Sports-Related Concussions in Youth

Sports-Related Concussions in Youth: Improving the Science, Changing the Culture is now available for free download or purchase (paperback) from the National Academies Press. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) convened the Committee on Sports-Related Concussions in Youth to research concussions in youth of elementary-school age through young adulthood, including military personnel. The committee "was charged with reviewing the available literature on concussions, within the context of developmental neurobiology, regarding the causes of concussions, their relationships to impacts to the head or body during sports, the effectiveness of protective devices and equipment in preventing or ameliorating concussions, screening for and diagnosis of concussions, their treatment and management, and their long-term consequences."

Public Access to Federally-Supported R&D Data and Publications: Planning Meetings

The National Academies recently held two meetings to solicit comments by interested stakeholders regarding public access to federally-supported research and development data and publications. The first meeting focused on scientific data while the second focused on scholarly publications. The agenda, archived webcast, written statements, PowerPoints, and transcripts of public comments are now available for both meetings at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/DBASSE/CurrentProjects/DBASSE_082378#.UZ5etPWO7Kc (scroll to the bottom).

Long-Term Implications of an Aging Population

The National Academies recently released a congressionally mandated study from the National Research Council about the long-term economic implications of the ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 rising by 80%. Entitled Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population, the report offers "four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape." A free pdf of the 239 page report is available from the Academies website as is a $49.00 paperback version. More information is available from the press release.

National Academies Historic Documents Available

According to an April 10, 2009 press release, the National Academies completed "the first phase of a partnership with Google to digitize the library's collection of reports from 1863 to 1997, making them available – free, searchable, and in full text – through Google Book Search." Plans are to have the entire collection of nearly 11,000 reports digitized by 2011.

The press release describes the following available reports:

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 1 (1863–1894). This was the first NAS publication series, and it includes information about the Academy's early work for the government on topics such as how to prevent compass deviation which sent iron warships off course, whether the metric system of weights and measures should be adopted, and how the new U.S. Geological Service should be organized.
• Investigation of the Scientific and Economic Relations of the Sorghum Sugar Industry (1882). This report was the Academy's first self-initiated study, produced by the first committee to include non-Academy members.
• Proposed U.S. Program for the International Geophysical Year, 1957-1958. American participation in the International Geophysical Year – a historic, worldwide scientific effort that investigated the workings of the Earth and saw the launch of the first satellites – was guided and coordinated by a committee of the Academy.
• The Polar Regions and Climatic Change (1984) Changes in Earth's polar regions are widely covered in the news today, but the Academies have been studying this phenomenon for more than 20 years.

The National Academies is made up of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. Although private nonprofit institutions, they operate under a congressional charter to provide science, technology, and health policy advice to the nation. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln "signed into being" the National Academy of Science to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art" when asked by any department of the government. Expansions included the National Research Council in 1916, the National Academy of Engineering in 1964, and the Institute of Medicine in 1970.