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Through their crossed eyes, Marc Giraud, naturalist and passionate author, and Johan Michaux, biologist and professor at ULiège, take us on a discovery of the biodiversity that hides just a stone's throw from our homes. From ditches to hedgerows, embankments to paths, this often discreet living heritage reveals an unsuspected wealth that is essential to the balance of our ecosystems.The conference will be followed by a sale of the book La nature en bord de chemin in collaboration with the Point Virgule bookshop, as well as a signing session by Marc Giraud.A privileged moment to combine scientific discovery, naturalistic wonder and convivial encounter.You can register for this free conference via the FINN online ticketing service.

will take place from September 2 to 6, 2024 at the Gîte du domaine d'Haugimont (owned by the University of Namur) and will deal with medieval manuscripts in their material and historical aspects (parchment and ink manufacture). The event is aimed at historians, archaeologists and researchers in the physical and chemical sciences. Participation is free for doctoral students attached to FNRS doctoral schools in the disciplines concerned. At the crossroads of archaeology, history and the exact sciences, this colloquium-workshop will give the floor to three speakers (a physicist, a chemist and a historian) who will present the interdisciplinary research they are conducting together in this field. Workshops on parchment reproduction, inks and writing materials will be held each day.More information on the event .

Information session content This session will address how a research result can be valorized through an entrepreneurial project thanks to the Win4SO program; and how Proof of Concept (POC) funding enables the development of a proof of concept on which an entrepreneurial project can be based. Who is this information session for? All researchers. Presentation Laurent Galas, EDER project coordinator, MIRVALIS Time and place of training The information session will take place on Monday 13/01/2025 from 12:45pm to 2pm at ADRE - NARC room, rue de Bruxelles, 55. Discover Midis de l'ADRE

Information session content Data management and protection have become an inescapable requirement of research. This training course will focus on the legal requirements for personal data protection in the specific field of scientific research. The aim is to explain how to approach and implement these requirements from the researcher's point of view. It will also provide an overview of the tools in place at the University of Namur. Who is this information session for? All researchers. Presentation Karen Rosier, Data Protection Officer Time and place of training The information session will take place on WEDNESDAY 05/27/2025 from 12:45pm to 2pm at ADRE - NARC room, rue de Bruxelles, 55. Discover Midis de l'ADRE

Information session content Data management and protection have become an inescapable requirement of research. This training course will focus on the legal requirements for personal data protection in the specific field of scientific research. The aim is to explain how to approach and implement these requirements from the researcher's point of view. It will also provide an overview of the tools in place at the University of Namur. Who is this information session for? All researchers. Presentation Karen Rosier, Data Protection Officer Time and place of training The information session will take place on WEDNESDAY 05/27/2025 from 12:45pm to 2pm at ADRE - NARC room, rue de Bruxelles, 55. Discover Midis de l'ADRE

Information session content This session covers the essentials of communicating with the press. It covers the following points:Scientific/media relationship: Why you need the press, why it needs youTools for reaching the pressSucceeding in your media appearanceUNamur in the media Who is this information session for? All researchers. Presentation Noëlle Joris, press officer for UNamur's Communications Administration. Time and place of training The information session will take place on Monday 14/04/2025 from 12:45pm to 2pm at ADRE - NARC room, rue de Bruxelles, 55. Discover Midis de l'ADRE

Information session content This session covers the essentials of communicating with the press. It covers the following points:Scientific/media relationship: Why you need the press, why it needs youTools for reaching the pressSucceeding in your media appearanceUNamur in the media Who is this information session for? All researchers. Presentation Noëlle Joris, press officer for UNamur's Communications Administration. Time and place of training The information session will take place on Monday 14/04/2025 from 12:45pm to 2pm at ADRE - NARC room, rue de Bruxelles, 55. Discover Midis de l'ADRE

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 was quickly declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020.At the start of the pandemic, healthcare professionals were faced with the marketing of numerous kits designed to measure binding antibodies. The role of neutralizing antibodies as the best correlate of protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection was quickly highlighted. A neutralization assay with the use of pseudovirus was therefore developed by our team and compared with several binding assays.There have been considerable efforts to produce and clinically validate new vaccines against COVID-19. The CRO-VAX HCP study was designed to assess the humoral response in a population of healthcare professionals who had received two doses of COVID-19 BNT162b2 vaccine.Given the decline in vaccine efficacy over time and the emergence of variants likely to evade immunity, a third dose was quickly recommended by the authorities to boost immunity. This was administered to 155 volunteers in the CRO-VAX HCP study.Still facing a decline in vaccine efficacy over time and the emergence of new variants, a second adapted booster was proposed. In September 2022, 54 participants in the CRO-VAX HCP study received this second booster. The humoral response was assessed and neutralizing antibodies against several variants were measured. In addition, we also measured the cellular response using an interferon-gamma release assay. Compared with the humoral response, which declines considerably over time, the cellular response remained fairly stable. This could therefore explain why individuals with low antibody titers can still be protected against a severe form of the disease .

