Monthly Archives: December 2009

New Publications: Alternative Transportation, Value In Health Care, and More

Our featured new publication this week is the final version of Weight Gain During Pregnancy, which is one of a bunch of new publications to include a free PDF download. Look for “download the free PDF” below each new title.

Featured Publication

Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines (final)


As women of childbearing age have become heavier, the trade-off between maternal and child health created by variation in gestational weight gain has become more difficult to reconcile. Weight Gain During Pregnancy responds to the need for a reexamination of the 1990 Institute of Medicine guidelines for weight gain during pregnancy. It builds on the conceptual framework that underscored the 1990 weight gain guidelines and addresses the need to update them through a comprehensive review of the literature and independent analyses of existing databases. The book explores relationships between weight gain during pregnancy and a variety of factors (e.g., the mother’s weight and height before pregnancy) and places this in the context of the health of the infant and the mother, presenting specific, updated target ranges for weight gain during pregnancy and guidelines for proper measurement. New features of this book include a specific range of recommended gain for obese women.

Weight Gain During Pregnancy is intended to assist practitioners who care for women of childbearing age, policy makers, educators, researchers, and the pregnant women themselves to understand the role of gestational weight gain and to provide them with the tools needed to promote optimal pregnancy outcomes.

All New Publications This Week

Achieving Effective Acquisition of Information Technology in the Department of Defense (prepublication)

Investor Exits, Innovation, and Entrepreneurial Firm Growth: Questions for Research (final)

Review of the St. Johns River Water Supply Impact Study: Report 2 (prepublication)

The Healthcare Imperative: Lowering Costs and Improving Outcomes: Brief Summary of a Workshop (prepublication)

Value in Health Care: Accounting for Cost, Quality, Safety, Outcomes, and Innovation (prepublication)

Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies–Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (prepublication)

America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation (final)

Recognition and Alleviation of Pain in Laboratory Animals (final)

Enhancing the Effectiveness of Sustainability Partnerships: Summary of a Workshop (final)

America’s Energy Future: Technology and Transformation: Summary Edition (final)

New This Week: Health Literacy, Energy Efficiency, Biological Threats

Welcome to our weekly roundup of the publications new this week to nap.edu. Many of our publications have PDFs that you can download for free, but look in the “Download Free” section of each book’s main page for a free PDF of the executive summary if you’d like a sample of the book before you buy it or download.

Featured Publication

Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States (prepublication)


America’s economy and lifestyles have been shaped by the low prices and availability of energy. In the last decade, however, the prices of oil, natural gas, and coal have increased dramatically, leaving consumers and the industrial and service sectors looking for ways to reduce energy use. To achieve greater energy efficiency, we need technology, more informed consumers and producers, and investments in more energy-efficient industrial processes, businesses, residences, and transportation.

As part of the America’s Energy Future project, Realistic Prospects for Energy Efficiency in the United States examines the potential for reducing energy demand through improving efficiency by using existing technologies, technologies developed but not yet utilized widely, and prospective technologies. The book evaluates technologies based on their estimated times to initial commercial deployment, and provides an analysis of costs, barriers, and research needs. This quantitative characterization of technologies will guide policy makers toward planning the future of energy use in America. This book will also have much to offer to industry leaders, investors, environmentalists, and others looking for a practical diagnosis of energy efficiency possibilities.

All New Publications This Week

Priorities for the National Vaccine Plan (prepublication)

Measures of Health Literacy: Workshop Summary (final)

BioWatch and Public Health Surveillance: Evaluating Systems for the Early Detection of Biological Threats: Abbreviated Version: Summary (prepublication)

Addressing the Threat of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Realistic Assessment of the Challenge: Workshop Summary (final)

Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity (final)

New This Week: NASA, Evolution, Childhood Obesity

New this week we have two publications on the prevention of childhood obesity, continuing education in the health professions, humane issues in the use of random source dogs and cats in research, and one of the books from the In The Light Of Evolution series.

Featured New Publication

Mitigating the Nutritional Impacts of the Global Food Price Crisis: Workshop Summary (prepublication)


In 2007 and 2008, the world witnessed a dramatic increase in food prices. The global financial crisis that began in 2008 compounded the burden of high food prices, exacerbating the problems of hunger and malnutrition in developing countries. The tandem food price and economic crises struck amidst the massive, chronic problem of hunger and undernutrition in developing countries. National governments and international actors have taken a variety of steps to mitigate the negative effects of increased food prices on particular groups. The recent abrupt increase in food prices, in tandem with the current global economic crisis, threatens progress already made in these areas, and could inhibit future efforts.

The Institute of Medicine held a workshop, summarized in this volume, to describe the dynamic technological, agricultural, and economic issues contributing to the food price increases of 2007 and 2008 and their impacts on health and nutrition in resource-poor regions. The compounding effects of the current global economic downturn on nutrition motivated additional discussions on these dual crises, their impacts on the nutritional status of vulnerable populations, and opportunities to mitigate their negative nutritional effects.

All New Publications

Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions (prepublication)

An Enabling Foundation for NASA’s Space and Earth Science Missions (prepublication)

A Database for a Changing Economy: Review of the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) (prepublication)

Benefit-Cost Analysis for Early Childhood Interventions: Workshop Summary (final)

In the Light of Evolution III: Two Centuries of Darwin (final)

Scientific and Humane Issues in the Use of Random Source Dogs and Cats in Research (final)

Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement (final)

A Review of the NIOSH Roadmap for Research on Asbestos Fibers and Other Elongate Mineral Particles (final)

Community Perspectives on Obesity Prevention in Children: Workshop Summaries (final)

Childhood Obesity Prevention in Texas: Workshop Summary (final)