Recharge overview
Peruvian scientist to investigate ‘Nimweegs’
The doors to his office in the Erasmus building are reminiscent of the bedroom door of a young football fan; stickers that say ‘Nimweegs mot blieve’ or ‘Al mot ik krupe’ wouldn’t lead you to believe that this place belongs to a Peruvian doctor doing scientific research. But after his PhD track in the Amazon, Luis Miguel Rojas-Berscia has now set his sights on the dialect of Nijmegen.
Hereditary eye disease treated with investigational gene therapy
The Radboudumc has treated, for the first time in the Netherlands, patients with the hereditary X-linked retinal disorder Retinitis Pigmentosa with a new form of investigational gene therapy. The treatment is part of an international clinical study involving not only Radboudumc but also Amsterdam UMC. There, too, this procedure will be performed soon.
Medication for children not always evidence-based
About two million children are prescribed medications every year, while effectiveness and safety are not always well researched. Innovative methods are therefore needed to properly substantiate the prescription of medications to children as well. This emerges from doctoral research by Nori Smeets of Radboud university medical center.
The blessings of interdisciplinary education
Many an educational institution is waxing lyrical on the blessings of interdisciplinary education, but it is as yet unclear whether this type of education delivers on its promises. Jessica Oudenampsen’s research provides ammunition for advocates. “This kind of education has a lot of potential, but it can only flourish if we remove the obstacles.”
Fuses in the powder keg of the strike wave
The current series of strikes is increasingly showing signs of turning into a bona fide strike wave, says political scientist Alex Lehr (Radboud University), who specialises in labour unrest. “There are so many fuses in the powder keg by now, that strikes simply had to break out.”
Collisions between dipolar molecules imaged for the first time
Radboud University physicists have made groundbreaking discoveries about how molecules with a skewed charge distribution collide and change from high to very low temperatures.
The recipe for your eureka moment
Spoiler alert: while reading this text you will get at least one. Well, that is to be hoped, because then our investigation will be successful. We are figuring out what an aha-experience is and what happens in our brain. And whether we can cause one on purpose.
Echolocating and learning new sounds – bats can do it, and so can you!
Echolocating is the ability to produce a sound and to listen to the reflection of that sound to get an idea about where you and objects around you are in the world. Most people know that bats are capable of this. But did you know that some humans are capable of this too, and that bats have some more vocal tricks up their sleeve?
Who said what? Why we forget so much of our conversations
Did you ever happen to talk about a conversation you had with a friend just to realize that you cannot quite remember all that was said? Our memory of conversations is not always perfect. In fact, we tend to remember only the gist of what was said, rarely with word-by-word memory, and we often remember our own thoughts and inferences during the conversation as if we had said them. This is because a lot is going on during a conversation: one speaks, listens, looks at the gestures and expressions of the conversation partner, thinks and makes inferences about what the partner means, etc. It’s hardly possible to remember everything accurately.
Neuroscientists and philosophers puzzle over consciousness
The concept of ‘consciousness’ can have very different interpretations, says Assistant Professor in Philosophy Jolien Francken. She co-authored a book on consciousness with Marc Slors, in the Elementaire Deelthes (Elementary Particles) series by Athenaeum publishers.
Children’s educational opportunities also determined by grandparents
Parents influence their children's level of education, but grandparents also play a role. Time for a three-generation perspective on equal and unequal educational opportunities, as Maarten Wolbers, professor in Educational research at Radboud University, shows.
Positive language in the consulting room
It’s not just what the doctor says that affects the patient but also how the doctor says it. According to research by Inge Stortenbeker, using positive language can alleviate anxiety symptoms. But when communicating with patients who have persistent physical symptoms, this sometimes goes wrong.
Women must overcome obstacles that do not exist for men
Motherhood and work are still difficult to combine in the Netherlands. Across Europe, Dutch women are most likely to work part-time. Natascha Wagner, professor of International Economics at Radboud University, explains why, what problems it causes, and outlines what possible solutions there are. “A better working environment for working mothers is also a better working environment for working fathers.”
What happens if you stop using your mother language regularly?
What happens to a mother language when students move abroad and stop using it regularly? Vox asked international students and an expert on psycholinguistics and multilingualism.
Modified rehabilitation reduces sitting time in cardiovascular patients
Sitting for too long is unhealthy, especially for patients with cardiovascular diseases. A modified rehabilitation program significantly reduces sitting time in these patients. This is shown by a study led by Thijs Eijsvogels of the Radboud university medical center, supported by the Dutch Heart Foundation.
‘The use of history in Putin’s rhetoric is remarkable’
History is used as a weapon in the war between Ukraine and Russia, according to historians Harm Kaal and Jelle van Lottum. The recent edition of their Journal of Applied History has been fully dedicated to the war.
GPs interpret the language of women differently than that of men
In consultations with GPs, women are often addressed differently when speaking of common physical complaints such as headaches and backaches. On 16 February linguist Ilona Plug was awarded her PhD for her research on language use in these consultations and the role that gender plays.
New, super sensitive MRI scanner brings more into focus than ever
Thanks to a large €19 million grant from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, a new MRI scanner will be built in Nijmegen. With a magnetic field of 14 Tesla, it will be the strongest and most sensitive MRI scanner for human use in the world.
Tips to finally act like a real adult
Many young people struggle with the question: when am I an adult? Getting older is no longer automatically linked to being an adult. In fact, it is not even connected to making adult choices. What exactly is it, being an adult? There are hundreds of videos on social media about adulting, about what you should be able to do as an adult. Does it really work like that? Or is adulthood more about how you feel than about what you can do?
How do you hold a conversation while enjoying a drink?
Drinking a coffee with a colleague, a cocktail in a bar with a friend, or a tea at your grandmother’s birthday… There are a lot of instances in daily life where you combine the skills of talking and drinking—while it’s actually impossible to talk with your mouth filled with fluid! How do people manage to hold a conversation while enjoying a drink?