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The authors reflect on the National Technology Leadership Coalition (NTLC) leadership summit's initiatives collaborated by the Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) and Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). The authors state the initiatives such as the International Student Media Festival (ISMF) extension, performance assessment, and the repository libraries. The author mentions that NTLC aims to facilitate technology in all professional associations.

Anxiety experienced by individuals visiting the dental office to receive treatment is common. Evidence has shown biofeedback to be a useful modality of treatment for numerous maladies associated with anxiety. The purpose of the current pilot study was to investigate the use of a novel biofeedback device (RESPeRATE™) to reduce patients' pre-operative general anxiety levels and consequently reduce the pain associated with dental injections. Eighty-one subjects participated in this study, forty in the experimental group and forty-one in the control group. Subjects in the experimental group used the biofeedback technique, while those in the control group were not exposed to any biofeedback. All subjects filled out a pre-injection anxiety survey, then received an inferior alveolar injection of local anesthetic. Post-injection, both groups were given an anxiety survey and asked to respond to four questions regarding the injection experience using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). With the use of the respiratory rate biofeedback device, there was a significant reduction of negative feelings regarding the overall injection experience, as measured by a VAS. Our findings demonstrate that this novel biofeedback technique may be helpful in the amelioration of dental anxiety, and may help produce a more pleasant overall experience for the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-energy source (C)-starved cells of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium ( S. Typhimurium) are remarkably more resistant to stress than actively growing ones. Carbon-starved S. Typhimurium is capable of withstanding extended periods of starvation and assault from a number of different stresses that rapidly kill growing cells. These unique properties of the C-starved cell are the direct result of a series of genetic and physiological adaptations referred to as the starvation-stress response (SSR). Previous work established that the SSR of S. Typhimurium is partially regulated by the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor σE. As part of an effort to identify σE-regulated SSR genes, we investigated surA and fkpA, encoding two different classes of peptidyl-prolyl isomerase that function in folding cell envelope proteins. Both surA and fkpA are members of the heat-shock-inducible σE regulon of Escherichia coli. Although both genes are expressed in C-starved Salmonella cells, evidence indicates that surA and fkpA are not C-starvation-inducible. Furthermore, their expression during C-starvation does not appear to be σE-dependent. Nonetheless, surA and fkpA proved to be important, to differing degrees, for long-term C-starvation survival and for the cross-resistance of C-starved cells to high temperature, acidic pH, and the antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B, but neither were required for cross-resistance to oxidative stress. These results point to fundamental differences between heat-shock-inducible and C-starvation-inducible genes regulated by σE and suggest that genes other than surA and fkpA are involved in the σE-regulated branch of the SSR in Salmonella. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being nutrient rich, the tissues and fluids of vertebrates are hostile to microorganisms, and most bacteria that attempt to take advantage of this environment are rapidly eliminated by host defences. Pathogens have evolved various means to promote their survival in host tissues, including stress responses that enable bacteria to sense and adapt to adverse conditions. Many different stress responses have been described, some of which are responsive to one or a small number of cues, whereas others are activated by a broad range of insults. The surface layers of pathogenic bacteria directly interface with the host and can bear the brunt of the attack by the host armoury. Several stress systems that respond to perturbations in the microbial cell outside of the cytoplasm have been described and are known collectively as extracytoplasmic or envelope stress responses (ESRs). Here, we review the role of the ESRs in the pathogenesis of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salmonella typhimurium was fractionated into cytoplasmic, periplasmic, and membrane fractions to determine the cellular location of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide pyrophosphatase. The results indicate that this enzyme is associated almost exclusively with the inner membrane. Studies utilizing porin mutants indicate that NAD probably transverses the outer membrane via pores and is degraded to NMN at the inner membrane by NAD pyrophosphatase. Based upon the lack of significant NAD pyrophosphatase activity in cytoplasmic fractions, we theorize that most if not all intracellular turnover of NAD is probably the result of DNA ligase activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT). It states that the AECT supports several publications including "TechTrends," "Handbook of Research on Educational Communications & Technology," and "Educational Technology: A Definition With Commentary." It notes that the AECT has several goals which include setting the disciplines and professional activities that makes up educational communications and technology, help and represent professionals in the field and support professional growth, and promote rules to ensure the ethical use of educational communications technology. Furthermore, it mentions that much of the work of AECT is done by volunteers who already have a lot to do in these difficult economic times.