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Waste polypropylene (PP) presents a significant environmental challenge, owing to its refractory nature and inert C-C backbone. In this study, we introduce a practical chemical recovery strategy from PP waste using a mild catalyst-free hydrothermal treatment (HT). The treatment converts 64.1% of the processed PP into dissolved organic products within 2 h in an air atmosphere at 160 °C. Higher temperatures increase the PP conversion efficiency. Distinct electron absorption and emission characteristics of the products are identified by spectral analysis. Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) reveals the oxidative cracking of PP into shorter-chain homologues (10-50 carbon atoms) containing carboxylic and carbonyl groups. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations support a reaction pathway involving thermal C-H oxidation at the tertiary carbon sites in the polymer chain. The addition of 1% H2O2 further enhances the oxidation reaction to produce valuable short-chain acetic acids, enabling gram-scale recycling of both pure PP and disposable surgical masks from the real world. Techno-economic analysis (TEA) and environmental life cycle costing (E-LCC) analysis suggest that this hydrothermal oxidation recovery technology is financially viable, which shows significant potential in tackling the ongoing plastic pollution crisis and advancing plastic treatment methodologies toward a circular economy paradigm.
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Psychological resilience plays an important role in overcoming emotional distress among people receiving maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). This study aimed to investigate how social support and family resilience interact to influence psychological resilience among Chinese people receiving MHD. This was a prospective longitudinal study with three time points: baseline (T1), 3 months (T2), and 6 months (T3) later. A convenience sample of 252 participants (67.1% male; 57.6 ± 13.8 years of age) from Zhejiang Province, China, who completed baseline measures of social support, family resilience, and psychological resilience, were further assessed for psychological resilience at T2 and T3. Polynomial regression (PR) and response surface analysis (RSA) were used to analyze the data. At all time points, and in the case of agreement between social support and family resilience, the combined effect of both variables manifested as a positive linear association with psychological resilience. Instead, at baseline, and in case of disagreement, the same combined effect manifested as a negative linear relationship related to psychological resilience. The findings highlighted the importance of considering the conjoint influence of social support and family resilience when developing interventions to improve the psychological resilience of people receiving MHD.
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This study investigated gender differences in health-risk behaviour patterns among young adults and assessed the associations of anxiety and depression with these patterns. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1740 young Chinese adults aged 18-24 years. Latent class analysis (LCA) and multinomial logistic regression were conducted to identify the clusters of health-risk behaviours and their associations with anxiety and depression. Three common patterns were found for both genders: physical inactivity, substance use, and insufficient fruit intake (5.7% for males [M] and 11.6% for females [F]); a sedentary lifestyle only (48.4% for M and 48.9% for F); and a sedentary lifestyle, substance use, and an unhealthy diet (7.6% for M and 20.0% for F). Additionally, two additional unique patterns were found: physical inactivity and unhealthy diet in males (38.3%) and physical inactivity and insufficient fruit intake in females (19.6%). Sociodemographic variables exert different effects on health-risk behaviour patterns as a function of gender. Lower anxiety levels (odds ratio [OR]: 0.892; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.823-0.966) and greater depression levels (OR: 1.074; 95% CI: 1.008-1.143) were associated with a sedentary lifestyle, substance use, and unhealthy diet class only in female young adults compared with a sedentary-only class. These findings underscore the need for the implementation of targeted interventions based on gender differences.
