Research Roundup-By the MSU Research Office-Sensing impulses-Classy conference-Alcohol survey-Not in the stars

Sensing impulses

Discovering how sensory neurons, a type of cell that is part of the nervous system, detect different impulses, such as heat and pain, may make life easier for suffers of diabetes. Neuropathic diseases like diabetes cause sensory neurons to stop functioning or even to die, leading to intense pain, according to cell biology professor France Lefcort. Lefcort’s research is aimed at making neurons healthier to avoid cell death. The problem is that different types of neurons require different chemicals and proteins in order to survive. If her team can find out how the neurons diversify to sense different, specific sensations, they will also know how to make them healthier. The research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Classy conference

The number of historians who study class and class struggles is falling, says Billy Smith, history professor in Bozeman. One reason is the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Another is the growing strength of global capitalism. To counteract the decline, the Michael P. Malone Memorial Conference will focus on class and class struggles from 1500 to 1800. The conference will run from Sept. 18-21 at the 320 Ranch near Yellowstone National Park. Some of the 40 scholars who have been invited to present papers will explore child workers, a West Indian plantation society, man stealing and capital punishment in early America. Smith said class studies often demand a sense of humor, so each paper must include at least two jokes.

Alcohol survey

Faculty in Bozeman are trying to see how serious alcohol abuse is among pregnant women in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. They also want to look at the impacts on children. Tim Dunnagan in the health and human development department said preliminary results show that Montana had more than two times as many pregnant women who claimed to have alcohol problems as the other three states. Drug use and cigarette smoking also appeared higher in Montana. Dunnagan emphasized that these are preliminary findings. Dunnagan, George Haynes and Suzanne Christopher, all associate professors, are involved in a three-year study evaluating the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Project of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Not in the stars

The future may not be written in the stars, but perhaps some futures can be predicted from the weather. Take the gamble a grower makes when he chooses whether to plant barley for malt, hay or grain. It’s difficult to figure the odds on "making malt," a term referring to producing the type of barley that makes good beer. Northern Agricultural Research Center researchers Darrin Boss and Gregg Carlson hope their work near Havre will let them predict the best choice in time for growers to profit from the information. They are testing whether past climate and current seeding data allows an earlier prediction of malt quality. Their work is funded by the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization Technology.

http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2003/03/03/news/roundupbzbigs.txt