French poet born at Sainte-Reine de Bretagne, died in Louisfert (region of Loire-Atlantique). He was the son of a teacher. His mother died in 1932, and his father died in 1940. As a young freelance teacher, he went from village to village across the region of Charente, and he began to write poetry. He was friends with Pierre Reverdy, Jean Follain and Max Jacob. With other poets (Marcel Béalu, Luc Bérimont, Guillevic), he founded a school at Rochefort. During the 1940s, he published several books of poetry including Morte-Saison (1941), Bruits du cœur et Lila du soir (1942), La vie rêvée (1944), Les Visages de solitudes (1947) and Les Biens de ce monde (1951). He died from an illness at the age of 31. His poetry is marked by nostalgia and an exploration of childhood, and testifies to “the passing of man and his eternity”. He paints in turbulent colours but retains a simple lyrical quality in writing poetry about nature and her essential rhythms.

An enzyme (also known as 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH) D) ) whose levels in the blood can be used to indicate the concentration of vitamin D in the organism (see hydroxylation).

This is the upper level of a forest or field that is in direct contact with the sun’s rays.

The Common Agricultural Policy is a European policy created in 1957 by the treaty of Rome, and implemented in 1962. Its main objectives were to ensure a decent life for farmers and to guarantee a stable food-supply that was safe and at affordable prices.

phenomenon which takes place at the interface between a liquid and another medium.The rise of water in a thin tube dipped in a water bath, the way sap rises in trees or the curvature of a free liquid surface when in contact with a wall are all examples of this. It is the result of surface tension between the different phases (stronger or weaker adhesion force between the molecules of fluid and those of the surrounding environment).

Amphipod crustacean species discovered in 1879 in the Mediterranean Sea.

Amphipod crustacean species discovered in the Tavolara-Punta Coda Cavallo Marine Protected Area(Sardinia) in 2011 by Nicolas Sturaro.

Amphipod crustacean species discovered in 2005 in the Cape Verde Islands.

The pearlfishes are a highly specialised family of shallow- to moderately deep-dwelling fishes which occur in marine shelf and slope waters and which are most abundant and diverse in tropical seas. Although some species (e.g. Snyderidia, Pyramodon and Eurypleuron spp.) are free-living, the majority of the group (Onuxodon, Carapus, Encheliophis) is found in association with invertebrate hosts such as bivalves, asteroids, holothuroids or ascisdians. These pearlfish species are able to live inside their host: certain species (Encheliophis) appear to be parasitic, feeding on the internal tissues of their holothurian hosts, while others (Carapus, Onuxodon) are considered commensal because their diet is not composed of host tissues.

Line marking in a longitudinal manner the scales of snakes.

A word which originates in the first-name of Germanic origin, Karl (Carolus - Charles), and designating the line of descent of the Mayors of the Palace of Austrasia, who quickly became Frankish kings after the Merovingians were deposed.

A flexible or elastic tissue. Formed from cells called “chondrocytes”, which are themselves contained in an extracellular matrix composed of glycosaminoglycans and collagen. Its mechanical properties allow it to be an intermediary between the bone and connective tissue such as tendons or muscles.

A box consisting of small racks which contained the letters used in printing, from the time when composition was carried out by hand. The least used of these movable type letters were placed in the ‘upper case’ whilst the most used were placed in the ‘lower case’ – designating tiny letters.

Describes a reaction mechanism of a chemical compound under the action of a substance called a catalyzer. Often the catalyzer regenerates at the end of the cycle which can cause chain reactions.  One or several reactive elements link with the catalyzer to form a product and the regeneration of the catalyzer. For example, in the case of the Catalytic cycle of chlorine in the atmosphere, an atom of chlorine (Cl), the catalyzer, reacts with a molecule of ozone (O₃) to form a molecule of chlorine monoxide (ClO) and a molecule of oxygen (O₂). During a second process, the molecule of ClO reacts with an atom of oxygen to form an atom of chlorine and a molecule of oxygen. The molecule of ozone has therefore been destroyed, the chlorine atom released again and the cycle can begin again.

Central Business District is the term used to designate a city’s trade or financial district.  It often corresponds to the city’s geographic centre, especially in North America. Generally comprised of large office buildings, CBD’s are major energy consumers (air conditioning, heating, servers and computers, etc.).

Cells that are used by the HIV virus to multiply itself. The role of CD4 cells is to coordinate the immune system. HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells and causes a weakening of the immune system. 

all the phases that take place between two successive cell divisions.

A glucid made up of a linear chain of glucose molecules. It is the main constituent of plants, particularly their cell walls.

