Academic Ceremonies May 2009

“Balancing Trade and Health in the SPS Agreement: the development Dimension”

The Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reflects a negotiated balance between competing objectives: liberalization of trade in the food and agriculture sector and protection of health by national governments. This research analyzes the consequences of the rules of the SPS Agreement for WTO Members with different development levels. Currently, the judicial organizations of the WTO (panels) interpret the SPS Agreement from a normative vacuum; the judging of a complaint about or the defence of a measure is mainly based on scientific evidence material. Developing countries that do not dispose of the necessary scientific capacity are at a disadvantage in this matter. According to Prévost the international human rights law (particularly the right of life, health, safe food and development) offers the stringently needed normative framework that can lead to a more suitable balance.

Key words:

WTO, international trade law, food security, developing countries

“Histaminergic manipulations of human cognition: studies of pharmacological effects on evoked potentials and performance tests”

Clinical disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, involve decreased cognitive functions that can still not be sufficiently treated. Earlier research suggests that the neurotransmitter histamine could play a role in these disorders and could possibly be the basis for new medication. First should be examined which role histamine plays in cognitive functions. This dissertation describes the effects of various histaminergic manipulations on cognitive functions in healthy people. The conclusion is that histamine especially plays a role in the speed of information processing. The consequences of these results for the development of new medication needs to be further investigated.  

Key words:

cognition, histamine, medication

“On social Cognition: Vulnerability and symptoms in Psychosis”

“Neuropathology of Schizophrenia: a new vistas”

“Mechanocontrol of cardiac growth and remodeling”

Mechanic strain of the tissue determines for an important part the structure of the heart muscle. To gain better insight in the relation between mechanic strain and changes in the tissue structure and pumping capacity, hypotheses were tested in a mathematical model for the possibility of reproducing experimentally observed heart muscle geometry, structure and remodelling. It turned out that adaptations in the tissue structure on the basis of local mechanic strain was sufficient for the reproduction of the experimental observations. One of the conclusions is that there is a relation between remodelling, tissue mass, structure (muscle tissue orientation) and pumping capacity.

Trefwoorden:

mechanic strain, remodeling, heart muscle

“On hypervigilance and extreme evaluations in borderline personality disorder”

“Beyond Motivation; an exploration of pre- and postmotivational determinants of cancer-related behaviors”

At least one third of all cancer cases can be prevented by a healthy lifestyle. Many people have the intention to live healthy, but only a relatively small percentage succeeds at doing that. There is a big difference between what people want and what they do. This dissertation shows that it is important to consciously plan preparatory actions that lead to healthy behaviour. For eating sufficient fruit, for example, it is important to make plans about buying fruit, taking fruit to school or work, or replacing unhealthy snacks by fruit. It also turns out that making specific plans about when, where and how the behaviour will be carried out is an easy and very effective method for improving the health behaviour of people.

Key words:

cancer, behaviour, health

“The empirics of contracts; theoretical and empirical observations on contract design”

“Portal Dosimetry in Radiotherapy”

The aim of radiotherapy is to radiate tumour tissue with a high radiation dose, while the dose in the surrounding normal tissue is as low as possible. To achieve this, a radiation is accurately prepared with the help of extensive imaging and advanced computer software. However, the dose that is actually emitted to a patient during the radiation can significantly differ from the prescribed dose. This can negatively influence the outcome of a treatment. This dissertation describes methods to control the dose during radiation with images of Electronic Portal Imaging Devices (EPIDs). The results show that dose verification procedures based on EPID measurements offer a high accuracy. Moreover, a greater variety of errors in dose emission can be traced compared to traditional methods. The clinical application of this method leads to adjustments and improvements in radiations for a large group of patients.  

Key words:

radiotherapy, imaging, dose verification

“Nutritional factors predicting postoperative Infectious complications in the Mekong Delta,  Vietnam”

“Epidemiological studies of Schizophrenia”

“Objects, meaning, and the brain; neuroimaging studies on the impact of semantics on cortical  integrative processing”

People are capable of recognizing common objects, not only with their visual faculty, but also with their hearing. In most cases we experience seeing an object and hearing its sound as strongly interconnected. In the studies that were described in this dissertation test persons perceived either sounds or both sounds and images of objects, while their brain activity was measured in a brain scanner. The results show that specific parts of the brains are involved in the processing of different categories of sound. Acquired associations between the sound and the image of an object appear to stimulate the processes of integration and object recognition. The studies contribute to a better understanding of object recognition by means of sound and the complex interaction between our senses.  

Key words:

sound image brain activity, object recognition

“The role of gender in medical speciality choice and general practice preferences”

“Genetics and cardiovascular risk in a primary care population. Studies from the  HIPPOCRATES project”

For years already, many cases of cardiovascular disease occur in the Kerkrade region.  This dissertation studied in a primary care population whether the determination of a series of genetic characteristics has an added value for the determination of the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This study investigated six polymorphisms. One of the main conclusions is that there is indeed a connection between these polymorphisms and cardiovascular diseases, but that the added value for this group of primary care patients is minimal (only 1% more compared to the traditional risk factors such as cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes). Therefore, too small to use in the day-to-day clinical situation in the entire group. For individual patients with specific characteristics, however, there were indications that determination of certain polymorphisms could contribute to the estimation of the cardiovascular risk.

Key words:

cardiovascular diseases, genetics, polymorphism, general practice

“Wisdom is the meetingpoint of doubt and certainty”