Academic Ceremonies April 2010

“Risk and Return Dynamics”

Research among clients of a large online broker shows that the results of the average Dutch private investor are very disappointing. The feeble performance of internet investors is mainly the consequence of investing in options and of high transaction costs as a result of excessive dealing. Investors with small portfolios and low incomes appear to mainly use options for a gamble on the stock market.  These findings have important implications for policymakers because people become more and more personally responsible for their financial future. Governments should therefore try to increase the financial knowledge of the population by setting up training programmes.

Key words:

private investment results

“Griezelig gewoon. Gotieke verschijningen in Nederlandse romans, 1980-1995.”

This dissertation analyses six Dutch gothic novels by Frans Kellendonk (Letter en Geest), Gerard Reve (De vierde man), Thomas Rosenboom (Vriend van verdienste), Renate Dorrestein (Noorderzon en Het perpetuum mobile van de liefde) and Vonne van der Meer (Spookliefde). Andeweg interprets the gothic as a comment on the fast modernization of the Dutch society in the sixties. By means of gothic elements, such as ghosts and look-alikes, ambivalences about new man-woman relations and sexual emancipation are expressed.  Based on these novel analyses the existing image of the Dutch novel in the eighties can be adjusted. Literature from that period is regularly accused of lack of engagement. Read through the lens of the gothic, the analysed novels turn out to be not unsocial, but very involved in frictions about new definitions of gender, sexuality, social mobility, friendship and religiosity.

Key words:

Dutch novel analysis, gender studies, sexual emancipation, gothic

“Recurrent preeclampsia; prediction, risk counseling and methodological challenges”

Women, who suffered from preeclampsia during an earlier pregnancy, run a strongly increased risk of developing this disorder also in the next pregnancy. The dissertation emphasizes the importance of a correct estimation of the recurrence risk and the related counselling of the women and their partners. An accurate prediction of the recurrence risk requires a combination of several risk factors. By means of relatively simple factors in a so-called predictive model it turned out possible to identify 94% of the women who develop preeclampsia again in the following pregnancy.  The realization of this kind of model involves various challenges, some of which are discussed from a new perspective in this dissertation.

Key words:

preeclampsia, recurrence risk, prediction

“The acute and longer-term effects of different glycemic index carbohydrates on metabolic risk markers in lean and obese subjects”

“Outcome following ten years coronary artery bypass surgery; risk factors for early and late mortality and morbidity”

In a group of 10626 coronary bypass operation patients, who were operated over a period from 1998 through 2007, various risk factors for early and late mortality were studied. Early mortality means less than thirty days after the operation, late mortality is after thirty days. An important conclusion was that the much used EuroSCORE as a risk calculation method is not accurate in predicting early mortality. Patients who had several blood transfusions run a higher risk of dying within thirty days after the operation. An important finding was that patients who were administered plasma with a conservation time of over 320 days showed a 3 times higher mortality than patients who received plasma with a shorter conservation time. Patients without additional risk factors live just as long as the regular Dutch population.

Key words:

coronary bypass, risk factors, mortality

“The introduction of the nurse practitioner in general practice”

The general practice care is under pressure because of in increasingly growing care demand. Because highly qualified nurses take over tasks from GPs and support the practice organization, more patients receive care of the same quality at lower costs. This also improves the process of care provision in the general practice. Thanks to the Nurse Practitioners in the care for people with common complaints GPs can concentrate on the care for patients with complex health problems. Important in this respect is that the financing of general practice care is adjusted.

Key words:

general practice care, nurse practitioner, care demand

“Beauty Pays”

“Fall prevention among people who have sustained an injurious fall: a multidisciplinary approach”

“Macular pigment; In the healthy and diseased retina”

This dissertation studies the central part of the macula, also called ‘yellow spot’ that allows us to see in great detail and in colour. The macular pigment (MP), the substance that colours the yellow spot yellow, has a central role here. A large quantity of MP appears to lower the age-related macular degeneration. This retina disorder is the main cause of visual handicap in industrialized countries. MP consists of substances that are absorbed from food. This dissertation focuses on measuring the MP in an objective, reproducible way so that research into the role of MP and retina disorders can be conducted in a reliable way. Among others, it turns out that people with much MP have a more sizeable retina. Also an abnormal MP distribution was found in two rare retina disorders. 

Key words:

ophthalmology, macula pigment, age-related macular degeneration

“State of the (he)art: prikkelen, rekken en samentrekken”

“Cognitive dynamics of fluent reading and spelling development”

Fluent reading is essential for good functioning in our knowledge society. This dissertation studied how the reading system develops, and whether the reading development depends on the orthographic structure of a language. Some languages namely have a much more distinct relation between writing and pronunciation than others, and this could influence the reading development. However, research showed that the reading system develops in a universal manner, and that in all studied languages the same processes underlie the process of learning to read. The speed at which a child learns to read, however, is in fact influenced by the orthographic structure of the language.

Key words:

reading development, dyslexia, orthographics

“Loss and risk aversion in games and decisions”

“Perinatal mortality in the Netherlands: perinatal audit and fetal biometry”

In the Netherlands, almost 1 out of 100 children dies before, during or in the first four weeks after birth. This is more than in most other EU countries. This dissertation outlines the causes of perinatal mortality, describes the possible factors that might play a role here, as well as the avoidability of perinatal mortality in the Netherlands. It turns out that growth delay, premature birth and multiple pregnancies contribute importantly to the perinatal mortality. By means of fetal growth curves for skull and belly perimeter based on echography the fetal growth at the beginning of the third pregnancy quarter can be assessed more accurately in the regular midwife practice than before. This could lead to timely referral in case of disorders in fetal growth and a decrease of perinatal mortality. 

Key words:
Perinatal mortality, perinatal audit, fetal biometry, substandard care, avoidability..