations and Theory of the Companions to PSR M4A," Steinn Sigurdsson, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 541 Davey Laboratory, host: Jane Charlton, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0419).

DATE CORRECTED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION
"km23 Protein: A Transforming-Growth-Factor-Beta- (TGFb-) Signaling Intermediate Frequently Altered in Human Ovarian Cancer," Kathleen J. Mulder, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (video conferenced from College of Medicine), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (717-531-8982).

"Purification of Transcriptase and Replicase from Vesicular-Stomatitis-Virus-Infected Cells: A New Insight into the Mechanism of Virus-Gene Expression," Amiya K. Banerjee, Lerner Research Institute, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Biao He, Department of Veterinary Science (863-8533).

"Studying Cooperative Games by Modeling the Actions of the Players in a Non-Cooperative Game Involving Agencies" (Khatri lecture), John F. Nash Jr., Princeton University, 5:30 p.m., 119 Osmond Laboratory, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

 

THURSDAY, 30 OCTOBER

"Counting Rational Linear Spaces on Hypersurfaces," Scott Parsell, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 325 Sackett Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Kinetic, Mechanistic, and Structural Studies of Phosphotransacetylase from Methanosarcina thermophila," Sarah Lawrence, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Greg Ferry, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (865-3072).

"Isolation and Characterization of GRAMP-1, a Novel GABA-A-Receptor-Interacting Membrane Protein and Putative Palmitoyl Transferase," Cheryl A. Keller, Penn State, 11:45 a.m. (refreshments at 11:30 a.m.), 317 Mueller Laboratory, Intercollege Graduate Program in Genetics (865-6903 or lee11@psu.edu).

"Drying and Cracking of Highly-Filled Coatings," Lee White, Carnegie Mellon University, 1:15 p.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"Braids, Graphs, and Robots," Aaron Abrams, University of Georgia, 3:30 p.m., 103 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Exploring Superconductors and Neutron Stars on a Desktop Using Ultracold Fermi Gases," John E. Thomas, Duke University, 3:50 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, host: Kurt Gibble, Department of Physics (863-5343).

SPONSOR CORRECTED AFTER E-MAIL DISTRIBUTION:
Brain Waves and Immune Genes in Brain Wiring" (Chemerda lecture #1 of 2), Carla Shatz, Harvard University, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Douglas Cavener, Department of Biology (865-4562).

"Gene Selection and Clustering for Time-Course and Dose-Response Microarray Experiments Using Order-Restricted Inference," Shyamal Peddada, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 4:00 p.m., 102 Thomas Building, Department of Statistics (865-1348).

INCORRECT DATE: S/B WEDNESDAY, 29 OCTOBER
"km23 Protein: A Transforming-Growth-Factor-Beta- (TGFb-) Signaling Intermediate Frequently Altered in Human Ovarian Cancer," Kathleen J. Mulder, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory (video conferenced from College of Medicine), Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology + Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (717-531-8982).

"UCAN: Unified Cellular and Ad-hoc Network Architecture," Ram Ramjee, Lucent Technologies/ Bell Labs Innovations, 4:00 p.m., 201 Thomas Building, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (865-9505).

"Ranks of Elliptic Curves," Karl Rubin, Stanford University, 4:00 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Business-Process Improvement for the Extractive Industries, Andrew Schissler, Penn State, 4:15 p.m., 22 Deike Building, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering (865-3437).

 

FRIDAY, 31 OCTOBER

"Quadrupole Moments in Isolated Horizons," Jonathan Engle, Penn State, 11:00 a.m., 318 Osmond Laboratory, Center for Gravitational Physics and Geometry + Center for Gravitational Wave Physics (863-9605).

"Characterization of Lysozyme Activity in the Saliva of Corn Earworms," Feng Liu, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Gary Felton, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Columns, Critical Periods, and Transient Neurons" (Chemerda lecture #2 of 2), Carla Shatz, Harvard University, 12:00 noon (refreshments at 11:45 a.m.), 108 Wartik Laboratory,
host: Douglas Cavener, Department of Biology (865-4562).

"Nano-Scale Magnetism: From Ultra-Thin Films to Nano-Particles," Florin Zavaliche, University of Montreal (Canada), 2:30 p.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Roy Willis, Department of Physics (865-7533).

"Development and Validation of a Vineyard-Site-Assessment Model for Southeastern Pennsylvania," An-Min Wu, Penn State, 3:25 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1615).

"Adaptive Finite Elements for Relaxed Methods (FERM) in Computational Microstructures," Carsten Carstensen, Vienna University of Technology (Austria), 3:30 p.m., 102 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Climate, Culture, and Carbon Dioxide" (Hussey lecture), Jim Flemming, Colby College, 4:00 p.m., 112 Walker Building, Department of Meteorology (863-8566).

"Exercise, Gender, and Cardioprotection: Role of PKC-ERK Signaling Molecules in the Aged Rat Heart," Craig Hunter, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 127 Noll Laboratory, Noll Physiological Research Center (865-3453).

 

SATURDAY, 1 NOVEMBER and SUNDAY, 2 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.

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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.

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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 04-44

 

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