Low-dose administration of protamine, based on a heparin-protamine titration method, restores not only the blood coagulation but also the platelet responses to thrombin and attenuates platelet alpha-granule secretion during heparin neutralization. Overdose of protamine activates platelets and may predispose patients to excessive bleeding after cardiac surgery.

Aprotinin has indirect effects to inhibit platelet activation, and this may partly explain the reduction of blood loss during cardiac surgery. To prevent the adverse effects, a single and minimal use of aprotinin is important. The results of in vivo and in vitro studies suggest that platelet preservation was demonstrated by the lower concentration of aprotinin (1.0 x 10(6) KIU per patient or 10 KIU/mL) compared with the concentration that inhibits plasma fibrinolysis.

No abstract

A surface optical coupler based on a vertically curved Si waveguide was designed for coupling with high-numerical aperture single-mode optical fibers with a mode-field diameter of 5 µm. This coupler has a quite small device size, with a height of approximately 12 µm, achieved by introducing an effective spot-size converter configured with the combination of an extremely short Si exponential-inverse taper and a dome-structured SiO2 lens formed on the coupler top. The designed coupler shows high-efficiency optical coupling, with a loss of 0.8 dB for TE polarized light, as well as broad-band coupling with a 0.5-dB-loss band of 420 nm.

The integration of III–V active devices on a Si platform utilizing direct bonding is an attractive way to realize large-scale photonic integrated circuits. Because plasma activated bonding (PAB) is expected to have a higher bonding strength at a lower heating temperature as compared to conventional bonding methods, PAB is attractive for the reduction of non-radiative recombination centers in the III–V active region caused by thermal expansion during the bonding process. A GaInAsP/Si hybrid laser was fabricated with low-temperature (150 °C) N2 PAB, and a low threshold current density of 850 A/cm2 (170 A/cm2 per quantum well) was obtained.