Binghamton University / Research Magazine / Spring-Summer 2013 by Division of Research @ Binghamton University

SMALL-SCALE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ELECTRONICS

Go with the flow A new Binghamton analysis reverses 30 years of economic thought on groundwater management

BINGHAMTON RESEARCH Binghamton University

State University of New York

Spring/Summer 2013

research.binghamton.edu

36 46

C O N T EN T S

About Binghamton Research

Mitochondrial mix-up

Graduate research

Welcome

Biologist Heather Fiumera investigates how genetic mismatches contribute to devastating metabolic disorders

Q&A

Go with the flow

The ‘dark side’ at work

A new Binghamton analysis reverses 30 years of economic thought on groundwater management

Civil War Collections

Briefs

Books

13 Smaller. Lighter. Smarter. Greener. Faster. Small-scale systems: the future of electronics

Undergraduate research

From the University Libraries

Immigrant insights Binghamton researchers explore strengths, needs of Asian-Americans

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

ABOUT BINGHAMTON RESEARCH Editorial Staff

New York State Center of Excellence

Editor Rachel Coker, rcoker@binghamton.edu

Organized Research Centers

Art Direction and Design Martha P. Terry Photography Jonathan Cohen or iStock Images, unless otherwise noted Contributing Writers George Basler, Eric Coker, Rachel Coker, Nancy Dooling, Merrill Douglas, Sarah Fecht, Gail Glover, Todd R. McAdam, Barb Van Atta Copy Editing Diana Bean, Katie Ellis, John Wojcio Illustrations iStock Images

Binghamton University Harvey Stenger President Bahgat Sammakia Vice President for Research Marcia R. Craner Vice President for External Affairs Binghamton Research is published twice a year by the Division of Research, with cooperation from the Office of University Communications and Marketing. Permission is granted to use part or all of any article published here. Appropriate credit and a tearsheet are requested. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Binghamton Research, Office of Research Advancement, PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000. Binghamton University is strongly committed to affirmative action. We offer access to services and recruit students and employees without regard to race, color, gender, religion, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation or national origin. Printed on paper that contains 50 percent recycled content with 25 percent post-consumer waste.

Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center (S3IP) Director Bahgat Sammakia Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) Director Peter Borgesen Center for Advanced Sensors and Environmental Systems (CASE) Director Omowunmi Sadik Center for Applied Community Research and Development (CACRD) Director Pamela Mischen Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP) Director Charles R. Westgate Center for Cognitive and Psycholinguistic Sciences (CaPS) Director Cynthia Connine Center for Development and Behavioral Neuroscience (CDBN) Director Norman Spear Center for Emerging Technologies in Healthcare (CETH) Director Mohammad Khasawneh Center for the Historical Study of Women and Gender (CHSWG) Co-Directors Kathryn Kish Sklar and Thomas Dublin Center for Integrated Watershed Studies (CIWS) Acting Director Karen Salvage Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture (CPIC) Director Joshua Price Center for Leadership Studies (CLS) Director Francis Yammarino Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CEMERS) Acting Director Dana Stewart Center for the Teaching of American History (CTAH) Director Adam Laats Center for Writers (CW) Director Maria Mazziotti Gillan Clinical Science and Engineering Research Center (CSERC) Director Kenneth McLeod Institute for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2) Director Kanad Ghose Institute for Materials Research (IMR) Director M. Stanley Whittingham Institute of Biomedical Technology (IBT) Director John G. Baust Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC) Director Daryl Santos Linux Technology Center (LTC) Director Merwyn Jones Public Archaeology Facility (PAF) Director Nina Versaggi Roger L. Kresge Center for Nursing Research (KCNR) Interim Director Ann Myers

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Institutes for Advanced Studies

Throughout this magazine, you’ll see QR codes like the one shown here. Scan them with your phone and you’ll be taken to online-only extras. (This one will take you to Discover-e, our online newsletter.) All you need is a QR reader. Point your phone’s Web browser to go.binghamton.edu/QR, and you’ll be directed to an app for your Android phone or iPhone.

Center for Korean Studies (CKS) Director Sungdai Cho Fernand Braudel Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Systems, and Civilizations (FBC) Director Richard E. Lee Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) Director Bat-Ami Bar On Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas (IAAD) Director John Chaffee Institute for Evolutionary Studies (EvoS) Director David Sloan Wilson Institute of Global Cultural Studies (IGCS) Director Ali Mazrui Institute for Intergenerational Studies (IIS) Director Laura Bronstein Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE) Director Krishnaswami (Hari) Srihari

WELCOME

From the President I like to say that Binghamton University needs to get bigger to get better — and it needs to get better to get bigger. Well, thanks to the approval of our NYSUNY 2020 plan, we are getting bigger and better. We’re embarking on an unprecedented wave of faculty hiring, preparing to build an R&D center focused on smart energy and considering a significant new venture in the life sciences, possibly the establishment of a school of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. The student body is growing, too. The Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging (S3IP) is an integral part of our efforts related to smart energy. As you’ll see in this issue of Binghamton Research, S3IP conducts work that will advance electronics packaging, flexible electronics, solar energy and “green” data centers. This year, the center will move into a new building that promises to create exciting synergies between scientists and engineers as well as between the University and its many industry partners. My goal is to help Binghamton evolve from the premier public university in the Northeast into the premier public university of the 21st century. As we decide what Binghamton’s interpretation of “premier” will be, it’s already clear that research across the disciplines — from Heather Fiumera’s promising studies of DNA to Seth Spain’s exploration of the “dark side” at work — is central to that vision.

Harvey Stenger

From the Vice President for Research Sometimes, researchers are called upon to see not just what is but what could be: a faster computer chip, let’s say, or a material with entirely new properties. But in other situations, seeing what is, is the achievement.

This sort of vision, this willingness to ask questions and to pursue complex answers, is what makes Binghamton University such an exciting place. We’re pleased to bring you these stories and other examples of innovation and insight into fields ranging from nursing to art history.

Bahgat Sammakia

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

That’s the case with several Binghamton faculty members whose work is highlighted in this magazine. If economists Neha Khanna and Andreas Pape hadn’t pushed for a more realistic model of water flow, we still wouldn’t know of the flaw in the previous 30 years of thought on groundwater management. And if South Korean expatriates such as Suk-Young Kang, Youjung Lee and Hyeyoung Kang hadn’t pushed past stereotypes about Asian immigrants to uncover deeper truths, then social workers and others would have been deprived of the nuanced picture these researchers painted of this growing community’s needs.

BRIEFS

Nanoparticle exposure may be harmful Nanoparticles can be found in products ranging from cosmetics to clothes and from sodas to snacks. Exposure to these tiny particles, even in low doses, could have a big impact on our long-term health. That’s what researchers at Binghamton University and Cornell University reported recently in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Lead author Gretchen Mahler, assistant professor of bioengineering at Binghamton, says much of the existing research on the safety of nanoparticles has focused on their direct health effects. But Mahler and her colleagues wanted to see what happens when someone receives constant exposure in small doses — the kind you’d get if you were taking a drug or supplement that included nanoparticles. “We thought that the best way to measure the more subtle effects of this kind of intake was to monitor the reaction of intestinal cells,” Mahler says. “And we did this in two ways: in vitro, through human intestinal-lining cells that we had cultured in the lab; and in vivo, through the intestinal linings of live chickens. Both sets of results pointed to the same thing — that exposure to nanoparticles influences the absorption of nutrients into the bloodstream.” The uptake of iron, an essential nutrient, was of particular interest because of the way it is absorbed and processed through the intestines. Mahler and the team tested this with polystyrene nanoparticles because of their easily traceable fluorescent properties.

“What we found was that for brief exposures, iron absorption dropped by about 50 percent,” Mahler says. “But when we extended that period of time, absorption actually increased by about 200 percent. It was very clear: Nanoparticles definitely affect iron uptake and transport.” While acute oral exposure caused disruptions to intestinal iron transport, chronic exposure caused a remodeling of the intestinal villi — the tiny, finger-like projections that are vital to the intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients — making them larger and broader, thus allowing iron to enter the bloodstream faster. Humans consume about 100 trillion nanoparticles every day. Although the impact of chronic exposure remains somewhat unknown, the ingestion of dietary particles may promote a range of diseases, including Crohn’s disease. With so many nanomaterials under development and with so much yet to be learned about nanoparticle toxicity, Mahler and the team hope that their work will provide an effective, low-cost screening tool. They plan to look at whether similar disruptions in nutrient absorption could be possible with other inorganic elements, such as calcium, copper and zinc. Also on the research agenda is the reaction of other nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E and K.

— Gail Glover

BRIEFS

Study finds flaws in marriage interventions Conventional wisdom, backed by research, suggests that healthy marriages make a healthy society. The U.S. government has taken note, investing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to promote healthy marriages. Is it working? No, says a Binghamton researcher in a study published by American Psychologist, the flagship journal of the American Psychological Association. Many of these programs, based on data gathered from white, middle-class married couples, don’t work when applied to poor couples or couples of color. “Initially, the rationale for these programs came from policymakers and scholars, who homed in on the association between unmarried parents and poverty that is obvious in the data,” says Matthew D. Johnson, associate professor of psychology. “This association led George W. Bush to make the promotion of healthy marriages a central plank of his domestic policy agenda, resulting in the implementation of the Healthy Marriage Initiative. Barack Obama endorsed these initiatives, as presidential candidate and as president. Now that the numbers on the success of these programs have started to roll in, the results have been disappointing.” Johnson says many of these programs lack grounding in solid science. He cites research from two recent studies as evidence that many of the programs need to be overhauled. One study of more than 5,000 couples in eight cities examined interventions designed to improve the relationships of low-income, unmarried couples who were either expecting or recently had their first child. The interventions — which cost around $9,100 per couple — had no effect in six cities, small beneficial effects in one city and small detrimental effects in another.

