There has never been a more pertinent time to discuss the accountability and the legal responsibility of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for fundamental rights violations. In a... Show moreThere has never been a more pertinent time to discuss the accountability and the legal responsibility of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, for fundamental rights violations. In a period that hosts the first legal actions vis-à-vis the agency and a series of relevant non-judicial investigations, including by the European Parliament, this dissertation aims to address the main problem underlying these accountability efforts, namely the ‘problem of many hands’. As conceptualised by Dennis Thompson, this problem is where the multiplicity of the actors involved obscures the various responsibilities and creates gaps in accountability.To address it, this work contests the dominant ways of looking at the concepts of responsibility and accountability, and reimagines them for their optimal function.It adopts a holistic approach, taking into account not only judicial, but also other forms of accountability, studying not only EU liability law, but also other legal remedies before the CJEU, the ECtHR, and domestic courts, building bridges between international and EU law, and traveling from the empirical to the conceptual, to the normative, and from there to the applied.It creates the foundations for the accountability of the agency inside and outside courts, within the EU borders and beyond. Show less
Cultural objects have a protected status on account of their intangible value, as symbols of an identity. This has been so since the early days of international law, and today there is an extensive... Show moreCultural objects have a protected status on account of their intangible value, as symbols of an identity. This has been so since the early days of international law, and today there is an extensive legal framework that ensures this protection.Yet, when it comes to claims by former owners to items such as Nazi looted art, colonial booty, or more recently looted antiquities, the situation is less straightforward. On the one hand, such claims are often not supported by positive law at all. On the other hand, non-binding regulations urge present possessors to find `just' solutions to claims – not as a legal obligation but as a matter of morality. This raises a fundamental question: if we believe that the application of the law leads to injustice, is it not time to change the law or the way it is applied?This study explores how cross-border claims to cultural objects fit in the wider legal framework, and where blind spots or clashes occur. Its aim is to identify new directions that can help further develop this field, with the ultimate aim of fostering just solutions. Show less
This thesis investigated the development of emotional functioning in 2-to-6-year-old children with and without autism. Whereas autistic children experienced more challenges in the emotional domain,... Show moreThis thesis investigated the development of emotional functioning in 2-to-6-year-old children with and without autism. Whereas autistic children experienced more challenges in the emotional domain, their emotional abilities improved with age, and developed in similar ways as observed in non-autistic children. On the one hand, this thesis showed that autistic children might deal with emotions in a different way, and they might experience various difficulties when communicating emotions with non-autistic people. One the other hand, it is important to note that the difficulties could be bidirectional. As stated by the “double empathy problem”, non-autistic people may experience the same difficulties when communicating with autistic people. This could be a meaningful direction for future research, investigating emotional communication as a two-way interaction rather than focusing only on how people with autism react to people without autism. Furthermore, this thesis showed that autistic children had the potential to learn and to develop in the emotional domain. Again, this points to the importance of investigating how to create an inclusive social environment, which is not only nurturing for children without autism, but can also benefit the development of children with autism and with other special needs. Show less
In this study, I aim to address a long-standing question in Southeast Asian historiography, namely: Why did two seemingly irrelevant edibles, pepper and sea cucumbers, feature so prominently in... Show moreIn this study, I aim to address a long-standing question in Southeast Asian historiography, namely: Why did two seemingly irrelevant edibles, pepper and sea cucumbers, feature so prominently in Southeast Asian exports to China in the early modern period? I approach this question through an intersection of Chinese cultural history and Asian maritime history. I argue that pepper and sea cucumbers represented two distinct Chinese food cultures, which became important in two different stages. Pepper became a popular hot spice in Chinese cuisine during the Mongol Yuan period, when the Mongol Conquest of China and Persia created a trans-Indian Ocean empire and facilitated the circulation of pepper from South India to China. Sea cucumbers became a coveted sea delicacy in Chinese high cuisine in a much later stage, roughly from the late sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries, in association with the expansions of the Manchus, the Dutch, and the British in the areas around the China Seas. Between these two stages, there was a gustatory revolution energised by debates in Chinese medicine from the fourteenth through the seventeenth centuries. Through that revolution, a transformation from the world of pepper to the world of sea cucumbers took place. Show less
