Browsing by Subject "diversity"

My master’s thesis aims to determine the effect of salinity on phytoplankton traits related to nutrient acquisition, and particularly how this interacts with resource availability. Salinity is an important driver structuring phytoplankton communities in the Baltic Sea. Salinity can also influence nutrient uptake by increasing metabolic rates required for osmotic adjustment. Thus, interaction between salinity and nutrient availability is expected to change community structure by altering phytoplankton traits determining resource competition. This is a particularly relevant area of study for the Baltic Sea due to predicted future freshening of the sea’s upper layer. We performed a microcosm experiment using artificial communities of 10 diverse phytoplankton species grown under different combinations of salinity (0, 5, 12 and 24), Nitrogen to Phosphorus molar ratio (N:P ratio = 2, 10, 16 and 80) and light (10 and 130 µmol photon m-2 s-1) conditions. A three-way interaction among these environmental parameters influenced phytoplankton traits associated with resource competition, as well as the presence and proportions of phytoplankton taxa. Light limitation inhibited community growth under all salinity conditions, but allowed diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum to dominate. Community growth rate was higher under high light, but also more variable between salinity conditions. The strongest negative effects of nutrient limitation (N, P, and both nutrients together), both on growth rate and taxonomic diversity, were observed in the highest salinity treatment. In the freshwater treatment with the highest proportion of green algae Monoraphidium sp., N-limitation did not inhibit phytoplankton community growth and P-limitation had a more profound negative effect on community performance. Decreasing salinity appeared to decrease community C:N and C:P ratios. This shift is in opposition to the increasing C:N and C:P predicted as a consequence of other climate change-related drivers. Our results emphasise the importance of a trade-off between salinity and resource limitation in functioning of phytoplankton communities and suggest that future freshening of the Baltic Sea is likely to modify phytoplankton community composition and performance.

Avhandlingen består av en diskursanalys av intervjuer med kvinnoidentifierade personer verksamma inom startupekosystemet i Finland. Syftet med avhandlingen är att utforska kvinnornas tolkningar av startupekosystemets kultur från ett jämställdhets- och mångfaldsperspektiv. Avhandlingen bidrar med ett kritiskt perspektiv på startupkulturer och ämnar inspirera till nya synvinklar på sociologisk forskning om startupekosystem. De huvudsakliga forskningsfrågorna lyder: ”Hur förstår och tolkar kvinnor verksamma inom det finska startupekosystemet startupkulturen?”, ”Hur tolkar kvinnorna entreprenörsfiguren i rollen av det ideala startupsubjektet?” och ”Hur upplever kvinnorna jämställdhets- och mångfaldsdiskurser inom kontexten av det finska startupekosystemet?”. Det empiriska materialet består av kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra kvinnor som på ett eller annat sätt är verksamma inom det finska startupekosystemet. Intervjuerna analyseras genom diskursanalys. Det teoretiska ramverket för avhandlingen består av synen på startupekosystem som performativa diskurser – diskurser som konstruerar de verkligheter de beskriver – och entreprenören som en performativ figur och det ideala startupsubjektet. Det teoretiska ramverket betonar vikten av att inkludera ekosystemet som en forskningsparameter i kulturell forskning om startupkulturer. Avhandlingen hämtar inspiration från akademiska diskussioner om den diskursiva konstruktionen av startup, entreprenörskap och teknologifältet. I avhandlingen framhävs i enlighet med forskning tre diskursiva teman som beskriver startupkulturen: öppenhet och hierarkilöshet; passion och heroism; samt rationalitet och hårt arbete. Samtliga diskursiva teman bidrar till en hegemonisk förståelse om startupkulturen som inkluderande, jämlik och rättvis. Avhandlingen ifrågasätter dessa premisser och argumenterar för att startupdiskurser bidrar till att reproducera en förgivettagen sanning om inkludering och jämlikhet som osynliggör maktstrukturer och förhindrar att status quo ifrågasätts. Dessa diskursiva formationer konstruerar entreprenörsfiguren, som representerar ett demokratiserat och jämlikt ideal inom en objektiv marknadsekonomi. Analysen påvisar att entreprenören, trots sina neutrala premisser, är könad och rasifierad, och lättare fäster sig vid maskulint kodade kroppar. Slutligen påvisar avhandlingen att respondenterna blivit marginaliserade som kunskapsinnehavare när det gäller frågor om jämställdhet och likabehandling. Avhandlingen föreslår att startupdiskurser och konstruktionen av entreprenörsfiguren påverkar hur jämställdhet och mångfald förstås inom fältet och skapar en förutsättning för icke-performativa diskurser och tystnader gällande jämställdhet och mångfald.

