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Ecophysiology and ecology in plants are strongly affected by the conditions surrounding them. Adaptation aids plants to survive and to succeed in the prevailing conditions. Winter is a challenge to plants, particularly in northern latitudes and higher altitudes, because it exposes plants to cold and drought, for example. Plants survive from winter on species level with the help of genetic adaptations and as individuals also with the help of acclimation. Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) has been observed to grow separate winter leaves. This allows it to continue photosynthesis in mild conditions during winter, thus improving its energy balance, and to start growing earlier than other species in the spring, which is beneficial in interspecific competition. Fragaria vesca is a species that has wide distribution in the northern hemisphere, and its genotypes are found from very different locations and conditions. However, adaptive traits such as producing a new set of leaves for winter can turn out to be a disadvantage if environmental conditions change rapidly. Climate change brings about changes that are difficult to predict, and these changes are advancing at a fast pace when compared to the developmental history of plants. The aim of this thesis was to study the effect of temperature on summer and winter leaf development, stolon formation and summer and winter leaf chlorophyll, flavonol and anthocyanin content in different Fragaria vesca genotypes. Leaf chlorophyll and secondary compound content give information about leaf development and stress reactions in plants. Plants are known to produce anthocyanins in order to protect the photosynthetic apparatus during chlorophyll recovery in leaf senescence. Anthocyanins are also produced as a response to low temperatures. Research increases knowledge of the ecophysiological and winter ecology-related processes in Fragaria vesca and in the commercially valuable Rosacea-family as well as provides information about the possible responses of these organisms to climate change. Material for the study consisted of twelve European Fragaria vesca genotypes, which had originally been collected from five countries: Norway, Finland, Germany, Italy and Spain. The genotypes had been collected from different latitudes, and they also expressed altitudinal differences. In this study, these genotypes were kept in two temperature treatments, warm (+16°C) and cold (+11°C/six weeks, after which +6°C/four weeks) at a greenhouse. Leaf development was studied by measuring summer and winter leaf middle leaflet width and length, and petiole length. Stolons from each plant individual were counted on a weekly basis and observations about stolon production in relation to the timing of summer leaf senescence and winter leaf development were made at the same time. Leaf chlorophyll and secondary compound content was measured with a Dualex-meter, which provided values for chlorophyll, flavonol and anthocyanin content. The underlying assumption was that cold temperature would induce winter leaf development and summer leaf senescence. The results show that there were differences in summer leaf size between genotypes. Winter leaves had differences between genotypes, but also within genotypes at different temperature treatments. Stolon count was lower and stolon production ceased slightly earlier in the cold treatment. Moreover, summer leaf chlorophyll content decreased in both treatments, but the summer leaves senesced earlier in the warm room. Summer leaf flavonol and anthocyanin values were generally higher in the cooler temperature treatment. Anthocyanins were also produced by winter leaves in the cooler temperature treatment. Based on the results, Fragaria vesca genotypes had differences related to their origin, but temperature also had an effect on winter leaf development, stolon production and the production of secondary compounds. The effect of cold temperature on the size of developing winter leaves was clear. In the cooler temperature treatment, the winter leaves were smaller than in the warmer treatment. The anthocyanin content of summer leaves was higher than in the winter leaves, and the summer leaf anthocyanin content was higher in the colder temperature treatment, where the stress related to the photosynthetic apparatus and low temperatures was combined. Nevertheless, lower temperature did not explain all the responses observed in the genotypes of the study, and thus it is likely that acclimation and winter leaf development in Fragaria vesca are affected by some other factor in addition to temperature, e.g. light regime. A possible continuation for this work would be to study the effect of light conditions or milder winters on winter leaf development in Fragaria vesca genotypes and on the physiology of the species.

