Gold nanoparticles on silicon work not only as catalysts to initiateautocatalytic electroless metal deposition but also as bindingpointsbetween the deposited metal film and the silicon surface.Conventional catalysts of autocatalytic electroless metal deposition,such as palladium and silver, require heat treatments or anchorformation to obtain practical adhesion of deposited metal films onsilicon. Gold nanoparticles can directly produce adhesive metalfilms on flat silicon surfaces without any treatments. Crosssectionaltransmission electron microscopic observation revealsthat gold nanoparticles form an alloy with silicon at the roomtemperature. This alloy is expected to improve the adhesion ofmetal film on silicon.

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The effects of laminaran and alginic acid, which are present in brown algae as polysaccharides (dietary fiber), and makombu (Laminaria japonica) on the faecal microflora, pH, volatile basic nitrogen (VBN), and weight, and on the body weight were investigated in rats. In the case of 10% laminaran or 2% makombu-containing diets intake, the number of total viable count in faeces increased and faecal pH value dropped. On the other hand, in the case of 20% makombu-or 10% alginic acid-containing diets intake, the number of total viable count in faeces decreased and faecal weight increased. Faecal VBN increased with alginic acid dose. These results indicate that intake of brown algae allowed changes in intestinal flora and pH value.

Veins are longitudinal cuticular structures that maintain shape of the wing. Drosophila melanogaster has six longitudinal veins (L1-L6) and two cross veins. The Zn-finger transcription factors of Spalt-complex (Sal) are required for positioning of the L2 and L5, and the homeodomain transcription factors of Iroquois complex (Iro-C) are required for formation of the L3 and L5 veins. The homeodomain transcriptional repressor Defective proventriculus (Dve) is uniformly expressed in the wing pouch of the larval imaginal disc. However, dve mutant wings showed loss of the L2 and L5, but not of the L3 and L4 veins. Temporal dve knockdown experiments indicate that the Dve activity is required for vein formation from late third larval instar to the prepupal stage. In the prepupal wing, Dve expression becomes nearly complementary to that of Sal through the Sal-mediated dve repression. Furthermore, coexpression of Dve and Iro-C relieved of Sal-mediated repression is required for the L5 formation in a dose-dependent manner. The relationship between Sal, Dve, and Iro-C in wing vein specification is quite similar to that in ommatidial cell-type specification. Our results provide information about the conserved function of dve regulatory motifs in cell differentiation.