Fugu Genome Release
Fugu Genome Data Release [.gzip]
http://bahama.jgi-psf.org/fugu/html/README.html
Press Release
http://www.jgi.doe.gov/News/news_10_25_01.html
Fugu Sequencing at JGI
http://www.jgi.doe.gov/fugu/index.html
Joint Genome Institute -- DOE
http://www.jgi.doe.gov/
The Fugu Genome Consortium of the Joint Genome Institute (JGI) has released the draft assembly of the Fugu rubripes (Japanese pufferfish) genome and the raw sequencing data that contributed to the assembly. The Website was produced as a public service to those working on identifying the complete human genome assemblage since "it is expected that comparisons of the human genome with that of Fugu will shed light on the common genetic systems shared by these two animals, and help us understand the information encoded in the human genome." The sequences can be searched or browsed via the site or freely downloaded for use. Please note that links at the top of the Data Release page do not seem to be working currently. If you wish to access JGI's front page or the main page for Fugu Sequencing at JGI, the URLs provided above will take you there. [JAB]
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2001 Candidate Notice of Review [.pdf]
http://endangered.fws.gov/candidates/index.html#CNOR
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) this week released their 2001 Candidate Notice of Review, listing plants and animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Notice, which was last revised two years ago, is comprised of 252 species, 26 of which are new. The Notice also lists the 35 domestic animals and plants proposed to add to the list of endangered and threatened wildlife and plants. Since the list's last revision in October 1999, 75 species have been removed, 62 by this notice and 13 in the two-year interval. Of the 62 removed by this revision, 54 are being protected by the Endangered Species Act, 2 have had changes in their taxonomic classification, 2 are less threatened because of conservation agreements, and sadly, 4 are now extinct. At this site, users will find the USFWS press release, the Federal Register Notice (in .pdf format), the Candidate List, and previous years' Candidate Notices of Review. [TK]
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The Barbara McClintock Papers [.pdf]
http://www.profiles.nlm.nih.gov/LL/
Press Release
http://www.nlm.nih.gov:80/news/press_releases/mcclintock01.html
Scientist Dr. Barbara McClintock had a long career during which she made several important breakthroughs and earned distinguished awards for studying the genomics of maize (corn). In 1983, at the age of 81, McClintock was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on so-called "jumping genes," or genes that change position on the chromosome. The newest addition to the National Library of Medicine's Profiles in Science online series (last discussed in the May 18, 2001 Scout Report) is an exhibit of the Barbara McClintock Papers. This site is divided into sections that focus on Dr. McClintock's life and major scientific contributions. Each section provides text or images of original materials such as laboratory notes, correspondence, journal articles, unpublished manuscripts, grant proposals, lecture notes, photographs, and illustrations (.pdf). Students of genetics and anyone interested in the history of science should browse this online exhibit. [HCS]
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Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography, Version 39 [.pdf, MS Word]
http://info.lib.uh.edu/sepb/sepb.html
Charles W. Bailey Jr. has just published the latest version of his scholarly bibliography (see the November 22, 1996 Scout Report). The bibliography gives citations for articles, books, electronic media, and other sources focused on electronic publishing issues. Users can download the bibliography in .pdf or Word formats, or browse or search the HTML versions. The in-depth table of contents makes this an easily navigated resource despite its length (120 pages in .pdf format). The site's Weblog keeps visitors informed of new resources, and the directory gives pointers to other sites for more information. Anyone involved in electronic publishing -- research or practice -- should bookmark this site if they haven't already. [TK]
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International Resources from the Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/rr/international/
This site acts as a gateway to a number of Library of Congress (LOC) international resources. The site is divided into five main sections. The Portals to the World section offers links to sites selected by LOC subject specialists arranged by country. Currently there are 46 countries featured, though the project plans to offer resources for all nations when completed. Special International Guides, another section of the site, collects nine of LOC's online products related to international studies. Included here are the Vietnam-Era POW/MIA Database, the Global Legal Information Network, the Handbook of Latin American Studies, and more. In addition to these two useful pages, International Resources includes a Gateways to the World page, giving information on LOC's reading rooms and international collections. A page on Fellowships in International Studies and a FAQ round out the site. [TK]
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Two Special Collections from the General Accounting Office (GAO) [.pdf]
GAO Reports on Terrorism
http://www.gao.gov/terrorism.html
GAO Reports on Airport Security
http://www.gao.gov/airptsec.html
