A mythical recording studio in London, belonging to the EMI record company. Abbey Road has, picking out randomly, seen the Beatles, Pink Floyd and the group Oasis come and go.

In vitro test by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) in order to determine the quantity of ARN of the virus in the plasma of infected individuals. It is a tried and tested technique for measuring the viral load.

This is a sub-class of the order of arachnids. The Acari have eight legs, like spiders and scorpions. There are about 50,000 species of Acaria. These arachnids look like small, thick, disks (the disk is their abdomen), and attached to this is a thorax that incorporates the head (cephalothorax). The species of the order Acaria are parasites that eat blood and/or dead skin from a host animal. Contact with them can provoke allergies in the host and various kinds of dermatitis, as well as providing an opportunity for the transmission of infectious diseases.

Also called ‘dubbing’, it consists of a Mediaeval ceremony whereby a young noble became a knight through the handing over of arms. By extension: consecration, the recognition of merits.

The capture of matter by a star, or a black hole, under the effect of gravity. The matter captured by orbiting the central object forms an accretion disk, acquires thermal energy and generates luminous radiation.

A term which appeared, through the pen of Verlaine (1844-1896), in the review Lutèce in 1883, and then in an expanded volume the following year. It consists of an anthology-collection of poets termed ‘accursed’ – ‘absolute through the imagination, absolute in expression’ – because they live on the margins of their time and, through their writing, decisively break with former practices. On this list feature names such as Corbière (1847-1875), Mallarmé (1842-1898), Rimbaud (1854-1891), Villers de l'Isle-Adam (1838-1889) and Pauvre Lelian (Paul Verlaine himself). But this label has been widely adopted by literary history, beyond solely the 19th century, to designate rebel writers, more often than not transgressive, amongst whom feature notably Villon (before 1431-after 1463), Lautréamont (1846-1870), Sade (1740-1814), Gérard de Nerval (1808-1855) and Baudelaire (1821-1867).

A potentially toxic synthetic molecule (C₃H₅NO) which generally forms during cooking of certain foods particularly during frying at temperatures higher than 120°C. Crisps, French fries, bread, pastries and coffee are the foods that have the highest levels of contamination.

A French publishing house founded in 1978 by Hubert Nyssen.

ubiquitous protein, component of the cell cytoskeleton and important for the architecture and movements of the cells.

Adaptive radiation describes a rapid evolution from a common ancestor of a set of species characterized by great ecological and morphological diversity. Each new species is adapted to a particular niche.

a component of the immune system corresponding to the specific defence mechanisms involving the T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes, allowing the body to acquire an immune memory following infection.

Benign tumor on a gland or mucosa.

An element which plays an important role in biochemical processes, such as the transfer of energy – such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine diphosphate (ADP) – as well as in signal transduction, such as cyclic adenosine monophosphate, cAMP.

Substance added to a vaccine which allows its immunogenicity and effectiveness to be strengthened.

Adsorbent products possess an extremely porous structure. Their physical properties allow them to capture and to store water and humidity in their microscopic orifice, which are laid out in layers, pores and canals. Adsorbents are insoluble in water. Following the example of clays and zeolites, active carbon is an excellent adsorbent: its ability to absorb gas and organic molecules is remarkable, from which springs its use in protective masks, as a universal antidote or in medicines to counter dyspepsia. Adsorption, not to be confused with absorption, is a process in which gas or liquid molecules attach themselves to the solid surfaces of adsorbents in various ways. Adsorption consists of the fixing of hydrogen onto the surface of the internal cavities of a porous substance, or its being locked into carbon nanotubes. It should also be noted that adsorption constitutes the first stage of reactions which require the use of solid catalysts.

In the case of an organism or process, it means that the latter require oxygen to survive and develop.

Proteoglycan. An essential component of cartilage and joints as it allows them to bear heavy and compressive loads.

From the ancient Greek agôn which describes any form of competition or sparring match. In the areas of art or sport, the agôn was a competition organized during religious ceremonies. In the structure of a tragedy or an ancient Greek comedy, the agôn was the technical term describing the part of the room where a scene of debate or combat took place.

A decline or reduction of the agricultural pressure on a given site.

