Office of Technology Assessment - 918 Matching Results
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- Assessment of disorders causing dementia: the Family Survival Project: final report
- This report discusses the assessment of disorders causing dementia with disabled veterans.
- An Assessment of Information Systems Capabilities Required To Support U.S. Materials Policy Decisions
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of an assessment designed to analyze "materials information systems and their capability to support effective policymaking decisions on materials problems" (p. vii).
- An Assessment of Maritime Trade and Technology
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of maritime trade and technology that "traces prevailing conditions and dominant trends that are important to the way the Federal Government assumes its responsibility for developing and implementing policy" (p. iii).
- An Assessment of Oil Shale Technologies
- A study by the Office of Technology Assessment that examines the oil shale resources of the Western United States that could contribute to the liquid fuel supply of the United States.
- Assessment of Oil Shale Technologies—Vol. II: A History and Analysis of the Federal Prototype Oil Shale Leasing Program
- The report includes discussions of political, economic, environmental, and energy-related factors that affected both the 1968 leasing attempt and its successor—the current Prototype Program. The Program’s goals are identified, and its progress and status are examined to determine if those goals have been met or are likely to be met in the foreseeable future.
- Assessment of Technologies for Determining Cancer Risks From the Environment
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "discusses the strengths and weaknesses of data sources used for determining trends in cancer occurrence and mortality, and reviews estimates of the contribution of various factors-behaviors and exposures-associated with cancer in this country" (p. iii).
- An Assessment of Technology for Local Development
- A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "addresses the question of local development and the opportunities for-and appropriateness of-various technologies that can help local people to take advantage of local resources in meeting the needs of their own communities" (p. iii).
- An Assessment of the United States Food and Agricultural Research System
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that addresses issues of "the roles of the research participants, long-range research priority planning, funding for research, and the organizational structure of the food and agricultural research organizations" as they relate to increasing demands on agricultural resources (p. iii).
- Automated Guideway Transit: An Assessment of PRT and Other New Systems
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) assessing the Automated Guideway Transit Systems, with both detailed findings and summaries.
- Automated Record Checks for Firearm Purchasers: Issues and Options
- This report assesses the proposals and prospects for automated checks, ranging from the point-of-sale “instant” check now used by the State of Virginia, to the establishment of a computerized national felons file, to live scanning of fingerprints, or the issuance of ‘smart’ cards to identify firearm purchasers. It considers the benefits, costs, and risks of automated checks. The report examines the relationship between automated record checks and waiting periods, the wide variability in State criminal record systems, and the challenges of improving the automation and quality of record systems.
- Automatic Train Control in Rail Rapid Transit
- A report prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) covering the topic of of "the degree of automation which is technically feasible, economically justifiable, or otherwise appropriate for rail rapid transit" (p. viii).
- Automation and the Workplace: Selected Labor, Education, and Training Issues
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines "the nature and development of automation technologies (such as robotics, computer-aided design, and manufacturing, and automated materials handling, storage, and retrieval)" (p. iii).
- Automation of America's Offices, 1985-2000
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "assesses the consequences of the continuing and rapid introduction of information and telecommunications technologies in offices" (p. iii).
- Automobile Collision Data: An Assessment of Needs and Methods of Acquisition
- A report on evaluation of the automotive crash recorder program proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). As the assessment progressed, the implications for automobile collision data as a “whole became apparent and the report has been so titled to provide a more accurate indication of its scope.
- Background paper on cataract surgery and physician payment under the Medicare program
- This report both describes current clinical and economic aspects of cataract surgery and analyzes how alternative methods of paying physicians might affect cataract surgery in the future.
- Ballistic Missile Defense Technologies
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the "opportunities and risks involved in an accelerated program of research on new ballistic missile defense technologies, including those that might lead to deployment of weapons in space" (Foreward).
- Basic neuroscience and disorders causing dementia
- This report reviews aspects of contemporary neuroscience, emphasizing new information derived from basic and clinical disciplines. It defines the syndrome of dementia and discusses the magnitude of this problems and other issues regarding the disease.
- Beneath the Bottom Line: Agricultural Approaches To Reduce Agrichemical Contamination of Groundwater
- The report discusses contamination of the hydrogeological system (a primer), technologies to improve nutrient and pest management, farmer decision-making and technical assistance to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater, and public influences on agrichemical contamination of groundwater.
- Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater
- This report discusses the agricultural practices that are contributing to the contamination of groundwater, how to develop alternative practices, it outlines major components of the water quality issues, and describes the integrating and coordinating activities of the respective federal agencies.
- Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater
- This report descriptively reviews findings from recent sample surveys of farmer attitudes about agricultural chemicals and groundwater quality; their practices and motivations related to chemical management; and their responses to public policy alternatives addressing this issue.
- Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater, part B management
- This report discusses the assessment of agrichemicals in ground water in the United States in the late 1970's. A series of recommendations are offered in this report to help solve the problems.
- Benefit charges for financing infrastructure: a report
- This report discusses benefit-based charges that have become an increasingly popular mans to generate funds for operating and capital costs of public works.
- Benefit Design in Health Care Reform: Clinical Preventive Services
- This Report examines the evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of selected clinical preventive services, and whether and how this information might be used to design insurance benefits.
- Benefit Design in Health Care Reform: Patient Cost-Sharing
- This paper examines the health services and economics literature to learn what is known about the effects of patient cost-sharing (that is, annual deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, and out-of-pocket maximurns) on patients’ use of health care services, on plan expenditures, and on patients’ health outcomes.
- Benefits of Increased Use of Continuous Casting by the U.S. Steel Industry
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the United States steel industry, particularly various processes of casting currently used by the industry.
- Big Dumb Boosters: A Low-Cost Space Transportation Option?
- This background paper describes and examines a launch vehicle concept commonly known as the “Big Dumb Booster,” a concept that derives from efforts first made in the 1960s to minimize costs of space launch systems. Some launch system analysts believe that the use of this concept, when applied to existing technology, could markedly reduce space transportation costs. Other analysts disagree.
- The Big Picture: HDTV and High-Resolution Systems
- A report on High Definition Television (HDTV. During 1989, HDTV moved from obscurity to center stage in the ongoing debate over the role of the Federal Government in U.S. industrial competitiveness. HDTV and related High-Resolution System (HRS) technologies in the computer and communications sectors may significantly impact U.S. electronics manufacturing, accelerate fundamental restructuring of the U.S. communications infrastructure, and provide a host of valuable services.
- Biological Components of Substance Abuse and Addiction
- This paper describes biological contributing factors to substance abuse and addiction. The second document being produced by this study will discuss the complex interactions of biochemical, physiological, psychological, and sociological factors leading to substance abuse and addiction.
- Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields
- This background report responds to a request by the Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. The subcommittee asked that OTA review the health effects of high-voltage transmission lines. To provide background information for its assessment on electric power wheeling, OTA contracted with the Carnegie-Mellon University.
- Biological Rhythms: Implications for the Worker
- This report discusses biological rhythms: what they are, how they are controlled by the brain, and the role they play in regulating physiological and cognitive functions. The major focus of the report is the examination of the effects of nonstandard work hours on biological rhythms and how these effects can interact with other factors to affect the health, performance, and safety of workers.
- Biologically Based Technologies for Pest Control
- This report covers technologies ranging from enhanced biological control of pests by their natural predators and parasites to commercial formulations of microbial pesticides. These technologies are grounded in an understanding of pest biology and have a relatively low probability of harmful effects on human health or the environment.
- Biology, medicine, and the Bill of Rights: special report
- This special report considers the implications of new developments in biological sciences for the freedoms and protections embedded in our Bill of Rights. It is one of a series of publications coming from OTA’s Constitutional Bicentennial Project, begun in 1987 at the request of the House Committee on the Judiciary and its Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice.
- The Biology of Mental Disorders
- This report presents a summary of research into the biological factors associated with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and panic disorder. The report also discusses support for this research and the social context in which it moves forward.
- Biomedical Ethics in U.S. Public Policy
- This report reviews the history of four Federal bioethics initiatives: the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, the Ethics Advisory Board, the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research, and the Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee.
- Biopolymers: Making Materials Nature's Way
- This report discusses a study that provides a basic introduction to biopolymer technology; profiles some of the more promising polymer materials; reviews research activities in the United States, Europe, and Japan; and describes the principal technical challenges and regulatory issues that may affect biopolymer commercialization efforts.
