Happening @ Michigan https://events.umich.edu/list/rss RSS Feed for Happening @ Michigan Events at the University of Michigan. UROP Annual Spring Research Symposium (April 24, 2019 9:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/62692 62692-15425437@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 24, 2019 9:00am
Location: Michigan League
Organized By: UROP - Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program

The UROP Annual Spring Research Symposium is the culmination of the year-long research efforts of our students. We are excited to celebrate their achievements and showcase their work.

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Conference / Symposium Wed, 24 Apr 2019 07:32:53 -0400 2019-04-24T09:00:00-04:00 2019-04-24T17:00:00-04:00 Michigan League UROP - Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program Conference / Symposium UROP Symposium
Cognitive Neuroscience/Psycholinguistics Colloquium (April 26, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/63324 63324-15642809@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 26, 2019 4:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

The Department of Linguistics and the Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science are pleased to welcome Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Matthias Schlesewsky, University of South Australia, who will present a talk titled "Inter-individual differences in predictive coding during language processing." All are welcome!



ABSTRACT
Predictive coding provides a compelling theory of how the human brain processes information, with the potential to provide a unified explanation across a wide range of different cognitive domains. In spite of the prominence of predictive coding-based accounts in cognitive neuroscience, however, little is currently known about whether and how predictive coding mechanisms differ between individuals. In our laboratory, we have recently begun pursuing a research program that aims to systematically examine such inter-individual differences, with a particular focus on language processing as the cognitive domain of interest. Here, we will present what we have learned so far. Our results provide evidence for extensive inter-individual differences even in young, healthy adults. They further suggest that this variability is related to basic neurobiological influences on perceptual sampling and information processing (individual alpha frequency), as well as to the quality of an individual’s language model. We will discuss potential consequences of this variability for predictive coding architectures as well as implications for a lifespan-based perspective on the neurobiology of cognitive processing.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 25 Apr 2019 09:56:16 -0400 2019-04-26T16:00:00-04:00 2019-04-26T17:30:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion East Hall
Physics Graduate Student Symposium (PGSS) | Nonlinear Optical Effects in Weyl Semimetals (June 6, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/63879 63879-15977780@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, June 6, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department Colloquia

Weyl semimetals lie at the intersection of strongly correlated materials and materials with nontrivial spin-orbit coupling. These topological materials have attracted a lot of interest in the last several years because of their wide variety of novel properties and resulting potential applications. In this talk, I will begin by presenting a brief overview of the unique band structure and topology of these materials. Then I will go on to examine a couple of their nonlinear optical properties and highlight past and proposed experiments to further explore this novel state of matter.

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 03 Jun 2019 08:30:43 -0400 2019-06-06T12:00:00-04:00 2019-06-06T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department Colloquia Conference / Symposium East Hall
NERS Colloquium: Todd R. Allen, PhD (September 6, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66302 66302-16725821@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 6, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Please join us for the NERS Colloquium Welcome given by Professor Todd Allen, Glenn F and Gladys H Knoll Department Chair of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences and Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, College of Engineering.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 04 Sep 2019 11:42:58 -0400 2019-09-06T16:00:00-04:00 2019-09-06T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion Todd Allen
NERS Colloquium: Nicholas Brown, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (September 13, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66905 66905-16785543@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 13, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Abstract: The U.S. Department of Energy has been developing nuclear fuel and cladding candidates with potentially enhanced accident tolerance since the aftermath of the Tōhoku earthquake in 2011. These candidate materials must maintain or improve reactor performance and safety characteristics during normal operation and design basis accidents, while enhancing performance in beyond design basis accidents. This talk presents recent fuel safety research related to reactivity-initiated accidents with advanced cladding materials

Bio: Dr. Nicholas Brown is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Brown’s research group focuses on pragmatic interdisciplinary solutions to nuclear science and engineering challenges. He was previously a professor at Penn State University, an R&D staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and a scientific staff member at Brookhaven National Laboratory. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, along with about 100 conference publications and national laboratory reports. Dr. Brown earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:26:43 -0400 2019-09-13T16:00:00-04:00 2019-09-13T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion flyer of 9-13-19 NERS Colloquium: Nicholas Brown, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Biopsychology Colloquium: (September 17, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66040 66040-16684589@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, September 17, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Psychosocial Mechanisms of Dementia Inequalities

Abstract: In the United States, the incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is higher among certain racial and ethnic minority groups, even after controlling for socioeconomic status and vascular disease. Persistent and unexplained disparities suggest: (1) known AD risk factors exhibit differential impact across race/ethnicity and/or (2) novel risk factors for AD exist for racial and ethnic minorities. I will present data from multiple longitudinal studies of cognitive aging that support each of these possibilities.

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Presentation Thu, 12 Sep 2019 12:36:40 -0400 2019-09-17T12:00:00-04:00 2019-09-17T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Laura Zahodne
The Fifth Annual Glenn F. Knoll Lecture: Adam Bernstein, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (September 20, 2019 4:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/67355 67355-16839922@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 20, 2019 4:30pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

TITLE: Detection and Measurement of Highly Penetrating Radiation

ABSTRACT: Glenn Knoll’s seminal textbook on Radiation Detection and Measurement covers the topic with great depth, breadth and clarity, with an obvious and sensible focus on ionizing radiations. In this lecture I discuss a type of radiation that does not readily induce ionization, but is nonetheless a continued source of fascination and study by physicists, and more recently, nuclear engineers. Neutrinos have remarkable properties of penetration, passing through the entire Earth with a vanishingly small probability of interaction. In sufficiently large numbers, such as are emitted by reactors, the sun, the Earth itself, and supernovae, the aggregated probability of interaction becomes appreciable. When a neutrino does interact, it generates the familiar ionizing radiations whose detection is reviewed in Professor Knoll’s textbook. In this lecture, I will introduce the basic properties of the neutrino, share some of the triumphs and tribulations of the experimentalists who have sought to measure them, and discuss relatively recent efforts at my own Laboratory, and world-wide, to harness these unusual, seductively evanescent particles for the practical purpose of monitoring the operations of nuclear reactors.

BIO: Dr. Adam Bernstein is a staff physicist at LLNL and a fellow of the American Physical Society. He also leads the Rare Event Detection group in the Nuclear & Chemical Sciences division at LLNL. Since receiving his PhD in physics from Columbia University in 1995, he has worked on the development of advanced low noise, low cost, high-efficiency and high-resolution radiation detectors for use in fundamental and applied physics. He has pioneered and helped bring to maturity what has become a wide international effort to develop antineutrino detectors as a tool for monitoring nuclear reactors.

In the area of applied physics, Bernstein’s main interests are in the development of improved radiation detection techniques that facilitate global nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament. His fundamental physics interests are primarily in the study of rare neutral particles, in particular the measurement of neutrino oscillations using reactor sources, and the search for direct interactions of dark matter in Earthly detectors.


This annual lecture series was made possible by a generous endowment from Gladys Knoll to commemorate the over 50-year UM career in education and research of the late Professor Emeritus, Chair and Interim Dean, Glenn F. Knoll. These lectures in nuclear measurements, the field pioneered by Professor Knoll, will be an inspiration to future generations of students.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 17 Sep 2019 16:07:52 -0400 2019-09-20T16:30:00-04:00 2019-09-20T17:30:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion Flyer of 5th annual Glenn Knoll lecture - NERS
Biopsychology Colloquium: Social Cognition in Chimpanzees' Cooperative Decision-making (September 24, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66042 66042-16684591@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, September 24, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Humans are a highly cooperative species. Over the last decades, research has heavily focused on the psychological underpinnings of human cooperation as well as their phylogenetic origins. One central approach in this regard has been to study chimpanzees, one of our two closest evolutionary relatives. Numerous findings have led to the view that, compared to humans, chimpanzees are substantially less willing to provide material benefits to conspecifics (especially when this comes at a personal cost) and largely do not take others’ mental states into account for cooperative purposes. In my talk, I will present a series of experimental studies that offer two amendments to this view. Unlike previously assumed, chimpanzees do seem motivated to benefit others materially but only after receiving their assistance. Moreover, chimpanzees do show the ability to adjust their actions in response to others’ mental states in the context of mutualistic cooperation. Together, these findings provide a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the psychological mechanisms underlying chimpanzee and human cooperation.

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Presentation Thu, 19 Sep 2019 10:06:25 -0400 2019-09-24T12:00:00-04:00 2019-09-24T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Sebastian Gruneisen
NERS Colloquium: Bret Kugelmass, Energy Impact Center (September 27, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/67583 67583-16898649@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, September 27, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

TITLE: Reversing Climate Change

ABSTRACT: Solving climate change requires far more than the total elimination of annual greenhouse gas emissions. The complete decarbonization of electricity, agriculture, transportation, building heat, and industrial sectors may reduce the rate at which we accumulate heat, but will have no impact on the previous emissions that already, and will continue to, cause the majority of radiative forcing. Drawing inspiration from mathematics and physics, Bret Kugelmass derives a pathway towards global scale removal of greenhouse gas on a timeline fast enough to spare the most vulnerable communities. He presents a counterfactual to calls for policy “solutions” of sacrifice, efficiency, and taxes which often ignore energy demands and political realities of the developing world. He will argue that in deploying nuclear energy at scale, we can power the transition to a global carbon negative economy in a way that aligns short-term individual economic motivations with long-term environmental preservation.

BIO:Bret Kugelmass is a former technology entrepreneur who has dedicated his focus to climate and energy challenges. One of the early pioneers in commercializing unmanned aerospace technology he founded and remained CEO of Airphrame Inc. for five years up until its acquisition. Prior to this, he received his masters in robotics from Stanford University and his earlier work includes designing lunar rover control systems for NASA and a concept electric car for Panasonic. In 2017, he launched a Washington, DC based research institute, the Energy Impact Center, focused on exploring the challenges and opportunities of nuclear power's role in deep decarbonization. Their work includes techno-economic analysis of energy technologies, hosting clean-tech prize competitions, and publishing audio interviews with hundreds of experts under the “Titans of Nuclear” brand.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:53:27 -0400 2019-09-27T16:00:00-04:00 2019-09-27T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion flyer of 9-27-19 NERS Colloquium: Bret Kugelmass, Energy Impact Center
Biopsychology Colloquium: Measuring motivations and emotions in children's and chimpanzees' social interactions using pupil diameter and posture tracking (October 1, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66072 66072-16686693@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 1, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Studying the proximate mechanisms of social behaviour poses unique methodological and theoretical challenges. In a series of studies, we used pupillometry to design experimental paradigms that allow us to investigate physiological changes in the context of both children’s and chimpanzees’ social interactions. We applied these methods to study the underlying motivation of both prosocial behaviour and so-called inequity aversion. In young children, we have further included measures of positive emotions using motion sensor technology. Together, our results suggest that while specific social behaviours, such as helping, are a cross-species phenomenon among Great Apes, the underlying motivation may be distinctly different between humans and chimpanzees.