Fashion blogs are invention of the new millennia. Starting with something as simple as commenting on the outfit or a fashion event using this online medium, modern bloggers transformed it now into a successful business venture and a massive network for sharing ideas, tips and personal struggles with their followers. Thus, nowadays, a successful fashion blogger can be anything from a minor celebrity in the blogosphere, to a major international influencer in the fashion industry. Being personally fascinated by the way modern fashion bloggers run their blogs and manage to create a personal brand, I have decided to focus my research on creation of an online identity fashion bloggers go through whilst managing their personal blogs. Intentionally, or unintentionally personal fashion bloggers develop a certain type of writing and content creation that allows them to connect to many people. Fashion bloggers try to produce an idea that will guarantee them professional success. However, their personal background partially already set them up to be more connected to a certain group of people rather than the other. It is visible in their looks, ethnicity, lifestyle, personal interests and in opinions what type of people would be the majority of their followers. As a results, the network of followers that will be build by the blogger will determine what type of content she will be producing to attract even more readers. This is what will be discussed in this thesis: how fashion bloggers behave and what they primarily focus on in their blogs to keep up the online persona they are constructing.

The aim of the study is to examine primary school teachers’ opinions concerning a reformed model of the religious- and ethics education in the Finnish school context and how it can affect the students development of their own cultural identity and feeling of solidarity in schools. The study is based on the current discussions about the subject where globalization and diversity is seen to be demanding more of schools (Rautionmaa & Kallioniemi, 2017). Previous studies also show that the cultural segregation that is seen in the society is a result of the segregation done in schools (Korkeakoski & Ubani, 2018). A relatively new study done in Finland found out the Finnish populations view about a reformed model of these subjects and shows that the majority of the population advocate a reformation (Mattsonn, 2020). The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. The material consists of six semi-structured, individual interviews with teachers working in four different schools in the metropolitan area. The collected material was analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the majority of the teachers, four out of six, found a reformed model of the subject as a positive development and that it would come to support every student. Some of the effects predicted were an increased understanding and solidarity between students with different cultural backgrounds, more equality that would lead to a more integrated society. Some of the aspects seen from the teachers who didn’t support a reformation was that education in faith is important, the possibility that one student may feel excluded and that an separate religious education would be important especially for those who belong to a minority religion.

Biogeography is a crucial aspect to ecological studies, as an ecosystem is comprised of the physical habitat, the organisms living there, and the interactions of these components. Community structure, and therefore functioning, are inherently of a spatial nature. Spatial structure of populations is often crucial basic knowledge for understanding the evolutionary history, dispersal patterns, and resilience of any given species. One aspect of spatial structure, and the topic covered in this study, is community distance decay, or the rate at which community similarity decreases with physical distance. More of the landscape is constantly being altered by humans on a large scale, so it is increasingly important to understand the effects that these anthroprogenic changes to the environment has on local populations. Studying community distance decay helps form understanding of dispersal and establishment limitations for different organisms, which is necessary for mitigating biodiversity loss. Many studies show that habitat fragmentation and loss has greatly impacted the structure of plant and animal communities, but there has been much less focus on fungal communities. There’s no certainty that fungi is impacted in the same ways, given the different lifestyles and dispersal methods, so the aim of this study is to contribute to the much needed research on fungal community structure at various scales. This aim is addressed by examining fungal community distance decay from small scale of a couple kilometers or less to a fairly large scale encompassing a landscape of primarily urban, forest, and agricultural areas. The five main localities of sampling were in middle and southern Finland: Helsinki, Lahti, Tampere, Jyväskylä, and Joensuu. Sampling locations and plot design were chosen to allow the comparison of communities separated by a mosaic, as well as along a short rural to urban gradient, to assess the effects of habitat type. From each location, six plots were decided, two in urban core, one in urban edge, two in natural core, and one in natural edge. The role of dispersal ability and functional traits in distance decay is also studied by comparing results from two different methods of fungi sampling, which were collecting spores from the air using cyclone samplers, and taking soil cores to gather fungal biomass. All samples were DNA analysed with high-throughput sequencing and the results from the DNA barcoding were used to create OTU clusters, by which the 30 plots could be compared through relative abundances of OTU’s. I determined the similarity of fungal communities using an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) test in R, where all possible variables (site, habitat type, sample type) were used as a grouping in individual tests, thereby indicating which variable is associated with highest community difference. I also determined the differences in functional groups and major taxonomic levels among locations and sampling method using interactive taxanomic (KRONA) charts. Results showed that there are differences in fungal community structure among habitat type and sampling type. However there was greater difference at the level of plots than site locations, so clear patterns of strong community distance decay with physical distance was not measured in this study. The results suggest that fungal communities can be fairly impacted by human caused habitat change, and individual characteristics, such as dispersal methods or lifestyle, effect the rate of community distance-decay. This provides a valuable early insight into fungal community patterns, which need deeper study to understand the complexities and mechanisms behind them.

