The Episcopal Church in Florida During the Civil War

As the Civil War approached, the Episcopal Church in Flor- ida found herself for the first time since the opening of the territory in a position of stability. She had weathered the hardships and uncertainties of the territorial period; her older parishes had become self-supporting congregations, and were embarking on vigorous parochial and educational projects; and a new group of lively missions was springing up in towns like Fernandina, Ocala, and Palatka, and in agricultural villages like Waukeena and Milton. The Diocese of Florida, which had been bishopless for thirteen years after its organization in 1838, had enjoyed the episcopal ministrations of its own diocesan since 1851, and as a sign of financial stability, the diocesan enjoyed a stipend which was paid with a degree of regularity that would have seemed strange to him five years before

The Blockade and Fall of Apalachicola, 1861-1862

President Lincoln proclaimed the blockade of all Confederate ports on April 19, 1861. In order to make the blockade effective, the United States Navy was split into two squadrons: the Atlantic Squadron which was to guard the entire Atlantic coast as far south as Cape Florida; and the Gulf Squadron which was responsible for the vast Gulf coast, an area which extended from Cape Florida to the Mexican border. Early in 1862 the Gulf Squadron was divided again into a West Gulf Squadron and an East Gulf Squadron. The area guarded by the East Gulf Squadron extended from Cape Canaveral on the Atlantic to St. Andrew’s Bay on the Gulf. It was this command, with its headquarters in Key West, to which the approaches of Apalachicola were assigned

Palynology and Paleoecology of the Fossil Butte Member of the Eocene Green River Formation in Fossil Basin, Lincoln County, Wyoming

The palynoflora of the Fossil Butte Member of Green River Formation was studied to enhance our understanding of the depositional environment of ancient Fossil Lake. Forty-nine outcrop samples were collected from three measured sections representing the center, the margin, and intermediate areas of Fossil Lake. Of the 49 samples, 12 yielded a fairly well preserved palynomorph assemblage. A late early Eocene to early middle Eocene age for the Fossil Butte palynoflora is indicated by the presence of Bombacaceae, Eucommia, Ilex, Juglans, Pistillipollenites, Platycarya, Pterocarya, Tilia, and Taxodium. Additional evidence for the early to middle Eocene age of the Fossil Butte Member was from a potassium-argon age determination of a potassium-feldspar tuff of 49.1 ± 1.8 m.y. These data indicate that the major portion of the Fossil Butte Member was contemporaneous with the deposition of the Wilkins Peak Member in the Green River Basin. Evidence from the palynoflora suggests that the climate during deposition of the Fossil Butte Member was in transition between a humid, subtropical and a cooler, drier, warm temperate one with moderate fluctuations during various episodes of deposition. Other evidence from the palynoflora indicates that moist lowlands and floodplains existed around Fossil Lake with upland forests on the surrounding ridges and mountains. Streams originating in the highlands supplied water for Fossil Lake and the surrounding vegetation. Kerogen analysis of rocks from the Fossil Butte Member showed no correlation between the kerogen type and either the lithology or preservation of palynomorphs

Prenatal transportation stress did not impact ovarian follicle count for three generations of female Brahman offspring

As prenatal transportation stress altered behavior and adrenal glucocorticoid secretion of calves, we hypothesized that prenatal transportation stress would decrease ovarian reserve size and negatively impact female offspring fertility. The impact of prenatal transportation stress on ovarian follicle numbers in female offspring for three generations was studied. Brahman cows were transported for 2 h on day 60 ± 5, 80 ± 5, 100 ± 5, 120 ± 5, and 140 ± 5 of gestation. Ovaries were collected from offspring of transported or non-transported dams at multiple ages. Primordial, primary, secondary, and antral follicles were histologically analyzed. Antral follicle numbers were determined by ultrasound in a subset of offspring. Numbers of primordial, primary, secondary, and antral follicles were analyzed using the MIXED procedure, while the CORR procedure of SAS was used to determine the correlation between follicles observed by ultrasonography and histology. There were no differences (P \u3e 0.05) in the number of primordial, primary, secondary, antral, or total follicles observed histologically due to treatment. Younger females had significantly greater numbers of follicles than older females (P \u3c 0.0001). Antral follicles tended to be correlated with total histological ovarian follicles (P = 0.10). There was no difference in the number of antral follicles observed at ultrasound due to treatment (P = 0.3147), or generation (P = 0.6005) when controlling for age at observation. These results show that short-term transportation stress during early- to mid-gestation did not impact fertility as measured by ovarian follicle numbers in female Brahman offspring for three generations

Modeling the dynamics of glacial cycles

This article is concerned with the dynamics of glacial cycles observed in the geological record of the Pleistocene Epoch. It focuses on a conceptual model proposed by Maasch and Saltzman [J. Geophys. Res.,95, D2 (1990), pp. 1955-1963], which is based on physical arguments and emphasizes the role of atmospheric CO2 in the generation and persistence of periodic orbits (limit cycles). The model consists of three ordinary differential equations with four parameters for the anomalies of the total global ice mass, the atmospheric CO2 concentration, and the volume of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). In this article, it is shown that a simplified two-dimensional symmetric version displays many of the essential features of the full model, including equilibrium states, limit cycles, their basic bifurcations, and a Bogdanov-Takens point that serves as an organizing center for the local and global dynamics. Also, symmetry breaking splits the Bogdanov-Takens point into two, with different local dynamics in their neighborhoods