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Presentation Thu, 19 Sep 2019 10:32:16 -0400 2019-10-01T12:00:00-04:00 2019-10-01T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Robert Hepach
Linguistics Colloquium (October 4, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/65547 65547-16611720@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 4, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

Emily Atkinson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Weinberg Institute of Cognitive Science, will speak on "Learning to process sentences: Insights from filler-gap dependencies & syntactic priming."

Abstract

The development of the sentence processing mechanisms has largely been ignored because a major assumption of many in the field is that basic sentence processing mechanisms are innate. Seminal work on children’s processing of garden path sentences supported this claim by demonstrating that children – like adults – incrementally interpret sentences, but struggle with reanalysis. However, more recent research has begun to provide counter evidence to this claim by examining new structures. If these mechanisms are not innate, how do children learn to process sentences like adults? I will address these issues by providing evidence that these long held beliefs about children’s sentence processing do not hold in all cases, using the processing of filler-gap dependencies as the main example, and to discuss the possibility that syntactic priming may serve as a possible learning mechanism for adult-like processing behaviors.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 25 Sep 2019 13:07:11 -0400 2019-10-04T16:00:00-04:00 2019-10-04T17:30:00-04:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Emily Atkinson
NERS Colloquium: Jeremy T. Busby, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (October 4, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/67858 67858-16960499@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 4, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Dr. Busby is the Division Director for the Reactor and Nuclear Systems Division in the Nuclear Science and Engineering Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His contributions range from light water reactors to sodium reactors and space reactor systems as well as research in support of the ITER project. Dr. Busby is the recipient of the 2019 NERS Alumni Merit Award.


His research is focused on materials performance and development of materials for nuclear reactor applications. While at ORNL, he has participated in materials research efforts for space reactors, fusion machines, advanced fast reactors, and light water reactors. Ultimately, his research will enable the development of operating criteria for structural materials in a variety of adverse environments that will allow for design and operation of safe, reliable, and cost-effective nuclear systems.

Dr. Busby was the lead for the Materials Aging and Degradation Pathway for the DOE – Office of Nuclear Energy Light Water Reactor Sustainability Research and Development program from 2009 to 2015. This program was charged with supporting both the nuclear industry and regulatory bodies in a careful evaluation of the potential for power plant life extension beyond the 60-year performance period. Dr. Busby was responsible for research spanning reactor core internals, pressure vessel materials, piping, cabling and concrete. A particular highlight was his leadership in the development of a detailed expert panel analysis of gaps and research needs for operating power plants, called the “Expanded Materials Degradation Assessment”. This was published in 2013 as a Nuclear Regulatory Commission document and included input from four expert panels comprised of 40+ world experts from academia, laboratories, regulators, and industry. It is still utilized today as a roadmap for research priority planning. He also led the Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Materials Cross-cut effort in addition to participation in several nuclear industry-sponsored research tasks.

As PI for the DOE Office of Science ITER Program, he led an investigation into the feasibility of utilizing an innovative cast austenitic stainless steel (SS) for the first wall structure of the international ITER project. The ORNL team utilized advanced computational thermodynamics modeling to successfully devise a cast SS within the internationally approved chemical composition limits for the ITER stainless steel with a tensile strength comparable to wrought stainless steel (>50% improvement in strength over the cast stainless steel previously developed by industry), without compromising other properties. In 2010, Dr. Busby received the Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering following this effort for “excellence in research leading to the development of high performance cast stainless steels, a critical part of the U.S. Contributions to ITER project, and for his mentoring of students both as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan and at ORNL.”

In 2011, he was awarded a Secretary of Energy Achievement Awards for contributions to DOE’s response to Fukushima. The American Nuclear Society presented Dr. Busby with the Landis Young Member Achievement award in 2006 and, in 2007 he received the ORNL Early Career Award for Engineering Accomplishment for his leadership in the cast stainless steel effort.

He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan and has developed and taught his own graduate level course in materials degradation and performance for fission and fusion reactors. He also is heavily involved in the leadership of many professional society activities.

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Conference / Symposium Thu, 10 Oct 2019 15:08:42 -0400 2019-10-04T16:00:00-04:00 2019-10-04T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Conference / Symposium flyer of NERS colloquium: Jeremy Busby
Biopsychology Colloquium: Why did I eat that? Roles for striatal plasticity in obesity (October 8, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66074 66074-16686694@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 8, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: While urges to eat are regulated by hunger, satiety, and energy demand, they are also strongly influenced by sights, sounds, and smells that are associated with food (food cues). Dr. Ferrario’s lab examines the neurobiological mechanisms of cue-triggered food craving and how these processes are influenced by consumption of sugary, fatty, “junk-food” diets and individual susceptibility to obesity. Her studies use a variety of approaches in preclinical models including behavior, biochemistry, and slice electrophysiology. In her talk, she will discuss how alterations in excitatory transmission within the brain's reward pathway influence cue-triggered food seeking behavior, and the relationship of these neurobehavioral alterations to aberrant vs. normative reward-seeking behaviors that contribute to obesity.

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Presentation Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:25:02 -0400 2019-10-08T12:00:00-04:00 2019-10-08T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Carrie Ferrario
Linguistics Colloquium (October 18, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/67597 67597-16900787@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 18, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

U-M Anthropology Professor Judith Irvine will be the featured speaker.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 24 Sep 2019 13:07:27 -0400 2019-10-18T16:00:00-04:00 2019-10-18T17:30:00-04:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Ross School of Business
NERS Colloquium: Chan Bock Lee, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (October 25, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68681 68681-17136737@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, October 25, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Title: Energy in the Earth, and the Role of Nuclear Power

Abstract: Life can be described as the existence who can utilize the energy. Among life, human may be best in energy utilization and actually use too much energy. This talk will review what is the energy, how the energy is used in earth and ecology through diverse transformation, and history of human energy use including fossil fuels, renewables and nuclear energy. As there is nothing free, the effect of the immense energy use by human upon the ecology and the climate in earth will be reviewed. As nuclear energy is a source of all the energy in the universe, the role of nuclear energy will be discussed reviewing characteristics of nuclear energy, and the way to enhance the public acceptance for nuclear power plant and radiation, to emphasize that the nuclear energy, and in particular, electricity from nuclear power plant is essential to energy use of human in the future.

Bio: Dr. Chan Bock Lee received his BS and MS in Nuclear Engineering from Seoul National University in South Korea and his PhD in Nuclear Engineering from MIT. He has been working at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) since 1989. At KAERI, he has worked in fuel design, fabrication, irradiation testing and performance evaluation for diverse fuels such as UO2 fuel for commercial PWR, metallic fuel for SFR and research reactor, and TRISO fuel for VHTR. He served
as Division Director of Fuel Development at KAERI from 2011 to 2017 and Chair of Nuclear Fuel and Materials Division in Korea Nuclear Society from 2014 to 2016. This year he published “Energy Common Sense”, a book upon which will be the basis of this talk.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 22 Oct 2019 11:23:49 -0400 2019-10-25T16:00:00-04:00 2019-10-25T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion flyer of 10-25-19 NERS Colloquium: Chan Bock Lee, PhD
Biopsychology Colloquium: Investigations of attentional circuitry underlying cue-detection and cue-guided movement (October 29, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66075 66075-16686696@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, October 29, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Transient activity of cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain to the prefrontal cortex is necessary for attentional performance and cue processing. Two lines of investigation aim to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying cue-processing and cue-guided movement. The first of these examined choline transporter (CHT) activity in the prefrontal cortex of mice expressing the human CHT coding variant, I89V. As choline reuptake is the rate-limiting factor in acetylcholine synthesis, CHT impairment was hypothesized to have a strong influence on cholinergic function in attentional circuits. Separately, a second series of experiments evaluated glutamatergic cortico-striatal projections during cue-guided movement in rats. In this way, we hope to further illuminate the contribution of cholinergically-driven striatal inputs in the completion of the attentional-motor circuit.

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Presentation Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:09:37 -0400 2019-10-29T12:00:00-04:00 2019-10-29T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Eryn Donovan
NERS Colloquium: Sarah Mills, UM Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (November 1, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68940 68940-17197042@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 1, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Abstract: In this talk, Sarah will highlight findings from her recent research examining the disparate community responses to wind energy projects to extrapolate lessons that might apply to the nuclear industry. She'll talk about the importance of procedural justice in the planning process and the dangers of project proponents over-promising and under-delivering. She'll also discuss her research finding that there are some communities where wind energy is likely to be opposed, even when developers do everything right. And she'll discuss how public policy - including tax policy and siting authority - can alter a community's willingness to accept a wind project.

Bio: Sarah Mills is a Senior Project Manager at the Graham Sustainability Institute and at the Ford School's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP). Her Ford School research focuses on how renewable energy development impacts rural communities (positively and negatively) and how state and local policies facilitate or hinder renewable energy deployment. At Graham, she leads a grant from the Michigan Office of Climate and Energy to help communities across the state incorporate energy in their land use planning, zoning, and other policymaking. Sarah has a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Michigan, an MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development from Cambridge University, and a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova University.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 29 Oct 2019 14:07:25 -0400 2019-11-01T16:00:00-04:00 2019-11-01T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion flyer of 11-01-19 NERS Colloquium: Sarah Mills, UM Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Biopsychology Colloquium: The neurobiology of empathy in the prairie vole (November 5, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66076 66076-16686697@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 5, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Empathy for the pain and suffering of others is widespread among social animals, and can provide a motivation for prosocial behaviors, including consolation. Here, I describe a definition-free approach to studying empathy using consoling behavior in the prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). I use a series of behavioral assays to demonstrate empathy-related characteristics and capacities in prairie vole, including pro-social contact, social buffering, emotional contagion, state matching, and familiarity bias. I then explore the neurobiology of empathy using this model, implicating the anterior cingulate cortex and the neurohormone oxytocin. Finally, I demonstrate how empathy-related behaviors in rodents can be used to assess autism phenotypes by discussing my experiments looking at behavioral and neurological effects of developmental toxin exposure in mice. Animal models of empathy hold significant promise as outcome measures relevant to autism research.

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Presentation Thu, 31 Oct 2019 11:05:36 -0400 2019-11-05T12:00:00-05:00 2019-11-05T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation James Burkett
NERS Colloquium: Professor Ning Li, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation (November 8, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68944 68944-17197046@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 8, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Ning Li, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Senior Advisor
Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation

Abstract: Nuclear energy industry has been in stagnation and decline for over 30 years in US and many parts of the world. It is an energy source in crisis, and we are responsible.
The R&D, the reactor engineering and designs have been operating on the outdated and mistaken assumptions that uranium is rare and high conversion reactors are needed. We pursued neutron and conversion efficiency at the risks to the investments, operators, public and environment, and sacrificed capital efficiency and asset safety that are essential for marketplace.
Nuclear fuel is where most of the energy and radioactivity are in reactors. By nature it has extremely high energy density. But we do have design choices in coolant, total power and power density. Recognizing the extreme differences between nuclear and chemical fuels, we can design, fabricate and protect nuclear fuel before it becomes radioactive, and design the reactor so that it is meltdown proof in the best case scenario, or won’t damage the fuel and release large quantities of radioactivity in the worst case scenario.
Learning from other industries in which major innovations have been successfully introduced, and based on our research on fully ceramic micro-encapsulated fuel, we developed a gas cooled micro modular reactor that can meet the safety criteria for all and are economically attractive in entry markets. We can bootstrap into new nuclear in years, not decades, and have the potential to quickly scale up with global impact on mitigating climate change.
This presentation will outline the thought process, the proposed approach, and the progress and outlook of the development and demonstration.

