Lysosomal acid glucosylceramidase (GBA1) is a lysosomal enzyme that degrades glucolipids with its main substrate being glucosylceramide (GlcCer). Defects in the GBA1 gene lead to glycosphingolipidosis Gaucher disease (GD), in which the hydrolysis of GlcCer is impaired and therefore, it accumulates in…

Despite being the object of intense study, embryonic development has been difficult to model due to a number of reasons. First, complex tissues can be comprised of many cell types, of which we probably only know a subset.

All crested and marbled newts (the genus Triturus) suffer from an unusual genetic abnormality, called a balanced lethal system, that kills exactly half of their offspring. How can a trait so disadvantageous have survived millions of years of natural selection?

Stochastic resetting is simple enough to be approached analytically, yet modifies stochastic processes in a non-trivial way.

Promotor: P.D. Grünwald

Op 11 november 2021 verdedigde Evelien Campfens het proefschrift 'Cross-border Claims to Cultural Objects'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.dr. N.J. Schrijver en prof.dr. W.J. Veraart (VU Amsterdam).

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.W. Canters, Prof.dr. T.J. Aartsma

Langetermijnontwikkelingen, zoals het verouderen van de bevolking, de toename in de gemiddelde levensverwachting en de gevolgen van de recente financiële crisis, hebben bijgedragen aan de discussie rondom de houdbaarheid van het pensioenstelsel.

Pectin is a plant cell wall polysaccharide made of mainly D-galacturonic acid (GA) subunits. The potency of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger to naturally secrete high amounts of pectinases to degrade pectin has been utilized for the industrial production of pectinases.

Promotor: F. Arbab

Overall dispersion in LCA as result of inherent uncertainties, spread and unrepresentativeness.

In this dissertation iron-based homogeneous catalysts were synthesized, characterized and investigated for water oxidation activity.

Utilizing the polymeric platform of polypept(o)ides, this thesis describes synthesis and investigation of novel triblock copolymers to obtain carrier systems with multiple compartments for efficient siRNA delivery. Although the individual microstructure of nanoparticles differs depending on the polymeric…

Acute cardiovascular clinical events such as myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke represent the major cause of death in Western societies. These pathologies are primarily resulting from atherosclerosis, a progressive condition characterized by the accumulation of lipids, immune cells, and fibrous…

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. One of its symptoms is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta.

Balsaminaceae is a diverse plant family characterized by a huge floral morphological diversity.

This thesis describes the use of a combined approach of computational and experimental techniques to gain novel insights to understand the glycosylation reaction and its reactive intermediates.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel

Self-assembly is an abundant process in nature and is vital to many processes in living organisms.

The increasing competition in the automotive industry requires the tailored, swift development of technologically sophisticated vehicles. Therefore, the computationally expensive state-of-the-art simulation technologies are combined with optimization algorithms. An example of a real-world optimization…

Protein–protein complexes are formed via transient states called encounter complexes that greatly influence the formation of the stereospecific complex.

Cancer is considered the silent pandemic of the 21st century and the second leading cause of death worldwide.

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), one of the largest families of membrane proteins, are responsive to a diverse set of physiological endogenous ligands including hormones and neurotransmitters.

Promotor: Jan van der Greef; Co-promotors: Mei Wang; Eduard van Wijk

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Kuiper

The field of exoplanet research is rapidly advancing through the development of new technology, observing techniques, and post-processing methods.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide.

Promotor: Prof.dr. S.F. Portegies Zwart

PNEC-pro is a user-friendly screening tool for professionals dealing with the assessment of surface water quality. The tool calculates local, watertype specific no-effect concentrations (PNEC) of copper, lead, nickel and zinc based on biotic ligand models (BLMs).

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes a small subtype (~15%) of breast cancer, but causes the majority of breast cancer-related deaths.

This thesis is concerned with the constitution of chiral responsive matrix assemblies that may undergo light-driven conformational changes and self-select vibrations to develop vibronic states for driving semi-classical coherent transfer with nearly 100% yield in a lossless NCAP process.

Promotor: J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Co-Promotor: S.J. van der Molen

Promotor: E.F. Smets Co-promotor: J. Geml

The marine shipping industry is one of the strongest emitters of nitrogen oxides (NOx), a pollutant detrimental to ecology and human health. Over the last 20 years, the pollution produced by power plants, the industry sector, and cars has been decreasing.

Promotor: P. J. J. Hooykaas, Co-promotor: R. Offringa

Artful Mathematics: The Heritage of M. C. Escher

Low-mass main-sequence stars like our Sun are continuous sources of outflowing hot magnetised plasma. In the case of the Sun, this is known as the solar wind, whereas for other stars they are called stellar winds.

Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) have been detected in objects across different stages of stellar evolution.

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.

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

This research delves into the unique cultural approach of the Tenggerese people, an Indigenous community in East Java, Indonesia, regarding elderly care. It focuses on their traditional practices of bakti (‘filial piety’) and sayan (‘mutual aid’), deeply ingrained in the community's lifestyle and va…

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

The electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an essential half-reaction for the utilization of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel, via the conversion of hydrogen to electrons and protons facilitated by the ORR. In the most common fuel cells, the ORR is requires high loadings of non-abundant platinum…

In my research, we developed a method to distinguish knots. A knot is a mathematical depiction of the everyday knot that occurs in ropes and cords.

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: J. van der Greef, T. Hankemeier; Co-promotor: H.A. van Wietmarschen

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.F.A Kersten, Prof dr. J.A. Bouwstra

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, makes treatments less effective. It is important to unravel the mechanism of metastasis.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.