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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), one of the most ubiquitous engineering plastics, presents both environmental challenges and opportunities for carbon neutrality and a circular economy. This review comprehensively addressed the latest developments in biotic and abiotic approaches for PET recycling/upcycling. Biotically, microbial depolymerization of PET, along with the biosynthesis of reclaimed monomers [terephthalic acid (TPA), ethylene glycol (EG)] to value-added products, presents an alternative for managing PET waste and enables CO2 reduction. Abiotically, thermal treatments (i.e., hydrolysis, glycolysis, methanolysis, etc.) and photo/electrocatalysis, enabled by catalysis advances, can depolymerize or convert PET/PET monomers in a more flexible, simple, fast, and controllable manner. Tandem abiotic/biotic catalysis offers great potential for PET upcycling to generate commodity chemicals and alternative materials, ideally at lower energy inputs, greenhouse gas emissions, and costs, compared to virgin polymer fabrication. Remarkably, over 25 types of upgraded PET products (e.g., adipic acid, muconic acid, catechol, vanillin, and glycolic acid, etc.) have been identified, underscoring the potential of PET upcycling in diverse applications. Efforts can be made to develop chemo-catalytic depolymerization of PET, improve microbial depolymerization of PET (e.g., hydrolysis efficiency, enzymatic activity, thermal and pH level stability, etc.), as well as identify new microorganisms or hydrolases capable of degrading PET through computational and machine learning algorithms. Consequently, this review provides a roadmap for advancing PET recycling and upcycling technologies, which hold the potential to shape the future of PET waste management and contribute to the preservation of our ecosystems.
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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to propose clusters of the association between childhood trauma and resilience in nursing students and to examine their mental health according to these clusters. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out between September 2018 and May 2019. A total of 1,245 undergraduate nursing students (104 male, 1,141 female) were enrolled in a medical university in East China to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, and Self-Rating Depression Scale. RESULTS: The cluster analysis identified three clusters as follows: the self-healing group (40.7%), the mildly traumatized with low resiliency group (22.2%), and the healthy group (37.1%). The logistic regression analysis revealed that the levels of anxiety and depression significantly differed between the three clusters, with the mildly traumatized with low resiliency group having the highest odds to have anxiety and depression. CONCLUSION: This study identified three clusters of the association between childhood trauma and resilience in undergraduate nursing students and indicated that each cluster was associated with a different level of anxiety and depression. The unique characteristics of the three clusters may help identify and develop appropriate interventions to promote the mental health of undergraduate nursing students. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
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Experiências Adversas da Infância , Bacharelado em Enfermagem , Testes Psicológicos , Resiliência Psicológica , Autorrelato , Estudantes de Enfermagem , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Saúde Mental , Estudos Transversais , Estudantes de Enfermagem/psicologiaRESUMO
Gaining insight into the occurrence states of residual antibiotics is crucial to demystify their environmental behavior. However, the complexation of heteroatoms functioned on antibiotic molecules to metal ions in the water environment is not fully understood. This study reports that a fluorescence response was unexpectedly triggered by tetracycline (TC) and Al3+, serving as solid evidence to visualize the Al3+-TC coordination reaction. Differential electron absorption spectroscopy shows a quantifiable signal of the redshifted n-π* transition with a coordination reaction, which is also proportional to the fluorescence. The occurrence of Al3+-complexed TC also caused a split in retention time in liquid chromatogram. The TC ligands were re-released in the presence of stronger ligands competing for central Al3+. The complex ratio of Al3+-TC is confirmed to be 1:1 using Job's plot with a stability constant of 1.01 × 106. Quantum chemical computations coupled with Gibbs free energy analysis simulated the formation of octahedral Al3+-TC configuration through a spontaneous bidentate chelation. This study helps convey a broad consensus and opens a new door in the mechanistic study of metal-involved antibiotic transformation process, leading to a better understanding that can ultimately be essential to reach the final goal of alleviating the antibiotic crisis.
