Accompagnement dans l’apprentissage de l’argumentation par une équipe pluridisciplinaire : quels effets sur les acteurs?

Dans le cadre du Cursus Master Ingénieur (CMI) de Biologie Santé Environnement (BSE) développé à l’Université de Lorraine en France, une équipe pluridisciplinaire propose aux étudiants de première année de cette formation une Activité de Mise en Situation (AMS). Par groupe de trois ou quatre, ils/elles doivent effectuer une recherche de documentation scientifique sur un sujet de société lié aux sciences pour ensuite élaborer un argumentaire pro- et anti- qui sera présenté oralement. L’équipe pédagogique accompagne les étudiants tout au long du processus, dans l’objectif de favoriser l’intégration et la réussite des nouveaux étudiants. Il s’agit aussi de renforcer des compétences construites au lycée, notamment des compétences informationnelles afin de faciliter l’appropriation de la littéracie universitaire. L’article examine la question des effets de ce dispositif d’accompagnement sur les étudiants et les accompagnants. L’analyse des résultats des étudiants, de leurs réponses à une enquête d’auto-évaluation, de celles des tuteurs lors d’entretiens semi-directifs indique que cette AMS contribue à l’acquisition de compétences et au développement de l’autonomie des étudiants. Les enseignants témoignent d’un changement de posture dans leur rôle d’accompagnant, changement qui transforme aussi leurs pratiques professionnelles dans d’autres cours.Within the framework of a master’s degree in Biological, Health and Environmental Engineering developed at the University of Lorraine in France, a multidisciplinary team offers first year students a Situational Awareness Activity (AMS). In groups of three or four, the students have to carry out scientific documentation research on a societal subject related to science and develop pro and con arguments that are then presented orally. The pedagogical team accompanies the students throughout the process, with the aim of fostering the integration and success of new students. It is also a question of reinforcing the skills built up in high school, in particular informational skills in order to facilitate the appropriation of university literacy. The article examines the effects of this support system on the students and their tutors. The analysis of the students' results, their answers to a self-evaluation survey and those of the tutors during semi-directive interviews indicate that this AMS contributes to the acquisition of skills and the development of students' autonomy. The teachers report a change of stance in their role as tutors, a change that also transforms their professional practices in other courses

Financial constraints: Its impact on access to financing of micro, small, and medium businesses in Calapan City

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play an important role in a country's progress, particularly in the Philippines. Lack of access to finance has been identified as the most severe hindrance to MSMEs' growth and development. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the awareness of MSMEs in accessing finances and know their capacity to handle financial constraints. The factors discussed were the structure of the financial sector, awareness of funding opportunities, collateral requirements, and small business support services. The research focused on a sample size of 363 MSMEs. The research design of this study is quantitative since the research questions seek to answer and lead to numerical data. The researchers used a descriptive research method as it seeks to ascertain if there is a significant relationship between financial constraints and MSMEs' access to finance in Calapan City. Self-structured questionnaires were used to collect the primary data. By examining the factors or indicators of the study, the researchers found that financial constraints such as collateral requirements, small business support services, the structure of financial institutions, and awareness of funding opportunities, had a significant relationship towards accessing finance of MSMEs in Calapan City. Therefore, the study suggested that MSMEs should look for a financial institution that provides loan products and services that are consistent with their demands for business funding. Business owners should improve their financial management abilities by attending government-provided training and seminars. Further studies are highly recommended to discover other factors affecting MSMEs' financing access

Oscillating focus of SopA associated with filamentous structure guides partitioning of F plasmid

The F plasmid is actively partitioned to daughter cells by the sopABC gene. To elucidate the partitioning mechanisms, we simultaneously analysed movements of the plasmid and the SopA ATPase in single living cells. SopA, which is a putative motor protein assembled densely near nucleoid borders and formed a single discrete focus associated with less dense filamentous distribution along the long axis of the cell. The dense SopA focus oscillates between cell poles. The direction of the plasmid motion switches as the SopA focus switches its position. The velocity of the plasmid motion stays constant while it oscillates moving towards the SopA focus. The low density filamentous distribution of SopA persisted throughout the SopA oscillation. The focus associated with filamentous distribution of SopA was also observed in a cell without nucleoid. The SopA filament may guide the movement of the plasmid as a railway track and lead it to cell quarters

