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Rick Speare
Richard "Rick" Speare (2 August 1947 – 5 June 2016) was an Australian public health physician and veterinary surgeon. He is best known for his research on animal diseases, particularly his work on chytridiomycosis in amphibians. Research career Speare worked clinically as both a medical doctor and a veterinarian. He joined James Cook University in 1988 as a research fellow, and was appointed an associate professor in 1991. His research covered a suite of diseases, including paramphistomid trematodes of the agile wallaby, scabies, head lice, malaria, and Australian bat lyssavirus. However, he is best known for his work on amphibian diseases such as salmonella and ranaviruses in cane toads, '' Mucor amphibiorum'' in the Australian green tree frog, and, most notably, chytridiomycosis. Speare completed his PhD on the helminth parasite ''Strongyloides'' in 1986. He published an important book chapter on the morphology of ''Strongyloides'' spp. in "Strogyloidiasis: A Major Roundwo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atherton Tablelands
The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form the irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo. Unlike many other rural areas, the Tablelands is experiencing a significant growth in population. Physiography This area is a distinct physiographic section of the larger North Queensland Highlands province, which in turn is part of the larger East Australian Cordillera physiographic division. South of the Tablelands is the Bellenden Ker Range. Geological history Around 100 million years ago, the eastern edge of the Australian continent extended much further to the east, before tectonic forces fractured the eastern margin, pulling it apart. At the same time, slowly rising mantle material caused a doming up of the continental crust. As the eastern pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Agile Wallaby
The agile wallaby (''Notamacropus agilis''), also known as the sandy wallaby, is a species of wallaby found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. It is the most common wallaby in north Australia. The agile wallaby is a sandy colour, becoming paler below. It is sometimes solitary and at other times sociable and grazes on grasses and other plants. The agile wallaby is not considered threatened. Subspecies The four subspecies of the agile wallaby are: *''N. a. agilis'', the nominate subspecies, is found in the Northern Territory. *''N. a. jardinii'' is found on the northern and eastern coasts of Queensland. *''N. a. nigrescens'' is found in the Kimberley and Arnhem Land regions of Western Australia. *''N. a. papuanus'' is found in southern New Guinea and some neighbouring islands. Description Male agile wallabies are considerably larger than females, having a head and body length of up to and weighing while the females grow to in length and weigh . The tails of both sex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy programs located in Boston, Phoenix and Seattle. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. Tufts remained a small liberal arts college until the 1970s, when it transformed into a large research university offering doctorates in several disciplines. The corporate name of the university is "Trustees of Tufts College". Tufts offers over 90 undergraduate and 160 graduate programs across ten schools in the greater Boston area and Talloires, France.Bylaws ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strongyloidiasis
Strongyloidiasis is a human parasitic disease caused by the nematode called '' Strongyloides stercoralis'', or sometimes the closely related ''S. fülleborni''. These helminths belong to a group of nematodes called roundworms. These intestinal worms can cause a number of symptoms in people, principally skin symptoms, abdominal pain, diarrhea and weight loss, but also many other specific and vague symptoms in disseminated disease, and severe life-threatening conditions through hyperinfection. In some people, particularly those who require corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive medication, ''Strongyloides'' can cause a hyperinfection syndrome that can lead to death if untreated. The diagnosis is made by blood and stool tests. The medication ivermectin is widely used to treat strongyloidiasis. Strongyloidiasis is a type of soil-transmitted helminthiasis. Low estimates postulate it to affect 30–100 million people worldwide, mainly in tropical and subtropical countries, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago, and over time formed as many as 500 language-based groups. In the past, Aboriginal people lived over large sections of the continental shelf. They were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands and Tasmania when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene inter-glacial period, about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, Aboriginal people maintained extensive networks within the continent and certain groups maintained relationships with Torres Strait Islanders and the Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia. Over the millennia, Aboriginal people developed complex trade networks, inter-cultural relationships, law and religions, which make up some of the oldest, and possibly ''the'' oldest, continuous cultures in the world ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Green Tree Frog