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli tarkastella laadullisten tutkimuskeinojen avulla keskeisten tekijöiden etenkin palkitsemisen vaikutusta word-of-mouth -viestintään. Teoriakatsauksen perusteella tutkimusaluetta lähestyttiin tarkastelemalla viittä eri aihealuetta, suosittelijan sisäistä motivaatiota, kokemusta tuotteen tai palvelun ominaisuuksista, suhdetta yrityksen kanssa ja suosituksen vastaanottajan kanssa sekä palkitsemista ja suosittelukampanjaa. Tutkimuksen teoreettisessa osuudessa avattiin käsite word-of-mouth -viestintä ja suosittelumarkkinointi sekä selvitettiin word-of-mouth -viestintään vaikuttavia keskeisiä tekijöitä, jotta suosittelupäätökseen liittyviä tekijöitä olemassa olevan tutkimustiedon avulla. Empiirinen tutkimus toteutettiin laadullisena tutkimuksena, jossa tutkimuksen casena oli Agronomiliitto ry:n suosittelukampanja. Tutkimuksessa haastateltiin Helsingin yliopiston maatalous-metsätieteellisen tiedekunnan syksyn 2009 tutoreita koskien heille suunnattua jäsenhankintakampanjaa. Kampanjan tarkoituksena oli saada tutorit suosittelemaan Agronomiliiton jäsenyyttä uusille opiskelijoille. Parhaiten kampanjassa menestyneet tutorit palkittiin. Kahdeksasta haastateltavasta seitsemän oli Agronomiliiton jäseniä. Haastateltavista kolme palkittiin hyvästä menestyksestä kampanjassa. Aineistonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua ja henkilökohtaista teemahaastattelua. Haastatteluissa pyrittiin ennen kaikkea selvittämään haastateltavien ajatuksia liittyen word-of-mouth -viestintään sekä suosittelusta palkitsemiseen. Tutkimus antaa suuntaa, että sisäisellä motivaatiotekijöillä on suuri merkitys suositteluviestinnän tapahtumiselle. Suosittelijan tulee tunnistaa suositeltavasta tuotteesta tai palvelusta koetut hyödyt. Suosittelua myös edesauttaa jos suosittelija omaa mielipidejohtajan ominaisuuksia. Palkitseminen toimii kannustimena suositella, mutta palkitsemisjärjestelmä tulee miettiä huolellisesti, jotta suosittelija ei koe suosittelun vähentävän omaa tai suositteluviestin uskottavuutta. Tutkimuksen tulokset viittaavat molempien, suosittelijan ja suosittelun vastaanottajan palkitsemisen olevan paras palkitsemisjärjestelmä suosittelukampanjassa.

This pro gradu thesis discusses the information war during the Ukraine conflict in 2014. In particular, it examines the production of enemy images in the Finnish and Russian online media articles. The role and significance of communication in national defense has increased significantly in recent years. In many aspects, information warfare has in fact returned to the core of modern warfare. The importance of conquering territory has lost its significance to operating in cyberspace. The term information war as understood in this thesis is characterized by the battle over information and the minds of people. The winner is therefore the one who creates the best narrative to support themselves and justify their action. After the escalation of the events in The Maidan demonstration in the center of the Ukrainian capital Kiev in November 2013, it soon became evident how Russia and the Western media both covered the conflict from remarkably different perspectives, all building their own narrative behind the events. This thesis focuses on two particular epochs in year 2014: the annexation of Crimea in March and the Russian aid convoy crossing the Ukraine border in August. The data consist of 64 randomly selected editorial articles from four media: Finnish public broadcasting company Yleisradio, Finnish tabloid newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, the Russian news channel Russia Today and the Russian news agency Sputnik International. This research focuses especially on the hidden power of media discourse (Norman Fairclough) and the main objective is the de-neutralization of the discourses of “the other” used in these media texts to represent “the other”. The method used for this study is the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), concentrating on role of language as being shaped by the society and shaping the society. CDA aims particularly at revealing the power relations behind discursive conventions. The main discourses found in this study were the discourses of military threat (1), truth (2), externality (3) and megalomania (4). The discourse of hypocrisy (5) solely appeared in the Russian media, whereas the discourse of despotism (6) was only used by the Finnish media. The prevalence of the four main discourses in the four media analyzed was surprisingly equal. However, there was more difference on a national level, as Ilta-Sanomat and Russia Today represented ”the other” clearly more actively with the help of these discourses compared to Yle and Sputnik. All in all, the representations of “the Other” in all the four media analyzed can be described as extremely negative.