A French poet of Swiss origin born in La Chaux-de-Fonds (under the name of Frédéric-Louis Sauser), close to Neuchâtel, and who died in Paris. Throughout his life he never stopped travelling. And from these multiple voyages throughout the world he gathered a continuous sum of memories, transfigured by the magic of a writing which broke decisively with classical poetry by its dynamic spontaneity and whose edginess in particular eschews punctuation. La Prose du Transsibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France (1913), a long railway centred poem which recounts a voyage in Manchuria, is his strongest work. But this adventurous existence, over the course of which this tireless surveyor lost a forearm (in the Foreign Legion, in 1915), would bring forth many others: the novel L'Or (1925) for example, as well as Bourlinguer (1948) (Sailing the Seven Seas), an autobiographical tale with an evocative title. Heteregenous images and notes seized on the wing jostle with each other in his works, which more than ever before usher modern life into French poetry.

In astronomy, Centaurs are named after the Greek mythological creatures, half-man half-horse. They are small hybrid objects in the solar system, with characteristics particular to asteroids and comets, mainly made of rock and ice. Centaur:

Part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord. This is where information is processed and motor signals are sent to muscles and glands, for instance. It is completed by the peripheral nervous system. 

More commonly known as a “headache”, cephalgia is a pain felt in the cranium.

Class of molluscs. The most well-known examples of these are the octopus, the squid and the cuttlefish.

Screening test for cervical cancer, carried out during a routine gynaecological examination by taking a cell sample from the cervix with a spatula. The cells collected are smeared onto a glass slide and sent to a laboratory for a cytological examination. Ideally, the cervical smear test should be done every three years in all women aged between 25 and 65. This completely painless examination is essential even in women who have been vaccinated against cervical cancer because this vaccine doesn’t offer complete protection.

He is considered to be the father of Egyptology. To him we owe the decipherment of the hieroglyphic system. He was familiar with many Oriental languages from an early age. He developed a passion for Egyptian writing and studied Coptic at the age of 16. As he got older he continued to develop his linguistic knowledge; he became very interested in the Rosetta Stone. He understood that hieroglyphs were phonetic and ideographic at the same time; little by little, he discovered their many meanings. In 1822 he reached the goal of deciphering the hieroglyphic system.

The central political institution of the Principality; composed of 60 canons, it elected the Prince-Bishop and with him governed the Principality.

This is a neurological illness which attacks nerve cells (neurons) responsible for the control of voluntary muscles. Motor neurons affected by the disease wither and die and no longer send messages to the muscles which can cause paralysis of the limbs and then the respiratory muscles.

An Afro-American singer, composer and pianist affected by blindness. Born in 1930 and died 2004, he experienced segregation full on and moved from extreme poverty to glory in making musical genres as dispersed as Rhythm & Blues, Gospel, jazz, soul etc. his own. In refusing to play concerts in Georgia where the Afro-American public was separated from the white public, he became integrated despite himself in the fight against segregationist policies.

Professor of French literature and Italian literature at the ULB, he published Le Mouvement romantique en Belgique (1948 and 1959) and directed, along with Joseph Hanse, l'Histoire illustrée des lettres françaises de Belgique (1958).

Chemiluminescence is the light emitted during a chemical reaction. Its measurement makes possible the overall detection of active oxygen species produced without identifying them. This method is used without an enhancer molecule for the study of certain chemical reactions, especially those involving peroxynitrite or singlet oxygen. In the presence of the enhancer lucigenin, it is used to evaluate the oxidant cellular activity, particularly that of the polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

attraction of a cell due to the presence of a molecule.

Chemotactic cytokines that control the reasons for migration and the positioning of the immune cells.

repulsion of a cell due to the presence of a molecule.

A treatment method using chemical substances.

A pigment indicative of the quantity of phytoplankton.

Organelle present in the cytoplasm of photosynthetic eukaryote cells (plants, algae). Chloroplast allows light to be captured and is at the origin of photosynthesis.

Chondrocytes (from Greek chondros cartilage and kytos cell) are the only cells form the cartilage. They produce and maintain the cartilaginous matrix.

A domain of theology devoted to the person and the work of Christ and, more generally, to the doctrine which leans on it.

The form DNA takes in the cell nucleus. It is the substance that forms the chromosomes. It's made up of DNA, RNA and proteins.

One of ten territorial entities, from 1512 on including all the States in the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. The Principality of Liège was a part of it.
Chapitre:

Cirrhosis is a diffuse fibrosis of the liver, i.e. a disorganisation of the organ’s architecture through fibrous scar tissue. Cirrhosis is accompanied by the gradual death of hepatocytes. It is a classic complication of viral hepatitis B or C that has become chronic, or of long-term alcoholism.
Cirrhosis can evolve over a ten-year period without causing any symptoms but when the liver can no longer function normally, hepatic decompensation occurs. Furthermore, cirrhosis can lead to the development of primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma).

