International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications
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Handelsbescherming:De Koninklijke Marine en de bescherming van de Nederlandse koopvaardij 1935-1991
Get PDFIn Handelsbescherming staat een vaak onderschat maar strategisch cruciaal thema centraal: de bescherming van koopvaardijschepen tegen geweld op zee. De centrale onderzoeksvraag luidt: op basis van welke theoretische inzichten, historische ervaringen en bondgenootschappelijke invloeden ontwikkelde handelsbescherming zich in 1946-1991? Hoewel klassieke seapower-denkers het onderwerp uitvoerig behandelden en de geallieerden tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog kostbare lessen leerden, toont dit onderzoek hoe moeizaam Nederland en zijn bondgenoten die kennis in de Koude Oorlog toepasten.Handelsbescherming kreeg hernieuwde aandacht binnen de Koninklijke Marine (KM) omstreeks 1935. Na 1945 werd het de voornaamste marinetaak en voor de NAVO waren veilige trans-Atlantische zeeverbindingen van strategisch belang. Toch was het meer dan een militair vraagstuk: effectieve bescherming vereiste nauwe samenwerking tussen de KM, het Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat en de reders, die uiteenlopende belangen en verantwoordelijkheden hadden. Uit omvangrijk archiefonderzoek in binnen- en buitenland blijkt dat deze samenwerking herhaaldelijk vastliep op financiële, bestuurlijke en culturele spanningen.De studie laat zien dat de structurele problemen voortkwamen uit drie dimensies van de complexiteit van handelsbescherming: onduidelijke begripsvorming, uiteenlopende krijgskundige opvattingen en een bestuurlijk complexe uitvoering. Het onderzoek verkent daarnaast de relatie tussen de nationale maritieme identiteit en de mate van aandacht voor handelsbescherming, en introduceert het begrip onderlinge seablindness: het wederzijds onbegrip tussen maritieme actoren dat effectief beleid belemmerde.Dit onderzoek levert zo een vernieuwende bijdrage aan het inzicht in de samenhang tussen maritieme strategie, beleid en cultuur. Het onderstreept de blijvende actualiteit van handelsbescherming in een tijd van hernieuwde geopolitieke spanningen
Viruses in the brain:Insights into viral neuropathology using stem cell-derived organotypic models
Get PDFThis thesis explores virus-induced neuropathology using human stem cell-derived organotypic models that mimic the molecular and cellular complexity of the central nervous system (CNS). Chapter 1 introduces the challenges in studying viral neurological disease, emphasizing the limitations of traditional models and the potential of neural organoids as human-relevant systems. Chapter 2 highlights the importance of unified terminology and context-dependent host–virus interactions in understanding neuropathology.Part I focuses on modeling neuropathology caused by human Parechoviruses (HPeV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Neural organoids were used to show that the neurovirulent HPeV-3, but not HPeV-1, induces strong immune and metabolic disturbances rather than differences in viral replication or tropism. Reanalysis revealed disrupted immunometabolism and glutamate excitotoxicity, implicating host metabolic imbalance in disease severity. Using microglia-containing organoids, HIV infection studies showed that microglia facilitate viral persistence, elevate HIV gene expression, and promote inflammatory amino acid metabolism, highlighting their role as reservoirs contributing to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.Part II applies organoid platforms for antiviral testing. Halofuginone Hydrobromide showed broad-spectrum antiviral potential in organoid systems but limited efficacy at clinically relevant concentrations, demonstrating the translational value of organoids for assessing both efficacy and toxicity.Together, these studies establish human iPSC-derived neural organoids as powerful models for studying viral infection, immune–metabolic crosstalk, and therapeutic interventions. Their multicellular architecture and human relevance position them as essential tools for mechanistic discovery, antiviral screening, and the advancement of precision medicine in neurovirology
The diverse roles of FoxO6 in the developing and adult mouse brain
Get PDFFoxO proteins are known to be involved in a wide array of biological processes, including apoptosis, cellular survival, differentiation and stress resistance. Recently, it came to the attention that FoxO6 displays a specific temporal and spatial expression pattern in the brain, implying that FoxO6 plays a role in the central nervous system. In this thesis the aim was to characterize the function of FoxO6 in the developing and adult mouse brain. Using different FoxO6 deficient animal models, we show that embryonic cortical cells are unable to migrate properly to the superficial layers of the cortex during cortical development. We also identified multiple target genes of FoxO6 and show that ectopic expression of one identified factor, Plxna4, was able to restore the hampered migration. Furthermore, we analyzed the effects of FoxO6 deficiency in the postnatal brain which showed phenotypical changes that resemble pathological changes observed in Cortical Malformation Syndromes, suggesting an involvement of FoxO6 in the development of cortical malformations. Next to these changes in cortical migration we observed other changes indicating that FoxO6 has multiple roles in the developing and adult brain. These overall changes are (more) complex and might even be related to each other. In summary, the research performed in this thesis contributes to the general knowledge of the developing cortex and provides novel insights in the role of FoxO6 and its downstream targets in multiple processes related to brain development and functioning
