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Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan ”Lottovoitto jäi lunastamatta” -artikkelista kehittynyttä jälkipuintia. ”Lottovoitto jäi lunastamatta” -artikkelissa kirjailija ja toimittaja Umayya Abu-Hanna, kertoo syistä, joiden vuoksi hän muutti tyttärensä kanssa Amsterdamiin 30 Suomessa asutun vuoden jälkeen. Syynä muuttoon oli Abu-Hannan ja hänen tyttärensä kokema rasismi. Tämän tutkielman aineisto on ”Lottovoitto jäi lunastamatta” -artikkelista seurannut kirjoittelu lehdissä ja internetissä. Tutkielman aineisto kerättiin manuaalisesti systemaattisella seurannalla merkittävimmistä suomalaisista sanoma- ja aikakausilehdistä sekä internetissä sijaitsevista blogi-alustoista. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu 92 artikkelista. Artikkelit on jaettu kirjoitustyylien perusteella neljään eri ryhmään. Artikkeleista yhdeksän on pääkirjoituksia, 23 blogi-kirjoituksia, 29 uutisia sekä 31 mielipidekirjoitusta tai kolumnia. Tutkielma on tapaustutkimus ”Lottovoitto jäi lunastamatta” -artikkelista kehittyneestä keskustelusta suomalaisessa mediassa. Aineiston analyysimetodina käytetään kriittistä diskurssianalyysia. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, miten etnisestä ja kulttuurisesta moninaisuudesta keskustellaan, ja millä tavalla suomalaisuuden sosiaalista konstruktiota tuotetaan julkisessa keskustelussa. Tavoitteena on myös ymmärtää, kenellä on oikeus puhua ja ilmaista tiettyjä mielipiteitä suomalaisessa mediakeskustelussa ja mistä asioista tämä puheoikeus muodostuu. Aineistoa analysoidessa olen kerännyt keskeisimpiä diskurssin tapoja ja temaattisia kokonaisuuksia. Aineistosta nousee esiin diskurssin eri tavat, joilla pyritään kieltämään ja ’pois selittämään’ Abu-Hannan ja hänen tyttärensä kokema rasismi. Abu-Hannan kokemusten ’pois selittämistä’ toteutettiin useammalla eri argumentaatiolla. Abu-Hannan väitettiin valehtelevan kokemuksistaan ja häneltä edellytettiin kiitollisuutta Suomea kohtaan sekä objektiivisuutta kirjoituksessaan. Yhtäältä kirjoittajat kyseenalaistivat rasismin merkityksen ja nostivat esille, että myös ”etnisesti täysin suomalaiset” voivat olla rasistisen käytöksen uhreja. Huomionarvoista on se, miten suomalaisuuden sosiaalista konstruktiota tuotetaan näissä teksteissä suhteessa ”toiseuden” rakentamiseen. ”Meinä” määritelty subjekti rakentuu suhteessa ”toiseuteen”. Suomalaisuutta rakentaessa kirjoittajat sulkivat ulkopuolelle määritelmiä ja ihmisiä, joiden ei nähty kuuluvan suomalaisuuteen. Tähän ulossulkemisen määrittelyyn kuuluu olennaisesti vallan käyttö. Tutkimuksen aineiston mukaan edes niin pitkä ajanjakso kuin 30 vuotta, ei ollut riittävä määrittelemään Abu-Hannan suomalaiseksi. Abu-Hannan rasistiset kokemukset haluttiin ’pois selittää’, koska Abu-Hannan suomalaisuutta ei hyväksytty. Aineistoni perusteella oikeus puhua ja ilmaista tiettyjä mielipiteitä usein sensitiivisistä aiheista, kuten rasismista määrittyy suhteessa siihen, miten kyseinen puhuja positioituu suomalaisessa kontekstissä. Koska Abu-Hannan suomalaisuutta ei hyväksytty, ei myöskään hänen kokemuksiaan rasismista hyväksytty. Aikaisempaan tutkimukseen perustuen tämän tutkimuksen olettamuksena oli, etteivät vähemmistöjen edustajat saa ääntään kuuluviin suomalaisessa julkisessa keskustelussa. Aineistoni perusteella tämä näkökulma pitää paikkaansa. Vähemmistöjen edustajien tulisi saada enemmän ääntään kuuluviin, etenkin sellaisten asioiden suhteen joista valtaväestöllä ei ole kokemusta, kuten rasismin kokemuksista suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa.

