Bøker av National Research Council

Producer gas is generated from solid fuels such as wood, charcoal, coal, peat, and agricultural residues. Although it has been used to power internal combustion engines since their invention, it has been largely overlooked for the past 50 years. During the early 1940s, when petroleum supplies for civilian use ran out in Europe, Asia, and Australia, producer gas was responsible for putting trucks, buses, taxis, tractors and other vehicles back on the roads, and boats back on the rivers. In 1939 Europe operated about 9,000 gas producer buses and trucks, and there were almost none on any other continent. By 1941, however, about 450,000 vehicles were in operation in all parts of the world, and by 1942 the number had grown to approximately 920,000. Gas producers were then in use not only in land vehicles, but also in boats, barges, and stationary engines. By 1946 more than a million motorized devices around the world operated on producer gas. In Europe and Asia alone, the use of producer gas in the 1940s contributed to saving millions of people from starvation. Basically, producer gas is made when a thin stream of air passes through a bed of glowing coals. The coals may come from the burning of wood, charcoal, coke, coal, peat, or from wastes such as corn cobs, peanut shells, sawdust, bagasse, and paper. (In some cases these materials must be pressed into bricks or pellets before they will produce adequate coals, and special generators may also be needed.)

Offers research about the mind and the brain that provides answers to a number of compelling questions. This book uses exemplary teaching to illustrate how approaches based on what we now know result in in-depth learning. The knowledge calls into question concepts and practices firmly entrenched in our education system.

In 1988, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began an investigation of the benefits and costs of extending several locks on the lower portion of the Upper Mississippi River-Illinois Waterway (UMR-IWW) in order to relieve increasing waterway congestion, particularly for grain moving to New Orleans for export. With passage of the Flood Control Act of 1936, Congress required that the Corps conduct a benefit-cost analysis as part of its water resources project planning; Congress will fund water resources projects only if a project's benefits exceed its costs. As economic analysis generally, and benefit-cost analysis in particular, has become more sophisticated, and as environmental and social considerations and analysis have become more important, Corps planning studies have grown in size and complexity. The difficulty in commensurating market and nonmarket costs and benefits also presents the Corps with a significant challenge. The Corps' analysis of the UMR-IWW has extended over a decade, has cost roughly $50 million, and has involved consultations with other federal agencies, state conservation agencies, and local citizens. The analysis has included many consultants and has produced dozens of reports.In February 2000, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) requested that the National Academies review the Corps' final feasibility report. After discussions and negotiations with DOD, in April 2000 the National Academies launched this review and appointed an expert committee to carry it out.

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is one of the largest examples of U.S. public-private partnerships. Founded in 1982, SBIR was designed to encourage small business to develop new processes and products and to provide quality research in support of the many missions of the U.S. government, including health, energy, the environment, and national defense. In response to a request from the U.S. Congress, the National Research Council assessed SBIR as administered by the five federal agencies that together make up 96 percent of program expenditures. This book, one of six in the series, reports on the SBIR program at the National Science Foundation. The study finds that the SBIR program is sound in concept and effective in practice, but that it can also be improved. Currently, the program is delivering results that meet most of the congressional objectives, including stimulating technological innovation, increasing private-sector commercialization of innovations, using small businesses to meet federal research and development needs, and fostering participation by minority and disadvantaged persons. The book suggests ways in which the program can improve operations, continue to increase private-sector commercialization, and improve participation by women and minorities.