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Antibacterianos , Tetraciclina , Ligantes , FluorescênciaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Elder self-neglect is a global public health problem, and older people admitted to the hospital may have a higher risk of self-neglect due to their deteriorating health conditions. This study aimed to translate, adapt and validate the Abrams geriatric self-neglect assessment scale (AGSS) among older Chinese people admitted to the hospital. METHODS: Data were derived from a cross-sectional survey of a convenience sample of 452 older people admitted to a general hospital. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to examine the structural validity of the AGSS. Content validity, criterion validity, internal consistency reliability, and test-retest reliability were also conducted to assess the psychometric properties of the scale. RESULTS: EFA yielded a 6-item one-factor model, which was supported by CFA and explained 44.74% of the total variance. The internal consistency was acceptable (Cronbach α = 0.740), and the test-retest reliability with a 14-day interval was good (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC = 0.966). Significantly positive correlations with the caregiver-rated elder self-neglect assessment scale (r = 0.648) supported the concurrent validity of the scale. Significant differences in scores between respondents with different ages, marital statuses, educational levels and numbers of chronic diseases demonstrated the discriminative validity. CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of the AGSS is an easy-to-use, reliable and valid measure with satisfactory psychometric properties. Future studies should recruit a more representative sample of older people in China to verify the applicability of the scale. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The Chinese version of the AGSS enables clinical staff to accurately screen for and assess elder self-neglect upon hospital admission, which can inform the development of specific interventions and assignment of additional guardianship to those at risk of elder self-neglect.
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Avaliação Geriátrica , Autonegligência , Idoso , Humanos , China , Estudos Transversais , Hospitais , Psicometria , Reprodutibilidade dos Testes , Inquéritos e Questionários , Hospitalização , TraduçõesRESUMO
Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a metal detergent commonly used in industry that can enter the human body through the respiratory tract and skin, causing occupational medicamentosa-like dermatitis due to TCE (OMDT) and multiple organ damage, including liver failure. However, the pathogenesis of liver injury remains unclear. Kupffer cells (KCs) are important tissue macrophages in the body because the polarization of KCs plays a crucial role in immune-mediated liver injury. However, the mechanism of KCs polarization in TCE-induced immune liver injury has not been thoroughly elucidated. In this study, we investigated the effect of TCE-induced KCs polarization on liver function and signal transduction pathways using the TCE sensitization model developed by our group. BALB/c mouse skin was exposed to TCE for sensitization, and an increase in the expression of M1 macrophage-specific markers (CD16/CD32, iNOS), M1 macrophage-specific cytokines IL-1ß, and IFN-γ, P-JAK-1 and P-STAT1 levels were also found to be dramatically increased. When using low doses of gadolinium trichloride (GdCl3), the expression of these proteins and mRNA was significantly reduced. This phenomenon indicates that GdCl3 blocks TCE-induced polarization of KCs and suggests that the IFN-γ/STAT1 signaling pathway may be involved in the polarization process of KCs. These findings clarify the relationship between the polarization of KCs and immune liver injury and highlight the importance of further study of immune-mediated liver injury in TCE-sensitized mice.
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Tricloroetileno , Humanos , Animais , Camundongos , Tricloroetileno/toxicidade , Células de Kupffer/metabolismo , Fígado , Transdução de Sinais , Citocinas/metabolismo , Camundongos Endogâmicos BALB C , Fator de Transcrição STAT1/metabolismo , Fator de Transcrição STAT1/farmacologiaRESUMO
Carbon cycle regulation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission abatement within wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) can theoretically improve sustainability. Currently, however, large amounts of external carbon sources used for deep nitrogen removal and waste sludge disposal aggravate the carbon footprint of most WWTPs. In this pilot-scale study, considerable carbon was preliminarily recovered from primary sludge (PS) through short-term (five days) acidogenic fermentation and subsequently utilized on-site for denitrification in a wool processing industrial WWTP. The recovered sludge-derived carbon sources were excellent electron donors that could be used as additional carbon supplements for commercial glucose to enhance denitrification. Additionally, improvements in carbon and nitrogen flow further contributed to GHG emission abatement. Overall, a 9.1% reduction in sludge volatile solids was achieved from carbon recovery, which offset 57.4% of external carbon sources, and the indirect GHG emissions of the target industrial WWTP were reduced by 8.05%. This study demonstrates that optimizing the allocation of carbon mass flow within a WWTP has numerous benefits.