In response to the recent financial crisis short-term nominal interest rates have fallen to nearly zero in many of the western economies. Because the traditional monetary policy tool, i.e. adjusting the short-term nominal interest rate have become unavailable due to the zero lower bound on interest rate, central banks have attempted to spur economic activity by increasing money supply in the economy through open-market operations. These large scale asset purchase programs are commonly referred as quantitative easing (QE) and are aimed to improve the functioning of financial markets and to reduce various interest rate spreads. However, their effectiveness has been subject to debate. This master’s thesis surveys the recent literature on potential transmission mechanisms through which the effects of quantitative easing can be expected to work and examines the effectiveness of quantitative easing as a monetary policy instrument. Two different New Keynesian macroeconomic models are used to analyze the impact of quantitative easing on financial markets and real economy. The models also capture the monetary policy ability to mitigate financial frictions, crucial issue in the recent crisis. The findings of this thesis suggest that central bank balance sheet can be used as a valid monetary policy instrument. Asset purchases have had impact on yield curve of assets across the maturity spectrum and in particular the associated reductions in cost of credit. Also, findings suggest positive effects on various real economy variables such as inflation, prices and output. However, magnitude of the overall effects remains ambiguous and needs further empirical evidence. In addition, evaluating the overall impact of QE is not an easy task because central banks have implemented asset purchases during times of severe economic disruptions under circumstances unlike never before.

Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) also known as broad bean is an ancient pulse, grown since Neolithic times. It is an excellent source of protein, energy and fibre to humans and animals. Recently in Finland, faba bean has featured heavily in meat replacements, meant for vegan consumers. Faba bean can also be grown further north, than soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.), making it a possible domestic plant protein source for Finns. The problem with faba bean is that the beans contain various anti-nutritional compounds. The major ones are vicine and convicine (v-c), located in the cotyledons of the beans, which means that dehulling the seeds does not remove them. V-c can cause favism in humans with G6PD gene mutation this is a disease where red blood cells are destroyed, in worst cases resulting in blood transfusions and death. V-c is also an anti-feedant to livestock and can among other things cause increase in mortality in poultry. Normal v-c content of faba bean is around 1%. There are low v-c faba beans that contain only 5-15% of the original v-c. Markers for this trait have been found, but gene controlling for this trait is not known yet. The synthesis pathway of the v-c is not known. There is a new hypothesis by Dr Fernando Geu Flores of The University of Copenhagen, where the v-c synthesis is an off shoot of another biosynthetic pathway. An experiment was done where RNA of two populations (one low v-c and other high) were compared to each other. The samples were taken during the seed filling period, which is thought to be when v-c is synthesized. Kernel, testa, pod and leaf tissues were collected and RNA of those extracted. Only kernel and testa samples were sequenced. This thesis focuses on the testa results. Results showed differences between the populations. Considering the new hypothesis, the results showed some differences in the beginning of the suspected pathway, with the high v-c population having a 4.97 fold increase compared to the low v-c population. Other differences were also noted, which may cast light on other steps in the pathway.

