Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The thesis aims at situating "The Coconuts", one of the first Sino-Indonesian Chinese language works of fiction published in book form, by Zheng Tufei, in the history of Indonesian and Chinese...Show moreThe thesis aims at situating "The Coconuts", one of the first Sino-Indonesian Chinese language works of fiction published in book form, by Zheng Tufei, in the history of Indonesian and Chinese literature, by analyzing the main themes approached, the typologies of characters, the language and style, and the ideas promoted, in comparison with different bodies of literature (Malay, Indonesian, Sino-Malay, Sinophone, Chinese). The thesis also makes an account of all the biographical and bibliographocal data about Zheng Tufei available so far.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
The human hand is a complex structure that is heavily involved in many everyday activities. As such, it can serve as a useful area for activity reconstruction in the past. Though its function and...Show moreThe human hand is a complex structure that is heavily involved in many everyday activities. As such, it can serve as a useful area for activity reconstruction in the past. Though its function and evolution have long been studied, parts of it still need to be better understood. There is evidence to suggest that the fifth ray of the hand contributes significantly to grip strength and stability in a way that has so far gone largely ignored. The aim of this study is two-fold. First, it seeks to gain a better understanding of the function and use of the fifth digit in habitual activity on the basis of three postmedieval Dutch populations. Second, it investigates habitual activity and occupation among the individuals that belonged to these communities to gain a better understanding of the lives led by people in the post-medieval Netherlands. In order to achieve those goals, the study analyses activity patterns among hand entheses through the “Validated Entheses-based Reconstruction of Activity” (VERA) method. The method is applied to 3D scans of the hand bones of 43 adult individuals. Multivariate statistics, including principal component analysis, are used for the analysis of the entheseal attachment sizes. The analysis showed that the muscles of the fifth ray are recruited in both precision and power grips in different capacities. It suggests that the fifth ray is an important supporting structure that aids in the execution of power and precision grips through its opposing position to the thumb. It is also used to provide stability by pulling it towards the other fingers. The results of this study support the assumption that the fifth ray of the hand plays a crucial role in everyday manual activity. They also suggest that a deeper understanding of its role could provide additional insights into different kinds of grasping activities in the past. The analysis further showed that the three different groups exhibit different activity patterns. The lower-class urban individuals or Arnhem exhibit a trend towards more intense power grasping, while the higher-class urban individuals from Zwolle showed a tendency for precision grasping activity. This is consistent with historical records that suggest the Zwolle individuals had worked as merchants, investors, and in similar professions, while the working poor in the city of Arnhem were probably working in factories and in the local tobacco production. The individuals from the rural community of Middenbeemster fell somewhat surprisingly in the middle of the other two groups, with a sizeable number of individuals exhibiting precision gripping patterns. This suggests that, despite this community having mainly revolved around dairy farming, individual life experiences were likely quite varied. Future analyses of the fifth ray should expand on the groundwork laid in this study by increasing the sample size, looking into individuals from different contexts and time periods, and looking into potential connections between the fifth ray and the fourth ray, wrist, and forearm.Show less
Oman has played an essential but peripheral role in the British Empire. Colonial endeavours in Oman were mixed, both fruitful and limited. These efforts exemplify how British colonialism in the...Show moreOman has played an essential but peripheral role in the British Empire. Colonial endeavours in Oman were mixed, both fruitful and limited. These efforts exemplify how British colonialism in the area developed and how policymaking evolved based on context, ideology, or conflict. Many of these ideological differences came from the British need for oil, to secure it and to compete with the other powers involved in the Middle East. This thesis will analyse British documentation under the reign of Said bin Taimur to understand how these facets of British policymaking in Oman developed and how the development of this state was to the benefit of the British. Existing studies have examined the British in Oman, but from the perspective of military history and occupation or in a wider survey work context. This project focuses on the diplomatic, bureaucratic, and institutional nexus that guided the creation of the Omani state and its infrastructure to the benefit of the British establishment and oil companies. This thesis will examine this nexus in detail to examine how its expression influenced the development of the relationship between the Omani Sultanate and the British.Show less
