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REPORT TOCONGRESS
2018
Science and technology are reshaping our lives in ways that would have been almost unimaginable to previous generations. Big data and artificial intelligence are transforming the economy through a diversity of applications — from driverless cars to telemedicine to high-tech manufacturing. An individual’s entire genome can now be sequenced for less than $1,000, and powerful genome editing tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 have opened new avenues of biomedical research and application. These exciting developments also raise many questions, however, about privacy and security, ethics and governance, equity and access, and our future workforce, to name only a few.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have long led the way on ensuring that emerging scientific knowledge, engineering and technology, and biomedical research are employed responsibly, and for the benefit of all. In this Report to Congress, you will learn about some of our most recent efforts to provide guidance at the frontiers of research such as human genome editing, quantum computing, collider science, and fusion energy.
The work of the National Academies also extends far beyond cutting-edge areas of science. Our independent, expert advice spurs progress on issues foremost in the lives of many Americans. For instance, in 2018 we examined how to modernize the nation’s aging interstate highway system, secure the U.S. voting infrastructure, eliminate lung diseases that plague coal miners, reduce drunk driving, and restore the health of Florida’s Everglades and citrus industry.
During this past Congress, our members and volunteer experts participated in close to 200 congressional briefings on our studies. And in an effort to identify new ways to respond to the needs of the nation, the National Academies are striving to keep innovation front and center, as well as amplify the impact of our consensus-based findings.
For example, we have launched a public-private action collaborative to speed progress on countering the nation’s devastating opioid epidemic, and we will use a similar model to continue the momentum of our landmark 2018 report on stopping sexual harassment in the academic sciences, engineering, and medicine. We are also engaging policymakers and the public through our Climate Communications Initiative, which injects knowledge and evidence about climate into the public discourse, and we will soon unveil The Science Behind It, a campaign to highlight how science addresses numerous aspects of our daily lives.
We are proud that our independent, expert advice continues to speak to many of society’s most pressing issues, and we hope it helps shape a prosperous future for many generations to come.
MARCIA MCNUTT C. D. MOTE, JR. VICTOR J. DZAUPresident President PresidentNational Academy of Sciences National Academy of Engineering National Academy of Medicine
A Message From the Presidents
EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education 5
Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center 6
English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives 7
Opportunities for Improving Programs and Services for Children With Disabilities 7
Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 8
Minority Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce 10
Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy 10
Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2 — New Systems for Measuring Crime 11
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes 14
Action Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic 14
The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States 15
Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem 16
Monitoring and Sampling Approaches to Assess Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposures 17
Gulf War and Health, Volume 11: Generational Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War 18
Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services 19
INDUSTRY AND INFRASTRUCTURE
Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future 22
In-Time Aviation Safety Management: Challenges and Research for an Evolving Aviation System 22
Highlights from
2018
Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into the National Airspace System 22
Safety Regulation for Small LPG Distribution Systems 24
Admissibility and Public Availability of Transit Safety Planning Records 25
NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment 28
Review of the Draft Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) 28
Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda 29
Progress Toward Transforming the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program: A 2018 Evaluation 30
A Review of the Citrus Greening Research and Development Efforts Supported by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation: Fighting a Ravaging Disease 30
Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Seventh Biennial Review — 2018 31
THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE
Decrypting the Encryption Debate: A Framework for Decision Makers 34
Quantum Computing: Progress and Prospects 34
An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe 35
Exoplanet Science Strategy 35
Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation From Space 37
Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030 38
Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing 39
The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through 40
Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology 41
Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research 42
An Assessment of U.S.-Based Electron-Ion Collider Science 43
Also in This ReportStudies and Projects Completed in 2018 45
Current Congressionally Authorized Activities 57
Revenue Applied to 2018 63
About the National Academies 64
Highlights from
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EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES
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AFFORDABLE EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE
AND EDUCATION
Early care and education (ECE) is critical for
positive child development and learning, and can
provide the nation’s youngest children and their
families with needed, affordable care outside of
the home before kindergarten. However, the
current financing structure of ECE in the United
States gives access to only a fraction of the families
who need and desire care, and it does little to
further develop and educate the workforce,
says Transforming the Financing of Early Care
and Education.
An overhaul is needed to make ECE affordable
for families from all socio-economic, racial, ethnic,
and geographic backgrounds, a transformation
that will require a phased implementation, the
report says. By the final phase, an estimated annual
cost of at least $140 billion would be required,
with the largest portion — $82 billion annually —
coming from public investment.
Currently, funds are distributed to providers
and families through mechanisms such as
federally funded Head Start programs, public pre-
kindergarten programs that are funded primarily
by states or local jurisdictions, and state Child
Care Assistance Programs, which tend to target
resources to low-income families, as well as tax
preferences that benefit middle- and upper-income
families. The current lack of harmonization among
these financing mechanisms leads to gaps in
ECE affordability for some low-income families,
economic segregation within ECE settings and
classrooms, and underutilization of ECE services by
middle-income families. In addition, many of these
programs are under-funded and do not serve all
children who are eligible to receive services.
An integrated framework of laws and policies
that uses financing to bring about accessible,
affordable, and high-quality early care and
education needs to be implemented, the report
says. The federal government, in coordination
with the states, should set uniform family payment
standards that increase progressively across low-,
moderate-, and higher-income groups if the
ECE program requires a family contribution, and
increase funding levels and revise tax preferences
to ensure adequate funding.
To ensure higher-education programs are of
high quality and meet workforce needs, states and
the federal government should provide sustained
funding and grants to institutions and systems of
postsecondary education to develop faculty and
ECE programs and align the curricula with the
science of child development.
Since the report’s publication, several
states including New York and Virginia are
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exploring options to provide increased funding
opportunities for ECE.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Alliance for Early Success, Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, Buffett Early Childhood Fund, Caplan
Foundation for Early Childhood, Foundation for
Child Development, Heising-Simons Foundation,
Kresge Foundation, U.S. Department of Education,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’
Administration for Children and Families, and
the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with additional
support from the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Presidents’
Committee Funds.
LEARNING THROUGH REAL-WORLD
CONTEXTS
Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12:
Investigation and Design at the Center says
centering science instruction around investigation
and design can improve learning in middle and
high schools and help students make sense of
phenomena in the world around them. Yet,
current approaches to science in many classrooms
do not reflect this approach and constrain the
opportunities afforded to students.
Science investigation and engineering design
offer a promising vehicle for anchoring student
learning in contexts that are meaningful to
them, the report says. Interacting with real-world
challenges and designing and testing solutions
to address them allows instructional choices that
better connect to students’ lives, experiences, and
cultural backgrounds than science instruction that
is focused on discrete facts organized by discipline.
Changing instructional approaches will
require significant and sustained work by teachers,
administrators, and policymakers, the report says.
For example, school and district staff should review
policies that impact the ability to offer science
investigation and engineering design opportunities
to all students, including particular attention to
differential student outcomes, especially in areas
in which inequities have been well-documented,
such as gender, socio-economic status, race,
and culture. In addition, states, regions, and
districts should provide resources to support the
implementation of investigation and engineering
design-based approaches to instruction across all
grades and in all schools, and should track and
manage progress towards full implementation.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Amgen
Foundation.
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TEACHING STEM TO ENGLISH LEARNERS
Students in grades K-12 who are learning English
comprise a diverse and talented pool that is
increasing both in size and as a percentage
of the U.S. school population. For English
learners (ELs), success in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects
can be transformational, not only for the students
themselves but also for teachers, schools, and
society as a whole.
English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming
Classrooms, Schools, and Lives calls for a shift in
how STEM subjects are taught to ELs, citing that
through meaningful interactions in the classroom
with teachers providing support when needed,
ELs can develop proficiency in STEM subjects and
language simultaneously.
Language and content are learned in
tandem, not separately or sequentially, the
report says. Therefore, language proficiency is
not a prerequisite for content instruction, but
an outcome of effective content instruction.
STEM subjects also provide opportunities for
alternate routes to knowledge acquisition such as
experimentation and demonstration of practices.
ELs can actively gain language skills through STEM
experiences, without resorting predominantly to
their native language to access meaning.
With appropriate curricular and instructional
support, ELs can participate, contribute, and
succeed in STEM classrooms. Curriculum
developers, educators, and researchers should
work together to develop materials and resources
that consider the diversity of ELs’ needs and
strengthen teachers’ assessment skills to improve
STEM instruction and promote ELs’ learning.
Federal agencies should evaluate methods for
allocating funds for research and development that
would enhance STEM teaching and learning for
ELs, and increase the number of qualified teachers.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
National Science Foundation.
MEETING THE NEEDS OF CHILDREN
WITH DISABILITIES
A variety of services and programs exist to support
the needs of children with disabilities and their
families. A National Academies study examined
federal, state, and local programs and services
in a range of areas, such as health care, special
education, transition to adulthood, vocational
rehabilitation, and social needs care. Opportunities
for Improving Programs and Services for Children
With Disabilities says that to encourage healthy
growth and development, a focus on achieving
specific goals that help prepare these children for
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adulthood and coordinating care within and across
service sectors are both integral for effectiveness.
The life-course perspective acknowledges that
early experiences impact later experiences and long-
term outcomes, so it is important that near- and
long-term goals are linked to the attainment of
desired long-term health and functioning outcomes
and that services are individualized based on an
assessment of the child’s and family’s specific
needs. Several other characteristics also contribute
to effectiveness, such as engaging children and
families in their care and helping them navigate and
connect with the array of available supports, as well
as conducting rigorous, systematic evaluation and
continuous improvement of services.
Numerous gaps and limitations create
barriers to access and variable quality of services,
the report says, such as socio-demographic
and socio-economic disparities, state variation
in the implementation of federal programs,
fragmentation of services, insufficient workforce
capacity and development, lack of preparedness
for transitioning to adult services and programs,
and gaps in continuity of care. The report identifies
several ways to enhance the provision and quality
programs and services.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Social Security Administration.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN SCIENCE,
ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
A systemwide change to the culture and climate
in higher education is needed to prevent and
effectively respond to sexual harassment, says
Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and
Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering,
and Medicine. There is no evidence that current
policies, procedures, and approaches — which
often focus on symbolic compliance with the
law and on avoiding liability — have resulted in
a significant reduction in sexual harassment, the
report says. And the cumulative result of sexual
harassment is significant damage to research
integrity and a costly loss of talent in academic
science, engineering, and medicine.
The report offers a range of recommendations
for steps that colleges and universities should take
to prevent and respond to sexual harassment. For
example, academic institutions should develop
and share clear policies on sexual harassment and
standards of behavior, including a range of clearly
stated, escalating disciplinary consequences for
perpetrators who have violated policy. Colleges
and universities should make particular efforts
to address the most common form of sexual
harassment — gender harassment, which includes
verbal and nonverbal behaviors that convey
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hostility, objectification, exclusion, or second-class
status about members of one gender. In addition,
institutions should work to create diverse, inclusive
and respectful environments where these values
are aligned with and integrated into structures,
policies, and procedures.
Congress and state legislatures should consider
a range of actions, such as better protecting sexual
harassment claimants from retaliation; prohibiting
confidentiality in settlement agreements; banning
mandatory arbitration clauses for discrimination
claims; and allowing lawsuits to be filed directly
against alleged harassers, not just their institutions.
In addition, federal agencies should attend
to sexual harassment with at least the same
level of attention and resources devoted to
research misconduct. They should require
institutions to report to federal agencies when
individuals on grants are found to have violated
sexual harassment policies or have been put on
administrative leave related to sexual harassment.
And they should reward and incentivize colleges
and universities for implementing policies,
programs, and strategies that research shows
are most likely to reduce and prevent sexual
harassment.
Some academic institutions have begun
examining and revising their existing policies,
procedures, and strategies in light of the
report’s recommendations. Congresswoman
Eddie Bernice Johnson, chairwoman of the
U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and
Technology, has introduced a bill that directs
research funds to specific areas recommended
by the report, including understanding the
causes and consequences of sexual harassment
affecting individuals in the scientific, technical,
engineering, and mathematics workforce, and
examining policies to reduce the prevalence and
negative impact of such harassment. In addition,
the director of the National Institutes of Health
has initiated a working group in response to the
report, and the National Science Foundation has
moved forward with a proposed change to their
grant terms and conditions that was endorsed by
the report.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
National Science Foundation, NASA, National
Institutes of Health, National Institute of
Standards and Technology, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Burroughs Wellcome
Fund, Henry Luce Foundation, and the Howard
Hughes Medical Institute.
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AN UNTAPPED RESOURCE FOR THE
NATION’S STEM WORKFORCE
Workforce projections in the U.S. predict continued
job growth in STEM and related fields. At the same
time, the demographics of the U.S. are shifting
to a non-white majority, a transition that is most
apparent in the demographic makeup of the
younger generations. It is clear that the education
and STEM readiness of students of color will have
direct implications on the nation’s economic
growth, national security, and global prosperity.
A National Academies report says that the
nation’s Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are
underutilized resources for producing talent to
fulfill the needs of the nation’s current and future
STEM workforce. There are approximately 700
two- and four-year MSIs, and they educate nearly
30 percent of all U.S. undergraduates. The total
number of MSIs has grown significantly in the
past 20 years, and as the nation’s demographics
continue to change, many more enrollment-
defined MSIs are expected to emerge.
