National Research Council – författare

The AIDS virus is spread by human behaviors enacted in a variety of social situations. In order to prevent further infection, we need to know more about these behaviors. This volume explores what is known about the number of people infected, risk-associated behaviors, facilitation of behavioral change, and barriers to more effective prevention efforts.

In this volume, the National Research Council examines problems arising throughout government-owned, contractor-operated facilities in the United States engaged in activities to build nuclear weapons. The book draws conclusions about and makes recommendations for the health and safety of the nuclear weapons complex and addresses pressing environmental concerns. In addition, the book examines the future of the complex and offers suggestions for its modernization. Several explanatory appendixes provide useful background information on the functioning of the complex, criticality safety, plutonium chemistry, and weapons physics.

On November 13, 1985, catastrophic mudflows swept down the slopes of the erupting Nevado del Ruiz volcano, destroying structures in their paths. Various estimates of deaths ranged as high as 24,000 residents. Though the nature and extent of risk posed by the mudflows to local communities were well documented before the event and extensive efforts had been made to communicate this information to those at risk, the affected communities were caught largely unaware. This volume analyzes the disaster's many aspects: the extent, constitution, and behavior of the mudflows; the nature of damage to structures; the status of the area's disaster warning system; and the extent of the area's disaster preparedness, emergency response actions, and disaster relief efforts--both at the time of the disaster and in the first few months following the event.

Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program reviews the ecological studies done by the Environmental Studies Program of the Minerals Management Service. This program, which has spent $10 million a year on ecological studies in recent years, is designed to provide information to predict and manage the environmental effects of outer continental shelf oil and gas activities. The book considers studies on marine mammals and endangered species, birds, benthic organisms, fisheries, and marine ecosystems and makes recommendations for future studies.

Materials are important in the pursuit of virtually every human endeavor. Advances in materials are applied not only in advanced technological systems such as spacecraft, jet engines, computers, and telecommunications but also in a world of more familiar applications from automobiles to floor coverings to fishing rods. This book addresses the factors that impede the transition of new materials from concepts into commercial use. It identifies policies and actions that government and industry, together with universities, can take to remove these impediments. Incentives to accelerate the commercialization of advanced materials are suggested, and recommendations are presented on ways to stimulate competitive commercialization of materials by government, industry, and academia.

The ability of the United States to sustain a dominant global position in biotechnology lies in maintaining its primacy in basic life-science research and developing a strong resource base for bioprocess engineering and bioproduct manufacturing. This book examines the status of bioprocessing and biotechnology in the United States; current bioprocess technology, products, and opportunities; and challenges of the future and what must be done to meet those challenges. It gives recommendations for action to provide suitable incentives to establish a national program in bioprocess-engineering research, development, education, and technology transfer.

This book assesses the capacity of the federal government to recruit and retain highly qualified scientists and engineers for federal service. It recommends more vigorous use of the existing Federal Employees Pay Comparability Act of 1990 (FEPCA), as well as changes in legislation. It discusses the variety of management structures needed to support the different missions of federal agencies and identifies where organizational responsibility for implementing changes should lie.

The U.S. Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program was established with the goal of destroying the nation's stockpile of lethal unitary chemical weapons. Since 1990 the U.S. Army has been testing a baseline incineration technology on Johnston Island in the southern Pacific Ocean. Under the planned disposal program, this baseline technology will be imported in the mid to late 1990s to continental United States disposal facilities; construction will include eight stockpile storage sites. In early 1992 the Committee on Alternative Chemical Demilitarization Technologies was formed by the National Research Council to investigate potential alternatives to the baseline technology. This book, the result of its investigation, addresses the use of alternative destruction technologies to replace, partly or wholly, or to be used in addition to the baseline technology. The book considers principal technologies that might be applied to the disposal program, strategies that might be used to manage the stockpile, and combinations of technologies that might be employed.

This book describes critical environmental issues that face coastal ocean and Great Lakes areas, including eutrophication, habitat modification, hydrologic and hydrodynamic disruption, exploitation of resources, toxic effects on ecosystems and humans, introduction of nonindigenous species, global climate change and variability, and shoreline erosion and hazardous storms. These issues can be approached through science activities (including research, monitoring, and modeling) discussed in this book and through coordination among federal agencies.

