Bøker av National Research Council

The hazard posed by large dams has long been known. This book evaluates contemporary knowledge about the earthquake performance of concrete dams, including procedures for investigating the seismic safety of such structures. It informs researchers about earthquake analysis of concrete dams and identifies areas where additional knowledge is needed.

In modern times, snow avalanches are a concern in recreational mountainous areas. However, programs for snow avalanche hazard mitigation in other countries are far ahead of those in the US. This book identifies many steps that should be taken in order to establish guidelines for research, technology transfer, and avalanche legislation and zoning.

Discusses issues as long-term, or strategic, commitment on the part of large firms in the United States; cooperation within and among firms and between industry, universities, and government; weaknesses in manufacturing and in the integration of research, development, and manufacturing; technical standards; and education and infrastructure.

Examines the consideration of oil and gas leasing in the land use planning processes of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service. This book was required by the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987. It identifies problems caused by leasing practices and the availability and reliability of information at the planning stage.

Summarizes the major questions in solar physics theory and observations, and proposes recommendations. This study addresses institutional issues as the role of the universities in the national solar observations, structural barriers to careers in solar physics, and the leadership role of federal funding agencies for ground-based solar research.

Considers the issues surrounding the occurrence, progression, and predictability of myopia, with emphasis on the 16- to 26-year-old population. This book presents the research in this area, analyzing the findings and drawing conclusions from these studies. The observations and recommendations are aimed at vision scientists and clinicians.

Presents an overview of animal-monitoring programs, including case studies of how animal health problems have led researchers to the sources of human health hazards. This book examines the components and characteristics required for an effective animal-monitoring program, and evaluate programs, including in situ research.

Includes research results and expert interpretations from nutrition research and provides Recommended Dietary Allowances and "Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intakes". This 10th edition deals with the function nutrients in the human body, sources of supply, and effects of deficiencies and excessive intakes.

More and more farmers adopt a range of alternative practices designed to reduce dependence on synthetic chemical pesticides, cut costs, and increase profits. This book describes the increased use of these practices and other changes in agriculture since World War II, and examines the role of federal policy in encouraging this evolution.

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 effective prevention efforts.

Ozone depletion in the stratosphere and increases in greenhouse gases in the troposphere are both subjects of growing concern. This volume presents the data and theories available on ozone depletion, greenhouse gases, and climatic change, and addresses the question: What is the understanding of the processes that destroy ozone in the atmosphere?

Describes hazards from radon progeny and other alpha-emitters that humans may inhale or ingest from their environment. Techniques for estimating the risks to humans posed by radon and other internally deposited alpha-emitters are offered, with a discussion of formulas, models, methods, and the level of uncertainty inherent in the risk estimates.

Part of the "Drinking Water and Health" series, this seventh volume addresses methods of drinking water disinfection and compares standard chlorination techniques with alternative methods. Various techniques are discussed in terms of their chemical activity, and their efficacy against waterborne pathogens is compared.

Surveys the relationship between economic activity and electricity use, showing how trends in the growth of electricity demand may be affected by changes in the economy, and examines the connection between the use of electrotechnologies and productivity. This book contains a mix of historical perspective and a synthesis of econometric findings.

Based on a symposium sponsored by the Board on Agriculture, this comprehensive book explores the problem of pesticide resistance. It also suggests different approaches to monitor, control, or prevent resistance, and identifies the changes in public policy necessary to protect crops and human health from the ravages of pests.

Asks three questions: is additional port construction and maintenance dredging needed? What would prevent dredging if it is needed? And what alternatives could make dredging possible? This book also identifies many problems in dredging ports, including the interval between a decision to deepen a port and the time the alterations are complete.

To complement the knowledge on the physical aspects of radioactive waste disposal, this report identifies the socioeconomic and institutional; and policy issues that must be addressed in implementing the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. It also addresses site location, transportation modes, disposal schedules, regulatory systems, and more.

Alcohol is a killer. One of every thirteen deaths in the United States is alcohol-related. This book takes a look at the problem, and is useful for those in the alcoholism prevention business. It is also aimed at counselors, politicians, judges, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country.

Even though women have made substantial progress in a number of formerly male occupations, sex segregation in the workplace remains a fact of life. This volume probes pertinent questions: Why has the overall degree of sex segregation remained stable in this century? What informal barriers keep it in place?

Deregulation, higher costs, foreign competition, and financial risks are causing profound changes in civil aviation. This book reviews these trends along with federal involvement in trade, technology transfer, technological developments in airframes and propulsion, and military-civil aviation relationships.

Provides an assessment of earthquake engineering research issues and the role of information technology in that research effort. This work presents an overview of the challenge, including six critical research problems making up that challenge. It also provides a research plan for NEES.

Examines how to update human subjects protections regulations so that they effectively respond to current research contexts and methods. This book addresses the dramatic alterations in the research landscapes that institutional review boards (IRBs) have come to inhabit during the past 40 years.

After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States has increased fivefold during the last four decades. The US penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. This book examines research and analysis of the dramatic rise of incarceration rates and its affects.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) measures the rates at which Americans are victims of crimes, including rape and sexual assault, but there is concern that rape and sexual assault are undercounted on this survey. This book concludes that it is likely that the NCVS is undercounting sexual assault.