This thesis concerns the transfer of firearms technology from the Dutch East India Company to Siam at the end of the seventeenth century. It shows that the transfer of both weapons and of experts...Show moreThis thesis concerns the transfer of firearms technology from the Dutch East India Company to Siam at the end of the seventeenth century. It shows that the transfer of both weapons and of experts with skills related to firearms were organised through diplomatic exchange and gift giving. Changes in this transfer were mainly shaped by the Siamese, although they were unable to force the Dutch to fulfill all their wishes.Show less
Research master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (research) (MA)
open access
2024-03-02T00:00:00Z
This thesis tries to review the traditional categories of 'pagan' and 'Christian' in late antique Roman literature by studying the literary afterlife of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. Symmachus is a...Show moreThis thesis tries to review the traditional categories of 'pagan' and 'Christian' in late antique Roman literature by studying the literary afterlife of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus. Symmachus is a figure that plays a prominent role in the invention of 'paganism' in late antique Christian apologetics. Through the lens of Ambrose's apologetic letters and Prudentius' epic poem 'Contra Symmachum', Symmachus has often been branded a 'prototypical pagan', even though his own works (especially Relatio 3) and Macrobius' near-contemporary 'Saturnalia' show very different pictures of the Roman senator. The case of the reception of Symmachus and the invention of 'paganism' in late antique literature highlight the biases of our reference system to interpret late antique literature.Show less
Research master thesis | Middle Eastern Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The present thesis investigates the relationship between Italian and Lebanese left during the years between 1967 and 1975, uncovering the development of a special relationship between the Italian...Show moreThe present thesis investigates the relationship between Italian and Lebanese left during the years between 1967 and 1975, uncovering the development of a special relationship between the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP). This was a transformative period for both countries' leftist groups, following the 1967 June War and the 1968 global protests. This was reflected in the Italian approach towards the Middle East and the Palestinian cause, as public opinion and the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) moved from a pro-Israel position to support the Palestinian struggle. I argue that this shift was influenced by the close relationship between the PCI and the LCP, which evolved from preferential contact to a special relationship. The LCP was the PCI’s preferred interlocutor in the region, and as the 1975 Civil War approached the PCI began supporting the Lebanese comrades with first humanitarian and then financial aid. This close relationship in turn provided the PCI with information on regional politics and direct access to the Palestinian groups. By the early 1980s, the Italian position completed the shift in favour of Palestine, and both the PCI and PSI abandoned their traditional pacifism to support an Italian military intervention in Lebanon to stop the Israeli invasion in 1982. I investigate this shift mainly through PCI and PSI archives, which show the increasing contact with Lebanese groups and the growing involvement in the country. Looking at the evolving relationship between the Italian and Lebanese Left, this thesis highlights the transnational nature of the leftist movement and connects Italian and Lebanese local politics to the global context of the Cold War and the Long-Sixties.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
open access