With advancements in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), more and more individuals across the globe want access to these medical miracles, not only to realise their desire for offspring but... Show moreWith advancements in assisted reproductive technologies (ART), more and more individuals across the globe want access to these medical miracles, not only to realise their desire for offspring but also to realise their desires for specific offspring and/or healthy offspring. South Africans are no exception. The challenge posed by this situation is that there is no specific right to reproduce with assistance in this country. Instead, there are certain general constitutional rights which may be interpreted as affording recognition to this right. Moreover, while the current legislative framework permits certain forms of ART, it expressly prohibits others, or it fails to make provision for newer and emerging technologies entirely. As a result, prospective parents are uncertain about the reproductive options available to them. Increasingly individuals are approaching the courts for clarity regarding their rights. The results have however been conflicting. Additionally, divergent views on the applicability of children's rights to prospective offspring is a complicating factor, which has yet to be resolved in South Africa (SA).This thesis, therefore, attempts to contribute to the existing knowledge on the legal rights of prospective parents to make use of ART in SA. It does so, by firstly exploring the current legal framework for assisted reproduction (AR). It additionally explores the legal implications of AR for the various parties concerned, in particular the prospective parents and the future child; and how their interests are balanced, if at all. What emerges from this investigation is that tension exists between the interests of these parties.The study further considers the existence of a right to reproduce from a global perspective. Given that there is no such express right, the thesis considers how the right has been given effect to by applying other rights. In this regard five primary rights have been identified, namely the rights to reproductive autonomy, reproductive health care, dignity, equality and privacy. The thesis then examines how the rights identified above have been interpreted to recognise reproductive rights and whether these interpretations would be useful in recognising the right to reproduce with assistance in SA.The thesis concludes that while the right to reproductive autonomy offers the most recognition to prospective parents’ rights to make use of certain forms of ART, it too is inadequate. To address this shortcoming, the study calls for legislative reform as well as wider interpretations of rights to accommodate various family forms. The need to adopt an interconnected approach that considers both the rights of the prospective parents and the potential offspring is also proposed. This however requires a consistent approach to be applied in respect of the interests of prospective offspring, which is currently lacking. These recommendations would go a long way towards realising the right to reproduce with assistance in SA and it would undoubtedly provide clarity on the existence of this right. Show less
The aim of this thesis was to answer currently unanswered questions regarding health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in glioma patients by undertaking powerful detailed secondary analyses of... Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to answer currently unanswered questions regarding health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in glioma patients by undertaking powerful detailed secondary analyses of existing pooled individual HRQoL patient data, which was previously collected in 15 RCTs in glioma patients.In total, data of 6048 glioma patients was included in the CODAGLIO database and 5 manuscripts were written that provide relevant information both for clinical practice as well as for clinical trials. Results of these studies entailed information on the added prognostic value of HRQoL at baseline in predicting survival. Furthermore, symptom clusters were identified and their association with functioning was investigated, and the impact of both (progression of) the disease and treatment on HRQoL deterioration was studied. Moreover, the ‘net clinical benefit’, weighing HRQoL and survival was calculated and different analytical methods to calculate change in HRQoL were compared.The CODAGLIO project, the largest individual patient data (IPD) project in neuro-oncology research so far, showed to represent an unique opportunity for secondary hypothesis testing, to answer clinically relevant questions with respect to HRQoL. Show less
This dissertation is about the broadcasting of dakwah on Indonesian TV stations. It deals with the production and circulation of dakwah programmes on TV and elucidates the social and educational... Show moreThis dissertation is about the broadcasting of dakwah on Indonesian TV stations. It deals with the production and circulation of dakwah programmes on TV and elucidates the social and educational backgrounds of popular TV preachers in order to understand the rise of the programmes in post-Suharto Indonesia. Furthermore, this dissertation discusses the competition among various Muslim organisations to influence the production of dakwah programmes and the formation of religious authority through the broadcasting of dakwah programmes on TV channels. This dissertation is based on one-year ethnographic fieldwork in Jakarta, Medan, and Bali, which includes observations and interviews with the producers, preachers, and audiences of dakwah programmes, Muslim leaders, and members of Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI). This dissertation shows the important role of TV in the construction of religious authority, which becomes more fragmented in Muslim societies like in Indonesia partly because of televised dakwah. Most of the current researches on dakwah activities focus mainly on social media like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram but neglect the role of other media like TV. In fact, TV still plays an important role in daily activities of Indonesian society with its programmes. Muslims watch TV programmes such as dakwah, news, soap operas, talk and reality shows during their leisure and busy time. Muslim leaders make use of TV to disseminate their teachings and enhance their charisma among Muslim audiences. Presidential candidates and political leaders use TV stations to promote their political agendas to gain supports from the society. Show less