Bio: Dr. Ning Li is a co-founder and senior advisor of Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation, a US company dedicated to the development and commercialization of advanced nuclear energy based on innovations on fuel and micro modular reactor. He was a Distinguished Professor and the Dean of College of Energy, Xiamen University, a member of the Expert Committee for the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (working with Westinghouse to build the world’s first AP1000s and develop new designs), a senior advisor and Director for Asia Development of TerraPower, a research affiliate of MIT, and the Industrial Fellow for Civilian Nuclear Programs at LANL. Dr. Li has extensive R&D experiences in nuclear energy and fuel cycle technologies, and was a planner, leader and participant in a number of US DOE civilian nuclear energy programs, including Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems, Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative and Accelerator-driven Waste Transmutation. His R&D interests and efforts extend to advanced materials, fabrication, power conversion, long-life core or travelling-wave reactors, and power generation technologies and systems in general, including renewables, storage, efficiency and integrated systems.

Dr. Li maintains strong academic and international collaborations, and publishes widely with over 220 technical papers and reports. Dr. Li is a co-founder and the President of the New Energy Industry Alliance since 2013, a recipient of the 2006 Asian American Engineer of the Year Award and 2010 Scientific Chinese Person of the Year Award.

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Conference / Symposium Fri, 08 Nov 2019 10:58:23 -0500 2019-11-08T16:00:00-05:00 2019-11-08T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Conference / Symposium image of flyer for NERS Colloquium: Professor Ning Li, Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation
Biopsychology Colloquium: Selective forces shaping the evolution of intelligence (November 12, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66077 66077-16686699@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 12, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Although intelligence should theoretically evolve to help animals solve specific types of problems posed by the environment, it is unclear which environmental challenges favor enhanced cognition, or how general intelligence evolves from domain-specific cognition. The social intelligence hypothesis posits that big brains & great intelligence have evolved to cope with the labile behavior of group-mates. Here we exploit the remarkable convergence in social complexity between cercopithecine primates and spotted hyenas to test predictions of the social intelligence hypothesis in regard to both cognition and brain size. Behavioral data indicate that there has been considerable convergence between primates and hyenas with respect to their social cognitive abilities. Moreover, compared to other hyena species, spotted hyenas have larger brains and expanded frontal cortex, as predicted by the social intelligence hypothesis. However it appears unlikely that domain-general intelligence can evolve exclusively in response to selection pressures imposed specifically in the social domain.

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Presentation Mon, 23 Sep 2019 14:22:47 -0400 2019-11-12T12:00:00-05:00 2019-11-12T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Kay Holekamp
NERS Colloquium: Piyush Sabharwall, PhD, Idaho National Laboratory (November 15, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68945 68945-17197048@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 15, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

ABSTRACT: The development of more-efficient, reliable, and cost-effective nuclear technologies has been accomplished by testing and evaluating the performance of fissile and non-fissile materials in neutron-rich environments, such as Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), etc. In addition, irradiation tests have been done to support the verification and validation of systems and components of nuclear reactors for licensing purposes. Currently, there are very few fast-neutron sources for civilian research. Recently, access to fast-neutron technologies has been fulfilled by using foreign nuclear research reactors, but many research institutions and industries do not have access to this technology and resource, which can limit development of advanced nuclear energy technologies. Furthermore, this limits the expansion of practical knowledge and feasibility in the area of nuclear physics, chemistry, material science, and instrumentation and measurement. Therefore, efforts have begun to develop the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), a bridge to advance nuclear future. The objective of which is to perform irradiation tests on fuels, materials, and components to understand and evaluate their performance. The access to VTR will significantly increase the knowledge base in terms of irradiation of materials, reactor fuels and components. The inclusion of these experiment vehicles will enable the VTR to perform multiple tests that can support various mission areas while enhancing technical readiness levels for its anticipated life of 50 to 100 years.

BIO: Dr. Piyush Sabharwall is a staff research scientist working in Nuclear System Design and Analysis Division at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He has expertise in heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermal design, thermodynamics, and nuclear safety analyses. Over the last few years, he has been researching high temperature heat exchanger design and optimization, system integration and power conversion systems, energy storage, and safety and reliability for Advanced Reactor Concepts. He has exhibited leadership qualities by leading several external partnerships both at regional/international levels, engagements with industry, national laboratories and academia. He has co-authored two books, contributed chapters to technical books on advanced reactors and thermal systems and process heat transfer and published over 100 peer-reviewed publications. He holds an Adjunct Associate Professor appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University and serves on the ASME Heat Transfer Division's K-9 and K-13 committees. Dr. Sabharwall received the ASME New Faces of Engineering Award in 2011, the ANS Young Member Excellence National Award in 2013, and the ANS Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award in 2019.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 13 Nov 2019 19:49:16 -0500 2019-11-15T16:00:00-05:00 2019-11-15T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion Thermal Hydraulic Experiments and Modeling to Support Design, Development, and Deployment of Advanced Nuclear Reactors
Biopsychology Colloquium: Simultaneous measurement of morphology, molecular markers, and connectivity. (November 19, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66078 66078-17105361@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 19, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Neurons have incredibly diverse properties that underlie their distinct functions. Proper classification is challenging as neurons can be defined by many different criteria, including anatomy, molecular identity, and electrophysiology. Moving forward, it’ll be fundamentally important to perform multi-modal measurements of neuron properties to ameliorate conflicting definitions of cell types. To address this correspondence problem, we have developed a Multi-Round immunostaining expansion microscopy (MiRiEx) strategy that can be combined with multicolor genetic labeling strategies (Brainbow) to simultaneously interrogate morphology, molecular identity, and connectivity in brain sections. The capacity for 3-4x linear expansion of the tissue specimen gives us the ability to perform “super-resolution” imaging to untangle densely labeled neurons and trace their neurites using nTracer, a custom ImageJ software. By optimizing the preservation of antigens in a hydrogel, we are able to carry out multiple rounds of immunostaining for Brainbow fluorophores and cell type markers. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate that MiRiEx can be applied to Brainbow labeled inhibitory neurons in the basolateral amygdala to correlate inhibitory neuron cell types with their morphologies and local anatomy network. Furthermore we show that Brainbow immunostaining can be combined with synaptic markers to count inhibitory and excitatory inputs on interneurons. We envision MiRiEx combined with Brainbow to be a powerful tool researchers can use to perform multi-modal analysis of neuronal structure, molecular identity, and connectivity.

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Presentation Mon, 18 Nov 2019 13:12:25 -0500 2019-11-19T12:00:00-05:00 2019-11-19T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Fred Shen
Linguistics Colloquium (November 22, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/65548 65548-16613715@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 22, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

ABSTRACT

Meaning and Metaphor

Words typically convey a rich and varied array of related meanings. A common way that word meaning is extended is via conceptual metaphors. For instance, we can talk about experiences as if they were food (a bitter pill; a treat). Such metaphorically extended words and phrases are regularly used even when literal paraphrases exist, which raises the question as to why metaphorical language is so common. fMRI work has found that literal meanings remain active even when words are used metaphorically, which may imply that metaphorical uses of words have richer semantic representations. Moreover, recent work has found that metaphorical statements and short stories activate the amygdala more than carefully matched literal paraphrases, indicating that conceptual metaphors are more engaging than their literal counterparts.

*The work to be presented was done in collaboration with Francesca Citron of Lancaster University.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 14 Nov 2019 09:36:27 -0500 2019-11-22T16:00:00-05:00 2019-11-22T17:30:00-05:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Adele Goldberg
NERS Colloquium: Evdokiya Kostadinova, PhD, Baylor University (November 22, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69537 69537-17357975@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, November 22, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

ABSTRACT: Order and stability in the giant world of stars and galaxies is dominated by the force of gravity. In contrast, the tiny world of atomic and subatomic particles is held together by nuclear and quantum forces. As one sizes up from the subatomic to the astronomical scales, a natural question emerges: What fundamental principles govern the world of the “in-between”? In other words, what happens to the laws of nature when the time and spatial scales are neither large nor small? In this talk, I invite you to a journey through the mesoscopic wonderland of dusty plasma, where principles are semi-classical, forces are non-linear, thermodynamics is non-equilibrium, and dimensions are quasi-defined. We will tour this almost impossible world by exploring dusty plasmas in nature and laboratory, both on Earth and in space.

BIO: Dr. Kostadinova obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Physics at Furman University in South Carolina in 2014. She received her Doctoral degree in December 2017 from Baylor University. The focus of her dissertation was employing new mathematical techniques in the study of transport in two-dimensional disordered systems. Her dissertation work was published as a book by Springer in 2018.
Currently, Dr. Kostadinova works as an assistant research professor at Baylor University’s Center for Astrophysics Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER). Her primary research interests lie along the intersections of fundamental physics and applied mathematics. Those include the onset of turbulence and instabilities in disordered media, nonlocal interactions in correlated systems, self-organization and stability of dusty plasmas in gravity and microgravity conditions, thermodynamics of non-Hamiltonian systems, and dust particle techniques for plasma diagnostics. Dr. Kostadinova’s works for the Plasmakristall-4 project – the latest dusty plasma laboratory on board the International Space Station. Most recently, her work has focused on developing a spectral approach to the onset of Kolmogorov turbulence in dusty plasma liquids.

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:30:13 -0500 2019-11-22T16:00:00-05:00 2019-11-22T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion Evdokiya Kostadinova
Biopsychology Colloquium: The influence of locomotion on sound processing in the auditory cortex. (November 26, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66080 66080-16686702@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, November 26, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Locomotor activity has a substantial influence on incoming sensory input and on the manner by which this input is processed. In the visual modality, locomotion has been shown to increase responses to visual stimuli in the visual cortex. Interestingly, within the auditory modality locomotion has been associated with inhibited spontaneous and sound-evoked responses in pyramidal cells, with the strongest inhibition observed in response to reafferent, self-generated sounds. However, previous studies have focused on the effect of locomotion on the activity of single cells, while the effect of locomotion on local network dynamics in the auditory cortex remains largely unknown. To address this knowledge gap we used two-photon calcium imaging to monitor activity in local neuronal ensembles in the auditory cortex of awake head-fixed Thy1-GCaMP6f mice that were free to stand, walk or run on a treadmill. Using this approach we analyzed single-cell and network response properties of excitatory pyramidal neurons to different sounds under different behavioral states. Our preliminary results demonstrate substantial heterogeneity of locomotion-related modulation of neural activity within local neural ensembles. Neighboring neurons exhibited differential and often divergent influence by locomotion: while some neurons exhibited reduced activity during locomotion as expected, responses of other neurons within the same ensemble were often strongly enhanced. Furthermore, heterogeneity in the effect of locomotion was observed on both spontaneous and sound-evoked responses, and for neural responses to different types of sound stimuli. These results may offer clues to the nature of network-level sound processing that underlie the perception of hearing during locomotion.