The General Accounting Office (GAO) has posted these two pages of "special collections" of use to those following the news about terrorism and airport security measures. The page collecting releases on terrorism holds links to reports going back to a 1980 release, "Assessment of Various Aspects of This Nation's Nuclear Safeguards," and one from 1981, "Federal Electrical Emergency Preparedness Is Inadequate," though reports are not available in .pdf format until those dated from 1987. The page on airport security covers reports beginning with the 1983 "Safety at the Navy's Seal Beach, CA, Weapons Station Has Improved" and the 1987 "Aviation Security: FAA Preboard Passenger Screening Test Results." All reports on this page are available in .pdf format. Both pages collect a wealth of reports, making them easily accessible for researchers and interested members of the general public. [TK]
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International Religious Freedom Report
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2001/index.cfm
This annual report from the State Department is submitted to Congress to each year in compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998. This year's report gives information on religious freedom in 195 economies from the period July 1, 2000 to June 30, 2001. The summary is divided into three parts -- Barriers to International Religious Freedom, Positive Developments in International Religious Freedom, and U.S. Action to Promote International Religious Freedom -- and should give a useful overview for any readers interested in issues of human rights and religious practices in other countries. The body of the report consists of information on individual countries (grouped by region) including Religious Demography, Status of Religious Freedom, Societal Attitudes, and U.S. Government Policy. Among the five appendices are an Overview of U.S. Refugee Policy and an appendix devoted to The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and the International Religious Freedom Act. [TK]
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Rights-L: Digital Rights Management Listserv
http://listserv.utk.edu/archives/rights-l.html
This new mailing list stemmed from discussions on digital rights management (DRM) at the Managing Digital Video workshop held this past August in Atlanta, Georgia. The list is designed to provide a forum "to discuss possible cooperative development of a DRM implementation for R&E, and to enable workshop participants to communicate about work being conducted in this area." Some of the first discussions will center around proposed collaborations between the ViDe VideoAccess Working Group and the Internet2 Video Middleware (VidMid) Video-on-Demand group as part of the recently announced NSF Middleware Initiative. [TK]
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Two from the Museum of Modern Art:
Alberto Giacometti [Flash, .pdf]
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/giacometti/
Artists of Brucke: Themes in German Expressionist Prints [Flash]
http://www.moma.org/brucke/
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has two new exhibitions available for Modern art lovers. As the sole US venue, MoMA organized the exhibition Alberto Giacometti to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Swiss artist's birth. The accompanying Website presents 26 works -- sculpture, paintings, and drawings -- in crisp, high quality images accompanied by explanations, a complete checklist, a brief biography of the artist, chronologies, and a useful bibliography for in-depth reading. The second show, Artists of Brucke: Themes in German Expressionist Prints, is the first-ever online-exclusive exhibition by MoMA and Second Story Interactive Studios. The exhibition focuses on themes central to the Brucke movement and has been brought to life through animation, music, narrated quotes, and high quality artworks to evoke the mood and passion of German Expressionism. One tiny criticism for these well done exhibitions is that the bibliographies offered online for both exclusively list printed books, dissertations, and articles omitting any online resources, alas. However, both feature stylish presentations with appealing content and are highly recommended. [DJS]
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Final Report of the Independent Counsel In Re: Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy [.pdf]
http://www.access.gpo.gov/oic/index.html
Former Secretary of Agriculture Alphonso Michael Espy was investigated for allegations originating in 1994 of possible violation of federal criminal law by accepting gifts from organizations or individuals with business pending before the US Department of Agriculture. In a final report released October 25, 2001 and now available online, investigators from the Office of Independent Council Donald Smalz state their conclusions that Secretary Espy had indeed committed improper behavior and that, "among other offenses, companies with financially important matters pending before USDA gave Secretary Espy -- either directly or via members of his family or his girlfriend -- numerous gifts in an effort to garner his favor." Tyson Foods, Inc., Crop Growers Corp., and Sun-Diamond Growers of California are among the six corporate entities convicted. The full report contains five large chapters, a conclusion, chronology, three appendices, and comment letters, including one from the attorneys of brother Henry Espy, Mayor of Clarksdale Mississippi. [HCS]
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Two Sites on the Effects of September 11 on Web Information
The Post-September 11 Environment: Access to Government Information
http://www.ombwatch.org/info/2001/access.html
Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism: "National Security" Toll on Freedom of Expression
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/antiterrorism_chill.html