Chinese consumers pay too much for goods and services because of superstitions surrounding particular numbers, Binghamton University economist Zili Yang says. In a study published by The Journal of SocioEconomics, Yang reports that an aversion to the number 4, combined with a preference for the numbers 6 and 8, may translate into a “surcharge” of as much as 1.4 percent of China’s gross domestic product. In China, the world’s second-largest economy, superstition plays an important role in the pricing of consumer goods. The number 4 shares the same sound as “death” in Chinese; 6 is a lucky number that represents “smooth;” and the number 8 sounds like the word “prosperity.” It’s not uncommon for a culture to have such preferences, Yang notes: Consider Americans’ aversion to the number 13. The difference is that the Chinese superstition has significant economic implications. Yang, who grew up in China and travels there several times a year, tackled the question of lucky numbers on a lark. His research primarily focuses on energy and environmental economics. When he set out to test his theory, he analyzed more than 11,000 Beijing-area prices of items in five categories: food, electronics and appliances, clothing, real estate and services.

Johnson says the government should focus on programs that will ease the stress of poor families and fund rigorous research. He also suggests the government stop funding unsuccessful programs. “If we are going to continue these initiatives,” he says, “let’s at least make certain we are assessing the effectiveness of the programs and learning from our mistakes.”

“Through meticulous analysis of the collected data, I conclude that retailers in China could have gained as much as an extra 4.16 percent by manipulating price tag numbers to take advantage of superstitions,” he writes, “which could translate into as much as 1.40 percent of annual GDP in 2007, where these retailer gains are consumer losses.”

— Gail Glover

— Rachel Coker

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Why the disappointing outcomes? There are several possible explanations. The best of these programs — the ones based on scientific findings — were initially studied with middle-class couples, while the federal initiatives target poor couples. And relationship improvement doesn’t seem to be a priority for poor couples. “There is evidence that suggests poor women want to be married and understand the benefits of healthy marriages,” Johnson says. “But earning enough for basic household expenses, keeping their children safe and working with their children’s overburdened schools are much more urgent concerns, making the idea of focusing on marriage seem self-indulgent, if not irrelevant, to many poor parents.”

‘Lucky’ numbers, unlucky customers

BRIEFS

Algorithms satisfy hunger for real-time data

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

The world today moves at a fast pace, and most of us don’t have time to wait around. Twitter users monitor what’s trending now, not last month. Drivers check the road conditions for the morning commute. Air-traffic controllers track the locations of thousands of planes simultaneously, and investors conduct high-frequency trading. Much of the data that’s collected can’t sit in a warehouse; it requires nearly instantaneous computer processing and feedback. “Real-time data is very dynamic and unpredictable,” says Kyoung-Don Kang, associate professor of computer science at Binghamton University. For example, Kang explains, a traffic-monitoring system might not see much activity at midnight Sunday, but it will generate tremendous amounts of data during Monday’s morning rush hour. That data could slow down the processing system, right when it’s needed most. “It is very challenging to process this data in a timely manner,” he says. When real-time computing fails, it can compromise safety or lead to financial loss. That’s why Kang is working to make this fast-paced data processing more efficient, with help from a National Science Foundation grant of nearly $250,000. “It is an important research area, especially at this point when we have lots of critical systems depending on continuous streams of real-time data from zillions of sensors deployed in the environment,” says Sang H. Son, a computer scientist at the University of Virginia.

Why not just design systems that are capable of processing massive amounts of data all the time? It’s not practical, Kang says, because most of the time a system will need to process only sparse amounts of data — and when it sits idle, that’s a waste of resources. And data is always increasing in volume, so even today’s top-notch system will be outpaced eventually. Kang says the key to using real-time data applications is to cut your losses. If the amount of data is more than the system can handle, then some of it must be dropped, he says: “Some data is more important than others.” That’s why he’ll be developing algorithms and software solutions that process the most vital data stream first. Kang will use simple yet powerful rules to prioritize some operations over others — for instance, if an input data stream is important, then the query processing output from that data stream is likely to be important as well — to build more efficient load-shedding and continuous query processing techniques. This approach can be applied to detect important events, such as unusual traffic patterns or homeland security issues, in real time. More efficient processing of real-time data could one day enable other technological advances, including directing intelligent transportation or managing green buildings and smart grids. “There are many potential applications,” Kang says. “The challenge is being ready for anything.”

— Sarah Fecht

BRIEFS

Watch as paleobotanist William Stein describes what today’s scientists learn from the world’s oldest forest. Visit go.binghamton.edu/forest or scan this code.

Ancient forest offers climate-change insights A Binghamton University scientist and his colleagues reported the discovery of the floor of the world’s oldest forest in the journal Nature. “It was like discovering the botanical equivalent of dinosaur footprints,” says William Stein, associate professor of biological sciences at Binghamton, and one of the article’s authors. “But the most exciting part was finding out just how many different types of footprints there were. The newly uncovered area was preserved in such a way that we were literally able to walk among the trees, noting what kind they were, where they had stood and how big they had grown.”

The Gilboa area has been a known location for tree fossils since the late 1800s. During the 1920s, when construction of the Schoharie Dam revealed a dense stand of trees, paleontologists began to investigate the site in earnest. Named Eospermatopteris, or “ancient seed fern,” by Winifred Goldring of the New York State Museum in 1924, these earliest trees had survived only as broken standing bases and trunks. More detailed glimpses of the past emerged in 2004 and 2005 when more intact specimens, complete with crowns, were discovered.

At the time the Gilboa forest began to emerge — around the Middle Devonian period, about 386 million years ago — Earth experienced a dramatic drop in global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and the associated cooling led ultimately to a period of glaciation. “Trees probably changed everything,” Stein says. “Not only did these emerging forests likely cause important changes in global patterns of sedimentation, but they may have triggered a major extinction in fossil records.” For Stein, it all comes down to one thing: how much we don’t know but need to understand about our ancient past. “The complexity of the Gilboa site can teach us a lot about the original assembly of our modern-day ecosystems,” he says. “As we continue to understand the role of forests in modern global systems, and face potential climate change and deforestation on a global scale, these clues from the past may offer valuable lessons for managing our planet’s future.”

— Gail Glover

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

The town of Gilboa in upstate New York is famous for being the location of some of the earliest tree fossils. But after a new round of excavation, scientists may gain new insight into the role of modern-day forests and their impact on climate change.

The research team got a huge break in spring 2010 when repairs on the Gilboa Dam reopened the site. What they found this time was a large, substantially intact portion of the ancient forest horizon, complete with root systems.

BOOKS

abortion, prostitution, involuntary sterilization, rape and sexual harassment throughout the 20th century. Wheeler hopes that readership isn’t limited to historians and academics, because legal battles over abortion and gay marriage continue to be passionately debated, from courtrooms to cocktail parties. That makes it important for citizens to understand how such battles have been fought and won for rights that some of us may take for granted, such as birth control. Today, birth control is legal and widely available. But in the 1920s, federal obscenity laws banned the exchange of birth-control information in the U.S. mail and in public venues, and some states made it a crime to sell or advertise birth-control products. Connecticut even made it illegal to use birth control, Wheeler says. The ACLU’s foray into battles to make birth control and information about it legal began shortly after the organization was founded in 1920.

Historian traces fight for sexual rights

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Fifteen years ago, Leigh Ann Wheeler asked her University of Minnesota students how they would respond if a spouse or partner brought pornography into the home. Their answers surprised her: They said that although they’d feel uncomfortable, they wouldn’t demand its removal because that would be a violation of the person’s right to free speech. “I asked myself how and why it is that we think of so many sexual issues in terms of rights,” says Wheeler, now an associate professor of history at Binghamton University and co-editor of the Journal of Women’s History. The answer can be traced back to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its fight to protect freedom of speech. In her latest book, How Sex Became a Civil Liberty (Oxford University Press, 2012), Wheeler looks at how the ACLU, openly or behind the scenes, fought for birth-control advocates and nudists, and took on the controversial issues of obscenity,

Over time, the assumption of sexual rights and sexual expression has become a part of everyday life, Wheeler says. “Phrases such as ‘informed consent,’ ‘reproductive freedom’ and ‘the right to privacy’ roll easily off the tongues of many, if not most, American adults today, conservatives as well as liberals.” In an early review, Susan Brownmiller, author of the landmark book Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, calls Wheeler’s new book a meticulous account of the ACLU’s struggle to embrace new approaches in law while remaining faithful to its original mission of championing free speech. “This is a thoughtful book for thoughtful people in a democracy where rights and liberties often collide,” Brownmiller writes.

— Nancy Dooling

BOOKS

Feminist scholar explores film censorship in India Monika Mehta fell in love with Hindi movies while growing up in India. She brings that enthusiasm and experience as a feminist scholar to her new book, Censorship and Sexuality in Bombay Cinema, published by the University of Texas Press and Permanent Black. It explores and analyzes censorship of female sexuality and gender in Hindi films from 1970 to 1995. Mehta, an associate professor of English at Binghamton, places censorship in a broad social context and studies the complexity of the censoring process itself. She concludes that cultural and political power is not exercised by a single state-operated censorship mechanism, but by a shifting web of social expectations, political cultures and informal but important relationships among the state certification board, film directors, film distributors, the market and the audience.

While the standard claim is that the state alone dictates censorship and various prohibitions, in actuality, censorship is far more complex, Mehta says.

India has led the world in film production since 1971, at times generating 1,000 films per year. Historically, films have been made in different parts of India in up to 52 languages, although Hindi films and the Bombay film industry have dominated. Film censorship in India is left over from British colonialism, with a Central Board of Film Certification and nine offices in different parts of the country, Mehta says. Examining committees of four people each — including a government official — review, certify and classify each movie. Mehta spent time at the Central Board of Film Certification, interviewing officials and committee members. She also reviewed official documents, scholarly works, film texts and magazines and newspapers. “Censorship is most associated with the practice of cutting, and the censors are seen as film ‘cutters’ or ‘hackers,’ who distort a completed film or director’s vision,” Mehta says. “My task in the book is to draw attention to other practices of censorship, namely, certification and classification, in order to show how they frame our understanding of film, impact film-going practices and define a film’s potential audience.” Mehta also examines how censorship can articulate certain forms of sexuality while marginalizing others, such as homosexuality. And she looks at how debates about female sexuality can produce the very forms of sexuality they want to regulate. For example, because of an informal ban on kissing in Hindi films, filmmakers found alternate ways to show sexuality, often through elaborate dance sequences. “As a result, Hindi cinema is one of the most erotic cinemas in the world,” Mehta says. Mehta still enjoys Hindi films. Her next book will explore how globalization affects relationships among Bombay cinema, the Indian state and Indian communities around the world.

