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The European Commission and the Finnish government have released their respective roadmaps in sustainable forest policy. With the European Commission pushing for further cooperation and integration in a field with no dedicated framework, it becomes vital to have a consensus on the concept of “sustainable forestry” with Member States such as Finland. Finland, on the other hand, as the most forested Member State in terms of percentage of total land area, manifests opposite views regarding how the administration is supposed to effect policy. This thesis consists of an analysis of respective documents from the European Commission and the Finnish government: the New EU Forest Strategy for 2030 and the Government Report on Forest Policy 2050. Similar in scope and structure, they clearly reflect these different attitudes towards policymaking and the role of policymakers themselves in the coming decades. The focus of this analysis is, however, their respective use of metaphors. With the theoretical support of the Advocacy Coalition Framework of Hank Jenkins-Smith and Paul Sabatier and the Critical Metaphor Analysis of Jonathan Charteris-Black, these metaphor choices are then observed to explain which stakeholders—either forestry, administrative, or environmental—are favored in each document. In this thesis, metaphors are words whose basic meaning, which is usually the one easiest to imagine, is not the one used in their textual context. From associating that missing, metaphorical meaning to chosen key concepts, this analysis shows that the metaphors found are used in cohesion with each other. This reveals a re-conceptualization of those key terms according to the accompanying metaphors. For example, the European Commission presented forests in its Strategy as “towns”, while the Finnish government saw them as “(ore) mines”. The results of this thesis reveal the consistency of metaphor choices in discourse and their significance in depicting a potentially different set of narratives from those contained in conventional language, both overtly and covertly. With these results in mind, scholars can further pursue research in other fields thanks understanding of metaphor and its prevalence in communication, or even expand this line of research into the role of media, for example.

This study's key goal was to compare the brain morphology of musicians who play symmetric instruments to musicians who play asymmetric instruments. Also, musicians' brain morphology of both groups together were compared with the brain morphology of non-musicians. The participants in this study completed questionnaires regarding their musical backgrounds. MRI scans of their brains were analyzed using FreeSurfer- software. Our two main hypotheses were that 1) asymmetrical instrumentalists have a larger right hemisphere precentral gyrus than symmetrical instrumentalists and 2) symmetrical instrumentalists have larger corpus callosa (CC) than asymmetrical instrumentalists. We also aimed to replicate other findings related to these brain areas from previous studies. To a nonsignificant level, the key findings in this study are: musicians have a larger central and anterior CC compared to non-musicians and symmetrical instrumentalists have a larger anterior CC than asymmetrical instrumentalists. Compared to non-musicians, musicians have larger absolute volumes of precentral gyri in the right hemisphere but smaller in the left. When comparing relative sizes, both precentral gyri are larger in musicians than in non-musicians. Asymmetrical instrumentalists have a larger LH and RH precentral gyri, relatively and absolutely. Our findings partly support our theses to a statistically nonsignificant level.

Forskningens mål är att finna de kunskapsdomän som krävs för att lösa fysikuppgifter i studentexamensprovet i fysik på ett framgångsrikt sätt, för att sedan kunna avgöra svårighetsgraden på uppgifterna. Detta gjordes genom att undersöka tidigare forskning i ämnet. Man kom fram till att svårighetsgraden påverkades av de kognitiva färdigheter uppgiften krävde, det fysikområde uppgiften behandlade och de praktiska processer eleven måste göra för att lösa uppgiften. Dessa färdigheter delades in i hierarkiska undernivåer och sammanställdes till en taxonomi för studentexamensuppgifter i fysik. Man undersökte 143 studentexamensuppgifter i fysik från åren 2006 – 2016 och tilldelade dem poäng enligt de undernivåer de representerade i taxonomin för studentexamensuppgifter i fysik. Dessa poäng användes som rådata tillsammans med de medelpoäng elever fått i samma uppgifter. Rådatan användes av ett artificiellt neuronnätverk programmerat i GNU Octave som tränades att förutse medelpoängen för nya uppgifter. Man kunde konstatera att neuronnätverket fungerade bäst för lättare uppgifter där elever fått höga poäng och mindre bra för uppgifter som genererat lägre medelpoäng i studentexamen. Neuronnätet testades och klarade av att beräkna medelpoäng som hade korrelationskoefficienten R^2 = 0,90 med de verkliga medelpoängen. Taxonomin för studentexamensuppgifter i fysik kan användas av provkonstruktörer som vill säkerställa att alla uppgiftstyper representeras i provet och av lärare som vill se till att dessa övas i undervisningen

