Rice, one of the world's most important food plants, has important syntenic relationships with the other cereal species and is a model plant for the grasses. Here we present a map-based, finished quality sequence that covers 95% of the 389 Mb genome, including virtually all of the euchromatin and two complete centromeres. A total of 37,544 nontransposable-element-related protein-coding genes were identified, of which 71% had a putative homologue in Arabidopsis. In a reciprocal analysis, 90% of the Arabidopsis proteins had a putative homologue in the predicted rice proteome. Twenty-nine per cent of the 37,544 predicted genes appear in clustered gene families. The number and classes of transposable elements found in the rice genome are consistent with the expansion of syntenic regions in the maize and sorghum genomes. We find evidence for widespread and recurrent gene transfer from the organelles to the nuclear chromosomes. The map-based sequence has proven useful for the identification of genes underlying agronomic traits. The additional single-nucleotide polymorphisms and simple sequence repeats identified in our study should accelerate improvements in rice production.

Summary Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be produced by various solid tumours and is thought to be involved in microvascular permeability and/or angiogenesis. To examine the relationship between VEGF expression in ovarian neoplasms and clinicopathological factors or patient survival, expression of VEGF was analysed immunohistochemically in 110 epithelial ovarian tumours. In addition, VEGF levels in the tumour fluid (17 patients), ascites (12 patients) and sera (38 patients) were determined using enzyme immunoassay. Positive immunostaining for VEGF was observed in 97% (68 out of 70) of ovarian carcinomas, which was significantly higher than that of tumours of low malignant potential (LMP) (13 out of 25; 52%) and benign cystadenomas (5 out of 15; 33%) (P < 0.01). In ovarian carcinomas, strong VEGF immunostaining was also observed more frequently in tumours of clear cell type (P < 0.05) in the advanced stage of disease (P < 0.05) and with positive peritoneal cytology (P < 0.01). Patients with strong VEGF staining had poorer survival rates than those with weak or no immunostaining for VEGF (P < 0.01). These findings suggest that strong VEGF expression plays an important role in the tumour progression of ovarian carcinoma. The enzyme immunoassay revealed higher serum VEGF levels in carcinoma patients than those in patients with LMP or benign tumours (P < 0.01). Serum VEGF levels decreased after the successful removal of tumours in ovarian cancer patients and, in one patient, the serum VEGF level was re-elevated during relapse. Therefore, serum VEGF could be used as a marker for monitoring the clinical course of ovarian cancer patients.

The mediastinal infection, the extent of which has been accurately determined by computed tomograms, necessitates radical cervicotomy followed by pleuromediastinal drainage. Situations where infection has spread to posterior medisatinum, particularly when it reaches in the level of the carina (descending necrotizing mediastinitis-type I), may not always require aggressive mediastinal drainage. In comparison, diffuse descending necrotizing mediastinitis-Type IIB demands complete mediastinal drainage with debridement via thoracotomy. Subxiphoidal mediastinal drainage without sternotomy may provide adequate drainage in diffuse descending necrotizing mediastinitis-Type IIA.

To determine the chromosomal positions of expressed rice genes, we have performed an expressed sequence tag (EST) mapping project by polymerase chain reaction-based yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) screening. Specific primers designed from 6713 unique EST sequences derived from 19 cDNA libraries were screened on 4387 YAC clones and used for map construction in combination with genetic analysis. Here, we describe the establishment of a comprehensive YAC-based rice transcript map that contains 6591 EST sites and covers 80.8% of the rice genome. Chromosomes 1, 2, and 3 have relatively high EST densities, approximately twice those of chromosomes 11 and 12, and contain 41% of the total EST sites on the map. Most of the EST-dense regions are distributed on the distal regions of each chromosome arm. Genomic regions flanking the centromeres for most of the chromosomes have lower EST density. Recombination frequency in these regions is suppressed significantly. Our EST mapping also shows that 40% of the assigned ESTs occupy only approximately 21% of the entire genome. The rice transcript map has been a valuable resource for genetic study, gene isolation, and genome sequencing at the Rice Genome Research Program and should become an important tool for comparative analysis of chromosome structure and evolution among the cereals.

A polymer-stabilized blue phase liquid crystal (BPLC) composite with a large Kerr constant (K∼13.7 nm/V2) is developed and its electro-optic properties characterized. In addition to the reduced operating voltage, this BPLC also exhibits a fast response time (∼1 ms), high contrast ratio (&gt;1000:1), and relatively small hysteresis (&lt;6%). It will undoubtedly accelerate the emergence of BPLC for next-generation display and photonic devices.