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Previous studies have shown that self-affirmation increases acceptance of a message and motivates health behavior change. The present study investigated whether self-affirmation increases the acceptance of persuasive messages on COVID-19 vaccines and promotes vaccination intention. A total of 144 participants were randomly assigned to the self-affirmation (n = 72) or control (n = 72) groups before reading a persuasive message on COVID-19 vaccines. The results revealed that the self-affirmation group showed significantly higher acceptance of persuasive information on COVID-19 vaccines than the control group. Additionally, the self-affirmation group also showed significantly higher post-experiment vaccination intention than the control group. Mediation analysis indicated that increased acceptance of persuasive information significantly mediated the beneficial effects of self-affirmation on post-experiment vaccination intention. The present study demonstrated that self-affirmation could be an effective strategy for increasing the acceptance of persuasive messages on COVID-19 vaccines and promoting vaccination intention.
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COVID-19 , Intenção , Humanos , Promoção da Saúde/métodos , Vacinas contra COVID-19 , COVID-19/prevenção & controle , Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde , VacinaçãoRESUMO
RATIONALE: Parenting is a demanding task associated with parents' mental health, which is likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The present study investigated daily parenting hassles and their effects on parents' mental health during this period. METHODS: A total of 7314 parents with children aged 3-14 years old completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and reported on their perceived daily parenting hassles, mental health, family support, and co-parenting during the COVID-19 school closure. RESULTS: Most parents (73.4%) showed different degrees of daily hassles, and a relatively higher prevalence of depression (18.7%), anxiety (22.4%), and stress (12.1%) were found. Motherhood, parents' younger ages, lower education parents, job loss, and having younger children, boys, and multiple children were associated with elevated daily parenting hassles and mental health issues. Importantly, daily parenting hassles were uniquely associated with mental health problems after controlling for various sociodemographic characteristics, family support, and co-parenting. Furthermore, family support and co-parenting can attenuate daily parenting hassles, which, in turn, protect parents' mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study underscore the critical need to consider daily parenting hassles and their effects on the mental health of parents during the COVID-19 lockdown. The present study also outlines potential factors (family support and co-parenting) that attenuate parents' daily parenting hassles and protect their mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown.
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Objective: This study aimed to investigate the contribution of body composition including skeletal muscle mass (SMM) and body fat mass (BFM) to longitudinal growth among children and adolescents aged 6-11 years old. Methods: This cohort study was conducted from the annual health examination between 2019 and 2020. Annual height gain and weight gain and changes in SMM and BFM were calculated and compared between sexes, different nutritional status, and growth curve shifting mode. Spearman analyses and multiple linear regression analysis were performed to identify the impact of SMM, BFM, or body mass index (BMI) on height gain. Results: Of the 584 subjects, the annual height gains of boys (4.76 cm in the 6-9-year group and 4.63 cm in the 10-11-year group) were significantly lower than those of girls (5.48 and 5.74 cm, respectively). Spearman analysis showed that SMM gain and height gain were positively and significantly correlated in each examination of all children (r = 0.535 for boys and 0.734 for girls, p < 0.001). Conversely, BFM and height gains were negatively (r = -0.5240 for boys and -0.232 for girls, p < 0.001) correlated. Multiple linear regression analysis identified SMM gain as an independent predictor (95% CI: 1.20,1.44) of height gain after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, BFM gain, and percentage of body fat (PBF). Conclusion: SMM gains, rather than BFM gains, were associated with height gains in children and adolescents aged 6-11 years. Monitoring SMM changes in routine healthcare might motivate children and adolescents to achieve dietary and exercise recommendations, thereby growing taller without gaining excessive weight.