— George Basler

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Mehta’s book pulls together seemingly disparate material to provide a new way to approach censorship, says Priya Jaikumar of the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Though an academic book, Mehta’s work “is very clearly written, free of jargon and easy to read, so it will be accessible to a broader public and may have a popular readership in India, the United Kingdom and other nations where Indian cinema is followed,” Jaikumar says.

It includes all aspects of the filmmaking process, including self-regulation by the filmmakers and audience responses.

BOOKS And within days, CDs began to arrive: newspaper clippings of the high school art contest Conner won, notes on old film projects made of found film, letters to colleagues on the San Francisco art scene. It was gold to an art historian writing a book. Treasures kept coming. The University of California at Berkeley even allowed Hatch into its Conner archives, which were off-limits to the public. The result was Looking for Bruce Conner, a 2012 book that studies Conner’s work in depth and places it in context of the San Francisco art scene as an influential form of anti-pop art far away from Warhol-dominated New York. Conner, who died in 2008, produced work ranging from assemblages and installations to compilations of found film, sculpture, even art created from ink blots. “I liked the fact that this was someone who worked outside the perceived center — New York,” Hatch says. “I’m from Detroit, so I like underdogs in general.”

Researcher lends context to reclusive artist’s work

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

The woman liked Kevin Hatch’s voice: a soft-spoken tenor that inspired trust. So she’d be glad to help Hatch get in touch with iconoclastic — curmudgeonly and often reticent — artist Bruce Conner. A few days later, a gruff voice came over the phone from San Francisco: “How can I help?” It was Conner, a counter-cultural artist with connections to hippies, beatniks, punks and other cultural movements. A man so uncomfortable with popularity that he changed media whenever he felt he was too hot a commodity. Conner had a reputation for destroying dissertations and research projects. And now he was on the phone with Hatch, then a Princeton University doctoral candidate. Hatch is an art historian with no art on the walls of his Binghamton University office, but his voice just oozes sincerity.

Conner’s medium was as much a part of his message as its content, Hatch says. Discarded film, clipped images, bits and bobs of what was around him — they were a comment on an overly commodified world. “He shows how Conner’s assemblages, with their grotesquery, their evocation of the cruel eroticism and violence of daily life, were rooted in Antonin Artaud’s theater of cruelty and its aspiration to give ‘the heart and the senses that kind of concrete bite, which all true sensation requires,’” art critic Barry Schwabsky writes in The Nation. They were also comments on his personal state of mind, including images of dead celebrities — Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy, among others — and his own fear of being pinned down, Hatch says. So what’s next for Hatch? After 11 years studying Conner, he’ll broaden his perspective, perhaps to San Francisco’s art scene in the 1950s and ’60s. Like Conner, he won’t be pinned down by his past work: “The objects should direct me,” he says. “Where people go wrong in this industry is they take a theory and apply it to X.”

— Todd R. McAdam

BOOKS

Book offers resources for PTSD sufferers Close to 5.2 million adults experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) every year. And it can affect anyone — from war veterans and abuse victims to people directly or indirectly traumatized by violence, natural disaster or other catastrophes. In her latest book, What Nurses Know … PTSD, Binghamton researcher Mary Muscari provides a holistic view of this potentially debilitating illness, providing PTSD sufferers and their friends and relatives with a better understanding of the disorder and what to do about it.

Muscari said the key is to get treatment as soon as possible after PTSD symptoms develop so that it doesn’t become a long-term condition. “Treatments for PTSD can involve psychotherapy or medications, or a combination of both,” Muscari says. “It’s all about support, dialogue and education. But because everyone is different, there is no substitute for treatment provided by a mental health professional experienced in treating PTSD — someone who is trained to figure out what’s going to work best.”

Muscari also examines PTSD in children and adolescents, focusing on what makes this disorder so challenging in young sufferers. “Kids with PTSD may experience many of the same symptoms as adults,” Muscari says. “But they often have greater difficulty talking about their thoughts and feelings. Children and teens also tend to have different types of recollection experiences than adults. We’re talking frightening dreams and even behavioral problems. If not treated properly, a child’s sense of security can be severely impacted, which in turn influences brain function and development.” Muscari said the goal of What Nurses Know… PTSD is to show victims and their friends and families that they are not alone in their struggle. “PTSD sufferers have a real illness, one that is as real as high blood pressure or diabetes,” Muscari says. “But it can also be seen as merely a barrier in our life’s journey.”

— Gail Glover

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

“Dealing with PTSD is like riding a roller coaster,” says Muscari, an associate professor in the Decker School of Nursing. “The swing of emotions can have a huge impact on relationships, work environment and social activities. And in addition to disrupting the lives of the victims, PTSD often has a ripple effect, throwing relationships with family members, friends and colleagues into complete turmoil. But help is out there, and this book offers individuals with PTSD and their families the tools to recognize the problem and know how and where to get assistance.”

In addition to covering current treatment options, What Nurses Know… PTSD examines causes of the disorder and its impact on victims and their families. It also looks at associated problems such as substance abuse and offers tips for managing stress.

COVER STORY

Small-scale systems: the future of electronics

Small-scale systems make modern life easier. Did you use a cell phone today? Have you checked your e-mail? Maybe you’ve watched a video on a mobile device or tested your blood sugar. Without small-scale electronics, such conveniences would be nonexistent.

Small-scale systems are electronic systems with features built at the microscale or even smaller. “These are difficult to construct, but also extremely useful,” says Sammakia,

a former IBM engineer who is also vice president for research at Binghamton. “When you can build electronic systems at that scale, you can put much more function in a much smaller volume and weight. So your phone now can do what a supercomputer could do three decades ago. That’s where scale becomes really important, when you can have more function in a smaller space at lower power. “We decided to focus on small-scale systems because that’s where the future is.”

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Binghamton University’s Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging (S3IP) conducts research to advance this vital technology. “S3IP is about developing products and applications that improve the way people live their lives,” Director Bahgat Sammakia says. “It’s that simple. That’s our goal.”

COVER STORY

“WE DECIDED TO FOCUS S3IP, established 10 years ago, builds on Binghamton’s Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC), founded in 1991. The IEEC focuses on electronics packaging. Since then, S3IP has added to its portfolio of research interests. It now boasts centers that address: electronics: The Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM)

ON SMALL-SCALE SYSTEMS BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THE FUTURE IS.” — Bahgat Sammakia, vice president for research and S3IP director

n Flexible

n Solar

energy: The Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP)

n “Green”

data centers: The Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2)

It also has three unique, multiuser laboratories that support this work: n The

Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory (ADL), which offers state-of-the-art instrumentation for electron microscopy, thermal analysis, X-ray analysis, surface and interface analysis and more

n The

Nanofabrication Laboratory (NLAB), which focuses on nanoscale research

n The

Reliability and Failure Analysis Lab, a facility focused on evaluating reliability of electronic packaging and determination of failure modes

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

An industry-driven quest for answers

The Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC) is where it all began, and electronics packaging remains at the core of S3IP’s activities. Those activities are driven by member companies, which provide faculty researchers an opportunity to tackle real-world problems and support their work financially. In turn, these companies obtain access to cuttingedge research and facilities. From 1996 through 2012, the IEEC’s work led to the creation of 780 jobs

as well as the retention of 1,000 positions at New York state companies. The center has had an economic impact of more than $971 million on the state. “The IEEC was our origin, and it remains our key economic engine,” says Daryl Santos, IEEC director. William Infantolino, associate director of the IEEC, says reliability testing is one of the center’s specialties. It’s an area of growing concern to electronics manufacturers, whose customers now expect, for example, that their cell phones will still work if they’re dropped. The IEEC can expose parts and devices to accelerated test conditions to see how they perform over time when exposed to elevated temperatures or other stressors. “We can fit a lifetime of on/off cycles into three months,” Infantolino explains. “It gives us an approximation of how a part will perform over time in actual use.” Some of the most exciting IEEC projects now focus on 3D integration of silicon electronic devices. “That has always been a dream,” Sammakia says, “and now it is becoming real.” Essentially, in an effort to make devices smaller and help them run faster, companies now are stacking microchips vertically, Infantolino says. Sematech, a consortium of semiconductor companies, is working in this area and has come to the IEEC for assistance with this research. Binghamton experts are conducting me-

chanical and thermal modeling as well as reliability assessments related to these designs. “There’s high potential in 3D packaging,” Infantolino says. “It comes down to cost for performance. If the performance and size advantages can justify the cost of the more complex structure, there’ll be a major migration. It’s going to take some time to develop the processes, equipment and supply chain. It’s not going to happen overnight.” Like the IEEC, the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) takes its cue from industry. In fact, the center is based at Endicott Interconnect Technologies, about a 15-minute drive from the University. In general, the CAMM looks for ways to translate aspects of traditional electronics manufacturing into flexible, roll-to-roll processes. Its 10,000-square-foot facility boasts a panel line for process and product development and an integrated rollto-roll research line for product development. Much of the equipment found there is available nowhere else in the country. Roll-to-roll processing is traditionally the domain of paper: Think of the enormous rolls of newsprint on which your local newspaper is printed. The CAMM has helped to expand that domain to include lightweight, thin plastic and, most recently, flex-

COVER STORY

ible glass. Corning Inc. collaborated with the CAMM to evaluate its spooled flexible Willow Glass. While glass is the preferred substrate for many kinds of electronics, scientists were unsure about the design rules for equipment that would handle and process flexible glass. Cynthia Giroux, division vice president and research director for optics and surface technologies at Corning, participates on the CAMM’s executive advisory board and notes the company’s relationship with the CAMM has led to numerous conference presentations and journal articles. “Cost-efficient manufacturing is a necessary step in achieving the goal of high-quality and interconnected electronics that are integrated into everyday objects such as tabletops, walls, appliances and vehicles,” she says. “We look forward to further collaborations with Binghamton University’s S3IP centers to identify flexible electronic device designs and fabrication methods for these emerging applications.” “That’s the future of the CAMM: to help companies commercialize products,” Sammakia says.

