The dissertation explores the intricate relationship between family dynamics, legal practices, and the status of women in Ba County during nineteenth century (1803-1873). It delves into how family... Show moreThe dissertation explores the intricate relationship between family dynamics, legal practices, and the status of women in Ba County during nineteenth century (1803-1873). It delves into how family members leveraged the Great Qing Code and Confucian values, particularly the cult of female chastity and made use of the identity of women to gain advantage in court. The research examined 617 cases from the Ba County Archive in order to shed light on the interplay of law, state ideology, and patriarchal systems. The legal records offer a “representational reality”, influenced by state ideology, rather than an accurate depiction of women’s lives. Legal cases highlighted the instrumental use of women, their lack of agency, and disputes over their ownership, but the passive status of women was just a representational reality. Family relationships and litigation strategies were the key to understanding the narratives on women in the Ba County Archive, and the passive status of women was a result of such depiction. Show less
Protoplanetary disks are the gas and dust environments where planetary systems form around young stars. Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) this thesis... Show moreProtoplanetary disks are the gas and dust environments where planetary systems form around young stars. Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) this thesis analyses the gaseous molecular reservoir, using multiple tracers to resolve the 3D structure of protoplanetary disks. Using observational and theoretical methods the focus is to study the vertical disk structure, which is expected to contain crucial information on the material distribution, thermal and radiative disk structure. This work presents new techniques to use the vertical dimension as a probe of the planet-forming conditions, obtaining measurements of material turbulence, total disk mass and molecular depletion. Overall, the results from this thesis have laid the foundations for many future studies focusing on resolving the initial planet-forming conditions throughout the 3D protoplanetary disk structure. Show less
This thesis has the aim to identify challenges and to optimize management and care of older patients with multimorbidity and cancer. The first part focuses on identifying challenges in the current... Show moreThis thesis has the aim to identify challenges and to optimize management and care of older patients with multimorbidity and cancer. The first part focuses on identifying challenges in the current way of organising care from perspective of patients, informal caregivers and the healthcare professionals. Furthermore, it advocates for policy makers to aid in changing care in this population. The second part looks at patient priorities and the involvement of the older patient in decision-making. It identifies the importance of quality of life and further investigates the exact meaning of quality of life. Additionally, it tests a method (the OPT-c) to elicit patient priorities for various health outcomes. The third part then specifies how chronic health conditions could be incorporated and monitored in cancer care. It starts with a study on which chronic health conditions are relevant in decision making and care and how to incorporate them. An additional study then identifies 19 core symptoms to monitor in older patients with multimorbidity and cancer. The results of the previously mentioned chapters are combined in part four, which consists of the description of the new patient-centred care pathway for the older patient with multimorbidity including cancer. Show less
The studies in this thesis jointly led to an evidence-based, expert-based and experience-based conceptualization of the challenging rehabilitation environment in five clusters. This... Show moreThe studies in this thesis jointly led to an evidence-based, expert-based and experience-based conceptualization of the challenging rehabilitation environment in five clusters. This conceptualization has been incorporated into the CREATE-tool, a team-self assessment tool that can be used to implement and evaluate the challenging rehabilitation environment in geriatric rehabilitation departments.This CREATE-tool is able to identify areas for improvement for the challenging rehabilitation environment at ward level and professionals are satisfied with the use of the tool. Show less
