Actinobacteria are well known for the production of bioactive natural products, many of which have applications in the fields of human, animal and plant health. Subject of this thesis are the anthracyclines, glycosylated aromatic polyketides with potent anticancer activity.

As leading cause of death worldwide, cancer is responsible for nearly 10 million deaths in 2020 according to World Health Organization (WHO). Cisplatin and its derivatives are commonly used chemotherapy agents for current cancer treatment in the clinics.

Classical statistical methods, such as p-values, are difficult for researchers to apply correctly. They for example do not allow drawing conclusions from a study early, or for extending a study with extra research groups that want to make their data available later.

The focus of the described research in this thesis is on the oxidative stress response (Nrf2 pathway). The aim of the research presented in this thesis is to obtain more information concerning microRNAs which are involved in the Nrf2 pathway, to determine and evaluate the application of microRNAs for…

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading global cause of mortality. Endothelial dysfunction, an early reversible stage of CVD development, is marked by decreased nitric oxide production linked to Ca2+ influx in endothelial cells.

Atherosclerosis is the most important underlying process that drives cardiovascular disease, and is characterized by an accumulation of cholesterol which triggers an inflammatory response in the vessel wall.

To an algebraic curve C over the complex numbers one can associate a non-negative integer g, the genus, as a measure of its complexity.

In some condensed matter systems, such as the surface of a 3D topological insulator, the electrons are effectively massless and we must necessarily use the massless Dirac equation to describe them.

Promotor: Jaap Brouwer, Co-promotor: Remus Th. Dame

My PhD thesis investigates the ecological significance of resistance against drought-induced air bubble formation inside the water conduits of plants (embolism), and the plasticity and functional aspects of stem anatomical traits in woody and herbaceous species.

Marine sponges are important members of reef ecosystems, as they play ecological roles that are essential for the health of the reef.

Assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) solely on the basis of experimental assays is time-consuming, resource intensive, and constrained by ethical considerations (such as the principles of the 3Rs of animal testing). The adoption of computational toxicology in this field is a high p…

Promotor: H.V.J. Linnartz

Glycoside hydrolases (glycosidases/GHs) are widely abundant enzymes in all kingdoms of life and are important biocatalysts that catalyze the hydrolysis of glycosidic linkages in oligo/polysaccharides, glycoproteins and glycolipids with tremendous efficiency

Promotor: A.P. IJzerman

In this PhD-thesis several new and existing data science application are described that are particularly focused on applications for tax administrations.

This dissertation, Layered Loyalties: The Natuurkundige Commissie in the Netherlands Indies (1820-1850), studies the Natuurkundige Commissie.

This dissertation focuses on developing new mathematical and statistical methods to properly represent time-varying covariates and model them within the context of time-to-event analysis.

This thesis focuses on the X-ray spectral analysis of merging galaxy clusters and the plasma code development for future high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy observations.

Promotoren: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo en Dr. R. Heijungs

Promotores: Prof.dr. B.R. Katzy, Prof.dr. K. Sailer (Munich University)

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

This thesis focuses on using liposomes in two different treatment strategies; vaccination (or immunotherapy) and delivery of a small molecule, and in two different disease models; cancer and atherosclerosis.

The filamentous bacteria Streptomyces are widespread inhabitants of terrestrial soils.

This thesis focuses on important life history traits and their trade-offs using two hexapod models. Particularly, the trade-off between immune defense and embryonic developmental speed is a central theme of this study.

To meet the rising demand for minerals driven by the global shift to clean energy technologies, ensuring responsible and resilient supply chains is critical. Minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel for batteries, neodymium and zinc for wind turbines, and indium for solar panels are essential.

Animal diet studies are critical for understanding ecological processes such as trophic interactions, energy flow, and nutrient cycling. By examining what animals consume, ecologists gain insights into species specialization, predator-prey relationships, and ecosystem management.

A key step in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates is the formation of the glycosidic bond.

In this thesis, the focus lies on studying glucocorticoid receptor dynamics in living cells with the aim of understanding how this transcription factor finds its DNA target sites to regulate transcription.

This thesis presents insights from our study of various correlated electron systems with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). In ordinary metals, electron-electron interactions exist, but get substantially screened due to the sheer number of electrons.

Promotor: H.W. Lenstra

Het onderwijsprogramma van Clinical Psychology is gericht op het verkrijgen van gespecialiseerde kennis van psychopathologie, diagnostische- en behandelvaardigheden en daaraan gerelateerd wetenschappelijk onderzoek.

This thesis discusses the physical and chemical processes than influence the composition of forming planets.

The main aim of this thesis was to unravel the signaling and regulatory networks that drive tumor cell migration during breast cancer metastasis.

Promotor: J. Aarts

In this thesis integral points on affine del Pezzo surfaces are studied.

Biological cells, the basic building blocks of all life forms, are surrounded by a lipid membrane. More than half of the membrane is occupied by membrane proteins, which can regulate the cell functionality through specific arrangements.

Op 13 januari 2022 verdedigde Pie Habimana het proefschrift 'Harmful Tax Competition in the East African Community'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.dr. H. Vording en prof.dr. S.C.W. Douma (UvA).

This thesis tackles the difficulty of predicting the liver’s clinical response to novel therapies, a challenge arising from interspecies differences and limitations of existing in vitro models.

Dissolution processes – next to aggregation processes - play an important role for fate prediction and environmental risk assessment of metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs). It is challenging to predict the kinetics of the dissolution process of MNPs in complex systems such as we can find in in vivo and…

Bacteriophages, or phages for short, are the most abundant biological entity in nature. They shape bacterial communities and are a major driving force in bacterial evolution.

In today's volatile market environments, companies must be able to continuously innovate. In this context, innovation does not only refer to the development of new products or business models but often also affects the entire organization, which has to transform its structures, processes, and ways of…

The thesis explores micromammal fossils from the Afşar section in Anatolia, a crucial locality for understanding the Pliocene epoch and the transition to the Villafranchian Age.

In condensed matter systems electron-electron interactions, negligible in everyday metals, can dramatically alter the electronic behavior of the system. Examples of such altered behavior include high-temperature superconductivity and modulation of the electron density.

This thesis addresses the challenge of sustainable urban development by analyzing the interplay between green and grey infrastructure to optimize resource use and ecosystem services.

Supervisor: P.J.J. Hooykaas Co-Supervisor: R. Offringa

Op 11 november 2021 verdedigde Mariana Gkliati het proefschrift 'Systemic Accountability of the European Border and Coast Guard'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door promotoren prof.dr. P. Rodrigues en prof.dr. L. Besselink (UvA).

Religie is overal. Kennis van religie is essentieel voor iedereen die de wereld wil begrijpen. Het Leids Centrum voor Religiewetenschap (LUCSoR) bestudeert religie als een menselijke activiteit, in al zijn verschijningsvormen.

This thesis focuses on developing new chemical synthesis strategies to produce native ADP‑ribosylated biomolecules with precise structural control.

In populations with a seed-bank, individuals can temporarily become dormant and refrain from reproduction until they can become active again. The repository of all dormant individuals in the population is called the seed-bank. Seed-banks are observed in many taxa, including plants, bacteria and other…