Visit S3IP online at binghamton.edu/s3ip for detailed descriptions of facilities and information about how to partner on electronics research.

The irony is inescapable. A native of sun-drenched southern India, where daily high temperatures often exceed 100 degrees, discovers that one of the best places to pursue his interest in solar energy is an upstate New York community noted for its cloud cover. “Since childhood, I have been interested in energy sources that are nonpolluting and are abundant,” says Siva P. Adusumilli, who received his bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University. “I did some homework, and I found out about Binghamton University’s Center for Autonomous Solar Power.” Now Adusumilli is a doctoral student at Binghamton while working as a graduate research associate at the center known as CASP. His focus is on earth-abundant solar materials and nanomaterials. Some substances, such as silicon, are well-suited for use in solar cells but are costly to process and, therefore, drive up the price of the end product. That limits the cells’ potential for wide usage even though the energy source — the sun — is free, Adusumilli says. He also points out the illogic of having to use great quantities of energy to synthesize materials to be used in products designed to produce or save energy. Research in earth-abundant materials, which are relatively much cheaper, is a growing field. Adusumilli’s work has been in the synthesis of two such substances for use in thin-film solar cells: iron pyrite (aka “fool’s gold”) and zinc phosphide. Charles R. Westgate, director of CASP, says Adusumilli has won numerous student poster contests and drawn attention from colleagues at prestigious universities for his findings. “He has been successful in achieving high-quality films and nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes and is now optimizing their growth for solar cells,” Westgate says. Unless the price of raw materials drops, solar energy will not be an appealing option for homeowners, Adusumilli says. “When people put in a solar roof, they think, ‘How long is the payback?’ and, if it’s 20 years …” he says, trailing off with a knowing shrug. Much of CASP’s funding comes from government agencies, but the center “tries to have communication with industry. Companies like IBM and GE — they know what is needed,” says Adusumilli, who sees himself as a research scientist with a U.S. company after graduation. “Since my childhood, I’ve had the image of me in a research lab coat.”

— Barb Van Atta

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

The first product commercialized at the CAMM was a catheter system, and Sammakia envisions the center playing a role in future healthcare research. “S3IP’s role in healthcare research will be tied to electronics,” he says.

ENGINEER TESTS NEW MATERIALS FOR USE IN LOW-COST SOLAR CELLS

COVER STORY

CREATING A SOLAR CELL The process in seven steps

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

1 Researchers at Binghamton’s Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP) create solar cells using copper zinc tin sulfide, known as CZTS. These cells are different from the technology now on the market in that they are made from materials that are abundant on earth (and thus far less expensive than, say, gallium, another common ingredient in solar cells). What they have in common with many existing technologies is that they’re diodes: components with an anode and a cathode, between which a current flows in one direction.

1. The scientists begin with a glass slide coated with

molybdenum, a metal with an extremely high melting point.

2. The four component materials (copper, zinc, tin and sulfide) are deposited onto the glass in layers in a sputtering chamber.

3. The cell is annealed, in a heating process akin to baking. At this point, the positive side of the diode is ready.

4. Now it’s time to prepare the negative part of the diode,

which is almost 10 times thinner than the positive (CZTS) layer. Using chemical-bath deposition, a layer of cadmium sulfide is applied to the cell. (If you think of the positive side of the solar cell as a layer cake, this step is the frosting.)

COVER STORY

7 6 5. Next, transparent conducting oxide is applied, using a sputtering system or atomic layer deposition.

6. At this point, scientists create a grid that they call “fingers,” 7. Now the cell is ready for testing. Solar cells are evaluated

based on the percentage of available solar energy that they convert to electricity. The materials CASP is using have the potential to reach 30 percent efficiency. A breakthrough like that would make solar energy a better option than coal or nuclear power.

Watch as Charles R. Westgate, director of the Center for Autonomous Solar Power, explains how CASP tackles scientific challenges to reduce the cost of solar power. Scan this code or visit go.binghamton.edu/solar.

A typical CASP cell is about 1 centimeter long and half a centimeter wide, with several layers so tiny that each is about a hundred times thinner than a single human hair.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

providing a wire so the cell can be attached to a device.

COVER STORY

Siyi Zhou aspires to improve the way electronics and even spacecraft function with her research. “People’s lives will be changed by engineers,” the Binghamton doctoral student says. “Maybe someday I can see my designs in real products.” Zhou’s work focuses on numerical simulations of electronic packaging and thermal management. She aims to develop a numerical, multiphysics approach to mitigate fluid and thermal issues for microprocessors. Zhou also studies emerging energy-conversion devices. High-density electronic devices have caused a sharp increase in heat-removal requirements, she notes, and traditional cooling methods can’t meet this need. The search for alternative methods leads in turn to challenges in electronics packaging and microprocessor cooling. “My work is focused on liquid-cooled microchannel heat sinks, which offer a new way to keep chips in high-performance computers from overheating,” says Zhou, who has validated her model with prior experimental data. “I hope I can provide some guidelines for real practice.” Another aspect of her work centers on thermoelectric generators, which convert thermal energy into electric power. The current efficiency of such generators is around 5 percent. Zhou thinks her work could increase that to 7 or 8 percent.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

“It has lots of applications, like in spacecraft, where energy from the natural decay of plutonium could generate power,” she says. “It also could change vehicles, where the temperature difference between exhaust and coolant could be used to turn waste heat energy into electric power.” Zhou earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China before deciding to pursue further graduate work in the United States. She expects to defend her dissertation in mechanical engineering this year and hopes to go to work in U.S. industry after graduation. Bahgat Sammakia, vice president for research at Binghamton and director of the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center, has mentored Zhou. “When I give her a research assignment,” he says, “she surprises me with her ideas and things she has discovered on her own. She has solved some really difficult problems related to electrical and mechanical engineering and fluid dynamics. She’s absolutely brilliant.”

— Rachel Coker

Mark Poliks, CAMM technical director and R&D director for Endicott Interconnect, agrees. “There is a huge opportunity for advanced diagnostic and therapeutic medical electronics for use both in and out of the body: high-definition ultrasound probes, wearable MRI coils, neural stimulation, retinal implants and more,” Poliks says. “Even relatively simple monitoring devices such as heart monitors, oxygen sensors or glucose monitors could be reduced to a comfortable-to-wear Band-Aid patch complete with a wireless interface.” Looking to the future

In addition to healthcare, smart energy is a key focus of research at Binghamton. That emphasis is evident in the work done by the Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP) and the Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2). At CASP, scientists are working to improve thin-film solar cells, build next-generation supercapacitors, conduct reliability studies and develop thermoelectric cells that expand on the fraction of the sun’s energy captured by most solar technology. Laboratories around the world are engaged in a game of one-upmanship to build ever more efficient solar cells, says Charles R. Westgate, CASP director. Binghamton researchers have entered this race, focusing on cells made with copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS), which is less costly than the materials used in most cells now

! Small-scale systems research at Binghamton leads to new and improved products as well as new jobs.

Corning Inc.

STUDENT RISES TO CHALLENGES OF COOLING COMPUTER CHIPS

COVER STORY

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Corning Inc. collaborated with Binghamton’s Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing to evaluate Willow Glass, a flexible glass that’s about as thin as a business card. Watch “A Day Made of Glass 2” at http://bit.ly/xITx1H to see Corning’s vision for the future of this and other glass technologies.

COVER STORY

on the market. “Among universities, we’re now No. 1,” he says. The greatest barrier to more widespread use of solar power in the United States is cost, Westgate notes. The development of solar cells from materials that are easier to extract from the earth should address cost concerns and result in processes that are less harmful to the environment. “We’re meeting only about 1 or 2 percent of our energy needs from solar energy,” he says. “A reasonable goal is to increase that to about 10 percent in the next decade and about 20 percent in the long term.”

ES2, meanwhile, unites researchers from computer science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and other disciplines in pursuit of “green” data centers. The goal is to reduce energy consumption without sacrificing computing power. “The whole is bigger than the sum of the parts,” says Kanad Ghose, ES2 site director and chair of the Department of Computer Science at Binghamton. “The center takes a holistic approach when it considers computing, thermal and other challenges.” ES2 is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Re-

search Center with nearly two dozen industry partners, including IBM, Microsoft and Facebook. The center will soon open a data center that’s also a “living laboratory” where new products and ideas can be tested. “Companies can come in, develop bestpractice solutions and evaluate them,” Ghose says. “We’ll be developing standards for industry in this lab.” ES2 researchers will help companies establish the right amount of cooling for a given number of servers, identify new ways to recover and use the waste heat from data centers, and suggest new methods of designing data centers to maximize efficiency.

2004 S3IP designated a High Technology Commercialization Center by New York state.

1991

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC) designated a National Science Foundation State/Industry/ University Cooperative Research Center.

2005

2006

2007

S3IP designated a NASA National Center of Excellence.

S3IP named a New York State Center of Excellence.

Analytical and Diagnostics Laboratory (ADL) opens.

2003 1993 IEEC named a New York State Center of Advanced Technology.

The Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center (S3IP) established as part of the University’s strategic plan to develop multidisciplinary research.

2005 The Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing (CAMM) is founded when S3IP wins contract from the United States Display Consortium (now the FlexTech Alliance) to build a national R&D center for roll-to-roll flexible electronics.

