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Over the past century, several protection schemes have been introduced in Finland, among which more recently the Natura 2000 programme. As of date, no large scale analysis of the economic effects of protection programmes exist in Finland, even though protection schemes can have large distorting effects. This thesis utilised over 1 million property transactions in Finland from the period 1990-2020 in a hedonic pricing model to analyse the net economic effects of environmental protection. Difference-in-Differences analyses were applied to assess the effects on productive and environmental value of property transactions. This thesis has provided quantified estimates of the economic effects on different stakeholder groups. Average productive value was found to decrease by 15.46% inside protected areas, whereas environmental value increased by 6.76% inside and bordering a protected area. Forest land and land acquired for protection were most reduced in value, whereas residential houses and cottages were found to profit from protection. A net realised welfare gain of €1,127,000,000 was estimated over the period 1990-2020 for the Natura 2000 programme. Besides the net societal welfare gain, distributional disparities were found across stakeholder groups and spatial locations. This research calls for the accurate inclusion of all interests to guarantee net gains for all stakeholders in future protection programmes.

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää kuluttajien käsityksiä ympäristöystävällisestä ruokavaliosta sekä suhtautumista kasvisruokaan ja kasviproteiineihin. Erityisesti tutkimuksessa kiinnitettiin huomiota siihen, mikä on ruoan ympäristövaikutusten merkitys ruokaa valittaessa. Tämän lisäksi haluttiin selvittää, kuinka kuluttajien asenteet ja arvot mahdollisesti vaikuttavat ruoan valintaan. Selvittämällä kuluttajien ruoan valinnan taustalla vaikuttavia arvoja ja asenteita saatiin selville kuluttajien kasvisruokaan ja kasviproteiineihin liittämiä käsityksiä. Tutkimuksen lähestymistapa oli kvalitatiivinen tutkimus ja tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin teemahaastattelua. Teemahaastattelujen avulla haluttiin selvittää kasvisruokavalioon liitettäviä käsityksiä ja suhtautumista sekä näihin vaikuttavia arvoja ja asenteita. Tarkoituksena oli saada tietoa ja ymmärrystä, siitä millaisia tulkintoja ympäristöystävälliseen ruokavalioon liitetään ja miten ne vaikuttavat ruoan valintaan. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin yhtätoista eri-ikäistä kuluttajaa. Haastattelurunko muodostettiin teoreettisen viitekehyksen pohjalta. Tutkimuksen teoreettinen viitekehys rakentui ostopäätösprosessista sekä ruoan valinnan erityispiirteistä. Tällä pyrittiin tarkastelemaan ruoan valinnan kokonaisuutta ja valintahetkeen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Tutkimuksen perusteella kasvisruokavalioon sekä uusiin kasviproteiinituotteisiin suhtaudutaan pääosin positiivisesti. Tiedon ja tietoisuuden lisääntyessä myös ympäristö näkyy aiempaa enemmän ruokaan liitettävissä arvoissa ja asenteissa. Kuitenkaan kaikkien kohdalla ajatukset ja toiminta eivät vielä kohtaa ruokaa ostaessa. Tiedon määrän kasvu ja tietoisuuden lisääntyminen ovat toisaalta luoneet myös epävarmuutta valintoihin sekä siihen, mihin tietoon voi luottaa. Tämän tutkimuksen perusteella suurimpia esteitä kasvisruokavalion noudattamiselle oli sen koettu vaikeus. Liharuoat koetaan helppoina ja turvallisina vaihtoehtoina, kun taas tieto ja taito valmistaa kasvisruokia voivat olla puutteelliset. Lihan hyvä maku ja rakenne nousivat vahvasti esiin, kun pohdittiin lihan korvaamista kasviproteiineilla.

RNA silencing is a sequence specific RNA degradation mechanism which is used by plants to regulate gene expression and to combat virus infections. However, viruses have developed so called silencing suppressors, which can prevent and interfere silencing reaction by many ways. For example, virus proteins can bind to maintaining proteins of the silencing reaction or to molecules which are responsible for signaling of the silencing reaction. This thesis focused on the study of protein-protein-interactions between known silencing suppressors of crini- and potyviruses and four maintaining plant proteins of RNA silencing. Protein-protein-interactions were studied using the yeast two-hybrid system (YTHS) and the bimolecular fluorescence complementation assay (BiFC). The latter method enables visualization of the studied protein interactions in plant cells. Protein expression of the cloned genes in yeast vectors were studied by using western blot. BiFC analysis was focused on protein interactions which were found by YTHS. This study detected three previously unknown protein interactions. Two virus proteins were found for the first time to bind directly to silencing maintaining proteins that are known to be targets of other silencing suppressors. Because the functions of these silencing maintaining proteins are known, it is possible that the three interactions described in this study interfere RNA silencing by impeding the functions of the plant proteins.