The phenomenal globalization of business is the main incentive for the study of business ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). With an increase in transnational trade over the past decades, an understanding of acceptable business practices across cultural boundaries is particularly important. Public concern for global issues such as climate change, raw material procurement, human rights, labor policies and corporate governance has significantly increased. Business corporations are obligated to operate as members of communities, organization as such is not allowed to exist if it does not gain acceptance and support from those in its environment. Furthermore, CSR can be seen as a competitive advantage – one dimension of corporate reputation and image. As future managers and consumers the current students are shaping the construct of corporate responsibilities. The future of CSR depends much on the attitudes of coming generations. The purpose of this study was to investigate how and to what extent the personal values and perceptions of CSR differ among Chinese, Finnish and American students. The theoretical frame of reference suggests that perceptions of CSR are affected by background variables – gender, nationality and study major – both directly and through personal values. The nature of the study was quantitative and the sample consisted of altogether 1547 students from Finland, China and USA. The data has been gathered using questionnaires. The results of the study support previous findings of significant cultural and gender related differences in personal values and perceptions of CSR. Generally, female respondents and students majoring in forest ecology and environmental sciences possessed softer values and accepted or supported NGOs’ activity and governmental regulation in business life. The Chinese represented harder and more masculine values, whereas the American respondents emphasized soft values and stakeholder welfare. Overall, the Chinese data was the most homogenous, whereas the difference between genders was the most significant in Finland. Further research would be needed to find out if and how the values and perceptions are evolving over time. It remains to be seen, whether the ongoing globalization will decrease cultural differences in values and CSR orientation.

This MA thesis investigates student teacher attitudes on using the community language (L1, Finnish) and target language (L2, English) in English language teaching. In this thesis, the alternate use of two languages within the same classroom discourse is referred to as code-switching (CS). Several studies have examined teachers’ language choices and attitudes on the use of CS and this thesis aims to add more insight into how student teachers in Finland perceive the practice of CS and how well they have been educated on the phenomenon. The study sets out to answer the following the research questions: 1) How do EFL student teachers in Finland perceive the practice of classroom CS during their teaching practices in schools? 2) What are the main reasons or motivations for such classroom practices? 3) How well is classroom language use covered in teacher education programs? The data for the study was collected through an online questionnaire that was sent to student teachers in the University of Helsinki finishing their teaching practice. The questionnaire yielded mostly quantitative data, but also some qualitative data from open-ended questions. The findings illustrate that student teachers see value in using students’ L1 while also recognizing the need for extensive input and output in learning the L2. The implications for teacher education are also highlighted, as research-based language teaching could be improved with education on the principled use of CS in L2 classroom discourse.

Studerandes begreppsförståelse är av stort intresse inom fysikundervisningen. Inte minst eftersom slutprov och eventuella förhör ofta ämnar att summativt bedöma just denna begreppsförståelse. De olika fysikaliska begreppen förekommer dock inte som från varandra isolerade entiteter, utan är kopplade till varandra på olika sätt via modeller. I den här undersökningen utreds hurdana förklaringsmodeller studerande använder då de förklarar glödlampors relativa ljusstyrka i likströmskretsar. Förutom själva förklaringsmodellerna så undersöks även hur studerandes användning av förklaringsmodeller ändras då de löser samma uppgift andra gången. Dessutom granskas hurdana förklaringsmodeller används av de studerande som är bra på att lösa de framförda likströmskretsuppgifterna. Som grund för forskningen användes transkriberade intervjuer där studerande skulle göra förutsägelser om likströmskretsar som presenterades för dem. Som intervjuobjekt fungerade femton (N=15) studerande på Helsingfors universitet vilka alla var ämneslärarstuderande med fysik som biämne. Ur detta material plockades sex (N=6) studerande vilkas svar analyserades med hjälp av en latent innehållsanalys. Totalt tretton olika förklaringsmodeller kunde urskiljas i studerandes resonemang. Då studerande löste samma uppgift för andra gången kunde två saker observeras. Om lamporna i likströmskretsen hade samma resistans så minskade de studerande i regel på antalet förklaringsmodeller de använde. Men om lamporna i likströmskretsen hade olika resistans så kunde motsvarande minskning inte observeras. De studerande som ofta resonerade korrekt i uppgifterna använde sig av förklaringsmodeller där begreppen elektrisk effekt eller energi framkom.