Swiss theorist of literature and political essayist. He wrote about the close relationship between the notions of freedom and power through narratology and the use of narrative. For Citton power depends on the ability to put an individual’s action into a scenario, and to pre-define the possible frameworks within which an individual may develop.

As of 1945, through a simple administrative measure, civic screening meant that collaborators were included on a list thus depriving them of their civil and political rights.

The foundation of civil law, the branch of private law that governs the relationships between people in general. It includes the law of obligations, of persons, of family, of goods and of successions.

A clade is a phylogenetic unit, comprising an ancestor and its descendants.

describes the evolutionary process resulting in the appearance of new species by the fission of an ancestral lineage in at least two descending lines. Speciation by cladogenesis is the consequence of mutation phenomena, selections and progressive segregations. This process is virtually the only one that caused the appearance of new species for the superior animals.

Stars are classified according to a system invented by a group of women named “Pickering’s harem”. This American astronomer (1846-1919), who was then Director of the Harvard observatory, asked them to classify the stars. After several attempts, the final stellar classification schema was based on a series of spectral types, represented by the letters  O, B, A, F, G, K and M (a mnemonic phrase can be used to remember them: “Oh, be a fine girl kiss me”). In fact, this series of letters corresponds to a decreasing temperature scale. The ‘O’ stars are the most luminous and hottest ones, the ‘M’ are the coldest ones. Massive stars are grouped into the ‘O’ and ‘B’ categories, our Sun is part of category ‘G’.

The use of a semantic classifier, or determinative, is not obligatory. It has no phonetic value, and in some sense represents the inverse or opposite of the category of the phonogram. Placed at the end of a word, it specifies a semantic field and a conceptual category to which the word is attached. Depending on the classifier the same word could mean two different things.

Wife of Pharaoh Ptolemy V. She should not be confused with Cleopatra VII, who is better known for her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, and who reigned in Egypt from 51 to 30 B.C.E.

Posterior opening which serves as the sole orifice for the intestinal, urinary and genital tracts of certain animal species. All the birds, reptiles and amphibians have such an orifice, through which they simultaneously expel urine and excrement (the snake’s tail begins just behind the cloaca). On the other hand the majority of placentary mammals and bony fish have, in the place of the cloaca, a specialised orifice for at least one of these three tracts.

A primary headache causing facial and head pain always on the same side. The pain is unbearable and accompanied by ipsilateral autonomic signs: red eye, lacrimation, edema of the eyelid, nasal congestion, as well as restlessness. The attacks can occur several times per day, often during the night. They last between 15 and 180 minutes (average : 45 minutes). In the episodic form of the disorder (90% of cases), there is seasonal rhythm with bouts of daily attacks lasting several weeks alternating with periods of remission without attacks lasting several months. 10% of affected subjects have or develop the chronic form where there are no periods of remission for years.  In contrast to migraine which is more frequent in women, cluster headache affects mostly men.

A technology which is used for the construction of integrated circuits.

Carbon dioxide is not poisonous in itself, contrary to its cousin CO (carbon monoxide), the sadly well known bathroom killer. CO2, which is heavier than air, is only harmful if it diminishes too much the oxygen concentrations present in the air.

The singer in the group Nirvana. Born in 1967, he committed suicide in 1994 after having taken a large dose of heroin. He is one of the instigators of Grunge music.

Hearing organ in the shape of a spiral, located in the inner ear. The cochlea is filled with a liquid and is lined with ciliated cells.

In general, only the codes are used for SPP (Standard Point Positioning), which offers a precision of several metres. This is the precision of the majority of general public and low-cost GPS receivers: receivers in cars or smartphones.
On the other hand, more precise real-time positioning, such as RTK (Real-Time Kinematics), can only be done using phase measurements in order to achieve the famous real-time centrimetric precision required for topographical or civil engineering works. Obviously, in this case, the receiver is more sophisticated, and subsequently  more expensive.

succession of three nucleotides in the DNA or mRNA corresponding to an amino acid. There are 63 codons for some 20 amino acids, therefore, a single amino acid can be represented by up to six different codons.

A tendency on the part of an individual to consciously or unconsciously divert ones attention away from stimuli that cause personal discomfort.

This expression was, it seems, dreamed up by the American press to designate the indirect confrontation the USSR and the USA were engaged in at the end of the Second World War, from 1947 onwards. The term designates a latent conflict which never degenerates into direct armed conflict – made impossible through the holding of atomic weapons – but which is characterised by an arms race, the search for allies, an extension of the sphere of influence and of intervention in peripheral conflicts beyond the borders of the two great powers, such as the Korean and Vietnam wars.

inflammation of the colon.