High-grade Serous Cancer (HGSC) stands out as the most prevalent and lethal subtype of ovarian cancer, characterized by genomic instability and aggressive behaviour. Genetic alterations are pivotal in its development and progression, which leads to distinct molecular profiles and clinical behaviours. Recent attention has shifted towards understanding the influence of Tumour Microenvironment (TME) in cancer prognosis. This study aims to uncover the relationship between TME, molecular profiles, and clinical outcomes in HGSC. To achieve this, Random Forest (RF) analysis on single-cell and spatially resolved data from high-plex immunofluorescent images was employed. By leveraging RF's feature selection capabilities, we identified pertinent TME features associated with the clinico-molecular characteristics of HGSC. Our analysis revealed distinctive TME characteristics in HGSC patients with BRCA loss and homologous recombination repair proficiency. Notably, we found that Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class II expression, originating from cancer cells, was a critical feature that shaped the immune environment and cancer behaviour. Moreover, we discovered that MHC molecules, specifically MHC-II, were also crucial in distinguishing short and long-term survival groups. Increased MHC-II expression was associated with improved survival, independently of molecular profiles. This association highlighted the importance of endogenous immunity in fighting cancer. In conclusion, MHC-II is a crucial prognostic marker in our study, offering a valuable and assessable metric for patient prognosis. In addition, the identification of phenotypically distinct survival groups based on TME characteristics underscores the potential of our approach in enhancing patient stratification and guiding personalized treatment strategies, ultimately improving the management of HGSC.

Direct GDPR enforcement by supervisory authorities, despite setting global standards for data protection, has amassed considerable criticism concerning the limited impact, inconsistency, and inefficiency in dealing with international GDPR breaches and complaints. The Commission aims to address these issues through additional procedural rules that strengthen cooperative methods of enforcement between supervisory authorities. This contrasts with the ‘Europeanization’ of national enforcement networks, as agency bodies and the Commission have taken larger enforcement roles to ensure the compliance of international actors with post-GDPR legislation such as the DSA. In addressing this tension, this thesis considers the current criticisms of international GDPR enforcement. It then takes inspiration from both the additional procedural rules and the DSA to posit a hypothetical centralized model for GDPR enforcement through an interdisciplinary lens. The hypothetical model is evaluated to consider to what extent a centralized form of the GDPR would solve the international enforcement issues. This thesis finds that issues of procedural inefficiency, international application inconsistencies, and inconsistent remedies could be addressed through a centralized model for the GDPR. A hypothetical model would use the active network chair and more formalized ex-ante measures seen in the DSA through a new Commission DG to streamline international enforcement and reduce divergence in supervisory enforcement processes for national and international cases. These benefits have to be weighed against the strong independence requirements, weak normative justifications, and procedural bloat that would plague the hypothetical model.

Hepatit E är en virussjukdom orsakad av hepatit E virus (HEV), som beroende på genotyp har förmåga att infektera både djur och människor. Den zoonotiska genotypen HEV-3 är allmän i Europa och smittar typiskt till människor via svinkött eller kontakt med svin. Denna licentiatavhandling inkluderar en originalstudie och en litteraturöversikt, med fokus på HEV:s uppkomst och antikroppars uppkomst mot viruset, särskilt i svinkött. I litteraturöversikten framkom att antikroppar mot HEV förekommer globalt både hos människor och svin, och således är sjukdomen allmän. Svinet har ofta infektionen vid några månaders ålder, och har tillfrisknat då den anländer till slakteriet ungefär vid halvårsålder. Efter infektionen har individen antikroppar mot viruset, och således har svinen vanligtvis i slakterierna anti-HEV-antikroppar. Svinet är en reservoar för sjukdomen, vilket betyder att svinpopulationer kan självständigt behålla viruset en lång tid och således fungera som en infektionskälla för människan. Akuta anti-HEV antikroppars förekomst berättar att individen har en nuvarande eller nyligen inträffad HEV-infektion, medan kroniska antikroppar berättar om en tidigare infektion. Antikroppars förekomst kan undersökas med enzymkopplad immunadsorberande analys (ELISA), men det har inte utvecklats en kommersiell ELISA-metod som känner igen skilt djurens akuta HEV-antikroppar, och endast få som känner igen kroniska. Ifall en sådan forskning var möjlig, kunde det fås information om hur länge sen infektionen framkommit. Därför inkluderar vi i denna licentiatavhandling en originalstudie där vi undersöker ifall människospecifika ELISA-förpackningar kan användas för svin. Vi använder oss av 60 köttsaftprov från svin som undersöks för IgM- och IgG-antikroppar med ELISA. Vi inkluderar även enstaka serumprov från älg och vitsvanshjort i studien, samt två svinprov som tidigare visat sig innehålla totalantikroppar. Målet med denna studie är således att redogöra ifall IgM-och IgG- antikroppar kan undersökas från djur med denna ELISA-förpackning, och att påpeka hur viktigt utveckling av en sådan ELISA-metod vore. Enligt tidigare studier har 86 % av svinens serumprov antikroppar, och således kan vi anta ett liknande resultat ifall förpackningarna fungerar för djur. Tidigare forskningar har dock inte visat dessa förpackningar tillämpar sig för djur. Alla prov som undersöktes gav negativa resultat, och således kan vi anta att människospecifika ELISA-förpackningar inte kan användas för djur.

