Publications by authors named "Heshu Chen"

Understanding large-scale composting under natural conditions is essential for improving waste management and promoting sustainable agriculture. In this study, corn straw (400 tons) and pig manure (200 tons) were composted with microbial inoculants. The thermophilic phase of composting lasted for fourteen weeks, resulting in an alkaline final product.

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Filamentous fungi are the main industrial source of cellulases which are important in the process of converting cellulose to fermentable sugars. In this study, transcriptome analysis was conducted on Aspergillus terreus NEAU-7 cultivated using corn stover and glucose as carbon sources. Four putative endoglucanases (EG5A, EG7A, EG12A, and EG12C) from A.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigated how a functional inoculant and various nitrogen sources affect lignocellulose breakdown and humus formation during straw composting.
  • Results showed that inoculation enhanced the composting temperature and nitrate retention while significantly increasing the breakdown of lignocellulosic material and humus development.
  • The use of inoculants and nitrogen sources led to enriched bacterial communities, improved microbial interactions, and more effective composting processes, particularly when combined with urea.
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With gradual ban on the use of antibiotics, the deficiency and excessive use of trace elements in intestinal health is gaining attention. In mammals, trace elements are essential for the development of the immune system, specifically T-cell proliferation, and differentiation. However, there remain significant gaps in our understanding of the effects of certain trace elements on T-cell immune phenotypes and functions in pigs.

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  • In China, the Min pig, a national-level protected species, exhibits unique secondary hair growth in winter that is not well-understood at the cellular signaling level.
  • A study compared Min pigs to Berkshire and Yorkshire pigs, revealing that Min pigs have distinct morphological and genetic traits for secondary hair development, activated by specific follicle stem cells.
  • The findings indicate that Wnt signaling plays a more significant role than BMP signaling in promoting follicle stem cell activity and gene expression related to hair growth, highlighting potential applications in laboratory research and comparative medicine.
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The intestine requires a great deal of energy to maintain its health and function; thus, energy deficits in the intestinal mucosa may lead to intestinal damage. Aspartate (Asp) is an essential energy source in the intestinal mucosa and plays a vital part in gut health. In the current study, we hypothesized that dietary supplementation of Asp could alleviate DSS-induced colitis via improvement in the colonic morphology, oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, and microbiota composition in a mouse model of dextran.

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Ferroptosis, a new type of non-apoptotic cell death modality, is different from other modes of cell death and has been primarily found in tumor cells. Previous studies have reported that ferroptosis can be triggered by specific modulators (e.g.

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The demand for animal protein has increased considerably worldwide, especially in China, where large numbers of livestock and poultry are produced. Antibiotics have been widely applied to promote growth and prevent diseases. However, the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed has caused serious environmental and health risks, especially the wide spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which seriously affects animal and human health, food safety, ecosystems, and the sustainable future development of animal protein production.

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Zinc lactate (ZnLA) is a new organic zinc salt which has antioxidant properties in mammals and can improve intestinal function. This study explored the effects of ZnLA and ZnSO on cell proliferation, Zn transport, antioxidant capacity, mitochondrial function, and their underlying molecular mechanisms in intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2). The results showed that addition of ZnLA promoted cell proliferation, inhibited cell apoptosis and IL-6 secretion, and upregulated the mRNA expression and concentration of MT-2B, ZNT-1, and CRIP, as well as affected the gene expression and activity of oxidation or antioxidant enzymes (e.

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Background: extract contains a variety of functional active substances. Whether these substances had any beneficial effects on the small intestine of weaned piglets under oxidative stress remained unknown.

Method: We explored the effects of extract on oxidative stress and related mechanisms in weaned piglets and intestinal porcine epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) challenged with hydrogen peroxide.

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Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) remains a massive burden in developing countries with increasing morbidity and mortality rates; it is also an important pathogen in the farming industry and is a leading cause of bacterial diarrhea. Our previous study showed that nanometer-sized inclusion bodies (IBs) of the fimbrial adhesin subunit protein (FaeG), mutation heat-stable enterotoxin a (mSTa), heat-labile enterotoxin b (LTb), and STb (nontargeting) fusion protein as an oral vaccine induced both systemic and mucosal immune responses. In this study, to enhance the protective efficacy to ETEC, we used Yersinia enterocolitica adhesive and M-cell-targeting peptides to analyze high-efficiency antigen-specific immune presentation in the gut.

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