What can we expect as global change progresses? Will there be thresholds that trigger sudden shifts in environmental conditions--or that cause catastrophic destruction of life? Effects of Past Global Change on Life explores what earth scientists are learning about the impact of large-scale environmental changes on ancient life--and how these findings may help us resolve today's environmental controversies. Leading authorities discuss historical climate trends and what can be learned from the mass extinctions and other critical periods about the rise and fall of plant and animal species in response to global change. The volume develops a picture of how environmental change has closed some evolutionary doors while opening others--including profound effects on the early members of the human family. An expert panel offers specific recommendations on expanding research and improving investigative tools--and targets historical periods and geological and biological patterns with the most promise of shedding light on future developments.This readable and informative book will be of special interest to professionals in the earth sciences and the environmental community as well as concerned policymakers.

Cooperation and partnerships for spatial data activities among the federal government, state and local governments, and the private sector will be essential for the development of a robust National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI). This book addresses the nature of these partnerships and examines factors that could optimize their success.

Americans agree that our students urgently need better science education. But what should they be expected to know and be able to do? Can the same expectations be applied across our diverse society? These and other fundamental issues are addressed in National Science Education Standards--a landmark development effort that reflects the contributions of thousands of teachers, scientists, science educators, and other experts across the country. The National Science Education Standards offer a coherent vision of what it means to be scientifically literate, describing what all students regardless of background or circumstance should understand and be able to do at different grade levels in various science categories. The standards address: * The exemplary practice of science teaching that provides students with experiences that enable them to achieve scientific literacy. * Criteria for assessing and analyzing students' attainments in science and the learning opportunities that school science programs afford. * The nature and design of the school and district science program. * The support and resources needed for students to learn science.These standards reflect the principles that learning science is an inquiry-based process, that science in schools should reflect the intellectual traditions of contemporary science, and that all Americans have a role in improving science education. This document will be invaluable to education policymakers, school system administrators, teacher educators, individual teachers, and concerned parents.

The Bering Sea, which lies between the United States and Russia, is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world and has prolific fishing grounds. Yet there have been significant unexplained population fluctuations in marine mammals and birds in the region. The book examines the Bering Sea ecosystem's dynamics and the relationship between man and the ecosystem, in order to identify potential reasons for the population fluctuations as well as identify ways the Sea's living resources can be better managed by government.

Every industrialized country is concerned with maintaining an adequate supply of individuals interested in careers in science and technology, yet little is known about these efforts outside national borders. This book represents the proceedings of an international conference on Trends in Science and Technology Careers, held in Brussels in 1993. Organized at the behest of OSEP and the OIA Committee on International Organizations and Programs, in cooperation with the European Commission (DG XII) and in response to a resolution of the International Council of Scientific Unions, the conference identified international data on career trends, assessed the research base engaged in studying science and technology careers, and identified ways in which international organizations could promote greater interest in science and technology human resource development. The conference laid the groundwork for continuing international discussions about the best ways to study and promote careers in science and technology and national dialogues about the ways to integrate this knowledge into human resources policies.

Deterrence as a strategic concept evolved during the Cold War. During that period, deterrence strategy was aimed mainly at preventing aggression against the United States and its close allies by the hostile Communist power centers--the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and its allies, Communist China and North Korea. In particular, the strategy was devised to prevent aggression involving nuclear attack by the USSR or China. Since the end of the Cold War, the risk of war among the major powers has subsided to the lowest point in modern history. Still, the changing nature of the threats to American and allied security interests has stimulated a considerable broadening of the deterrence concept. Post-Cold War Conflict Deterrence examines the meaning of deterrence in this new environment and identifies key elements of a post-Cold War deterrence strategy and the critical issues in devising such a strategy. It further examines the significance of these findings for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Quantitative and qualitative measures to support judgments about the potential success or failure of deterrence are identified.Such measures will bear on the suitability of the naval forces to meet the deterrence objectives. The capabilities of U.S. naval forces that especially bear on the deterrence objectives also are examined. Finally, the book examines the utility of models, games, and simulations as decision aids in improving the naval forces' understanding of situations in which deterrence must be used and in improving the potential success of deterrence actions.

