Academic Ceremonies September 2008

“The use of price and non-price performance measures in debt and compensation contracts”

Performance measures are used to evaluate a firm and/or the management of that firm. This dissertation shows among others the importance of the annual bonus that is positively valuable for both management and stockholders. Moreover, the results show that a detailed specification of the reward system of the CEO is important for both existing and potential investors. The Dutch corporate governance code (Tabaksblat code) urges firms   that are quoted on the Dutch stock exchange to submit this information in the explanatory memorandum of the annual account. This dissertation illustrates the importance of the code stipulations and the enforcement of the remuneration chapter of the Tabaksblat code.

Key words:

Tabaksblat code, performance measures, management

“Analysis of gene expression in the Leishmania Life Cicle:Leishmania ( Viannia) braziliensis and Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana model”

“Criteria for Assessment of Patient Competence. A conceptual Analysis from the Legal, Psychological and Ethical Perspectives”

In view of their self-determination patients have the – in the Netherlands legally established – right to decide whether they want or do not want to undergo a treatment that has been suggested by their healthcare assistant.  The condition for the validity of such a decision is that the patient competent is regarding the matter. There is great interest in concrete criteria by means of which competency can be assessed in patients whose competency positively established.
Welie’s research shows that it is not possible to set good criteria that are both valid and concrete and that an assessment of competency has often more disadvantages than advantages. When an assessment is really necessary, Welie recommends the so-called “recognisable reasons” approach.

Key words:

competency, criteria, self-determination

“Looking beyond the fracture. Prevention in fracture care”

Osteoporosis, or bone decalcification, increase the risk of fractures. Several other risk factors, however, also play an important role, such as disorders that contribute to the risk of a patient falling.  
Out of a group of patients that were earlier treated for bone fractures, no less than 11% returned within 2 years with a new bone fracture.  As a result of that the ‘Fracture and Osteoporosis policlinic was set up in the MUMC+. With the help of a special fracture nurse and systematic application of guidelines for osteoporosis and fall prevention it turned out possible to recognize and treat many risk factors. Consequently, the risk of a new bone fracture decreased by 40% within one year compared to a large group from the period before preventive measures were taken. 

Key words:

osteoporosis, fall prevention

“Human Thermoregulation. Individual differences in cold induced thermogenesis”

“Urinary Incontinence in Nursing Home Care”

“Translational Control during Hypoxia: Consequences for gene expression and hypoxia tolerance”

“Cardiac Mechanomyopathy Integrating the Picture from Cell to Beating Heart”

“Cellular adaption to hypoxia and reoxygenation through gene specific mRNA translation”

“Blood test ordering for unexplained complaints in general practice.The feasibility of a watchful waiting approach”

Every day, general practitioners see patients during their office hours, whose diagnosis they cannot immediately make. We call these complaints unexplained. In the case of unexplained complaints, GPs often order blood tests, but this has various drawbacks. The fact is that 90 percent of the unexplained complaints automatically pass away and conversely it is not always possible to trace a disease by means of blood tests. That is why it is a good alternative to wait a few weeks and only order blood tests if patients continue to have complaints. Our research shows that this strategy is feasible and does not lead to dissatisfied or worried patients. Neither do patients start looking for alternatives, such as alternative healers. 
Subsidized by: College voor Zorgverzekeringen (CVZ)

“Ze komen!” (“They are coming!”)

“Hydroxytyrosol. A versatile antioxidant from olive oil”

“Protein metabolism and nutritional requirements in critically ill children”

In critically ill children a deterioration of the nutritional condition often occurs quickly. This has a harmful influence on the recovery, the duration of the hospitalization and on the growth and development. The cause of the deteriorated nutritional condition is an accelerated decomposition of particularly body proteins in combination with insufficient food intake. In this dissertation by means of various methods the protein decomposition and composition in critically ill children was studied in relation to the quantity of protein in the nutrition. The research showed that a higher protein intake resulted in a decrease of the protein decomposition and an improvement of the nutritional condition. The results emphasize the great importance of adequate nutrition for these children.

Key words:

nutrition, ill children, protein intake

“Changes in Psychosocial Work environment and Health: A Mutual Relationship”

Changes in the psychosocial work environment, such as changes in work pressure or work pattern, occur very often and lead to substantial changes in the mental health of employees. Conversely, changes in mental health also lead to changes in the psychosocial work environment. These are the conclusions of Lore De Raeve in her dissertation “Changes in psychosocial work environment and health: a mutual relationship” for which she hopes to earn her PhD from Maastricht University on 19 September. For the research data from a large prospective cohort study among 12.140 employees were used. The innovative methodology brings the research a step closer to the cause-consequence relationship between the psychosocial work environment and the mental health of employees, as a result of which it can offer leads for prevention and intervention. 

Key words:

labour, work environment, health

“Promoting HIV-testing. The systematic development of an online HIV-prevention intervention for men who have sex with men.”

“A clinical analysis of Financial crises”

“Essays in Behavioral Economics”

Traditionally economics is based on very narrow presumptions about human behavior, namely selfishness. In the last 20 years, however, experimental research has accumulated overwhelming evidence that is at odds with these classical assumptions. It has been shown that people very often care about the distributional consequences of their actions and intentions.
Against this background, in this thesis the impact of broader models of human behavior on decision making and human interactions is studied, for example the impact of indirect reciprocity on human relationships. If educational expenditures of parents into children depend on grandparents' investments into the parent’s education, then private educational spending is inefficiently low and should be supported by the state. This finding stands in contrast to earlier results that show that parents might invest optimally into the education of their children out of pure altruism or strategic transfer motives.

“Prodromal Alzheimer’s disease in subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment: Predictive and diagnostic aspects.”

“Essays on Asset Market comovements”​

“Treating depression in chronically ill elderly. The evaluation of a Minimal Psychological Intervention.”

Elderly people with a chronic disorder often also suffer from mood problems. This can have a quite negative effect on the health and wellbeing of elderly. This dissertation shows that a short-term psychological approach, based on cognitive behaviour therapy and self-management, carried out by a nurse in primary health care, can decrease complaints of depression and can increase the quality of life in elderly with diabetes and/or a chronic lung disorder (COPD). A study into the cost effectiveness also showed that there is a good chance that this approach in practice does not increase the costs. Implementation of this approach in the current healthcare for chronically ill elderly can improve the quality of care for this group.  

Key words:

chronically ill persons, cognitive therapy

“Toekomstverkenning: ambities en de praktijk. Een etnografische studie naar de productie van toekomstkennis bij het Ruimtelijk Planbureau (RPB).”

“Verpleeghuisgeneeskunde al langer officieel erkend; maar ook herkend en gekend?”