Experience, recursive awareness and understanding in autism spectrum disorders : insights of parents and teachers in Singapore

Provision of an individually responsive education requires a comprehensive understanding of the inner worlds of learners, such as their feelings and thoughts. However, this is difficult to achieve when learners, such as those with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and cognitive difficulties, have problems with communication. To address this issue, the current exploratory descriptive study sought the views of 133 Singaporean parents and teachers of school-age learners with ASD and cognitive difficulties regarding the inner experience of their children and students. The findings highlight the variety of abilities and difficulties found in how these learners experience their own mental states and understand those of others. These abilities and difficulties are characterized according to type of mental state and analysed in line with three qualia, those of experience, recursive awareness and understanding. The findings indicate that learners show a greater awareness of their own mental states compared to their ability to understand these same mental states in others. Educational implications are discussed.

Small RNA viruses of insects : expression in plants and RNA silencing

Interest in insect small RNA viruses (SRVs) has grown slowly but steadily. A number of new viruses have been analyzed at the sequence level, adding to our knowledge of their diversity at the level of both individual virus species and families. In particular, a number of possible new virus families have emerged. This research has largely been driven by interest in their potential for pest control, as well as in their importance as the causal agents of disease in beneficial arthropods. At the same time, research into known viruses has made valuable contributions to our understanding of an emerging new field of central importance to molecular biology-the existence of RNA-based gene silencing, developmental control, and adaptive immune systems in eukaryotes. Subject to RNA-based adaptive immune responses in their hosts, viruses have evolved a variety of genes encoding proteins capable of suppressing the immune response. Such genes were first identified in plant viruses, but the first examples known from animal viruses were identified in insect RNA viruses. This chapter will address the diversity of insect SRVs, and attempts to harness their simplicity in the engineering of transgenic plants expressing viruses for resistance to insect pests. We also describe RNA interference and antiviral pathways identified in plants and animals, how they have led viruses to evolve genes capable of suppressing such adaptive immunity, and the problems presented by these pathways for the strategy of expressing viruses in transgenic plants. Approaches for countering these problems are also discussed. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A suite of novel promoters and terminators for plant biotechnology II. The pPLEX series for use in monocots

A suite of plant expression vectors (pPLEX), constructed from the gene regulation signals from subterranean clover stunt virus (SCSV) genome, has previously been used in dicot transformation for a variety of applications in plant biotechnology. To assess their use for the transformation of monocots, a number of modifications were made to the basic vector series and assessed in rice. In their unmodified forms, the SCSV promoters directed low levels of gene expression, however, insertion of an intron between the promoter and the transgene open reading frame (analogous to the rice actin and maize ubiquitin promoter systems) increased transgene expression 50-fold. The expression patterns from the intron-modified SCSV (segments 4 and 7) promoters were very similar to those directed by the actin or ubiquitin promoters. All promoter systems investigated directed expression that appeared to be constitutive within leaf tissue, and localised to the epidermal and vascular tissues of the root. The pPLEX vectors described here are an important counterpart to the dicot pPLEX series and have the potential to be useful in monocot research and biotechnology.