Based on a review of research literature,
available data, and site visits by the study
committee, Minority Serving Institutions: America’s
Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM
Workforce identifies promising strategies to support
the long-term success of MSI students, particularly
those in STEM fields. The report recommends
that stakeholders — including MSI leadership,
Congress, federal agencies, state leaders, business
and industry, professional associations, and
nongovernmental organizations — should create
initiatives, policies, and practices that are tailored
to meet students where they are in their college
careers academically, financially, and socially, and
to do so with a cultural mindfulness that supports
higher levels of student success and workforce
preparation in STEM fields.
The Academies’ study was funded by
the ECMC Foundation, Helmsley Charitable
Trust, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, W.K. Kellogg
Foundation, and the Wallace Foundation.
SECURING U.S. ELECTIONS
Assessments by the U.S. intelligence community
found that during the 2016 presidential election,
America’s election infrastructure was targeted by
actors sponsored by the Russian government who
obtained and maintained access to elements of
multiple U.S. state or local election systems. The
intrusions made clear the vulnerability of election
infrastructure to cyberattack — a vulnerability
exacerbated by aging equipment and a lack of
sustained funding, says Securing the Vote: Protecting
American Democracy. The report makes numerous
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recommendations designed to toughen the
nation’s election infrastructure and safeguard its
integrity and credibility.
Congress should appropriate funds for
distribution by the U.S. Election Assistance
Commission for the ongoing modernization
of election systems, the report says. Congress
also should provide funding for state and local
governments to improve their cybersecurity
capabilities on an ongoing basis.
The report warns, however, that no electronic
voting systems can be made completely secure
against cyberattack. To protect the integrity and
security of U.S. elections, all federal, state, and
local elections should employ human-readable
paper ballots by the 2020 presidential election.
Paper ballots form a body of evidence that is not
subject to manipulation by faulty software or
hardware and that can be used to audit and verify
the results of an election.
Paper ballots also enable the use of risk-limiting
audits, another safeguard which can verify that
a reported election outcome reflects a correct
tabulation of the votes cast. These audits offer a
high probability that any incorrect outcome can be
detected, and they do so with statistical efficiency;
a risk-limiting audit performed on an election with
tens of millions of ballots may require examination
by hand of as little as several hundred randomly
selected paper ballots. States should begin with
pilot programs of risk-limiting audits and fully
implement them for all federal and state election
contests — and local contests where feasible —
within a decade.
The report also cautions against the use of
Internet voting at the present time. No ballots that
have been marked by voters should be transmitted
by any network connected to the Internet, because
no current technology can guarantee their secrecy,
security, and verifiability.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Carnegie Corporation of New York and the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with
additional support from the National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Presidents’
Committee Funds.
MODERNIZING CRIME STATISTICS
The nation’s ability to measure crime is critical
to establish policy priorities, evaluate policy
effectiveness, and provide accountability data for
the agencies responsible for responding to crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Uniform
Crime Reporting program and its developing
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
compile data on offenses reported or known to
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law enforcement. The Bureau of Justice Statistics’
National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)
complements this with the capacity to estimate
amounts of crime not reported to police.
These systems are essential to understanding
crime, but a stronger federal role is needed to
coordinate data collection, says Modernizing Crime
Statistics: Report 2 — New Systems for Measuring
Crime. The White House Office of Management
and Budget should establish a structure to
manage and coordinate comprehensive crime
data collection.
In 2016, the Academies’ first report on
modernizing crime statistics developed a
broader definition and concept of crime as
“socially unacceptable behavior that causes
harm or threatens harm against another,” and
this final report examines methodological and
implementation issues in working with the new
classification of crime.
Crime statistics would be more useful if they
provided more information and flexibility for
detailed analysis, the report says. Police-report
data collected by NIBRS and survey data from
NCVS provide core crime data components, but
the report suggests adding a third component
that draws from administrative-type data resources
and information on regulatory violations through
a crime measurement clearinghouse. New and
emerging types of crime to include are cybercrime,
environmental crimes, and many types of fraud —
offenses that have not been handled well, or at all,
in the nation’s current crime statistics.
A new crime statistics system that uses
multiple data collection efforts — including
full participation in NIBRS and an adequately
resourced NCVS — will provide a more robust
understanding of the nature of crime and firmer
ground for developing policies to combat crime,
the report says. The new governing structure
should be sure to enable long-term research and
development on innovative technologies and
methodology for measuring crime.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics
and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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HEALTH AND SAFETY
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PUBLIC HEALTH EFFECTS OF E-CIGARETTES
Millions of Americans use e-cigarettes, which
include a range of devices such as “cig-a-likes,”
vape tank systems, and newer products that
look like USB devices, each containing a heating
element that produces a vapor that users inhale
via a mouthpiece. Use is generally greatest among
young adults, decreases with age, and varies
substantially across demographic groups, including
age, gender, race, and ethnicity.
Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes
takes a comprehensive look at evidence on the
human health effects of e-cigarettes. Although the
research base is limited given the relatively short
time e-cigarettes have existed, the committee that
conducted the study examined over 800 peer-
reviewed scientific studies, reaching dozens of
conclusions about a range of health impacts, for
instance, related to exposure to nicotine and toxic
substances, dependence, injuries and poisonings,
cancer, and respiratory effects.
Evidence suggests that while e-cigarettes are
not without health risks, they are likely to be far
less harmful than conventional cigarettes. They
contain fewer numbers and lower levels of toxic
substances than conventional cigarettes, and
using e-cigarettes may help adults who smoke
conventional cigarettes quit smoking. However,
their long-term health effects are not yet clear.
Among youth, there is substantial evidence that
e-cigarette use increases the risk of smoking
conventional cigarettes. Whether e-cigarettes
have an overall positive or negative impact on
public health is currently unknown, the report
says; more and better research on their short- and
long-term health effects and on their relationship
to conventional smoking is needed to answer that
question with clarity.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration.
COLLECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE
U.S. OPIOID EPIDEMIC
The number of opioid-related deaths — from
both prescription opioids and illegal drugs
including heroin, fentanyl, and carfentanil — has
quadrupled in the last 20 years. Driven in large
part by the opioid epidemic, drug overdose is
the leading cause of accidental death in the
U.S., resulting in an average of 170 deaths every
day. Addiction and overdose not only destroy
individual lives but also erode the health and
prosperity of entire families and communities.
The economic toll is significant; according to the
nonprofit research organization Altarum, the cost
of the opioid crisis is estimated to have exceeded
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$1 trillion from 2001 to 2017, and is projected to
cost an additional $500 billion by 2020.
In recognition of the need for a national
coordinated and collective response to the epidemic
of opioid addiction, the National Academy of
Medicine, together with the Aspen Institute,
launched a public-private partnership made
up of more than 55 organizations representing
government, health systems, associations and
provider groups, health education and accrediting
institutions, pharmacies, payers, industry,
nonprofits, and academia. The Academy’s Action
Collaborative on Countering the U.S. Opioid Epidemic
is committed to establishing shared priorities
among stakeholders, identifying unmet needs, and
developing and disseminating evidence-based,
multisector solutions to reduce rates of opioid
misuse and improve outcomes for individuals,
families, and communities affected by addiction.
Four working groups are focusing on:
health professional education and training;
prescribing guidelines and evidence standards;
prevention, treatment, and recovery; and
research, data, and metrics. The collaborative’s
planned activities include meetings and webinars,
expert publications, and the development of an
information hub to share knowledge and best
practices, among other efforts.
The Academy’s action collaborative is funded
by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical
Education, Aetna, American Hospital Association,
American Medical Association, Arnold Ventures,
Association of American Medical Colleges,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
CDC Foundation, Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services, Council of Medical Specialty
Societies, Federation of State Medical Boards,
HCA Healthcare, National Institute on Drug
Abuse, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration.
ABORTION CARE IN THE UNITED STATES
Since abortion became legal nationwide in the
United States in 1973, there have been substantial
advances to the health care delivery system and
medical science, and abortion care practices have
changed with the advent of new techniques and
technologies.
The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the
United States provides a comprehensive review of
the scientific evidence on the safety and quality
of abortion care in the U.S. The committee that
wrote the report examined the evidence on the
four abortion methods in use and assessed quality
of care based on whether it is safe, effective,
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patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable,
according to well-established standards.
Medication and aspiration abortions are the
most common methods and, together, account
for about 90 percent of all abortions. Regardless
of the method used, serious complications from
abortion are rare, and safety and quality are
enhanced when the abortion is performed as early
in pregnancy as possible, the report says. However,
the likelihood that women will receive the type of
abortion services that best meet their needs varies
considerably depending on where they live, due
to abortion-specific regulations in many states that
create barriers to safe and effective care.
The committee examined the minimum
characteristics necessary for clinical facilities to
safely perform an abortion, and found that the
majority of abortions can be provided safely in
office-based settings. In 2014, 95 percent of
abortions were provided in clinics and other office-
based settings.
Reviewing the evidence on what clinical skills
are necessary for health care providers to safely
perform the various components of abortion care,
the committee concluded that trained physicians
(such as OB-GYNs and family medicine physicians)
as well as advanced practice clinicians (such as
certified nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, and
physician assistants) can safely and effectively
provide medication and aspiration abortions. The
report also looks at clinical education and training
in abortion care, availability of services, and
potential long-term health effects.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Grove Foundation, JPB Foundation, David and
Lucile Packard Foundation, Susan Thompson Buffet
Foundation, Tara Health Foundation, and the
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
STRATEGIES TO REDUCE ALCOHOL-
IMPAIRED DRIVING
Alcohol-impaired driving remains the deadliest and
costliest danger on U.S. roads today, with resulting
fatalities significantly exceeding the number of
deaths from distracted and drugged driving.
Although some progress in addressing this issue
was made from the 1980s to early 2000s, more
than 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities still
occur each year in the U.S.
Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving
Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent
Problem outlines ways that stakeholders — from
transportation systems to alcohol retailers to
law enforcement — should work together to
implement policies and systems to eliminate these
deaths. For example, the report recommends
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state governments enact laws criminalizing
alcohol-impaired driving at 0.05 percent blood
alcohol concentration (BAC), rather than the
current limit of 0.08 percent in all states except
Utah, which decreased its BAC limit to 0.05
percent in December 2018. Evidence shows
that an individual’s ability to operate any type
of motor vehicle begins to deteriorate at BAC
levels lower than 0.08 percent. In addition,
studies from countries that have decreased their
BAC limits to 0.05 percent, such as Austria and
Japan, demonstrate that this is an effective policy.
This change should be accompanied by media
campaigns and robust enforcement efforts.
Most strategies to reduce alcohol-impaired
driving employ traditional enforcement and
criminal justice approaches, but it is critically
important to broaden the focus to reduce
drinking to the point of impairment in the first
place. Among other recommendations, the
report says federal and state governments should
increase alcohol taxes significantly, as strong
evidence shows that higher alcohol taxes can
reduce binge drinking and alcohol-related motor
vehicle crash fatalities.
Several states, including New York and Hawaii,
are assessing lowering their BAC limits to 0.05
percent. The Academies’ study was funded by the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
CONTROLLING COAL MINE DUST
EXPOSURE
Black lung disease is a complex problem that
continues to affect coal miners in the U.S. who
have been exposed to respirable coal mine dust
— a substance containing airborne particles
produced during mining operations that can be
inhaled and deposited in the lung. Although rates
of black lung disease declined in the latter decades
of the 20th century, an unexpected increase has
been observed in various geographic areas in
central Appalachia since 2000. The reasons for
the increase are unclear, but it could be related to
changes in mining practices. For example, the use
of heavier, more powerful equipment has made it
easier to cut through more rock to mine thinner
coal seams. If that rock is high in crystalline silica,
miners could be exposed to dust with elevated
concentrations of silica, which can increase
health risks. In 2014, the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) issued a rule that lowered
allowable exposure limits for respirable coal mine
dust and required the use of different monitoring
technology and sampling protocols for mine
workers’ dust exposure.
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Monitoring and Sampling Approaches to Assess
Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposures says that
even though mine operators today are complying
with regulatory requirements for monitoring
conditions that affect miner health, these
approaches may not guarantee that exposures
will be controlled adequately or that future
disease rates will decline. A fundamental shift
is needed in the way mine operators approach
exposure control to continue progress toward
eliminating coal mine dust-related lung diseases.
The report recommends a number of actions for
the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), MSHA, and coal mine operators
that range from improving current monitoring
technologies, such as developing rapid detection
of crystalline silica, to building research activities
that address the knowledge gaps. In addition,
to inform exposure control efforts, NIOSH and
other organizations, such as the National Mining
Association, should conduct a comprehensive
investigation to identify key challenges mine
operators face in implementing a “beyond
compliance” approach to monitoring.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health.
STUDYING HEALTH EFFECTS IN VETERANS
AND THEIR DESCENDANTS
Almost 700,000 U.S. troops were deployed to the
Persian Gulf region during the height of Operations
Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990-1991. The
U.S. military engaged in further conflicts following
the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with troops
stationed in and around Afghanistan and in Iraq.
In any war, deployed service members may be
exposed to potentially hazardous agents and
situations. This could include chemicals that are
used in everyday civilian life, such as pesticides and
solvents, as well as chemical and biological agents,
mandatory vaccines, smoke from burn pits and oil-
well fires, and depleted uranium.