Young adulthood - ages approximately 18 to 26 - is a critical period of development with long-lasting implications for a person's economic security, health and well-being. Young adults are key contributors to the nation's workforce and military services and, since many are parents, to the healthy development of the next generation. Although 'millennials' have received attention in the popular media in recent years, young adults are too rarely treated as a distinct population in policy, programs, and research. Instead, they are often grouped with adolescents or, more often, with all adults. Currently, the nation is experiencing economic restructuring, widening inequality, a rapidly rising ratio of older adults, and an increasingly diverse population. The possible transformative effects of these features make focus on young adults especially important. A systematic approach to understanding and responding to the unique circumstances and needs of today's young adults can help to pave the way to a more productive and equitable tomorrow for young adults in particular and our society at large.Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults describes what is meant by the term young adulthood, who young adults are, what they are doing, and what they need. This study recommends actions that nonprofit programs and federal, state, and local agencies can take to help young adults make a successful transition from adolescence to adulthood. According to this report, young adults should be considered as a separate group from adolescents and older adults. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults makes the case that increased efforts to improve high school and college graduate rates and education and workforce development systems that are more closely tied to high-demand economic sectors will help this age group achieve greater opportunity and success. The report also discusses the health status of young adults and makes recommendations to develop evidence-based practices for young adults for medical and behavioral health, including preventions.What happens during the young adult years has profound implications for the rest of the life course, and the stability and progress of society at large depends on how any cohort of young adults fares as a whole. Investing in The Health and Well-Being of Young Adults will provide a roadmap to improving outcomes for this age group as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Since 1944, the National Research Council has published 10 editions of the Nutrient Requirements of Swine. This reference has guided nutritionists and other professionals in academia and the swine and feed industries in developing and implementing nutritional and feeding programs for swine. The swine industry has undergone considerable changes since the tenth edition was published in 1998 and some of the requirements and recommendations set forth at that time are no longer relevant or appropriate. The eleventh revised edition of the Nutrient Requirements of Swine builds on the previous editions published by the National Research Council. A great deal of new research has been published during the last 15 years and there is a large amount of new information for many nutrients. In addition to a thorough and current evaluation of the literature on the energy and nutrient requirements of swine in all stages of life, this volume includes information about feed ingredients from the biofuels industry and other new ingredients, requirements for digestible phosphorus and concentrations of it in feed ingredients, a review of the effects of feed additives and feed processing, and strategies to increase nutrient retention and thus reduce fecal and urinary excretions that could contribute to environmental pollution. The tables of feed ingredient composition are significantly updated. Nutrient Requirements of Swine represents a comprehensive review of the most recent information available on swine nutrition and ingredient composition that will allow efficient, profitable, and environmentally conscious swine production.

How we raise young children is one of today's most highly personalized and sharply politicized issues, in part because each of us can claim some level of "expertise." The debate has intensified as discoveries about our development--in the womb and in the first months and years--have reached the popular media. How can we use our burgeoning knowledge to assure the well-being of all young children, for their own sake as well as for the sake of our nation? Drawing from new findings, this book presents important conclusions about nature-versus-nurture, the impact of being born into a working family, the effect of politics on programs for children, the costs and benefits of intervention, and other issues. The committee issues a series of challenges to decision makers regarding the quality of child care, issues of racial and ethnic diversity, the integration of children's cognitive and emotional development, and more. Authoritative yet accessible, From Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate--family, child care, community--within which the child grows.

Updating two previous National Research Council publications, Nutrient Requirements of Sheep, Sixth Revised Edition, 1985, and Nutrient Requirements of Goats, First Edition, 1981, this new book provides an evaluation of the scientific literature on the nutrient requirements of small ruminants in all stages of life. In addition, effects of the environment, feed additives, and metabolism modifiers on nutrient requirements are addressed. Proper formulation of diets for small ruminants depends on adequate knowledge of their nutrient requirements. These requirements depend on the breed and age of the animal and whether he or she is exercising, pregnant, or lactating. Nutrient Requirements of Small Ruminants brings together a summary of this latest data with new and expanded information on the composition of feeds commonly consumed by small ruminants, both domestic and wild. For the first time this authoritative reference work includes information on cervids and camelids. Primarily intended for animal nutritionists, veterinarians, and other scientists, some sections will be useful to individual sheep and goat owners and managers and to those responsible for the care and management of wildlife species. As both a practical and a technical reference book, this material is written to ensure that diets of small ruminants contain adequate amounts of nutrients and that intakes of certain nutrients are not so excessive that they inhibit performance or impair health.