Over the past decade, the abundance of high-throughput omics approaches coupled with the use of machine learning techniques, has made it possible to investigate the full molecular complexity of... Show moreOver the past decade, the abundance of high-throughput omics approaches coupled with the use of machine learning techniques, has made it possible to investigate the full molecular complexity of health and aging. The primary forcus of this thesis was to study and improve biological aging prediction. To achieve this we developed, evaluated, and deployed state-of-the-art models predicting different aspects of human health risks by employing multiple omics measurement, with a particular attention given to 1H-NMR metabolomics. Availability, affordability, interpretability, and robustness of the 1H-NMR metabolomics platform by Nightingale Health makes it a powerful tool with implications in the risk prediction of common diseases. We explored this research line in epidemiological settings within the BBMRI-nl consortium, which incorporates 28 cohorts with various specific characteristics. Hence, we took advantage of the wide range of health statuses when examining the extensive BBMRI datasets, investigated specific subgroups such as elderly or night-working individuals respectively recruited for the Leiden Longevity Study (LLS) and LIFELINES, and even explored the potential complementarity and interaction of different omics (e.g., 1H-NMR metabolomics, DNA methylome) available within the subset known as BIOS Consortium. Show less
Although classical DC (cDC), which are derived from myeloid progenitors,are specialized in antigen processing and (cross)presentation. However, theyalone are sometimes not enough to prime efficient... Show moreAlthough classical DC (cDC), which are derived from myeloid progenitors,are specialized in antigen processing and (cross)presentation. However, theyalone are sometimes not enough to prime efficient CD8+ T-cell responses. Theconcept of DC licensing by CD4+ T-cell “help” for anti-tumor CTL responses wasdiscovered in 1990s. Since then, ample mouse studies have been conducted aimingto discover the mechanism of the “help” signals. In this thesis, I delved intothe molecular mechanisms of CD4+ T-cell “help” as a critical signal that cansuccessfully activate human cDC1 and describe the clinical significance of cDC1licensing in human cancers. I also explored the role of type I interferon(IFN-I) signaling as part of cDC1 licensing machinery, and identified tumor-infiltratingKi67+CXCL13+CD4+ T-cells as IFN-I producers in the context of help delivery tocDC1 in the tumor. With the intention to employ the knowledge of DC biology incancer treatments, I also explored the potential of DC targeting immunotherapies.Lastly, as an integral component of my exploration into DC biology, Iinvestigated how myeloid progenitors respond to both external and internalstress. Show less
The overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues.... Show moreThe overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues. The stage is set by an exhaustive study of topological defects in passive p-atic liquid crystals, singularities in the orientation field, that allow us to bridge our continuum theory with the discrete epithelial cellular network. After questioning the very existence of active liquid crystals, we confirm they form a new, distinct universality class of orientationally ordered systems, of which tissues are a typical case. We then proceed to identify the precise nature of their orientational order. Although complex and long debated, we show that tissues exhibit only 6-fold (hexatic) and 2-fold (nematic) orientational order, at small and large scales respectively. Before concluding, we establish a predictive, quantitative duality between topological defect dynamics and cell intercalation. Cell intercalation is the origin of collective cell migration, an essential mechanism of epithelial tissues, necessary for functions such as morphogenesis, wound healing, and even cancer progression. Our results are supported by a combination of experiments, analytics, and numerical simulations. The analytic and computational toolkit we utilize comprises concepts, mathematics, and models from hydrodynamics, theory of elasticity, statistical physics, and topology. Finally, we close with some thoughts on the emergence in living systems, revolving around our central theme of epithelial tissues. Show less
Gender separatist utopian literature portrays communities that are populated with only women while men live elsewhere or at times as slaves. This separatism brings about issues of sociopolitical... Show moreGender separatist utopian literature portrays communities that are populated with only women while men live elsewhere or at times as slaves. This separatism brings about issues of sociopolitical and emotional conflict between women and men. This subgenre carries great potential for the interrogation of the supposed biologically inherent differences between women and men, and also among women in the same gender groups. I concentrated on the narrative cycle of hope, destruction, and rebirth present in many literary examples from this subgenre. The cycle starts out with the complete destruction of the current state of affairs in their respective worlds in order to achieve a state of tabula rasa. In this research project, I examined a wide variety of gender separatist feminist utopian texts, spanning from the work of Christine de Pizan from the 1400s -absent in most of the overviews of this genre dominated by men- up until the work of Leigh Richards in 2004 (a pseudonym for Laurie R. King). Keeping the scope of my corpus as wide as I could helped me gain a literary overview of the subgenre, with a clear focus on the last decades of the 20th century. My dissertation engages with questions regarding whether the connection between this narrative cycle and utopian disillusionment can lead to a perceived failure of the utopian ideal, whether feminist utopianism can be located in feminist dystopian narratives of destruction, how this cycle can interact with the common traditions of utopian literature, feminist utopian literature, and feminist theory, and how women's subjectivity in these works of literature relates to the problem of history, how the 'female subject' sees her role in relation to her sociopolitical context, and how the mechanism of hope, destruction and optimism interact in this subgenre. Show less