Gulf War and Health, Volume 11: Generational
Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War recommends
the creation of a health monitoring and research
program (HMRP) to help determine if the
descendants of Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans
are at risk for health effects resulting from the
service members’ exposure to toxicants during
deployment. While there is a growing base of
human and animal evidence on the reproductive
and developmental effects of many toxicants of
concern, there is a dearth of information on the
specific effects of veterans’ exposures on their
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
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The HMRP would be a collaboration among
a number of government and nongovernmental
organizations to carry out several priorities, such
as the collection, storage, and maintenance of
comprehensive baseline and longitudinal data
and biospecimens from veterans, their partners,
and their descendants, and detailed exposure
characterization and assessment during and after
deployment.
The report also includes more than 50
conclusions in five categories of association
between exposures and reproductive effects,
adverse pregnancy outcomes, or developmental
effects. Because there was little or no information
on specific effects in veterans for many of
the toxicants, the study committee relied on
examinations of occupational or residential cohorts
who were exposed to some of the same toxicants
as Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans were. However,
the committee was unable to determine how
relevant the exposures in these non-veteran studies
are to those experienced by deployed veterans
in terms of the exposure magnitude, duration,
frequency, mixtures, and co-exposures.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs.
VA MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
Approximately 4 million U.S. service members
took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,
including Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF),
Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation
New Dawn (OND). The National Academies were
asked to assess the quality, capacity, and access
to mental health care services for veterans who
served in these wars.
While the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
provides mental health care of comparable or
superior quality to care provided in private and
non-VA public sectors, accessibility and quality
of services vary across the VA health system,
says Evaluation of the Department of Veterans
Affairs Mental Health Services. A survey developed
and fielded by the committee that conducted
the study found that approximately half of the
veterans surveyed who may have a need for
mental health care do not use VA or non-VA
services, indicating that a large proportion of
veterans who need mental health services do not
receive any treatment for conditions such as post-
traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder,
or depression. In addition, more than half of
veterans who screened positive in the survey for
having a mental health care need do not perceive
their need for services.
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Among veterans with a mental health care
need who have not sought mental health services,
their main reasons for not doing so are that they
do not know how to apply for VA mental health
care benefits, they are unsure whether they are
eligible, or they are unaware that VA offers these
benefits. Many veterans who are aware of these
services say that the process of accessing them
is burdensome. However, a majority of OEF/OIF/
OND veterans who use the VA report positive
experiences with its mental health services,
including the availability of services, privacy and
confidentiality of medical records, and the staff’s
skill, expertise, and courtesy toward patients.
The report says that the VA should set a
goal of becoming a reliable provider of high-
quality mental health care services throughout
its system within three to five years and includes
recommendations for developing and reviewing a
strategic plan to achieve this goal.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs.
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RENEWING AND MODERNIZING THE
INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SYSTEM
The U.S. Interstate Highway System has been
pivotal in shaping and supporting the country’s
demographic, economic, and social development.
Authorized in 1956 and designed to provide safe
and efficient transportation across states, the
system’s highways serve as both urban commuter
and inter-urban travel corridors, integrate the
country’s freight system by connecting to major
ports and rail hubs, and are critical to the logistics
of national defense. Today, however, they suffer
from severe congestion, mainly in urban areas, and
in many cases are in need of costly reconstruction.
The future of the nation’s interstates is
threatened by a persistent and growing backlog
of structural and operational deficiencies and by
various looming challenges, such as escalating urban
traffic levels, the progress of automated vehicles,
and vulnerabilities due to climate change, says
Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate
Highway System: A Foundation for the Future. Unless
a commitment is made to remedy the system’s
deficiencies and prepare for these oncoming
challenges, there is a real risk that interstate
highways will become increasingly unreliable and
congested, far more costly to maintain, less safe, and
vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather.
The report provides a 20-year blueprint for
action, which includes creating an “Interstate
Highway System Renewal and Modernization
Program.” To ensure that the funding is not
threatened by declining fuel tax revenues, new
federal and state user-based fees, such as per-
mile charges, should be employed. In the short
term, however, the blueprint calls for increasing
the federal fuel tax and allowing tolls on
interstates. Recent combined state and federal
capital spending on interstate highways has been
approximately $25 billion annually. To renew and
modernize these roads over the next 20 years,
$45 billion to $70 billion will be required annually.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Federal Highway Administration of the U.S.
Department of Transportation.
OPPORTUNITIES IN AVIATION SAFETY
Commercial airlines are the safest modes
of transportation, largely due to decades of
investment by industry and government and
continuous efforts to reduce hazards. However,
with an increase in the number of flights and
numerous new technologies, such as autonomous
air and ground systems, the national airspace
system has to keep pace in a rapidly changing
environment.
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In-Time Aviation Safety Management: Challenges
and Research for an Evolving Aviation System says
that that it is time for a comprehensive aviation
safety system as envisioned by NASA that could
continuously monitor the national airspace system,
assess the data that it has collected, and then
either recommend or initiate safety assurance
actions as necessary. Such a comprehensive
aviation system would require integration of a wide
range of systems and practices, including building
an in-time aviation safety management system
(IASMS) that could detect and mitigate high-
priority safety issues as they emerge.
The report visualizes an IASMS that can
collect data on the status of aircraft, air traffic
management systems, airports, and weather,
and then assess the data second by second,
minute by minute, and hour by hour to detect
or predict elevated risks quickly. Additionally, the
IASMS would focus on risks that require action
in-flight or prior to flight to ensure safety, such as
making a decision to postpone or cancel a flight
until weather conditions change or equipment is
repaired, for example. Recommendations from
the system could be ones that operators act upon
themselves or, when urgency is needed, the IASMS
could be designated to initiate safety assurance
actions autonomously.
The report recommends 10 high-priority
research projects for consideration by agencies
and organizations in government, industry, and
academia. Of these 10 projects, developing a
detailed concept of operations for an IASMS
should be of the highest priority and will involve
considering multiple possible system architectures,
evaluating key trade-offs, and identifying system
requirements.
Government agencies should support
research and development consistent with their
own organization’s mission objectives and the
desired nature of the given organization’s research
portfolio in terms of risk, technical maturity, and
economic potential, the report says. In addition,
each research project could be addressed by
partnerships involving multiple organizations in
the federal government, industry, academia, and
international government agencies.
A second report, Assessing the Risks of
Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into the
National Airspace System, says that opening
up the nation’s airspace to drone operations
can also provide substantial safety benefits to
society, such as preventing train derailments,
inspecting cell phone towers, delivering medical
devices to patients in cardiac distress, and
assisting firefighters. The report outlines several
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recommendations to optimize the advantages of
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and allow for
their expanded use in the future.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s overly
cautious approach to safety risk assessments tends
to overestimate the likelihood and severity of
risks from drones, the report says, and threatens
to curb innovation and prevent the many ways
drones can help people. To integrate drone
activities into the nation’s airspace in a timely
yet safe manner, FAA should evolve its current
risk assessment methodologies. The need is
particularly pressing because the lack of empirical
data in this emerging industry means the current
FAA approaches to UAS risk management
are based fundamentally on qualitative and
subjective risk analysis.
The FAA should establish and publish
specific guidelines before the end of 2019
for implementing a predictable, repeatable,
quantitative risk-based process for certifying
unmanned aircraft systems and granting
operations approval, the report says. It also
recommends the FAA administrator publicly
commit to reviewing risk assessments by mid-
year so the proponents receive timely feedback.
The agency should undertake a top-to-bottom
change in management processes as well, with
the aim of moving to a risk-based decision-
making organization.
After the report was released, the secretary of
the U.S. Department of Transportation announced
that the FAA will introduce a new rule to grant
drone operators more freedom to fly as well as
longer flight times.
In-Time Aviation Safety Management was
funded by NASA. Assessing the Risks of Integrating
Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into the National
Airspace System was funded by the Federal Aviation
Administration.
SAFETY REGULATION OF SMALL
GAS PIPELINE SYSTEMS
Propane and other types of liquefied petroleum
gas (LPG) are important fuels for homes and
businesses that do not have access to natural gas
service within the U.S. energy infrastructure. For
a smaller portion of those served by LPG, the gas
is transported by small, multi-user distribution
systems, each of which provide LPG to 100 or
fewer customers, especially in rural areas of
New England.
Current federal safety regulations for small
distribution systems used for LPGs should
be improved for clarity, enforceability, and
applicability to risk, says Safety Regulation for
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Small LPG Distribution Systems. Because of
data limitations on system location and safety
performance, there is significant uncertainty
about how the regulatory requirements affect the
safety of the gas pipeline systems, particularly the
smallest ones with fewer than 100 customers.
The report says that while serious incidents
involving these small LPG distribution systems are
infrequent, not all systems are being identified
for compliance with federal regulations. This
undercounting could be due to inconsistent
regulatory interpretations about when a
system falls under federal requirements and
limited resources for state regulators to identify
and inspect smaller distribution systems.
The committee that conducted the study
recommended that regulators should consistently
identify the location, condition, and risk
characteristics of smaller systems to confirm that
regulatory requirements and their enforcement are
appropriate. Additionally, regulators and operators
should ensure uniform interpretation of the term
“public place,” as its definition can lead to state-to-
state variability in enforcement of regulations.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration is formulating a policy strategy to
utilize the Academies’ recommendations, and
the report also appears on the agency’s website
as a resource.
The Academies’ study was funded by
the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration of the U.S. Department of
Transportation.
PUBLIC TRANSIT & SAFETY PLANNING
RECORDS
While generally having a strong safety record,
the public transit industry has been subject to
increasing state and federal safety oversight
stemming from several serious incidents. Federal
regulators intended to require public transit
systems to develop comprehensive safety plans,
but many transit agencies expressed concern that
the records generated could be used against them
in court as evidence, exposing them to significant
financial liabilities that would discourage critical
and candid safety planning.
The safety planning records of transit agencies
should not be admissible as evidence in civil
litigation, says Admissibility and Public Availability
of Transit Safety Planning Records. State highway
agencies and commuter railroads have been
granted such “evidentiary protections,” and the
committee that conducted the study found no
compelling reason to advise Congress against
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current practice by treating transit agencies
differently.
The report says that shielding certain safety
planning and management records from use in
court would help transit agencies critically analyze
and improve the safety of their systems. With such
admissibility protections in place, transit agencies
would no longer need to worry that their planning
records would create a legal liability when made
public. The committee, therefore, urged that
there should be no changes made to reduce the
availability of safety planning records under federal
and state open records laws, and every effort
should be made to ensure that the records subject
to the protections are made freely available for
public review and scrutiny.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit
Administration.
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REVIEW OF FEDERAL CLIMATE SCIENCE
REPORTS
The U.S. Global Change Research Program
(USGCRP) coordinates the National Climate
Assessment, which provides the United States with
the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation
of climate change impacts every four years.
USGCRP asked the National Academies
to review the draft Fourth National Climate
Assessment (NCA4), which evaluates the state of
climate science and the broad range of impacts of
climate change in the United States.
Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate
Assessment concludes that the draft NCA4
accurately describes the science of climate change
and impacts occurring and likely to occur this
century across the U.S. It recommends some
revision to improve the communication of key
aspects of the draft NCA4 report to strengthen
and enhance its ability to reach broad audiences.
Improving linkages across the report’s different
chapters and topics also would better capture the
interconnected nature of many climate change
impacts. Any significant advancements made
since the Third National Climate Assessment
should be explicitly identified with emphasis on
emerging science, impacts, and examples of new
response actions.
A separate Academies committee was
appointed to review the draft of Second State
of the Carbon Cycle Report, a report that feeds
into the overall assessment process developed
by USGCRP and informs several chapters in the
NCA4. Review of the Draft Second State of the
Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) says the draft
provides an informative overview of current
scientific understanding of carbon cycle dynamics
across North America. Updates that would benefit
the draft include: providing consistency in how
carbon sources and sinks are described across
various chapters and figures; clarifying ambiguities
in the geographic scope of the assessment;
focusing key findings on describing what has
specifically been learned from new research; and
expanding discussion of opportunities for effective
management of carbon sources and sinks.
The final Fourth National Climate Assessment
and Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report
were both released on Nov. 23, 2018, with
acknowledgements of the National Academies’
reviews and summaries of the extensive revisions
made in response.
The Academies’ studies were funded by
USGCRP.
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PROMISING TECHNOLOGIES FOR CARBON
DIOXIDE REMOVAL
While most climate mitigation efforts focus on
decreasing the rate at which people are adding
carbon from fossil fuels into the atmosphere,
negative emissions technologies (NETs) take
carbon out of the air and put it back into
ecosystems and the Earth. These technologies are
expected to provide approximately 30 percent of
the net emissions reductions required this century,
yet have not received adequate public investment.
Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable
Sequestration: A Research Agenda recommends the
nation launch a substantial research initiative to
advance promising NETs as soon as possible, to
bring these technologies to scale and make them
cost-effective. Not only will NETs play a significant
role in meeting climate goals, they could offer
considerable economic rewards to the nations that
develop the best technologies. Any intellectual
property held by U.S. companies would benefit the
U.S. economy.