This thesis aims to examine the communication of charity work on social media. The thesis takes on the fundraising efforts of Finnish charity organization New Children’s Hospital 2017 (Uusi Lastensairaala 2017) and its Facebook Page posts over the course of twelve months. The research problem is to look at what kinds of charity work ULS 2017 Facebook Page promotes and what discourses of responsibility and solidarity can be seen as inscribed into these forms of charity work. The subject matter is a timely example of new forms of public fundraising and charity as well as the responsibilization of the public sector. The study provides insight especially into discourses employed by charities and fundraising organizations in the domain of health care and otherwise health-related causes. The primary research data consists of posts from the New Children’s Hospital 2017 Facebook Page from October 2013 to September 2014. First, a method of content analysis has been used to examine, what kind of forms of charity work are presented on the Facebook Page posts and by whom they have been initiated (private individuals or groups, companies, actors in the third sector or the public sector). Building on these findings, prevalent types of charity work are further examined by applying a method of critical discourse analysis. The analysis indicates the prevalence of charity through consumption, sports and health-themed events, and projects and charity spectacle in the ULS 2017 campaign communications. A majority of these charity actions were organized by private businesses or private individuals or groups. In terms of ways of participation, so called social media campaigns per se where people are encouraged to share stories or create content are not prevalent in the data, yet the use of technology in donating techniques (SMS, digital donation boxes and social applications) is well presented. Concepts of self-fulfillment and personal pleasure, responsible consumption and healthy lifestyle surface in the discourses of sports and health related events and projects while entertainment and experience are mostly presented in different social events. What is found is that personal interest and self-improvement is presented side by side with discourses of social responsibility, communal work and of a collective towards a national project. It is argued further, that ideals of healthy lifestyle, entrepreneurship, consumption and collective work is perceived in many cases of charity work and its communication, and that many of these ideals can be seen as coalescing with neoliberal ideals of self-regulation, self-reliance, entrepreneurship and active citizenship.

Digitalisation, automation, and globalisation have caused significant changes in the nature of work during recent decades. During volatile times, the importance of motivated employees and the ability to produce new innovations is highlighted. The aim of this master’s thesis is to study the connection between quality of work motivation and innovative work behaviour, which consists of idea generation, promotion, and realisation. Self-determination theory’s (Deci & Ryan, 2000; 1985) conceptualisation on autonomous (intrinsic and identified) and controlled (introjected and external) motivational types and the three basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) are used as the key theoretical standpoint. This quantitative research studies whether satisfaction of the three basic needs is positively connected to autonomous forms of motivation, whether autonomous forms of motivation are positively connected to innovative work behaviour, and whether the three basic needs are positively connected to innovative work behaviour. Furthermore, the mediating influence of autonomous motivation types in the relationships between the three basic needs and innovative work behaviour is also studied. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted to test the hypotheses. The data consist of responses of 92 knowledge workers (response rate 25.6%) from headquarters of a large Finnish organisation. The sample group is characterised by high educational level (81.6% of participants had lower- or higher-degree tertiary education from university or university of applied sciences) and quite even gender distribution (58.7% females and 40.2% males). In addition to background information, respondents answered to questions related to need satisfaction, motivational types, and innovative work behaviour. All the scales used in this research are developed specifically for work context and they have been validated in previous studies. The main statistical methods included linear regression analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance, and the factorial structures of scales were assessed with exploratory factor analysis. The mediation model was tested using the causal steps by Baron and Kenny (1986). The results show partial support for hypotheses. Autonomy and competence are positively connected to autonomous types of motivation, and all three basic needs are negatively connected to amotivation, i.e. lack of motivation. Only intrinsic motivation of the four motivational types explains positively and statistically significantly innovative work behaviour, and the coefficient of determination is notable (R2 adj. = .21) considering all the possible antecedents influencing innovativeness. Innovative work behaviour correlates positively with competence and autonomy, but only competence explains innovative work behaviour positively and statistically significantly in regression analysis. Intrinsic motivation mediates fully the connection between competence and innovative work behaviour, also when the effects of autonomy and relatedness are controlled. The influence of relatedness on autonomous types of motivation and innovative work motivation remains unclear. The results of this research indicate that innovative work behaviour might be endorsed among knowledge workers by supporting employees’ intrinsic motivation, which can be done by supporting their satisfaction of needs for autonomy and competence. According to previous research, autonomy can be supported by allowing influence on how, when, and what tasks are done, as well as including employees in goal setting and decision making, whereas competence can be supported by reducing unnecessary bureaucracy, allocating tasks so that they match employees’ skills, and providing training for employees.