The Australian green tree frog (''Ranoidea caerulea''/''Litoria caerulea''), also known as simply green tree frog in Australia, White's tree frog, or dumpy tree frog, is a species of tree frog native to Australia and New Guinea, with Introduced species, introduced populations in the United States and New Zealand, though the latter is believed to have died out. It is morphologically similar to some other members of its genus, particularly the magnificent tree frog (''R. splendida'') and the white-lipped tree frog (''R. infrafrenata''). Larger than most Australian frogs, the Australian green tree frog reaches 10 cm (4 in) or more in length. Its average lifespan in captivity, about 16 years, is long compared with most frogs. Docile and well suited to living near human dwellings, Australian green tree frogs are often found on window sills or inside houses, eating insects drawn by the light. The green tree frog screams when it is in danger to scare off its foe, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mucor Amphibiorum
''Mucor'' is a microbial genus of approximately 40 species of molds and dimorphic fungi in the family Mucoraceae. The genus includes both pathogenic and avirulent species, and some members of it can be utilized in biotechnical applications. These fungi are commonly found in soil, digestive systems, plant surfaces, some cheeses like Tomme de Savoie, rotten vegetable matter and iron oxide residue in the biosorption process. Description Colonies of this fungal genus are typically yellow, beige or grey. They are characterized by rapid growth and sporulation in high aw environments, and they reproduce both sexually and asexually. ''Mucor'' spores or sporangiospores can be simple or branched and form apical, globular sporangia that are supported and elevated by a column-shaped columella. ''Mucor'' species can be differentiated from molds of the genera ''Absidia'', '' Rhizomucor'', and ''Rhizopus'' by the shape and insertion of the columella, and the lack of stolons and rhizoids. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cane Toads
The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as Northern Australia. It is a member of the genus ''Rhinella'', which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it was formerly assigned to the genus ''Bufo''. A fossil toad (specimen UCMP 41159) from the La Venta fauna of the late Miocene in Colombia is morphologically indistinguishable from modern cane toads from northern South America. It was discovered in a floodplain deposit, which suggests the ''R. marina'' habitat preferences have long been for open areas. The cane toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawns with thousands of eggs. Its reproductive success is partly because of opportunistic feeding: it has a diet, unusual among anurans, of both dead ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ranavirus
''Ranavirus'' is a genus of viruses in the family ''Iridoviridae''. There are six other genus, genera of viruses within the family ''Iridoviridae'', but ''Ranavirus'' is the only one that includes viruses that are infectious to amphibians and reptiles. Additionally, it is one of the three genera within this family which infect teleostei, teleost fishes, along with ''Lymphocystivirus'' and ''Megalocytivirus''. Ecological impact The Ranaviruses, like the Megalocytiviruses, are an emerging infectious disease, emerging group of closely related DNA, dsDNA viruses which cause systemic disease, systemic infections in a wide variety of wild and cultured fresh and saltwater fishes. As with Megalocytiviruses, ''Ranavirus'' outbreaks are therefore of considerable economic importance in aquaculture, as epizootics can result in moderate fish loss or mass mortality events of cultured fishes. Unlike Megalocytiviruses, however, ''Ranavirus'' infections in amphibians have been implicated as a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salmonella
''Salmonella'' is a genus of bacillus (shape), rod-shaped, (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two known species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is further divided into six subspecies that include over 2,650 serotypes. ''Salmonella'' was named after Daniel Elmer Salmon (1850–1914), an American veterinary surgeon. ''Salmonella'' species are non-Endospore, spore-forming, predominantly motility, motile enterobacteriaceae, enterobacteria with cell diameters between about 0.7 and 1.5 micrometre, μm, lengths from 2 to 5 μm, and peritrichous flagella (all around the cell body, allowing them to move). They are chemotrophs, obtaining their energy from Redox, oxidation and reduction reactions, using organic sources. They are also facultative aerobic organism, facultative anaerobes, capable of generating adenosine triphosphate with oxygen ("aerobically") ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Bat Lyssavirus
Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is a enzootic virus closely related to the rabies virus. It was first identified in a 5-month-old juvenile black flying fox (''Pteropus alecto'') collected near Ballina, New South Wales, Ballina in northern New South Wales, Australia, in January 1995 during a national surveillance program for the recently identified Hendra virus. ABLV is the seventh member of the genus ''Lyssavirus'' (which includes Rabies virus) and the only ''Lyssavirus'' member present in Australia. ABLV has been categorized to the Phylogroup I of the Lyssaviruses. Virology Molecular structure The Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) shares many structural characteristics with the other Lyssaviruses, despite being genetically and serologically distinct from the others. Visually, ABLV is a bullet shaped virus. Molecularly, ABLV is an enveloped, negative-sense, single-stranded RNA virus. The (-)ssRNA genome is relatively small, containing 12kilobases of genetic material and encod ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