The most abundant protein in the human body, responsible for tissue cohesion. It is organised into bundles of fibres.

A homogenous mixture of a liquid dispersed with micrometric solid particles; it can be liquid, in the form of a gel such as glue (from which its name is derived), or in the form of paste or ink.

Since the Middle Ages, and then for the first incunabula (books printed before 1500), a text placed at the end of the book and providing the reader with some of its characteristics: title, author, publisher date, place the book was published. Today this information is featured on the title page.

Treatment comprised of several different drugs.

Bacteria which are present in mucosal surfaces, for example, the mucosa of the intestine, which protect against attacks by pathological bacteria.

Presence of additional troubles associated with a primary illness.

In chemistry, a compound is an electrically neutral substance, made up of at least two different elements whose atoms are present in a defined ratio, (ex: the binary compound of hydrogen peroxide H₂O₂). The elements are not simply mixed; their atoms are really connected with each other. We distinguish between organic compounds and inorganic compounds.

In economics compound interest represents the regular and exponential evolution of capital. By way of an example, a bank account from which the money will never be withdrawn and for which the interest rate will not vary will have a certain amount Y_t at a time t. It will subsequently have a higher amount Y_t+1 at a time t+1, the interest being proportional to the value of Y_t; thus interest also generates interest (hence the adjective ‘compound’).

A concentric muscle contraction is a type of muscle activation that increases tension on a muscle as it shortens. The opposite occurs during eccentric contraction: tension increases on a muscle as it lengthens.

Small surgical intervention which consists of removing a cone-shaped sample of the cervix, similar to when you remove the stem from a tomato. Conization is carried out if there is a precancerous lesion of the cervix. This intervention is performed through the vagina and doesn’t leave a scar. There is a slight increased risk of premature birth thereafter. 

Located between and within the organs, the connective tissues provide support and protection, but they have also other roles related, for example to nutrition and connecting functions. They are made up of cells (fibroblasts, osteoblasts, chondroblasts, …) separated by an extracellular matrix. This matrix contains collagen fibers which ensure the mechanical functions required for movement and/or protection.

Roman Emperor (306-337). Following a decision taken jointly with Licinius at Milan in 313 – decisions which have been passed down into history under the incorrect name ‘Edict – he tolerated the practice of Christianity in the Empire. In 330, he established Byzantium, which was then called Constantinople, as the second capital of the Roman Empire.

Substance or element contained in the environment (water, air, sediments, etc.) in abnormal (or unnatural) quantities. An excess of contaminants can result in contamination.

Invasion (of an environment, or a living organism) by pathogenic organisms or by polluting substances.

Convection is the transfer of energy from one place to another involving the movement of matter in the environment, compared with heat conduction or the diffusion of matter. A good example of convection is the transfer of heat through water in a pan placed on a heat source. The particles of liquid close to the bottom of the pan are heated and dilate, therefore becoming less dense and rising. Those on the surface of the pan are cooled through contact with a cooler environment, and therefore contract and increase in density before sinking.

The Stockholm convention of 22 May 2004, this treaty was signed under the aegis of the United Nations and implemented on May 22nd 2004. The treaty includes 179 member states to which 152 countries are signatories. It aims to eradicate nine persistent organic pollutants (aldrin, chlordane, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, hexachlorobenzene, mirex, toxaphene and the PCBs). Its aim is to strongly reduce the production and use of DDT’s and to predict and limit the formation and release of dioxins and furans.

Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages, in response to the same environment.

Scale of atomic time that is synchronised with universal time by adding (or removing) leap seconds when the difference between the two scales reaches at least 0.9 seconds.

A Polish savant, he studied in Italy. He was the first modern astronomer who endeavoured to demonstrate that the Earth was not the fixed centre of the Universe, as had been believed up until then, but a planet amongst others gravitating around the Sun. In breaking with this ancient geocentric conception of the world in favour of a heliocentric conception, Copernicus marked a major turning point in the history of though and the sciences. If a ‘Copernican revolution’ is often quite rightly spoken off, it is also for reasons of methodology: in substituting the principle of facts for the authority of the Ancients as the source of all knowledge, Copernicus stamped an essential turning point on scientific research. But he could not in his lifetime provide any decisive proof of his heliocentric hypothesis, which would not be validated until after the discoveries made by Galileo, following the invention of the astronomical telescope. The works of Copernicus were thus condemned by the Church and placed on the Index.

fossilized faeces.