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) regulate many different cellular processes including transcription, translation, cell division, signal transduction, and oncogenic transformation. It is therefore important to develop sensitive and versatile techniques for the detection of these protein-protein interactions in order to fully understand protein functions. The most commonly used and traditional technique, the yeast two-/three hybrid (Y2H/Y3H) method, often results in false positives and false negatives, and other widely used techniques, such as bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET), fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) require extensive instrumentation. When compared with other PPI detection methods, the luciferase-based complementation assay specially split luciferase is believed to deliver the most sensitive and highest dynamic range, making it ideal for large-scale analysis. Therefore, for testing PPIs in planta, split Renilla luciferase complementation assay was chosen. In order to conduct this experiment, a series of plasmid constructs were made to enable the transient expression of fusion proteins. A well known protein pair, Arabidopsis nuclear Histone 2A and 2B, was tested initially as a proof of concept, and then three more proteins of the Gerbera MADS-box B class were investigated. For Arabidopsis Histone 2A and 2B, the intensity in all combinations was on average 9.4-fold higher in Relative Luminescence Units (RLUs) than the mock treated protoplasts. Moreover, in the case of Gerbera MADS-box B class proteins, the protein pairs GDEF1-GDEF2, GDEF1-GGLO1, and GDEF2-GGLO1 showed 8.4-19.4, 9.5-15.8, and 8.3-9.1-fold higher signals than the mock treated protoplasts. These results suggest that various complexes formed from different combinations of these three B class MADS-box proteins may increase the complexity of their regulatory functions, thus specifying the molecular basis of whorl morphogenesis and combinatorial interactions of floral organ identity genes in Gerbera. Finally, it was concluded that split Renilla luciferase can be a simple, reliable, fast, and effective method for examining PPIs in planta.

In the world, the demand and consumption of protein are increasing all the time as the number of population is growing. One of the biggest challenges is to increase protein production while reducing emissions. In many countries, the demand for meat consumption has leveled off, and the demand for other, especially plant-based protein sources has increased. Soy is the most used plant-based protein. However, the majority of soy is imported to Europe. Finding another plant protein source that could be used both as human food and feed would increase Europe's protein self-sufficiency. The aim of this study was to isolate protein from two grass varieties for food use. In grass material, the protein is divided into two fractions: the green protein fraction and the white protein fraction. The green fraction contains membrane proteins and cell wall fibers and is not of interest in food use due to its sensory properties. The white fraction consists mainly of Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase), which is a complete protein in its amino acid composition. Different methods can be used to isolate soluble proteins, such as thermal coagulation, precipitation based on pH adjustment, ultrafiltration, or fermentation. In this study, the isolation of the white protein fraction from grass material was achieved with a two-step isolation protocol, where first the green fraction is coagulated and then the white fraction is precipitated. The study also managed to determine the optimal parameters for protein isolation, the effects of antioxidant addition, and mass balance. Based on the research results, protein isolation from grass is possible, but studying other isolation methods might be useful so that a comparison of protein yield between methods would be possible.