This thesis first provides a grammar sketch of Teke-Kukuya which is a Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo, covering the topics on its segmental phonology and prosodic system, noun... Show moreThis thesis first provides a grammar sketch of Teke-Kukuya which is a Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo, covering the topics on its segmental phonology and prosodic system, noun classes and noun phrases, verbal morphology and TAM conjugations, as well as some syntactic issues based on newly collected data. The second part of the thesis investigates the interaction between syntax and information structure in this language. The author discusses word order variation and expressions of information structure with particular interests in a dedicated immediate-before-verb (IBV) focus position in this language. Since the IBV focus construction shares many grammatical properties with clefts, both segmentally and tonally, the author makes the hypothesis that diachronically the IBV focus strategy originates from a basic cleft, and it has been grammaticalised towards a monoclausal focus construction. The thesis also gives a synchronic analysis on the structural representation of the IBV focus construction, discussing the subject agreement asymmetry in subject/non-subject relatives and the associated class 1 subject marking alternation in the IBV focus construction. Show less
Interventional oncology has rapidly developed into a significant pillar in the treatment of liver cancer. Thermal ablation is an example of an interventional oncology treatment, in which a needle... Show moreInterventional oncology has rapidly developed into a significant pillar in the treatment of liver cancer. Thermal ablation is an example of an interventional oncology treatment, in which a needle can be directly inserted into the tumor from outside the body. The tip of this needle can become extremely hot through the use of radiofrequency or microwaves, effectively burning the tumor from the inside out. Transarterial therapies are other interventional oncology treatments that can be administered through the arteries of the affected part of the liver. Small microspheres containing radioactive material or chemotherapy block the blood supply to the tumor and deliver the treatment locally.Part one of this thesis describes the research into ablation margin confirmation. Standardized pre- and post-ablation CT scans were registered and used to quantify the obtained ablation margin. This workflow was first tested in the IAMCOMPLETE study. Potentially, this software tool could identify patients at risk for local recurrent cancer.Part two of this thesis studies combined treatment regimens of early stage HCC. The HORA EST HCC study was the first clinical trial to combine thermal ablation with radioembolization. Hyperaemia around the ablation zone was found to cause radiation dose accumulation in the tissue susceptible to local residual tumor after thermal ablation.In part three of this thesis, the long-term affect after radioembolization was studied. Show less
This dissertation discusses the legal aspects of ADR, analysing whether the current international legal framework for space activities adequately regulates ADR and if not, what the gaps are and how... Show moreThis dissertation discusses the legal aspects of ADR, analysing whether the current international legal framework for space activities adequately regulates ADR and if not, what the gaps are and how they can be filled. To answer this question, the dissertation identifies issues related to the governance of ADR that need legal answers. It then examines the two pillars of international space law: the hard law pillar, which encompasses the United Nations space treaties and other applicable rules and principles under general international law, and the soft law pillar, comprising non-legally binding instruments that set out expected behaviours and best practices in outer space. The aim is to assess whether these two pillars provide an adequate response to the regulatory needs of the identified issues. An examination of the two pillars shows that while the existing legal framework lays down fundamental rules and principles that apply to ADR activities, it falls short of adequately governing the identified issues associated with ADR. To address the regulatory gaps, this dissertation analyses initiatives undertaken at national and international levels relevant to the governance of ADR and provides recommendations for the further development of international space law to better accommodate ADR activities. Show less
