More than 250 PhD students receive their PhD at WUR each year. It is impossible to describe and summarize all these theses. In the Dissertations section you will find an overview of the selection of our science editors.
Rivierplastic
Floods double the amount of plastic transported by rivers around the world. A moderately mild flood, which occurs once every ten years, increases plastic transport tenfold. This is what Caspar Roebroek writes in his thesis on plastic transport through rivers. The daily weather has little effect on that transport. But the weather is even worse. Solutions to tackle plastic pollution must take this into account, according to Roebroek. Banning plastic waste is even better, is his final decision.
The role of hydrometeorology in river plastic pollution.
Caspar Roebroek. Promoters Ryan Teuling and Martine van der Ploeg
Meningitis
Streptococcus suis It is a bacterium that can cause serious illness in pigs. The pathogen can also spread to humans and then cause meningitis. The Chinese Tianthong Zhao studied how this bacterium achieves and reaches the brain. To this end, the bacterium ‘hijacks’ plasminogen in the blood. A protein (enolase) on the surface of the vitamin changes this plasminogen to plasmin. This plasmin helps the vitamin cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing it to do its destructive work there. A good example of that bacteria.
Crossing barriers: how Streptococcus suis hijacks the plasminogen-plasmin proteolytic system to invade the brain.
Tiantong Zhao. Promoter Jerry Wells
Power storage
Sustainable electricity storage is becoming increasingly important. This is possible in methane, for example. Carbon dioxide is converted to methane in a biobattery with the help of bacteria. The Portuguese Micaela Brandão Lavender studied the electrical aspects of such a system. How do you make the system so that a lot of methane is created and a lot of energy is lost? Not easy, according to her results. Storage, efficiency and speed tend to work against each other. Nature is not so easily shaped by human will.
Energy-to-methane in a biochemical system.
Micaela Brandão Lavender. Induction of Anemia in Heine
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2024-10-19 11:38:00
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