Greater numbers of antral follicles in the ovary are associated with increased concentrations of glucose in uterine luminal fluid of beef heifers

Increased antral follicles are associated with greater fertility and a uterine environment that is more supportive of early embryonic development in beef heifers. Glucose is a primary energy source for embryos, and glucose concentrations are elevated in uterine luminal fluid (ULF) of pregnant heifers. We hypothesized that ULF glucose concentrations and endometrial transcript abundance for glucose transporters on d16 after insemination would be greater in heifers with increased numbers of antral follicles. Heifers classified with either increased or diminished antral follicle counts were artificially inseminated following the CO-Synch protocol (d0). On d16 after insemination, reproductive tracts of heifers were collected at an abattoir to retrieve conceptuses to determine pregnancy. Uterine luminal fluid was collected, endometrium was biopsied, total RNA was extracted and glucose transporter transcript abundances were determined. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS with antral follicle group, pregnancy status, and the interaction as fixed effects. Glucose concentrations in ULF were greater in heifers with increased antral follicle numbers. Glucose ULF concentrations increased in pregnant heifers. Facilitated glucose transporter member 1 (SLC2A1) transcript abundance was increased in the endometrium of pregnant heifers but was not different due to antral follicle number or the interaction. Differences in uterine concentrations of glucose associated with antral follicle number could be due to another mechanism, since glucose transporters were not different between antral follicle numbers. Therefore, heifers with increased number of antral follicles have increased energy availability in the uterus to support trophoblast proliferation and function

Brangus cows have ovarian reserve parameters more like Brahman than Angus cows

Bos indicus females have more surface antral follicles than Bos taurus females; however, histological studies demonstrated no difference in total number of primordial follicles between these two biological types of cattle. Primordial follicle density in the ovary was less in Nelore ovaries compared to Angus ovaries, but no studies have examined the primordial follicle density in Bos indicus cross-bred females. It, therefore, was hypothesized that primordial follicle density in the ovary would decrease as percentage Bos indicus increased. Ovaries were collected from cross-bred Angus (n=32, no Bos indicus influence), Brangus (n=15), or Brahman (n=9) cows and prepared for histological evaluation. There was no difference in total number of primordial follicles per ovary between breeds (P \u3e 0.10). When numbers of primordial follicles were expressed on a per gram of ovarian tissue basis, there were fewer primordial follicles per gram of ovarian tissue in Brangus and Brahman cows than in Angus cows (P \u3c 0.05). Brangus cows did not differ from Brahman cows in primordial follicle density (P \u3e 0.10). Differences in primordial follicle density could indicate differences in capacity of ovarian stroma to produce factors necessary for oogonial proliferation and primordial follicle formation among breeds. Identifying these factors could improve the aprroach for culturing pre-antral follicles of cattle. Furthermore, these results explain why ultrasonographic antral follicle counts may need to be adjusted to a greater threshold to predict size of the ovarian reserve and determine ovarian reserve related reproductive traits in Bos indicus females

Metabolic syndrome and risk of venous thromboembolism: Longitudinal Investigation of Thromboembolism Etiology

In a recent case-control study, the odds of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) among deep vein thrombosis cases was almost twice the odds as among controls. We tested the hypothesis that the incidence of non-cancer-related venous thromboembolism (VTE) is higher among adults with MetSyn and further, that associations are stronger for idiopathic than secondary VTE

Proton-Binding Sites of Acid-Sensing Ion Channel 1

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are proton-gated cation channels that exist throughout the mammalian central and peripheral nervous systems. ASIC1 is the most abundant of all the ASICs and is likely to modulate synaptic transmission. Identifying the proton-binding sites of ASCI1 is required to elucidate its pH-sensing mechanism. By using the crystal structure of ASIC1, the protonation states of each titratable site of ASIC1 were calculated by solving the Poisson-Boltzmann equation under conditions wherein the protonation states of all these sites are simultaneously in equilibrium. Four acidic-acidic residue pairs—Asp238-Asp350, Glu220-Asp408, Glu239-Asp346, and Glu80-Glu417—were found to be highly protonated. In particular, the Glu80-Glu417 pair in the inner pore was completely protonated and possessed 2 H+, implying its possible importance as a proton-binding site. The pKa of Glu239, which forms a pair with a possible pH-sensing site Asp346, differs among each homo-trimer subunit due to the different H-bond pattern of Thr237 in the different protein conformations of the subunits. His74 possessed a pKa of ≈6–7. Conservation of His74 in the proton-sensitive ASIC3 that lacks a residue corresponding to Asp346 may suggest its possible pH-sensing role in proton-sensitive ASICs