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Presentation Wed, 20 Nov 2019 13:38:44 -0500 2019-11-26T12:00:00-05:00 2019-11-26T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Vivaldo
Biopsychology Colloquium: Causes and consequences of social structure in male chimpanzees (December 3, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66079 66079-16686701@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 3, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Among group-living animals, social systems are expected to evolve via selection on individuals to maximize the benefits of group membership while minimizing the costs imposed by group mates. When costs of group membership increase relative to benefits, this can result in dramatic, permanent changes to group composition via group fission events, or more subtle changes to social structure. At the same time, research in animal behavior is increasingly focused on the ways that the social environment influences individual behavior and fitness. I will discuss work using long-term data on chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, analyzing the precursors of unique community fission event, as well as longitudinal changes to social network structure, to better understand the costs and benefits of group membership among males. Additionally, I will discuss the consequences of social structure on aggression between males as it relates to in-group biases in chimpanzees.

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Presentation Mon, 25 Nov 2019 09:13:13 -0500 2019-12-03T12:00:00-05:00 2019-12-03T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Feldblum
CCN Forum: Mental Health Challenges in the Academe (December 6, 2019 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69455 69455-17324774@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 6, 2019 2:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract:
Research, teaching, and service are rewarding experiences. However, the stresses of academic life can contribute to a variety of mental health issues. In this interactive, discussion-based forum, we will discuss the prevalence of mental health issues in the academe, anonymously survey the audience to identify the mental health issues experienced by faculty and students in our Area, and review strategies for coping with these issues to enhance well-being.

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Presentation Mon, 02 Dec 2019 09:34:48 -0500 2019-12-06T14:00:00-05:00 2019-12-06T15:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Patricia Deldin and William Gehring
Linguistics Graduate Student Colloquia (December 6, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/65549 65549-16613716@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 6, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

Linguistics graduate students Jiseung Kim and Emily Sabo are the featured speakers for the final departmental colloquium event of the semester on Friday, December 6, starting at 4 pm. Light refreshments will be served.

ABSTRACTS

Jiseung Kim:
"Individual differences in the production and perception of prosodic boundaries in American English"
We investigate the hypothesis that individual participants vary in their production and perception of prosodic boundaries, and that the acoustic properties they use to encode prosodic contrasts are closely related to the properties used to perceive those contrasts. An acoustic study examined 32 native speakers’ production of sentences containing IP and word boundaries. Twenty participants returned and participated in an eye-tracking study where they listened to stimuli that were manipulated to include different combinations of the acoustic properties associated with IP boundaries. The results indicate large variability in both production and perception, and provide evidence for production of the boundary cues influencing the same individuals’ perception.

Emily Sabo:
"Does speaker accent influence bilingual word processing?"
During sentence comprehension, how does the accent of a speaker interact with a bilingual listener’s lexical knowledge to influence word processing? This project will address this question by examining the N400 responses of highly fluent Spanish-English bilingual listeners as they process lexical errors, particularly FALSE COGNATES from Spanish into English (e.g. Eng. ‘embarrassed’ == [[pregnant]] because Sp. ‘embarazada’ == [[pregnant]]). An example of a false cognate from Spanish in sentential context could be as follows: "My wife and I have wanted kids for so long. We're so excited to announce that she is finally embarrassed." The question here is whether the accent of the speaker who uttered the false cognate error affects how the bilingual listeners interprets and/or resolves the error during sentence comprehension. The study will employ a 3 x 3 design: ErrorType (NoError, SpanishError, OtherError) and SpeakerAccent (L1-MUSE-accented English, L2-Spanish-accented English, L2-Other-accented English). The results will shed light on the role of speaker accent during bilingual word prediction and semantic integration.

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 06 Dec 2019 09:15:33 -0500 2019-12-06T16:00:00-05:00 2019-12-06T17:30:00-05:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Ross School of Business
NERS Colloquium: Nonproliferation Policy and the U.S. Fuel Cycle (December 6, 2019 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68947 68947-17197050@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, December 6, 2019 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Abstract
In July 2019, the White House established the U.S. Nuclear Fuel Working Group to “reinvigorate the entire nuclear fuel supply chain, consistent with United States national security and nonproliferation goals.” But what is the link between a robust and secure civil nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear nonproliferation, and how do U.S. nonproliferation policies impact the domestic nuclear industry? In this colloquium talk, Ty Otto will discuss these issues, including topics such as (1) U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements, which pave the way for U.S. nuclear firms to compete in foreign countries, (2) concepts to “internationalize” the nuclear fuel cycle in support of nonproliferation goals. As an analyst at a U.S. national laboratory, he also shares his perspectives on how DOE Labs harness technical expertise to support nonproliferation policymakers. 

Biography
Ty Otto is an analyst at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where he focuses on a variety of nonproliferation issues including IAEA verification, the risks of emerging technologies, ensuring treaty compliance at domestic U.S. locations, and advancing U.S. nuclear nonproliferation policy. Prior to joining PNNL in 2016, he worked as a graduate fellow at DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration, supporting the Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control.  He has a master’s in nuclear energy from the University of Cambridge (UK), and a BS in physics from the University of Washington.

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 26 Nov 2019 14:28:37 -0500 2019-12-06T16:00:00-05:00 2019-12-06T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Lecture / Discussion Speaker: Ty Otto, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Biopsychology Colloquium: Longitudinal plasticity of neuronal ensemble representations in the auditory cortex (December 10, 2019 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70131 70131-17538848@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Humans and other animals rely on familiarity with common sensory cues in the environment to guide behavior, while adapting to behaviorally relevant changing conditions. To support this adaptive behavior, sensory brain circuits balance competing needs for maintaining a stable and coherent representation of the external environment, while reorganizing in response following salient experiences. In the auditory cortex, neurons exhibit robust, consistent and selective responses to sound stimuli. On the other hand, experience can cause changes in the response properties of individual auditory cortical neurons as well as in the large-scale functional organization of the auditory cortex. However, little is known about the degree of longitudinal ensemble-level stability or plasticity of auditory cortical sound representations. To address this gap, we carried out longitudinal two-photon calcium imaging in the auditory cortex of awake mice to derive the response properties of identified neuronal ensembles to simple and complex sounds across days. Our preliminary results suggest a surprising degree of plasticity of sound-evoked responses within local neuronal ensembles in the auditory cortex.

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Presentation Tue, 10 Dec 2019 09:39:32 -0500 2019-12-10T12:00:00-05:00 2019-12-10T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation East Hall
Biopsychology Colloquium: The unique rhythms of the retrosplenial cortex (January 14, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66082 66082-16686703@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 14, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Memory and spatial navigation are complex functions that involve multiple brain regions. We study one such brain region – the retrosplenial cortex. Though there is compelling evidence for the role of the retrosplenial cortex in spatial memory formation and retrieval, little is known about how this brain region executes these functions. To understand the neural code employed by the retrosplenial cortex, we performed large-scale electrophysiological recordings during sleep and wake states. Here, we show that there exists a novel, fast, 140 Hz brain rhythm in the retrosplenial cortex during REM sleep and active behaviors. These rhythms demarcate high activity frames during REM sleep. Using whole cell physiology and computational modeling, we show that these retrosplenial rhythms are mechanistically distinct from previously recognized fast rhythms such as ripples and gamma. Finally, we show that retrosplenial 140 Hz rhythms are precisely modulated by running speed, highlighting their central role in shaping the critical navigation and spatial memory functions of the retrosplenial cortex.

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Presentation Thu, 09 Jan 2020 09:28:44 -0500 2020-01-14T12:00:00-05:00 2020-01-14T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Megha Ghosh
Electronics in the Brain – Literally (January 17, 2020 1:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71584 71584-17842691@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 17, 2020 1:00pm
Location: Gerald Ford Library
Organized By: Electrical and Computer Engineering

Abstract

Reading the human mind by electronic means used to be the domain of science fiction – and is still largely so. At the same time, technologies collectively labelled as brain-computer interfaces have moved forward, motivated by needs for assistive tools for neurologically impaired people and to advance our fundamental understanding of the brain. An applied example would be the use of electronic means to read out directly from the brain the intention to move an arm or a hand, and to decipher such signals to actuate an external robotic device. Another example is the
reading out brain signals produced when listening to or formulating speech. To access brain’s microcircuits at high space-time resolution requires implantation of electronic listening posts, call them nodes, at a number of nearby locations in a given functional area of the cortex. Which brings up the question of the day for neuroengineers: how many nodes might be required or are possible to implant, and how does one physically implement arrays of microscale electronic probes? What are the data rates involved in extracting brain signals and how to design a communication link to send the data onward for decoding by external computing platforms? What about reversing the direction of the process to use implanted probes to deliver signals directly into the brain (‘write-in’)? Through contemporary examples, this presentation will review recent accomplishments in the field from an electrical engineer’s viewpoint and discuss both the challenges and opportunities ahead to build next generations of brain-computer interfaces while explicitly exploiting many of the early 21st century advances in microelectronics, telecommunication, and high end computing.

Bio

Arto V. Nurmikko, a native of Finland, is a L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering and Physics at Brown. He received his degrees from University of California, Berkeley, with postdoctoral stays at MIT and Hebrew University. Professor Nurmikko conducts research in neuroengineering, brain sciences, nanophotonics and microelectronics, especially for the translation of device research to new technologies in biomedical, life science, and photonics applications. His current interests include development of implantable brain communication interfaces, microscale neural circuit sensors, compact semiconductor lasers, and high resolution acoustic microscopy. Professor Nurmikko is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and Fellow of the Optical Society of America. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to the Academy of Letters and Science of Finland. He was the co-recipient of the Israel Brain Prize in 2013.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 16 Jan 2020 11:10:47 -0500 2020-01-17T13:00:00-05:00 2020-01-17T14:30:00-05:00 Gerald Ford Library Electrical and Computer Engineering Lecture / Discussion Gerald Ford Library
Linguistics MLK Colloquium (January 17, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/68927 68927-17197025@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 17, 2020 4:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

As part of the university's Martin Luther King, Jr. Symposium, the Linguistics Department will host Dr. Joseph Hill, Assistant Professor in the Department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). NTID is part of Rochester Institute of Technology, New York.

The title of Dr. Hill's lecture is "Black, Deaf, and Disabled: Navigating the Institutional, Ideological, and Linguistic Barriers with Intersectional Identities in the United States." The lecture will be given in American Sign Language. Spoken English interpretation will be provided.