Four land-based NETs — reforestation,
changes in forest management, changes in
agricultural practices to enhance carbon uptake
and storage by soil, and biomass energy with
carbon capture and sequestration — are ready
for large-scale deployment. Despite their benefits,
these NETs cannot yet provide enough carbon
removal at a reasonable cost without imposing
substantial changes in land use, leading to reduced
agricultural productivity and biodiversity. Two
additional NETs — direct air capture and carbon
mineralization — could be revolutionary because
of their high potential capacity to remove carbon.
However, they are not ready for deployment
because direct air capture is currently limited by
high cost and carbon mineralization is limited by a
lack of fundamental understanding.
The research initiative should pursue ways
to improve existing land-based NETs, make
rapid progress on direct air capture and carbon
mineralization, and advance NET-enabling research
on biofuels and carbon dioxide sequestration, the
report recommends.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
U.S. Department of Energy, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, U.S. Geological Survey,
V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, Linden Trust
for Conservation, and Incite Labs, with support
from the National Academy of Sciences’
Arthur L. Day Fund.
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LATEST REVIEW OF EPA’S IRIS PROGRAM
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS)
program is used to assess the hazards posed by
environmental contaminants. A transformation
of the IRIS program began several years ago
after the release of a 2011 National Academies
report that provided suggestions for creating a
more systematic and transparent IRIS process.
Another Academies report in 2014 reviewed the
changes implemented, and concluded that the
improvements were considerable.
The Academies’ latest review, Progress Toward
Transforming the Integrated Risk Information System
(IRIS) Program: A 2018 Evaluation, finds that EPA
has made substantial progress in implementing
recommendations outlined in the past reports and
has improved the program’s overall scientific and
technical performance.
Under new leadership, the IRIS program
has incorporated systematic-review methods
into its process and assessments. These changes
are important for identifying, evaluating, and
summarizing findings from current literature
and integrating the evidence available to inform
decisions. The program has also developed a
number of collaborations with groups such as the
World Health Organization that will help build
its position as a leader in advancing systematic-
review methods.
The report urges EPA to give high priority
to the completion, peer review, and release of
its IRIS handbook, which will be used to guide
development of IRIS assessment. The still-evolving
program will require some refinements and will
need to evolve as it adapts and applies new
scientific approaches and knowledge.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
GUIDANCE FOR MANAGING CITRUS
GREENING
Since citrus greening disease or huanglongbing
(HLB) was first detected in Florida in 2005, the
state has seen a steady decline in citrus tree
productivity, causing a cumulative loss of
$2.9 billion in grower revenues from 2007 to
2014, and a 58 percent decline in production
volume since 2005. This complex and destructive
disease — characterized by blotchy mottling of
citrus tree leaves, a stunting of shoots, the gradual
death of branches, and small deformed fruits with
bitter juice — poses a serious threat to Florida’s
citrus industry and has progressed from an acute
to a chronic disease throughout the state.
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A Review of the Citrus Greening Research and
Development Efforts Supported by the Citrus Research
and Development Foundation: Fighting a Ravaging
Disease says that a single breakthrough discovery
for managing citrus greening in Florida in the
future is unlikely. It calls for a systems approach to
prioritize research on the disease and strategically
distribute resources for research to effectively
manage the disease.
The Citrus Research and Development
Foundation (CRDF), a $124 million state/citrus
industry initiative, has invested nearly 90 percent
of its funding in researching HLB. While CRDF
and other funders have increased our knowledge
about the disease, researchers have been unable
to culture the HLB bacteria and lack advanced
diagnostics for early disease detection and
standardized research methodology to compare
results across studies.
The report recommends continued support for
research on short-term solutions for the industry
to remain viable while longer term approaches
are being developed, and finding the best
combinations of control methods that are suited to
different environmental and growing conditions,
vector and pathogen pressure, tree varieties, and
tree health, which would help growers in Florida
and other states where HLB also occurs. New
technology such as gene modification and gene
editing, which focus on targets that mediate
molecular interactions among plant, bacteria, and
the vector, may offer solutions in the long term.
CRDF should create accessible databases to
support sociological and economic modeling
of citrus greening-related research outcomes
and application projections. The report also
recommends researchers communicate the
outcomes and evaluation of their efforts in a timely
and systematic way. CRDF should work with other
funding agencies to create an overarching advisory
panel to develop a master plan for HLB research,
communication, and management.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Citrus Research and Development Foundation.
FACTORING CHANGE INTO EVERGLADES
RESTORATION
Significant evidence is pointing to climate change
and an acceleration in sea-level rise in South
Florida, which will have a profound impact on the
Everglades ecosystem and the ability of the water
management infrastructure to provide protection
against floods and meet future regional water
demands. Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades:
The Seventh Biennial Review — 2018 says state and
federal agencies responsible for Comprehensive
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Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) efforts should
conduct a mid-course assessment to rigorously
analyze scenarios of future change to better
manage the ecosystem.
The multibillion-dollar CERP was created in
2000 to reverse the decline of the Everglades.
The original plan assumed that rainfall and
temperatures observed from 1965 to 1999
captured the full range of changes expected
throughout the 21st century. The National
Academies’ latest review of CERP notes that
progress has been made in project construction
and in improving water quality, but the plan
currently lacks a comprehensive understanding
of the combined benefits of CERP projects
systemwide or in the context of sea-level rise and
climate change.
Analysis of potential effects of climate change
and sea-level rise is necessary in planning for all
projects so that investments lead to a system which
is more resilient to future conditions. The report
recommends full implementation of adaptive
management and improved monitoring, allowing
new knowledge to be applied through a flexible
decision-making process.
A science program focused on understanding
the impacts of current and future threats on the
South Florida ecosystem should be established to
ensure agencies have the latest scientific findings
and tools to successfully plan and implement the
restoration program.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, U.S. Department
of the Interior, and the South Florida Water
Management District.
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THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE
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ENCRYPTION AND SECURITY
Encryption is a vital tool for protecting the
information security of financial institutions,
retailers, governments, and many other
organizations, as well as for individuals who
wish to maintain the privacy of Internet
communications or data on their personal
computers and smartphones. Law enforcement
officials, however, say that encryption technology
is restricting their access to information needed for
criminal and national security investigations. And
recent progress toward development of powerful
quantum computers raises concerns about whether
today’s encryption technologies will continue to be
effective in the future.
Decrypting the Encryption Debate: A Framework
for Decision Makers offers a strategy for evaluating
proposals that would provide authorized
government agencies with access to unencrypted
versions of encrypted communications and
other data.
Although the law enforcement community
has called for reliable, timely, and scalable ways to
access encrypted information, legal and practical
objections have been raised about the risks to
privacy, civil liberties, and security in the face of
increasing cyber threats. One of the fundamental
trade-offs underlying the debate is that adding
capabilities for government to access encrypted
information necessarily will weaken the security of
an encrypted product or service to some degree,
while the absence of such access inevitably hampers
government investigations to some extent.
The aim of the report’s framework is not
simply to help policymakers determine whether
a particular proposed approach is desirable but
also to ensure it is implemented in a way that
maximizes effectiveness while minimizing harmful
side effects.
A second report, Quantum Computing:
Progress and Prospects, underscores the
importance of work to ensure that public-key
cryptography — a basis for the security of today’s
computers and networks — will be resilient
against an attack by a quantum computer.
Unlike conventional computers, a quantum
computer utilizes the unusual characteristics of
quantum mechanics — the nonintuitive behavior
of very small particles — to perform computation
and encodes information as quantum bits or
“qubits.” While it is effectively impossible to defeat
currently deployed encryption using the best
available conventional computer, an advanced
quantum computer could potentially perform this
task in no more than a few hours.
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Despite recent progress in quantum
computing R&D, significant engineering
challenges would need to be overcome before
such a device could be built. Therefore, it
is highly unlikely that a quantum computer
capable of compromising current encryption
will be built within the next decade, the report
says. It emphasizes, however, the need to begin
transitioning to quantum-resilient cryptography
well before such a device is built, as it takes longer
than a decade to replace existing web standards.
The report also notes that the speed of
quantum computing could lead to important
applications. Research on quantum computing
has already stimulated advancements in computer
science by motivating or informing improvements
in the design of classical computer algorithms.
The research has also helped generate progress
in physics in areas such as quantum gravity, and
could lead to advances in other areas of quantum
information science and engineering, including for
quantum sensing technologies.
Research on quantum computing has clear
implications for national security. Any entity
that has a large-scale quantum computer could
break through encryption to read intercepted
communications or stored data. While the U.S.
has historically played a leading role in developing
quantum technologies, quantum information
science and engineering is now a global field, and
many other nations have made large resource
commitments, the report says. Continued U.S.
support for this field is of strategic value and
imperative if the country wants to maintain its
leadership position.
Decrypting the Encryption Debate was funded
by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation,
and the National Science Foundation. Quantum
Computing was funded by the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence.
THE SEARCH FOR LIFE BEYOND EARTH
In recent years, knowledge has grown about what
factors make a planet elsewhere in the solar system
or beyond hospitable to life. Researchers are better
able to detect directly or indirectly those aspects
of a planet’s environment that may indicate
habitability or even the presence of life, now or
in the past.
An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life
in the Universe says that scientific advances in
astrobiology — the study of the origin, evolution,
distribution, and future of life in the universe
— strengthen the case for its pursuit in NASA
missions and provide many opportunities to
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increase collaboration with other scientific fields
and organizations.
NASA should support research on a broader
range of biosignatures — the lines of evidence
used to look for current and past life, the report
says. An updated, more sophisticated catalog and
framework for biosignatures will be important
to enhance our ability to detect both life as we
know it on Earth, and, potentially, life forms
fundamentally different from any known today.
A comprehensive framework could also aid
in distinguishing between biosignatures and
abiotic (non-living) phenomena, and improve
understanding of the potential for biosignatures
to be preserved, or not, over long planetary
time scales. The report points to recent advances
revealing the breadth and diversity of life below
Earth’s surface; the nature of fluids beneath the
surface of Mars; and the likelihood of life-sustaining
geological processes in the oceans under the icy
surfaces of the moons of the outer solar system.
Astrobiology should be integrated into
all stages of future exploratory missions, from
inception to development to operations, the report
says. NASA should also ramp up efforts to develop
mission-ready life-detection technologies. The
specialized measurements, equipment, and analysis
required to take full advantage of space missions
include some that exist outside of traditional
space science fields, highlighting the need for
interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration with
organizations outside of NASA, such as private,
philanthropic, and international organizations,
especially international space agencies.
A second report, Exoplanet Science Strategy,
says that NASA should lead a large direct-
imaging mission — an advanced space telescope
— capable of studying Earth-like exoplanets
orbiting sun-like stars. Doing so would broaden
our knowledge about potentially habitable
environments beyond Earth and be integral to the
search for scientific evidence of life. Also, such a
mission would help researchers understand the
formation and evolution of planetary systems as
products of star formation.
Ground-based astronomy — enabled by
two U.S.-led telescopes — will also play a pivotal
role in studying planet formation and terrestrial
worlds, the report says. The future Giant Magellan
Telescope and proposed Thirty Meter Telescope
would allow profound advances in imaging and
spectroscopy — observations of the absorption and
emission of light — of entire planetary systems.
They also could detect molecular oxygen in the
atmospheres of Earth-like planets in transit around
small nearby stars. The report recommends that
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the National Science Foundation invest in both
telescopes and their exoplanet instrumentation
to provide all-sky access to the U.S. scientific
community.
The report also says that two previously
recommended missions — the James Webb
Space Telescope and the Wide Field Infrared
Survey Telescope — will each play crucial roles
in the search for potentially habitable planets.
NASA should carry out both of these missions,
as planned, while also expanding its research
collaboration initiative, Nexus for Exoplanet System
Science, as the model for supporting a cross-
divisional, interdisciplinary research effort.
Both of the Academies’ studies were funded
by NASA.
THE VALUE OF SPACE-BASED EARTH
OBSERVATIONS
Satellite observation of Earth provides a unique
global perspective that continually transforms
understanding of the Earth system and also enables
the development of applications and services of
vital importance to the nation. Earth observations
are used to improve agricultural and ocean
productivity, forecast weather and its extremes,
track drought, monitor air quality, and support
operations of the armed services, to name but a
few applications.
To continue advancing such capabilities and
scientific understanding, a National Academies
report calls for NASA, the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S.
Geological Survey to implement a coordinated
approach for their space-based environmental
observations. Thriving on Our Changing Planet:
A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation From
Space outlines a robust, resilient, and balanced
U.S. program of Earth observations from space
through 2027 that reflects new needs in several
priority areas.
The report — representing the work of over
100 Earth scientists, engineers, and policy experts
— identifies a set of key questions that focus on
fields where scientific advances and information
capabilities are most needed. Top priority questions
include: How can environmental predictions of
weather and air quality be extended to seamlessly
forecast Earth-system conditions at lead times of
one week to two months? How do anthropogenic
changes in climate, land use, water use, and water
storage interact and affect water and energy
cycles? What processes determine the long-term
variations in air pollution and their subsequent
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long-term recurring and cumulative impacts on
human health, agriculture, and ecosystems?
