Events at Physics |
Events During the Week of September 16th through September 23rd, 2012
Monday, September 17th, 2012
- Plasma Physics (Physics/ECE/NE 922) Seminar
- Innovative plasma CVD technology for the synthesis of carbon nanomaterials (nanocrystalline diamond film and graphene film)
- Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
- Place: 1310 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Jaeho Kim, AIST, Japan
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
- Chaos & Complex Systems Seminar
- The discovery of the ER-based acetylation machinery: from aging to Alzheimer's disease ... cancer too?
- Time: 12:05 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin (refreshments will be served)
- Speaker: Luigi Puglielli, UW Department of Medicine
- Abstract: Our group recently reported that mammalian cells are able to acetylate the Ne-lysine residue of nascent membrane proteins in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This event was initially discovered while studying the mechanisms that regulate the levels of b-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1), a type I membrane protein that is involved in the pathogenesis of AlzheimeraEuroTMs disease. However, it is now clear that this process is not limited to BACE1. In fact, other membrane and secreted proteins as well as ER-resident proteins that are involved with synthesis and folding of nascent proteins in the ER lumen are also acetylated. Here, I will describe the biochemical properties of the individual components of the ER-based acetylation machinery and their impact on different neurodegenerative diseases, including AlzheimeraEuroTMs disease and spastic paraplegias. I will also discuss the initial characterization of a newly-generated animal model showing a possible impact of the ER-based acetylation machinery on the biology of the immune system as well as the risk for cancer.
- Host: Sprott
- Careers for Physicists
- Time: 4:00 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Dai Dee Pun, Skyline Solar
- Abstract: Dai Dee Pun obtained her PhD in Experimental Nuclear Physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1987. Since then, she has worked in a variety of companies, from startup to the world's largest semiconductor equipment company, Applied Materials. She is now the Director of Quality and Reliability at Skyline Solar, a startup company in the Silicon Valley working on enabling affordable utility scale solar energy using concentrated photovoltaic technology. She will tell us about her career as a physicist in the high tech industry in the Silicon Valley, in startups, small, and large corporations, and you will have ample opportunity to ask her questions.
- Host: Reina Maruyama
Wednesday, September 19th, 2012
- Department Meeting
- Canceled
- Time: 12:15 pm
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin Hall
Thursday, September 20th, 2012
- R. G. Herb Condensed Matter Seminar
- Surprises! and Puzzles? from Probing Neutral Atoms Trapped in Noble Gas Ice
- Time: 10:00 am
- Place: 5310 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Jaideep Singh, Argonne National Lab
- Abstract: Our goal is to demonstrate that a guest species trapped in a solid noble gas matrix is a quiet environment for the manipulation of nuclear spins. Applications include studies of rare isotopes and tests of fundamental symmetries. We have studied the optical spectrum of Ytterbium atoms embedded in a solid Neon matrix with the goal of spin polarizing the Yb-171 nuclei via optical pumping. The optical spectrum of the embedded atoms resembles that of free atoms with significantly matrix-shifted line-centers. We have observed spectral line-widths that vary by at least two orders of magnitude depending on the exact nature of the transition. Although some of the transitions are nanometers wide, we have evidence that they are homogenous, making optical pumping feasible. In this talk, we'll present our most recent results and discuss our progress towards the optical pumping of Yb-171.
- Host: McDermott & Yavuz
- NPAC (Nuclear/Particle/Astro/Cosmo) Forum
- Albrecht Karle
- Evidence of Electron Neutrino Appearance at T2K
- Time: 2:30 pm
- Place: 4274 Chamberlin
- Speaker: Melanie Day, University of Rochester
- Host: Albrecht Karle
- Astronomy Colloquium
- Turbulence and Cosmic-Rays in Galaxy Clusters
- Time: 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
- Place: 4421 Sterling Hall
- Speaker: Peng Oh, UC Santa Barbara
- Abstract: Although the non-thermal component of the ICM has a relatively low energy density, it can still exert a profound influence. Turbulence provides pressure support, affects magnetic field topology and thus thermal conduction, and is a source of dissipation, heat and metal diffusion. Cosmic-rays likewise provide pressure support and heating, and contain archaeological information about cosmological shocks and AGN activity, which can be mined in radio and gamma-ray data. We discuss several aspects. Turbulence: we develop a novel spectral analysis technique for Astro-H which exploits not just the line width but the entire line shape, and show how the excellent spectral resolution of Astro-H can overcome its relatively poor spatial resolution in making detailed inferences about the ICM velocity field. Cosmic rays: we show how super-Alfvenic streaming of cosmic rays can turn off radio halos, potentially explaining the observed bimodality in radio halo luminosity. We also show how diffusive shock acceleration in previous structure formation shocks can leave behind a fossil a^1/4 MeV electron population in the cluster outskirts, in the face of loss processes. Relic reacceleration can dominate over fresh injection at low Mach numbers, allowing weak shocks which would would be otherwise invisible to glow in radio emission, potentially visible with LOFAR.
- Host: Ellen Zweibel
- Graduate Introductory Seminar
- Condensed Matter Experimental
- Time: 5:45 pm
- Place: 2223 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Eriksson, Himpsel, Lagally, McDermott, Onellion, Rzchowski, Winokur, UW Madison
Friday, September 21st, 2012
- Cosmology Journal Club
- An Informal discussion about a broad variety of arXiv papers related to Cosmology
- Time: 12:00 pm
- Place: 5242 Chamberlin Hall
- Abstract: Please visit the following link for more details:
http://cmb.physics.wisc.edu/journal/index.html
Please feel free to bring your lunch!
If you have questions or comments about this journal club, would like to propose a topic or volunteer to introduce a paper, please email Le Zhang (lzhang263@wisc.edu) - Host: Peter Timbie
- Physics Department Colloquium
- Julian Mack Lecture
- Space Security and Missile Defense: What is at Stake?
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 2241 Chamberlin Hall (coffee at 4:30 pm)
- Speaker: Laura Grego, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists
- Abstract: In February, 2008, the United States launched a missile from an Aegis sea-based missile defense cruiser to destroy a failed intelligence satellite. While framed as a public safety measure, aEurooeOperation Burnt FrostaEuro was the first time the United States had intentionally destroyed a satellite since 1985, and announced in a very visible way the intersection of missile defense and space security. It also marked another point in recent escalation of tensions over space weapons and military uses of space.
Interest in new military uses of space has been building in the past decade, driven in part by the important role satellites have played in recent conflicts. New uses of space being considered include basing weapons in space to attack targets on the ground and in space, and developing weapons to attack satellites. This has led to a vigorous international debate about how space should be used and whether such activities are dangerous and should be limited.
The year after Operation Burnt Frost, the U.S. announced ambitious new plans for missile defense, which would rely on and substantially expand and improve the system used in Operation Burnt Frost. This would also expand antisatellite capability to an unprecedented level and raise the stakes in space. However, the new missile defense system, like previous ones, would provide little or no defensive capability, even in principle, but would incur large security, political, and monetary costs.
In this talk, I will detail the technical arguments behind these judgments as well as discuss why the space security and missile defense debates are of increasing importance.
- Host: Meghan McGarry Unks