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Composição Corporal , Estatura , Adolescente , Composição Corporal/fisiologia , Criança , China/epidemiologia , Estudos de Coortes , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Músculo Esquelético , Aumento de PesoRESUMO
This study aims to explore the prevalence of self-neglect and associated factors among older adults admitted to the hospital in the COVID-19 pandemic context. The cross-sectional study conducted at a Chinese comprehensive hospital between January and April 2021, 452 older adults were recruited to complete the Abrams Geriatric Self-Neglect Scale, Social Support Rate Scale, FRAIL scale, Barthel index, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and 10-item Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the factors associated with elder self-neglect. The results showed that the prevalence of self-neglect among our sample was 30.3%. Factors that were associated with the risk of elder self-neglect included male, having multiple children (≥4), receiving infrequent visits from children, frailty, and depression. There is a need to screen for self-neglect among older adults admitted to the hospital in the COVID-19 pandemic context. Tailored interventions are warranted to improve the quality of life of older adults.
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COVID-19 , Abuso de Idosos , Autonegligência , Idoso , China , Estudos Transversais , Avaliação Geriátrica , Hospitais , Humanos , Masculino , Pandemias , Qualidade de VidaRESUMO
Previous studies showed that attention system and its underlying neural mechanisms were profound affected by social inequalities. However, previous studies on social inequalities were mainly focused on family-based factors, such as parental education, parental occupation, and household income. In the present study, we investigated the neural mechanisms underlying more broader social context (e.g., rural verse urban) disparities in selective attention among young adults in China. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 22 college students who had born and grown up in rural areas and 22 students who had born and grown up in urban areas during an auditory selective attention task. Although behavioral performance was not significantly different between groups, attentional differences in the negativity difference (Nd) were significantly larger in the urban group than the rural group. Whole sample analysis with hierarchical regression showed that rural/urban status still made a significant contribution to the prediction of Nd amplitudes even after the effects of age, sex, and various family SES measures (include parents' educational levels and annual household income) were controlled for. These findings represent a first step toward understanding the ways in which broad social environmental factors shape the neural basis of selective attention.
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Atenção , População Rural , China , Potenciais Evocados , Humanos , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Adulto JovemRESUMO
Recovering high value-added resources from waste activated sludge (WAS) is a potential way for the sustainable wastewater treatment. In this study, hydrothermal treatment at 180 °C was used to simultaneously improve sludge dewaterability and recover sludge organic matters (SOMs). The recovered SOMs were subsequently employed as precursors to prepare nitrogen-doped porous carbon nanosheets via a facile stepwise synthesis method. The as-prepared optimal carbon (AP-SOM800) was characterized with an ultrahigh specific surface area (3473 m2/g), appropriate porosity (1.77 cm3/g), and abundant heteroatoms (1.47% N and 7.44% O). AP-SOM800 exhibited a high specific capacitance (409 F/g at 0.25 A/g), low resistance (0.52 Ω), and superior cyclic stability (only 9.09% loss after 10,000 cycles) in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, AP-SOM800 demonstrated an extraordinary adsorption capacity (1528 mg/g for methyl orange (MO) and 1265 mg/g for tetracycline (TC)) that can be maintained (Ë 1200 mg/g) over a wide range of pH conditions. Specifically, 80.97% of MO and 66.67% of TC were rapidly absorbed through AP-SOM800 within 10 min, and 90.27% of MO and 81.24% of TC were eventually removed from wastewater after 60 min. The adsorption processes fit closely with the pseudo-second-order kinetic (R2 > 0.999) and Langmuir models (R2 > 0.914), revealing that the adsorption processes were dominated by a monolayer chemical adsorption reaction. This study suggests that high value-added materials can be obtained from the WAS through improving and extending the traditional sludge treatment processes, which will enrich the technical options available for future sustainable sludge treatment and disposal.