The Scots pine bark beetle, Tomicus piniperda is a secondary colonizer of pine and other conifers. It is a native species from Europe and Asia that was recently introduced in North America. Although it is necessary to understand this insect's interactions with other organisms, few studies have focussed on its fungal associates. This study focused on the effect of latitude in the occurrence of fungi associated with T. piniperda. T. piniperda were collected from Pinus sylvestris in Northern (Rovaniemi) and Southern (Hyytiala) Finland. Both endo- and epi- mycota were isolated. The fungi were identified using a combination of morphological features and molecular data. The results revealed a great diversity of fungi species associated with T. piniperda, with a total of 3073 isolates representing 23 species. The most frequently isolated fungi in the bark beetles from Northern Finland were Beauvaria bassiana, Kuraishia sp. and Penicillium sp. whereas P. brevicompactum and Mortierella sp. were mostly observed in the South. Ophiostoma canum and O. minus were also observed. The number of isolates per insect in the north was 2.83 epi- and 2.38 for endo-mycota fungus. In the south, the number of isolates per insect was 4.1 for epi- and 3.5 for endo-mycota. Statistical analysis indicated that there was significant differences in fungal populations associated with the beetles in Southern and Northern Finland. There was however no significant difference between the epi- and endo-mycota fungal populations. The highest richness and diversity of the fungal species was observed in the South. However, the overall fungal diversity index analysis revealed that the mycobiota was undersampled.

Cells in tissues have only three serious options in life; they can grow and divide, remain static, or die by apoptosis. Upon growth factor stimulation a cell enters the so called cell cycle which will eventually lead to the division of the cell. Cell cycle can be divided into four phases; G1, S, G2 and M. The current model of the cell cycle control holds that the transitions between different cell cycle states are regulated by cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) with their activator subunits, the cyclins. CDK regulation can be separated into four distinct mechanisms, one of which being phosphorylation on the so called T-loop leading to complete activation. This phosphorylating activity is mediated by apparently a single enzymatic activity termed the CDK activating kinase, CAK. CAK activity was originally isolated as a biochemical purification extract and the enzyme was surprisingly noticed to be structurally related to CDKs. Since a novel cyclin was identified to be associated to it, the enzyme exercising CAK activity was named CDK7 and the cyclin was designated cyclin H. An entirely new perspective on CDK7 function was opened when CDK7 was identified as a subunit of transcription factor IIH (TFIIH) and shown to phosphorylate the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII). CDK7 has also been suggested to be involved in irradiation sensitivity pathways and nucleotide excision repair functions. To elucidate the intriguing in vivo role of CDK7, proteins interacting with CDK7 were screened for using the yeast two-hybrid method as part of previous studies of the laboratory. The results showed that 15 out of 144 (10,4%) positive clones were identified to encode a peptide sequence of a protein previously known as the inhibitor/interactor of protein kinase C (PKCI). These yeast colonies had an unexpected phenotype; contradictory to a dark blue color of the colonies, indicating strong interaction, the size of the PKCI colonies was small compared to others, indicating a possible growth inhibition effect. Several DNA open reading frames (ORF) coding for proteins related to human PKCI have been identified in a broad range of species representing mammalian, plant, fungal and bacterial kingdoms, all these forming a HIT (conserved triad of histidines) protein family. Another human member, part of this now super family, named FHIT (fragile triad of histidines) was identified with a dinucleoside 5’,5’’’-P1,P3-triphosphate hydrolase activity. These molecules; substrates of FHIT and related enzymes have been proposed to have various intracellular functions, including signalling stress responses. The aim of this study was to extend the investigation of the interaction between CDK7 and PKCI observed in yeast two-hybrid by means of several genetic and biochemical approaches to determine if this observed interaction and growth phenotype has any physiological significance. Investigations included performing yeast two-hybrid screening for PKCI, developing yeast three-hybrid system and carrying out growth rate assays for yeast liquid cultures. These studies also included performing biochemical purifications of over-expressed proteins, immunoprecipitations, western blot analysis and kinase activity assays. Protein extracts originated from transformed yeast cells, transfected mammalian cells or from in vitro transcription and translation reactions. On basis of growth rate assays it can be concluded that PKCI has an inhibitory growth effect in yeast. The preliminary finding of a specific PKCI-CDK7 interaction in yeast two-hybrid, however could not be conclusively verified by the other methods that were used in this study. Studies of PKCI characterisation also included examination of the subcellular localisation of PKCI in mammalian cells by immunofluorescence labelling of HA-PKCI. Results showed PKCI to localize both in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm. Also, studies to elucidate the function of PKCI were performed; whether it possesses enzymatic activity related to that of FHIT. By NMR spectroscopy using bacterially produced GST-PKCI, hydrolase activity towards ADP was indeed observed. Future studies will include elucidation of possible links between growth inhibition and hydrolase activity, in the form of stress signalling functions. The main focus of our future studies will be the generation of mice with targeted PKCI alleles offering powerful means to reveal the function of PKCI through observing phenotypes and through detailed analysis of these mice harbouring wild type, hypomorphic or null alleles.