OMB Watch (a watchdog agency of the White House Office of Management and Budget, which in part overseas information collection and dissemination to the public) is currently maintaining a list of governmental Websites that have removed information in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. For example, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has removed documents from their Website that detail the specifications of energy facilities in the US. The listing has brief descriptions of the newly missing information and direct links to the sites. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an organization dedicated to "educate the press, policymakers and the general public about civil liberties issues related to technology; and to act as a defender of those liberties." On the page Chilling Effects of Anti-Terrorism, the EFF (in part) tracks Websites shut down by the US government, other governments, and Internet service providers because the material they contained was deemed "questionable." The site, which is continually being updated, also offers several other examples of the September 11 attacks' effects on Web information availability. [JAB]
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The Canadian West
http://www.archives.ca/05/0529/052901_e.html
From the National Archives of Canada, this Web exhibition includes over 200 pictures, maps, and documents on European exploration and settlement of Western Canada, from the 1600s to 1930. The Canadian West also features materials on the effects of European immigration on indigenous peoples of Canada. There are three major sections: Anticipation, Contact, and Accommodation. Anticipation contains early maps, primarily from the eighteenth century, that show European cartographers' best guesses at the lay of the new land. Indian treaty medals and photographs of students at Indian industrial schools in Manitoba and Saskatchewan are some of the illustrations in the Contact section. In Accommodation, see items documenting the urbanization and industrialization of Canada, such as a map of Tuxedo Park, a proposed development of Winnipeg, and road maps from the 1920s. Visitors can choose to browse the collection by media type, year, or title by clicking the Index. There are also links to related Websites, a reading list, and a Thematic Research Guides link, which leads to databases of genealogical information and patent letters from ArchiviaNet, the National Archives online research tool. [DS]
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Internet Archive
http://www1.archive.org/index.html
The Internet Archive is the "parent" site for two sites previously reviewed in the Scout Report, Election 2000 (see the July 13, 2001 Scout Report) and September11.archive.org (see the October 19, 2001 Scout Report). The Archive has been cataloging Webpages since its inception in 1996, and for their fifth anniversary has opened the archive to the public by launching their "Wayback Machine." To operate the "Machine," users type a URL into the search box, which will call up dated, archived pages of the site. The Internet Archive holds ten billion Webpages, making it the largest known database. Since announcing public access to the overall database, the site has experienced a great deal of traffic. They are in the process of adding servers, but users should be warned that, in the meantime, access may be tricky. The Internet Archive is a nonprofit, which has received funding from a number of sources including the Library of Congress and the National Science Foundation. [TK]
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Three Educational Math Sites:
Number Patterns Fun with Curves & Topology
http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/jbfunpatt.htm
Investigating Patterns: Symmetry and Tessellations
http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/jbsymteslk.htm
Investigating Patterns: Polyhedra Pastimes
http://www.camosun.bc.ca/~jbritton/jbpolyhedra.htm
Educational consultant and textbook author Jill Britton is the author of these metasites listing Web resources for grade 5-8 mathematics. Each metasite revolves around a certain topic. For instance, the first site, Number Patterns Fun with Curves & Topology, is an index of eighteen subtopics such as prime numbers, the golden ratio, Pascal's Triangle, mazes and maps, etc. Under each subtopic, an annotated list of Web resources (from other authors and organizations) points to tutorials and fun activities for students as well as printable activity sheets and lesson plans for teachers. The second metasite, Investigating Patterns: Symmetry and Tessellations, contains subtopics such as soapbubbles and honeycombs, Islamic tessellations, M.C. Escher, symmetry by paper folding, and more. The third metasite listed here focuses on polyhedra with activities ranging from creating three-dimensional polyhedra with gumdrops and toothpicks to examining Ernst Haeckel's nineteenth-century sketches of polyhedral structure of Radiolaria (a plankton). Other types of links given on these pages are to merchants selling educational materials, sites on the history of mathematics, and activities with holiday themes. [HCS]
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Eartheasy
http://eartheasy.com/homepage.htm
Given the tough economic times in the United States (and elsewhere) and renewed discussions about how to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, this site, while not new, is timely. Eartheasy, a personal offering from Greg Seaman, grew out of Seaman's experiences living with his wife and children on a rural island in Vancouver. The site aims "to encourage, inspire and inform people of the inherent wealth of a simpler, less material lifestyle." The site design mirrors its mission, with a front page presenting six snapshots that connect to the main sections -- live, grow, eat, play, wear, and give. Each of the sections offers information on a number of topics ranging from energy efficient appliances to natural lawn care to kite flying and much, much more. The live section includes a page of briefly annotated links for readers looking for more information, and Seaman welcomes suggestions for additions to the site. A nice stop for those looking to pare down their lives or thinking about how to focus more of their attention on what is most important to them. Seaman explains, "If the Eartheasy site gets you thinking about what constitutes true wealth in your life, and the implications our lifestyle and consumer choices have on the environment, then this web project will have been truly worthwhile." [TK]