The fourth and last stage of infection by HIV. The immune system is then very weak which increases the risks of dangerous or fatal infections for the HIV-positive individual. These infections are called “opportunistic infections”.

Party for justice and development, has been in power in Turkey since 2002.

The albedo is a unit understood to be between 0 and 1 which measures the sunlight reflected back into space by a planet. The brighter the planet, like a block of ice for example, the more light it reflects and the less heat it keeps. It will have an albedo of around 1. By way of example, the houses with white facades in Greece insulate against heat by reflecting light. Conversely, the darker the planet, the more it will absorb light and heat, its albedo will be around 0.

Derived from alginic acid extracted from brown algae. Used in the food industry for their gelification, thickening, emulsifying and stabilising properties, they are also used in medicine to encapsulate medicaments or fragile biological substances (enzyme, microorganisms, human or animal cells).

Related to a sacred wood.

An electrical current that reverses directions twice per period. It transmits alternating quantities of energy first in one direction, then another. It thus has a frequency, which is the number of times the current changes direction in a second (in Hertz or Hz).

Alzheimer’s disease is a neuro-degenerative which progressively brings about the loss of cognitive mental functions, following the degeneration of cerebral tissue, and leading to a form of dementia. The most striking symptom of the disease is short term memory loss, whilst the oldest memories remain relatively intact. Other developments involve a loss of dexterity in controlling movements and losing recognition skills. Its exact cause is still unknown, but it is thought that both environmental and genetic factors contribute towards it. Until the 1960s the disease was believed to be rare, and it was attributed to ageing aspects and a slowing down of vital activity. The disease was discovered by Aloïs Alzheimer (1864-1915), a German psychiatric doctor and neuro-pathologist who studied the brains of people affected by dementia.

Small molecules with a carboxyl group acid (COOH) and an amino group base (NH₂) grafted on to a central carbon atom. They are the basic building blocks of proteins.

Also called batracians, amphibians form a class of tetrapod vertebrates. They are considered to be the oldest land vertebrates having separated from fish some 360 million years ago. The class of modern amphibians includes three orders, urodela (salamanders and newts), anura (toads and frogs) and gymnophiona (amphibians resembling worms). As their name suggests, (amphi, on both sides; bios, life), at least in our regions, they live just as well in either an aquatic or land environment.

These are molecules which have a hydrophilic part (polar) and a hydrophobic part (apolar).

Small crustacean with a body that is compressed laterally. They are no bigger than one centimetre and are very abundant in littoral zones.

The Maastricht Treaty made provision for the meeting of an intergovernmental conference on treaty revision in 1996. Opened in March 1996, it led to the Amsterdam Treaty, signed on October 2, 1997.

The Amsterdam Treaty proclaims that the Union is founded on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and basic freedoms, as well as the rule of law, principles which the member states have in common. At the same time the treaty envisaged the hypothesis of a member state violating these principles and legislates on the steps the Union would have to take against the state concerned.

The Amsterdam Treaty creates a new title of competences for the European Community called ‘Visas, asylum, immigration and other policies linked to the free movement of persons.’ It requires the fifteen states at the time – and those who subsequently join the Union – to adopt:
• The norms and modalities of monitoring the crossing of the European Union’s external borders: minimal norms and measures concerning asylum and the protection of refugees; the procedure and conditions for granting visas for stays of a maximum of three months and for long term stays, including those granted in the context of family reunification; the fight against clandestine immigration and illegal stays; the procedures for repatriating offenders.
• The measures aiming at ensuring the free movement of persons between the member states.

At the end of a period of five years after the ratification of the Amsterdam Treaty, the Council of the European Union unanimously decided that decisions taken within the framework of this chapter would be made by qualified majority, as a co-decision with the European Parliament.

The latter are to ensure a level of security and protection at least equivalent to that provided by the Schengen Agreement, the application of which would from now on be within the Community wide framework and its procedures. This intergovernmental agreement abolishes the monitoring of people within the internal borders and organises it at its external borders. The Amsterdam Treaty incorporates the Schengen agreement within the European Union, but the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark obtained the right to delay its application.

