This report is the final, summarizing report in a series of products from a broad assessment of space transportation technologies undertaken by OTA for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

This is the second of two OTA assessments on the subject of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS). As the title suggests, this study attempts to put HTS in perspective, both in terms of competing technologies (e.g., the more mature low-temperature superconductors), and in terms of the many technical and economic problems that must be overcome before HTS can be widely used.

The House Committee on Government Operations, Subcommittee on Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations asked the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to document the extent to which federally funded research on AIDS/HIV has contributed to advances in other fields including biomedical and behavior research, prevention, patient care, and health care financing. In response to this request OTA conducted a survey of distinguished biomedical and social scientists. This Staff Paper reports on the results of that survey.

This Report, the first of the neuroscience series, discusses the risks posed by neurotoxic substances—substances that can adversely affect the nervous system—and evaluates the Federal research and regulatory programs now in place to address these risks.

For this report OTA compiled time-series data provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Federal mission agencies on proposals for competitively awarded research projects, and by the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) annual R&D budget series.7 These funding trends, presented below, suggest changes over the decade of the 1980s and raise some issues for future policy study.

This OTA’s report responds to the request of numerous Members of Congress to review the physical, emotional, and behavioral health status of contemporary American adolescents, including adolescents in groups who might be more likely to be in special need of health-related interventions: adolescents living in poverty, adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups, Native American adolescents, and adolescents in rural areas. In addition, OTA was asked to: 1 ) identify risk and protective factors for adolescent health problems and integrate national data in order to understand the clustering of specific adolescent problems, 2) evaluate options in the organization of health services and technologies available to adolescents (including accessibility and financing), 3) assess options in the conduct of national health surveys to improve collection of adolescent health statistics, and 4) identify gaps in research on the health and behavior of adolescents.

This report identifies several immediate steps the Federal Government could take. First, new environmental standards, population shifts, and industrial changes have transformed the nature of many public works problems, and Federal programs must be refocused to fit the new circumstances. Second, if we expect to maintain our economic health, the Nation must increase its investment in public works, despite budget dilemmas.

This background paper, which describes the state-of the- art of identifying substances that can harm the immune system, represents one response to the committee’s request. Chapter 2 provides basic information about the principal components of the immune system and the general consequences that stem from perturbations to it. Chapter 3 describes methods for evaluating chemical immunotoxicity and reports on some known or suspected immunotoxicants. Chapter 4 summarizes Federal research and regulatory activities related to immunotoxicity.

This study explores the role that communication technologies can play in securing rural America’s future. It develops several policy strategies and options to encourage such development. The study was requested by the Joint Economic Committee of Congress and Senators Charles E. Grassley and Orrin G. Hatch.

This report examines the delivery of energy services in developing countries and how the United States can help to improve these energy services while minimizing environmental impacts, OTA examines the technologies and policies that will enable more efficient use of energy and the most promising new sources of energy supply.

This report presents the papers presented at the OTA 20th Anniversary Forum on Technology and Governance in the 1990s. The report discusses five papers presented that day.

The report highlights some of the opportunities and challenges faced by a major federal agency in: 1 ) implementing the Administration’s “National Performance Review and “National Information Infrastructure” programs, and 2) addressing issues raised in OTA’s 1993 report Making Government Work: Electronic Delivery of Federal Services.

This paper presents an analysis of the cost-effectiveness of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in average-risk adults beginning at age 50. It examines the relative cost effectiveness of competing CRC screening technologies and schedules.

This report analyzes what International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards can and cannot be expected to accomplish, identifies areas where they might be broadened and improved, and presents options for doing so.

This report discusses the major issues in the public school system, providing information, and contributing a broad range of perspectives that helped shape the issues regarding education and technology. The report shows that helping schools to make the connection between teachers and technology may be one of the most important steps to making the most of past, present, and future investments in educational technology and in our children’s future.

This report surveys the potential benefits and drawbacks of expanded cooperation with Russia and other nations of the Former Soviet Union in space activities, and examines the impacts of closer cooperation on U.S. industry and U.S. national security concerns.