Across clinical assessment tasks, a statistical model trained on the assessments of one person (a person’s model) has been shown to be more accurate than the person on which the model is based, the...Show moreAcross clinical assessment tasks, a statistical model trained on the assessments of one person (a person’s model) has been shown to be more accurate than the person on which the model is based, the Model-over-Person effect. Because the language that people use to express their state of mind is clinically meaningful, the objective of this study was to examine whether the Model-over-Person effect extends to language assessments as well as to identify conditions in which the effect occurs. The accuracy of the assessments of a person versus a person’s model was measured as their agreement with a reference standard (the mean assessment of multiple assessors) in two conditions: 1) the assessment of single words and 2) the assessment of texts. Artificial Intelligence based language assessments were employed to create the person’s model. No Model-over-Person effect occurred in the assessment of single words or all texts (N = 500 words/texts). A small Model-over-Person effect took place for all three assessors in the assessment of the longer texts (⩾ 50 words; dz = .39-.42; n = 23 texts). This effect be explained by the finding that a high amount of input data can make an assessment more prone to human error. Additionally, the relation between the accuracy and different assessment and language characteristics indicated that a person’s model could be more accurate in case of a low agreement among assessors and that the accuracy is not related to the confidence of the assessor in the assessment. The results show how computational language assessments can complement a person in accuracy and may support the use of computational language models as decision-support in clinical decision-making.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
2024-01-31T00:00:00Z
The existence of a bilingual advantage in cognitive processing is a popular research topic and is heavily debated. A seminal study by Kovács and Mehler (2009) provided evidence that there is a...Show moreThe existence of a bilingual advantage in cognitive processing is a popular research topic and is heavily debated. A seminal study by Kovács and Mehler (2009) provided evidence that there is a bilingual advantage in 7-month-old pre-verbal infants in a switching task, although replication findings are inconsistent (Dal Ben et al., 2022; D’Souza et al., 2020; Kalashnikova et al., 2021; Spit et al., 2023). Measuring the pupil dilation response (PDR), a physiological measurement linked to the locus coeruleus (LC) and as such, to cognitive processing load, could give us a more direct look into whether 7-month-old bilingual infants indeed have a cognitive advantage compared to monolinguals. For this pilot study, additional pupil size measurements were taken in the Leiden arm of the replication effort of Spit et al. (2023) to examine whether bilinguals have a smaller PDR from baseline. After hearing a syllable pattern (AAB or ABB) the infants had to predict on which side a visual reward appeared. The reward side would be the same for the first nine trials in the pre-switch block. The next nine trials had the other syllable pattern and the reward on the other side in the post-switch block. Finally, the last 18 trials mixed both syllable patterns, retaining their associated reward side. The results suggest no difference in cognitive load between the monolingual and bilingual groups when they needed to relearn to predict the target reward side in the post-switch block, nor was there a difference in mean PDR in the association block. This is in line with the results found in Spit et al. (2023) where anticipatory looking behaviour was examined. However, an exploratory analysis suggested there was a significantly larger PDR in monolinguals during stimulus presentation in the pre-switch block compared to the post-switch block, indicating monolinguals had a higher processing load in the first block of the experiment. The implications of this are unclear, but might be explained by an effect related to the unfamiliarity of the task stimuli seen in monolinguals only due to different attentional strategies between the groups. Future research should be done with larger sample sizes and more sophisticated statistical modelling.Show less
Research master thesis | Archaeology (research) (MA/MSc)
open access
During the Michelsberg period (4,400 to 3,500 cal BC), harvesting tools were rarely discovered at excavations in North-Western Europe, be it in Belgium, Southern Netherlands, Northern France, or...Show moreDuring the Michelsberg period (4,400 to 3,500 cal BC), harvesting tools were rarely discovered at excavations in North-Western Europe, be it in Belgium, Southern Netherlands, Northern France, or Northern Germany. But cereal consumption was widely practiced, as grains discovered in these settlements show. Several researchers have, over the last 50 years, highlighted this discrepancy of missing harvesting tools and presence of cereal grains. They have tried to explain that, during this 900-year Michelsberg period and over a surface of several hundred square kilometres, cereals had to be collected either with the help of bare hands or with tools made from other, organic materials. But so far none of such traces have been detected in excavations. The aim of this paper is to present, through experimental archaeology and the analysis of use-wear traces, that tools made from organic material such as shell, wood and bone could have been used to gather cereal