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SummaryImmunoreactive glucagon was detected in the pancreas and the small and large intestines of 4 different animals. Immunological differences existed between pancreatic and jejunal glucagon in t...

Bleeding may stop spontaneously in mild or moderate cases of GI bleeding. Therefore, to prove that H2-receptor antagonists effectively stop GI bleeding, evaluation of the results of treatment in patients who are classified as severe cases by the Nagao taxonomy is needed. Data from the literature show that mortality is higher in patients with specific endoscopic findings, such as active bleeding, visible vessels, clot, or stain, than it is in patients without these findings. The criteria for establishing whether H2-receptor antagonists effectively control GI bleeding in severe cases include a reduction in mortality, in the rate of recurrent bleeding, or in the rate of emergency surgery. Data gathered from a current multicenter trial assessing the efficacy of 20 mg famotidine administered intravenously twice daily show that the rate of emergency surgery in patients with bleeding ulcer is 8.6%, which is substantially less than the 54.2% rate found in a retrospective review of patients treated before the introduction of H2-receptor antagonists. In addition, there were no deaths among famotidine-treated patients. Similarly, among patients with bleeding caused by stress ulcer, the percentage who were treated with famotidine and required emergency surgery was much less than that in the historical control group (15.8% versus 40.0%). Famotidine was effective in greater than or equal to 88% of patients with peptic ulcers and in 78.9% of patients with stress ulcers. Recurrent bleeding occurred more often in patients with exposed blood vessels. Intravenously administered famotidine is, therefore, effective for the control of GI bleeding caused by severe peptic ulcer and stress ulcer disease.

Semi-insulating polycrystalline-silicon (SIPOS) films have been used as a replacement of a silicon dioxide passivation layer of planar devices. The SIPOS films are chemically vapordeposited polycrystalline-silicon doped with oxygen or nitrogen atoms. The passivation properties of oxygen-doped SIPOS films have been examined as a function of oxygen concentration. The npn and pnp transistors rated at 800 V and 2500 V have been produced by the SIPOS process in planar-like structures with field-limiting rings. The leakage currents of 800 V pnp transistors did not increase even after the chips were exposed to water vapor at 100°C and to sodium contamination at 200°C. Thus, the SIPOS transistors can be packaged in low-cost molded epoxy as well as metal cans. Furthermore, 10 kV SIPOS transistors with multiple rings have been fabricated and their operation has been found to be stable.

The motor activity of the canine lower esophageal sphincter (LES) was studied under conscious states by means of the strain gage transducer, and gastroesophageal reflux was investigated after injection of the contrast medium through the silastic tube inserted in gastric fundus by x-ray. The motor activity and function of LES were observed in the dogs with selective proximal vagotomy (SPV), truncal vagotomy (TV) and TV + gastrectomy. Results were summarized as follows; 1. In the postprandial period, so called receptive relaxation was observed in gastric body, and tonic contraction was observed in LES. On the other hand, the occurrence of the LES contraction was consistent with gastric periodic motor activity in the interdigestive state. It was found that such a contractile pattern of LES and gastric body prevented the reflux of gastric juice from stomach to esophagus in the digestive and interdigestive state. 2. In the postprandial period, the tonic contraction of LES was inhibited by the venous injection of atropine sulfate. Mechanisms of digestive contractile activity of LES were mainly regulated by cholinergic nerve. 3. After SPV and TV, the motility of LES and gastric body was disturbed. Namely, receptive relaxation disappeared, and tonic contraction was observed in gastric body, but the relaxation of the LES was found after ingestion. These findings suggested that discordant LES contractiles with the contraction of the gastric body after vagotomy produced a gastroesophageal reflux. 4. After TV + gastrectomy, the synchronous motor activity of the LES, remnant stomach and duodenum disappeared. Namely, it was thought that the reflux esophagitis occurred after gastric surgery with vagotomy and lymphnodes dissection was caused by the duodenal juice reflux to remnant stomach and esophagus.

Great attention has been focused on the search for an operation procedure to cure peptic ulcer disease that will preserve gastric digestive functions as far as possible while avoiding side-effects.

Rates of removal of ammonia from the perfusate of isolated bovine liver preparations were measured following injected loads of ammonium acetate. The effects, upon these rates, of infusing arginine, aspartate, and glutamate, separately and in pairs, were compared statistically. Such a hitherto unpublished treatment of data made it possible to compare quantitatively for the first time metabolic pathways of ammonia removal in the liver alone. Ammonia removal was greatly accelerated by arginine, arginine plus aspartate, and arginine plus glutamate, only slightly by aspartate, and not at all by glutamate. Changes in plasma concentrations of urea and basic amino acids were also observed. These data supported the conclusion that hepatic removal of excess ammonia occurs primarily through the Krebs-Henseleit ornithine-urea cycle pathway. Glutamate acceleration of ammonia removal, reported to occur in intact animals, must take place elsewhere than in the liver.

A semi-insulating polycrystalline-silicon (SIPOS) film doped with oxygen atoms is deposited on the surface of silicon substrates by a chemical vapor reaction of silane and nitrous oxide in nitrogen ambient, and has been studied for the surface passivation of MOS-IC's, in particular, C/MOS-IC's of channel-stopperless structure. SIPOS films are semi-insulating and intrinsically neutral. A double-layer system consisting of 3000 A SIPOS and 6000 A SiO2 films is employed as a replacement of a thick silicon dioxide layer in C/MOS-IC's of channel-stopperless structure and exhibits excellent field-passivating properties, namely, a small drain-source leakage current, a high drain breakdown voltage, and a high parasitic threshold voltage. Furthermore, the silicon surface passivated by SIPOS films shows high stability under a severe bias-temperature stress. It is concluded that C/MOS-IC's passivated by SIPOS films are not required to have a channelstopper diffusion region and can be operated at high applied voltages, which leads to higher integrating density and higher reliability.