Academic Ceremonies January 2013

“Liability for Asbestos-Related Injuries”

The growing number of asbestos victims not only received much attention as a social issue, but it also has led to complicated problems of liability law and legal dispute. This comparative law dissertation on the most reasonable way of dealing with the problem of causality uncertainty in asbestos claims not only studies proportional approaches in liability law, but also alternative solutions inside and outside the liability law. The role experts in civil procedures and the use of epidemiologic evidence were critically examined. Sobczak concludes with several ideas to realize a better settlement of asbestos-related claims and other claims in which the same problems are manifested.

Key words:

liability law, asbestos victims

“Bipolar disorder in daily life; Mood and cortisol responses to naturally occurring events”

“Cognitive and Electrophysiological Responses to dopaminergic manipulations”

This dissertation describes research into the role of the drug dopamine in the human brains during thinking processes such as attention and memory. Increasing dopamine in healthy persons led to somewhat improved performance and concentration during attention and memory exercises. This improved performance could also be visualized by the change of a brainwave (biomarker) that was measured in the preparation time before a reaction. These results support research and development of new medication for the treatment of psychiatric diseases in which the dopamine system is disturbed, such as Parkinson’s disease, ADHD and schizophrenia.

Key words:

memory, dopamine, brainwave, medication

“Superficial Basal Cell carcinoma in the Spotlight”

The strongly rising costs of healthcare in the Netherlands force professionals to seek the most cost-effective treatments. Skin cancer (in 80% of the cases a basal cell carcinoma) is becoming a worldwide epidemic. Treatment leads to very high costs. This thesis studies the most cost-effective, non-invasive therapy for the superficial basal cell carcinoma. Both imiquimod and 5-fluorouracil cream turn out more cost-effective treatments than the photodynamic therapy that was so far the most commonly applied. Using this result in practice will deliver the Dutch healthcare savings of 1.5 to 3 million euro per year.

Key words:

skin cancer, effectiveness study

“Transitiepsychiatrie: Bridging the Gap”

“Duurzaamheid van wijkgerichte gezondheidsbevordering; Een praktijkgericht onderzoek naar de factoren die van invloed zijn op duurzaamheid van Zuid-Limburgse wijkgerichte gezondheidsbevordering”

To promote the health of the population in disadvantaged districts, the GGD Zuid-Limburg (South Limburg Community Health Service) organizes district health programmes. However, it is difficult to give this type of programmes a sustainable permanent position in the district. This dissertation provides insight in the meaning of sustainability within district-oriented health promotion and in the determining factors. Sustainability turns out to be a complex notion that the cooperating partners in district-oriented health programmes often give their own interpretation. They are unanimous about the importance of leadership in these programmes, particularly about the role of the initiator. Once the initiator retreats, that usually means the end of the programme. The initiator must also be a jack-of-all-trades, who is a discussion partner for all parties in the district, but also secures financial means and bonds involved managers and authorities.

Key words:

gezondheidsbevordering, wijkgericht, duurzaamheid, leiderschap

“Considering care: a clinical and economic evaluation of schema therapy for personality disorders”

“Human Capital, Incentives, and Performance Outcomes”

This thesis analyses two popular instruments by which firms can increase their workers’ performance: learning and incentives. The performance of workers in a call centre was followed over time. It shows that informal learning (learning by doing) and formal training courses positively impact performance, and that learning is affected by the composition of teams: workers learn faster if they are placed in teams with more experienced colleagues. It also shows that incentives have a positive impact on performance. Bonus payments depending on achieved performance can increase average performance of workers. The results imply, however, that high-performing agents who would get the bonus anyway, show no increase in performance.

Key words:

work performance, learning, incentives

“Fitting in or breaking free? On health behavior, social norms and conformity”

People have great influence on each others’ behaviour. This thesis studies the influence of social norms on health behaviour. The opinion and the behaviour of others appear to also influence the health behaviour, both positively and negatively. At the same time it turns out that people not always follow the masses without thinking, but that they sometimes also decide to behave in a healthy way although they notice that the majority doesn’t. A recommendation that emerges from the current research is that professionals in the field of health promotion should emphasize positive and healthy social norms because these stimulate healthy behaviour. For example: ‘Most people take the stairs instead of the elevator’ instead of a message such as ‘Nine out of ten people don’t eat two pieces of fruit per day’.

Key words:

healthy behaviour, social norms

“Context, Communication and a “Dutch Treat” for the Public’s Mental Health”