A language descended from ancient Egyptian, and a system of alphabetic writing. Coptic began to develop when Egypt began to be Christianized. Coptic writing uses mainly the Greek alphabet, supplemented by other letters that denote phonemes that are unknown in Greek.

A steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal glands whose principal functions are: the increase in glycaemia, inhibition of certain immune system responses, regulation of fat, protein and carbohydrates metabolism and regulation of the circadian cycle.

The flux of very energetic particles which reach us from space and fill the interstellar environment. Discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, this cosmic radiation remained a mystery for a long time. Today we think it is made up principally of protons and its origin is varied. Some particles come from the Sun, others from our galaxy, others still are of inter-galactic origin: they are violently ejected from the active cores of galaxies neighbouring the Milky Way.

To establish a cost surface according to an image’s propagation algorithms, a friction value is attributed to each pixel according to the ‘cost’ of the crossing it presents. The shift from one pixel to another totals up the costs attributed to the pixels traversed. The cost could depend on the distance, if a pixel represents 100 metres, traversing 10 pixels would represent a cost surface of 1 kilometre. But this cost could also depend on other factors, such as the time of the crossing, the energy cost, or the environmental cost depending on the themes studied. A cost surface is used for propagation algorithms.

In the Costa v ENEL ruling, the Court of Justice of the European Union established the supremacy of European Union law over the laws of its Member States.
In 1962, Italy decided to nationalise the production and distribution of electricity, by aggregating the assets of the electricity companies in the company ENEL (Ente Nazionale per l’Energia Elettrica). Flaminio Costa, a shareholder of one of the companies affected by this nationalisation, refused to pay his electricity bills. He was brought before a court in Milan and in his defence he argued that this nationalisation violated the Treaty of Rome. In its 15 July 1964 decision, the Court ruled that the law stemming from European institutions is integrated into the legal systems of the Member States and is applicable in their courts. It did not rule on the specific case of Mr Costa’s default of payment (which remained within the jurisdiction of Italian justice) but affirmed for the first time that European law prevailed over national law.

Assembly of Bishops – of a region or the whole of Christianity – called together to clarify a point of doctrine or to take a decision of a general nature.

A strong chemical bond between two atoms that is characterized by the sharing of one or more electrons from one of the atoms.

‘Cartographie criminelle’ in French. Criminal investigation based on the study of geographical data, which appeared in Canada over the course of the 19th century. If the English name is still used more, it’s because the discipline remained for a long time restricted to North America and England. But it is staring to be developed in other European countries. At the start, crime mapping involve drawing pins on maps which designated the different scenes of the same series of crimes. Over times the techniques involved developed and today better models as well as all the digitally stored and available information serve the discipline. At the same time other tends have increased. In the second half of the 20th century crime mapping gained new impetus with the emergence of environmental criminology, which systemises the influence of an environment on the geographical distribution of criminal events. Crime mapping can be operational or strategic.

A public organisation which has the aim of: 
-    Authorising, organising and carrying out data exchange between the public institutions active in social security
-    Co-ordinating relationships between the social security institutions and the National Register of Individuals
-    Collecting through the mediation of the social security institutions and storing general identification data which are not available to the National Register of Individuals
-    Collecting from the social security institutions the information required to manage, put into practice and have complete knowledge of social security system

solids whose atomic structure is ordered and periodic in the three dimensions.

Midges that suck the blood of the vertebrae they bite and thus participate in the propagation of certain diseases.

The outer covering of the aerial organs of plants and fungi. It is also the outer covering secreted by the epidermis of arthropods thus forming their exoskeleton.

From the Latin cuticula, which means ‘little skin.’ It is the external layer which protects the ground part of plants or the organs of certain animals. It differs according to their origin, their structure, their function and their chemical composition. In arthropods, the cuticle designates the external layer secreted by the epidermis which constitutes its external skeleton.

French psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and ethologist. Born in a Jewish family, he barely escaped the Second World War, but his parents were sent to Nazi concentration camps where they died. The traumatic experience led him to become a psychiatrist in France, and to develop the concept of resilience.

Abnormal protuberance located in or on an organ or tissue, often containing fluid. This pocket doesn’t communicate with the outside and is clearly delimited by its own wall.

A protein which is indispensable for the production of energy by the cells. It contributes to the cells’ electron transport system, following reactions which terminate the degradation of numerous organic substances.

Substance produced by certain cells in the immune system that act on other cells in the same system to ensure the regulation of their proliferation.

Study of individual cells.

liquid component of the cell’s cytoplasm.

Cytotoxicity is the property a chemical or biological agent has to modify cells, to the extent of potentially destroying them.