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K-Meleon 0.6 [Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT/XP]
http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/
Download page
http://kmeleon.sourceforge.net/download.php
K-Meleon is a simple, fast browser based on gecko, the Mozilla rendering engine. The browser is designed to be light, fast, and customizable, and is something like a stripped-down Mozilla (see the February 11, 2000 Scout Report). As such, this is a browser without bells and whistles. Nonetheless, it does allow users to import bookmarks and favorites, control cookies, and (happily block pop-up and pop-under windows, among other options. K-Meleon's plug-in architecture gives developers the chance to add new features of their own, and the site offers a developers' mailing list as well as a low-volume announcement list. [TK]
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Incubator
http://www.vrd.org/Incubator.shtml
The Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) provides the Incubator software for free to nonprofits. The software "is designed for start-up AskA services in need of software for taking in, routing, and answering questions via the Web." Training and server space is provided by VRD at no cost. This page supplies links to an Academic Library Demo, a K-12 Service Demo, and a presentation on Incubator from the Digital Reference Conference. [TK]
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AltaVista Education Search
http://www.altavista.com/sites/search/edu
This new page from AltaVista allows users to search for terms from within the university and college sites in AltaVista. Searches from this page will cover the more-than-20 million university and college sites held here. Users can also browse the three categories, Education, Colleges & Universities, and K-12 Education, though admittedly the links here, while annotated, are not extensive. [TK]
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Promising New Developments in Cancer Research
1. A Cancer Vaccine:
"Melanoma Vaccine Shows Promise" -- Reuters (via Yahoo!News)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011101/hl/melanoma_3.html
"Vaccines Activate the Body's Immune System Against Cancer Cells"
http://www.aacr.org/1000/1100/1131u.html
Oncophage - Antigenics, Inc.
http://www.antigenics.com/products02a.html
"Clinical and Immunological Results of Vaccination with Autologous Heat-Shock Protein Peptide Complex-96 (HSPPC-96) in Metastatic Melanoma"
http://www.asco.org/cgi-bin/prof/abst01.pl?absno=1006&div=0030&year=01abstracts
2. A "Smart" Drug:
"'Smart' Cancer Drug Progress Boosts Astrazeneca" -- Reuters (via Yahoo!News)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20011101/sc/health_cancer_drugs_dc_2.html
"First Phase II Study Results Show Anti-tumor Activity with Iressa(TM) in Advances Non-small Cell Lung Cancer" -- AstraZeneca
http://www.astrazeneca.com/NewsSection/NewsReleases/press_release_155.html
IMC-C225 - ImClone [Shockwave]
http://www.imclone.com/imc-c225.html
"New Drugs That Inactivate Key Cell-Surface Receptors Show Promise Against Major Cancers"
http://www.aacr.org/1000/1100/1131y.html
Iressa Factsheet
http://www.cancerbacup.org.uk/info/iressa.htm
AACR Conference Abstracts
http://aacr-nci-eortc01.agora.com/abstractviewer/search.asp
The 2001 Joint Meetings of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) were held this week in Miami, Florida and included numerous presentations on promising cancer therapies. Two of the most prominent developments announced were a possible vaccine against melanoma and a "smart" drug that targets specific cancer cells.
To learn more about the vaccine, first read the article from Reuters, which discusses the compound, called HSPPC-96 or Oncophage, developed by Dr. Giorgio Parmiani and colleagues in Milan, Italy. The Oncophage vaccine is comprised of a specific class of proteins, known as heat shock proteins, that for each individual patient contain a unique profile of signals that are the cancer's "DNA fingerprint." This "DNA fingerprint" can then be used to re-program the patient's immune system to recognize, react against, and eliminate cancer while normal cells remain unaffected. This kind of precision was unheard of previously, and positive results have been reported from clinical trials dealing with kidney cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer. A press release from the American Association of Cancer Research's Website gives a slightly more technical overview that the one from Reuters. Antigenics, Inc., the drug company developing the vaccine, also has an informational page about Oncophage. For a much more technical summary, hit the abstract by Parmani et al. from the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The other big development announced at the meetings by Dr. Jose Baselga of Barcelona, Spain, is the so-called "smart" cancer drug that specifically targets and blocks the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a protein that promotes tumor cell growth. This drug has shown promise in clinical trials for patients with non-small-cell lung, colorectal, pancreatic, and head and neck cancer. The Reuters article provides a good overview. Two competing drug companies are developing this "smart" drug -- ImClone, Inc. offers it as an injection called IMC-C225, while AstraZeneca has made a pill form called Iressa. AstraZeneca has an online press release. Visitors to the IMC-C225 informational page from ImClone can view a cool Shockwave animation of the drug intercepting the EGFR. More information on Iressa and IMC-C225 is found in the press release from the AACR and in a factsheet from Cancerbacup.org, a UK-based cancer information service. To get caught up on all of the other research highlights of the 2001 joint meetings, visit the AACR Conference Abstracts page, searchable by author, keyword, or title. [HCS]
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