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Culturele vernietiging en haar blijvende sporen: een vergelijkend onderzoek naar straffeloosheid en de gevolgen van culturele genocide op de bevolking tijdens de Holocaust, Aboriginals in Australië en moslimminderheden in Xinjiang
No full textDeze masterproef onderzoekt het juridische kader rond culturele genocide en de gevolgen van het ontbreken van effectieve strafbaarstelling. Aan de hand van drie casussen – de Holocaust, de Aboriginals in Australië en moslimminderheden in Xinjiang – wordt duidelijk hoe culturele vernietiging diepe, intergenerationele schade veroorzaakt en waarom daders vaak ongestraft blijven. Het onderzoek belicht de bewuste uitsluiting van culturele genocide uit het VN-genocideverdrag, wat leidde tot een juridisch vacuüm en beperkingen voor vervolging. Ook wordt gekeken of het internationaal gewoonterecht erkenning en bestraffing mogelijk maakt. De scriptie analyseert het beleid en de impact van culturele genocide in deze casussen en bespreekt de rol van internationale actoren en verdragen. Tot slot worden tekortkomingen van het huidige rechtssysteem benoemd en mogelijke oplossingen voorgesteld om culturele genocide beter te beschermen en te bestraffen
Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law Electronic Journal - Sept-Oct 2025 Issue
No full textDevelopment and optimization of foundational techniques for the characterization of cytochrome bo3 quinol oxidase from E-coli
No full textAntimicrobial resistance is a major global threat, requiring new therapeutic targets. Prokaryotic cytochrome bo3 ubiquinol oxidase (cyt bo3) contains a unique transmembrane helix (TM0) involved in substrate/product exchange that represents a druggable site. Structural insights into its conformational dynamics could guide the design of inhibitors that disrupt respiration and kill the host bacterium. Monitoring TM0 charge state dynamics during the redox cycle by native-mass spectrometry (native-MS) may uncover conformational intermediates beyond reported 'open' and 'closed' states. We overexpressed and purified cyt bo3 from Escherichia coli, with SDS-PAGE and Blue-Native-PAGE showing characteristic gel bands, while size exclusion chromatography confirmed sample homogeneity. Next, cyt bo3 ubiquinol oxidation was measured spectrophotometrically, yielding a turnover rate of 153.91 e-/sec/enzyme (±23.76). Additionally, we optimized native-MS methods to detect cyt bo3 on a Q exactive UHMR quadrupole-Orbitrap mass spectrometer. Improved desolvation and ion transmission enabled the detection of a 147,951 Da (±49.01 SD) mass matching the cyt bo3 monomer mass from cryo-electron microscopy structures, and a 330,103 Da (±54.38 SD) mass, a putative dimer, respectively. Ion fragmentation using high energy collision induced dissociation to confirm mass identity was unsuccessful, but future strategies will include UV-photodissociation or electron-based fragmentation. Attempts to study ligand-binding effects on TM0's charging status failed due to native-MS signal loss after decylubiquinol addition. Together, these optimized methods enable reproducible cyt bo3 detection and activity measurements, providing a foundation for future structural studies of TM0 and its potential as an antimicrobial target
Lane Change Detection of Surrounding Vehicles in Dashcam Videos: A Synthesis of Methods and Challenges for Future Research
No full textLane change events are a critical focus for road safety research. Detecting the lane-changing or cut-in behavior of surrounding
vehicles using dashcam video has significant potential for supporting driver behavior monitoring and timely interventions during
such events. However, as this field has not yet been systematically reviewed in a dedicated literature survey, researchers often face
the challenge of manually filtering through many studies with overlapping keywords to identify relevant work. To address this gap,
after investing significant efforts to seek the target studies of this specific domain, this paper presents a detailed review of each
recent novel study from 2019. These existing approaches were also innovatively categorized into two main directions: direct model
inference and logical inference based on lane marking. Each category is analyzed to highlight the shared characteristics and key
differences, offering researchers a clearer understanding of the field's current landscape. Based on the analysis, several shared
limitations specific to each direction were identified, and some open challenges that need to be solved by future research were
proposed from both practical application and road safety perspectives. These include the heavy reliance on manually annotated
data during preprocessing, the prevalent focus on evaluating algorithms only on event-specific video clips, and the lack of
connection from detection methods to road safety research, among others. Addressing these issues is critical for advancing this
field and strengthening its connection with real-world safety considerationsThis project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme
under the Marie Skłodowska Curie grant agreement No 101119590
High-order multiderivative methods for ordinary and partial differential equations
No full textThis thesis concerns the design, analysis and application of time discretization applied to differential equations. We work with multiderivative techniques for the time
derivatives. We use high-order temporal derivatives to obtain higher-order methods
rather than multiple stages or multiple steps.
