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

2 to 8 October 2006

MONDAY, 2 OCTOBER

"Plant Cell-Wall Synthesis From an Industrial Perspective," Kanwarpal Dhugga, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, 12:10 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

"Crop Disease Spatio-Temporal Modeling: Forecasting a 'Perfect Storm' (a Fusarium-Head-Blight Epidemic)," Murali Haran, Penn State, 1:05 p.m., 118 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Intercollege Graduate Program in Ecology (865-5557).

"Nanoparticles Assembly on the Self-Assembled Block-Copolymer Template," Omkar Parajuli, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, hosts: Thomas Mallouk and Jong-In Hahm, Department of Chemistry (863-9637).

"Plant Pathology in an Information Technology (IT) World," Joseph Russo, ZedX Inc., 3:30 p.m., 112 Buckhout Laboratory, host: Seogchan Kang, Department of Plant Pathology (865-3761).

"Measure Rigidity Beyond Uniform Hyperbolicity: Part One," Anatole Katok, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

ADDED AFTER EMAIL DISTRIBUTION:
"Conservation and Molecular Characterization of Seed Crops," Joanne Labate, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 4:00 p.m., 111 Tyson Building, Department of Horticulture (865-2571).

"The Nonsense About Selenium and the 21st Amino Acid," Paul R. Copeland, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 4:00 p.m., 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Craig Cameron, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (863-8705).

"Ups and Downs of the Transition from Very Basic to Highly Applied Research," Kanwarpal Dhugga, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, 5:00 p.m., 301 Life Sciences Building, host: Daniel Cosgrove, Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Biology (863-3892).

TUESDAY, 3 OCTOBER

"Algorithmic Randomness," Bjorn Kjos-Hanssen, Cornell University, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Jamming," Andrea Liu, University of Pennsylvania, 3:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, host: Gerald Mahan, Department of Physics (865-6092).

"Evolution of Sex Chromosomes: 'Juiced' and Ready for Selection," Bryant F. McAllister, University of Iowa, 4:00 p.m. (refreshments at 3:45 p.m.), 101 Althouse Laboratory, host: Steve Schaeffer, Department of Biology (865-3269).

"Petrologic Clocks: Microscopic Chemical and Isotopic Behavior Put to Good Use," David Cole, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 4:00 p.m. 22 Deike Building, Department of Geosciences (865-2622).

WEDNESDAY, 4 OCTOBER

"Applied Neurophysiology: Advances in Neural Interfacing and Neuroprosthetics," Ryan S. Clement, Penn State, 10:00 a.m., S-5 Osmond Laboratory, host: Steven Schiff, Department of Engineering Sciences and Mechanics (863-4210 or 321-4884).

"Paleoclimates, Ocean Depth, and the Oxygen-Isotopic Composition of Seawater," Jim Kasting, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 529 Walker Building, Earth Systems Science Center (865-0478).

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

"Saturation of the Gluon Density in the Limit of High-Energy: Theory and Phenomenology," Anna Stasto, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 339 Davey Laboratory, hosts: John Collins, Department of Physics (863-0783).

"Measure Rigidity Beyond Uniform Hyperbolicity: Part Two," Anatole Katok, Penn State, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Blowing Hot and Cold on Galaxy Clusters," Greg Bryan, Columbia University, 4:00 p.m., 538 Davey Laboratory, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (865-0418).

"Group-A Streptococci, Transforming-Growth-Factor (TGF) beta-1-Induced Integrin Upregulation, and Infection of Tonsils," P. Patrick Cleary, University of Minnesota, 4:00 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, host: Dan Wolfe, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (865-9134 or email: dnw109@psu.edu).

"Through the Kinetoscopic Looking Glass: Phenomenological Analysis of Kinetic and Thermodynamic Controls on Microbial Iron(III)-Oxide Reduction," Eric Roden, University of Wisconsin, 4:00 p.m., 60 Willard Building, Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (865-1781).

THURSDAY, 5 OCTOBER

"Soft Responsive Matter for Robotic Applications," Christopher D. Rahn, Penn State, 10:10 a.m., 26 Hosler Building, Department of Materials Science and Engineering (865-4992).

"The Lecture-Hall Theorem and an l-Generalization of Euler's Theorem," Ay Ja Yee, Penn State, 11:15 a.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Control of Magnetic Spinel-Ferrite Nanoparticles and Their Biomedical Applications," Z. John Zhang, Georgia Institute of Technology, 11:30 a.m., 111 Wartik Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering (863-1375).

"Viruses and Click Chemistry: Bricks and Mortar on the Nanochemical Scale," M.G. Finn, Scripps Research Institute, 12:30 p.m., 102 Chemistry Building, host: Xumu Zhang and Paul Weiss, Department of Chemistry (865-4221).

"Origins of Organic Carbon in Early Archean Rocks: Biogenic or Abiogenic," David Bevacqua, Penn State, 2:00 p.m., 240 Deike Building, Penn State Astrobiology Research Center  (865-4074).

"A New Direction for Sexual Differentiation: Interactions Between Sex Chromosomes and Hormones," Emilie Rissman, University of Virginia, 4:00 p.m., 108 Wartik Laboratory, host: Sheri Berenbaum, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences (865-6140).

"Computational Environments for Coupling Multiphase Flow, Transport, and Mechanics in Porous Media," Mary Wheeler, University of Texas, 4:00 p.m., 114 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"From Network Physics to Systems Biology," Reka Albert, Penn State, 4:00 p.m., 117 Osmond Laboratory, hosts: Jayanth Banavar, Department of Physics (863-1089).

FRIDAY, 6 OCTOBER

"Biological Buffering in Agroecosystems: How Soil Organic Matter Mediates Insect-Plant and Plant-Plant Interactions," Larry Phelan, Ohio State University, 11:15 a.m., 107 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Entomology (865-1895).

"Supermanifolds and Superconnections: Part Two," Florin Dumitrescu, Penn State, 2:30 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

"Real World Perspectives on the Environmental Industry," James Dragun, The Dragun Corporation, 3:30 p.m., 101 Agricultural Sciences and Industries Building, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences (863-1601).

"The Search for Reality: The Story of Quantum Mechanics" and "From Stonehenge to Hubble: Looking to the Stars" (videos), 3:30 p.m., 211 Davey Laboratory, Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library (865-7617 or www.libraries.psu.edu/pams/filmseries.html).

"Mathematical and Computational Modeling of Coupled Stokes and Darcy Flows," Ivan Yotov, University of Pittsburgh, 3:35 p.m., 106 McAllister Building, Department of Mathematics (865-7527).

SATURDAY, 7 OCTOBER and SUNDAY, 8 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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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 07-29

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