COVER STORY

“We have projects that have shortterm consequences as well as projects that have significant long-term consequences,” Ghose says. “The research covers the spectrum from chip-level work to entire data centers. Our goal is to do long-term research and develop technology that can be translated into the real world.” ES2 also offers interdisciplinary training for graduate students. The research center is quite new, but graduates have already gone on to positions with industry giant Intel. “The United States has to invest in computing technology to stay com-

petitive,” he adds. “The future of the country is at stake. Already, some of the fastest computers are in China and not in the U.S.” At Binghamton University, campus, state and federal investments are evident in a new facility for S3IP. The Center of Excellence will move this year into a $30 million, 114,000-square-foot space that will allow it to expand and consolidate its operations. ES2 will use the facility itself as a lab for “smart buildings,” testing ways to reduce energy consumption through smart lighting, natural cooling and other “green” innovations.

The building will connect other facilities at Binghamton’s Innovative Technologies Complex focused on biotechnology and engineering as well as a future R&D facility to be devoted to smart energy. “The S3IP building is going to be the virtual bridge between engineering and science,” Sammakia says. “The IEEC has always done that. Now we will have this building and these labs, and we expect that faculty from chemistry and biology, physics and math will come and partner with engineering.” — Rachel Coker

2011

2008 Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP) established.

Center for Energy-Smart Electronic Systems (ES2) designated a National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center.

2010

S3IP scheduled to move into its new $30 million building at Binghamton’s Innovative Technologies Complex.

Nanofabrication Laboratory (NLAB) opens. 21

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

2013

COVER STORY

A NEW HOME FOR THE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

The new $30 million, 114,000-square-foot Center of Excellence building will provide space for expansion and consolidation of the Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging Center (S3IP) and its interdisciplinary teams of scientists and engineers. The two-story glass, metal and stone building will feature versatile laboratory space and offices that support Binghamton University’s expanding industry partnerships. The building, due to open this year at the Innovative Technologies Complex, is expected to meet the standards for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification. Four 50,000-gallon rainwater collection tanks were buried under the parking lot. The tanks will collect runoff from the entire complex and from the parking lots, which will be pumped into the building for use in toilets. When it rains, water will also run directly into a small pond from the barrel-vaulted roof. “It’s a great cost savings for the University, and it’s a savings for the town because all that extra water won’t have to be processed,” says Mike Frisina, an architect and construction site representative. “Not only that, but when you decrease the water that’s going into the system, you’re decreasing the maintenance costs and so on. It’s a snowball effect.” Two naturally ventilated atriums separate the three “pods” of the building. Artificially cooling and heating these spaces would be costly. Instead, the building will have windows with temperature and humidity sensors. The windows will open and close automatically to minimize the need for air conditioning and heating.

COVER STORY

Among the building’s numerous “green” features is a design that maximizes the use of natural light.

A 150-seat symposium hall will provide space for lectures and conferences.

Watch a flyover of the architect’s plans for the Center of Excellence building at go.binghamton.edu/s3iptour or scan this code.

The new data center will be a living lab where industry standards can be tested and developed.

Mitochondrial

Our mitochondria use the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe to produce energy. It’s vital to our survival, and yet sometimes this process goes awry. Every year, about 4,000 children in the United States are born with an inherited mitochondrial disorder — that is, their cells can’t produce energy properly. The resulting byproducts may damage organs and cause developmental delays, seizures and even blindness. 24

A. Barry Dowsett/Photo Researchers Inc.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Biologist Heather Fiumera investigates how genetic mismatches contribute to devastating metabolic disorders

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

YEAST AS A MODEL SPECIES Why do scientists study yeast, a single-celled fungus, when they want to learn more about human genetics? Yeast, like mice and fruit flies, is a “model species,” one that shares certain important traits with humans even though it appears to be quite different. Yeast grows quickly and costs little to maintain; its genes are also relatively easy to manipulate. Heather Fiumera uses Saccharomyces cerevisiae in her experiments.

Fiumera and her colleagues received a $1.25 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

to explore the importance of these genetic interactions. The five-year grant will help Fiumera scale up the studies she is already doing in yeast. “We’re swapping mitochondrial genomes and seeing if it affects how our yeasts grow,” Fiumera says. “And we are finding that it really matters.” Kristi Montooth, a biologist at the University of Indiana, says the work may help to illuminate why metabolic diseases are so variable and unpredictable. “There are mutations in mitochondrial genomes that, on their own, don’t have a negative effect,” she says. “But brought together with certain nuclear genomes, there’s a synergistic effect that causes them to function badly.” The problem goes back to the evolutionary origins of the mitochondrion. Scientists believe that a mitochondrion has its own DNA because it was once a free-living bacterium that was engulfed by another cell. But instead of becoming dinner, the mitochondrion was co-opted to provide energy for its predator. The two cells managed to work together and, over time, became dependent upon one another. Mitochondria have inserted some of their genes into the nucleus, and the nucleus uses protein messen-

gers to control how much energy the mitochondrion produces and how it does its job. It may be that the two genomes are still co-evolving and still learning the best ways to live together peacefully. “Heather’s exploiting a lot of the genetic and genomic tools that yeast offers to take this to the next level,” says David Rand, who studies the coevolution of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes at Brown University. “The ability for Heather’s experiment to track down the interactions is going to be quite powerful.” Yeast is a single-celled fungus with some powerful genetic tools that allow Fiumera to mix and match mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Are there special combinations that allow better mitochondrial performance? Does “strain A” work better with mitochondrion 1 while

! Heather Fiumera’s experiments with yeast genetics may yield new treatments for people with metabolic disorders.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Binghamton University biologist Heather Fiumera thinks that some of those health problems may lie in the fact that mitochondrial function requires the cooperation of two different genomes. Every human inherits two genomes: one in the cell’s nucleus, which is a mix of mom and dad’s DNA, and a different one in the mitochondria (the cell’s powerhouse), which contains a replica of mom’s mitochondrial DNA. “It may be that some combinations of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes work together more efficiently than others,” Fiumera says. “While mutations in either genome may affect mitochondrial function, they don’t explain the whole story. You might inherit a mitochondrial genome that helps you become a world-class marathon runner, but your brother” — who would have the exact same mitochondrial genome as you — “might not be as successful, even with the same training.” Similarly, a mitochondrial mutation may cause a severe metabolic disorder in one sibling, but mild symptoms in another, because of how the mitochondrial mutation interacts with their different nuclear DNAs.

“You have to understand the mechanism behind a problem before you can fix the problem.” — Heather Fiumera, assistant professor of biological sciences

“strain B” works better with mitochondrion 2? Fiumera will decide which combinations thrive best by subjecting her yeasts to a variety of unpleasant environments — including heat stress, oxidative stress and low-nutrient conditions — and measuring how well the mito-nuclear hybrid strains grow.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Montooth says previous studies have focused on swapping mitochondria between different species of yeast. But by looking at the variation within just one species and exploring how that variation relates to dysfunction, Fiumera’s work is more relevant for studying human disease.

DNA: The chemical name for the molecule that carries genetic instructions in all living things Genome: The genetic material of an organism Mitochondria: Cellular sub-compartments that convert food and oxygen into energy

So far, Fiumera’s preliminary studies have shown that the mitochondrialnuclear interactions are responsible for as much as 20 percent of the differences in growth rates between strains. “That’s huge,” she says. Until now, Fiumera and her team have managed to look at the interactions among only a handful of strains. The NIH grant will help to buy laboratory equipment that will measure growth rates in about 200 samples at once, helping Fiumera to test hundreds of different yeast strains. She predicts they will collect more than 10,000 growth rates in just the initial phase of the project. The second part of the experiment will be to map the genes involved in determining whether a combination is effective or ineffective. Fiumera says she’d eventually like to see whether beneficial combinations are more common in wild yeast populations; if mitochondrial-nuclear interactions are as important as biologists expect, it is likely that natural selection favors different combinations in different environments.

Mutation: A change in a DNA sequence Nucleus: The structure that holds most of a cell’s DNA

But Fiumera won’t be doing all of this work alone. “This project is a marriage between yeast genet-

ics and population biology, and it is enhanced by my actual marriage to a population geneticist,” she jokes, referring to her husband, Binghamton biologist Anthony Fiumera, who will be collaborating on the project. Binghamton computer scientist Kenneth Chiu will lend his expertise to help the biologists parse through huge data sets. Since energy production is so vital to a cell’s functioning, mitochondrial genes and machinery tend to be highly similar in organisms as far flung as yeast and humans. That allows Fiumera to hope that one day her research will be used to devise treatments for people who are suffering from debilitating metabolic disorders. “You have to understand the mechanism behind a problem,” she says, “before you can fix the problem.” — Sarah Fecht

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Biologist Heather Fiumera’s experiments help to untangle the mystery behind the interactions of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA.

ith the w o

Binghamt on new analysis A ic thought reverses 30 y m o ear s of econ

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

a on groundw

ter manageme

Two farmers plant alfalfa. One doesn’t worry about his water supply; he can use as much as he wants on his crop. The other also can use all the water he wants, but he has to pay a tax on it. Who is likely to make more money? If your answer is the first farmer, you are in good company. For decades, economists could find no monetary benefit to managing access to groundwater. But, as researchers at Binghamton have proven, you and all those economists are wrong.

“If you take a straw and suck some water from a glass, you can see the level of the water dropping evenly,” Khanna says. “But that doesn’t happen in an aquifer. The water is flowing through the materials in the soil: the sand, the clay and so on. It’s more like when you take a sip of a smoothie through a straw. You can sometimes see a little depression right around the straw. And that’s what happens with groundwater around a well.”

A different approach

Models in the economics literature have treated the physics of water flow in a simplistic way, notes Khanna’s colleague Andreas Pape, assistant professor of economics at Binghamton. The traditional method — the “bathtub model” — supposes that when you draw water from an aquifer, the water level drops evenly though-

! Binghamton University economists predict increased profits for farmers in aquifers that implement a water-management system, contradicting 30 years of accepted wisdom on the subject.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

“We know that groundwater is a problem around the world,” environmental economist Neha Khanna says. “Groundwater is being depleted. You can talk to anybody on the street and they’ll say, ‘I know that, and we need to start thinking about it.’ Strangely, though, economists have always believed that if we put in some sort of system to manage water, it wouldn’t lead to much gain in terms of overall welfare. We have pretty much ignored the issue.”

