Academic Ceremonies October 2011

“May the evidence be with you …”

“The autoreactive B cell response in myasthenia gravis”

“Europeanization through Framing?”

How to account for the spectacular investment and growth of childcare facilities in the Netherlands as of 1995 onwards, and what is the role of the EU therein? The thesis examines the implementation of one European Union (EU) guideline in the Netherlands: the reconciliation between work and private life guideline, and the attached Barcelona quantitative target on childcare facilities coverage rate. The study traces the transformations in Dutch childcare policy since WWII and the underlying political dynamics. It is revealed that the observed policy outcomes are result of activities undertaken by the domestic pro-childcare coalition, and cannot be attributed to the European level of governance. The EU’s influence is discovered (rather indirectly) at the level of strategic policy framing.

Key words:

child care facilities, Netherlands, EU

“Eijsden, een vrijheid met Luikse stadsrechten; Een rechtshistorische schets van de ontwikkeling van een Minderstad in de regio tussen Maas en Rijn (ca. 1300-ca. 1550)”

Was Eijsden in the utmost south-west corner of the Dutch province Limburg a town, a village of neither? That question is at the centre of this law historical study of the development of Eijsden in the period 1300 – 1550. On the basis of legal rules and legal practice in combination with territorial, demographic and socio-economic aspects, Van Hall concludes that in the studied era Eijsden can be regarded as a small town, a Minderstadt. Eijsden received privileges from the prince bishop of Liège that were derived from the city rights of Liège. Eijsden is exemplary for numerous small towns that were established in the Late Middle Ages by various sovereign lords in the politically fiercely contested area on both sides of the Maas. Hans van Hall (1949) is attached as archivist to the Regional Historic Centre Limburg and the Social Historic Centre for Limburg, both co-financers of this research. 

Key words: 

urban history, Late Middle Ages, Eijsden, Liège

“The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible”

“Team Adaptation; A cognitive perspective”

To face the ever increasing dynamics, complexity and insecurity of their environment, it is crucial that teams learn to adapt. This dissertation studies the role of team cognitive structures (the knowledge teams have of their task and team) and cognitive processes in team adaptation. In earlier studies the focus was often on overlap in knowledge structures among team members, but flexibility and complexity of these structures turn out to be at least as important. Team adaptation is positively related to the degree to which team members adapt their knowledge structures in line with changes in their environment. Moreover, well performing teams spend relatively much time on structuring and sharing information in the start phase of a crisis and subsequently take decisions faster than less well performing teams.

Key words:

team cognitive structures, team adaptation

“CD 36; a target to restore cardiac function in type 2 diabetes”

Today in the Netherlands 50% of the people are overweight and half of them will develop diabetes type 2. The risk that these people develop cardiovascular diseases is twice as high. The healthy heart uses both sugars and fats for fuel, but the heart of diabetic patients uses mainly fats. This dissertation studied promising new target proteins for the development of new heart metabolic treatments and tested these in in vitro and in vivo models for insulin resistance. Hopefully these new insights will help people in the process of lifestyle change that are also necessary for the prevention and treatment of heart metabolic diseases.

Key words:

diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, target proteins

“Van genen, golven en gestalten”

“The nutritional anti-inflammatory reflex: From rodents to man”

“Detection of developmental toxicity using differentiating embryonic stem cells; a transcriptomic approach”

The use of test animals is more than ever on the social agenda. There are many actions by test animal activists against the use of test animals and at the same time there is a programme going on to detect the toxicity of substances that are on the market. In this PhD research a test method was developed that uses stem cells instead of test animals. The researchers have shown that with the help of this test method the harmfulness of a substance for the embryonic development can be identified.

Key words:

test animals, alternatives, stem cells

“De Doos van Pandora, vooronder-stellingen over de ontwikkeling van het volkenrecht”

“Integrating pre-clinical skills training in skills laboratory and primary health care centers to prepare medical students for their clerkships”

Indonesian medical students encounter problems when transitioning from the preclinical to the clinical phase of the undergraduate curriculum. Many students feel ill prepared for training in the clinical environment. This thesis explores the transition problems of students of the Faculty of Medicine – Gadjah Mada University (FM-GMU), Indonesia, and describes the implementation of early clinical experiences (ECE) as a possible solution. Students who participated in ECE in Primary Health Care Centers learn more efficiently during their first clerkship(s) and take more opportunities to perform skills, compared to students who did not take part in ECE. Considering the limitations of clerkships in duration and learning opportunities, this difference clearly enhances the effectiveness of the clinical phase.