Tutkielmassa selvitetään vastaanottotutkimuksen avulla suomalaisten lasten mielipiteitä Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time -videopelin suomenkielisestä dubbauksesta. Samalla selvitetään lokalisoinnin kokonaistarvetta tutkimalla, kuinka hyvin lapset saavat selvää alkuperäisen englanninkielisen version juonesta ja hahmojen puheesta. Oletuksena on, etteivät lapset juuri ymmärrä pelin englantia sen vaativan sanaston vuoksi ja suhtautuminen suomenkieliseen lokalisointiin on kriittistä Suomessa vallitsevien asenteiden takia. Tutkielman teoriataustana käytetään pelilokalisointiprosessia sekä dubbauksen, laadun ja vastaanottotutkimuksen teorioita. Tutkimusaineistoksi pelistä valittiin englannin- ja suomenkieliset versiot kahdesta välianimaatiosta sekä noin viidestä minuutista varsinaista peliä. Englanninkielisissä videoissa oli englanninkieliset tekstitykset, ja suomenkielisten videoiden laatu oli hieman huonompi. Videoiden lisäksi tutkimusta varten laadittiin kaksiosainen suomenkielinen kyselylomake, jonka osiot oli jaettu videoiden mukaan alaosioihin. Englanninkielistä osuutta koskevat monivalintakysymykset käsittelivät pääasiassa pelin tapahtumia, ja suomenkielisen osuuden lomakkeessa vastaajia pyydettiin arvioimaan lokalisoinnin eri ominaisuuksia, kuten ääninäyttelyä, huumoria sekä yleistä selkeyttä. Lopuksi vastaajilta kysyttiin mielipidettä kieliversioiden eroista ja mieluisampaa versiota. Vastaanottotutkimus pidettiin 21.10.2015 Kellokosken koulun 6B-luokan 19:lle oppilaalle. Koeyleisö katsoi ensin englanninkieliset videot yksi kerrallaan ja vastasi englanninkielisen osion monivalintakysymyksiin. Sen jälkeen oppilaat katsoivat videot uudelleen suomeksi ja arvioivat dubbauksen eri ominaisuuksia sekä vastasivat lopuksi kokoaviin kysymyksiin. Analyysissä havaitaan, että oppilaat ymmärsivät hyvin vähän pelin englanninkielisestä versiosta, sillä enemmistö oppilaista vastasi oikein vain neljään 14:stä kysymyksestä. Oppilailta siis katosi paljon pelikokemukselle ja tarinalle tärkeitä elementtejä, kuten vitsejä ja hahmojen motiiveja. Tulokset olivat kuitenkin parempia, jos puheen tukena oli visuaalista informaatiota. Lisäksi huomataan, että dubbauksen vastaanotto oli enimmäkseen positiivinen ja arvio siitä keskimäärin hyvä. Dubbausta ja pelin ohjeita pidettiin suhteellisen selkeinä sekä ääninäyttelyä ja huumoria vähintään keskitasoisina, eivätkä tekniset seikat, kuten huulisynkronia, häirinneet koeyleisöä. Huumori oli kuitenkin koeyleisön mielestä dubbauksen selkeästi heikoin kohta. Dubbaus ei siis ollut täydellinen, mutta tarpeeksi hyvä miellyttämään koeyleisön enemmistöä. Vastausten mukaan enemmistö pitikin suomenkielistä versiota parempana, koska he ymmärsivät pelistä enemmän ja pelaaminen suomeksi tuntui heistä luonnollisemmalta. Suurin osa oppilaista ei lisäksi nähnyt suurta eroa kieliversioiden välillä, vaikka joidenkin mielestä versiot tuntuivat erilaisilta kielieron vuoksi. Osa koeyleisöstä valitsikin englannin sen "aitouden" tai dubbauksessa ärsyttäneiden seikkojen vuoksi. Tuloksiin vaikutti myös suomenkielisten videoiden huono laatu, jonka pieni osa oppilaista tulkitsi lokalisoinnin ominaisuudeksi. Tutkielman perusteella voidaan siis sanoa, että lapsille tehtyjen pelien lokalisointi näyttäisi olevan tarpeen, jotta ainakin pienet ja kieltä taitamattomammat lapset voivat nauttia niiden tarinoista. Lisäksi A Crack in Timen suomenkielinen dubbaus miellytti suurinta osaa koeyleisöstä, joten lokalisointi oli ainakin sen osalta onnistunut.