In 2018, the nationwide action program Solid Start was launched by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, aiming to ensure the best possible start for all children during the first... Show moreIn 2018, the nationwide action program Solid Start was launched by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, aiming to ensure the best possible start for all children during the first thousand days of life. The 'first thousand days' refer to the period from conception to a child's second birthday, which lays the foundation for health and wellbeing in later life and across generations. The main objective of this thesis was to provide insight into the adoption of the Dutch nationwide action program Solid Start, thereby focusing on monitoring and cross-sectoral collaboration. Throughout our studies, we learned that monitoring vulnerability in early life and monitoring the action program Solid Start at local level requires a consideration of both risk and protective factors spanning across multiple sectors. This underscores the relevancy for preventive programs that connect the medical and social sector, and it implies that monitoring requires cross-sectoral longitudinal data and indicators. For future practice and policy, we advise to create a long-term perspective, integrate the action program Solid Start into everyday practice and stimulate learning processes at different levels. Despite opportunities for improvement, this thesis implies a solid start for the Dutch first thousand days-approach. Show less
This thesis investigates the interaction between syntax and information structure (IS) in Tunen, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by approximately 70,000-100,000 people. Tunen has previously... Show moreThis thesis investigates the interaction between syntax and information structure (IS) in Tunen, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by approximately 70,000-100,000 people. Tunen has previously been noted to be unusual for a Bantu language in several respects, being the only one of the 550-some Bantu languages reported to have subject-object-verb (SOV) rather than subject-verb-object (SVO) basic word order. As previous work suggested that Tunen's unusual syntax relates to IS, this thesis serves to test this relationship. The principal data source comes from fieldwork conducted by the author in Ndikiniméki/Yaoundé, Cameroon, with supplementary evidence from secondary sources and remote elicitation. The results indicate that Tunen syntax shows less influence from IS than expected from previous work on the language and the surrounding languages. Instead, Tunen's basic word order is shown to be consistent across discourse contexts, clause types, and object types. Alongside discussion of the SOV word order, the thesis investigates IS expression and the syntax of a typologically-unusual discontinuous DP construction, which is shown to be found across information-structural contexts. A first formal analysis of Tunen syntax is provided within the framework of generative syntax, and the thesis also includes an updated grammatical overview of the language and sample texts. Show less
Nocebo effects are adverse treatment outcomes that cannot be attributed to active treatment components. A common example is the experiencing of side effects after reading the side effect... Show moreNocebo effects are adverse treatment outcomes that cannot be attributed to active treatment components. A common example is the experiencing of side effects after reading the side effect description on a medication leaflet. Nocebo hyperalgesia, i.e., increased pain sensitivity due to nocebo effects, can be acquired via learning in both healthy and clinical populations, and has a large social and economic impact on healthcare. In the current dissertation, we investigated the experimental learning mechanisms behind the acquisition and recovery of nocebo hyperalgesia in healthy individuals and in patients with fibromyalgia, and the potential differences between groups. Additionally, we investigated the predictors of nocebo hyperalgesia acquisition and recovery to identify individuals who are more susceptible to these effects. Lastly, we stepped outside of the lab-settings and in an electronic diary study, examined the role of (experimentally-induced) nocebo hyperalgesia in daily pain progression of patients with fibromyalgia. The current dissertation offers insights for better understanding the expectancy and learning mechanisms behind nocebo hyperalgesia in individuals with and without chronic pain. These can be useful for the future design of personalised learning-based interventions for targeting nocebo effects on pain. Show less
A Josephson junction is a device where a thin insulating barrier or a nanostructure is placed between two superconducting leads. Such a junction is essential to superconducting qubits that store... Show moreA Josephson junction is a device where a thin insulating barrier or a nanostructure is placed between two superconducting leads. Such a junction is essential to superconducting qubits that store quantum information due to its anharmonic spectrum. Therefore, understanding the physics of these junctions is crucial for predictions of the qubit's main qualities, such as the dephasing and relaxation time. Most modern superconducting qubits use Josephson junctions with an insulating barrier (tunneling junction). One of this thesis aims is to explore other possibilities that may allow for better properties of the qubit. Show less