Key words:

clinical skills training, undergraduate, ECE, primary health care 

“Interactions between ET-1 and CGRP in resistance arteries”

“The use of personal developments plans in the Workplace. Effects, purposes and supporting conditions”

Despite the popularity of Personal Development Plans (PDPs) in the workplace, little is known about the actual use of the tool and its impact on the employee’s learning and development. Therefore this PhD project researched the effectiveness of the PDP practice for the undertaking of learning activities, expertise-growth and performance. It showed that it is not the PDP that makes employees develop; it is the way it is implemented and used that make the PDP practice work. HRD departments should focus on the supporting conditions within those practices and implement PDPs as learning and development tools especially, since their real power lies in that purpose.

Key words:

Personal Development Plans (PDPs), professional development, workplace

“In pursuit of corporate sustainability and responsibility: past cracking perceptions and creating codes”

“Corporate responsibility, beyond Voluntarism. Regulatory options to reinforce the license to operate”

“Molecular profiling of ovarian serous neoplasms: defining the borderline”

Ovarian cancer is the main cause of death in women with a tumour in the female genitalia. The high death rate can be explained by the fact that the disease is often only diagnosed in an advanced stage, because usually these women don’t have any complaints. The objective of this dissertation is to discover better tumour classification and diagnosis options for two types of tumours (carcinomas and borderline tumours). The distinction between these tumours is clinically very relevant because treatment and prognosis are considerably different. The researchers indeed found several markers that can distinguish borderline tumour and carcinoma. It also turned out that the markers that underwent genetic or epigenetic changes are mainly involved in invasion (the spreading of tumour cells to surrounding tissue). Hopefully in the future the identified markers can be used in the clinic as a diagnostic tool.

Key words:

eierstokkanker, borderline tumor, carcinoom, invasie

“Developmental changes in the pulmonary circulation: role of the nitric oxide / soluble guanylate cyclase / cyclic GMP and the isoprostane pathways”

“Novel pharmacological strategies to reduce acute radiation injury”

After nuclear disasters such as accidents in nuclear plants, but also during cancer treatment with radiotherapy/x-ray treatment, people are exposed to high doses of ionizing radiation. In both cases the radiation exposure can lead to intestinal damage. Given the serious consequences of this damage, it is necessary to develop medicines that prevent and/or decrease this radiation injury. This dissertation presents two new medicines that decrease radiation injury in mice. Not only is shown that these medicines work, but also how they work. Special is that one of these medicines decreases the injury, even when it is not administered until two days after the radiation.

Key words:

radiation injury, medication

“Essays on Financial Market Instability”

This doctoral thesis encompasses a range of topics in empirical finance. The researcher employed new statistical methods to investigate the linkages between international stock markets. He found that stock markets move more closely together during financial crises, limiting the benefits for investors from investing in equity markets abroad. He also found that financial shocks are transmitted across borders through changes in the market's attitude towards risk and financial panic rather than through global macroeconomic developments. This research has practical consequences for portfolio managers who seek to rebalance a well-diversified asset portfolio in response to adverse developments in financial markets, and to central bankers who must combat systemic risks and instability in financial markets.

Key words:

finance, (internationale) effectenmarkt

“Disability and Employment; A Contemporary Disability Human Rights Approach Applied to Danish, Swedish and EU Law and Policy”

This thesis examines the evolving principles of disability human rights law in the field of employment and applies them to Danish, Swedish and EU law and policy. Based on an analysis of the newly-adopted UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and present-day interpretations of international and European human rights instruments, four key characteristics of a contemporary disability human rights approach are identified. The comparison of laws, policies and statistics shows that the main explanation for the extreme difference in employment rates for persons with disabilities and reduced working capacity in Denmark and Sweden lies in the level of employers’ obligations (secured in law and policy) towards these employees. These obligations ensure that working conditions and working tasks are adjusted to the capacity of the employee in question.

Key words:

human rights law, disability, Denmark, Sweden, EU

“The European Public Prosecutor’s Office – Analysis of a Multilevel Criminal Justice System”

Since 2009, the EU is allowed to establish a European Public Prosecutor’s Office. This EPPO would prosecute EU fraud, as well as heavy cross-border criminality. The EPPO would strongly limit the autonomy of the member states. This dissertation makes propositions for the practical realization of the EPPO. It proposes the form of a European prosecutor’s office that settles the most important cases and relies on the national public prosecutor’s offices for all other cases. The EPPO must constitutionally be well embedded. The preference goes to a semi-independent European public prosecutor’s office that is under the general control of the EU Council of Ministers. The EPPO will render account to the Council of Ministers as well as to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the national parliaments.

Key words:

European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), European criminal law, European constitutional law, public prosecutor’s office

“Free gathering and movement of evidence in criminal matters in the EU”