The powdery mildew of strawberry (Podosphaera macularis) causes yield losses in both fields and under glass. The ability to resist the infection of powdery mildew is a desirable attribute in the breeding of new cultivars. The assessment of powdery mildew resistance of cultivars by laboratory tests would give tools to quickly separate resistant cultivars from susceptible in the process of plant breeding. The purpose of this study was to compare the powdery mildew resistance of strawberry cultivars demonstrated in laboratory and greenhouse tests, and to evaluate the methods used. In addition, it was tested in the F2 crossing populations of wild strawberry if the ability to resist powdery mildew could be genetically linked to a phenotypic character of runner production or the flowering habit. The ability to resist powdery mildew of the garden and wild strawberry was assessed in laboratory tests by inoculating detached leaflets of in vitro grown plants with conidia of powdery mildew, and incubating them in closed Petri-dishes with moist filter paper for two weeks. The symptoms of powdery mildew were assessed visually from the leaflets. Garden and wild strawberry plants were exposed to powdery mildew in the greenhouse, and the symptoms were assessed during an eight-week period. The detected differences between the garden strawberry cultivars were compared to the laboratory results. The differences between individual plants were observed in the F2 crossing populations of wild strawberry. The runnering/non-runnering trait and the flowering habit were also defined, and the connection of these traits to the powdery mildew resistance was tested. Runnering was observed from the plants in the greenhouse, and the flowering habit was determined in the laboratory with specific markers. The comparability between the laboratory and greenhouse tests of garden strawberry was poor. The variance in the laboratory data was great due to the difficulties in the controlling of the conditions, and the quality of the inoculum. Probably because of these problems the laboratory tests on the wild strawberry failed completely. In the greenhouse there could be seen differences between the individual plants of the F2 populations of wild strawberry. The differences were not able to be statistically linked to the habit of runner production or the flowering habit, but a hint of a weak connection could be observed between the runner production and the powdery mildew resistance. Stable conditions and the quality and freshness of the inoculum have a great role in the success of laboratory tests in assessing powdery mildew resistance. In the greenhouse the disease pressure should be kept limited, so that the differences in the resistance to powdery mildew can be assessed. The connection between the runner production and the powdery mildew resistance could be experimented in the future with a bigger test group.

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death worldwide and the amount of cancer deaths is expected to increase due to population growth and lifestyle choices that increase cancer risk. Even though there is a great variety of treatment approaches available, new and more efficient options are in high demand. Targeted radionuclide therapy is a form of internal radiation therapy that can be used to selectively target cancer cells. It utilizes radiopharmaceuticals, molecules that contain a radionuclide and a targeting vector part (biomolecule) which can bind to certain entities expressed on cancer cell surfaces. Ways to produce and purify new radionuclides suitable for cancer therapy are constantly investigated. Radionuclide precursors of high chemical and radionuclidic purity are needed for radiolabelling of the biomolecules used as targeting vectors. Radionuclides are often produced by proton irradiation of stable target material and separation of the radioisotope of interest from the target material is a vital part of nuclide production. Auger electron emitter Erbium-165 is a potential radiolanthanide for cancer treatment. Its production would require separation of Erbium from either Holmium or Thulium, adjacent lanthanides to Erbium. LN resins are extraction chromatography resins developed especially for lanthanide separations. In this work, the suitability of these resins for Holmium/Erbium and Erbium/Thulium separations was investigated. In order to assess the possibility of separating the lanthanides of interest on LN resins, the retention capacities of the lanthanide were determined on each resin. In addition, column separation experiments were performed.