Integrated Calendar

Generation of 'gain of function' and 'loss of function' phenotype is an important technique in modern study of gene function. The most common way is by delivery of recombinant DNA that can specifically alter gene function. While most immortalize tissue culture cells are amenable to DNA and RNA transfections, primary cells and especially live animals are resistant to most nucleic acid delivery methods. Viruses have evolved specialized molecular mechanisms to efficiently transport their genomes inside the cells they infect. Many viruses can be engineered into viral vectors by replacing parts of their genome with that of recombinant DNA (transgene), thus, generating a replication-defective virus that is able to insert its genome (containing recombinant DNA) without replication into the desired cells, organ or organism. In addition, many viral vectors can be engineered to have altered affinity to a specific subset of cells within the targeted tissue. In this talk, we will discuss how the unique abilities of viral vectors can be used to modify and alter gene expression in vivo and more specifically generate novel disease models in cancer (Glioblastoma) and neurodegeneration (Alzheimer's disease) research.

Abstract: One of the most intriguing questions in cognitive neuroscience is how our sensation and perception of time is related to the physical (Newtonian) time axis. In this talk I will argue that our sensation of time is scaled non-linearly with the information we have about the relevant past and future. In other words, we scale our internal clock with the number of "bits" of perceptual and actionable information, as determined by our sensory and planning tasks. To this end, I will introduce a Renormalisation Group procedure of the Bellman equation for Partially Observed Markov Decision Processes (POMDP), and argue that such renormalisation (non-linear rescaling of time) can explain the subjective discounting of rewards, and the emergence of hierarchies and reverse hierarchies in perception and planing.
Finally, I will argue that the structure of our natural language reflects the "fixed point" of this renormalisation group - namely, the divergence of our planning and perception horizons.

Atomic g-factor measurements on hydrogen-like ions serve as a test of bound-state QED. Recently we completed an experiment on 28Si13+ and by comparison to theory we obtain a new value of the electron mass, about 15 times more accurate than the previously accepted value.

I went to the United States in the late 70's with the intent to get a degree in engineering, return home and make millions. Things did not quite go according to plans. The Iranian revolution happened, ushering in tectonic fissures in Iran and across the region. Life changed in many miserable ways for the Iranians. In desperation, I switched to physics.

In this talk, I hope to give the perspective of a diaspora physicist from Iran who is now di-recting a research institute in the United States and is enjoying it. It is also true that no challenge in science has been for me as forceful and as intense as those set upon me, my family and everyday Iranians by the maniacal mullahs. I will share with you some of these experiences and discuss a few scenarios on how things may change in Iran.