In the 1980s, several prominent economists analyzed the possibilities. They found such marginal gains from managing access to groundwater that it became an established result among economists: There’s no reason to implement water-management systems. They even gave it a name, the Gisser and Sanchez Effect, after the authors of a seminal 1980 paper.

out. But a bathtub is a poor stand-in for an aquifer, he says. For one thing, the depth of the water is irregular because water moves gradually through the ground rather than instantly like a giant underground pool. Changes in the type of rock or soil surrounding the water also affect how quickly the water flows through the ground.

“ Now we can say it’s important to manage water. But the next question is, ‘How do we manage that water?’ As an economist, the ultimate driver for me is a desire to affect policy.” — Neha Khanna, associate professor, economics and environmental studies

Hydrological models, on the other hand, do a much better job of mapping and predicting water flow in aquifers. Such models are of vital importance to states that rely heavily on agriculture, and these states often employ hydrologists who study water resources in great detail. Their models, however, don’t generally take economic concerns into account. For example, Khanna says, these calculations wouldn’t be concerned with how “expensive” water is; that is, whether it is easily accessible or must be pumped from a great depth.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

An interdisciplinary team at Binghamton set out to build an economic model with a more sophisticated view of the physics of water flow, one

Agent: Someone who reacts to changes in the cost and availability of a product or service Aquifer: An underground layer of soil or rock through which water flows Hydrogeology: The study of the distribution and management of groundwater Model: A simplified economic framework that uses mathematical and computational techniques to understand or predict complex processes

that could take advantage of the latest geographic information systems (GIS) data. Economists Khanna and Pape were joined by their doctoral student, Todd Guilfoos, as well as hydrologist Karen Salvage. What they came up with combines an optimization model — that’s the traditional economics piece — and a simulation model, which is where the hydrogeology comes in. Tying it all together was Pape’s expertise in agent-based modeling, a technique that’s becoming more mainstream even though its use in economics is still fairly new. After developing confidence in the model during trials with hypothetical scenarios, they were ready for a reallife challenge. Guilfoos settled on California’s Central Valley Aquifer, where Bakersfield is the major population center. Kern County, Calif., had GIS maps that included detail about which crops were being grown. Some crops use more water than others — alfalfa needs more water than carrots, for example — Guilfoos says, and that information was used as a proxy for demand for water in the model. They also included information on well location, long-term precipitation that recharges the aquifer and much more. With help from Kevin Heard, assistant director of

Binghamton’s GIS Campus Core Facility, the economists imported these GIS maps into their model. “Twenty years ago, maybe even 10 years ago, we didn’t have the computing power to do this,” Khanna says. But these new tools provide a way to reexamine issues in economics, even ones that seem to have been settled definitively. One scenario in the Binghamton model supposes there’s no management: Farmers take as much water as they want. The other, Pape says, involves taxing the water extracted at each well to curb overuse of the aquifer. “Then,” he says, “we compare the long-term profits of the farmers under the two scenarios and measure the difference.” The findings

Previous work showed very small gains from water-management plans. The new model shows savings of several magnitudes higher when the hydrogeology is taken into consideration. It predicts increased profits for Kern County farms involved in a water-management system — over the course of perhaps 80 years. “That’s how far into the future we’re looking,” Guilfoos says, “but they actually start to see profits much, much earlier than that, within a decade or so.”

Binghamton University â&#x20AC;˘ BINGHAMTON RESEARCH â&#x20AC;˘ Spring/Summer 2013

Binghamton economists Andreas Pape, left, and Neha Khanna, right, worked with doctoral student Todd Guilfoos, center, to build a more realistic economic model of an aquifer.

Farmers understand at one level that they have an impact on each other, he says, but because aquifers are so large, the individual farmers don’t necessarily see that their use has much of an effect on water levels. The model shows that heavy users would receive more benefits from a management system, he says.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

And when the economists talk about “benefits,” they mean actual dollars and cents, not just a feeling of moral superiority: “We found that there is, in fact, a lot to be gained in terms of economic welfare from managing water,” Khanna says. How is that possible? Pape puts it this way: “Let’s say there are two neighboring farmers. Each is trying to decide, ‘Should I withdraw another gallon of water today?’ Suppose that if he does, he adds $1 to his future pumping costs and $1 to the pumping costs of his neighbor. So the public cost — the total social cost — of the pumping is $2, but the private cost — the cost facing just him — is $1. Left to his own devices, the farmer will consider the cost to be $1 and impose the extra cost on his neighbor. Since pumping

seems cheap to him ($1 instead of $2), he pumps more than he would otherwise. However, his neighbor is making the same decision! As a result, they both impose extra costs on each other. Both neighbors would be better off if they chose to pump less, that is, if they recognized that the cost of pumping is $2, not simply $1. The policy remedy in this case, therefore, is to assign a tax of $1. Then both farmers will be deterred from overdrawing water, making them both better off.” The tax is essentially a tool to bring about the conservation of water, Guilfoos notes. “This conservation of water decreases the cost of extracting water in the future, and people don’t have an incentive to save water for the future on their own,” he says. “Conserving water reduces farmers’ profits now but increases the farmers’ total profit in the long run. And we demonstrate that conserving groundwater can be significant to long-term profits, which is new to economics.” As the group begins to look at other aquifers, Guilfoos says, they are see-

ing some variations. “The significance of the gains depends on the aquifer,” he notes. “We did find significant gains in Kern County. We found small overall gains in another aquifer in Pecos, Texas. Not all aquifers are going to have large gains; it depends on the dynamics of demand, well placement and how fast the water moves.” Guilfoos has presented the Kern County research at several conferences, and the team recently submitted a paper to Environmental and Resource Economics, a flagship European journal, for review. Guilfoos is focusing on new data from Kansas now. Through the Kansas Water Office, he obtained detailed maps on well location, soil types and crops. This has enabled him to develop detailed economic models for the Kansas section of the Ogallala aquifer, the largest in the United States. Policy implications

“Now we can say it’s important to manage water,” Khanna says. “But the next question is, ‘How do we manage that water?’ As an economist, the ultimate driver for me is a desire to affect policy.”

As the team looks to policy recommendations, they’ll try to assess what can be done reasonably, given the current economic and political environment. Which policy should be pursued? Should there be a price for water? Should states consider managing well locations? How do you get the stakeholders to talk to one another, especially when the boundaries of an aquifer don’t necessarily line up with county or state lines?

Once there’s an American example, Khanna envisions putting the research into practice in arid regions of countries such as China, India and Spain. She says, quite simply: “We need to look at this collectively.” — Rachel Coker

The phenomenon explored by the Binghamton researchers is known as the “tragedy of the commons,” economist Andreas Pape explains. The commons were a plot of land in the center of British villages, where all families were free to bring their livestock to graze. The tragedy of the commons is that when each family is left to its own devices, all of the families use the commons too much: The commons are destroyed by overgrazing. How can the tragedy be prevented? One way is through private property: If the commons were divided into individual parcels, then each family would have an incentive not to overgraze its own land. Another way is by making families pay a fee whenever they wish to graze their livestock. If the fee is chosen correctly, it will curb all of the families’ activities in such a way that the commons will not be destroyed. This has the possibility of making all families better off, because they have a commons that can be used in perpetuity. The same problem occurs with farmers and aquifers: The commons in this setting is basically the water in the aquifer. Each farmer, left to his own devices, will draw too much, and the aquifer will run low. If the farmers are charged a fee in proportion to how much water they draw from the aquifer, it will stop the overdrawing of the aquifer. In the same way, it will make them all better off because the aquifer will not run dry. This “fee” is called a tax.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Guilfoos notes that the implementation need not be mandated from the top down. There are lots of ways to manage water resources, he says, from the local level up to the federal level. He and his colleagues do see an opportunity to influence policy, likely starting with the Kansas project, as there’s already the political will there to make changes.

A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD PHENOMENON

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Immigrant INSIGHTS Binghamton researchers explore strengths, needs of Asian-Americans

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

An immigrant’s cultural background may yield valuable clues about what that person needs to live a happy, wellbalanced life. But professionals who work with immigrants should treat those clues with care: It’s not productive to draw conclusions based solely on ethnic heritage.

“ When I started in social work, I heard, ‘Everybody is unique.’ Sometimes people forget that.” — Suk-Young Kang, assistant professor of social work

The work of three Binghamton researchers, all raised in South Korea, demonstrates that the needs of Asian immigrants in the United States are more complex and nuanced than many have assumed. These researchers offer important insights to social workers, teachers and others who try to help individual immigrants thrive.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

What they find is more important than ever: Asians recently passed Hispanics as the largest group of new immigrants to the United States. In 2011, Asian-Americans numbered a record 18.2 million, or 5.8 percent of the total U.S. population, up from less than 1 percent in 1965, according to data published by the Pew Research Center. Outside the enclaves

“Researchers like me try to categorize people,” says Suk-Young Kang, assistant professor of social work, who studies the needs of elderly people as well as the needs of Asian immigrants. Categories can be tricky, though. Not only does each immigrant group have distinct needs, but even people who come to the United States from the same country may

live through different versions of the immigrant experience.

— about interactions with their local healthcare systems.

Kang grew curious about immigrant diversity after working with elderly Korean immigrants in Chicago for several years, and while helping his dissertation chair at Columbia University with a monograph on the healthcare needs of Asian immigrants in New York City. The findings of that study might also apply in Los Angeles, Chicago or Toronto — cities with large Asian-American populations. But what about immigrants living more isolated lives?

Preliminary findings show that small communities of Asian-American elders face different challenges than their counterparts in cities with big Asian populations. Language is one key concern.

