Our crystalline In–Ga–Zn oxide (IGZO) thin film has a c‐axis‐aligned crystal (CAAC) structure and maintains crystallinity even on an amorphous base layer. Although the crystal has c‐axis alignment, its a‐axis and b‐axis have random arrangement; moreover, a clear grain boundary is not observed. We fabricated a back‐channel‐etched thin‐film transistor (TFT) using the CAAC‐IGZO film. Using the CAAC‐IGZO film, more stable TFT characteristics, even with a short channel length, can be obtained, and the instability of the back channel, which is one of the biggest problems of IGZO TFTs, is solved. As a result, we improved the process of manufacturing back‐channel‐etched TFTs.

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We have fabricated a back‐channel‐etched TFT using the CAAC‐IGZO film that we developed. As a factor of success in manufacturing stable back‐channel‐etched TFTs, it is considered that CAAC‐IGZO has a strong structure because of its crystallinity. For verification, we have compared the cohesive energy of c‐IGZO and that of a‐IGZO.

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A total of 353 samples of 29 types of seafood were tested for Salmonella prevalence and total microbial population. Salmonella enterica serotype Weltevreden was isolated from 2 of 47 black tiger prawn samples. The contamination levels of Salmonella were in a range of <30 to 40 most probable number per 100 g. In addition, one sample of black tiger prawns and two samples of white shrimp were positive for Salmonella invA gene on PCR assay. Although the mean aerobic bacterial count was greater than 4 log CFU/g in most of the sample types, those in the two Salmonella-isolated samples of black tiger prawn were 7.48 and 5.18 log CFU/g, respectively. These results indicate the possibility that shrimp and prawns contribute to foodborne infections. The improvement of seafood quality is an important issue, and the information on contamination by pathogens should be provided as feedback to the originating country, with the aim of increasing safety.

Photosynthetic rates, the activities of key enzymes associated with the C4 cycle and ribulose-l,5-bisphosphate carhoxylase (RuBPCase), and the levels of metabolites involved in the C4 cycle were compared between the two phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK) type C4 species Spartina anglica, which is cold-tolerant, and Zoysia japonica, which is cold-sensitive, during exposure to low temperature. Plants of both species grown outside in summer were placed in a growth chamber at 27/20 °C day/night temperatures. After 1 week, plants were exposed to 20/17 °C for 1 week and then to 10/7 °C for 2 weeks. Photosynthetic rates in Z. japonica decreased progressively to about 25% during the chilling treatments. In contrast, S. anglica exhibited a 43% increase in photosynthetic rates after exposure to 20 °C for 1 week, which remained relatively constant thereafter. Consistent with these observations, most of the C4 enzymes and RuBPCase in Z. japonica declined. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and PCK activities declined particularly drastically during the treatments. However, the activities of these enzymes in S. anglica showed either a slight increase or decrease upon a mild cold treatment, and remained relatively constant during further chilling treatments. There was a sharp decline in phosphoenolpyruvate in Z. japonica after exposure to 10 °C. On the other hand, metabolite levels in S. anglica were largely unaffected by the chilling treatments. These results suggest that the drastic declines of both PEPC and PCK activities may be important limiting factors responsible for cold sensitivity in C4 photosynthesis of Z. japonica.

The random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) fingerprinting method was used to distinguish between various strains of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, a causative agent of gastroenteritis in humans. The RAPD test uses arbitrarily chosen DNA oligomers of 10 nucleotides to prime DNA synthesis from genomic sites to which they are accidentally matched or almost matched. Most 10-nucleotide primers yielded strain-specific arrays. Ten Y. pseudotuberculosis type strains were distinguishable from each other by analyzing the RAPD arrays produced by using primers with a 50% G+C content. The RAPD patterns of Y. pseudotuberculosis strains were found to be constant regardless of the presence or absence of the large plasmid. RAPD tests were subsequently used to identify 30 clinical isolates of Y. pseudotuberculosis that were collected as the causative agent of an outbreak of Izumi fever, a disease showing clinical symptoms characteristic of atypical scarlet fever, in Japan. The RAPD arrays from all of the isolates yielded common patterns that were unique to each primer used. Since those 30 isolates belonged to serotype 5a and the restriction digest patterns of their large plasmids were all the same, the results of the RAPD tests confirmed the view that those isolates were from a single source and indicated that the RAPD test can be practically applied to survey transmission of the bacterium in humans.