Perinteisen ydinperheen rinnalle on noussut yhteiskunnan ja kulttuurin muuttuessa erilaisia perhetyyppejä. Aiemman tutkimustiedon mukaan nämä erilaiset perhetyypit ovat vähitellen siirtyneet myös lastenkirjallisuuteen. Lastenkirjallisuuden avulla lapset voivat oppia ja kohdata erilaisia asioita. Perheiden monimuotoisuus tavoittaa varmasti jokaisen lapsen viimeistään peruskoulussa. Lastenkirjallisuus on yksi muoto, jonka kautta lapset voivat saada tietoa perheiden monimuotoisuudesta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on tarkastella lastenkirjallisuudessa esiintyviä perheitä ja erilaisia perhetyyppejä. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ja vertaillaan kahden eri murroskauden aikana julkaistujen realististen lasten kuvakirjojen perheiden ja perhetyyppien eroja. Tutkimuksen avulla halutaan selvittää, miten perhetyypit eroavat 1910–1950-lukujen ja 2010-luvun lastenkirjoista. Tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena tutkimuksena. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin teoriaohjaavaa sisällönanalyysia. Tutkimukseen valittiin kirjoja kahdelta eri lastenkirjallisuudessa tapahtuneelta murroskaudelta. Analysoitaviksi kirjoiksi valittiin kuusi kirjaa, kolme molemmilta murroskausilta. Kirjoiksi valittiin Jalmari Finnen Kiljusen herrasväki, Laura Ingalls Wilderin Pieni talo suuressa metsässä, Astrid Lindgrenin Melukylän lapset, Anneli Kanton Vilma Virtanen ja uimataito, Elisa Niemisen Lotta Torvinen ja salaperäisen käärön arvoitus ja Katriina Rosavaaran Villiina ja isosiskopakkaus. Kirjoista löytyi neljää eri perhetyyppiä: ydinperhe, suurperhe, ”aviopari ilman lapsia, puolisot eri sukupuolta” ja sateenkaariperhe. Lähes kaikki kirjan perheistä voitiin tyypitellä useammaksi kuin yhdeksi perheeksi. Eniten kirjoissa oli ydinperheitä. Eri murroskausilla julkaistujen kirjojen perhetyypeissä oli jonkin verran eroja. Kirjan perhetyyppeihin ja murroskausien eroihin vaikuttavat yhteiskunnassa vallitsevat olosuhteet ja tilanteet sekä mielipiteet ja käsitykset perheistä. Tutkimuksen avulla voidaan löytää lapsille hyviä kirjoja, jotka käsittelevät erilaisia aikakausia ja perheitä. Näiden kirjojen avulla lapsi voi tarkastella omaa perhettään suhteessa muiden perheisiin. Esimerkiksi varhaiskasvatuksessa tutkimukseen valittuja kirjoja ja kirjojen perheitä voidaan tarkastella esimerkiksi keskustelun, leikin ja kuvataiteen avulla.

Immune-mediated diseases, such as various allergies and asthma, are increasing rapidly in an urbanized world where biodiversity is steadily declining. Decreased biodiversity and homogenous microbiota have been associated with weaker immune defence. Studies show that contact with the natural environment enriches the human microbiota, promotes immune response, and protects against allergies and inflammatory diseases. For this reason, in order to prevent immune-mediated diseases, solutions have been sought from nature-based approaches in which the immune system encounters environmental microbial stimuli in a natural way. The aim of this master's thesis was to study how different nature-based materials (sod and forest floor) affect the skin microbiota of kindergarten-age children and to examine how different factors such as varying weather conditions and different sampling times affect the results. The results supported the hygiene hypothesis and previous research according to which increasing biodiversity can have a positive effect on human skin microbial communities. A positive effect on children's skin was achieved with sod alone, which is important information in the development of suitable biodiverse materials for urban planning. The results also supported the surmise that different weather conditions and sampling methods can significantly affect the results.