The work described in this Thesis is focused on the assembly of oligosaccharide fragments derived from a fungal polysaccharide, galactosaminogalactan (GAG) and fragments of the exopolysaccharide... Show moreThe work described in this Thesis is focused on the assembly of oligosaccharide fragments derived from a fungal polysaccharide, galactosaminogalactan (GAG) and fragments of the exopolysaccharide Pel, generated by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. To assemble the corresponding oligosaccharides, synthetic methodologies, enabling the stereoselective construction of the required cis-glycosidic linkages has been developed. These synthetic fragments will be valuable tools to elucidate the biosynthesis of GAG and Pel, and characterize the enzymes involved therein. Show less
Herniation of the lumbar disc can cause severe pain radiating down the leg alongside a dermatome. This pain can be caused by compression of the nerve root, but recent evidence has indicated that a... Show moreHerniation of the lumbar disc can cause severe pain radiating down the leg alongside a dermatome. This pain can be caused by compression of the nerve root, but recent evidence has indicated that a local inflammation response may also play a role. This thesis focuses on how macrophages that infiltrate the herniated disc in patients with lumbar disc herniation, influence pain and recovery after discectomy. Our data shows that for most patients, if macrophages are present, they benefit the process of healing by leading to a quicker resorption of the herniated material which results in faster recovery. However, for patients with Modic changes, which indicates a degenerated endplate (structure between disc and vertebrae), the presence of macrophages is less beneficial, for they recover more slowly after surgery. The reason for this discrepency seems to be an altered differentiation profile in macrophages. Macrophages differentiate into different types with different behaviours: the M2 macrophages are known for its anti-inflammatory properties and tissue resorption. Our study found M2 macrophages in lower numbers in patients with degenerated endplates, which can explain their slower recovery. Together the data indicates that macrophage differentiation profiles in lumbar herniated discs are promising treatment targets. Show less
This research problematizes the rapid growth of beauty blogs, investigating how this process has been shaped and accelerated by gender discourses, platform labor, and the beauty industry, each of... Show moreThis research problematizes the rapid growth of beauty blogs, investigating how this process has been shaped and accelerated by gender discourses, platform labor, and the beauty industry, each of which is rooted in the broader context of China’s social transformation. It offers an integral frame to understand the drivers and effects of beauty bloggers and the wanghong economy in China. It reveals that the explosive development of beauty blogging in China is a result of connections and cooperation among heterogeneous actors at a specific historical conjuncture. Gendered beauty has played an indispensable role in China’s economic reform in that the former has driven and strengthened the latter and vice versa. Platforms worked in tandem with changing beauty discourses and promoted their expansion through beauty blogs. In the meantime, the rise of beauty blogging in China is an embodiment of global capitalism, which has strong ties with the beauty industry’s pre-digital system of mass production. Show less
The work described in this dissertation contributes to a better mechanistic understanding of nanoparticles in vivo. To achieve that goal, we used the zebrafish as a highly predictive pre-screening... Show moreThe work described in this dissertation contributes to a better mechanistic understanding of nanoparticles in vivo. To achieve that goal, we used the zebrafish as a highly predictive pre-screening model of nanoparticles. This approach enables the investigation of the fundamental behavior of nanoparticles, correlation of the physicochemical properties of the formulated nanoparticles with their biodistribution and identification of important nano-bio interactions. Zebrafish established transgenic lines were used to study specific interactions. In addition, genetically modified zebrafish applying CRISPR/Cas9 were generated. These strategies not only show key mechanistic features of nanoparticles in circulation, but also promote the rational design of more efficient nanoparticles systems.After understanding the fundamental behavior of nanoparticles, this thesis describes the identification of a key interaction between stabilins receptors (expressed in liver sinusoidal endothelial cells) and nanoparticles. Next, the scope is changed to design nano-systems that target specific cell types showing liposomes capable of switching the surface charge in situ and in vivo using light as an external trigger and a rationally designed lipid nanoparticle formulation containing mRNA able to preferentially target the hepatic reticuloendothelial system. In addition, a phase-separated liposomes hijacking a lipase mediated transport to selectively target endothelial lipase in vivo was studied. Show less