- Bioremediation for Marine Oil Spills
- This OTA background paper evaluates the current state of knowledge and assesses the potential of bioremediation for responding to marine oil spills. Our basic message is a dual one: we caution that there are still many uncertainties about the use of bioremediation as a practical oil spill response technology; nevertheless, it could be appropriate in certain circumstances, and further research and development of bioremediation technologies could lead to enhancing the Nation’s capability to fight marine oil spills.
- Biotechnology in a Global Economy
- This report examines the impact of biotechnology in several industries, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, agriculture, and hazardous waste clean-up; the efforts of 16 Nations to develop commercial uses of biotechnology; and the actions, both direct and indirect, taken by various governments that influence innovation in biotechnology.
- Biotechnology in a global economy
- This report discusses the biotechnology in the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.
- Biotechnology in a global economy: Biotechnology developments in Asia - A financial prespective
- This report discusses the biotechnology development, government, research institutes and industry and finance in the following countries: Singapore, Thailand, South Korea, and Taiwan.
- Blood Policy and Technology
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that assesses the bloody policy and technologies, specifically recent developments in the fields.
- Book preservation technologies
- This assessment analyzes the problem of acid deterioration of books and the program underway at the Library of Congress. The program at the Library involves the chemical treatment of books in a unique and effective process that, however, also presents some new engineering and safety concerns. Because of these concerns, the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations requested this independent review of the Library’s system and other available or potential processes.
- The Border war on drugs
- A report on smuggling of illegal drugs into the United States is a problem of serious proportions. The three major drugs of foreign source—cocaine, heroin, and marijuana-are the products traded by an enormous criminal enterprise whose retail sales total approximately $50 billion annually. Federal efforts to stop or deter international narcotics trafficking have met with only limited success.
- Bringing Health Care Online: The Role of Information Technologies
- This report identifies key technologies and shows how they are being used to communicate clinical information, simplify administration of health care delivery, assess the quality of health care, inform the decision-making of providers and administrators, and support delivery of health care at a distance.
- Building Energy Efficiency
- This report focuses on energy use in buildings, which account for over one-third of all energy used in the United States. Significant energy savings in buildings are possible through the use of commercially available, cost-effective, energy efficient technologies; yet adoption rates for these technologies are often low. Interviews with industry, property managers, homeowners, and others were used to explore why technology adoption rates are so low. Past Federal efforts to encourage energy efficiency are reviewed, and policy options for encouraging the adoption of energy efficient technologies are discussed.
- Building Future Security: Strategies for Restructuring the Defense Technology and Industrial Base
- This report elaborates on the findings of the earlier OTA publications and examines in greater detail the specific policy choices involved in restructuring the defense technology and industrial base (DTIB) over the next decade.
- Cancer Testing Technology and Saccharin
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that, among other things, assesses "the capacity of current testing methodology to predict the carcinogenic potential of chemicals consumed by humans, with special reference to the validity of extrapolating from results of animal tests to possible human effects" (p. v). This study was done in response to the banning of the sweetener saccharin and the controversy about the testing that led to the ban.
- Caregivers of patients with dementia: final report
- This report discuses caregivers of patients with Alzheimer's Disease or another dementing illness, based on a mail survey carried out between November 26, 1986 and January 28, 1986. The report presents the study purpose, study scope and method and a description of the sample obtained.
- Catching Our Breath: Next Steps for Reducing Urban Ozone
- This report on urban ozone was requested by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and its Subcommittee on Health and the Environment in anticipation of the upcoming reauthorization of the Clean Air Act. Of the air pollutants that the Act covers, ozone has been the most difficult to bring under control; it may well be the most expensive.
- The CDC's Case Definition of AIDS: Implications of Proposed Revisions
- This background paper examines the epidemiologic evidence used by the CDC in deciding to revise the AIDS case definition and the impact the proposed definition will have on surveillance. The paper also explores the logistical consequences and other implications of the revised definition, including its impact on Social Security disability determinations.
- Challenges for U.S. Agricultural Research Policy
- This report focuses on new ways to finance, organize, and manage agricultural research to prepare the system for the challenges of the next century.