An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the construction industry and technology that is reshaping the industry and what impacts these technologies might have.

This assessment of ocean incineration includes consideration of the adequacy of regulations; risks to human health and the marine environment relative to the risks of comparable activities; existing and emerging alternatives; the capabilities and limitations of ocean incineration in managing hazardous wastes; and how its use might affect efforts to develop superior waste treatment and reduction practices. Particular attention is addressed to areas of intense public concern over the use of this technology.

This report describes what nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons can do, analyzes the consequences of their spread for the United States and the world, and summarizes technical aspects of monitoring and controlling their production. This report also explains the array of policy tools that can be used to combat proliferation, identifying tradeoffs and choices that confront policymakers.

Background paper exploring the multifaceted challenge of integrating a private, primarily civil industry into the global arms-control regime established by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

This report discusses on telecommunications entering European markets as not just a set of tradable services, but also a basic function of society, essential for effective governance social cohesion, and economic viability’ and equity.

This report discusses the standards for body-armor. The report describes the origin of the standard, the rationale for particular provisions, and the main points of controversy, which concern acceptable risks, the validity and discrimination of the test, and the reproducibility of results.

The paper begins with a survey of recent developments in networked information resources and tools to identify, navigate, and use such resources. The paper then discusses the changing legal framework that governs use of electronic information as contract law rather than simple sale within the context of copyright law becomes the dominant model for acquiring access to electronic information.

This background paper was prompted by a workshop held at OTA in early March 1995, at which a small group, representing a broad cross-section of lower-tier firms, discussed their views of the space transportation industry.

This paper assesses the medical benefits and costs of both screening and hormone replacement therapy. It is divided into two volumes. This volume presents the results of a model that estimates the cost per year of life gained from osteoporosis screening and hormone replacement therapy in postmenopausal women.

This paper assesses the medical benefits and costs of both screening and hormone replacement therapy. It is divided into two volumes. This volume provides the basis for the assumptions about the costs and effects of screening and hormonal replacement therapy used in the cost-effectiveness model.

This paper presents some empirical information on how insurers consider payment for new medical devices. It describes the survey results of medical directors affiliated with private health insurers about their coverage decisions using, as examples, three applications of lasers: laser angioplasty for opening narrowed or blocked coronary arteries; laser discectomy for treating herniated intervertebral discs; and photodynamic therapy (using a light–sensitive dye) for bladder cancer.

These readings explore the historical, theoretical, methodological, and institutional aspects of assessment. Many of these publications represent early efforts to probe the concept and methodologies of the assessment function.

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that assesses the potential of the solar power satellite (SPS) as a source of energy, looking at four alternative SPS systems and at their "technical characteristics, long-term energy supply potential, international and military implications, environmental impacts, and institutional effects" (p. iii).

A technical memorandum by the Office of Technical Assessment (OTA) that reviews the quality and relevance of activities at GML (Gorgas Memorial Laboratory), based on Gorgas' publishing record, an OTA-commissioned survey of GML's scientific reputation, a critical review of recent articles and current manuscripts, a comparison of GML's areas of effort with health problems in tropical America and with scientific opportunity, and a review of past scientific evaluations of GML (p. iii).

A background paper by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that brings together "the literature and current views about the actual and potential role of RCTS (randomized clinical trials) in decisionmaking about medical technologies" (Preface).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "examines present conditions and future needs of the Nation's airports, with emphasis on possible solutions to problems of operational capacity and air travel delay" (p. iii).

A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines "the evidence on variations in lengths of hospital stay and their relation to health outcomes" (p. 3).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "surveys the contribution of the forest products industry to the U.S. economy, the ability of the industry and the U.S. forest resource to satisfy expected domestic demands for wood, the competitiveness of U.S. Forest products on world markets, and the role of technology in stretching the U.S. forest resource and providing products that satisfy domestic needs as well as international markets" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of "the Nation's ability to use models more efficiently and effectively analyze and solve our water resource problems" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "examines the potential financial and managerial barriers to carrying out-at some future date-a large-scale program to create a new high-speed, long-range commercial air transport employing new technology" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment that "describes the major processes degrading land productivity, assesses whether productivity is sustaining using current agricultural technologies, reviews a range of new technologies with potentials to maintain productivity and profitability simultaneously, and presents a series of options for congressional consideration" (p. iii).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at how "advances in technology and increased competition in the communications marketplace will significantly affect USPS finances, service levels, and labor force requirements over the next two decades" (p. xi).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines the January 1982 plan by the National Airspace System (NAS), which "attempts to integrate the various improvements into a single long-range program that addresses major shortcomings and reduces costs of the current system" (p. 3).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment covering "the relationship between Government action and technological innovation in the civilian sector of the U.S. economy" (p. 3).