plants. To achieve this aim, a large variety of experimental tools have been created and tested on different fields of typical cereal types of the Michelsberg period. These were Triticum monococcum or einkorn wheat, Triticum dicoccum or emmer wheat, Triticum aestivum or naked wheat, and Hordeum vulgare or barley. The result of these harvest experiments has been analysed quantitatively with regards to the achieved harvested surface, grain yield, and harvesting speed. The use-wear traces created by these different cereal plants during the harvest have also been studied. They are polish, striations, edge rounding and edge damages, which have been evaluated under different microscopes to reveal typical shapes these cereals leave on tools. The results of that harvesting experiment and use-wear analysis are presented in this thesis and could serve as reference to interpret archaeological material differently in the future.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
open access
Individuals with a lower socioeconomic status (SES) are at an increased risk for developing depressive symptoms. However, it has not been investigated whether this link is homogenous, or whether...Show moreIndividuals with a lower socioeconomic status (SES) are at an increased risk for developing depressive symptoms. However, it has not been investigated whether this link is homogenous, or whether specific depressive symptoms relate to SES differentially. In this thesis, I explored (1) which individual symptoms of depression are related to subjective social status (as a proxy for SES); (2) how specific indicators of SES are related to specific symptoms of depression; and (3) how the addition of stressors impacts the relations between SES indicators and depressive symptoms. I used data previously gathered from 448 students aged ≥18 at institutions of higher education in the Netherlands, as a part of the WARN-D study. Variables were assessed through a questionnaire that was administered online. I estimated three regularised partial correlation networks to explore shared variances among nine symptoms of depression, five indicators of SES, and seven stressors. The network analyses revealed that (1) subjective social status (as a proxy for SES) was negatively associated with guilt/worthlessness, depressed mood, anhedonia, trouble concentrating, and feeling tired, meaning that participants with higher scores on subjective social status had, on average, lower scores on these symptoms; (2) educational level (as one of multiple indicators of SES) was negatively associated with appetite disturbances, and the ability to get by financially was negatively associated with depressed mood, guilt/worthlessness, and appetite disturbances; (3) these associations diminished considerably or disappeared altogether when controlling for the stressor variables. Overall, all SES-depression associations were small in magnitude. The results suggest that patterns of depressive symptoms might differ between high-SES and low-SES individuals. Future research should explore the mechanisms behind these differences to guide prevention and intervention. My findings are consistent with previous research showing that symptom composite scores obscure important differences between individuals.Show less
Dit onderzoek legt zich toe op het analyseren en verklaren van de invloed van maatschappelijke organisaties in de discussie omtrent de toelating van repatrianten en spijtoptanten uit Indonesië in...Show moreDit onderzoek legt zich toe op het analyseren en verklaren van de invloed van maatschappelijke organisaties in de discussie omtrent de toelating van repatrianten en spijtoptanten uit Indonesië in Nederland. Door te kijken naar een grote hoeveelheid archiefmateriaal (vergadernotulen, briefpost, nota's, moties, periodieke uitgaves) van een viertal zeer diverse organisaties kan bepaald worden welke tactieken een significante rol speelden in het uitoefenen van invloed op de Nederlandse overheid. Deze scriptie bouwt daarmee voort op Vosters' onderzoek naar de invloed van NGO's. Dit onderzoek toont aan dat in eerste instantie organisaties met een directe lijn tot de overheid meer invloed konden uitoefenen dan organisaties die een outsider status hadden en zich in een formeel isolement bevonden. Deze insider organisaties beriepen zich hierbij vaak op hun expertise over het onderwerp en hun logistieke autoriteit, waardoor de overheid taken naar hen overhevelde en er een wederzijdse afhankelijke relatie ontstond. Outsider organisaties konden echter extremere eisen stellen, waarbij ze ook meer gegenderde emotionele en morele claims maakten. Hoewel de overheid hier niet responsief voor was, namen de insider organisaties deze eisen en tactieken over tijd over, waardoor outsider organisaties indirect toch nog hun invloed deden gelden. Dit problematiseert de strikte scheidslijn tussen insider en outsider en laat zien dat organisaties met extremere eisen zonder formele toegang tot de overheid toch zeer invloedrijk kunnen zijn.Show less