Federal investments in Earth-observation
capabilities have failed to keep pace with the
increasing information needs of businesses and
individuals and the overall value of this information
to the nation, the report says. Although budget
constraints will remain a practical concern during
the next decade in terms of making progress
with new space-based observational capabilities,
the report recommends innovative methods for
achieving progress within those constraints.
The Academies’ study was funded by NASA,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
and the U.S. Geological Survey.
SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS FOR U.S. FOOD
AND AGRICULTURE
Water scarcity, increased weather variability,
floods and droughts, as well as costly and
deadly outbreaks of food-borne illness and
the constant threat of pests and pathogens to
crops, livestock, and poultry are examples of the
formidable challenges confronting the U.S. food
and agricultural enterprise. Science Breakthroughs
to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by
2030 identifies the most promising scientific
breakthroughs that are achievable within a decade
to mitigate those and other stresses on the food
and agriculture system.
Making progress will require a convergent
research approach that merges advances in
materials science, information technology,
behavioral sciences, and other fields. The report
identifies five breakthrough opportunities to
increase dramatically the capabilities of science to
address urgent challenges in food and agriculture,
and includes recommendations for a range of
federal agencies, as well as federal and private
funders and researchers.
• Transdisciplinary, systems research to
understand the nature of interactions among
the different elements of the food and
agricultural system can be leveraged to increase
overall system efficiency, resilience, and
sustainability.
• The development and validation of highly
sensitive, field-deployable sensors and
biosensors will enable rapid detection and
monitoring capabilities across various food and
agricultural disciplines.
• The application and integration of data
sciences, software tools, and systems models
will enable advanced analytics for managing
the food and agricultural system.
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• The ability to carry out routine gene editing of
agriculturally important organisms will allow
for precise and rapid improvement of traits
important for productivity and quality.
• Understanding the relevance of the
microbiome to agriculture and harnessing
this knowledge will improve crop production,
transform feed efficiency, and increase
resilience to stress and disease.
The Agriculture Improvement Act of
2018 urges the secretary of agriculture to use
the National Academies’ report to identify
opportunities for additional investments within the
department’s flagship competitive grants program,
the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
Supporters of Agricultural Research Foundation,
Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research,
U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute
of Food and Agriculture, National Science
Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATION OF
HUMAN GENOME EDITING
In the past few years, research has increasingly
employed CRISPR/Cas9 and other groundbreaking
tools to edit the human genome more precisely
than ever before. While clinical trials are planned
for non-heritable genome-editing applications to
treat blood disorders and other genetic diseases,
many questions remain about the science,
application, ethics, and oversight of this fast-
moving area of science and medicine. Of particular
concern is heritable genome editing, through
which genetic alterations may be passed on to
future generations.
Recognizing that the issues raised by
genome editing transcend national borders,
the National Academies have drawn upon their
ability to gather individuals from around the
world and across disciplines to advance global
dialogue on this complex subject. The National
Academy of Sciences and National Academy of
Medicine organized two international summits
and a consensus study to explore the issues that
surround human genome editing. The most recent
summit, the Second International Summit on Human
Genome Editing — co-hosted with the Academy of
Sciences of Hong Kong and the Royal Society of
the U.K. in 2018 — brought together more than
500 researchers, ethicists, clinicians, representatives
from patient groups, and others to discuss
the science, ethics, and governance of human
genome editing research and its applications. The
live webcast of the summit in Hong Kong also
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attracted over a million viewers from more than
190 nations and jurisdictions.
The summit had already been getting
widespread news coverage when a Chinese
researcher revealed that he had edited early
human embryos, which were used to establish a
pregnancy that resulted in the birth of twins. The
research drew strong criticism from the summit’s
organizers and many in the global scientific
community. In a statement issued at the conclusion
of the summit, the international, multidisciplinary
organizing committee stated that “the scientific
understanding and technical requirements for
clinical practice remain too uncertain and the
risks too great to permit clinical trials of germline
editing at this time.” The statement called for a
rigorous, responsible translational pathway for
such clinical trials.
The events in Hong Kong underscore the
urgent need for broader exploration and analysis
of genome editing. To further international
dialogue, the NAS and NAM, along with the
Royal Society, will serve as the secretariat for a
global commission being formed to further define
specific criteria and standards for evaluating
whether proposed clinical trials of human
germline editing should be permitted.
FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION
OF SCIENTISTS
Years of warning signs indicate that the U.S.
biomedical enterprise may be calcifying in ways
that create barriers for the incoming generation
of researchers. Many new Ph.D.s spend long
periods in postdoctoral positions with low salaries,
inadequate training, and little opportunity for
independent research. As of 2016, for those
researchers who do transition into independent
research positions, the average age for securing
their first major NIH independent grant is 43 years
old, compared with 36 years old in 1980.
The Next Generation of Biomedical and
Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through
calls for a series of substantial reforms to
strengthen the U.S. biomedical research system
for the next generation of scientists. The report
includes recommendations to open career paths
inside and outside of academia for early career
scientists, broaden responsibility among public and
private stakeholders for the future of the research
ecosystem, and increase policy experimentation
and investment in that research ecosystem, so that
scientists are empowered to imagine and explore
new and innovative treatments for diseases and
improvements to health and well-being.
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Academic institutions should collect,
analyze, and disseminate comprehensive data on
outcomes, demographics, and career aspirations
of biomedical and behavioral science researchers.
These institutions should also work with the
National Institutes of Health to increase the
number of individuals in staff scientist positions,
in order to provide more stable, non-faculty
research opportunities for the next generation of
researchers.
In addition, the report urges Congress to
establish a Biomedical Research Enterprise Council
— a public-private partnership of stakeholders to
provide collective guardianship of the biomedical
research enterprise and address ongoing
challenges confronting the next generation of
biomedical and behavioral researchers. Congress
should also consider increasing NIH’s budget to
enable it to more robustly support early career
researchers, and work with the agency to promote
innovative pilot projects that seek to improve and
accelerate transitions into independent careers.
The report also recommends that NIH expand
existing awards or create new competitive awards
for postdoctoral researchers to advance their own
independent research, and to ensure that the
duration of all R01 research grants supporting
early-stage investigators is no less than five years to
enable the establishment of resilient independent
research programs.
Following the report’s release, the advisory
committee to the director of NIH formed a Next
Generation Researchers Initiative working group,
which developed a set of recommendations
informed by the report.
The Academies’ study was funded by the
National Institutes of Health and the Bloomberg
Philanthropies.
BIODEFENSE IN THE AGE OF
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
Synthetic biology — a field that creates
technologies that enable one to re-engineer
existing organisms and potentially create new
ones not found in nature — is being pursued
overwhelmingly for beneficial purposes such
as treating diseases, improving agricultural
yields, and mitigating pollution. Even though
the contributions synthetic biology can make to
society hold great promise, it is also possible to
imagine harmful applications that could be used to
threaten military personnel and U.S. citizens.
Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology
says synthetic biology expands the possibility of
creating new weapons — including more virulent
bacteria and viruses — and decreases the time
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required to engineer them. The U.S. Department
of Defense should monitor new developments
in this emerging field, as some malicious
applications of synthetic biology that may not
seem plausible now could become achievable
with future advances.
The committee that conducted the study
developed a framework that it used to analyze
potential vulnerabilities enabled by synthetic
biology. The results were based on the availability
and ease of use of the technologies, the challenges
of producing an effective weapon, the expertise
and resources required to carry out an attack, and
both proactive and reactive measures that might
be taken to help mitigate the effects of an attack.
The report includes a listing of synthetic biology
capabilities ranked from highest level of concern
to lowest.
Many of the traditional approaches of
biological and chemical defense are relevant to
synthetic biology-enabled threats, but the field of
synthetic biology will also present new challenges,
so DOD and its partners should continue to
explore strategies that can be applied to a wide
range of threats. Since novel weapons might be
unpredictable and hard to monitor or detect, DOD
should also consider evaluating how the public
health infrastructure needs to be strengthened to
adequately recognize a potential attack.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Defense.
U.S. GOALS FOR BURNING PLASMA
RESEARCH
Burning plasma — an ionized gas heated to
extremely high temperatures by fusion reactions,
similar to processes that power the sun and
stars — is a key requirement for making fusion
energy. As an energy source, fusion has significant
environmental advantages, as it produces
abundant energy from heavy hydrogen found in
water and lithium.
Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan
for U.S. Burning Plasma Research says that to benefit
from its investments in fusion energy, the U.S.
should continue to participate in the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project
and also start a national research program for
burning plasma in order to build a compact pilot
plant that produces electricity from fusion at the
lowest possible capital cost.
A compact pilot plant could produce power
similar to that expected in ITER but in a device
much smaller in size and cost and employing
design improvements that would allow net
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electricity production. As a pilot plant, its purpose
would be for learning, and the knowledge
obtained would be sufficient to design the first
commercial fusion power systems, the report
says. In addition, burning plasma research is
interdisciplinary and results in technological and
scientific achievements that lead to new insights
in related fields, such as fluid mechanics and
astrophysics.
ITER plays a central role in U.S. research
activities and is the only existing project that is
expected to create and study burning plasma.
Without ITER, the U.S. would need to design,
license, and construct an alternative means to gain
experience creating and controlling an energy-
producing burning plasma. As a result, the scale
of research facilities domestically would be more
costly, and producing electricity from fusion would
be delayed.
Nevertheless, if the U.S. does decide to
withdraw from ITER, the U.S. Department of
Energy should initiate a plan to continue research
that will lead toward the construction of a compact
fusion plant, the report says. By starting this work,
important results can be achieved in a time frame
such that, combined with knowledge learned from
ITER, electricity production may be possible by
midcentury. The strategic value of a new national
focus on developing this plant will help set
research priorities for a near- and mid-term fusion
program.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy.
BENEFITS OF AN ELECTRON-ION
COLLIDER
Pursuing a better understanding of the atom has
led to the discovery of chemistry, thermodynamics,
quantum mechanics, and molecular biology, to
name a few, and applications of nuclear science
contribute in many ways to health, development,
and security worldwide.
An Assessment of U.S.-Based Electron-Ion Collider
Science says an electron-ion collider (EIC) — a very
large-scale particle accelerator — could answer
science questions that are significant to advancing
our understanding of the atomic nuclei that make
up all visible matter in the universe.
A new EIC accelerator facility would have
capabilities beyond previous electron scattering
machines in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Comparing
all existing and proposed accelerator facilities
around the world, the report says that an EIC with
high energy and luminosity, and highly polarized
electron and ion beams, would be unique and in a
position to greatly further nuclear science.
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Currently, the Brookhaven National Laboratory
(BNL) in Long Island, New York, has a heavy
ion collider, and the Thomas Jefferson National
Accelerator Laboratory (JLab) in Newport News,
Virginia, has very energetic electron beams.
Both labs have proposed design concepts for
an EIC that would use their already available
infrastructure, expertise, and experience. Without
favoring one over the other, the report says that
taking advantage of the existing facilities would
make development of an EIC cost-effective and
reduce associated risks that come with building
a large accelerator facility. However, federal R&D
investment has been and would continue to
be crucial to minimizing design risks in a timely
fashion and to addressing outstanding accelerator
challenges.
Along with furthering science, an EIC would
also play a valuable role in sustaining the U.S.
nuclear physics workforce in the coming decades,
and would more broadly advance technologies
that result from the research and development
required for implementing and constructing it.
The Academies’ study was funded by the U.S.
Department of Energy.