The Nordic region is a connected region with a long history of cooperation, shared cultures, and social and economic interactions. Cross-border cooperation and cross-border mobility has been a central aspect in the region for over half a century. Despite of shared borders and all countries being part of the Schengen Area, providing free movement, little research has been made on the extent of daily cross-border movements and little data exists on the topic. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, human mobility and cross-border mobility has risen to the top of the political agenda, with new challenges changing cross-border mobility around the world. As an already very connected region, the Nordic region saw a sudden decrease in mobility and areas across borders were suddenly isolated from each other. The spread of the COVID-19 virus and the most important measures to counter the pandemic have been spatial in their nature. Restrictions on mobility and lockdown of regions and countries have been some of the measures set in place at varying degrees in different locations. Understanding the effects of mobility on the spread of COVID-19 and understanding how successful different measures have been is important in handling the ongoing and future pandemics. There is a lack of, particularly quantitative, research that investigates the functional aspects of cross-border mobility in the Nordic region. In addition, a lack of up-to-date, reliable data on human flows between the Nordic countries is missing. Research on the spread and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to human mobility, is rapidly increasing and being pioneered in conjunction with the developments of the pandemic. Through a lens of human mobility and activity spaces, how the cross-border regions in the Nordics reveal themselves by aggregating movements of individuals are investigated. The aim is to examine how geotagged Twitter data can be used to study cross-border mobility, as well as which functional cross-border areas can be estimated from movements of Twitter users and how these movements have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twitter data is collected and processed and reveal human mobility flows from before and after COVID-19 travel restrictions were set in place, making the data fit for a correlation analysis with available official commuter statistics. Using a kernel density estimation, estimations of the functional cross-border regions at different spatial levels are conducted, uncovering the spatial extent of functional regions and how human mobility connects regions across national borders. On this basis, movements of Twitter users in two time periods, March 2019 – February 2020 and March 2020 – February 2021, are compated with available statistics from the Nordic region. The results show that Twitter data correlates strongly with official commuter statistics for the region and are a good fit for studying cross-border mobility. Additionally, policy made cross-border regions does not completely overlap with the functional cross-border regions. Although there are many similarities between the policy made and functional cross-border regions, in a functional aspect the regions are smaller than the policy made regions and heavily condensed around large cities. The estimation of functional cross-border regions also show the effect of COVID-19 and measures taken to limit cross-border mobility. The amount of cross-border mobility is severely reduced and the composition of functional regions changes differently for different regions. In general, the spatial extent of cross-border regions reduce and gravitates towards the largest cities on either side of the border. The methods and results developed in this thesis provides an understanding of the dynamics of mobility flows in the Nordic region, and are first steps in increasing the use of novel data sources in cross-border mobility research in the Nordics. Further research into methods for expanding the data basis in the region is needed and further research should be conducted in deepening the understanding of demographic and temporal aspects of functional cross-border regions. Regional planning, tourism, and statistics are all fields that rely on recent, up-to-date data, and the methods for utilizing novel data sources shown in this thesis can mitigate some of the flaws that current data sources have. In combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus, it is of profound importance to understand mobility flows across borders, something that this thesis provides methods and insights to do.

