11th Japanese-American Symposium

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science – U.S. National Academy of Sciences

December 5-7, 2008
Irvine, California

Sessions:

Measurements and Conditions for Happiness

Organizers: Koji Mizoguchi and Don Cooper

Chair:
Measurements and Conditions for Happiness
Kenji Matsumoto, Tamagawa Universtiy

Speakers:
Neural Measurements of Reward Value and Happiness
Ken-ichiro Tsutsui, Tohoku Univesity

What is an Emotion?
Lisa Barrett, Boston University

New Chemistry of Renewable Raw Materials

Organizers: Motonari Uesugi and Chekesha Liddell

Chair:
New Chemistry of Renewable Raw Materials
Tetsuo Kondo, Kyushu University

Speakers:
New Chemistry of Renewable Raw Materials: Next Generation Thermoplastics from Biorenewable Feedstocks
Stephen A. Miller, University of Florida

New Chemistry of Renewable Raw Materials: The Use of CO2 as a Carbon Resource
Kyoko Nozaki,The University of Tokyo

Optical Measurement and Control of Neuronal Activity

Organizers: Haruhiko Bito and Don Cooper

Chair:
Optical Measurement and Control of Neuronal Activity
Hajime Hirase, RIKEN

Speakers:

Takeharu Nagai, Hokkaido University

Derek Toomre, Yale University School of Medicine
Voyages into Inner Space: Single Vesicle Imaging of Exo-Endocytosis

Feng Zhang, Stanford University

Nanomedicine

Organizers: Teri Odom and Koji Hatanaka

Chair:
Using the Fabrication Technologies from the Microelectronics Industry to Address the Unmet Needs in Drug Delivery
Joseph M. DeSimone, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Speakers:
Nanoshells for Photothermal Cancer Therapy
Jennifer West, Rice University

Nanotech-Based Cell Sheet Engineering for Regenerative Medicine
Masayuki Yamato, Tokyo Women’s Medical University

Detecting Dark Matter

Organizers: Patrick Brady and Hazuki Furukawa

Chair:
Detecting Dark Matter
Douglas Finkbeiner, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Speakers:
Dark Matter (DM) and Particle Physics
Mihoko M. Nojiri, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization

Dark but not Too Dark? Experimental Efforts to Detect Dark Matter
Brian Odom, Northwestern University

Evolution of Sleep and Memory

Organizers: Robert McCarthy, Lena Hileman and Kenzo Hirose

Chair:
Evolution of Sleep and Memory
Kazuhiko Kume, Kumamoto University

Speaker:
Evolution of Sleep and Memory: Neuronal Activity Patterns during Sleep and Plasticity
Hiroyuki Miyamoto, Brain Science Institute, RIKEN

Bayesian Statistics and Massive Data Streams

Organizers: Raissa D’Souza and Katsuhiro Nishinari

Chair:
Bayesian Statistics for Massive Data Streams
Jake Hofman, Yahoo! Research

Speakers:
Statistical Mechanical Approach to Massive Bayesian Inference
Yoshiyuki Kabashima, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Bayesian Statistics and Massive Data Streams
Mark Hansen, University of California, Los Angeles

Prediction of Future Sea Level in a Greenhouse World—Theory and Observations

Organizers: Minoru Yoneda and Pascale Poussart

Chair:
Prediction of Future Sea Level in a Greenhouse World - Theory and Observations
Shawn Marshall, University of Calgary

Speakers:
Isabella Velicogna, University of California, Irvine
Global Sea level Budget and the Ice Sheets

Empirical Constraints on Sea Level Rise in Future
Yusuke Yokoyama, University of Tokyo

PROGRAMS