Urine disinfection and in situ pathogen killing using a Microbial Fuel Cell cascade system

© 2017 Ieropoulos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are emerging as an effective means of treating different types of waste including urine and wastewater. However, the fate of pathogens in an MFC-based system remains unknown, and in this study we investigated the effect of introducing the enteric pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis in an MFC cascade system. The MFCs continuously fed with urine showed high disinfecting potential. As part of two independent trials, during which the bioluminescent S. enteritidis strain was introduced into the MFC cascade, the number of viable counts and the level of bioluminescence were reduced by up to 4.43-0.04 and 4.21-0.01 log-fold, respectively. The killing efficacy observed for the MFCs operating under closed-circuit conditions, were higher by 1.69 and 1.72 log-fold reduction than for the open circuit MFCs, in both independent trials. The results indicated that the bactericidal properties of a well performing anode were dependent on power performance and the oxidation-reduction potential recorded for the MFCs. This is the first time that the fate of pathogenic bacteria has been investigated in continuously operating MFC systems

Recombinant Human Granulocyte Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor After Autologous Bone-Marrow Transplantation for Malignant-Lymphoma - A British National Lymphoma Investigation Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is active in enhancing the production of mature myeloid cells in vitro and several phase 1/11 clinical trials have suggested that its administration may accelerate neutrophil recovery after autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT). We have conducted a multicentre randomized double-blind placebo controlled trial in patients with poor prognosis malignant lymphoma receiving an identical high-dose combination chemotherapy regimen with ABMT. 61 patients were entered and 29 in each arm of the trial were evaluated. Treatment with GM-CSF did not affect the period of severe neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of 37.5-degrees-C (median 8 v 6) or days on parenteral antibiotics (11 v 10). Patients receiving GM-CSF had a median period of hospitalization following BMT of 24 d (control 25). No significant major toxicity attributable to GM-CSF administration was detected. We have confirmed in a randomized trial that GM-CSF accelerates neutrophil but not platelet recovery following ABMT. We were unable to demonstrate any accompanying changes in clinical outcome and believe that further trials are necessary to assess the clinical value of GM-CSF in BMT