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This book examines potential technologies for replacing antipersonnel landmines by 2006, the U.S. target date for signing an international treaty banning these weapons. Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines emphasizes the role that technology can play to allow certain weapons to be used more selectively, reducing the danger to uninvolved civilians while improving the effectiveness of the U.S. military. Landmines are an important weapon in the U.S. military''s arsenal but the persistent variety can cause unintended casualties, to both civilians and friendly forces. New technologies could replace some, but not all, of the U.S. military''s antipersonnel landmines by 2006. In the period following 2006, emerging technologies might eliminate the landmine totally, while retaining the necessary functionalities that today''s mines provide to the military.

Issues involving science, technology, and health (STH) have moved to the forefront of the international diplomatic agenda. Other vital issues linked to technological developments pervade longer-range foreign policy concerns. Thus, STH considerations are often central to the Department of State''s bilateral and multilateral interactions with other governments. STH aspects play a large role in discussions of such critical topics as nuclear nonproliferation, use of outer space, population growth, adequate and safe food supply, climate change, infectious diseases, energy resources, and competitiveness of industrial technologies. In addressing these issues, expert STH knowledge is essential to the anticipation and resolution of problems and to the achievement of foreign policy goals. The Department, recognizing that it requires strengthened capabilities to address such an array of topics, asked for suggestions by the National Research Council as to how it could better deal with foreign policy issues with STH content.

This collection of papers—by American and Russian specialists—addresses a variety of legal, regulatory, institutional, and financial issues that can promote or hinder technology commercialization. The book is the result of a series of workshops organized by the National Research Council with the Russian Academy of Sciences on commercialization of technologies, particularly those developed at research and educational institutions.

Technology Commercialization concludes with a list of actions, programs, and policies which warrant further consideration as Russia tries to improve the success of technology commercialization. This book will be of interest to those concerned with small-business development in post-communist states, university technology management, and comparative technology commercialization.

The successor states of the former Soviet Union have enormous stocks of weapons-usable nuclear material and other militarily significant commodities and technologies. Preventing the flow of such items to countries of proliferation concern and to terrorist groups is a major objective of U.S. national security policy. This book reviews the effectiveness of two U.S. programs directed to this objective. These programs have supported the efforts of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakstan in upgrading the physical protection, control, and accountability of highly enriched uranium and plutonium and strengthening systems to control the export of many types of militarily sensitive items.

This report reviews the ISTC''s objectives and plans, discussed its activities with U.S. and FSU officials, and met with FSU grant recipients and institute directors. The committee concludes that during its first two years the ISTC was successful and effective in meeting its primary objective, which, in turn, has contributed to the larger goal of diminishing the risk of weapons proliferation. Moreover, the opportunities provided to FSU scientists and engineers do indeed offer meaningful nonweapons-related work, which helps address the demoralization that may otherwise contribute to scientists'' being lured into work for unfriendly governments. The committee believes the ISTC has also been successful in addressing its secondary objectives—namely, the solution of national and international technical problems; the support of basic and applied research and technology development for peaceful purposes; and, to a lesser degree, reinforcement of the transition of the FSU to a market-driven economy.

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.

Recent technological advances, particularly in microelectronics and telecommunications, biotechnology, and advanced materials, pose critical challenges and opportunities for developing countries, and for the development banks and other organizations that serve them. Those countries that fail to adapt to the transformations driven by new technologies in industry, agriculture, health, environment, energy, education, and other sectors may find it difficult to avoid falling behind. This book represents a joint effort by the World Bank and the National Research Council to survey the status and effect of technology change in key sectors and to recommend action by the development organizations, government, private sector and the scientific and technological community.

Scenes of starvation have drawn the world''s attention to Africa''s agricultural and environmental crisis. Some observers question whether this continent can ever hope to feed its growing population. Yet there is an overlooked food resource in sub-Saharan Africa that has vast potential: native food plants.

When experts were asked to nominate African food plants for inclusion in a new book, a list of 30 species grew quickly to hundreds. All in all, Africa has more than 2,000 native grains and fruits—"lost" species due for rediscovery and exploitation.

This volume focuses on native cereals, including:

This readable and engaging book dispels myths, often based on Western bias, about the nutritional value, flavor, and yield of these African grains.

Designed as a tool for economic development, the volume is organized with increasing levels of detail to meet the needs of both lay and professional readers. The authors present the available information on where and how each grain is grown, harvested, and processed, and they list its benefits and limitations as a food source.

The authors describe "next steps" for increasing the use of each grain, outline research needs, and address issues in building commercial production.

Sidebars cover such interesting points as the potential use of gene mapping and other "high-tech" agricultural techniques on these grains.

This fact-filled volume will be of great interest to agricultural experts, entrepreneurs, researchers, and individuals concerned about restoring food production, environmental health, and economic opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa.

Selection, Newbridge Garden Book Club

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 U.S.-Japan bilateral task force was tasked with addressing the following questions: (1) How do Japan and the United States educate and train engineers, and what are the major similarities, differences, and trends? (2) What are the superior practices that have been developed by each country, especially approaches that could be adopted by the other country? (3) Are there areas in which expanded U.S.-Japan cooperation could help to improve engineering education in the two countries and around the world?

The joint task force was organized by the Committee on Advanced Technology and the International Environment (Committee 149) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and the Committee on Japan (COJ) of the National Research Council (NRC). Committee 149''s work was supported by member dues, and the COJ''s work was supported by the United States-Japan Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering. The joint task force was chaired by Mildred Dresselhaus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sogo Okamura of Tokyo Denki University.