This study examines a single English language usage problem, number agreement in the variants of the species noun phrase ; e.g. 'these kinds of errors' vs. 'these kind of errors' vs. 'errors of... Show moreThis study examines a single English language usage problem, number agreement in the variants of the species noun phrase ; e.g. 'these kinds of errors' vs. 'these kind of errors' vs. 'errors of this kind' from three perspectives: those of linguists, prescriptivists and the general public. The study, framed by the descriptions given in modern reference grammars and theoretical analyses (the linguists), is conducted within the historical perspective of the advice given in usage guides published between 1770 and 2010 and beyond (the prescriptivists). The general public is represented in an online attitude survey of the variant forms, and by an analysis of a corpus of un-copy-edited academic writing that was compiled specifically for this study. The main findings are (i) that there is a great deal of harmony between the views of the three groups studied, and that, on the basis of these analyses, the popular view of 'descriptive' linguists in conflict with 'prescriptive' usage guides is not justified; and (ii) that the innovative use of multiple contextualised examples in the attitude survey contributes to the suggestion of - a cline of acceptability - on the part of the general public, rather than a simple - acceptable- vs. - unacceptable stance- . Show less
This thesis describes the development of a reference standard for urinary tract infection (UTI) research. It also provides cut-off values for pyuria and novel urine biomarkers to more accurately... Show moreThis thesis describes the development of a reference standard for urinary tract infection (UTI) research. It also provides cut-off values for pyuria and novel urine biomarkers to more accurately diagnose UTI in older women. Finally, this thesis investigates intravesical aminoglycoside instillations and faecal microbiota replacement as strategies to prevent urinary tract infections in patients with recurrent UTI. Show less
Damage to the endothelial glycocalyx leads to endothelial dysfunction and microvascular changes, which can progress to the development cardiovascular complications. In type 2 diabetes, the... Show moreDamage to the endothelial glycocalyx leads to endothelial dysfunction and microvascular changes, which can progress to the development cardiovascular complications. In type 2 diabetes, the pathogenic diabetic milieu induces structural changes in the endothelial glycocalyx. In this thesis, we investigate if microvascular changes can be detected and used as a diagnostic marker in individuals at risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Secondly, we show that urinary MCP-1 and HPSE-1 levels are correlated with the urinary albumin creatinine ratio in a multi-ethnic cohort of individuals with type 2 diabetes. Higher urinary MCP-1 levels can be found in individuals from Moroccan and South-Asian Surinamese descent. Lastly, we show a fasting mimicking diet is effective to reduce Hba1c end BMI in South-Asian Surinamese patients with diabetes, but did not improve the microvascular health. In the diabetic glomerulus, the loss of capillaries was prevented but increased oxidative stress was found. A supplement with glycocalyx mimetic did improve the microvascular health in South-Asian individuals and showed to preserve glomerular endothelial coverage in the experimental study. In this thesis, we show that the endothelial glycocalyx can be used as a diagnostic marker for vascular health and can be used as a therapeutic target in type 2 diabetes. Show less
This dissertation examines the digitisation and automation of Chinese courts from 2013 until 2022. Occurring in parallel with a multitude of other judicial reforms, this dissertation argues that... Show moreThis dissertation examines the digitisation and automation of Chinese courts from 2013 until 2022. Occurring in parallel with a multitude of other judicial reforms, this dissertation argues that Marxist-Leninist ideological conceptions of the role of law and courts in governance facilitate the rapid embrace of automated technologies. They shape the adoption and deployment of these technologies as well as the consequences. The principal ideological conviction that drives smart court reform (SCR) is that the technologies of automation will turn justice administration into a real science, and that science will make adjudication fairer and more efficient. The digitisation and automation of courts reveal that there exists a pervasive conviction among China's intellectual and ruling elite that governance and justice need to be scientific, to be legitimate and fair. This conviction guides the digitisation and automation of all domains in China's political-legal system.In addition, this dissertation argues that SCR has contradictory goals that seem difficult to reconcile. However, because of ideological conceptions, these goals are not seen as contradictory within the Chinese political-legal system itself. Show less