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Tavoitteet Osallisuutta on tutkittu paljon varhaiskasvatuksen tutkimuksen kentällä, mutta erityisesti osallisuuden sosiaalinen aspekti näyttäytyy harvemmin suomenkielisessä tutkimuksessa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on nostaa esiin keinoja, joilla sosiaalista osallisuutta voitaisiin vahvistaa moninaisessa lapsiryhmässä. Lisäksi tutkielmassa käsitellään sosiaalisen osallisuuden vahvistamisen hyötyjä ja haasteita. Osallisuuden ohella inkluusio, moninaisuus ja kulttuuri rakentavat tämän tutkimuksen teoreettista viitekehystä ja ne ovat keskeisiä käsitteitä myös tutkimuksen tuloksissa ja johtopäätöksissä. Menetelmät Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen kirjallisuuskatsaus systemaattisin painotuksin. Aineisto valikoitui teoreettisen viitekehyksen käsitteiden johdattelemana ja haut kohdistuivat seuraaviin palvelimiin: Helka sekä The Journal of Early Childhood Education Research (JECER). Lopullinen aineisto muodostui kuudesta sosiaaliseen osallisuuteen kytkeytyvästä vertaisarvioidusta tutkimuksesta. Aineiston analysoinnissa käytin sisällönanalyysiä, jossa etsin aineiston tutkimuksista samankaltaisuuksia ja muodostin havainnoistani ylä- ja alaluokkia tutkimuskysymysten pohjalta tehtyihin pääluokkiin. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset Tulokset osoittivat, että ympäristöllä, varhaiskasvattajilla sekä toimintakulttuurilla on selkeä vaikutus sosiaalisen osallisuuden toteutumiseen. Toisaalta sama tekijä voi joko estää tai edistää osallisuutta. Moninaisuus linkittyi tuloksiin muun muassa siten, että sosiaalinen osallisuus voi selvästi vaihdella tilanteista, yksilöistä ja tukikeinoista riippuen. Kokonaisuudessaan sosiaalisen osallisuuden vahvistaminen rakentuukin usean tekijän varaan yksittäisistä hetkistä koko yhteisön kulttuuriin. Tutkimuksen aineistossa kuitenkin painottui se, kuinka tärkeää on antaa lapsille riittävästi omaehtoisuutta, tarjoten samalla riittävä pedagoginen tuki ja läsnäolo. Sosiaalisen osallisuuden vahvistamisen hyödyissä nousi esiin myönteiset vaikutukset hyvinvointiin, sosioemotionaalisiin taitoihin ja sosiaalisesti kestävän kulttuurin muodostumiseen.

Microbial diversity can be found everywhere around us. The diversity is however declining globally and the diversity loss is most visible in highly urbanized areas. The lack of microbial biodiversity has been linked to increased risk of certain im-mune mediated diseases most prevalent within urban population. Understanding how diversity differs between urban and rural areas can help us to figure out mechanisms behind biodiversity loss and higher frequency of immune-mediated dis-eases and develop prevention methods for the latter. The aim of the thesis is to study how bacterial communities differ between urban and rural areas using indicator species as proxy. The aim is also to find out if the results support the biodiversity hypothesis. The results of the thesis found out significant differences in diversity indexes between bacterial communities in urban and rural areas, which supports the biodiversity hypothesis. The study also found differences in Proteobacteria diversity index-es, which have been linked to some immune mediated diseases in previous studies.

Recent increase in immigration has resulted in new politics and practices, which aim to integrate immigrants and new ethnic minorities into the political decision-making process. One example of these politics is The Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO), the object of this study. Since established in 1998 ETNO has brought immigrant and ethnic representatives together with the Finnish authorities to discuss issues related to immigration and integration. The assumption here was that there were many challenges which relate to representation in a consultative body. The focus of this study was to find out what kind of representative claims are made about ETNO’s representation and how they relate to immigrants’ and ethnic diversities’ positioning in the Finnish politics. The empirical data for this study was gathered by interviewing ten members of ETNO, who represented the ethnic communities and immigrant groups. In addition one interview was done with the ETNO secretary in order to receive more information about ETNO’s functions. The interviews were half-structural theme interviews. The results were analysed according to the method of content analysis and organised according to themes. Four different claims were made about claims of ETNO’s representation and different attitudes towards these claims were discussed in the analysis. First claim showed that the representatives give value to ETNO’s aim of including immigrants in to the political process. ETNO’s role as a forum for discussion was perceived more efficient than consultation. The second claim proved that there were many different perceptions of how the composion of ETNO should be arranged: some of the respondents felt that representation was successful when the representative and the constituent resemble each other. Other emphasised the meaning of shared interests in politics. The third claim showed that the respondents had different views on representation of ethnicities and immigrants. Also the views on ETNO’s representation varied. The fourth claim showed that consensus was central aim in ETNO. Some critisised this objection by stating that it does not give space to different opinions. The results of the study confirm that there are many different perceptions about ETNO’s work and representation. ETNO was critisised for focusing on the idea of the diversity at the expence of ethnical diversity.