Japan and the United States are two of the leading nations in the world in engineering education and practice. Their systems for training and educating engineers display marked contrasts, resulting from the very different economic and cultural environments in which they have developed. The joint task force used a "lifelong learning" approach in examining the two countries'' systems, exploring differences and similarities in K-12 education of future engineers, undergraduate and graduate education, as well as continuing education of working professionals. The panel also explored two important issues that will affect engineering education in both countries in the future: the need to educate and train "global engineers" who can work effectively in international contexts, and the potential for information technology to transform engineering education in the future.

The management challenge in orchestrating a multitude of DOE headquarters, laboratory, and contractor personnel at about 50 sites in Russia is daunting. Steps are needed to maximize the return on U.S. expenditures, to reduce redundancy while ensuring adequate oversight, and to provide additional work incentives that will attract highly qualified specialists from the United States and Russia to participate in the protection, control, and accountability of direct-use material (MPC&A) program. This report contains many recommendations to address these and related issues.

Recognizing the increasing rate of species loss on a global scale and that neither pollution nor ecosystems respects political boundaries, cooperation on many different levels is required to conserve biodiversity. This volume uses four protected areas that Poland shares with its neighbors as case studies to explore opportunities to integrate science and management in transboundary protected areas in Central Europe for the conservation of biodiversity. Specific topics include biodiversity conservation theories and strategies, problems of wildlife management, and impacts of tourism and recreational use on protected areas.

This book examines potential technologies for replacing antipersonnel landmines by 2006, the U.S. target date for signing an international treaty banning these weapons. Alternative Technologies to Replace Antipersonnel Landmines emphasizes the role that technology can play to allow certain weapons to be used more selectively, reducing the danger to uninvolved civilians while improving the effectiveness of the U.S. military. Landmines are an important weapon in the U.S. military''s arsenal but the persistent variety can cause unintended casualties, to both civilians and friendly forces. New technologies could replace some, but not all, of the U.S. military''s antipersonnel landmines by 2006. In the period following 2006, emerging technologies might eliminate the landmine totally, while retaining the necessary functionalities that today''s mines provide to the military.

Issues involving science, technology, and health (STH) have moved to the forefront of the international diplomatic agenda. Other vital issues linked to technological developments pervade longer-range foreign policy concerns. Thus, STH considerations are often central to the Department of State''s bilateral and multilateral interactions with other governments. STH aspects play a large role in discussions of such critical topics as nuclear nonproliferation, use of outer space, population growth, adequate and safe food supply, climate change, infectious diseases, energy resources, and competitiveness of industrial technologies. In addressing these issues, expert STH knowledge is essential to the anticipation and resolution of problems and to the achievement of foreign policy goals. The Department, recognizing that it requires strengthened capabilities to address such an array of topics, asked for suggestions by the National Research Council as to how it could better deal with foreign policy issues with STH content.

This report reviews the ISTC''s objectives and plans, discussed its activities with U.S. and FSU officials, and met with FSU grant recipients and institute directors. The committee concludes that during its first two years the ISTC was successful and effective in meeting its primary objective, which, in turn, has contributed to the larger goal of diminishing the risk of weapons proliferation. Moreover, the opportunities provided to FSU scientists and engineers do indeed offer meaningful nonweapons-related work, which helps address the demoralization that may otherwise contribute to scientists'' being lured into work for unfriendly governments. The committee believes the ISTC has also been successful in addressing its secondary objectives—namely, the solution of national and international technical problems; the support of basic and applied research and technology development for peaceful purposes; and, to a lesser degree, reinforcement of the transition of the FSU to a market-driven economy.

The successor states of the former Soviet Union have enormous stocks of weapons-usable nuclear material and other militarily significant commodities and technologies. Preventing the flow of such items to countries of proliferation concern and to terrorist groups is a major objective of U.S. national security policy. This book reviews the effectiveness of two U.S. programs directed to this objective. These programs have supported the efforts of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakstan in upgrading the physical protection, control, and accountability of highly enriched uranium and plutonium and strengthening systems to control the export of many types of militarily sensitive items.

This volume tells 16 remarkable stories—first person accounts of how information and communication technologies have been successfully introduced into institutions for the benefit of scientists and engineers in sub-Saharan Africa. These case studies focus on the lessons learned in designing and implementing projects dealing with scientific and technological information and examine the impact.

This nontechnical overview of developments in nuclear arms control describes how the United States and the Soviet Union arrived at their present positions—and where they might go from here. According to Foreign Affairs, "This book is proof that the complexities of arms control can be successfully explained in a nontechnical, and even more importantly, nonpartisan manner....It presents the key issues in a clear, thorough, and remarkably up-to-date way....Strongly recommended as a primary source for classroom and public discussions."

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.

In developing countries, traditional fermentation serves many purposes. It can improve the taste of an otherwise bland food, enhance the digestibility of a food that is difficult to assimilate, preserve food from degradation by noxious organisms, and increase nutritional value through the synthesis of essential amino acids and vitamins.

Although "fermented food" has a vaguely distasteful ring, bread, wine, cheese, and yogurt are all familiar fermented foods. Less familiar are gari, ogi, idli, ugba, and other relatively unstudied but important foods in some African and Asian countries. This book reports on current research to improve the safety and nutrition of these foods through an elucidation of the microorganisms and mechanisms involved in their production. Also included are recommendations for needed research.

During the past decade, the field of astrophysics has progressed at an impressive rate. This was reflected by the topics discussed at the workshop from which this book eminated. These topics include the inflationary universe; the large-scale structure of the universe; the diffuse X-ray background; gravitational lenses, quasars and active galactic nuclei; infrared galaxies; results from infrared astronomical satellites; supernova 1987A; millisecond radio pulsars; quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray flux of low-mass X-ray binaries; and gamma-ray bursts.