The effects of time on managers and investors in corporate social responsibility
Get PDFAn emerging body of literature has started to examine the cognitive drivers and financial outcomes of corporate social responsibility (CSR). This Ph.D. research aims to shed light on the overall research question: How do the time perspectives of managers and investors affect their actions with respect to CSR?Specifically, Chapter 3 explores how managerial cognition influences the CSR strategies of Chinese small and medium enterprises. An analysis of qualitative data showed that integrative complexity and temporal orientation work together to shape managers’ strategic goals with respect to CSR, and hence lead to differences in CSR strategies.Chapter 4 examines the impact of top executives’ time horizons on the CSR disclosures of publicly listed Chinese firms. The analysis of a sample of 2,341 firm-year observations from 482 listed Chinese firms during the period of 2010 to 2014 showed that as executives’ time horizons shorten, a firm discloses more CSR information.Chapter 5 examines the responses of institutional investors to the corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility of listed U.S. firms. The analysis of a dataset comprising 11,280 quarterly observations from 670 listed U.S. firms over the period 2007-2014 showed that firms that behave responsibly experience an increase in dedicated institutional ownership, whereas firms that behave irresponsibly face a decrease in transient institutional ownership.Jointly, these three empirical studies indicate that the temporal aspects of cognition affect decision-making related to CSR. Besides having implications for management practice, this dissertation extended the knowledge on the cognitive antecedents and behavioral consequences of CSR
Making the show go on:A study of sound engineers in French and Dutch fields of music production
Get PDFWhile the collective nature of artistic creation has been long accounted for in works such as Howard Becker’s Art Worlds, very few insights and empirical accounts of the role of technical crews exist to this date. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this thesis provides an understanding of the specific contribution of sound technicians in music production, framed as technical intermediaries, and uses this case to include technicians in a revised theoretical framing of the collective production of symbolic goods.Insights from Randall Collins’ interaction ritual chains and Jeffrey Alexander’s cultural performances are used to frame music performances as rituals intending to provide emotional outcomes and social bonding to their participants. The role of technical intermediaries in music performances is to create the material conditions necessary to achieve the emotional outcomes which are their purpose. They bring artistic contents, in their physical forms, to audiences, while preserving the systems of meaning conceived by artists and cultural intermediaries.This thesis describes various implications of bringing technicians in the analysis of the collective mechanisms of cultural production. It questions the notion of generalized symmetry central to actor-network theory and science and technology studies. It proposes an alternative interpretation of Baumol’s law and the “cost disease” of performing arts. It argues that music genres might not be an analytic category best fitted to analyse social practices surrounding music. Finally, it brings insights on sound technicians’ careers and division of work in music production
The making of the global indigenous movement and its relation to Bolivian indigeneity today:Anthropology, development and transnationalism (1930-2012)
No full textThis dissertation documents how discourses and legal frameworks regarding global indigeneity influenced Bolivia’s polity and laws. From a historical approach, it attempts to answer the question regarding how international legal instruments for ‘indigenous peoples’, such as the ILO Convention 169 and the Declaration for United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), became major references for the modification of the Bolivian Constitutions in 1994 and 2009. These constitutional changes converted the country first into a ‘multi-ethnic and pluricultural’ state, and later into a ‘plurinational’ one.The study specifically explores the role of anthropology, international development and transnationalism in this transformation. By exploring the making of the global indigenous movement and Bolivian current indigeneity through a geneaology, the research seeks to unravel how the West, and generally people who do not consider themselves ‘indigenous’, have constructed ‘the other’ over time. Following this, it analyzes the influence of the development industry (which includes NGOs, churches and all types of international development organisations) in the construction of a range of indigeneities within a transnational and historical perspective
In defence of the informed mind:The applicability of international human rights law for the conduct of extraterritorial influence operations by States
