Recent Advances in the Development of Vaccines for Diabetes, Hypertension, and Atherosclerosis

Vaccines are commonly used in the prevention of infectious diseases. The basic principle of vaccination is to use specific antigens, endogenous or exogenous to stimulate immunity against the specific antigens or cells producing them. Autoantigen or oligo vaccination has been used for disease animal models. More recently humanized monoclonal antibodies have been successfully used for the treatment of neoplastic disorders or familial hypercholesterolemia. Humanized monoclonal antibody therapy needs repeated injection, and the therapy is expensive. Therapeutic vaccination can lead to persistent immunized or immune tolerant against the therapeutic molecule(s) or site. However, immunization against those endogenous substances may also elicit persistent autoimmune reaction or destruction that do harm to health. Therefore, rigorous studies are needed before any clinical application. In this review, we briefly reviewed vaccines used in protection against common metabolic diseases including atherosclerosis, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus

Diamondoids in oils from the ultra-deep Ordovician in the North Shuntuoguole area in the Tarim Basin, NW China

The ultra-deep Ordovician Yijianfang-Yingshan Formations from the North Shuntuoguole region in Tarim Basin, NW China, have produced industrial oil and gas. The reservoir fluid phases differed between faults. Using the GG-MS and GC × GC-TOFMS methods, the study focuses on the distribution and concentrations of diamondoids of the Ordovician oils in the North Shuntuoguole area. In terms of relative diamondoids content, oil samples from F1, including splay and sub-faults, and F3 faults contain more adamantanes than oils from F5 and F7 faults. The concentrations of diamondoids in oils from the North Shuntuoguole area showed a positive correlation with the 4-/1-MDBT ratio, implying that the maturity dominated the concentrations of diamondoids in oil samples. The varying relative content of adamantanes and diamantanes in oils from different faults may be due to different hydrocarbon filling histories and preservation conditions. In the late Himalayan period, the F1 reservoirs were charged with natural gas of a relatively higher maturity, obtained more adamantanes from the deep strata, and led the oils rich in adamantanes. The preservation condition of the F5 reservoirs was weaker than that of the F1, as shown by some light hydrocarbon loss and a decrease in adamantanes in oil samples from F5. The (4-+3-) methyldiamantane concentrations of 22 μg/g and 33 μg/g were used as the baseline for the oil samples from F1 and F5, respectively, due to difference in the relative contents of diamondoid. According to the method proposed by Dahl et al., the degree of oil-cracking of the oils from the F1 (including splay and sub-fault), the middle and the south sections of F5 are 0–42 percent, 20 to 33 percent, and 54 percent, respectively

Summer habitat selection and impacts of human disturbance on leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis)

Introduction: As a consequence of habitat loss and degradation, the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in China has become endangered and in need of urgent protection. In situ conservation of leopard cats must be based on an understanding of their habitat selection patterns. We studied the summer habitat of leopard cats using line-transect surveys in the northern Taihang Mountain region surrounding Beijing, China. We compared used plots with non-used plots in elevation, tree canopy, and 20 other ecological variables, and used Vanderploeg＆Scavia’s resource selection index (VSI) to analyze habitat preferences. Outcomes/others: Results show that tree canopy, tree height, tree density, and stump quantity of used plots were significantly lower than non-used plots in summer, and that leopard cats preferred habitats located on northern, flat slopes with lower slope, shrub-dominated, dry soil, and less fallen-wood. Leopard cats had a strong tendency to use habitats near human disturbance areas with moderate levels of disturbance intensity. Conclusion: The results suggest that future conservation efforts should emphasize: (1) strengthening the protection and management of forest fringe shrub habitats to improve summer habitat suitability, and (2) environmental education and animal protection campaigns to promote community biodiversity conservation