ABSTRACT
The term “intersectionality” appears frequently in the popular and academic discourse, but the definition is unclear to many people. Intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, is defined as “the interlocking nature of social categorizations that are relevant to a given individual or group subjected to systemic oppression and discrimination.” Through the case of Black ASL and Black Deaf individuals’ experiences, the audience will better understand the elements of intersectionality and the interconnection of the U.S. educational, political, and cultural institutions from 1860s to present. The audience will come away with a deeper understanding of the relationship between systemic oppression and intersectionality and with a willingness to move toward social justice and liberation.

Accessibility:
Ramp entrances are located on the NE and NW side of building. Elevator is adjacent to NE entrance; NW entrance has stairs with lift near doorway.
Gender inclusive restrooms on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors.
ASL-English interpreting & CART captioning provided.

Please contact Linguistics (linguistics@umich.edu) with any additional access needs.

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Lecture / Discussion Fri, 10 Jan 2020 11:50:08 -0500 2020-01-17T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-17T17:30:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Dr. Joseph Hill
NERS Colloquium: Nuclear Power for Deep Decarbonization: Insights from Recent Modeling (January 17, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70137 70137-17540918@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 17, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Abstract
Avoiding the worst consequences of climate change hinges on the transition to a deeply decarbonized global energy system. The development and deployment of promising, low-carbon energy technologies that could facilitate this transition—including nuclear power—is severely constrained by non-technical factors, including economics, but especially socio-political factors. This talk will present two new, interdisciplinary methods for evaluating some of these constraints. First, recent research on the performance of U.S. advanced fission innovation will be presented: this research has generated a new approach for evaluating technology development programs sponsored by the federal government. Second, insights will be presented from a recent study on the role of public opposition in constraining the deployment of nuclear power for decarbonization. This research is being extended to endogenously integrate societal preferences regarding energy technologies into energy system optimization models. Failure to integrate socio-political constraints leads to mathematically feasible, but socially unacceptable, decarbonization pathways, rendering greenhouse gas mitigation yet more difficult. This new wave of research, grounded in industrial engineering and the decision sciences, seeks to inform the design of emerging energy systems and to improve decision making by technology developers, policy makers, and researchers.

Speaker Bio
Ahmed Abdulla is Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. His research investigates the deployment of emerging energy systems; specifically, it optimizes the design of these energy systems and seeks to integrate real-world constraints into energy system models. Dr. Abdulla’s work has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation, among others. Results from his research have been published in leading journals, including "Nature Climate Change" and the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences;" they have also been featured in the "Wall Street Journal," "Bloomberg News" and "The Los Angeles Times." Prior to Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Abdulla was Assistant Research Scientist in the Center for Energy Research at the University of California, San Diego. He holds a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University.

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Workshop / Seminar Fri, 10 Jan 2020 13:10:18 -0500 2020-01-17T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-17T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Professor Ahmed Abdulla
Biopsychology Colloquium: Characterizing neurochemical changes during cocaine self-administration in male and female rats using a choice paradigm (January 21, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66083 66083-17888045@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: A defining characteristic of addiction is the gradual shift in preference from natural rewards, such as food, to drugs of abuse. Rodent models of addiction have established that females have a higher propensity for addiction and choose cocaine over food more often and more rapidly than males do. We hypothesize that the sex differences observed in drug seeking are due, in part, to differences in the underlying neurobiology of the reward circuitry between the sexes. Utilizing rodents in a choice self-administration behavioral paradigm eventually some rats develop a preference for cocaine over a palatable food reward over the course of seven weeks. Using in vivo microdialysis in the dorsal striatum and contralateral nucleus accumbens, this set of experiments repeatedly characterized cocaine-induced dopamine increases during self-administration in the choice paradigm.

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Presentation Tue, 21 Jan 2020 12:33:26 -0500 2020-01-21T12:00:00-05:00 2020-01-21T13:00:00-05:00 Department of Psychology Presentation Christopher Turner
Biopsychology Colloquium: For Food: Examination of Manipulating Motivational Aspects of Feeding (January 23, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/71810 71810-17888046@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, January 23, 2020 10:30am
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Feeding behaviors can be influenced by a multitude of factors including demographics and socioeconomic status, biological tendencies, nutritional knowledge, food preference, and portion size (Scaglioni et al., 2018). As the intersectionality of these factors have important implications for prevention and treatment of obesity, it is important to investigate the nature by which feeding behaviors may be altered. Sigma 1 receptors have been investigated for their involvement in learning, rewarding and motivational processes. PD144418, a potent and selective sigma 1 ligand exhibiting a high affinity and selectivity for sigma 1 receptors, has been found to produce a dose-dependent attenuation of locomotor activity induced by cocaine and methamphetamine. However, it was unknown as to whether PD144418 could alter the motivational effort of food-reinforced operant behavior. The current talk will focus on examining the effects of PD144418 on motivational effort of food-reinforced operant behavior, as well as variables of sex differences and energy deficit.

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Presentation Tue, 21 Jan 2020 14:15:42 -0500 2020-01-23T10:30:00-05:00 2020-01-23T11:30:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Melissa Tapia
CCN Forum: Offloading Cognitive Demands to Compensate for Memory Limitations (January 24, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69632 69632-17374451@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 24, 2020 2:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract:
In daily life, demanding cognitive activities may afford opportunities to “offload” aspects of tasks onto the external environment (e.g., by making a shopping or “to-do” list), a strategy referred to as cognitive offloading (Risko & Gilbert, 2016). Offloading reduces reliance on internal representations and processes, and can lead to improved performance in cognitively demanding tasks. While individuals of different ages may benefit from offloading cognitive demands, this strategy may be especially useful for older adults to compensate for age-related cognitive declines and better meet the demands of everyday life. During my talk, I will present what we have learned so far when examining younger and older adults’ offloading behavior (using reminders in a memory task), the effect of offloading on memory performance, and factors associated with the decision to offload.

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Presentation Tue, 14 Jan 2020 09:37:35 -0500 2020-01-24T14:00:00-05:00 2020-01-24T15:00:00-05:00 Department of Psychology Presentation Cabrera
NERS Colloquium: Risk Management Perspectives from the Design and Deployment of the Westinghouse AP1000 Reactors (January 24, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70138 70138-17540917@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 24, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

The nuclear power industry has been historically plagued with considerable technology deployment risks, with project cost and schedule overruns presenting a significant risk to nuclear plant investors. The average realized cost of nuclear power plants built in the US was 3.18 times the planned cost. The industry has responded to these risks by employing various risk management practices to reduce the uncertainty associated with nuclear EPC projects. Some of these practices include streamlining the regulatory process with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (in the case of US reactors), standardizing designs, and modularizing physical structures and components to improve construction and constructability. Although these risk-management processes have been put in place, there are still considerable cost and schedule excursions that have occurred in the construction of recent nuclear power plant projects. Notably, the Westinghouse Vogtle and V.C. Summer projects reported significant cost and schedule overruns to an extent that the Vogtle project required a significant government bailout and the V.C. Summer project was cancelled.

Sola Talabi, will share his experience as the Westinghouse Risk Manager for the Engineering Procurement and Construction work scope for the Vogtle and V.C. Summer projects. Sola will explore the issue of cost and schedule overruns from the perspective of potentially overly optimistic targets and inadequacies in project execution. Sola will also provide recommendations on how to address these cost and schedule challenges for advanced reactor deployment.

Speaker: Sola Talabi, Nuclear Industry Consultant
Sola Talabi has 19 years' experience in the nuclear industry, with 14 years at Westinghouse Electric Company, where he was  the Nuclear Power Plants Risk Manager, and also the a member of the Westinghouse Intellectual Property and Innovation Committees. As Risk Manager, Sola was responsible for risk  management of the Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power plant fleet, with deployments in China and the US. He was also responsible for managing risks on the Westinghouse scope of supply for plants in the UAE.

Sola’s risk responsibilities further included managing project development risk on the Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor. Sola currently leads Pittsburgh Technical, which is a nuclear engineering practice that supports advanced nuclear deployment.

Sola holds the following degrees acquired at Carnegie Mellon University: a PhD in Engineering and Public Policy with a focus on risk management for large energy infrastructure projects, an MBA with a customized focus on energy, finance and operations, and a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Sola is also a PMI certified Risk Management Professional. Sola  has been recognized with leadership awards by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the National Black MBA Association. Sola has published several articles in peer‐refereed journals on the subjects of engineering, energy and risk management.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 20 Jan 2020 11:06:58 -0500 2020-01-24T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-24T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS logo
CCN Forum: (January 31, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69633 69633-17374452@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 31, 2020 2:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience

CCN Developmental Talks

EunSeon Ahn

Title: Continuous Tracking of Error-Related Potential via Electrocorticography in Humans

Abstract: The error-related negativity (ERN) is thought to be a neural-based performance monitoring mechanism used to identify and correct potential errors. While the ERN has been detected using a variety of cognitive and perceptual tasks, its research has been largely restricted to non-invasive neural recordings, limiting the understanding of the neural mechanisms that enable individuals to monitor self-performance in real-time. Moreover, previous studies using invasive electrocorticography recordings have only examined the ERN in highly discrete, artificial manner with a strict trial-by-trial design. To address these shortcomings, we sought to study the ERN with a more naturalistic task in a more continuous manner through a gamified experimental task. By doing so, we hope to address whether the ERN monitors errors in a continuous manner, reflecting the probability of error at any given time point, or in a more discrete manner, only when a definitive error occurs.

Madison Fansher

Title: Blinded by Scientists? How graphical depictions of data influence scientific reasoning

Abstract: The ability to evaluate evidence is becoming more and more critical in an era where information is readily available and consumed in mass quantities. In order to effectively evaluate research, the general public should have a basic understanding of fundamental research and statistical principles. One crucial skill is the ability to interpret correlational studies. Prior research has shown that consumers of scientific research may be influenced by trivial information such as the inclusion of formulas, brain images, and graphs. The current study examined how including a graph depicting a linear relationship between two variables influences the reader’s perception of the research, and whether it increases the likelihood of making a correlation/causation error.


Greg Stanley

Title: The Morality Game

Abstract: Trade-offs can reveal what someone truly values, but non-trade-offs may be less informative. Someone’s choice to advance their interests at the expense of another, or vice versa, can show how helpful, selfish, or trustworthy they are. Observers can use this information to predict this person’s future social choices and to decide how to interact with them. But observers must also base their social predictions and evaluations on situations where the interests of both parties are aligned, even though these don’t involve revealing self-other tradeoffs. We place participants in economic games that involve win-win versus lose-lose and win-lose versus lose-win scenarios. After observing the choice of another agent, participants first predict this agent’s possible next choice and then decide whether or not to give this agent the opportunity to choose, which is a form of trust. My talk will discuss my pilot study and preliminary results in the hope of getting suggestions for how to replicate it this semester.

