Academic Ceremonies July 2014

“Spinal cord stimulation and pain relief in painful diabetic: polyneuropathy, a translational approach”

Diabetes may cause nerve damage, symptoms of which may include foot pain. As medication is generally not effective in treating this complication, other treatment options such as spinal cord stimulation are being explored. The clinical studies showed that spinal cord stimulation is effective in 67% of the patients. There were also indications that the effect of spinal cord stimulation could be predicted by measuring thin nerve fibre function. The animal research studies showed that the effect of spinal cord stimulation does not depend on the frequency used within the range of 5-500 Hz.

Key words:

diabetes, nerve damage, treatment, spinal cord stimulation

“Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy: A noninvasive Window into Lipotoxicity”

In obese people, fat also accumulates in non-adipose tissues (ectopic fat accumulation). This could cause adverse effects (lipotoxicity), which could play an important role in the development of chronic diseases, such as diabetes. This dissertation researched the relationship between ectopic fat accumulation, mitochondrial function in the heart and liver, and cardiac function using non-invasive magnetic resonance techniques (MR). We explain the complicated relationship between ectopic fat accumulation, mitochondrial function and organ function, which depend on the organ itself and the time the measurement is performed.

Key words:

Magnetic resonance techniques, lipotoxicity, heart, liver 

“Benchmarking and Standardizing of Dietetic Practices In Hemodialysis (HD) patients in Lebanon: Clinical and Quality of Life outcomes”

“Plant stanol esters: Focus on intestinal lipoprotein metabolism”

“Towards clinical applications or real-time fMRI-based neuro feedback”

“The how, not where in functional magnetic resonance imaging”

“The Use of mHealth for Maternal Health Care in Ethiopia”

“The domestic impact and effectiveness of the process of state reporting under UN human rights treaties in the Netherlands, New Zealand and Finland: Paperpushing or policy prompting?”

The critique and recommendations issued by UN human rights committees are often ignored or put aside by governments of countries that prioritise such rights, according to this study. This dissertation examines the impact of these committee recommendations in the Netherlands, New Zealand and Finland. Dutch politicians and policymakers in particular feel irritated and insulted at such external critique. 

The Netherlands tends to disregard recommendations and critique on its immigration policy. Finland, however, tends to be more open and more willing to improve human rights. They also take UN recommendations more seriously and therefore gain more acceptance among the general public. Some recommendations have had an effect in the Netherlands and contributed to the establishment of a Children’s Ombudsman in 2011 and the banning of physical discipline. The SGP has also made it possible for women to run for office.

Key words:

UN human rights committees, recommendations, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Finland

“SmART: Dosimetry and Applications”

“Essays on Applications of Simple Behavioural Rules: An Evolutionary Approach”

“Quantitative morphologic and functional MRI of peripheral arterial disease”

“Cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging of myocardial ischemia and infarction”

This thesis describes the role MRI examination can play in evaluating ischemic heart disease, a condition in which blood flow (and therefore oxygen supply) to the heart muscle is blocked. A lack of oxygen to the heart muscle (ischemia) initially leads to chest pain, and may ultimately result in heart muscle cells dying off (a myocardial infarction). The findings show that MRI is a reliable method to detect ischemic heart disease and to obtain information about the future risk of myocardial infarction. Furthermore, it is shown that echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) - in contrast to MRI - fail to detect some of the (old) myocardial infarctions. Although the findings of this thesis support an increased use of MRI in these cases, further studies are needed to optimise its practical application as MRI is a relatively expensive, time-consuming technique with a considerable impact on patients.

Key words:

ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, MRI

“Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome: a multidisciplinary approach”

“The serrated lesion : endoscopic characterization and clinical implications”

Colonoscopies may be used to detect and remove colon polyps, therefore preventing polyps with malignant characteristics from developing into colon cancer. This thesis shows that some of the ‘serrated polyps’, although previously considered to be benign polyps, do have the potential to develop into colon cancer. This thesis describes the endoscopic characteristics of and risk factors associated with serrated polyps in order to allow these polyps to be accurately identified. Furthermore, gastroenterologists carrying out endoscopies are found to be able to differentiate benign from malignant polyps in an accurate and correct way when examining the colon. In the long term, this may prove to be cost effective as it will no longer be necessary for pathologists to evaluate all polyps as is the case at present.

Key words:

endoscopy, colon, ‘serrated polyps’, colon cancer

“All is well”

“Nanobiologie en Gezondheid”