The school will deal with optimizing computations on different types of hardware (CPU, GPU), presenting their respective characteristics, architectures and bottlenecks. It will cover both generic optimization methods applicable to all types of hardware, and the various libraries, technologies and languages available to achieve the best possible performance. Ideally, the machine's peak performance. Hardware considered: CPU, GPU.Languages considered: C++17, C++20, CUDA, Fortran, Rust, PythonLibraries considered: SYCL, Eve, Numpy, cunumerics, legate, Jax, Thrust.Compilers considered: G++, Clang++, nvc++, gfortran, nvfortran, dpc++.Profiling tools: Valgrind, Maqao, Perf, NSight, Malt and NumaProfAll methods will be illustrated on simple examples, such as Hadamard products, reductions, barycenter calculations and matrix products in order to be applied to a single problem: the simulation of a Gray Scott reaction. This problem is simple enough to be understood quickly, yet complex enough to be difficult for compilers to optimize without help. Each method will be broken down into simple versions, using default options, and one or more advanced versions, which will allow their advantages and disadvantages to be discussed and quantified.For more information on its content, please consult the school websiteOn the University of Namur satellite site, you'll enjoy the following benefits: Interaction with official LAPP trainers; Group support and a good working atmosphere; Lunch and a drink at the end of the day on the first day; You choose what you want to follow on site. We encourage you to come on the first day, but you make up your own program on the other days.To register for the UNamur satellite site: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxikCQTfsQl9zZfnidm4xLSuDpdJGcgyLKOfJ2wo4VMgrgRw/viewform Read more

ABCB5 belongs to the ABC transporter superfamily composed of 48 members. These transporters have been extensively studied for their role in cancer multidrug resistance and, more recently, in tumorigenesis. ABCB5 has been identified as a marker of skin progenitor cells, melanoma stem cells, and limbal stem cells. Its expression has also been reported, among others, in melanoma, colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and several hematological malignancies. The unique feature of ABCB5 is that it exists as both a full transporter (ABCB5FL) and a half-transporter (ABCB5β). Several studies have shown that the ABCB5β homodimer, in contrast to ABCB5FL, cannot confer multidrug resistance. Since these studies focused on a limited number of drugs, we cannot exclude the possibility that this homodimer may be involved in drug resistance or biological functions that have yet to be elucidated. However, it is also reasonable to hypothesize that ABCB5β could dimerize with other half transporters of the ABCB family to become functional. Using three complementary techniques: (1) nanoluciferase-based bioluminescence resonance energy transfer, (2) coimmunoprecipitation, and (3) proximity ligation assay, we identified two novel heterodimers in two melanoma cell lines: ABCB5β/B6 and ABCB5β/B9. Both heterodimers could be expressed in High-Five insect cells when both interacting partners were fused using the linker region of ABCB1, resulting in chimeric heterodimers. ATPase assays revealed that all chimeric heterodimers have a basal ATPase activity and that both functional nucleotide-binding domains in each dimer are required for their basal ATPase activity. Also, we obtained preliminary data suggesting that ABCB5β traffics from the endoplasmic reticulum to melanosomes independently of its dimerization, suggesting that its heterodimers might be located in similar organelles. However, several limitations were encountered when attempting to confirm their intracellular localization. Finally, since several anti-ABCB5 antibodies in the literature have shown a lack of specificity, we generated a mouse monoclonal anti-ABCB5 antibody in collaboration with Atlas Antibodies. The specificity of this antibody was demonstrated by immunofluorescence, making this antibody an important tool in the characterization of ABCB5β and ABCB5FL. Although further studies are needed to elucidate the physiological relevance of ABCB5β heterodimers, preliminary data support the hypothesis that ABCB5β is involved in melanogenesis. Taken together, these results represent an important step towards elucidating the functional role of ABCB5β in melanocytes and melanoma.