FIGHTING FOR THEIR PLACE IN BRAVE SPACES: UNCOVERING THE TRAVAILS OF THE CLOSETED POLICE OFFICERS

In law enforcement and correctional agencies, sexual orientation and gender identity-based harassment and employment discrimination remained persistent until today. Moreover, there is stereotyping involved in the issue of being closeted in the law enforcement agency. This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the experiences, challenges, and struggles faced by closeted officers in law enforcement organizations. The study’s participants are closeted police officers, who were chosen through snowball sampling, while data were collected via interview guide questionnaires. The study employs a qualitative phenomenological research approach, focusing on what people experience concerning certain significant life events and how they perceive those occurring. Thematic analysis was employed as the chosen qualitative data analysis approach. The study revealed that closeted gay police officers needed to adjust and adapt themselves to the workplace dynamics to fit in while balancing their values to stay true to themselves. The participants also experienced discrimination, stereotypes, and bullying. The significance of this study is to understand better the experiences, challenges, and struggles of closeted police officers; specifically, to explore their lived experiences in law enforcement organizations, document the difficulties the respondents have faced and the coping techniques they used to overcome the significant challenges in their professions and document how the closeted police officers project themselves during police operations. JEL: J15, J71, J78, Z13  Article visualizations

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

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

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

Role of the ATP-binding site of SopA protein in partition of the F plasmid 1 1Edited by M. Yaniv

International audienceSopA belongs to a large family of bacterial partition protein ATPases. It helps stabilize the F plasmid by acting as the primary repressor of transcription of the sopAB operon, preventing the destabilizing effects of Sop protein excess. It is also thought to act directly in the F partition mechanism. We have examined the role of SopA in partition and repression by observing the consequences of replacing an invariant ATP-binding site lysine, K120, by glutamine or arginine. Circular dichroism studies of the purified mutant proteins revealed no major differences from wild-type, but in the presence of ADP or ATP each protein showed a characteristic spectrum which suggested a distinct conformational change. The K120Q mutant retained most of the wild-type ATPase activity while the K120R mutant lost it. In neither case was the residual activity stimulated by SopB, as occurs for wild-type SopA. The strength of sop promoter repression by the mutant SopA proteins alone was comparable to that resulting from SopB-enhancement of wild-type SopA, but SopB enhanced repression by the mutant SopA proteins either slightly (K120R) or not at all (K120Q). Mini-Fs in which the sop operon was controlled by a constitutive promoter were destabilized by the mutations, demonstrating the need for SopA and its ATP-binding site in the partition process. The K120R mini-F was lost at the same rate as a mini-F lacking the sopC centromere, the K120Q mutant was lost faster. SopAK120R at high levels was more effective than SopA(+) in disrupting the partition complex, whereas SopAK120Q did not disrupt it at all. These results suggest that one function of SopA in the partition mechanism is to break the paired plasmid structure to allow F molecules to segregate to daughter cells

Disruption of the F plasmid partition complex in vivo by partition protein SopA.

International audienceThe SopA protein plays an essential, though so far undefined, role in partition of the mini-F plasmid but, when overproduced, it causes loss of mini-F from growing cells. Our investigation of this phenomenon has revealed that excess SopA protein reduces the linking number of mini-F. It appears to do so by disturbing the partition complex, in which SopB normally introduces local positive supercoiling upon binding to the sopC centromere, as it occurs only in plasmids carrying sopC and in the presence of SopB protein. SopA-induced reduction in linking number is not associated with altered sop promoter activity or levels of SopB protein and occurs in the absence of changes in overall supercoil density. SopA protein mutated in the ATPase nucleotide-binding site (K120Q) or lacking the presumed SopB interaction domain does not induce the reduction in linking number, suggesting that excess SopA disrupts the partition complex by interacting with SopB to remove positive supercoils in an ATP-dependent manner. Destabilization of mini-F also depends on sopC and SopB, but the K120Q mutant retains some capacity for destabilizing mini-F. SopA-induced destabilization thus appears to be complex and may involve more than one SopA activity. The results are interpreted in terms of a regulatory role for SopA in the oligomerization of SopB dimers bound to the centromere

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

Disruption of the F plasmid partition complex in vivo by partition protein SopA.

International audienceThe SopA protein plays an essential, though so far undefined, role in partition of the mini-F plasmid but, when overproduced, it causes loss of mini-F from growing cells. Our investigation of this phenomenon has revealed that excess SopA protein reduces the linking number of mini-F. It appears to do so by disturbing the partition complex, in which SopB normally introduces local positive supercoiling upon binding to the sopC centromere, as it occurs only in plasmids carrying sopC and in the presence of SopB protein. SopA-induced reduction in linking number is not associated with altered sop promoter activity or levels of SopB protein and occurs in the absence of changes in overall supercoil density. SopA protein mutated in the ATPase nucleotide-binding site (K120Q) or lacking the presumed SopB interaction domain does not induce the reduction in linking number, suggesting that excess SopA disrupts the partition complex by interacting with SopB to remove positive supercoils in an ATP-dependent manner. Destabilization of mini-F also depends on sopC and SopB, but the K120Q mutant retains some capacity for destabilizing mini-F. SopA-induced destabilization thus appears to be complex and may involve more than one SopA activity. The results are interpreted in terms of a regulatory role for SopA in the oligomerization of SopB dimers bound to the centromere