Part of the brain situated in the anterointernal region of the temporal lobe, near the hypothalamus and the hippocampus, and which plays an important role in emotions and conditionin

Also known as senile plaques, these plaques are extracellular pathological aggregates of fragments of the APP protein (Amyloid Precursor Protein) which is present in the membranes of brain cells. With the effects of age and/or illness (such as Alzheimer's Disease), this APP protein is spliced into small fragments (amyloid peptides) which aggregate to form extracellular plaques, compressing the neurons, leading to the malfunctions observed in patients.

The opposite of aerobic. In the case of an organism or process, it means that the latter don't require oxygen to survive. As regards an oxygen-free environment, it is usually referred to as an anoxic environment.

Medical speciality that is concerned with the diagnosis of a disease through the observation of the lesions the disease causes in organs, tissue or cells (cytology). The main tool of the anatomical pathologist is the microscope (with all its technical refinements), and the object of his studies is the various samples that can be taken from a living (biopsies, smears, surgical removal) or deceased subject (autopsy parts). 
In disciplines such as cancer research, the contribution of pathologists is  essential in assessing the seriousness of the condition and to choose the most appropriate treatment.

A localised and irreversible dilation of an artery wall.

plant whose reproductive organs are condensed into a flower and whose fertilised seeds are enclosed in a fruit.

A French novelist and playwright. She published her first novel (Vu du ciel) in 1990. Her books are often termed ‘autofiction,’ but the author refuses this label.

Or apparent size is the angle under which an object is seen

A British rock group formed in 1962, inspired by the Rhythm & Blues. Its main success remains the song The House of The Rising Sun.

Invertebrate vermiform organisms (‘worms’), most of which live in the water with the exception of a few species, e.g. earthworms, which live in the ground.

species of lizards, they are the unique representatives of the family of Dactyloidae. Found in America, they are diurnal, mainly tree dwelling and mainly eat insects although many species also eat fruit.

Anosognosia describes a disorder in which a person affected by an illness or handicap does not appear to be aware of their state.

A reduction or the absence of dissolved oxygen in an aquatic environment or in a submerged semident.

An environment without oxygen.

A French public organization created in 1988 and whose objective is to “federate, coordinate, lead and finance all public research into AIDS”. A mission which extends to the developing countries, particularly those affected by the disease. It is also the name given to a method of measuring the viral load.

Discipline based on the study of charcoal exposed during archaeological digs. It allows the woody vegetation of the past but also traditional practices (metallurgy, building...).to be reconstructed.

Technique for surveying the characteristics of the human body.

An antigen is a natural or synthetic macromolecule, considered as a foreign body by the body, recognised by antibodies or cells in the immune system and capable of generating an immune response. Antigens are at the basis of the adaptive immune response. It is the recognition of the antigen by the immunocompetent cells that activate specific immunity.

Cell that displays foreign antigen complexes circulating in the the organism using T-cell receptors thus triggering a targeted immune response.

Molecule which reduces or prevents the process of oxidation, a chemical reaction during which there is a transfer of electrons. This type of reaction can produce free radicals.

Class of medicines used for treatment of infections linked to the retrovirus, a category of virus to which HIV belongs. The administration of such a treatment, if it is effective, prevents the virus from reproducing itself or multiplying.

Loss of voice.

The goddess of sexual union and the attraction between people, sometimes in the form of the violence of a battle field.

Plant tissue consisting of undifferentiated cells responsible for plant growth, i.e. edification of the stem and leaves.

A French poet – whose real name is Wilhelm Apollinaris Albertus de Kostrowitzky – who was born in Rome and died in Paris. The son of an exiled Polish aristocrat mother and an Italian officer who did not acknowledge him. After somewhat chaotic years of school study in Monaco, Cannes and Nice, he travelled across Europe in his youth: Stavelot in the Belgian Ardennes, Rhineland, Austro-Hungary and finally London. Voyages which would remain for him, and in particular as a result of the romances that went hand in hand with them, a precious source of poetic inspiration. Having returned to Paris he published his first texts in literary journals such as La Revue blanche and La Plume, regularly met up with a group of poets amongst whom were Alfred Jarry, André Salmon, Paul Fort and Max Jacob, struck up friendships with painters of the first rank, amongst whom Pablo Picasso stood out, not to mention his in many respects decisive encounter with the artist Marie Laurencin. It was in this Montmartre bohemia that he took part in all the avant-garde movements in aesthetics, whilst also stimulating them as no-one else did. His works bear witness to a person who, from his L'Enchanteur pourrissant (1909) and L'Hérésiarque et Cie (1910) up to Alcools (1913) and Calligrammes (1918), decisively opened the door to Modernism: free verse, the abolition of punctuation, the use of blank spaces, a cascade of images, out of the ordinary associations, typographical representations of the objects invoked; all these procedures, which largely evoke Cubism, express the New Spirit of which Apollinaire was the pioneer and which he defined as a means of ‘exalting life’ in all its forms. And yet this innovator was also a continuer of tradition, if only for the Romantic echoes in his poems, elegiac when he feels ‘starved of love,’ lyrical when he declares his love for Lou during the war. Because this poet, an occasional art critic, enrolled in the artillery in 1914; but who, having suffered a head injury due to shrapnel in 1916, died two days before the Armistice, struck down by the Spanish Flu.