Analyse du système SOP responsable de la partition du plasmide F chez Escherichia coli (sopA, une ATPase essentielle au mécanisme de partition)

TOULOUSE3-BU Sciences (315552104) / SudocSudocFranceF

Homologous recombination at the border: Insertion-deletions and the trapping of foreign DNA in Streptococcus pneumoniae

International audienceIntegration of foreign DNA was observed in the Gram-positive human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) after transformation with DNA from a recombinant Escherichia coli bacteriophage lamda carrying a pneumococcal insert. Segments of lamda DNA replaced chromosomal sequences adjacent to the region homologous with the pneumococcal insert, whence the name insertion-deletion. Here we report that a pneumococcal insert was absolutely required for insertion-deletion formation, but could be as short as 153 bp; that the sizes of foreign DNA insertions (289-2,474 bp) and concomitant chromosomal deletions (45-1,485 bp) were not obviously correlated; that novel joints clustered preferentially within segments of high GC content; and that the crossovers in 29 independent novel joints were located 1 bp from the border or within short (3-10 nt long) stretches of identity (microhomology) between resident and foreign DNA. The data are consistent with a model in which the insert serving as a homologous recombination anchor favors interaction and subsequent illegitimate recombination events at microhomologies between foreign and resident sequences. The potential of homology- directed illegitimate recombination for genome evolution was illustrated by the trapping of functional heterologous genes

The Obscure World of Integrative and Mobilizable Elements, Highly Widespread Elements that Pirate Bacterial Conjugative Systems

Conjugation is a key mechanism of bacterial evolution that involves mobile genetic elements. Recent findings indicated that the main actors of conjugative transfer are not the well-known conjugative or mobilizable plasmids but are the integrated elements. This paper reviews current knowledge on “integrative and mobilizable elements” (IMEs) that have recently been shown to be highly diverse and highly widespread but are still rarely described. IMEs encode their own excision and integration and use the conjugation machinery of unrelated co-resident conjugative element for their own transfer. Recent studies revealed a much more complex and much more diverse lifecycle than initially thought. Besides their main transmission as integrated elements, IMEs probably use plasmid-like strategies to ensure their maintenance after excision. Their interaction with conjugative elements reveals not only harmless hitchhikers but also hunters that use conjugative elements as target for their integration or harmful parasites that subvert the conjugative apparatus of incoming elements to invade cells that harbor them. IMEs carry genes conferring various functions, such as resistance to antibiotics, that can enhance the fitness of their hosts and that contribute to their maintenance in bacterial populations. Taken as a whole, IMEs are probably major contributors to bacterial evolution

Interaction of Nucleolin with an Evolutionarily Conserved Pre-ribosomal RNA Sequence Is Required for the Assembly of the Primary Processing Complex*

The first processing event of the precursor ribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA) takes place within the 5' external transcribed spacer. This primary processing requires conserved cia-acting RNA sequence downstream from the cleavage site and several nucleic acids (small nucleolar RNAs) and proteins trans-acting factors including nucleolin, a major nucleolar protein, The specific interaction of nucleolin with the pre-rRNA is required for processing in vitro. Xenopus laevis and hamster nucleolin interact with the same pre-rRNA site and stimulate the processing activity of a mouse cell extract. A highly conserved 11-nucleotide sequence located 5-6 nucleotides after the processing site is required for the interaction of nucleolin and processing. In vitro selection experiments with nucleolin have identified an RNA sequence that contains the UCGA motif present in the 11-nucleotide conserved sequence, The interaction of nucleolin with pre-rRNA is required for the formation of an active processing complex. Our findings demonstrate that nucleolin is a key factor for the assembly and maturation of pre-ribosomal ribonucleoparticles

Diversity of Integrative and Conjugative Elements of Streptococcus salivarius and their intra- and interspecies transfers

International audienc

Diversity of Integrative and Conjugative Elements of Streptococcus salivarius and their intra- and interspecies transfers

International audienc