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Presentation Mon, 27 Jan 2020 07:42:32 -0500 2020-01-31T14:00:00-05:00 2020-01-31T15:30:00-05:00 East Hall Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Presentation Ahn, Fansher and Stanley
NERS Colloquium: Medical Imaging Advances: Do All Bell-and-Whistle Options Impact Patient Care? (January 31, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70139 70139-17540914@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, January 31, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Learn about the development of Computed Tomography from its inception in the early 1970s to the present; the medical applications of CT (e.g., diagnostic radiology, radiation oncology, and interventional CBCT); and the current state of how CT improvements are driven. The theme of the discussion will be to highlight the key technological advances that increased the value of CT in medicine. Examples of advancements with unquestionable benefit to patient care and other “advancements” with motivation rooted in unwarranted fear over radiation dose will be covered. This discussion will be presented in a manner suitable for the non-medical imaging expert to convey the larger themes related to technology advancement in the space of medical imaging.


Speaker: Timothy Szczykutowicz, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Department of Medical Physics

Dr. Szczykutowicz is an assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health Departments of Radiology, Medical Physics, and Biomedical Engineering. He received his Bachelors of Science in Physics from the SUNY University at Buffalo in 2008. He was active in medical physics at Buffalo in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Rudin with the Toshiba Stroke Research Center, working on vessel sizing and detector performance characterization. After his undergraduate studies, Dr. Szczykutowicz came to the University of Wisconsin–Madison where he earned his Masters and PhD in Medical Physics, receiving mentorship from Doctors Charles 'Chuck' Mistretta and Guang-Hong Chen. His dissertation was on fluence field modulated CT, a promising x-ray imaging technique that allows for imaging dose to be tailored to individuals. After his dissertation work, Dr. Szczykutowicz spent a year as a doctrinal fellow and imaging physics resident with the Department of Medical Physics at the UW before being appointed as a clinical health sciences Assistant Professor. The clinical and research activities of Dr. Szczykutowicz include: optimizing CT scan protocols, monitoring patient dose, developing new metrics to define image quality in the clinical setting, developing protocol management methodologies, fluence field modulated CT, dual energy CT, and assisting in various projects related to cone beam CT.

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Workshop / Seminar Tue, 14 Jan 2020 13:45:32 -0500 2020-01-31T16:00:00-05:00 2020-01-31T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Speaker: Timothy Szczykutowicz
Biopsychology Colloquium: The origins of cognitive flexibility in chimpanzees (February 4, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66085 66085-16686706@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 4, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Humans possess striking abilities to flexibly modify behavior in response to a changing environment. A number of proposals argue that executive functions, the suite of cognitive abilities that enable such behavior, are uniquely advanced in our species. In particular, it has been proposed that our long ontogeny permits the development of advanced executive function skills. Another proposal highlights our flexible use of different information types, such as readily using abstract or arbitrary cues to guide behavior. There is, however, a gap in our understanding of how human executive functions compare to those of our closest living relatives, chimpanzees. I will present two studies examining a key component of executive function, flexible switching, in chimpanzees using a reversal learning paradigm. I investigated chimpanzees’ use of different types of information when updating their behavior, and characterized developmental change and individual variation in this ability. I will discuss how these results highlight possible differences between human and non-human ape executive functions.

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Presentation Thu, 30 Jan 2020 15:50:13 -0500 2020-02-04T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-04T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Averill Cantwell
Linguistics Colloquium: Computational Models of Retrieval Processes (February 6, 2020 10:30am) https://events.umich.edu/event/72273 72273-17966046@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, February 6, 2020 10:30am
Location: Lorch Hall
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

Virtual colloquium (via BlueJeans) featuring Shravan Vasishth. Shravan Vasishth is professor of linguistics at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and holds the chair Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics (Language Processing). His research focuses on computational cognitive modeling, in particular, computational modeling of sentence processing in unimpaired and impaired populations, and the application of mathematical, computational, experimental, and statistical methods (particularly Bayesian methods) in linguistics and psychology.

ABSTRACT
Computational models of retrieval processes: An evaluation using benchmark data

The talk will begin by revisiting the key predictions of the ACT-R based model of sentence processing (Lewis and Vasishth, 2005, henceforth LV05). As discussed in Engelmann, Jäger, and Vasishth, 2020, the LV05 model predicts two classes of similarity-based interference effects: inhibitory and facilitatory interference. Jäger, Engelmann, and Vasishth, 2017, carried out a meta-analysis of some 100 existing effect estimates (self-paced reading and eyetracking during reading). This work showed that the LV05 model's predictions are only partly consistent with the current evidence available. A closer look at the published data suggests that the published studies are likely to be severely underpowered. As Gelman and Carlin, 2014, have pointed out, when power is low, statistically significant effect estimates will be highly misleading: either the effects will be overestimated, or the sign of the effect will be incorrect (for a real-life demonstration, see Vasishth, Mertzen, Jäger, and Gelman, 2018). Coupled with the problem of publication bias (in so-called high-impact journals, "big news" claims are published more often than "failed" studies or more tempered claims), these underpowered studies make theory evaluation difficult to impossible. What can we do as researchers? How to proceed?

In the second part of the talk, I show one way that we can resolve these problems. In their classic paper, Roberts and Pashler (2000) laid out two important criteria for model evaluation: the model needs to make quantitatively constrained predictions, and the effect estimates have to be measured with high precision. Modeling researchers usually have one more criterion: model evaluation should always be carried out in the context of a competing baseline model to be meaningful. As a case study of model evaluation, we compare the predictive performance (using k-fold cross-validation) of the LV05 model with a competing model of retrieval processes, the McElree 2003 direct-access model (Nicenboim and Vasishth, 2018). The evaluation data-set is a relatively high-precision study on inhibitory interference effects in German number agreement (Nicenboim, Vasishth, Engelmann, and Suckow, 2018).

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Lecture / Discussion Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:12:46 -0500 2020-02-06T10:30:00-05:00 2020-02-06T12:00:00-05:00 Lorch Hall Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Lorch Hall
CCN Forum: Boundedly Rational Ethical Choice (February 7, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69634 69634-17374453@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 7, 2020 2:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Bounded rationality is the study of how choice and behavior is shaped by computational bounds and the structure of the task environment, including time constraint or limits on available information (Simon, 1955). In this talk I present new work on boundedly rational ethical decisions in which we show empirically that patterns of so-called contextual preference reversals that arise in economic and other domains also arise in problems involving choice among disaster rescue plans with different probabilistic outcomes for saving lives. These reversals are widely understood to challenge characterizations of human decision making grounded in rational choice theory, but recent theoretical work (Howes et al., 2016) demonstrates how they arise from an agent making expected utility-maximizing choices in the face of perceptual and cognitive bounds. We show that this general theory extends naturally to our new empirical paradigm, demonstrating the possibility of rigorous accounts of bounded rationality in ethical domains. I will also preview new empirical work that uses process-tracing methods to investigate decision strategies in a domain based on a complex real-world legal decision problem: setting bail.

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Presentation Fri, 31 Jan 2020 13:34:41 -0500 2020-02-07T14:00:00-05:00 2020-02-07T15:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Hao
NERS Colloquium: How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation (February 7, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70140 70140-17540913@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 7, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Solar energy’s path to widespread adoption provides a successful model that can be applied to other technologies we will need to address climate change.

Solar photovoltaics (PV) has become a substantial global industry—a truly disruptive technology that has generated trade disputes among superpowers, threatened the solvency of large energy companies, and prompted serious reconsideration of electric utility regulation rooted in the 1930s. But,

How did solar become inexpensive? And why did it take so long?
As a 2017 Andrew Carnegie Fellow I had the opportunity to dive deeply into these questions, drawing on new data sets, analyses, and interviewing 75 individuals in 18 countries. The concept of National Innovation Systems provides a theoretical structure for this assessment and helps explain that PV’s success has been the result of distinct contributions mainly by the US, Japan, Germany, Australia, and China—in that sequence. Flows of knowledge from one country to another—often embodied in equipment, and also as tacit knowledge in the heads of internationally mobile individuals—have been central to solar’s progress. One payoff from understanding the reasons for solar’s success is that it can serve as a model for other low-carbon technologies. I focus on direct air carbon capture and small nuclear reactors. However other technologies would have to progress much faster than PV to be helpful for climate change. Possible approaches for accelerating innovation include: dynamic R&D foci, codification of knowledge, public procurement, robust markets, enhancing knowledge mobility, and addressing political economy considerations.

Speaker: Professor Gregory F. Nemet, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Gregory Nemet is a Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the La Follette School of Public Affairs. He teaches courses in policy analysis, energy systems, and international environmental policy. Nemet's research focuses on understanding the process of technological change and the ways in which public policy can affect it. He received his doctorate in energy and resources from the University of California, Berkeley. His A.B. is in geography and economics from Dartmouth College. He received an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship in 2017 and used it to write a book on how solar PV provides lessons for the development of other low-carbon technologies: “How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation” (Routledge 2019). He was awarded the inaugural World Citizen Prize in Environmental Performance by APPAM in 2019. He is currently a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 23 Jan 2020 08:56:16 -0500 2020-02-07T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-07T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Professor Gregory F. Nemet
Biopsychology Colloquium: The relationship between early life experiences, health, and reproductive outcomes in wild savannah baboons (February 11, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66086 66086-16686708@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Abstract: Many studies have found that experiencing early life adversity (social and environmental stressors such as low socioeconomic status, inadequate nutrition, abuse and neglect, etc.) leads to poor health and/or impaired social function later in life. This is true in a remarkably wide variety of taxa, which raises questions about how early experiences ‘embed’ themselves in the body, as well as whether the adaptive tradeoffs organisms make when dealing with early adversity are primarily driven by short-term or long-term payoffs. Wild savannah baboons, like humans, can face a variety of social and ecological hardships when they are young. These experiences can lead to vastly shortened lifespans, but we do not yet understand the mechanisms by which this occurs. In this talk, I will present new data on the relationships among early adversity, adult social bonds, and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in a population of wild baboons in Amboseli, Kenya, which has been studied since the 1970s. I will also discuss ongoing research on competing hypotheses that seek to explain the relationship between early social environments and reproductive outcomes. Longitudinal data from this close human relative provide valuable insights into the biological bases of connections between early experience and adult outcomes in our own species.

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Presentation Thu, 09 Jan 2020 09:32:53 -0500 2020-02-11T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-11T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Stacy Rosenbaum
Linguistics Colloquium: "Linguistics for the Common Good" (February 14, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72575 72575-18018168@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 14, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

ABSTRACT

Although institutions of higher education increasingly recognize the imperative of fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and access, language and linguistic diversity are rarely part of institutional efforts toward greater justice. Further, despite many different kinds of efforts, linguists have not been as successful as we might hope in advocating for the centrality of language within the imperative toward inclusion and justice. Yet, part of diversity is linguistic diversity; part of equity is linguistic equity; part of inclusion is linguistic inclusion; and part of access is linguistic access.