Innovation, "the process by which firms master and get into practice product designs and manufacturing processes that are new to them," is vital for companies wishing to remain competitive in today's rapidly changing high technology industries. American and Japanese firms are among the world's most technologically innovative and competitive. However, the changing dynamics of global competition are forcing them to rethink their technological innovation strategies. The choices they make will have great impact on their futures as companies as well as on the livelihoods of their employees and the communities in which they operate. In order to understand the ways in which Japanese and American companies are changing their technological innovation strategies and practices, the Committee on Japan of the National Research Council and the Committee on Advanced Technology and the International Environment (Committee 149) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) organized a bilateral task force composed of leading representatives from industry and academia to assess developments in corporate innovation strategies and report on their findings.Through a workshop discussion of the issues and subsequent interaction, the task force explored the institutional division of innovation in both countries: the structure and performance of technology-based industries, the role of the government in the support of science and technology, and the role of universities in the science and technology system. The task force was particularly interested in exploring the points on which the two systems are converging,-i.e., becoming more similar in strategy and practice-and where they continue to be distinct and different. Although a comprehensive study of these trends in U.S. and Japanese innovation was not easily feasible, the task force was able to develop several conclusions based on its workshop discussion and follow-up interactions that were substantial in time and content. This report identifies a set of issues whose further elucidation should be helpful in guiding public policy in both nations. These issues include the role of external sourcing of innovation, transnational activity and globalization, the organization and performance of R&D, and the role of consortia, joint ventures and other joint activities.A call for greater international efforts to collect and analyze data on these important trends is the central recommendation of the task force.

The US Environmotection Agency Office of Radiation and Indoor Air asked the National Research Council to evaluate whether sufficient new data exist to warrant a reassessment of health risks reported in Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiations (BEIR V) in 1990. To respond to this request, the National Research Council assembled the Committee on Health Risks of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiations. The work of the committee was conducted in what was called the BEIR VII phase-1 study. To assist the committee during its deliberations, various scientists were consulted for advice, and a workshop on the impact of biology on risk assessment was held in collaboration with the Department of Energy Office of Health and Environmental Research. The intent of the workshop was to address the implications of new understanding of the biologic basis of radiation injury and carcinogenesis for risk assessment.

This book sheds light on one of the most controversial issues of the decade. It identifies the economic gains and losses from immigration--for the nation, states, and local areas--and provides a foundation for public discussion and policymaking. Three key questions are explored: * What is the influence of immigration on the overall economy, especially national and regional labor markets? * What are the overall effects of immigration on federal, state, and local government budgets? * What effects will immigration have on the future size and makeup of the nation's population over the next 50 years? The New Americans examines what immigrants gain by coming to the United States and what they contribute to the country, the skills of immigrants and those of native-born Americans, the experiences of immigrant women and other groups, and much more. It offers examples of how to measure the impact of immigration on government revenues and expenditures--estimating one year's fiscal impact in California, New Jersey, and the United States and projecting the long-run fiscal effects on government revenues and expenditures.Also included is background information on immigration policies and practices and data on where immigrants come from, what they do in America, and how they will change the nation's social fabric in the decades to come.

Just below our feet is an environment that supports our infrastructure, yields water, provides for agriculture, and receives our waste. Our capacity to describe, or characterize, this environment is crucial to the solution of many resource, environmental, and engineering problems. And just as medical imaging technologies have reduced the need for exploratory surgeries, a variety of technologies hold the promise for rapid, relatively inexpensive noninvasive characterization of the Earth's subsurface. Seeing into the Earth examines why noninvasive characterization is important and how improved methods can be developed and disseminated. Looking at the issues from both the commercial and public perspectives, the volume makes recommendations for linking characterization and cost savings, closing the gap between the state of science and the state of the practice, and helping practitioners make the best use of the best methods. The book provides background on: * The role of noninvasive subsurface characterization in contaminant cleanup, resource management, civil engineering, and other areas. * The physical, chemical, biological, and geological properties that are characterized.* Methods of characterization and prospects for technological improvement. Certain to be important for earth scientists and engineers alike, this book is also accessible to interested lay readers.

This book describes the development of ocean sciences over the past 50 years, highlighting the contributions of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the field's progress. Many of the individuals who participated in the exciting discoveries in biological oceanography, chemical oceanography, physical oceanography, and marine geology and geophysics describe in the book how the discoveries were made possible by combinations of insightful individuals, new technology, and in some cases, serendipity. In addition to describing the advance of ocean science, the book examines the institutional structures and technology that made the advances possible and presents visions of the field's future. This book is the first-ever documentation of the history of NSFa (TM)s Division of Ocean Sciences, how the structure of the division evolved to its present form, and the individuals who have been responsible for ocean sciences at NSF as a /rotatorsa and career staff over the past 50 years.