“There are small numbers of people who live outside the major metropolitan areas, where they don’t have access to the resources of ethnic enclaves,” Kang says. Few of their neighbors speak their language, eat their food or understand their culture. “I wondered if they lived differently.” Kang started to explore that question while working at Arizona State University. He interviewed 240 elderly Arizona residents — half of them born in Korea and half born in China

“In New York City, they can see doctors who speak Korean or Chinese,” Kang says. But in Arizona, Asianborn patients usually rely on phonebased translation services. And translators often miss the finer points of the language. “The interpreters aren’t familiar with nuances such as honorifics” — for example, the right verb form to use when addressing an older person, Kang says. Offended by such blunders, some elders refuse to use translation services. That makes it hard to get medical attention or to make use of what might be valuable information.

Besides Asian-American immigrants outside urban Chinatowns and Koreatowns, Kang is curious about at

least two other ethnic subgroups — the tiny number of immigrants in the United States who hail from North Korea as well as Korean-speaking immigrants from China. He also hopes one day to add an Asian-American perspective to another important strand of his research: exploring ways to reduce stress on people who care for elderly family members. Kang’s findings demonstrate that while heritage is important, it’s a complex factor. Social workers who are developing intervention plans shouldn’t assume too much based on what they think they know about their clients’ backgrounds.

What caregivers want

If geography may help shape an immigrant’s needs, so may a person’s role in his or her household. Consider a Korean-American immigrant caring for a loved one with dementia. Depending on whether the patient is the caregiver’s parent or

Most studies of relatives who care for dementia patients focus on the burdens that those caregivers endure, Lee says. But according to a study she conducted, many caregivers also draw satisfaction from the work. Lee surveyed 85 Korean-American caregivers in Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago to learn what factors made caregiving a positive experience. She assumed that culture would play a key role: The more a person held to Asian values, with their emphasis on family ties, the better he or she would feel about caregiving. That initial hypothesis was wrong. “It turned out that culture was not that important,” Lee says. Far more

crucial was the way in which relatives and friends pitched in to help with patient care and household chores. “When Korean caregivers have quality social support, it influences their positive appreciation of caregiving,” she says. Lee next decided to find out more about the roles of culture and social support. She was curious about what kinds of support caregivers wanted most. To that end, she conducted in-depth interviews with eight Korean-American caregivers in Flushing, N.Y.

! A more nuanced understanding of AsianAmerican immigrants and their needs will aid healthcare providers, social workers, teachers and others who serve this growing population.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

“When I started in social work, I heard, ‘Everybody is unique,’” Kang says. “Sometimes people forget that.”

spouse, the caregiver will feel different pressures, gain different rewards and seek entirely different kinds of help, says Youjung Lee, an assistant professor of social work at Binghamton.

Youjung Lee, an assistant professor of social work, examines the roles of culture and social support in the lives of caregivers.

That’s where the differences emerged between people caring for husbands or wives and people caring for parents.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Spouses, Lee discovered, see dementia care not as a blessing or curse, but simply as a feature of the marriage compact. And those older caregivers don’t wish for a great deal of day-to-day help. What they really want is medical information in Korean, to help them provide better care. For grown Korean-born children, the job of tending to a parent with dementia comes as one more duty on top of others, such as earning a living and caring for children of their own. These caregivers may feel overwhelmed. But they also feel good about helping their elders, Lee says: “They are fulfilling the expectations of Asian culture that they should be good daughters, sons or daughters-in-law.”

Because they speak English, younger caregivers have an easier time negotiating the healthcare system. Still, juggling elder care, child care and outside employment, all while living with a foot in each of two cultures, causes a great deal of stress. “They need more specialized and individualized mental-health services,” Lee says. Like Kang, Lee cautions against oversimplification. All families are not alike — not even all immigrant families from South Korea. “We need to investigate the level of acculturation, their relationship to the U.S. community, their level of income, their level of education in America,” she says. “All those factors should be taken into consideration when we assess an immigrant family and each family member.” From anger to gratitude

Hyeyoung Kang also emphasizes the positive side of the immigrant fam-

ily experience. It’s a poorly understood subject, since studies of minority families so often concentrate on challenges and conflicts, says Kang, an assistant professor of human development. Much of her research aims to fill that gap by exploring relationships between immigrant children and their parents. She’s also interested in what factors contribute to these individuals’ resilience. There are certainly occasions for conflict in immigrant families. “They’re usually starting life here at the bottom,” Kang says. “They need a lot of support from family members.” For example, parents who don’t speak English rely on their children to help them transact business outside their own communities. Many Korean-American parents put in long hours running small businesses rather than nurturing children at home. Because of their cultural background and busy work life, they may eschew the open, affectionate communications that Americans consider the norm, while demand-

Hyeyoung Kang, an assistant professor of human development, explores the relationships between immigrant children and their parents.

ing unquestioning obedience and hard work from their kids. One of the most common complaints Kang hears from Korean-American young people is that their parents expect them to earn straight A’s. Given those pressures, and the cultural gap between foreign-born parents and their U.S.-raised children, one might expect bitter feelings to endure as children grow into adulthood and away from their roots.

In research she conducted with colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Kang surveyed and interviewed Korean immigrant families and adolescents as well as Korean-American young adults, ages 18-25. Most of those subjects said

One phrase that kept coming up, Kang says, was “parental sacrifice.” The young people often attributed positive meaning to their challenging past experiences with their parents. For example, they would say, “My parents were unavailable because they gave up their life to provide for me so that I can live a better life than them,” instead of staying bitter about their parents’ absence early in their life. Some, Kang says, come to embrace their elders’ vision. “They say, ‘My parents came here so that I could be successful in this country. I have to work hard and give back.’” This evolution comes in part because Korean-American children mature cognitively, gain physical distance from their parents and are exposed to a dense ethnic peer network as

they leave their teens and enter their 20s. However, Kang notes, there are some Korean-American youth who feel pressured and continue to stay disconnected or bitter toward their parents. In future studies, Kang hopes to extend this research to other immigrant populations, especially Latinos. One lesson Kang draws from her findings is that the ingredients that make up a “normal” family experience vary greatly. “For example, we often hear that it’s important for parents to communicate with their children and express affection,” she says. “But these kids stay connected to their parents and maintain positive relations despite previous challenges.” — Merrill Douglas

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Not so, says Kang. “There seems to be a transformation during the transition from adolescence to young adulthood.” During that period, some of the very behavior that made kids’ blood boil when they were teens — the demands for perfect report cards, the weekends spent working at the family business — often begins to inspire gratitude and affection.

that, yes, they had often resented their parents in the past. But now they saw their upbringing in a more positive light.

GRADUATE RESEARCH

Researcher finds merit in shareholder lawsuits Seonghee Han examines the relationship between insider trading and shareholder lawsuits. These controversial lawsuits can be seen as a direct way for shareholders to protect themselves. But they can also be viewed as frivolous and overly numerous, with attorneys filing lawsuits based solely on a drop in stock price preceded by an insider sale.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

“Settlement amounts are not trivial to firms, so it’s important to know the determinants of litigation risk. That’s what financial literature tries to do,” says Han, who earned a master’s degree in statistics at Yale University before coming to Binghamton’s School of Management as a doctoral candidate. Previous research on the relationship between insider stock sales and the risk of litigation has been inconclusive, Han says. She thinks that’s because previous studies covered too small a sample period and looked too broadly at insider trading. In her work, Han narrowed the focus by breaking out insider trading by high-level managers, namely, chief executive officers and chief financial officers, and whether these trades were based on a normal trading pattern. Her research covers more than 90,000 insider trades and 1,700 lawsuits during a 15-year period. “What we’ve found out is that only ‘opportunistic’ trades by high-level managers increase litigation risks when the stock price drops,” Han says.

Han’s research is important because she has found that plaintiffs seriously evaluate the potential for opportunistic trading and don’t blindly link insider sales before a crash in stock value with fraud, says Murali Jagannathan, an associate professor of finance and Han’s dissertation adviser. This conclusion calls into question contentions that lawsuits are mostly frivolous and, as such, has policy implications for lawmakers who may be looking at regulations to make it more difficult to file shareholder lawsuits, he says. Han’s methodical approach is a great strength in her research, Jagannathan says. “A lot of people are very interested in finding out what happens, but to actually do the work, with the detail needed, is kind of boring,” he says. “She does a good job in terms of being exact and always thinking about not making mistakes.” Han became interested in the world of finance and an academic career after taking business courses while studying journalism at Ewha Women’s University in South Korea. She’s driven by her desire to do empirical research. “Without numbers you can’t show anything. You just have to guess,” she says. “But you can convince others with numbers.”

— George Basler

GRADUATE RESEARCH

Political scientist tracks foreign policy, human rights Michael Flynn grew up listening to his father and grandfather — both active and interested in community politics — debate and sometimes argue political ideology. And they shared a political party. Flynn took a more fact-based, analytical approach, which he’s pursuing as a doctoral candidate in political science. “I like to step back from the heat of the fire,” he says, “and see what the evidence shows.”

“It’s a hopeful finding,” Flynn says, one that points straight at his research interest: political networks, the interaction of domestic and international politics and their intersection with human rights and conflict. The study, published in International Studies Quarterly, joins an analysis of domestic politics and their influence on military spending published in Foreign Policy Analysis. “U.S. foreign policy, especially since the Cold War, touches on so many issues,” Flynn says. And domestic and even individual political needs drive foreign policy, despite a separation promoted in American politics since George Washington was president.

“People, whether they be representatives or bureaucrats, have some kind of interest they’re seeking to advance,” Flynn says. Flynn’s work corrects how people view foreign relations, says Benjamin Fordham, Flynn’s doctoral committee chairman. “Most people tend to focus on international conditions” as driving foreign relations, says Fordham, a professor of political science. “But you can’t understand the whole situation until you understand the internal situation.” That’s a worldwide approach, but Flynn is supporting it with research into U.S. foreign policy operatives since World War II. Even now, Flynn admits to a certain bemusement at teaching a classroom of students who have no experience of the Cold War, who instead grew up with the threat of terrorism in their backyards. They’re often unaware of how the same institutions — banking interests, individual bureaucrats, international economic realities — affect or even create the world they live in. “I love that interconnectedness,” he says.