Get PDFThe thesis aims to explore how international human rights law applies to the conduct of disinformation, propaganda and other cognitive manipulations by foreign States. In light of the revolutionary developments in information technology and the parallel dependency on mediated information exchange in modern societies, the study examines novel legal problems raised by foreign cognitive influence operations from the perspective of the individual directly targeted or indirectly affected. The thesis raises the issue of extraterritorial applicability of human rights in cognitive operations lacking a direct physical impact and examines the compatibility of such State activities with selected substantive human rights and freedoms that aim to protect the receipt, processing and exchange of information against impermissible interference by a State. The research aims to contribute to an ongoing academic debate concerning the role of human rights law in the information era, with a plea to international human rights law in defence of the informed mind
Precarious motherhood:Maternal health/care and the state in Los Angeles, USA
Get PDFThis doctoral thesis explores the impact of State-induced precarity on the maternal health and mother work of Central American asylum-seeking women living in Los Angeles, U.S. Using ethnographic data collected from 2019-2021, I trace how multiple forms of precarity increase in the lives of Central American asylum-seeking women as they navigate healthcare and social service access while caring for their children. Likewise, I explore service providers’ understanding of and responses to women’s precarity– specifically Home Visitation staff and Community-Based Doulas. Through this research, I demonstrate how precarity is induced in the lives of racialized, marginalized asylum-seekers in the U.S. through various methods of structural violence such as legal violence, infrastructural violence and reproductive governance. Additionally, I discuss how structural racism further perpetuates precarity for racialized, marginalized women through the white medical gaze and State surveillance of their parenting practices. Together, I argue that these forms of precaritization are mechanisms of reproductive violence that must be attended to in order to ensure the advancement of reproductive justice in the United States
Advancing hyperthermia treatment through treatment planning and small animal research
No full textHyperthermia, the heating of tumours to 40–43 °C for one hour, is an established sensitiser to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, effective in several cancers such as melanoma, sarcoma, bladder, recurrent breast, cervix, and rectum. New applications include pancreatic cancer and combinations with immunotherapy. Wider adoption, especially for deep-seated tumours, requires consistent clinical protocols, yet current progress is hindered by variability across institutes and insufficient translational models.This thesis addresses hyperthermia treatment consistency through two main aims: improving the accuracy of hyperthermia treatment planning (HTP) for deep-seated tumours, and enabling clinically representative small-animal studies. In Chapter 2, uncertainty in tissue properties and perfusion was systematically evaluated using a Polynomial Chaos Expansion (PCE) methodology. Results showed that electrical conductivity and perfusion strongly affect predicted temperatures, with variations of up to 9 °C in pancreatic cases. In Chapter 3, robust stochastic optimisation strategies were developed to mitigate these uncertainties, reducing hotspots while maintaining effective tumour heating, thus improving treatment reliability and reducing operator adjustments.Chapters 4, 5, and 6 focus on translational research with the ALBA micro8, a novel miniature phased-array system for mice. Simulations and phantom experiments demonstrated its ability to achieve precise and robust heating of deep-seated tumours under realistic conditions, with high spatial accuracy and tolerance to physiological variations. Dedicated bioheat models for mice further enhanced preclinical HTP accuracy. This system provides a reliable platform for studying hyperthermia’s biological and immunological effects in tumour models.Overall, the research strengthens the foundation for standardised, reproducible hyperthermia delivery, facilitating multi-centre trials and broader clinical implementation. Standardisation and improved consistency will support wider adoption and reimbursement, ultimately advancing oncological care
From crisis to cure:Allogeneic stem cell transplantation for adults with sickle cell disease
No full textSickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited hemoglobinopathies, associated with chronic hemolytic anemia, recurrent vaso-occlusive pain episodes, and progressive organ damage. To date, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the only established curative treatment for patients with SCD. Historically, HSCT was used in children with severe SCD and an available matched sibling donor, applying myeloablative conditioning regimens. More recently, non-myeloablative conditioning and haploidentical HSCT protocols have been developed, rendering HSCT a feasible treatment option for many more patients, including adult patients with SCD. In the Netherlands, the first non-myeloablative transplantation program for adult patients with SCD was implemented in 2018 at the Amsterdam UMC. The studies presented in part I of this thesis aim to improve the outcomes after non-myeloablative HSCT in adult patients with SCD, with a focus on reducing graft failure rate while balancing the toxicity of the conditioning regimen and the risk of GvHD. In part II of this thesis, three studies are presented which sought to enhance our understanding of the impact of allogeneic HSCT on the patients’ immune system. Last, part III of this thesis focusses on evaluating the effects of HSCT on SCD-related organ (dys)function and health-related quality of life.</p