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DEFENSE, NATIONAL SECURITY, AND SPACE
2017-2018 Assessment of the Army Research Laboratory: Interim Report
Aeronautics 2050 — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Alternatives for the Demilitarization of Conventional Munitions
An Astrobiology Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe (page 35)
Changing Sociocultural Dynamics and Implications for National Security — Proceedings of a Workshop
Combat Search and Rescue in Highly Contested Environments — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Combat Vehicle Weight Reduction by Materials Substitution — Proceedings of a Workshop
Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (CUAS) Capability for Battalion-and-Below Operations: Abbreviated Version of a Restricted Report
Creating Capability for Future Air Force Innovation — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Decrypting the Encryption Debate: A Framework for Decision Makers (page 34)
Emerging Trends and Methods in International Security — Proceedings of a Workshop
Exoplanet Science Strategy (page 35)
Globalization of Defense Materials and Manufacturing — Proceedings of a Workshop
Leveraging Advances in Social Network Thinking for National Security — Proceedings of a Workshop
Multi-Domain Command and Control — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Open Source Software Policy Options for NASA Earth and Space Sciences
Recoverability as a First-Class Security Objective — Proceedings of a Workshop
Report 2 on Tracking and Assessing Governance and Management Reform in the Nuclear Security Enterprise
Report Series — Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics: Mission Concept Studies
Review and Assessment of Planetary Protection Policy Development Processes
Strategic Investments in Instrumentation and Facilities for Extraterrestrial Sample Curation and Analysis
Testing at the Speed of Light: The State of U.S. Electronic Parts Space Radiation Testing Infrastructure
Understanding Narratives for National Security — Proceedings of a Workshop
Visions Into Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022: A Midterm Review
Workforce Development and Intelligence Analysis for National Security Purposes — Proceedings of a Workshop
EDUCATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES
Addressing the Social and Cultural Norms That Underlie the Acceptance of Violence — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Aging and Disability: Beyond Stereotypes to Inclusion — Proceedings of a Workshop
Behavioral Economics and the Promotion of Health Among Aging Populations — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Studies and Projects Completed in 2018
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The Criminal Justice System and Social Exclusion: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Data Science for Undergraduates: Opportunities and Options
Design, Selection, and Implementation of Instructional Materials for the Next Generation Science Standards — Proceedings of a Workshop
Engineering Societies’ Activities in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives (page 7)
Future Directions for the Demography of Aging — Proceedings of a Workshop
Graduate Medical Education Outcomes and Metrics — Proceedings of a Workshop
Graduate STEM Education for the 21st Century
How People Learn II: Learners, Contexts, and Cultures
Improving Care to Prevent Suicide Among People With Serious Mental Illness — Proceedings of a Workshop
The Integration of the Humanities and Arts With Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches From the Same Tree
Learning From the Science of Cognition and Perception for Decision Making — Proceedings of a Workshop
Learning Through Citizen Science: Enhancing Opportunities by Design
Letter Report on the 2020 Census
Minority Serving Institutions: America’s Underutilized Resource for Strengthening the STEM Workforce (page 10)
Modernizing Crime Statistics: Report 2 — New Systems for Measuring Crime (page 11)
The Neurocognitive and Psychosocial Impacts of Violence and Trauma — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Opportunities for Improving Programs and Services for Children With Disabilities (page 7)
Public Policy Approaches to Violence Prevention — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Reengineering the Census Bureau’s Annual Economic Surveys
Science and Engineering for Grades 6-12: Investigation and Design at the Center (page 6)
Securing the Vote: Protecting American Democracy (page 10)
Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (page 8)
Transforming the Financing of Early Care and Education (page 5)
An Undergraduate Competition Based on the Grand Challenges for Engineering: Planning and Initial Steps — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Understanding Measures of Faculty Impact and the Role of Engineering Societies — Proceedings of a Workshop
Understanding the Educational and Career Pathways of Engineers
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Achieving Rural Health Equity and Well-Being — Proceedings of a Workshop
Advancing Obesity Solutions Through Investments in the Built Environment — Proceedings of a Workshop
Advancing the Science of Patient Input in Medical Product R&D: Towards a Research Agenda — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Advancing Therapeutic Development for Pain and Opioid Use Disorders Through Public-Private Partnerships — Proceedings of a Workshop
An American Crisis: The Growing Absence of Black Men in Medicine and Science — Proceedings of a Joint Workshop
Building the Case for Health Literacy — Proceedings of a Workshop
Community-Based Health Literacy Interventions — Proceedings of a Workshop
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Considerations for the Design of a Systematic Review of Care Interventions for Individuals With Dementia and Their Caregivers: Letter Report
Crossing the Global Quality Chasm: Improving Health Care Worldwide
A Design Thinking, Systems Approach to Well-Being Within Education and Practice — Proceedings of a Workshop
Enabling Novel Treatments for Nervous System Disorders by Improving Methods for Traversing the Blood-Brain Barrier — Proceedings of a Workshop
Engaging the Private-Sector Health Care System in Building Capacity to Respond to Threats to the Public’s Health and National Security — Proceedings of a Workshop
Establishing Effective Patient Navigation Programs in Oncology — Proceedings of a Workshop
Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services (page 19)
Examining Special Nutritional Requirements in Disease States — Proceedings of a Workshop
Examining the Impact of Real-World Evidence on Medical Product Development: I. Incentives — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Examining the Impact of Real-World Evidence on Medical Product Development: II. Practical Approaches — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Exploring Early Childhood Care and Education Levers to Improve Population Health — Proceedings of a Workshop
Exploring Early Childhood Care and Education Levers to Improve Population Health — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Exploring Partnership Governance in Global Health — Proceedings of a Workshop
Exploring Partnership Governance in Global Health — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Exploring Tax Policy to Advance Population Health, Health Equity, and Economic Prosperity — Proceedings of a Workshop
Exploring Tax Policy to Advance Population Health, Health Equity, and Economic Prosperity — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Faith-Health Collaboration to Improve Population Health — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Financing and Payment Strategies to Support High-Quality Care for People With Serious Illness — Proceedings of a Workshop
The Future of Health Services Research: Advancing Health Systems Research and Practice in the United States — National Academy of Medicine Special Publication
Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem (page 16)
Global Harmonization of Methodological Approaches to Nutrient Intake Recommendations — Proceedings of a Workshop
Global Harmonization of Methodological Approaches to Nutrient Intake Recommendations — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Global Health Transitions and Sustainable Solutions: The Role of Partnerships — Proceedings of a Workshop
Gulf War and Health, Volume 11: Generational Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War (page 18)
Harmonization of Approaches to Nutrient Reference Values: Applications to Young Children and Women of Reproductive Age
Harnessing Mobile Devices for Nervous System Disorders — Proceedings of a Workshop
Health Literacy and Older Adults: Reshaping the Landscape — Proceedings of a Workshop
Health-Care Utilization as a Proxy in Disability Determination
Immigration as a Social Determinant of Health — Proceedings of a Workshop
Impact of the Global Medical Supply Chain on SNS [Strategic National Stockpile] Operations and Communications — Proceedings of a Workshop
Implementing and Evaluating Genomic Screening Programs in Health Care Systems — Proceedings of a Workshop
Implementing Quality Measures for Accountability in Community-Based Care for People With Serious Illness — Proceedings of a Workshop
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Improving Cancer Diagnosis and Care: Patient Access to Oncologic Imaging and Pathology Expertise and Technologies — Proceedings of a Workshop
Improving Health Professional Education and Practice Through Technology — Proceedings of a Workshop
Improving Health Research on Small Populations — Proceedings of a Workshop
Integrating Responses at the Intersection of Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Disease Epidemics — Proceedings of a Workshop
Long-Term Survivorship Care After Cancer Treatment — Proceedings of a Workshop
Medical Product Shortages During Disasters: Opportunities to Predict, Prevent, and Respond — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Monitoring and Sampling Approaches to Assess Underground Coal Mine Dust Exposures (page 17)
Neuroforensics: Exploring the Legal Implications of Emerging Neurotechnologies — Proceedings of a Workshop
Nutrigenomics and the Future of Nutrition — Proceedings of a Workshop
Nutrigenomics and the Future of Nutrition — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Opportunities to Enhance the Health and Well-Being of the Department of Homeland Security Law Enforcement Workforce — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Permanent Supportive Housing: Evaluating the Evidence for Improving Health Outcomes Among People Experiencing Chronic Homelessness
Physician-Assisted Death: Scanning the Landscape — Proceedings of a Workshop
Procuring Interoperability: Achieving High-Quality, Connected, and Person-Centered Care — National Academy of Medicine Special Publication
A Proposed Framework for Integration of Quality Performance Measures for Health Literacy, Cultural Competence, and Language Access Services — Proceedings of a Workshop
Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes (page 14)
Returning Individual Research Results to Participants: Guidance for a New Research Paradigm
Reusable Elastomeric Respirators in Health Care: Considerations for Routine and Surge Use
Review of NASA’s Evidence Reports on Human Health Risks: 2017 Letter Report
Review of Report and Approach to Evaluating Long-Term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects: Interim Report
Review of Report and Approach to Evaluating Long-Term Health Effects in Army Test Subjects
The Safety and Quality of Abortion Care in the United States (page 15)
A Smarter National Surveillance System for Occupational Safety and Health in the 21st Century
Sustainable Diets, Food, and Nutrition — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Understanding and Overcoming the Challenge of Obesity and Overweight in the Armed Forces — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Understanding Disparities in Access to Genomic Medicine — Proceedings of a Workshop
Understanding the Economics of Microbial Threats — Proceedings of a Workshop
Urbanization and Slums: Infectious Diseases in the Built Environment — Proceedings of a Workshop
Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 11 (2018)
Violence and Mental Health: Opportunities for Prevention and Early Detection — Proceedings of a Workshop
Women’s Mental Health Across the Life Course Through a Sex-Gender Lens — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
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INDUSTRY, COMMERCE, AND TECHNOLOGY
Adaptability of the U.S. Engineering and Technical Workforce — Proceedings of a Workshop
Advancing Economic Development and Workforce Readiness in Micropolitan Areas — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Assessing the Risks of Integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems Into the National Airspace System (page 22)
Autonomy on Land and Sea and in the Air and Space — Proceedings of a Forum
Environmental Engineering for the 21st Century: Addressing Grand Challenges
High-Performance Bolting Technology for Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Operations
The Human Factors of Process Safety and Worker Empowerment in the Offshore Oil Industry — Proceedings of a Workshop
Human-Automation Interaction Considerations for Unmanned Aerial System Integration Into the National Airspace System — Proceedings of a Workshop
Improving Data Collection and Measurement of Complex Farms
In-Time Aviation Safety Management: Challenges and Research for an Evolving Aviation System (page 22)
Measuring the 21st Century Science and Engineering Workforce Population: Evolving Needs
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs for the Next Ten Years and Beyond — Proceedings of a Symposium in Brief
Data Matters: Ethics, Data, and International Research Collaboration in a Changing World — Proceedings of a Workshop
Decarbonizing Transport for a Sustainable Future: Mitigating Impacts of the Changing Climate — Summary of the Fifth EU-U.S. Transportation Research Symposium
Deploying Sustainable Energy During Transitions: Implications of Recovery, Renewal, and Rebuilding — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
The Frontiers of Machine Learning: 2017 Raymond and Beverly Sackler U.S.-U.K. Scientific Forum
Identifying the Role of Violence and Its Prevention in the Post-2015 Global Agenda — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
International Coordination for Science Data Infrastructure — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Providing Reliable and Affordable Electricity in Countries With Energy Deficits — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Supporting Mathematics Teachers in the United States and Finland — Proceedings of a Workshop
U.S.-Iran Discussion on Environmental Trends — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Advances in Causal Understanding for Human Health Risk-Based Decision-Making — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Atlantic Offshore Renewable Energy Development and Fisheries — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Bioenergy With Carbon Capture and Storage Approaches for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Direct Air Capture and Mineral Carbonation Approaches for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Disposal of Surplus Plutonium at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant: Interim Report
Feasibility of Addressing Environmental Exposure Questions Using Department of Defense Biorepositories — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Future Directions for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Energy Resources Program
The Future of Atmospheric Boundary Layer Observing, Understanding, and Modeling — Proceedings of a Workshop
Future Water Priorities for the Nation: Directions for the U.S. Geological Survey Water Mission Area
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Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization: Status and Research Needs
Geologic Capture and Sequestration of Carbon — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Improving Characterization of Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in the United States
Informing Environmental Health Decisions Through Data Integration — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Land Management Practices for Carbon Dioxide Removal and Reliable Sequestration — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda (page 29)
Onshore Unconventional Hydrocarbon Development: Legacy Issues and Innovations in Managing Risk, Day 1 — Proceedings of a Workshop
Onshore Unconventional Hydrocarbon Development: Induced Seismicity and Innovations in Managing Risk, Day 2 — Proceedings of a Workshop
Opportunities and Approaches for Supplying Molybdenum-99 and Associated Medical Isotopes to Global Markets — Proceedings of a Symposium
Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Seventh Biennial Review — 2018 (page 31)
Progress Toward Transforming the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program: A 2018 Evaluation (page 30)
The Promise of Genome Editing Tools to Advance Environmental Health Research — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
A Research Review of Interventions to Increase the Persistence and Resilience of Coral Reefs
Review of the Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #1
A Review of the Citrus Greening Research and Development Efforts Supported by the Citrus Research and Development Foundation: Fighting a Ravaging Disease (page 30)
Review of the Draft Analysis of Supplemental Treatment Approaches of Low-Activity Waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation: Review #2
Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (page 28)
Review of the Draft Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2) (page 28)
Review of the Edwards Aquifer Habitat Conservation Plan: Report 3
Review of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection Operations Support Tool for Water Supply
The State of Resilience: A Leadership Forum and Community Workshop — Proceedings of a Workshop
Strategies for Effective Improvements to the BioWatch System — Proceedings of a Workshop
Understanding Pathways to a Paradigm Shift in Toxicity Testing and Decision-Making — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Understanding and Predicting the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current: Critical Gaps and Recommendations
Understanding the Long-Term Evolution of the Coupled Natural-Human Coastal System: The Future of the U.S. Gulf Coast
THE SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE
Advancing Disease Modeling in Animal-Based Research in Support of Precision Medicine — Proceedings of a Workshop
Animal Models for Microbiome Research: Advancing Basic and Translational Science — Proceedings of a Workshop
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Accelerate Translational Research — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
An Assessment of Four Divisions of the Information Technology Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology: Fiscal Year 2018
