Ten new cabinets, representing nearly half of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center’s new XT3 “Red Storm” system, were installed in time to bring in the new year.

Half of PSC’s “Red Storm” System Up And Running

Ten new black-and-gold cabinets represent a flurry of activity over the holidays at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a joint effort of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University together with Westinghouse Electric Company. Nearly half of PSC’s brand-new XT3 “Red Storm” system—more than 1,000 processors mustering roughly five teraflops (five trillion calculations per second) of capability—was installed and humming in PSC’s machine room in time to bring in the new year.

This is the first installed system of the Cray, Inc., XT3 product line, which Cray announced in October. A number of applications are running on the new system, including storm forecasting, earthquake modeling, quantum chromodynamics, cosmology, and numerical relativity. A quantum materials science application, LSMS, shows per-processor performance on the XT3 more than twice that of LeMieux, PSC’s existing Terascale Computer System.

—Michael Schneider

Pitt Water Research Named a Top Science 2004 Breakthrough

Research by a Pitt professor made Science magazine’s list of top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2004.

Kenneth Jordan’s research on how water behaves when extra protons or electrons are added was recognized as part of the number eight breakthrough of the year for “providing new insights into aqueous chemistry.” The Science news staff wrote that Jordan’s research, along with the other water research mentioned, could “reshape fields from chemistry to atmospheric sciences.”

The magazine cited research by Jordan and colleagues at Yale University and the University of Georgia that has shed light on how molecules of water interact with extra protons.

“I was delighted but surprised at this recognition,” said Jordan, professor and chair of Pitt’s Department of Chemistry. After all, he said, other discoveries that made the list included the revelation that water used to exist on Mars and the discovery of a new species of tiny hominid.

“Protons in water are important in acid/base chemistry and in a multitude of biological energy cycles,” said Jordan. “Yet the nature of the proton—how it is accommodated by the surrounding water molecules—has remained elusive.”

Other articles mentioned by Science included papers that built on Jordan’s research on the behavior of an extra electron in water, as well as an overview Jordan wrote of other groups’ research in that area.

“The breakthroughs in our understanding the properties of water have been driven by advances in experimental techniques and in the growing power of computer simulations,” he said.
For more information on Jordan’s research, visit www.pitt.edu/~jordan. For the full list of Science’s top 10 breakthroughs of 2004, visit www.sciencemag.org.

—Karen Hoffmann

Pitt’s GSPH Launches Bioterrorism Lecture Series Today at 4 p.m.

Pitt will launch its Bioterrorism Lecture Series from 4 to 6 p.m. today in Room 6 of Scaife Hall. Sponsored by Pitt’s Center for Public Health Preparedness in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and funded in part by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the series is free and open to the public.

Today’s lecture features Elin Gursky, principal deputy for biodefense at the National Strategies Support Directorate of Analytical Services in Arlington, Va. Her lecture is titled “Public Health: Drafted to Protect America?” and will address public health issues related to homeland security, including public health’s latest mission within homeland security, its ability to integrate with such other public health organizers as emergency first responders, and ways to improve the role and capacities of public health.

“Elin brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in leveraging public health practice with security issues,” GSPH Dean Bernard Goldstein said. “Her timely research is highly relevant in advancing new directions for the field of public health.” With more than 18 years of experience, Gursky has participated in several conferences and has served as an adviser to top government officials.

The second bioterrorism lecture, titled “How to Lead During Bioattacks with the Public’s Trust and Help,” by Monica Schoch-Spana, an assistant professor in Pitt’s School of Medicine and a senior fellow in the UPMC Center for Biosecurity, is scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Jan. 24 in Room 6 of Scaife Hall.

Established in 2002, the Center for Public Health Preparedness is part of the national network of Centers for Public Health Preparedness funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

—Maureen McGaffin

Center on Race and Social Problems Announces Reed Smith Speaker Series

Pitt’s Center on Race and Social Problems announces the following lineup of lectures for its Reed Smith Spring 2005 Lunchtime Speaker Series. All talks are free and open to the public and will take place in the William Pitt Union (WPU). Lunch will be provided, and registration is not required. For more information, call 412-624-7382.

Lauren Resnick

Jan. 18, noon-1:30 p.m., WPU Dining Room A.
Lauren Resnick, senior scientist and director of Pitt’s Learning Research Development Center.
“Shrinking the Achievement Gap: Academic and Social Intervention.”

Feb. 24, noon-1:30 p.m., WPU Kurtzman Room.
John Wallace Jr., associate professor in Pitt’s School of Social Work.
“Faith Matters: Race/Ethnicity, Religiosity and Drugs.”

March 21, 12:30-2 p.m., WPU Kurtzman Room.
Dalton Conley, director of New York University’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research.
“The Family Home as Level Playing Field—Not.”

April 22, noon-1:30 p.m., WPU Kurtzman Room.
Glenn Loury, professor of economics at Boston University.
“Racial Stigma: Toward a New Paradigm for Discrimination Theory.”

The Center on Race and Social Problems, housed in Pitt’s School of Social Work, hosts lecture series in the spring and fall to provide an opportunity for faculty, students, and community members to engage in race-related discussions of mutual interest. The law firm of Reed Smith LLP will sponsor the spring series for the next three years.

—Sharon S. Blake

Head of Harvard’s Trust Initiative to Lecture Here Jan. 26

Pitt’s Health Policy Institute and Center for Bioethics and Health Law will cosponsor a Jan. 26 lecture by David A. Shore, associate dean and executive director of the Center for Continuing Professional Education and director of the Trust Initiative in the Harvard University School of Public Health.

Shore’s presentation, titled “The Trust Prescription for Healthcare: Building a Reputation People Really Know and Trust,” is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. in A115 Crabtree Hall. Refreshments will be offered from 4 to 4:30 p.m. in 109 Parran Hall.

Shore’s work on brand, reputation, and trust is part of his larger work on market dynamics and the market strategies that most powerfully affect the creation of competitive advantage. He has two books currently in press, The Trust Prescription for Healthcare (Heath Administration Press, slated for publication in March) and The Trust Crisis in Healthcare (Oxford University Press, scheduled for publication in July).

Shore has recently delivered keynote addresses on reputation and trust to The Wall Street Journal Healthcare Summit, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, American Health Quality Association, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He serves on many advisory boards, including those of the Association of Schools of Public Health, the American Heart Association, and the Institute for Brand Leadership.

—Alan Aldinger