This dissertation investigates the properties of a particular type of question, namely wh-in-situ questions in French. It examines their properties from two perspectives related to the context in... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the properties of a particular type of question, namely wh-in-situ questions in French. It examines their properties from two perspectives related to the context in which a question is uttered. These are (a) the information structure of the sentence, specifically focus and givenness, and (b) the distinction between regular information seeking questions and echo questions.An important result is the insight that French has two mechanisms to interpret wh-in-situ questions, yielding potentially identical looking questions with different properties. While certain speakers only have one of these mechanisms to interpret wh-in-situ questions in their grammar, others, often younger speakers, have both. This explains much of the data confusion regarding the properties of French wh-in-situ questions.The investigation also provides more general insights into the relation between wh-questions and aspects of the preceding context. While it is often assumed that the focus in wh-questions necessarily equals the wh-phrase, the dissertation shows experimentally that this is not the case in all languages. In languages like French, what is focused may depend on the preceding context, as in declaratives. The dissertation also suggests a direction of research for contextually restricted wh-in-situ in wh-fronting languages like English and German Show less
The scope of the thesis is: “bleeding in patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia”. Despite platelet transfusions bleeding occurs frequently in these patients and besides highlighting the... Show moreThe scope of the thesis is: “bleeding in patients with hypoproliferative thrombocytopenia”. Despite platelet transfusions bleeding occurs frequently in these patients and besides highlighting the variance in methodology of assessing bleeding symptoms and reporting in different bleeding scales, various risk factors for bleeding are illustrated in the introduction of the thesis. In the three following chapters the scoring of bleeding symptoms, the adjudication of symptoms in bleeding scales and the methodology concerning these aspects and more of a large platelet transfusion trial comparing pathogen reduced platelets (by using the Mirasol technique) to control platelet products is described. Chapter five describes the results of this randomized controlled trial and in the following chapter the association between endothelial damage (as measured by microalbuminuria in patients) and bleeding is described. Alternative bleeding scales besides the WHO bleeding scale are described in chapter seven and the last chapter summarizes the findings. Show less
This thesis is dedicated to the exploration of the primordial dark ages: unknown physics during the earliest stages of the Universe’s expansion that have not yet been directly probed by... Show moreThis thesis is dedicated to the exploration of the primordial dark ages: unknown physics during the earliest stages of the Universe’s expansion that have not yet been directly probed by observations. Cosmic inflation is a burst of exponential expansion of space after the “Big Bang”. The energy that drives inflation must be transferred to elementary particles and radiation. This process is called reheating. The unknown expansion history of the universe during the reheating era connects the cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations to inflationary physics. CMB is a relic radiation that provides us a snapshot of the primordial universe. Both the inflationary and reheating eras generate signatures to be seen via upcoming gravitational waves and CMB polarization experiments. In this thesis we show analytically a scaling behaviour that allows for an easy estimate of the reheating efficiency for one broad family of multi-field models of inflation that is called α-attractors. We show the influence of the asymmetry around the minimum of potential on the reheating efficiency. Moreover, we study the predictions for chiral gravitational waves production by a spectator gauge field sector in scalar single-field inflation. Finally, we present a new class of inflationary models that is called “shift-symmetric orbital inflation”. Show less
In this thesis, the different key roles of molecular pathology in bone and soft tissue tumors are reflected in clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular studies to aid diagnosis and... Show moreIn this thesis, the different key roles of molecular pathology in bone and soft tissue tumors are reflected in clinicopathological, immunohistochemical and molecular studies to aid diagnosis and prediction in a range of different bone and soft tissue tumors. Show less
Burgerraadplegingen door het Openbaar Ministerie, actievere voorlichting en uitspraken in ‘klare taal’: initiatieven gericht op verbetering van de relatie tussen de strafrechtspleging en het... Show moreBurgerraadplegingen door het Openbaar Ministerie, actievere voorlichting en uitspraken in ‘klare taal’: initiatieven gericht op verbetering van de relatie tussen de strafrechtspleging en het publiek zijn er te over. Dit is niet verwonderlijk, nu vaak wordt aangenomen dat deze relatie onder hoogspanning staat. Burgers vinden de straffen maar laag en rechters zijn te ver verwijderd van de burger, is de veelgehoorde gedachte.Dit onderzoek probeert antwoorden te geven op vragen die in dit verband rijzen. Waarop is de veronderstelling dat de relatie tussen het publiek en de strafrechtspleging zo problematisch is, eigenlijk gebaseerd? Waarop stoelt de gedachte dat de in de praktijk ontplooide initiatieven deze relatie zouden kunnen verbeteren? Wat kan er beter in de relatie tussen het strafrecht en het publiek? En wat verstaan we in dit verband precies onder ‘beter’?Om deze vragen te beantwoorden worden in dit onderzoek empirische en normatieve gezichtspunten gecombineerd. Het bevat een theoretische analyse van begrippen als ‘publieke opinie’ en ‘legitimiteit’ en een kritische bespreking van bestaand onderzoek. Daarnaast wordt aan de hand van twee deelstudies onderzocht hoe het Openbaar Ministerie in dialoog treedt met de publieke opinie. Het onderzoek resulteert in een concreet beoordelingskader voor op de publieke opinie gericht handelen van actoren in de strafrechtspleging en besluit met enkele aanbevelingen aan politiek, strafrechtspraktijk en wetenschap. Show less