Kaura on luontaisesti gluteeniton vilja, mutta sen kontaminoituminen gluteenia sisältävillä viljoilla alkutuotannon aikana on suuri haaste. Lisäksi gluteenipitoisuuden määrityksessä käytetään referenssinä gliadiinia, joka ei sovi gluteenipitoisuuden määritykseen kontaminantin ollessa ohra. Menetelmässä käytetty R5-vasta-aine reagoi voimakkaasti ohran C-hordeiineihin, joita on 20-30 % ohran hordeiineista. Lisäksi R5-vasta-aineen on epäilty tunnistavan kauran omia proteiineja. Työn tarkoituksena oli tutkia puhdaskauran ja -kauratuotteiden gluteenittomuuden varmistamiseen liittyviä tekijöitä. Ohrajäämien määrän vaikutusta puhdaskauran gluteenipitoisuuteen tutkittiin kontaminoimalla kauraa eri määrillä ohranjyviä. Näytteiden gluteenipitoisuudet määritettiin ELISA R5 gluteenianalyysillä PWG-gliadiini- ja C-hordeiinireferensseillä ja tuloksia vertailtiin laskennalliseen gluteenipitoisuuteen. R5-vasta-aineen reaktiivisuutta kauran aveniineihin tutkittiin ELISA R5 -gluteenianalyysillä ja elektroforeesissa erotettujen proteiinien vasta-ainevärjäyksellä. Kauramyllyn vastaanottamista puhdaskauranäytteistä löytyneiden ohrajäämien C-hordeiinien osuudet suhteessa kokonaishordeiineihin määritettiin käänteisfaasi-nestekromatografialla. Myös kauramyllyn puhdistuslaitteiden tehokkuutta seurattiin tutkimalla gluteenia sisältävien viljajäämien määriä eri puhdistusvaiheiden jälkeen. Lisäksi myllylle tehtiin näytteenottosuunnitelma lopputuotteiden gluteenipitoisuuden seuraamista varten Codex Alimentariuksen CAC/GL 50-2004 näytteenotto-ohjeiden avulla. Kontaminoiduista näytteistä gliadiinisreferenssillä saadut tulokset olivat jopa viisi kertaa suurempia kuin laskennallinen gluteenipitoisuus, kun taas C-hordeiinireferenssillä saadut tulokset olivat lähellä laskennallista arvoa. Puhtaista kauranäytteistä ELISA R5-menetelmällä määritetyt gluteenipitoisuudet olivat 3,0-5,5 mg/kg, eikä R5 tunnistanut aveniineja vasta-ainevärjäyksessä. C-hordeiinien osuus kokonaishordeiineista oli suurin Kymenlaaksosta tulleen kauran ohrajäämissä ja pienin Pohjois-Pohjanmaalta tulleen kauran ohrajäämissä. Myllyn puhdistuslaitteet puhdistivat noin 75-76 % raaka-aineessa olleista jäämistä. Niin kauan, kun gliadiini on yleisimmin käytössä oleva, sekä näin ollen myös myllyn asiakkaiden käyttämä referenssimateriaali, on myllyn ainoa vaihtoehto pyrkiä ohralla kontaminoitumattomaan lopputuotteeseen puhtaalla alku- ja lopputuotannolla, edustavalla näytteenotolla sekä tehokkaalla puhdistusprosessilla

This thesis investigates how consumer politics is portrayed speeches given by political players. The focus is on the positions of these players: what is the perspective of which the given speech comes from? I analyze what the given speech tells about the researched phenomenon and how the status distinction between the interviewer and the interviewee in addition to the dominating positions affect the given speech. The thesis is a qualitative research where the data is analyzed by using autoetnographic means. The data is based on my internship in the European Parliament during spring 2012 and conducted interviews with the players in the Parliament. In the analysis, rhetoric, argumentation and categorization are used as methods. In addition, theater metaphor is used to enliven the autoethographic data. The thesis focuses on the political field of consumer politics, its aims and how the role of the EU institutions affects forming it. The autoethnographic side of the thesis focuses on the Parliament´s consumer politics and its players. Furthermore, the thesis discusses how the Finnish consumer politics has formed to its present form as part of the Nordic’s consumer politics and finally, how it has integrated with the EU’s consumer politics. By utilizing autoethnography, researchers´ experiences and observations are used to observe the consumer policymaking on the backstage, its wings and power fields in the core of policymaking in the European Parliament. Also by using ethnography, the targets and motives behind players´ behavior portray working in the Parliament, its power and hierarchy structures, political game and influencing. The analysis describes the roles and behavior in consumer politics from stage players own interests. The given speech about consumer politics states through juxtapositions of the interest and power struggle on the different stages of the EU. Although the struggle is multifaceted, one may compress it into three interests: the common interest of the EU, party political and national. My research shows that the common interest is obscure and unclear to the players. Moreover, the party political interest remains unclear to the players and the differences between the political groups represented by the players are imprecise. In contrast, the national interests governed by the party political guidelines are well known. The national interest in consumer politics is clear, the players perceive it important and it is accepted to work for it. EU´s consumer policy programs have become longer in time in recent years. It might show that the sphere of consumer politics will become more marginal and that its weight will become lighter. Not only is there internal conflict of interests in European consumer politics but it also falls behind working for Internal Market.