The son of Zeus, who transmits the wishes of his father via oracles and inspires poets through the intermediation of the Muses; his image, that of a young man, reflects that of the youth who pay homage to him.

This is obtained by adding the appendicular skeletal muscle mass of the two arms and legs.

Aragon was a medical student in 1919 when he met Breton and Soupault. Together they founded a magazine, Littérature, which in 1924 became Révolution surréaliste. He published his first collections (Feu de joie, Le Mouvement perpétuel) soon after, and a group of novels, Anicet ou le Panorama, Les Aventures de Télémaque and Le Paysan de Paris. All his life, went back and forth between poetry and prose. In 1927 he joined the Communist Party and met Elsa Triolet. Traité du Style, which appeared the following year and made fun of automatic writing, was a first step toward a break with Breton that became evident in 1932. He sympathized with the Soviet government, and brought Hourra l’Oural back from Russia in 1934. He wrote a cycle of novels in which he attacked the bourgeoisie (Les Cloches de Bâle, Les Beaux Quartiers, Les Voyageurs de l’Impériale). He was in the Resistance during the German occupation, and published poems clandestinely through the éditions de Minuit (Le Musée Grévin). With Les Yeux d’Elsa, he began an ode to his wife (Le Fou d’Elsa, Il ne m’est Paris que d’Elsa…) that would structure their life together until the death of the author of Roses à crédit in 1970. In addition to the six volumes of Communistes, attesting his faithfulness to a doctrine, even when it was represented by Stalin, and which he never repudiated, he authored Aurélien, Le Roman inachevé, his poetic autobiography, La Semaine sainte, Blanche ou l’Oubli, Henri Matisse, roman and, in 1980, Le Mentir-vrai.

Group of single-celled microorganisms classed as prokaryotes.

Greek philosopher who was first of all a disciple of Plato before distancing himself from him and becoming the tutor of Alexander the Great. Above all a scholar and teacher, he founded in Athens his own school, the Lyceum. His intellectual activity embraced every domain of thought, as the titles of his principal works signal: Physics, Metaphysics, Logic, Rhetoric, and Nicomachean Ethics. Setting himself against the Platonic world of Ideas – too abstract for his taste – he anchored his thinking essentially on the concrete or the material. The morality he moreover advocated, opposed to a too acute idealism, is that of the happy medium: the courageous attitude, for example, must as much avoid the foibles of cowardice as that of an unbridled recklessness.

Aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons are natural constituents of coals  and oils or which result from the incomplete combustion of organic compounds  such as fuel , wood or tobacco. They are present in the air, water or in food.

Professor of Belgian literature and French literature at the ULB, and research director at the FRS-FNRS. His work primarily concerns the history of the literary life and the genre of pastiche. He published Les écrivains belges et le socialisme. 1880-1913: L'Expérience de l'art social, d'Edmond Picard à Emile Verhaeren (1985), La Mémoire en jeu. Une histoire du théâtre de langue française en Belgique (1995). Le Dictionnaire du littéraire (2002) and Sociologie de la littérature (2006) were published as a collaboration, while Les 100 mots du surréalisme (2010) and Les 100 mots du symbolisme (2011) were a collaboration with Jean-Pierre Bertrand.

Swedish chemist who carried out work on electrolysis and the speed of chemical reactions. He is mostly known today for his work on the growth of concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere. He was the first who, in 1896, estimated that a doubling of this concentration would be translated by an increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface of aroun 5°C. Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903.