First, we shed light on an issue that arises with implicit-explicit multiderivative schemes. We develop and demonstrate that a novel splitting fully preserves
the scheme’s explicitness while not degrading the order of convergence.
Moreover, we enforce the functional preservation in ordinary differential equations
using a relaxation technique. This technique can be implemented with relatively low
computational cost. By doing this, we considerably reduce the error growth for the
numerical method, especially when the simulation time was long.
Additionally, we use an implicit two-derivative temporal discretization scheme for
the Cahn-Hilliard equation. We show analytically and numerically that the multiderivative techniques preserve the energy stability of the system. This is the first
time an energy-stable multiderivative approach is established for the Cahn-Hilliard
equation. Finally, adding stabilization terms, we prove that an implicit two-derivative
approach is energy stable
Endemic-Epidemic Modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa
No full textDeze thesis past een robuust statistisch model toe om te onderzoeken hoe COVID-19 zich in de tijd en over de negen provincies van Zuid-Afrika verspreidde, met aandacht voor terugkerende golven en de invloed van varianten, vaccinatie, seizoensinvloeden en overheidsmaatregelen. Op basis van dagelijkse besmettingscijfers en bijbehorende covariabelen werd de overdracht opgesplitst in achtergrondrisico, lokale verspreiding en verspreiding tussen provincies. Het uiteindelijke model presteerde goed, zowel qua modelpassing als bij kortetermijnvoorspellingen. Lokale overdracht bleek de belangrijkste bron van nieuwe besmettingen, terwijl ruimtelijke verspreiding varieerde per provincie en beïnvloed werd door mobiliteit. Hoewel Omikron vaker voorkwam bij aanvang, leidde deze variant tot minder lokale verspreiding dan Delta. De effecten van vaccinatie en beleidsmaatregelen bleken beperkt, mogelijk door ongelijke distributie en databeperkingen. Toch wist het model regionale verschillen goed vast te leggen en bood het waardevolle voorspellingen. De bevindingen helpen eerdere uitbraken beter te begrijpen en kunnen bijdragen aan snellere volksgezondheidsacties. Door belangrijke overdrachtsmechanismen en regionale risico’s in kaart te brengen, ondersteunt dit werk betere planning en waarschuwingssystemen, vooral in omgevingen met beperkte middelen
Exploring the limits of exercise capacity in adults with type II diabetes
No full textObjective
This study investigates the mechanisms behind exercise capacity in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), focusing on central and peripheral components, as described by the Fick equation.
Methods
A cross-sectional study of 141 adults with T2DM was conducted, using cardiopulmonary exercise testing, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and exercise echocardiography. Participants with sufficient-quality NIRS data were stratified into tertiles based on percentage predicted VO₂peak. Group comparisons and stepwise regression were used to examine the contributions of central and peripheral components to VO₂peak.
