This report of OTA has conducted a study of a wide range of topics, some of which have recently been receiving a great deal of scrutiny inside and outside the government. In order to derive information specific enough to guide possible congressional action and to be responsive to the requesting Committees, this examination of the issues is specifically tied to particular life-sustaining technologies and their use with patients who are elderly. At the same time, much of this information is applicable to life-sustaining technology in general and to citizens of all ages.

This report discusses the national health insurance system in Canada. It describes the financing for health care, the costs of hospital and medical care.

This report discusses the problem of decision-making for incompetent or questionably competent elderly people as one of the most serious issues facing Americans.

This report discusses the history and function of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) as it stood in November 1989, focusing on the benefit of the OTA's function as a practical analysis tool concerning technological issues.

This report discusses the rational for public access, approaches to public access, challenges and opportunities of new technology, and the potential impact on the government printing office.

This report starts out with introduction to history of intellectual property protection for plants. It discusses federal statutory protection for plans, the plant patent act, the plant variety protection act, and utility patents. The report offers a comparison of various statutes and other forms of intellectual property.

This report provides background information on the tasks of studying alternative physician payment methodologies including replacement of CPR system with national or regional fee schedule.

This report provides statistics on financial aid debt, type of financial aid, salary and percent of financial aid for the Science/Engineering students.

This report discusses the enteral or parenteral nutritional support as a therapy for anyone, including someone 65 or older, who is unable to meet his/her nutrition needs with meals and snack due to inadequate ingestion or impaired digestion or absorption.

This report describes a study that includes a review of the history of the losses of customer funds due to the insolvency of a future commission merchant.

This report examines the U.S. preparations process for WARC-92, highlighting efforts to integrate the needs and concerns of various interest groups. It also reviews the forces and trends affecting the United States as it approaches WARC-92, and is intended to inform future congressional oversight of the domestic and international radio communication policy process.

Compilation of report abstracts for publications in the Office of Technology Assessment "Health Technology Case Studies Series" which provide background information on technologies related to healthcare and medicine.

A report prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) analyzing the potential impacts of the expected natural gas shortage of the winter of 1975-76. The study's objectives are to "determine the extent to which these projected curtailments reflect the actual situation and what the impacts and potential danger points might be as a result of the natural gas shortage" (p. ix).

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.

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that covers "the essential technical issues surrounding the selection and acquisition of infrastructure in space" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) about the effects of coastal development in the United States, specifically New Jersey and Delaware. The study looks at "the likely consequences of three energy systems for the ocean environment, the coastal environment, and the economics and patterns of life in both States during the next two decades" (p. c.1).

The Senate of the United States Committee and Subcommittee Assignments for the 107th congress.

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that specifies what a federal program that compensates "vaccinees injured as a result of being vaccinated in public immunization programs" might look like (p. iii).

This paper presents the status of national efforts to cleanup dioxin-contaminated sites and the technologies that have been used, proposed, and researched. It covers thermal and nonthermal treatment techniques as well as approaches such as stabilization and storage. It discusses the development of these technologies as well as advantages and disadvantages of their use.

This report focuses on key assumptions that will affect the sizing and procurement of the new FBI system, and on other related steps that appear necessary to ensure complete and up-to-date record systems. These include full implementation of a Federal/State/local partnership for maintaining and exchanging fingerprint and criminal history records; enactment of an interstate compact or Federal legislation setting out uniform rules for the exchange of such records; standards and funding for improving criminal history record completeness and disposition reporting; and privacy and security protections for electronic fingerprint and record information.

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that is a "background to an analysis of Federal policies regarding the medical devices industry" (p. 4).

This paper describes a number of suggestions to improve the value of the USGCRP to both scientists and policymakers. The report observes that the USGCRP is focused narrowly on climate change. As a result, USGCRP may not be able to provide decision makers and natural resource managers with the information they will need to respond to other aspects of global change, The background paper also explicates the continuing debate over whether the sensors and satellites planned by USGCRP: 1) will be able to acquire data in sufficient detail to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for global change; 2) are appropriate for long-term monitoring of key indices of global change.

A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that presents "what is currently known about ICUs in terms of the distribution of ICU beds, the costs of maintaining ICUs, the characteristics of ICU patients and the outcome of ICU care" (p. 3).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "focuses on how Federal Government policies affect innovations in wheelchair characteristics" (p. 3).