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In the Air

Airways in Mali, Niger, and Guinea carry current market data to farmers and traders in remote areas. Local staff visit markets; record prices for crops and livestock on solar-powered laptops; and e-mail the information by radio waves to regional offices where the data are compiled for broadcast. In Mali, where John Staatz and colleagues began the project, knowing when and where to sell for the best price helped millet farmers increase their income.

Gas and particulate emissions from animal feeding operations (AFOs) can cause unpleasant odors and even health problems for workers and nearby residents. Wendy Powers collects baseline emission data from AFOs and models the impact of factors like geography, climate, ventilation in the animal housing, growth cycle of the animals, and diet. She found that changing animal diets can control some emissions at the source.

Guofang Li is evaluating the results when e-learning pedagogy is blended with face-to-face education in a bilingual environment. Teachers in Chinese/English schools in Shanghai are using interactive multimedia social studies and literature modules and other electronic technologies for their students in grades 3-5. Such e-learning may help create a culturally and linguistically authentic environment, even in contexts lacking direct contact with the target language.

About 6 percent of children have a variant of the IL1RN gene that makes them more than four times as likely to develop asthma if their mothers smoked during pregnancy. Susan Ewart and colleagues in the UK found the genetic link to the kids’ environment through long-term studies of more than 900 children. Normally, IL1RN, the Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, provides anti-inflammatory activity; the variant may reduce that effect.

Genetic researchers study the distribution of genetic variations among racial/ethnic groups, hoping to explain racial/ethnic health disparities, but the practice is controversial. In open-ended interviews with genetic scientists, Linda Hunt found that the racial/ethnic variables they use are poorly defined and their methods of classification are arbitrary and implicit. Such socially constructed concepts may serve administrative or political purposes but lack sufficient rigor to be used as key variables in biological research.

Susan Ewart, associate professor of large animal clinical sciences, 517-432-2388,

Linda Hunt, associate professor of anthropology, 517-355-0114

Guofang Li, associate professor of teacher education, 517-432-9617

Wendy Powers, professor of animal science, 517-432-3849

John Staatz, professor of agricultural economics, 517-355-1519