Trees face an increasing variety of health threats. The overall effects of climate change on trees and forests are difficult to predict. As a result of the warming climate, the growing season is lengthening, improving the growth of the trees, but at the same time drought and insect damages may become more common and the risk of storm damage increases. There are many benefits to monitoring tree mortality. It can be used to assess the health status of forests, productivity, carbon sequestration and the ecological impacts of dead trees on forest ecosystems. Causes leading to tree death can include biological, climatic or human related factors. Monitoring can increase understanding of the causes of death and potentially help to protect forests better. Tree-related mortality is a spatially and temporally irregular process that is difficult to monitor using traditional inventory methods. Remote sensing makes it possible to map and monitor tree mortality more effectively. The purpose of this thesis was to find out how remote sensing data can be utilized in monitoring tree mortality. The aim was to find out how tree mortality has varied regionally and quantitatively in the Central Park of Helsinki and how accurately dead trees can be identified from aerial imagery. The study period was 2005–2019, during which orthophotos of seven different years were examined. Reference data of 14 212 trees were collected from the aerial time series covering a 15-year period by visual image interpretation. The data included healthy, weakened and dead trees. Heatmap time series were created from the locations of weakened and dead trees to examine quantitative and regional variability in mortality. The average temperatures over the years as well as the rainfall were compared with the dead tree numbers and the correlations between the observations were examined. The collected reference data was also utilized in health status classifications, which were implemented using semi-automatic machine learning methods. The object of the classifications was to identify healthy, weakened and dead trees as well as possible from each other. The canopies of individual trees were delimited by canopy segments obtained from laser scanning data. From the pixels contained in the delimited canopies, image features describing individual trees were calculated. Considerable changes in tree mortality were observed. The number of dead trees at the beginning of the study period increased significantly from year 2005 to year 2009. An exceptionally dry summer in 2006 was identified as a possible reason. In the following years, the situation remained moderate, but in quantitative and regional terms, mortality was at its highest in 2017. Overall, there was an upward trend in mortality during the study period, and average annual temperatures were found correlating strongly with the number of dead trees (r=0.73). The classification accuracies of tree health status varied annually between 89–96%. The seven-year average accuracy was 93.6% with a kappa value of 0.88. The most important features in the classification were the features calculated from the blue channel, such as the maximum value of the channel (B_max), the difference between the maximum and minimum of the channel (B_range) and the skewness of the distribution (B_skew). The results of the thesis showed that tree mortality can be monitored using remote sensing data. Clear changes in the number of dead trees were observed using the time series and possible causes were identified. By identifying the causes behind rising mortality, the effects of climate change can also be better understood. Tree health status classification accuracies were at a good level and dead trees can be mapped from aerial imagery by semi-automatic methods. Based on the thesis, it can be rightly stated that changes in tree mortality can be observed with aerial imagery time series. In addition, the semi-automatic identification of dead trees from aerial imagery can be said to be accurate enough for large-scale use.