In this thesis cochlear morphology and the intra-cochlear position of cochlear implant electrode arrays is being studied. Gaining insight in the variance of cochlear morphology allows to study the... Show moreIn this thesis cochlear morphology and the intra-cochlear position of cochlear implant electrode arrays is being studied. Gaining insight in the variance of cochlear morphology allows to study the effect of morphological characteristics on surgical and speech perception outcomes following cochlear implantation. Furthermore, evaluating the intra-cochlear position of cochlear implant electrode arrays contributes to the search for the optimal position of the array in terms of speech perception outcomes. Show less
**English Translation of this thesis can be found at : https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3245181 **Deze dissertatie gaat over hoe schrijvers en beeldende kunstenaars uit Equatoriaal Guinea door middel... Show more**English Translation of this thesis can be found at : https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3245181 **Deze dissertatie gaat over hoe schrijvers en beeldende kunstenaars uit Equatoriaal Guinea door middel van hun werk aandacht vragen voor de huidige (politieke) situatie in hun land; een voormalige kolonie van Spanje die in 1968 onafhankelijk werd met tot op heden een dictatoriaal regime. Onderzocht is, vanuit een politiek-filosofisch kader (Jacques Rancière en Alain Badiou) en door middel van een narratieve en visuele analyse, waar zich in de werken van de uit het land afkomstige schrijvers Donato Ndongo Bydiogo, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel en María Nsue Angüe, en de beeldende kunstenaar Ramón Esono Ebalé, breukvlakken en leegten bevinden. Mijn onderzoek toont aan dat het bijzondere en de kracht van hun werken niet zozeer gelegen is in de hierin naar voren komende historische aspecten of bepaalde binaire tegenstellingen (zoals veel onderzoekers tot nu toe veronderstelden), maar juist in het poëtische van wat de in de werken gevonden breukvlakken en leegten blootleggen en openen. Dat maakt dat met deze werken een procedure in gang wordt gezet die de gesloten waarheid van het huidige dictatoriale regime overstijgt, waarmee die dictatuur als het ware wordt opengebroken en geleegd. Show less
The last decades it is increasingly recognized that acute as well as chronic postoperative pain is an important problem. Treatment and prevention of postoperative pain is a challenge, especially in... Show moreThe last decades it is increasingly recognized that acute as well as chronic postoperative pain is an important problem. Treatment and prevention of postoperative pain is a challenge, especially in special patient populations where there is only limited guidance on how to optimally use opioids. In this thesis we focused on the perioperative use of opioids in three different populations. First, the influence of the opioids remifentanil versus fentanyl on acute and chronic postoperative pain was investigated in adult cardiac surgery patients. Second, pharmacodynamic modelling methods were applied to analyze the postoperative use of morphine in children after cardiac surgery. Finally, a pharmacokinetic model was developed to investigate the influence of obesity on the pharmacokinetics of morphine and its metabolites. Pain remains a complex puzzle among biological, psychological, behavioral and social-cultural factors. The high inter-individual variation in all of these factors results in postoperative pain still being a major issue while the ultimate goal is to stay without pain after a surgical procedure. Therefore, the answer to the question: “Does it still hurt?” is: YES unfortunately. This thesis adds pieces to this complex puzzle by focusing on the use of opioids in three different patient populations. Show less
Biomarker molecules are analyzed in clinical tests to diagnose a disease, but often these test lack sensitivity or specificity. Also, for many diseases there is not even a blood based test... Show moreBiomarker molecules are analyzed in clinical tests to diagnose a disease, but often these test lack sensitivity or specificity. Also, for many diseases there is not even a blood based test available, while blood collection is relatively low invasive. For breast- and pancreatic cancer, there are several proteins that could potentially serve as biomarkers in blood, but these are not yet specific enough to use for diagnostic testing. Further research on other types of biomarkers may therefore be a valuable addition to eventually be able to develop a blood test. Methods for glycosylation profiling from serum and dried bloodspots with mass spectrometry were developed and applied to pancreatic- and breast cancer biomarker studies. Differences were found between profiles of healthy and sick persons for pancreatic cancer, but no clear differences were seen for breast cancer. This is probably due to the many different forms of breast cancer which result in different profiles. In the future, combining different types of markers from serum might ensure that differences between healthy and sick, between different diseases and between types of disease can be identified. This could lead to the development of a blood test for the early detection of cancer and other diseases. Show less