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Esgotos , Purificação da Água , Adsorção , Carbono , Nitrogênio , Águas ResiduáriasRESUMO
Thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) is often used to improve the anaerobic digestion performance of waste activated sludge (WAS) in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). During the THP process, the proteins and polysaccharides in the biomass will undergo hydrolysis and Maillard reaction, producing biorefractory organic substances, such as recalcitrant dissolved organic nitrogen (rDON) and melanoidins. In this study, a series of spectroscopy methods were used to quantitatively analyze the Maillard reaction of glucose and lysine, and the interaction mechanisms of the Maillard reaction products (MRPs) and lysozyme were investigated. Results showed that the typical aromatic heterocyclic structures in MRPs, such as pyrazine and furan, were found to quench molecular fluorescence of lysozyme, resulting in an unfolding of standard protein structure and increase in lysozyme hydrophobicity. Significant loss of enzyme activity was detected during this process. Thermodynamic parameters obtained from isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) confirmed that the interaction between MRPs and lysozyme occurred both exothermically and spontaneously. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggested that the molecular interactions of MRPs and protein included parallel dislocation aromatic stacking, T-shaped vertical aromatic stacking, H-bond and H-bond coupled to aromatic stacking.
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Produtos Finais de Glicação Avançada , Esgotos , Anaerobiose , Hidrólise , Nitrogênio , Eliminação de Resíduos LíquidosRESUMO
In this study, the molecular transformation of sludge biopolymers during hydrothermal treatment with the temperature ranging from 25 °C to 200 °C was examined and was seen to significantly affect the macrophysical properties (dewaterability and rheological property) of sludge. The results showed that the sludge dewaterability and flow ability under high shear stress deteriorated by a hydrothermal process at 25 °C to 120 °C, but the deterioration alleviated above the temperature threshold of 120 °C. The consistence of changes in sludge dewaterability and rheological property in HT process was mainly attributed to the variation in gel properties of soluble biopolymer. Two-stage changes in biopolymer transformation were identified, beginning with a solubilization stage from 25 °C to 120 °C in which a biopolymer with a gel-like network structure was released into liquid phase, creating flow resistance under high shear stress such that sludge dewaterability deteriorated. The second stage was identified as a conversion stage (120 °C-200 °C) in which proteins and polysaccharides hydrolyzed and experienced a Maillard reaction, leading to the degradation of the biopolymer network structure. The newly formed recalcitrant Maillard products showed weak flow response to high shear stress, allowing for an improvement in sludge dewaterability. The pathways of a Maillard reaction were identified via gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H NMR) and two-dimensional correlation spectral analysis (2D-COS) of Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), etc. Three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (3D-EEM) proved to be an applicable method for tracking Maillard reaction in sludge hydrothermal process due to the distinctive fluorescence characteristics of Maillard products. This study further clarifies the obscure process of sludge hydrothermal treatment and will help improve the accuracy of subsequent research.
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Reação de Maillard , Esgotos , Biopolímeros , Proteínas , Temperatura , Eliminação de Resíduos Líquidos , ÁguaRESUMO
METHODS: 36 female BALB/c mice were selected and randomly divided the mice into four groups. We established a BALB/c mouse model of TCE sensitization and pretreatment with GdCl3 (40 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection during the during the 17th and 19th days. RESULTS: We found F4/80, the marker of Kupffer cell, was increased in TCE positive group. GdCl3 treatment successfully blocked the activation of Kupffer cell. TNF-α was increased significantly in liver of TCE sensitized mice and decreased significantly when low-dose GdCl3 was used. We found TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) was increased significantly and GdCl3 treatment resumed the expression of TNFR1 to normal level, as well as the F4/80, TNF-α and TNFR1 mRNA. We also found both caspase-8 and caspase-3 increased in TCE positive group and decreased in TCE + GdCl3 positive group. The number of apoptotic cells in TCE sensitized mice increased by TUNEL staining, and GdCl3 treatment alleviated this increase. Some cells showed edema and inflammatory cell aggregation in liver of TCE positive group, while in the TCE + GdCl3 positive group, the cytoplasm became loose and vacuole-like degeneration occurred. CONCLUSION: Our study unveils cross-talk between Kupffer cell activation and TNFR1 which mediate apoptosis in liver of TCE sensitized mice.