Ympäristötietoisuuden seurauksena syntyneet kansainväliset ja kansalliset tavoitteet päästövähennyksille näkyvät voimakkaasti niin yksityisyritysten kuin julkisten toimijoiden toiminnassa. Koska asumisen suorat tai välilliset päästöt muodostavat yhden maailman suurimmista päästölähteistä, ovat kaupungit päätyneet asettamaan kunnianhimoisia tavoitteita alueidensa rakentamisen sekä asumisen päästövähennyksiin liittyen. Väestönkasvusta ja kaupungistumisesta seurannut tarve maa-alan varaamiseen rakentamisen ja asumisen käyttöön on kasvattanut entisestään keskustelua ympäristölle ystävällisempien rakentamisen tapojen käyttämiseksi, minkä takia kaupungit pyrkivät hyödyntämään monipuolista keinovalikoimaansa osoittaakseen asemansa edellyttämää kykyä ja halua toimia ympäristön hyväksi. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tutkia puisen korjaus- ja lisäkerrosrakentamisen tunnettuutta kaupunkiorganisaatioissa, sekä saada vastaus näiden rakentamisen tapojen merkityksestä kaupunkien ilmastotekoina. Tutkimuksen toisen pääkysymyksen avulla pyrittiin tunnistamaan kaupunkien keinovalikoimaa edellä yksilöityjen puurakentamisen muotojen edistämiseksi, sekä tunnistamaan haasteita tämän keinovalikoiman toteuttamisessa. Tutkimus koostui kahdeksasta teemahaastattelusta, joissa rakentamisen ja rakentamisen ympäristökysymysten parissa työskentelevät asiantuntijat neljästä eri kaupungista kertoivat näkemyksiään kaupunkien toiminnasta. Teemahaastatteluiden tukena tutkimuksessa tutkittiin kaupunkien strategiapapereita ja rakentamiseen liittyviä keskeisiä asiakirjoja, jotka auttoivat luomaan kokonaiskuvan puisen korjaus- ja lisäkerrosrakentamisen tavoitteiden ja tavoitteisiin tähtäävien toimenpiteiden välillä. Tutkimuksen tuloksena havaittiin yleinen positiivinen suhtautuminen puun käyttöön korjaus- ja täydennysrakentamisen materiaalina, sekä näiden rakennustapojen yleinen tunnettuus. Positiivisesta imagostaan huolimatta puisen korjaus- ja lisäkerrosrakentamisen roolit kaupunkien hiilineutraalius- ja ilmastotavoitteissa osoittautuivat marginaalisiksi, johtuen suurelta osin kaupunkien suppeista keinoista vaikuttaa rakennusten ja asuntojen omistajien päätöksiin. Merkittävimmäksi kaupunkien keinoksi edistää lisäkerrosrakentamista nähtiin sen mahdollistaminen kaavoituksessa, vaikka myös kustannusvaikuttamisella ja maankäytön maksuilla on mahdollisuus vaikuttaa asumisen tiivistymiseen. Hidasteena puisen korjaus- ja lisäkerrosrakentamisen yleistymiselle tutkimuksessa korostuivat myös rakentamisen konservatiiviset tavat, asunnon omistajien tiedonpuute, puumateriaalin kustannukset ja tuotto- / kustannuslaskennan haastavuus, sekä muiden päästövähennystoimien priorisointi. Positiivisen imagonsa ja ominaisuuksiensa takia puisella korjaus- ja lisäkerrosrakentamisella voidaan nähdä olevan merkittävää potentiaalia tulevaisuuden ratkaisuissa, mutta vielä tällä hetkellä kaupungit keskittävät resurssejaan muihin energiatehokkuuden ratkaisuihin, sekä liikenteen ja energiantuotannon päästövähennyksiin, joiden tulokset ovat nopeammin havaittavissa ja vertailtavissa tämänhetkisten ympäristövaikutusarviointityökalujen avulla.

This research was made in order to gather more information about lawn mowers' fuel consumption for the needs of LCA (Life Cycle Assestment). The lawn mowers' fuel consumption was measured in different circumstances in order to gather information on how different circumstances affect the lawn mowers' fuel consumption. When the fuel consumption was known, greenhouse gas emissions in three different mowing intensities could be calculated. These emissions were compared to emissions from liming and fertilizing lawns and the emissions from driving a car. Emissions from liming, fertilizing and the production of fuel needed in lawn mowing were calculated using information from literary research. The fuel consumption of the lawn mower varied between 2.9 kg/ha and 4.2 kg/ha when the height of the lawn before mowing varied between 11 and 19 cm measured with a measuring stick. The amount of biomass passed through the lawn mower varied between 398 kg/ha and 825 kg/ha. For the needs of emission calculations, it was judged from the results that if the lawn was mowed when its height was 11 cm (measured by stick), the fuel consumption was 2.7 kg/ha, if the height was 15 cm, the fuel consumption was 2.9 kg/ha, and if the height was 19 cm, the fuel consumption was 3.7 kg/ha. These heights correspond to timeframes of one, two and three weeks between each mowing day. In order to calculate the “loss drive” (area over which the mowing blades are driven two times), the distance that the mower drove was measured by GPS. Loss drive varied between 25 % and 88 %. Judging from these results, the loss drive caused by variation in the area and shape of the lawn can cause a rise up to 50 % in fuel consumption. Emissions from lawn mowing varied between 79 and 154 kg CO2-ekv/ha. The biggest emissions of lawn management were caused by liming (369 kg CO2-ekv/ha/year), when 3000 kg/ha of lime was used once in five years. The least emissions of lawn management were caused by mowing when it is done once in three weeks. Lawn mowing caused only a small amount of emissions compared to lawn management and driving a car. This research produced important information for the needs of LCA, for example about the fuel consumption of lawn mowers.