Tutkielmassani tarkastelen miten Terry Pratchettin satiirinen fantasiasarja Discworld (suom. Kiekkomaailma) rakentaa fiktiivisen maailmaansa kuvailun, kerronnan ja genren avulla, ja miten nämä eri ominaisuudet toimivat yhdessä. Käyn läpi maailman eri osia, esimerkiksi taian ja teknologian käyttö ja kehitys sekä hahmojen suhteet toisiinsa ja maailmaan. Lisäksi käsittelen fiktiivisen maailman politiikkaa ja historiaa sekä fantasian ja satiirin vaikutukset kerrontaan ja maailman ontologiseen perustaan. Keskityn ensisijaisesti neljään romaaniin. Nämä ovat sarjan 13. romaani Small Gods (suom. Pienet jumalat), 23. romaani Carpe Jugulum, 25. romaani The Truth (suom. Totuuden torvi), sekä 34. romaani, Thud! (suom. Muks!). Käsittelen kuitenkin myös lyhyesti sitä, miten sarja toimii kokonaisuutena. Terry Pratchett luo maailmanrakentamisen keinoin uskottavan tarinamaailman, joka perustuu lukijoille tuttuihin fantasian ja todellisen maailman ominaisuuksiin. Romaanit rakentavat maailmaa tarkastelemalla kerronnoissaan eri maita, kulttuureja ja maailmankuvia. Vaikka sarjan maailma on sinänsä absurdi, johdonmukaiset yksityiskohdat ja kertomukset tekevät siitä ymmärrettävän ja kiinnostavan. Lukijat pystyvät näin ollen päättelemään maailmasta enemmän kuin romaanit siitä kertovat, joka puolestaan saa tarinamaailman tuntumaan yhtenäiseltä ja itsenäiseltä kokonaisuudelta. Tutkielmassani osoitan, ettei kerronta välttämättä ole maailmanrakentamisesta irrallinen prosessi, toisin kuin jotkut maailmanrakentamisen teoreetikot ovat esittäneet. Kerronta, kuvaus ja lajityypin eri keinot vaikuttavat vahvasti toisiinsa ja muodostavat yhdessä maailmanrakentamisen prosessin.

Cosmopolitan ideals have been on the philosophical agenda for several millennia but the end of the Cold War started a new discussion on state sovereignty, global democracy, the role of international law and global institutions. The Westphalian state system in practice since the 17th century is transforming and the democracy deficit needs new solutions. An impetus has been the fact that in the present world, an international body representing global citizens does not exist. In this Master’s thesis, the possibility of establishing a world parliament is examined. In a case analysis, 17 models on world parliament from two journals, a volume of essays and two other publications are discussed. Based on general observations, the models are divided into four thematic groups. The models are analyzed with an emphasis on feasible and probable elements. Further, a new scenario with a time frame of thirty years is proposed based on the methodology of normative futures studies, taking special interest in causal relationships and actions leading to change. The scenario presents three gradual steps that each need to be realized before a sustainable world parliament is established. The theoretical framework is based on social constructivism, and changes in international and multi-level governance are examined with the concepts of globalization, democracy and sovereignty. A feasible, desirable and credible world parliament is constituted gradually by implying electoral, democratic and legal measures for members initially from exclusively democratic states, parliamentarians, non-governmental organizations and other groups. The parliament should be located outside the United Nations context, since a new body avoids the problem of inefficiency currently prevailing in the UN. The main objectives of the world parliament are to safeguard peace and international law and to offer legal advice in cases when international law has been violated. A feasible world parliament is advisory in the beginning but it is granted legislative powers in the future. The number of members in the world parliament could also be extended following the example of the EU enlargement process.

