The Fred L. Soper Papers [pdf]
http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/VV/
The National Library of Medicine presents the Fred L. Soper Papers, a new Profiles in Science feature. The collection includes a selection of digitized documents available for use by educators and researchers. First-time visitors may wish to begin with the online exhibit -- a well-presented introduction to the scientific career and professional life of Soper, an American epidemiologist and public health administrator who "set new standards for disease control worldwide." Users may also search the site for specific documents and visuals, or easily browse the entire collection listed alphabetically or chronologically. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

ARMI National Atlas for Amphibian Distributions
http://www.mp2-pwrc.usgs.gov/armiatlas/index.cfm
The Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative National Atlas for Amphibian Distributions (ARMI Atlas) is "a compilation of current and historic records of amphibian occurrences" developed by the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center -- part of the U.S. Geological Survey. New to the Scout Report, the ARMI Atlas integrates records from peer-reviewed scientific literature, museum records, state and regional herpetological atlases, and "other confirmed and validated observations." This regularly updated resource allows users to quickly determine when and where amphibians were last documented in a given area -- distribution gaps may suggest potential areas of study. The ARMI Atlas is intended as an educational tool, a reference for habitat managers, a resource for and by herpetologists, or any other use that contributes to long-term amphibian monitoring efforts. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

RatMap: The Rat Genome Database
http://ratmap.gen.gu.se/
The Rat Genome Database (RatMap) -- available through the Department for Cell and Molecular Biology, Göteborg University, Sweden -- offers information on rat gene nomenclature, chromosomal positions for genes (including predicted positions), gene function, literature references, and much more. Gene records in the database may be recalled with a locus query or by browsing lists, and some data sets may be downloaded. RatMap also includes an extensive set of related links. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

Malaria Parasite Metabolic Pathways
http://sites.huji.ac.il/malaria/
This tremendously comprehensive Web site aims to facilitate "post-genomic" research on the biochemical processes of Plasmodium, the species of protists that cause malaria. The Web site, sponsored by the Computation Authority of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, offers a compilation of Plasmodium metabolic pathway maps culled from other, more general biochemistry sites. Each map is linked to others so that users may trace the fate or origin of each metabolite. The maps include links to PubMed abstracts and related Web pages for more detailed information. Through an ask-the-expert feature several experts on the biochemistry of malaria parasites are also available to tackle questions from "active investigators" making use of the Web site. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

Atlas of Russia's Intact Forest Landscapes
http://www.forest.ru/eng/publications/intact/index.html
The Atlas of Russia's Intact Forest Landscapes comes from Forest.ru, a Web portal focused on Russian forests and forestry practices and supported by a network of non-governmental Russian environmental organizations. The Atlas was developed to address "the need of the public to know the ecological condition of Russia's forest lands, and the need of the decision maker to have accurate, relevant and accessible information at hand." The Atlas has two map sections, one showing the location of Russia's intact forest tracts and another showing tree species composition. Users may quickly find specific tracts using indices of settlement names, administrative regions, and major geographical regions. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

Brain Architecture Management System
http://brancusi.usc.edu/bkms/
The Brain Architecture Management System (BAMS) presents "a repository of information about brain structures from different species," including a set of online tools for processing neurobiological data. BAMS -- created by neuroscience researchers at the University of Southern California -- incorporates information from the literature and experimental data submitted to the Web site from neuroscientists worldwide. BAMS is organized into four modules: Brain Parts, Cell Types, Relations, and Connections. Among the many features of this Web site, users will find thousands of reports on rat brain structure connections, and may view projection patterns or "construct reports of connectivity matrices related to brain structures of interest." [RS]
[Back to Contents]

FlyNome
http://www.flynome.com/
FlyNome is the brainchild of Drosophila researcher, Christopher Yohn, of the Skirball Institute in New York City. Yohn created this Web site out of the frustration involved in trying to find the stories behind the names of fruit fly genes. New to the Scout Report, FlyNome "is intended to be a resource for the Drosophila community by serving as a reliable tool to which fly researchers can refer and contribute." Users may search the database by gene symbol, full gene name, name of contributor, or simply browse all entries. FlyNome will also track down stories (by request) for genes not currently in the database. The site also includes useful Web links and a FAQ page. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

RangeModel
http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/RangeModel
RangeModel is an "animated, graphical application designed to demonstrate the mechanism behind the mid-domain effect" on species richness developed by Dr.Robert K. Colwell from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut. Users who download RangeModel do not need to supply their own data to run the program -- several built-in options allow users to explore RangeModel and its applications. Of course, users may also import their own empirical or theoretical data and export results for statistical analysis in other programs. [RS]
[Back to Contents]