An Assessment of Four Divisions of the Physical Measurement Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology: Fiscal Year 2018
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An Assessment of the Center for Neutron Research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology: Fiscal Year 2018
An Assessment of U.S.-Based Electron-Ion Collider Science (page 43)
Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology (page 41)
ChemRxiv: Publishing in the Age of Preprint Servers — Proceedings of a Symposium in Brief
Collaborations of Consequence: NAKFI’s 15 Years Igniting Innovation at the Intersections of Disciplines
Data Science: Opportunities to Transform Chemical Sciences and Engineering — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Discovering the Deep Blue Sea: Research, Innovation, Social Engagement — Conference Summary
Final Report of the Committee on a Strategic Plan for U.S. Burning Plasma Research (page 42)
Frontiers of Engineering: Reports on Leading-Edge Engineering From the 2017 Symposium
Governance of Dual Use Research in the Life Sciences: Advancing Global Consensus on Research Oversight — Proceedings of a Workshop
Methods to Foster Transparency and Reproducibility of Federal Statistics — Proceedings of a Workshop
The Next Generation of Biomedical and Behavioral Sciences Researchers: Breaking Through (page 40)
Open Science by Design: Realizing a Vision for 21st Century Research
Opportunities From the Integration of Simulation Science and Data Science — Proceedings of a Workshop
Quantum Computing: Progress and Prospects (page 34)
Report of the Committee on Proposal Evaluation for Allocation of Supercomputing Time for the Study of Molecular Dynamics: Ninth Round
Revitalizing the University-Industry-Government Partnership: Creating New Opportunities for the 21st Century — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
The Role of State Governments in Economic Development and R&D Competitiveness — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
Science Breakthroughs to Advance Food and Agricultural Research by 2030 (page 38)
The Science of Science Communication III: Inspiring Novel Collaborations and Building Capacity — Proceedings of a Colloquium
Strategies for Engagement of Non-Traditional Partners in the Research Enterprise — Proceedings of a Workshop in Brief
The Third Global Grand Challenges Summit Summary: Engineering for the Future
Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observation From Space (page 37)
TRANSPORTATION
10th SHRP 2 [Strategic Highway Research Program 2] Safety Data Symposium: From Analysis to Results
2018 National Household Travel Survey Workshop
ADA [Americans With Disabilities Act] Paratransit Service Models
Administration of ADA Paratransit Eligibility Appeal Programs
Admissibility and Public Availability of Transit Safety Planning Records (page 25)
Aggregate Quality Requirements for Pavements
Air Quality
Airport Air Quality Management 101
Airport Air Quality Resource Library
Airport Community, Water Quality Events, and the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule
Airport Operator Options for Delivery of FBO [Fixed Base Operator] Services
Airport Participation in Oil and Gas Development
Airport Public Health Preparedness and Response: Legal Rights, Powers, and Duties
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Airport Waste Management and Recycling Practices
Analysis of Work Zone Crash Characteristics and Countermeasures
Applying Census Data for Transportation: 50 Years of Transportation Planning Data Progress
Arterial Roadways Research Needs and Concerns: Informing the Planning, Design, and Operation of Arterial Roadways Considering Public Health
Asphalt Mixtures and Materials
Assessing the Environmental Justice Effects of Toll Implementation or Rate Changes: Guidebook and Toolbox
Automated Vehicles Symposium 2017
Aviation
Battery Electric Buses — State of the Practice
Bicycle Transportation 2018
Bridge Superstructure Tolerance to Total and Differential Foundation Movements
Broadening Understanding of the Interplay Among Public Transit, Shared Mobility, and Personal Automobiles
Cell Phone Location Data for Travel Behavior Analysis
Clean Vehicles, Fuels, and Practices for Airport Private Ground Transportation Providers
Climate Change and Decarbonization 2018
College Student Transit Pass Programs
Combining Individual Scour Components to Determine Total Scour
Commercial Space Operations Noise and Sonic Boom Modeling and Analysis
Common Performance Metrics for Airport Infrastructure and Operational Planning
Concrete Materials
Connected and Automated Vehicles 2018
Construction
Construction and Rehabilitation of Concrete Pavements Under Traffic
Continuing Project to Synthesize Information on Highway Problems, 2018
Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Vol. 1: Guidebook
Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Vol. 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles
Contracting Fixed-Route Bus Transit Service
Contribution of Steel Casing to Single Shaft Foundation Structural Resistance
Corrosion Prevention for Extending the Service Life of Steel Bridges
Culverts and Soil-Structure Interaction: Fifty Years of Change and a Twenty-Year Projection
Customer-Focused Service Guarantees and Transparency Practices
Data and Methods to Understand Travel
Dedicating Lanes for Priority or Exclusive Use by Connected and Automated Vehicles
Design Considerations for Airport EOCs [Emergency Operations Centers]
Design Guide for Low-Speed Multimodal Roadways
Designing Safety Regulations for High-Hazard Industries
Developing an Expanded Functional Classification System for More Flexibility on Geometric Design
Developing Countries
Development and Management of Sustainable Enterprise Information Portals
Effects of Information and Communications Technology on Travel Choices
Enhanced AEDT [Aviation Environmental Design Tool] Modeling of Aircraft Arrival and Departure Profiles, Vol. 1: Guidance
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Enhanced AEDT Modeling of Aircraft Arrival and Departure Profiles, Vol. 2: Research Report
Environment and Energy
Environmental Justice Analyses When Considering Toll Implementation or Rate Changes: Final Report
Estimating the Safety Effects of Work Zone Characteristics and Countermeasures: A Guidebook
Executive Summary for the Guidebook on Understanding FAA Grant Assurance Obligations
An Expanded Functional Classification System for Highways and Streets
Field Evaluation of Reflected Noise From a Single Noise Barrier
Field Performance of Corrugated Pipe Manufactured With Recycled Polyethylene Content
Fracture-Critical System Analysis for Steel Bridges
Freeway Operations; Regional Systems Management and Operations; Managed Lanes 2018
Freight Systems
Geological, Geoenvironmental, and Geotechnical Engineering
Glossary of Transportation Construction Quality Assurance Terms: Seventh Edition
Guidance for Development and Management of Sustainable Enterprise Information Portals
Guidance for Evaluating the Safety Impacts of Intersection Sight Distance
Guidance for Underwater Installation of Filter Systems
Guide for the Analysis of Multimodal Corridor Access Management
Guide to Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Innovation for Departments of Transportation
Guidebook for Advanced Computerized Maintenance Management System Integration at Airports
Guidebook on Building Airport Workforce Capacity
Guidebook to Funding Transportation Through Land Value Return and Recycling
Guidelines for Integrating Safety and Cost-Effectiveness Into Resurfacing, Restoration, and Rehabilitation (3R) Projects
Guidelines for Managing Geotechnical Risks in Design-Build Projects
Guidelines for Shielding Bridge Piers
Handbook for Examining the Effects of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Brokerages on Transportation Coordination
Highway Capacity and Quality of Service 2018
Highway Design 2018
Highway Safety Performance and Statistical Methods 2018
How Transportation Agencies Assess the Value of Added Capacity Highway Projects Versus Other Modal Projects and Strategies
How Weather Affects the Noise You Hear From Highways
Impact of the Americans With Disabilities Act on Transit Agency Liability
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 1: Legal Landscape
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 2: State Legal and Regulatory Audit
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 3: Legal Modification Prioritization and Harmonization Analysis
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 4: Autonomous Vehicle Action Plan
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 5: Developing the Autonomous Vehicle Action Plan
Implications of Connected and Automated Driving Systems, Vol. 6: Implementation Plan
Improved Analysis of Two-Lane Highway Capacity and Operational Performance
Incorporating ADA and Functional Needs in Emergency Exercises
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Inertial Profiler Certification for Evaluation of International Roughness Index
Information Technology, Geospatial Information, and Advanced Computing
Innovations in Asphalt Mixture Design Procedures
In-Service Performance Evaluation of Guardrail End Treatments
Integrated Transportation and Land Use Models
Integration of Roadway Safety Data from State and Local Sources
Intelligent Transportation Systems 2018
Investment Prioritization Methods for Low-Volume Roads
Knowledge Management Resource to Support Strategic Workforce Development for Transit Agencies
Legal Aspects of Airport Programs — An Update
Legal Considerations in Evaluating Relationships Between Transit Agencies and Ridesourcing Service Providers
Legal Considerations in the Funding and Development of Intermodal Facilities at Airports
Legal Implications of Video Surveillance on Transit Systems
Legal Issues Related to Implementation and Operation of SMS [Safety Management Systems] for Airports
Long-Term Aging of Asphalt Mixtures for Performance Testing and Prediction
Long-Term Infrastructure Program Letter Report, January 23, 2018
Maintenance and Operations: Parts 1 and 2
Managing Geotechnical Risks in Design-Build Projects
Managing Performance and Assets; Freight Data and Visualization
Marine Transportation and International Trade
A Mechanistic-Empirical Model for Top-Down Cracking of Asphalt Pavements Layers
Microgrids and Their Application for Airports and Public Transit
National Academies-TRB Forum on Preparing for Automated Vehicles and Shared Mobility
Operational Effects of Geometric and Access Management 2018
Operator Education and Regulation; Safe Mobility for Older Persons; Traffic Law Enforcement; and Occupant Protection 2018
Optimal Replacement Cycles of Highway Operations Equipment
Pavement Management 2018
Pedestrians 2018
Performance of Longitudinal Barriers on Curved, Superelevated Roadway Sections
Performance-Based Mix Design of Porous Friction Courses
Practices for Preventing Roadway Departures
Practices in One-Lane Traffic Control on a Two-Lane Rural Highway
A Primer to Prepare for the Connected Airport and the Internet of Things
Private Transit: Existing Services and Emerging Directions
Public Transit and Bikesharing
Quantifying the Effects of Preservation Treatments on Pavement Performance
Railroads
Rebuilding and Retrofitting the Transportation Infrastructure
Recommended AASHTO [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] Guide Specifications for ABC [Accelerated Bridge Construction] Design and Construction
Recommended Guidelines for Prefabricated Bridge Elements and Systems Tolerances and Recommended Guidelines for Dynamic Effects for Bridge Systems
The Relationship Between Transit Asset Condition and Service Quality
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Relationships of Laboratory Mixture Aging to Asphalt Mixture Performance
The Renewal of Stormwater Systems Using Trenchless Technologies
Renewing the National Commitment to the Interstate Highway System: A Foundation for the Future (page 22)
Research and Education
Research and Technology Coordinating Committee Letter Report, November 9, 2018
Research on Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Innovation for Departments of Transportation
Research to Support Evaluation of Truck Size and Weight Regulations
Resilience in Transportation Planning, Engineering, Management, Policy, and Administration
Return on Investment in Transportation Asset Management Systems and Practices
Revenue and Economics 2018
Review of U.S. Coast Guard Vessel Stability Regulations Letter Report, September 12, 2018
Roundabouts, Truck Safety, Motorcycles, and Mopeds 2018
Safety Data, Analysis, and Evaluation 2018
Safety Impacts of Intersection Sight Distance
Safety Regulation for Small LPG [Liquefied Petroleum Gas] Distribution Systems (page 24)
Simplified Full-Depth Precast Concrete Deck Panel Systems
Socioeconomic, Sustainability, and Human Factors in Transit 2018
Socioeconomic, Sustainability, Health, and Human Factors 2018
Spot Painting to Extend Highway Bridge Coating Life, Vol. 1: Guidance
Spot Painting to Extend Highway Bridge Coating Life, Vol. 2: Research Overview
Staffing for Alternative Contracting Methods
State of the Industry Report on Air Quality Emissions from Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuels
A Strategic Approach to Transforming Traffic Safety Culture to Reduce Deaths and Injuries
Strategies for Airports to Reduce Local Stormwater Utility Fees
Sustainability’s Role in Enhancing Airport Capacity
Synthesis of Information Related to Transit Practices 2018
Systemic Pedestrian Safety Analysis
Systems Security, Resilience, and Emergency Management 2018
Tack Coat Specifications, Materials, and Construction Practices
Tools and Case Studies for NextGen for Airports
Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Vol. 1: Research Overview
Tools and Strategies for Eliminating Assaults Against Transit Operators, Vol. 2: User Guide
Tools for a Sustainable Transit Agency
Tools to Facilitate Implementation of Effective Metropolitan Freight Transportation Strategies
Traffic Control Devices 2018
Traffic Control Devices and Measures for Deterring Wrong-Way Movements
Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics 2018
Traffic Monitoring: Automobiles, Trucks, Bicycles, and Pedestrians
Traffic Signal Systems 2018
Transforming the Marine Transportation System Through Multimodal Freight Analytics: Proceedings of the Fifth Biennial Marine Transportation System Research and Development Conference
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A Transit Agency Guide to Evaluating Secondary Train Detection/Protection Systems in Communications-Based Train Control Systems
Transit Research Analysis Committee Letter Report, August 24, 2018
Transit Technical Training, Vol. 1: Guide to Applying Best Practices and Sharing Resources
Transit Technical Training, Vol. 2: Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Implementing Best and Innovative Training
Transportation Emergency Response Application (TERA) Support Materials for Airport EOC Exercises
Transportation Network Modeling
Transportation Planning Applications
Transportation Planning, Program and Investment Decision Making
Transportation Policy
The Transportation Research Thesaurus: Capabilities and Enhancements
Transportation Safety Management 2018
Travel Demand Forecasting
Traveler Behavior and Values
Truck Size and Weight Limits Research Plan Committee, First Report: Candidate Research Topics; Framework for Setting Priorities
U.S. Department of Transportation’s Mobility on Demand Initiative: Moving the Economy with Innovation and Understanding
Understanding Changes in Demographics, Preferences, and Markets for Public Transportation
Understanding FAA Grant Assurance Obligations, Vol. 1: Guidebook
Understanding FAA Grant Assurance Obligations, Vol. 2: Technical Appendices
Understanding FAA Grant Assurance Obligations, Vol. 3: Research Report
Understanding FAA Grant Assurance Obligations, Vol. 4: Summary of AIP [Airport Improvement Program] Grant Assurance Requirements
Underwater Installation of Filter Systems for Scour and Other Erosion Countermeasures, Vol. 1: Research Report
Underwater Installation of Filter Systems for Scour and Other Erosion Countermeasures, Vol. 2: Training Manual
Updating Regional Transportation Planning and Modeling Tools to Address Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Vol. 1: Executive Summary
Updating Regional Transportation Planning and Modeling Tools to Address Impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles, Vol. 2: Guidance
Use of Automated Machine Guidance Within the Transportation Industry
User Guides for Noise Modeling of Commercial Space Operations — RUMBLE and PCBoom
User Performance 2018
Using Existing Airport Management Systems to Manage Climate Risk
Using Recycled Asphalt Shingles With Warm Mix Asphalt Technologies
Validation of the Louisiana Interlayer Shear Strength Test for Tack Coat
Visibility and Work Zone Traffic Control 2018
Vol. 1: TRAQS (Transportation Air Quality System) User Guide
Vol. 2: TRAQS (Transportation Air Quality System) — A Combined Interface for Project-Level Air Quality Analysis
Workshop on Implementing a Freight Fluidity Performance Measurement System
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Public Law
115-405 Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018
Conduct a study on the use of limited access privilege programs in mixed-use fisheries
Evaluate how the design of the Marine Recreational Information Program can be improved to better meet the needs of in-season management of annual catch limits and what actions could be taken to improve the accuracy and timeliness of data collection and analysis to improve the program and facilitate in-season management
115-282 Frank LoBiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018
Prepare an assessment of available unmanned, autonomous, or remotely controlled maritime domain awareness technologies for use by the Coast Guard
115-270 America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018
Conduct a study on the ability of the Army Corps of Engineers to carry out its statutory missions and responsibilities, and the potential effects of transferring the functions, including regulatory obligations, personnel, assets, and civilian staff responsibilities of the secretary relating to civil works from the Department of Defense to a new or existing agency or sub-agency of the federal government
Carry out a study on the economic principles and analytical methodologies currently used by or applied to the Corps of Engineers to formulate, evaluate, and budget for water resources development projects
115-254 FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018
Conduct a study on lead emissions and aviation gasoline
Conduct a study on the size, quality, and diversity of the cybersecurity workforce of the FAA
Study the Human Intervention Motivation Study (HIMS) program, the Flight Attendant Drug and Alcohol Program (FADAP), and any other drug and alcohol programs within the other modal administrations of the Department of Transportation
Study the approaches to quantifying mortality and significant morbidity among populations affected by major disasters, including best practices and policy recommendations
Current Congressionally Authorized Activities*
*While all projects listed have been designated in legislation, a few lack funding and final contracts.