Tämä tutkielma käsittelee World Wide Webin sisältämien verkkosivujen sisältöjen käyttöä korpusmaisesti kielitieteellisenä tutkimusaineistona. World Wide Web sisältää moninkertaisesti enemmän tekstiä kuin suurimmat olemassa olevat perinteiset tekstikorpukset, joten verkkosivuilta voi todennäköisesti löytää paljon esiintymiä sellaisista sanoista ja rakenteista, jotka ovat perinteisissä korpuksissa harvinaisia. Verkkosivuja voidaan käyttää aineistona kahdella eri tavalla: voidaan kerätä satunnainen otos verkkosivuista ja luoda itsenäinen korpus niiden sisällöistä, tai käyttää koko World Wide Webiä korpuksena verkkohakukoneiden kautta. Verkkosivuja on käytetty tutkimusaineistona monilla eri kielitieteen aloilla, kuten leksikograafisessa tutkimuksessa, syntaktisten rakenteiden tutkimuksessa, pedagogisena materiaalina ja vähemmistökielten tutkimuksessa. Verkkosivuilla on perinteisiin korpuksiin verrattuna useita haitallisia ominaisuuksia, jotka pitää ottaa huomioon, kun niitä käytetään aineistona. Kaikki sivut eivät sisällä kelvollista tekstiä, ja sivut ovat usein esimerkiksi HTML-muotoisia, jolloin ne pitää muuttaa helpommin käsiteltävissä olevaan muotoon. Verkkosivut sisältävät enemmän kielellisiä virheitä kuin perinteiset korpukset, ja niiden tekstityypit ja aihepiirit ovat runsaslukuisempia kuin perinteisten korpusten. Aineiston keräämiseen verkkosivuilta tarvitaan tehokkaita ohjelmatyökaluja. Näistä yleisimpiä ovat kaupalliset verkkohakukoneet, joiden kautta on mahdollista päästä nopeasti käsiksi suureen määrään erilaisia sivuja. Näiden lisäksi voidaan käyttää erityisesti kielitieteellisiin tarpeisiin kehitettyjä työkaluja. Tässä tutkielmassa esitellään ohjelmatyökalut WebCorp, WebAsCorpus.org, BootCaT ja Web as Corpus Toolkit, joiden avulla voi hakea aineistoa verkkosivuilta nimenomaan kielitieteellisiin tarkoituksiin.

