Chemical Propulsion Using Ionic Liquids

Chemical propulsion generates motion by directly converting locally stored chemical energy into mechanical energy. Here, we describe chemically driven autonomous motion generated by using imidazolium-based ionic liquids on a water surface. From measurements of the driving force of a locomotor loaded with an ionic liquid and observations of convection on the water surface originating from the ionic liquid container of the locomotor, the driving mechanism of the motion is found to be due to the Marangoni effect that arises from the anisotropic distribution of ionic liquids on the water surface. The maximum driving force and the force-generation duration are determined by the surface activity of the ionic liquid and the solubility of the ionic liquid in water, respectively. Because of the special properties of ionic liquids, a chemical locomotor driven by ionic liquids is promising for realizing autonomous micromachines and nanomachines that are safe and environmentally friendly

Prodromal signs and symptoms of serious infections with tocilizumab treatment for rheumatoid arthritis: Text mining of the Japanese postmarketing adverse event-reporting database

<p><b>Objective:</b> To search for signs and symptoms before serious infection (SI) occurs in tocilizumab (TCZ)-treated rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> Individual case safety reports, including structured (age, sex, adverse event [AE]) and unstructured (clinical narratives) data, were analyzed by automated text mining from a Japanese post-marketing AE-reporting database (16 April 2008–10 April 2015) assuming the following: treated in Japan; TCZ RA treatment; ≥1 SI; unable to exclude causality between TCZ and SIs.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> The database included 7653 RA patients; 1221 reports met four criteria, encompassing 1591 SIs. Frequent SIs were pneumonia (15.9%), cellulitis (9.9%), and sepsis (5.0%). Reports for 782 patients included SI onset date; 60.7% of patients had signs/symptoms ≤28 days before SI diagnosis, 32.7% had signs/symptoms with date unidentified, 1.7% were asymptomatic, and 4.9% had unknown signs/symptoms. The most frequent signs/symptoms were for skin (swelling and pain) and respiratory (cough and pyrexia) infections. Among 68 patients who had normal laboratory results for C-reactive protein, body temperature, and white blood cell count, 94.1% had signs or symptoms of infection.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> This study identified prodromal signs and symptoms of SIs in RA patients receiving TCZ. Data mining clinical narratives from post-marketing AE databases may be beneficial in characterizing SIs.</p

Effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab in achieving clinical and functional remission, and sustaining efficacy in biologics-naive patients with rheumatoid arthritis: The FIRST Bio study

<p><i>Objective</i>: To evaluate effectiveness and safety of tocilizumab (TCZ) in biologic-naive Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in real-world settings, and to analyze the relationship between disease duration and clinical outcomes.</p> <p><i>Methods</i>: The FIRST Bio study was a postmarketing surveillance study of intravenous TCZ in biologics-naive patients who had a prior inadequate response or were intolerant to ≥1 conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (csDMARD). Effectiveness, safety, and concomitant csDMARD administration were assessed.</p> <p><i>Results</i>: Of the 839 patients analyzed, 72.3% completed 52 weeks of treatment. The Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) remission rate at week 52 was 36.8%. Contributing factors for CDAI remission were younger age, early disease stage, and no comorbidities. Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index ≤0.5 was achieved in 65.1% of patients, and was significantly associated with disease duration. Discontinuation of concomitant methotrexate (MTX) and glucocorticoids (GCs) was possible in 19.3% and 34.1% of patients, respectively, without decreasing remission rate. The incidence (events/100 patient-years) of serious adverse events was 18.09, the most common being infection.</p> <p><i>Conclusion</i>: These data validate the importance of TCZ treatment in the early stages of RA in biologic-naive patients to achieve increased effectiveness. The safety profile of TCZ was reconfirmed. Furthermore, TCZ therapy may allow discontinuation of concomitant MTX and GCs without affecting remission.</p