In this talk, I’ll explore some of the ways that linguists can have more success in our efforts to enhance linguistic justice through embracing and engaging with ongoing as well as emerging shifts in the discipline. By framing linguistic inclusion in the context of standardized language privilege, I present what we know about linguistic discrimination, pinpoint the linguistic stakes of efforts towards inclusion, highlight some flashpoints that occur in public discussions about language such as with pronouns and political correctness, and offer some concrete steps that we as linguists can take to effectively advocate for the importance of language at all levels of intervention linked to greater equity and justice.

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Lecture / Discussion Wed, 05 Feb 2020 16:03:07 -0500 2020-02-14T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-14T17:30:00-05:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Ross School of Business
NERS Colloquium: Nuclear Communities and Consent in Nuclear Waste Siting (February 14, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70141 70141-17540912@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 14, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

In searching for solutions for nuclear waste, it has become evident that the social and political aspects of siting these facilities present unique challenges beyond the technical aspects of siting. Consent-based siting has emerged as a way to overcome some of these challenges. Yet consent itself is a complex concept. How do we define consent? Who has the right to consent? How does geographic context shape the way consent gets negotiated? These are questions I seek to explore in this discussion, drawing from qualitative fieldwork conducted in two communities in Southern Ontario that volunteered to be part of Canada’s search for a willing host for a spent fuel repository. I intend to demonstrate how particular socio-political and economic nuclear landscapes shape how consent is understood, the importance of recognizing and incorporating various voices in the process, and why thresholds for consent might paradoxically need to be higher in existing nuclear communities.


Speaker: Marissa Bell, Department of Geography at SUNY University at Buffalo
Marissa Bell is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at SUNY University at Buffalo and a research fellow at the Institute for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University. Interested in energy justice, environmental governance, and political economy of risk, her dissertation work examines how geographic context and socio-political dynamics shape the implementation, community engagement, and perceived legitimacy of consent-based policies for siting high level nuclear waste in Canada. She contends with the need for nuclear waste storage, on the one hand, with the need for more equitable, fair and just methods of siting through community engagement, geographic context, and attention to process. Born in London, UK, but having grown up across European and American cultures, she has always been interested in how space and place influence decision-making and identity formation. Prior to embarking on a PhD, Marissa completed a BA at King’s College London, with a focus on European geopolitical identity, followed by an MA at the University at Buffalo, focusing on the risk tradeoff between climate change and nuclear risks post-Fukushima. In other research, Marissa has examined localized opposition to wind turbine installation in upstate New York, reflecting her broader underlying interest in energy justice and sustainable energy transitions.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 06 Feb 2020 11:09:47 -0500 2020-02-14T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-14T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Speaker: Marissa Bell
Biopsychology Colloquium: Zarin Machanda (February 18, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66087 66087-16686709@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 18, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

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Presentation Thu, 12 Sep 2019 12:44:53 -0400 2020-02-18T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-18T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation East Hall
NERS Colloquium: Reactor Designs for the 21st Century (February 21, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70142 70142-17540911@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, February 21, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Details forthcoming.

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Workshop / Seminar Mon, 27 Jan 2020 08:43:18 -0500 2020-02-21T16:00:00-05:00 2020-02-21T17:00:00-05:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS logo
Cognitive Science Seminar Series (February 24, 2020 2:30pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72212 72212-17957420@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, February 24, 2020 2:30pm
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hyesue Jang, U-M graduate student in Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience, will give a talk titled "Losing money and memory: The effect of loss incentives on working memory in young and older adults."

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Lecture / Discussion Tue, 04 Feb 2020 10:05:39 -0500 2020-02-24T14:30:00-05:00 2020-02-24T15:30:00-05:00 Weiser Hall Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Lecture / Discussion Hyesue Jang
Biopsychology Colloquium: Karen Bales (February 25, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66088 66088-16686710@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

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Presentation Wed, 11 Dec 2019 09:58:01 -0500 2020-02-25T12:00:00-05:00 2020-02-25T13:00:00-05:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation Karen Bales
Biopsychology Colloquium: Intranasal oxytocin effects on human brain activity during social interactions (March 10, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/66089 66089-16686711@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 10, 2020 12:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Oxytocin (OT) is a naturally occurring endogenous neuropeptide that is known to modulate social behavior across a wide range of animal species. We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, pharmaco-functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which healthy normal subjects were randomized to treatment with either 24 IU intranasal OT (INOT; n=100) or placebo (PBO, n=104) and imaged with fMRI as they played an interactive social decision-making task known as the iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (PD) game with same-sex partners. INOT altered the neural response to reciprocated cooperation (a positive social interaction) within areas involved in reward and salience such as the nucleus accumbens and dorsal ACC, and also altered the response to unreciprocated cooperation (a negative social interaction) within areas involved in salience and threat detection, like the anterior insula and the amygdala. Furthermore, INOT altered functional connectivity within a social behavioral neural network in response to both reciprocated and unreciprocated cooperation. These findings support the potential utility of OT to treat stress and anxiety disorders as well as disorders involving deficits in social motivation. However, INOT effects were highly heterogeneous, depending on sex, OXTR genotype, and stimulus novelty vs. familiarity. Furthermore, effects may also differ by dose, patient status (healthy subjects vs. patients) and between endogenous and exogenously administered OT.

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Presentation Mon, 11 Nov 2019 12:38:11 -0500 2020-03-10T12:00:00-04:00 2020-03-10T13:00:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation James Rilling
CANCELLED: Accelerating Nuclear Materials Innovation Through Rapid and Automated Analysis Techniques (March 13, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70144 70144-17540909@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 13, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Abstract: Materials can play a pivotal role in advancing the state of nuclear energy both domestically and aboard by increasing safety, efficiency, and operational lifetime. Until recently,
most advances in materials design for nuclear energy have been incremental – slight changes of composition here or tweaks in microstructure there. This talk will focus on research directions established at the University of Michigan to enable breakthroughs in the development of advanced nuclear materials by applying innovations in other research fields such as use of machine learning techniques. Recent results, including automated defect detection and analysis in electron micrographs, will be presented. The presentation will conclude with how these emerging techniques can be applied to Prof. Field’s other research directions including advanced alloy development and radiation effects to establish a new nuclear materials development workflow that expediates the development, testing, and deployment of novel materials for nuclear energy.

Biography: Dr. Kevin Field is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan where his research specializes in alloy development and radiation effects in ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. His active research interests include advanced electron microscopy and scattering-based characterization techniques, additive/advanced manufacturing for nuclear materials, and the application of machine/deep learning techniques for advanced innovation in characterization and development of materials systems. Prof. Field moved to University of Michigan in the Fall of 2019 after nearly seven years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he first started as an Alvin M. Weinberg Fellow and left at the level of Staff Scientist. Prof. Field has presented and published numerous manuscripts on radiation effects in various material systems relevant for nuclear power generation including irradiated concrete performance, deformation mechanisms in irradiated steels, and radiation tolerance of enhanced accident tolerant fuel forms. Dr. Field received his B.S. (2007) from Michigan Technological University in Materials Science & Engineering and his M.S. (2009) and Ph.D. (2012) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in Materials Science with a focus on segregation phenomena in ion and neutron irradiated ferrous-based alloys. Dr. Field’s work has been recognized through several avenues including receiving the prestigious Alvin M. Weinberg Fellowship from ORNL in 2013 and being awarded the UT-Battelle Award for Early Career Researcher in Science and Technology in 2018.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:12:43 -0400 2020-03-13T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-13T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Kevin Field Headshot
Linguistics (Virtual) Colloquium: An intonational model of South Asian languages (March 13, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71191 71191-17785607@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 13, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Ross School of Business
Organized By: Department of Linguistics

The Linguistics Department will host Sameer Dowla Khan, associate professor and chair of the Linguistics Department at Reed College, who will give a talk on Friday, March 13, titled "Phonological convergence in the absence of stress and tone contrasts: an intonational model of South Asian languages." The talk begins at 4 p.m.

ABSTRACT

Phonological convergence in the absence of stress and tone contrasts: an intonational model of South Asian languages

While linguistic similarity and convergence across South Asian languages (SALs) has long been accepted within studies of syntax, morphology, and (segmental) phonology, discussions of intonational similarities have arisen only in the last decade. However, a unified model of intonation across SALs, balancing typological similarities and differences, has yet to be proposed. This talk explores the most current findings and models of a range of SALs, from both my own work and that of several others in the field, in order to identify the common ground underlying a sample of languages of the region. The shared properties at the base of this unified model of intonation proposed for this selection of SALs include: (i) a preference for non-contrastive word-initial stress marked by low tone, (ii) a sequence of repeating rising contours each spanning a roughly word-sized unit, and (iii) greater flexibility within the higher-level boundary tones than within the pitch accent inventory. I argue that this bundle of features characterizes SAL intonation, setting it apart from the intonation of other well-documented language groups due to the general lack of contrastive tone and stress in the region.

In proposing this model, tentatively named Intonational Transcription of South Asian Languages (InTraSAL), I take note of important areas of crosslinguistic variation, including (i) the complex and variable role of syllable weight and (ii) the effects of voicing on pitch accent, as well as (iii) the phonetic alignment of what can be argued to be the same basic phonological pattern. I take these findings as an initial exploration into producing a “prosodic map” of South Asia, much like what has been done for Romance languages and varieties of Japanese. I also consider the applicability of the same model not only across languages, but also across speaking styles, and propose directions for further research to expand and test the model with more data.

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Lecture / Discussion Thu, 12 Mar 2020 14:38:55 -0400 2020-03-13T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-13T17:30:00-04:00 Ross School of Business Department of Linguistics Lecture / Discussion Sameer ud Dowla Khan
CANCELLED: CCN Forum: (March 20, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69637 69637-17374456@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 20, 2020 2:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience

Note: This event has been cancelled.

Ed Smith Neuroscience Award Talks

Tessa Abagis

Title:
Investigating external and internal distraction in adults with ADHD

Abstract:
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is often considered to be a disorder in children and adolescents but is in fact diagnosed in 2.5% of adults. Adults with ADHD experience poorer resistance to external task-irrelevant distraction (Forster and Lavie, 2016) as well as to internal task-irrelevant distraction, or mind-wandering (Franklin et al., 2017). Past work in the lab has determined a visual search task that displays robust performance differences between adults with and without ADHD due to singleton distractors. In the work I will discuss, I have employed both eye-tracking and mind-wandering methods during this visual search task to evaluate how external and internal distraction affect task performance in adults with and without ADHD.