This thesis explores press bias in the US and UK news coverage of the final 2020 US presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. An integral part of the US presidential election campaigns, the debates are televised events where the presidential candidates discuss controversial topics, and the press reports about the debates in real time. The goal of this thesis is to analyse whether a bias towards one of the candidates can be identified in the press coverage, and whether there is a difference between the coverage in the two countries. While the topic of press bias in elections has evoked academic interest in other fields, linguistic research has been minimal. Previous studies have found that the press coverage of presidential debates is sometimes biased or inaccurate, which might have the potential to influence voter behaviour. In this thesis I analyse whether a linguistic approach can offer new insight on how these biases manifest. The data comes from 8 US and 10 UK newspapers and consists of 69 newspaper articles. These countries were chosen, because their media systems have been found to share many similarities in the past, and they can give a general idea of the press coverage in the English-speaking world. More than just bias, this study analyses something called evaluation, an area of linguistics that deals with how writers express their views, how they build discourse with the readers and how they reflect the values of their community. Appraisal Framework (Martin and White, 2005) was used in the analysis, as it has been specifically designed for analysing evaluation and has been applauded for its ability to recognise implicit attitudes of the writers. The framework consists of three categories: ATTITUDES of the writer, ENGAGEMENT with the reader and GRADUATION, the degree of the attitudes. The collected data was analysed and classified manually in a close reading. The differences between the countries were found to be small, and a consistent bias favouring Biden was identified in the press coverage of both countries. In the ATTITUDE category, Trump was more often evaluated negatively than positively in both countries, especially regarding his moral standing (PROPRIETY) and his skills and capabilities (CAPACITY). Biden, on the other hand, was not evaluated negatively as much as Trump, and in the US, there were more positive than negative evaluations of him. He was most often applauded for his successes in the debate (CAPACITY). ENGAGEMENT was most often used by the journalists to oppose Trump’s views and to support Biden’s. The framework made it possible to build a more detailed description of how the biases manifest in the presidential debate news coverage and especially excelled in recognising implicit attitudes. At the same time, the framework had some issues regarding replicability of the study due to the subjectivity in identifying implicit attitudes. Some of these issues have been brought up by researchers in the past and adjustments for the framework have been suggested. Future studies using the Appraisal Framework could benefit from using one of these adjustments and seeing how that affects the results.

Säätutkia käytetään sadealueiden liikkeiden ja sateen voimakkuuden arvioimisen. Säätutkan toimintaperiaate perustuu sille, että sen lähettämä mikroaaltopulssi siroaa ilmakehässä olevista partikkeleista kuten vesipisaroista ympäristöönsä, jolloin pieni osa lähetetystä pulssista heijastuu takaisin kohti tutkaa. Tutka vastaanottaa palanneen pulssin ja arvioi sen perusteella sadealueita. Säätutkat ovat mittalaitteita, jotka vaativat toimiakseen säännöllistä huoltoa ja mittaustulosten validointia. Säätutkan kalibrointi on monessa mielessä haasteellista. Tutka on kaukokartoituslaite, jonka keräämä data kattaa alueen aina 250 km säteelle tutkasta. Se ei mittaa suoraan sademäärää, kuten sademittarit yleensä, vaan arvio sen välillisesti tutkaheijastuvuuden kautta. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus on tarkastella uutta mahdollista kalibrointimenetelmää. Uusi menetelmä käyttäisi pienoissadetutkaa MRR-2 vertailukohtana. Myös MRR-2 mittaa tutkaheijastuvuustekijää, joten se voisi olla hyvä vertailupari säätutkalle. Tasaisen sateen otoksessa vuosien 2015-2018 kesäsateissa säätutkan WRM200 ja pienoissadetutkan MRR-2 vertailupisteihin sovitetun suoran yhtälö on 𝑍(𝑊𝑅𝑀200) = 0.83 𝑍(𝑀𝑅𝑅−2) + 2.01, jossa 𝑍(𝑊𝑅𝑀200) on säätutkan ja 𝑍(𝑀𝑅𝑅−2) on pienoissadetutkan mittaama tutkaheijastuvuustekijä. Tasaisessa sateessa otoksen RMS-virhe on 3,36 dB. Konvektiivisen sateen otoksessa vastaava yhtälö on 𝑍(𝑊𝑅𝑀200) = 0.77 𝑍(𝑀𝑅𝑅−2) + 3.70 ja RMS-virhe 5,36 dB. Tasaisessa sateessa verrattavuus on konvektiivisessa sateessa tehtyä vertailua parempi. Tutkimus sisältää pohdintaa tuloksiin vaikuttavista tekijöistä sekä pohdintaa MRR-2:n soveltuvuudesta vertailulaitteeksi säätutkan kalibrointiin. Tutkimuksen pohjalta vaikuttaa siltä, että vaikka vertailunasettelu pyritään tehdä mahdollisimman vakaaksi, ei virhetekijöitä voida sulkea pois. Näin ollen tämän kaltaisella asettelulla ei voida suorittaa tarkkaa säätutkan kalibrointia.