Goddess of the margins and the wilderness, who honours both hunters as much as young girls on the point of marrying, women in childbirth, and new mothers with their babies.

A branch of invertebrates which includes crustaceans, insects, arachnids etc. It is therefore the branch which groups together the most species and the most individuals of the animal kingdom.

Son of Apollo who, from being a hero-doctor, over the course of time became a genuine god-doctor.

A technique which makes it possible to detect a resistance mutation in small proportions (1 %) in a sample.

Contract by which the holder of intellectual rights (or other property) transfers all or part of it to a third party, whether or not quid pro quo.

A small deformed object of the solar system composed of rock and ice. We can distinguish two groups: those which evolve in the “main asteroid belt” (between Mars and Jupiter) and those which orbit in the “Kuiper belt” (beyond Neptune, called trans Neptunian objects or OTNs). Their size can vary from a few metres to several hundred kilometers.

Extreme fatigue that can be due to physical effort, prolonged stress or any other “normal” everyday situation, or a disease.

It is the distance which separates the Earth and the Sun which comprises an astronomical unit. The distance is 150 million kilometres.

This can be defined as the absence of any correspondence between the aims, objectives and means of opposing forces. An asymmetric war is a conflict which opposes combatants whose forces are incompatible; where military, sociological and political imbalance between the sides is absolute: a regular strong army against a guerrilla movement which is supposedly weak, a nation against a terrorist movement etc.

A straight line that continually approaches a given curve but does not meet it at any finite distance.

Since 1969, ARAU has never stopped mobilizing and generating energy on the part of Brussels’ citizens, all trying to get decisions about urban matters into the public eye and out of the secrecy of agencies, in order to make what is at stake for residents of the city public, and thus to give some meaning and vitality to the democratic process. ARAU stands for thinking and acting in the framework of a global and nuanced approach to the urban phenomenon, paying particular attention to realities on the ground that are part of the everyday life of the inhabitants of the city. The objective of ARAU is to bring greater transparency to decisions that affect the life of the city, and to continue to take positions on questions about urban development.

The daughter of Zeus, from whom she gained the cunning intelligence which she put into practice in the activities of war in order to protect the city.

American record company which today belongs to the Warner group. In the 1950s it in particularly contributed to making Rhythm & Blues popular. Over the decades it signed renowned artists such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Sonny & Cher, Crosby, Still, Nash & Young, ACDC, Dire Straits and Led Zeppelin.

A ring-shaped coral island in the tropical seas surrounding a lagoon.

From the Ancient Greek atomos, that which cannot be divided. The basic constituent of matter, an assembly of fundamental particles. A particle of a chemical element which forms the smallest quantity capable of combining with others. An example: the water molecule (H₂O) contains 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. An atom is formed by a nucleus and a cloud of electrons 40,000 times more extensive than the nucleus itself. The latter is made up of protons, with a positive charge, and neutrons, electrically neutral.

In analytical chemistry the atomic absorption spextroscopy is used for determining the concentration of a particular element (the analyte) in a sample to be analyzed. It can be used to determine over 70 different elements in solution or directly in solid samples employed in pharmacology, biophysics and toxicology research.

The adenosine triphosphate is a molecule found in every living organism and which is in particular the main source of immediately available energy for cell activity.

The largest Nazi concentration and extermination camps, located in Southern Poland. In five years more than one million deportees died there. 

The ability certain animals have to deliberately lose a part of their bodies, in particular certain reptiles and invertebrates. Certain rodents can also lose a part of their tails.

An Oriental nomadic people, related to the Huns. Having emigrated from central Asia, they reached southern Russia around the middle of the 6^th century, invaded present-day Hungary and Austria, and then launched raids on Bavaria in particular. They were finally defeated by Charlemagne during the Summer of 796.

An anticyclone is an atmospheric area of high pressure. The Azores High refers to such a semi-permanent subtropical zone in the North Atlantic. It influences the climate in eastern North America, western Europe and North Africa. Its centre moves from Bermuda (summer-autumn), hence its name the Bermuda High/Anticyclone in the USA, to the archipelago of the Azores (winter-spring), hence its name in Europe.