Lauren Grant

Title:
Outliers Among Us: How to Identify and Deal with Extreme Data Points in ECoG

Abstract:
Outliers in experimental data can result in false positives (Type I errors) or false negatives (Type II errors) that dramatically change a researcher’s conclusions. Given the adverse effects of publishing such distorted conclusions (e.g., contributing to the replication crisis), many researchers try to identify and remove outliers before conducting their main statistical analyses. However, there are a large number of outlier removal methods in the literature, and it remains unclear which ones are most effective. Along these lines, my recent work with reaction time (RT) data suggests that employing Sn – a robust estimator of scale – minimizes both Type I and Type II errors in subsequent data analyses, relative to several alternative methods. However, it is unclear whether Sn outperforms competing outlier removal methods for other data types. To test this hypothesis, I conducted a series of simulations in the context of a typical ECoG experiment. Interestingly, the median absolute deviation (MAD) – rather than Sn – was a highly effective method for dealing with extreme data points. Such findings reveal that there is no “one shoe fits all” solution to the problem of removing outliers. Rather, the most effective method varies with the nature of the data itself.

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Presentation Mon, 16 Mar 2020 09:54:10 -0400 2020-03-20T14:00:00-04:00 2020-03-20T15:00:00-04:00 East Hall Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Presentation aqbagis
CANCELLED: Hydrodynamic Instability and Radiation Hydrodynamics Experiments in High-Energy-Density Plasmas (March 20, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70143 70143-17540910@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 20, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Details forthcoming.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 09:13:01 -0400 2020-03-20T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-20T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Carolyn Kuranz headshot
Via BlueJeans Biopsychology Colloquium: Behavioral response of prairie voles to fluctuations in the social environment (March 24, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/73804 73804-18322355@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Psychology

See link below for talk:

Adaptive behavioral plasticity allows animals to modify their behavior in accord with fluctuating environmental conditions. Reversible alternative mating tactics are one such type of plasticity that allow individuals to optimize reproduction through selecting one of multiple behavioral options within an overarching set of rules. As social context is one of the most dynamic facets of the environment an animal experiences, we hypothesize that social cues could be relevant environmental triggers for adopting or switching mating tactics. We monitored three populations of socially monogamous prairie voles in semi-natural field enclosures to investigate whether males adaptively alter their behavior using social information regarding availability and risk of extra-pair mating opportunities. We used a passive monitoring system to record spatial and temporal co-occurrence, which can be used in social network analyses to identify patterns of association between individuals. I will discuss my preliminary findings and future directions to better address questions concerning possible influences on mating tactics in prairie voles.

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Presentation Mon, 23 Mar 2020 09:00:35 -0400 2020-03-24T12:00:00-04:00 2020-03-24T13:30:00-04:00 Department of Psychology Presentation
CANCELLED Diversity Colloquium: (March 26, 2020 3:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/72357 72357-17998140@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, March 26, 2020 3:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Department of Psychology

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Presentation Sun, 15 Mar 2020 17:35:08 -0400 2020-03-26T15:00:00-04:00 2020-03-26T16:30:00-04:00 East Hall Department of Psychology Presentation East Hall
CANCELLED: CCN Forum: (March 27, 2020 2:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/69638 69638-17374457@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 27, 2020 2:00pm
Location: East Hall
Organized By: Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience

This event has been cancelled.

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Rally / Mass Meeting Mon, 16 Mar 2020 09:54:43 -0400 2020-03-27T14:00:00-04:00 2020-03-27T15:30:00-04:00 East Hall Cognition & Cognitive Neuroscience Rally / Mass Meeting Poeppel
CANCELLED: Structural Materials Degradation in Molten Salt Reactors (March 27, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70145 70145-17540908@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, March 27, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Details forthcoming.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:34:42 -0400 2020-03-27T16:00:00-04:00 2020-03-27T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS logo
CANCELED: 4th Annual Cognitive Science Community Colloquium (March 28, 2020 10:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/73090 73090-18140506@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, March 28, 2020 10:00am
Location: Weiser Hall
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium on Saturday, March 28th at Weiser Hall 10th Floor. As part of the Undergraduate Research Showcase, we’re currently looking for students to apply to share their work. If you’ve contributed to a cognitive science research project at any level of involvement, we’d love to have you! We encourage submissions from related fields such as computer science, philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and more!

Submit an abstract and the submission form through this site: https://sites.google.com/view/csccolloquium2020/home

Submissions highlighting interdisciplinary research are especially welcome. Please apply by March 10th at 11:59pm. If this deadline is an issue, feel free to contact us at cogscicmty@umich.edu and we will be happy to work with you. You can also reach out to us via that email with any other questions you may have.

Anyone interested in attending can also RSVP here: https://forms.gle/qafD3VdB5QsZZJVv6 and follow the colloquium website linked above for updates.

Sincerely,

Cognitive Science Community

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Conference / Symposium Mon, 16 Mar 2020 10:14:20 -0400 2020-03-28T10:00:00-04:00 2020-03-28T16:00:00-04:00 Weiser Hall Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Conference / Symposium Call for submissions
CANCELLED: Ninth Annual Richard K. Osborn Lecture—Kairos Power: From University Conception to Mission-Driven Start-Up (April 3, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70146 70146-17540906@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 3, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Fluoride-salt cooled, high-temperature reactors (FHRs) combine existing technologies in a novel way, using high-temperature fuels from gas-cooled reactors with a low-pressure molten salt coolant. In the last decade, U.S. national laboratories and universities have addressed key scientific and technical questions for the licensing and deployment of FHRs, and have developed pre-conceptual FHR designs with different fuel geometries, core configurations, heat transport system configurations, power cycles, and power levels. Founded in 2016, Kairos Power, a mission-driven engineering company based in California, has built on the foundation laid by U.S. Department of Energy sponsored university Integrated Research Projects to design, license, and demonstrate the KP-FHR. This talk overviews the history of FHR technology and the major role played by universities, as well as Kairos Power’s mission to enable the world’s transition to clean energy.

Speaker: Per F. Peterson is the Chief Nuclear Officer for Kairos Power, where he guides nuclear technology review and advises on scientific and technical topics for KP-FHR technology development and licensing. Peterson also continues to hold the William and Jean McCallum Floyd Chair in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Peterson’s work has focused on high-temperature fission energy systems, as well as topics related to the safety and security of nuclear materials and waste management. Peterson’s research in the nineties contributed to the passive safety systems in the GE ESBWR and Westinghouse AP-1000 reactor designs. Peterson also participated in the development of the Generation IV Roadmap in 2002, and his 2003 Nuclear Technology article with Charles Forsberg and Paul Pickard identified salt-cooled, solid fuel reactors as a promising technology, today called fluoride salt-cooled, high temperature reactors (FHRs).

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:34:59 -0400 2020-04-03T16:00:00-04:00 2020-04-03T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar Per Peterson
Via BlueJeans - Biopsychology Colloquium: Vocal flexibility in gelada monkeys (April 7, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/73805 73805-18322356@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 7, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Psychology

Missy's 619 talk will be accessible by this BlueJeans link: see below

Humans are remarkable vocal learners. The language we learn to speak as children is entirely based on the speech we hear around us, and as adults, we even match our pronunciations to those of others in our social groups. What are the evolutionary origins of this vocal flexibility? Our closest living relatives, the nonhuman primates, are born with the ability to produce all of their vocalizations. However, they may adjust their vocalizations in more subtle ways to match those of others in their social groups, just as humans do. Using acoustic analysis methods, I assessed whether the calls of gelada monkeys, a highly vocal primate species, differed across social groups. In this talk, I will share my findings and discuss a possible spatial cohesion function for vocal matching in this species.

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Presentation Mon, 06 Apr 2020 11:23:14 -0400 2020-04-07T12:00:00-04:00 2020-04-07T13:00:00-04:00 Department of Psychology Presentation Missy Painter
CANCELLED: The Power of Neutron Fluctuation Analysis (April 10, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/71274 71274-17794080@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 10, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Cancelled.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:35:31 -0400 2020-04-10T16:00:00-04:00 2020-04-10T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 13, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559841@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Monday, April 13, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-13T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-13T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 14, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559842@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-14T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-14T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
Via BlueJeans: Biopsychology Talk: Reward Roles of Neurons in Nucleus Accumbens and Central Amygdala (April 14, 2020 12:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/73806 73806-18576566@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Tuesday, April 14, 2020 12:00pm
Location:
Organized By: Department of Psychology

See link below for talk:

Abstract:

The nucleus accumbens shell (NAc) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) are robust generators of intense reward-related motivation. Both structures contain two distinct populations of neurons that respectively have either D1-type receptors for dopamine or D2-type of receptors. I sought to examine the reward roles of D1 versus D2 neuron populations in NAc shell and in CeA, by comparing optogenetic self-stimulation as laser excitation of either D1 neuron or D2 neurons in each structure (using D1-Cre and A2A/D2-Cre rats developed by Ferrario/Berke labs). My results suggest a strong role of D1 neurons in reward motivation in both NAc and CeA. My results also suggest at least moderate reward roles for D2 neurons, especially in CeA but also to some extent in NAc shell (at least under certain conditions).

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Presentation Fri, 10 Apr 2020 12:17:07 -0400 2020-04-14T12:00:00-04:00 2020-04-14T13:00:00-04:00 Department of Psychology Presentation Shayan Abtahi
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 15, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559843@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Wednesday, April 15, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-15T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-15T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 16, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559844@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Thursday, April 16, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-16T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-16T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 17, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559845@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 17, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-17T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-17T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
CANCELLED: Leveraging Modern Characterization for a Mechanistic Understanding of Nuclear Fuel Performance (April 17, 2020 4:00pm) https://events.umich.edu/event/70147 70147-17540905@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Friday, April 17, 2020 4:00pm
Location: Cooley Building
Organized By: Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences

Cancelled.

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Workshop / Seminar Thu, 12 Mar 2020 11:35:46 -0400 2020-04-17T16:00:00-04:00 2020-04-17T17:00:00-04:00 Cooley Building Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences Workshop / Seminar NERS logo
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 18, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559846@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Saturday, April 18, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-18T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-18T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo
Cognitive Science Community 2020 Digital Colloquium! (April 19, 2020 8:00am) https://events.umich.edu/event/74184 74184-18559847@events.umich.edu Event Begins: Sunday, April 19, 2020 8:00am
Location: Off Campus Location
Organized By: Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science

Hello everyone!

Are you interested in viewing research related to cognitive science or other related fields? We invite you to attend this year’s Cognitive Science Colloquium!

The Cognitive Science Community is excited to announce that we’ll be hosting our 4th annual colloquium online!  In light of COVID-19 and social distancing, we will not be holding an in-person Colloquium this year. Instead, we will be moving the showcase to an online format which will be open for viewing April 13th - April 19th.

We hope you will tune into the online event to view the research projects being showcased! The website will be open to watch the videos, and there will be an opportunity to ask the researchers questions through our slack channel April 13th - April 19th. Our slack link is: cogscicommunity.slack.com. The channel for discussion is #research_showcase_discussion_Let us know if you have any questions regarding using slack.


We hope you’re all staying safe and healthy!

Best, 
Cognitive Science Community

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Livestream / Virtual Wed, 08 Apr 2020 16:10:52 -0400 2020-04-19T08:00:00-04:00 2020-04-19T17:00:00-04:00 Off Campus Location Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science Livestream / Virtual CSC Logo