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115-232 John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019
Perform an assessment of nuclear forensic analyses conducted by the federal government
Conduct a review of the defense environmental cleanup activities of the Office of Environmental Management of the Department of Energy
115-141 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018
Conduct an evaluation of the expected medium- and long-term evolution of the grid, including the emergence of new technologies, planning and operating techniques, grid architecture, and business models
Provide an evidence-based analysis of the complex findings in the research on birth settings
Identify outcomes that are to be achieved by activities authorized in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (see Public Law 114-198) and the metrics to measure the outcomes to determine the effectiveness of the programs for preventing, treating, and supporting recovery from substance use disorders
Conduct an assessment of the potential overmedication of veterans during fiscal years 2010 to 2017 that led to suicides, deaths, mental disorders, and combat-related traumas
115-31 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017
Conduct a review of the conceptual plans to dispose of surplus plutonium including considerations of transportation, operations, performance assessment, compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other regulations, safety analyses, and any other activities required to carry out this alternative that are pertinent to the operation of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
Conduct a peer review of the revised draft Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of formaldehyde. Should it be released in fiscal year 2017, verify that the recommendations from the previous National Academies report of 2011 have been fully resolved scientifically
Develop an operational therapeutic foster care (TFC) services definition for the Medicaid program
Prepare a report that assesses the capital needs of the National Institutes of Health’s main campus. The report should identify facilities in greatest need of repair, describe the work needed to bring them up to current standards, and include cost estimates for each project
Conduct a study on the federal health care costs, safety, and quality concerns associated with discarded drugs resulting from weight-based dosing of medicines contained in single-dose vials
Conduct a study on the cost-benefit impact of multimodal autonomous self-driving vehicles, focusing on the impact of autonomous vehicles on motor carriers, ports, transit, and related industries, and on the so-called crash economy that includes the insurance and health care industries
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115-25 Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017
Conduct a study on future National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite systems and data needs
115-10 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Transition Authorization Act of 2017
Assess the administration’s Mars exploration architecture and its responsiveness to the strategies, priorities, and guidelines put forward by the National Academies’ planetary science decadal surveys and Mars-related reports
114-329 American Innovation and Competitiveness Act
Assess research and data reproducibility and replicability in interdisciplinary research and make recommendations for improving rigor and transparency
Subject to the availability of appropriations, jointly establish and conduct a postdoctoral fellowship program with the National Institute of Standards and Technology
Conduct a study to identify and review technologies employed at institutions of higher education to provide notifications to students, faculty, and other personnel during emergency situations in accordance with law
114-328 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017
Concurrently review the analysis, conducted by the federally funded research and development center chosen by the secretary of energy, of the approaches for treating the portion of low-activity waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, Richland, Washington, that is intended for supplemental treatment
114-322 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act
Develop a proposal to study the use and performance of innovative materials in water resources development projects carried out by the Army Corps of Engineers and, after public comment, carry out the study
Conduct a study on the effectiveness and environmental impacts of salt cedar biological control efforts on increasing water supplies and improving riparian habitats of the Colorado River and its principal tributaries, in California and elsewhere
114-315 Jeff Miller and Richard Blumenthal Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2016
Conduct an assessment of scientific research relating to the descendants of individuals with toxic exposure
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114-198 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016
Evaluate the Justice Department’s Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Grant Program, identifying outcomes that are to be achieved by activities funded by the program and the metrics by which the achievement of these outcomes shall be determined
Evaluate any program administered by the secretary of health and human services included in this act that provides grants for the purpose of addressing problems pertaining to opioid abuse, basing the evaluation on the outcomes achieved and the metrics by which the achievement of these outcomes shall be determined
114-92 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2016
Jointly with the National Academy of Public Administration, evaluate the plan and its implementation to reform the governance and management and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the nuclear security enterprise
113-235 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015
Three years after enactment of the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act of 2014 (included in this legislation), evaluate the Regional Innovation Program established by the act, recommending whether it should be improved and continued or terminated
113-76 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2014
Evaluate, possibly on a periodic basis, the Strategic National Stockpile distribution system and make recommendations to improve it, including consideration of private-public collaborations to increase efficiencies
Upon completion of a Government Accountability Office analysis, review the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s ocean and coastal data collection systems to determine which systems should be maintained, which need sustained investment, and which should be retired
Assess China’s strategies, policies, and programs to become an innovative society and to enhance its indigenous innovation
Undertake a review of existing data collection methods pertaining to human trafficking and slavery and make recommendations to improve data collection in these areas
Review the Bureau of Reclamation’s draft analysis of buried metallic water pipeline reliability to ensure that the uniform reliability standard, in addition to the analysis of economics, cost-effectiveness, and life-cycle costs, is accurate and consistent across all referenced materials
112-81 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Within four years of the enactment of the SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011, and every four years thereafter, conduct a study of how the STTR program has stimulated technological innovation and
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technology transfer, estimate the number of jobs created by the SBIR and STTR programs, and make recommendations with respect to these issues
111-314 National and Commercial Space Programs
Periodically over the next decade, conduct independent assessments, also known as decadal surveys, taking stock of the status and opportunities for earth and space science discipline fields and aeronautics research and recommending priorities for research and programmatic areas (see Public Law 110-422)
At five-year intervals, review and assess the performance of each division in the science directorate of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
110-422 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008
On a periodic basis, perform independent assessments — also known as decadal surveys — to take stock of the status and opportunities for the fields of earth and space science and aeronautics and to recommend priorities for research and programmatic areas over the next decade (see Public Law 111-314)
110-161 Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008
Establish an independent project review of NASA’s major programs
110-140 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
Evaluate vehicle fuel economy standards, updating the initial report every five years through 2025
Five years after enactment of this act, assess the Department of Energy’s performance in carrying out Section 641, titled the “United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007”
110-69 America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science (America COMPETES) Act
Conduct a study to identify and review methods to mitigate new forms of risk for businesses, beyond conventional operational and financial risk, that affect the ability to innovate
Study how the federal government should support, through research, education, and training, the emerging management and learning discipline known as “service science”
Not later than five years after, and 10 years after, the date of enactment of this … [act], assess the performance of the science, engineering, and mathematics education programs of the Department of Energy
Review the performance of the distributed, multidisciplinary institutes, established and centered at National Laboratories, to apply fundamental science and engineering discoveries to technological innovations
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2
018
62
Establish an expert panel to identify promising practices for improving teaching and student achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in kindergarten through grade 12 and examine and synthesize the scientific evidence pertaining to the improvement of teaching and learning in these fields
Conduct a study of the mechanisms and supports needed for an institution of higher education or nonprofit organization to develop and maintain a program to provide free access to online educational content as part of a degree program, especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or foreign languages, without using federal funds, including funds provided under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.)
109-364 John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007
Receive custodianship of the Air Force Health Study assets, maintain the data and specimens, and make them available for additional studies
109-155 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2005
At five-year intervals, review and assess the performance of each division in the science directorate of NASA
109-59 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU)
Recommend a research agenda for a national cooperative freight transportation research program and to support and carry out administrative and management activities related to its governance
Carry out the nine research projects called for in the National Academies’ Transportation Research Board 2005 Special Report 283 titled “Cooperative Research for Hazardous Materials Transportation: Defining the Need, Converging on Solutions”
108-176 Vision 100 — Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act
Provide staff support to the Airport Cooperative Research Program Governing Board and carry out projects proposed by the board that the secretary of transportation considers appropriate
108-153 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act
Conduct a triennial evaluation of the National Nanotechnology Program
106-541 Water Resources Development Act of 2000
Biennial review of the progress of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
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2
018
63
Department of Health and Human Services18,383,255
Department of Transportation81,078,845
U.S. Agency for International Development15,719,370
Department of the Navy13,063,422
National Science Foundation12,606,945
Department of the Army 9,713,875
All Other Federal Sources57,450,065
Revenue Applied to 2018
U.S. Government Agencies(Grants and Contracts)
Department of Agriculture $ 1,200,905Department of Commerce 6,363,193Department of Defense Defense Threat Reduction Agency 1,921,844 Department of Defense 1,469,857 Department of the Air Force 7,594,258 Department of the Army 9,713,875 Department of the Navy 13,063,422Department of Education 324,212Department of Energy 7,940,633Department of Health and Human Services 18,383,255Department of Homeland Security 2,344,411Department of Housing and Urban Development 38,064Department of the Interior 2,059,807Department of Justice 74,470Department of Labor 141,710Department of State 2,532,939Department of Transportation 81,078,845Department of the Treasury 20,001Department of Veterans Affairs 4,204,101Environmental Protection Agency 3,329,113Federal Reserve System 461,780General Services Administration 43,052Government Accountability Office 399,256National Aeronautics and Space Administration 7,327,733National Endowment for the Humanities 56,419National Science Foundation 12,606,945National Transportation Safety Board 34,255Office of the Director of National Intelligence 5,479,264Social Security Administration 2,073,284U.S. Agency for International Development 15,719,370U.S. Arctic Research Commission 15,504
TOTAL U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCIES $ 208,015,777
Private and Nonfederal Sources
Contracts and Grants $ 50,193,687Other Contributions 5,669,979
TOTAL PRIVATE AND NONFEDERAL SOURCES $ 55,863,666
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64
About the National Academies
The U.S. government’s need for an independent adviser on science and technology matters became evident by the height of the Civil War. On March 3, 1863, President Lincoln approved the congressional charter which created that adviser, the National Academy of Sciences.
The private, nonprofit Academy has counseled the federal government in wartime and peacetime ever since. As science and technology issues have grown in complexity and scope, so too has the Academy.
The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES was established in 1863 by an act of Congress as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. In addition to its role as adviser to the federal government, the Academy sponsors symposia, monitors human rights abuses against scientists worldwide, promotes the public understanding of science, and publishes a research journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Marcia McNutt, President Bruce Darling, Executive Officer James Hinchman, Deputy Executive Officer
The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Its members are distinguished scholars and practitioners of engineering from academia, industry, and government elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. It also conducts studies of policy issues in engineering and technology, encourages education and research, and grants awards to outstanding engineers.
C. D. Mote, Jr., President Alton D. Romig, Jr., Executive Officer
The NATIONAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE was established under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences as the Institute of Medicine in 1970 to advise the nation on medical and health issues. An association of eminent health care professionals and experts in related fields, Academy members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health.
Victor J. Dzau, President J. Michael McGinnis, Leonard D. Schaeffer Executive Officer
The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.
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