Results
Sixty-seven participants had insufficient quality NIRS data. Those with lower-quality data were more likely to be female (p < 0.001) and had a lower exercise capacity (p < 0.001). Among participants with good-quality NIRS data, those in the lowest fitness tertile were older (p < 0.01), had a longer diabetes duration (p = 0.04), lower eGFR (p < 0.001) and more frequent use of beta-blockers (p = 0.02) and diuretics (p = 0.04). Significant differences were observed in peak cardiac output (p < 0.001) and NIRS-derived parameters across fitness groups. Multivariate regression identified cardiac output as the strongest predictor of VO₂peak, while peripheral oxygen extraction did not improve model performance.
Conclusion
Cardiac output is the primary determinant of exercise capacity in adults with T2DM. This suggests that muscle perfusion may be the main limiting factor in relatively fit individuals with T2DM. However, cardiac output and local muscle perfusion are not directly equivalent, as mechanical factors, such as intramuscular pressure during high-intensity exercise, may prevent maximal perfusion.Funding: This trial received funding from the Scientific Research Foundation of Flanders (FWO – T004420N and FWO –
G095221N). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the
manuscrip
Exploring Prussian Blue as a Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design Cathode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries
No full textHet voornaamste doel van dit onderzoek was om Prussian blue partikels (Na₂Fe[Fe(CN)₆]) te ontwerpen voor de kathodes van natrium-ion batterijen die een minimale toxiciteit hebben op stamcellen maar tegelijkertijd maximaal presteren in batterijen. Om dit te bereiken werden er verschillende nano-, submicron- en micron-grote deeltjes gesynthetiseerd, waarvan de fysisch-chemische eigenschappen met diverse methoden werden gekarakteriseerd. Een selectie van deze deeltjes werd verwerkt in natrium-ion batterijen om hun elektrochemische prestaties te evalueren via rate capability-tests. De toxiciteit werd beoordeeld door hun effect op cel overleving en de expressie van genen gerelateerd aan oxidatieve stress, apoptose en mitochondriale dynamiek te onderzoeken. Dit onderzoek had uiteindelijk tot doel bij te dragen aan duurzame batterijtechnologie die gezondheidsrisico’s beperkt, en zo in te spelen op de groeiende vraag naar energieopslag met aandacht voor de veiligheid van toekomstige generaties
Molecular Engineering of Interlayer Exciton Delocalization in 2D Perovskites
No full textIn recent years, significant progress has been made in improving the stability, photocurrent efficiency and charge transport properties of 2D hybrid perovskites, making them increasingly relevant for optoelectronic devices. Although these layered systems are typically considered quantum wells due to carrier confinement, an emerging strategy is to generate new perovskite functionalities with -conjugated electroactive cores as spacer molecules, which introduceY.B. acknowledges the Winton Programme for Physics of Sustainability for funding. F.K.L and Li.L. acknowledge f inancial support by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through a Vidi grant (grant number VI.Vidi.223.072). This research used resources of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is a U.S. Department of Energy Office (U.S. DOE) Science User Facility supported under Contract DE-AC05−00OR22725 (accessed through the INCITE program). We also acknowledge computational resources on the supercomputer Snellius provided through the NWO Domain Science. S.D.S. acknowledges the Royal Society and Tata Group (grant no. UF150033, URF\R \221026). M.D. acknowledges UKRI guarantee funding for Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022 (EP/Y024648/1). La.L., D.V., S.L., and W.T.M.V.G. thank the FWO for the funding of the FWO-SBO project PROCEED (S002019N). K.V.H., P.L.M., La.L., D.V., and W.T.M.V.G. are grateful to the FWO for the funding of the senior FWO research projects G043320N and G0A8723N. A.M. acknowledges the FWO for funding his FWO fundamental research PhD grant (1115721N). E.G. is funded by the special research fund (BOF) of Hasselt University under grant BOF23OWB24. X.W.C. thanks the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR, Singapore) for the National Science Scholarship. A. L. acknowledges the Cambridge Trust for funding. The authors acknowledge the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program (VAPOURISE, grant agreement No. 101169608)