— Todd R. McAdam

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

What has that view shown him? Recently, it was an examination of efforts to shame nations that have a spotty record on human rights and whether multinational corporations distance themselves from those countries. He and colleagues found foreign corporate investment had a positive relationship with greater respect for human rights. Likewise, publicly shaming those countries led to reduced foreign investment.

Add to that the rise of the military-industrial complex in the 1950s, increased human rights awareness following World War II and U.S. involvement in world economic development, and quickly you see that foreign relations becomes domestic politics and vice versa.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Future doctor hones skills with laboratory projects Someday, Kathleen Clancy hopes to help fight the spread of infectious diseases overseas. The biochemistry major counts Paul Farmer of Partners in Health, which brings healthcare to developing nations, as an inspiration. “I’ve always thought that adequate healthcare should be a basic human right,” she says. “I would like to work abroad and help bring medical care to the world.” For now, the Minnesota native can often be found at work on one of several research projects.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Clancy studies hepatitis C and irritable bowel syndrome with Binghamton Gastroenterology Associates. With Binghamton University faculty member J. Koji Lum, she is part of a team exploring what may have led to drug resistance in malaria. “It has been a great experience,” says Clancy, adding that having multiple projects going at once helps with pacing. When one study hits a slow spot, she can focus on something else. She developed her own questionnaire for the hepatitis C study, in part to help target behaviors that may lead to infection. “Hepatitis C is an asymptomatic disease,” she says, “so if you can figure out the lifestyles that might lead to hepatitis C contraction, it will be easier for healthcare providers to test for it.” With Lum, Clancy has been amplifying regions of two malaria parasite genes implicated in drug resistance. She works with samples originally collected during the 1950s

through the 1980s, some of which are fairly degraded. Lum, a professor of biology and anthropology, says she’s one of the most capable undergraduates he has had in his lab. “I was really impressed with how fast she got up to speed on the background literature for her project,” he says. “She also picked up laboratory techniques very quickly and has good attention to detail.” Clancy’s voice rises with excitement as she describes her experiences, even when she’s talking about conducting polymerase chain reaction (PCR) experiments, a fairly mundane technique in molecular biology. “I love seeing the results,” she says. “You get your PCR back and see which samples worked.” Clancy, who enjoys photography, hiking and travel, seeks out challenges beyond the classroom as well. That could mean tracking down a diner undiscovered by other students or setting her sights on someplace a bit more exotic. In fact, the summer after she finished high school, Clancy climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with her mother. The idea was sparked by a video she saw in middle school. The lifelong soccer player says she practiced for the trip to Tanzania by hiking with a heavy pack at ski areas in the Midwest. Did the climb live up to expectations, after all those years of planning and saving her pennies? The indefatigable student answers with a laugh: “I was ready to go right back up as soon as we got down.”

— Rachel Coker

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Undergrad sets his sights on tissue engineering David Bassen wants to develop multiscale computational tools that integrate seamlessly to facilitate predictable tissue engineering and design. Tissue engineering is something Bassen has always been interested in, says the Binghamton senior, a recipient of a 2012-13 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. “It seemed like a common-sense solution to a lot of biomedical problems,” he says. “If your car engine seizes up, you drop in a new engine. If your liver becomes scarred, why can’t you just drop in a new liver? It’s obviously not that easy, but that would be optimal to trying to find a transplant and dealing with those issues.”

The Goldwater Scholarship, which includes a $7,500 annual award, honors exceptional undergraduate researchers who intend to enter math, science or engineering fields. Just 282 students nationwide received the honor. “For me, it’s about the prestige,” Bassen says. “My goal is to get a doctorate, and I appreciate anything that helps me toward that. Money is helpful, but if you want to be able to take (research) risks, you need to be credible. The value of getting the award is

Bassen, who enjoys linguistics and music, began working last spring with Gretchen Mahler, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Binghamton, on experimental tissue engineering. “He has been very motivated, enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with,” she says. Bassen also has spent time outside of the labs tutoring Dutchess Community College students in chemistry, physics and calculus. He serves as an executive board member for the Binghamton Bioengineers and helped prepare food for people who were displaced during extreme flooding in September 2011. For Bassen, who hopes to someday run his own laboratory, much of research is “being passionate about what you are doing” while finding balance in the work. “The responsibility comes down to you,” he says. “With research, you can feel free to fail. You could have an idea that’s lucrative, but doesn’t work in the end because of something you didn’t account for. So you’ve got to be realistic. You can’t always be the person with the crazy idea because nobody is going to listen. You need to demonstrate that you have a solid foundation.”

— Eric Coker

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Bassen began his research in 2011, taking part in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Wadsworth Center Laboratories at the New York State Department of Health. At Wadsworth, Bassen examined molecular mechanics models, constructed a sequence alignment of intein structures and developed three-dimensional visualizations of the intein-splicing mechanisms.

that it will give me a bit more leeway in what I try to do with my research.”

The ‘dark side’ at work

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

Q &A The use of personality tests in hiring is both common and controversial. Such tests consistently predict later job performance, though not with sufficient accuracy. Binghamton’s Seth Spain, an industrial psychologist, says employers should look beyond the characteristics these tests focus on — and consider the power of the dark side.

This interview was conducted and condensed by Rachel Coker.

Q: What traits do employers usually want to learn about before making a hiring decision? A: Most personality tests used by hiring managers measure a set of traits that have come to be known as the Big Five: neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness to experience. If I could choose between knowing whether somebody I was going to hire is really smart or really conscientious, I would take smart. It predicts a lot. But if I could find out about both, it would tell me something that just knowing someone’s smart cannot tell me. Testing for what we call “dark-side” traits is far less common, in part because they’re so stigmatized. Q: What traits do you put into that category? A: We’re talking about traits like psychopathy, narcissism and Machiavellianism. They lie in a middle ground between normal personality traits such as the Big Five and the clinical traits used to diagnose psychological pathologies. In my latest research, we’re extending the “dark side” to traits such as excitable, skeptical, mischievous and even dutiful. These subclinical traits are far more powerful in measuring someone’s job success than the Big Five, at least twice as useful in predicting performance. They’re doing a lot of heavy lifting. Taken together with the normal traits, we can make predictions that are about three times more accurate. The Big Five paradigm doesn’t cover a lot of our social reality. Q: What are some findings that have surprised you? A: Narcissists seem to develop faster as leaders, at least based on one sample we studied. Also, there’s something called the corresponsive principle. The best way I can sum it up is to say that people tend to change in the direction of who they are. If you’re highly extroverted, you’re more likely to seek leadership roles — and then you’re likely to become even more extroverted.

Q: How do you hope to see your research applied? A: My dad’s a mechanic and my mom was originally a hairstylist, so I come to this from a labor background. I’d like to use this work to help individual employees, to fight dysfunction by understanding it. Q: So your goal isn’t to build a better, more comprehensive test for use by hiring managers? A: No, I’d be reluctant to use these tests in hiring, given that personality changes over time. Organizations are going to hire people with dark traits, and some industries are going to be dealing with that more than others. We can develop programs and interventions that can help employees. I use a personnel-selection paradigm in my work, and the workplace is a really great laboratory for studying human behavior. It’s a more controlled environment than the world in general. But what I would really like to do is help people understand themselves and perhaps improve and develop in their current jobs or when they change jobs. Some of what we’re learning about personality, and especially personality change, can also help the long-term unemployed. Q: You have worked with the U.S. Army as well as police departments. What motivates those collaborations?

ABOUT SETH SPAIN Seth Spain was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln before joining the faculty of Binghamton’s School of Management in 2011. He holds a doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign, where he also completed his undergraduate work. Spain is a guest editor for a special issue of Applied Psychology: An International Review. The forthcoming journal will be titled Beyond the Bright Side: Dark Personality in the Workplace.

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

A: As a soldier, one of your biggest risk factors for being shot is the risk-taking behavior of the person in charge. Leadership has nontrivial consequences. This is true in the military, with cops and firefighters and in other places, like hospitals. Pretty simple leadership interventions can affect how many patients die in a hospital, for instance. That’s just by running a tighter, better functioning, slightly more communicative ship. They’re not huge effects, but we’re talking about life and death. I try to work in domains where I can see the consequences.

From the University Libraries

Lewis H. Brown served as a corporal in Company D of the 27th New York Regiment of Volunteer Infantry. In this letter, written by Brown to his brother Burritt Brown in July 1861, he describes his own battlefield performance. “I had some difficulty loading and firing my gun,” he wrote, “for it was something that I had never done before. You see we had to load and fire at the same time. Whether I killed anyone or not I cannot tell. I know one thing that is I tried hard to do so.”

Anna Wilcox, pictured at right, of Chenango County, N.Y., kept a wartime correspondence with several cousins who were serving in the Union Army. Some of these letters are in the University’s Anna E. Wilcox Collection. At left, a group portrait of Wilcox and John Pike (seated in the foreground) with Emma Rose Pike and Sarah E. Pike (standing).

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2013

This small diary, kept by Fred Walster in 1865, describes his experiences as an infantryman and includes numerous entries about Abraham Lincoln. This entry from April 15 begins “Great Calamity — Abraham Lincoln is dead.”

See a slideshow of additional documents, books and photographs from the Civil War era. Visit go.binghamton.edu/war or scan this code.

Non-Profit US Postage PAID Permit No. 61 Binghamton, NY

Division of Research PO Box 6000 Binghamton, New York 13902-6000 www.binghamton.edu research.binghamton.edu

Good grades may be contagious That’s right: A recent Binghamton study found that academic performance might be as infectious as that case of strep throat making the rounds at your child’s school. It’s just one of the fascinating findings you can learn about at Discover-e: discovere.binghamton.edu.