This thesis analyses the international law on trafficking in human beings, and its implementation on national level in Finland. Trafficking in human beings consists of three elements, the act, means, and the purpose. This thesis focuses on the element of means, and more specifically on subtle and psychological means such as the “abuse of power or a position of vulnerability”. Trafficking has stereotypically been viewed as only including cases where violence or physical coercion have been used, when in fact, the traffickers often use psychological pressure and other subtle means in order to keep the victims in exploitative situations. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to shed light on the use of psychological means in trafficking, and to study how they have been understood both on international and national law concerning trafficking in human beings, and whether there is a gap between these understandings. The first part of the thesis covers international law on trafficking, and how the definition and object and purpose have developed throughout history. The main source for the international law on trafficking is the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (the ‘Trafficking Protocol’), which was adopted in 2000, and entered into force in 2003. Since the adoption of the Protocol, the understanding of the element of “means” has continued to develop, and the thesis will therefore look also at more current understandings on the means of trafficking. European regional legal frameworks on trafficking are also discussed briefly. The second part of the thesis then looks at how the international law on trafficking has been implemented and understood in Finland, both on a theoretical and practical level. The focus is on the Finnish Criminal Code and how it has defined trafficking and the element of “means”, as well as how the law has been understood in practice by the national courts. The second part looks at the developments of the national legislation on trafficking, and the discussions and criticism surrounding that. This is supplemented by a case law analysis with a focus on more recent case law on trafficking in Finland. Finland first adopted a definition on trafficking in human beings to its Criminal Code in 2004. A law amendment was made in 2015. The amendment was partly a reaction to criticism against the inadequate legal provision on trafficking and similar crimes from 2004. The aim of the amendment was to broaden the scope of protection of trafficking victims, and to make the criminal law provision more in line with international law on trafficking. The Finnish criminal law amendment from 2015 shows an increased understanding of international law and the elements of “means” of trafficking. This can also be noted in the case law of the national courts. However, there are still a few issues which could be noted both in the legal provisions as well as the interpretations of the courts. The thesis concludes that while improvements have been made with regard to understand the “means” of trafficking within the Finnish national legal systems, the situation is still not perfect. This has mainly been due to two different reasons. One being the dominant stereotype that prostitution would always include some type of coercion and abuse, meaning that cases of trafficking for sexual exploitation are often convicted as pandering, if no overt physical means have been used. The second reason is an overlap in the legal provisions on trafficking and usury, especially concerning subtle means, which leads to confusion as to what crime a specific case amounts to when it is a question between cases of usury and trafficking for forced labour.

This thesis investigates the antecedents of online privacy behaviours in the context of institutional tracking in PC and in mobile environments by utilizing a research model integrating The Reasoned Action Approach (RAA) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT). Using a convenience sample (N = 148), an empirical study testing the conceptual model based on said theories was conducted. Data analysis was performed using the partial least squares technique and simple slopes analysis. Results demonstrate, that RAA constructs injunctive norm, instrumental attitude and PMT construct perceived severity predict intentions to protect personal data, while intentions and procedural knowledge regarding protective strategies predict protective behaviours in both PC and mobile environments. Both intentions and procedural knowledge have a stronger positive effect on online privacy behaviours in PC than in mobile environment. Procedural knowledge was found to moderate the relationship between intentions and behaviours in both environments. The study’s limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed.