Browsing by Title

This thesis is a contribution to the budding discussion within social sciences about blockchain – an emerging technology that, for the last decade or so, has garnered a lot of attention especially with its cryptocurrency applications. More recently, blockchain has started to spread to fields outside of the financial sector as new imaginaries are being projected onto it in e.g. logistics, energy, entertainment, and the humanitarian sector. The study at hand focuses on blockchain in the realm of anti-money-laundering. Blockchain, when applied to cryptocurrencies, seems to propose challenges to the actors who try to prevent money-laundering, and institutional reactions trying to restrict or manage the use of certain blockchain applications have already started to emerge. However, these reactions have also affected the development of the technology itself. As blockchain is an emerging technology and phenomenon, the research conducted for this study is of the explorative kind. Reflecting on ethnographic observation and eight semi-structured interviews with e.g. cryptocurrency activists, NGOs and representatives from tax administration, central bank, foreign ministery, and financial supervision authority, the thesis examines the different imaginaries projected onto blockchain. By applying a combined framework of the global assemblages approach and the concept of practical activity, the thesis investigates the tactics, politics, morals and the subject of blockchain, and attempts to answer the following questions: How is blockchain being applied or resisted, in order to resolve the perceived problems in the field of anti-money-laundering? What is being tried to achieve by the use or resistance of blockchain in this field? Why is blockchain regarded to be of value or a risk? And fundamentally, if examined as a combined entity – who is blockchain? A myriad of interpretations emerge from the data. For many, blockchain holds promise of a better future where individuals have more power over their freedoms and assets. For others, blockchain is challenger that is controlled by no one and allows illicit activities to go unnoticed. For some, blockchain is a threat that should be restricted and governed. The main finding of the study is that blockchain allows many different agendas and imaginaries to be projected on to it. The “original” emancipatory values of blockchain that would allow its users independence, anonymity, immutability, and freedom from central governance seem to be extremely interchangeable with the values of governance and efficiency. The contradictory goals and morals enacted through blockchain have not been resolved. As the juridico-legal attempts to govern blockchain increase, certain blockchain-based actions could go deeper underground, making it more difficult for law-abiding actors to take part in blockchain-based activities. For the humanitarian sector, blockchain holds a lot of interesting potential. Blockchain could be used for e.g. improving access to energy, providing legal identities, and enabling cost-free remittances. The mutually constitutive nature of governance and technology should be taken into account as interpretations are made, so as to not prevent or hinder the development of applications with societally beneficial goals.

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge. New scientific knowledge produces new technologies and new technologies necessarily expose new vulnerabilities in our laws and legal thinking. Blockchain technology, by allowing us to reduce and even eliminate the role of the middleman in our transactions, triggers a significant paradigm shift in how we deal with value. It is often said in online communities that internet democratizes access to information and blockchain democratizes the access to truth. The aim of this work is to shed light on the unchartered territory of the blockchain with the lenses of the EU data protection and privacy law, and offer an in-depth analysis of the greatest issues the blockchain presents with possible solutions and policy recommendations.

Avhandlingen behandlar blockkedjans eventuella ställning som ett transnationellt rättssystem. Syftet är att undersöka huruvida blockkedjor och dess applikationer bör betraktas som rättssubjekt som faller under statlig jurisdiktion eller om de utgör självständiga rättssystem med jurisdiktion över sin egen verksamhet. Forskningen följer en rättsteoretisk samt rättssociologisk metod. Materialet består i huvudsak av rätts- och andra samhällsvetenskapliga artiklar samt tekniska och empiriska data angående blockkedjan Ethereums funktion och användning. I avhandlingen diskuteras statens suveränitet som koncept samt blockkedjeteknologins hot mot statens suveränitet. Det konstateras att blockkedjan och staten möjligtvis kommer att fungera som konkurrerande eller parallella normativa system i framtiden. Rättspluralismen presenteras därmed som ett fungerande ramverk för identifierandet och utvärderandet av icke-statliga rättssystem såsom blockkedjan. Avhandlingens forskningsfråga är huruvida blockkedjor kan betraktas som rättssystem. Luhmanns systemteori används som det främsta verktyget för besvarandet av forskningsfrågan. Blockkedjan Ethereum fungerar som föremål för analysen. Avhandlingen reflekterar även kring interna och externa rättsliga utmaningar som uppstår till följd av blockkedjans ställning som ett (framväxande) rättssystem

Aortaklaffstenos är den vanligaste indikationen för implantation av biologisk aortaklaff. Enligt vårdrekommendationer har patienterna antikoagulativ behandling med warfarin i tre månader efter operationen. Målet med studien är att kartlägga blödningar hos patienter med biologisk aortaklaffprotes, samt undersöka riskfaktorer för blödning i denna patientgrupp. Undersökningen gjordes på material som retrospektivt samlats in ur patientjournaler från universitetssjukhus i Finland och är en del i CARE-AVR-projektet. I materialet ingick 721 patienter och det förekom totalt 98 blödningsincidenter under uppföljningstiden, av dessa var 56 stora blödningar. I studien framkommer att behandlad hypertension innan aortaklaffimplantationen tredubblar risken för stor blödning. Permanent warfarinbehandling vid 3 månader efter operationen ökar risken för blödning. Kön, ålder vid operationen, diabetesbehandling och hjärtsvikt inverkar inte på blödningsrisken. En modifierad HAS-BLED klassifikation lämpar sig inte som verktyg vid bedömning av blödningsrisken hos patienter med biologisk AVR.

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millainen on Suomen luetuimpien muotibloggaajien bloggaamisen etiikka. Ensimmäiset muotiblogit perustettiin Suomessa 2000-luvun puolivälissä. Vuosikymmen muotiblogien perustamisen jälkeen muotibloggaajat saavuttavat valtavia lukijakuntia ja kiinnostavat lukijoidensa ohella niin mainostajia kuin perinteistä mediaakin. Muotiblogisisältöjen kaupallistuessa on yhteiskunnassa herännyt huoli blogeissa mahdollisesti esiintyvästä piilomainonnasta. Muotiblogimedian lisääntynyt kaupallisuus nostaakin esille mediaeettisen näkökulman. Muotiblogosfäärissä on kaupallisuuden tuomien eettisten ongelmien lisäksi myös muita eettisiä haasteita. Tutkimuksen lähtökohtana on muotibloggaamisen ammattimaistuminen: toiminnan ammattimaistuessa muotibloggaajilta voidaan odottaa ymmärrystä tekojensa seurauksista. Sen sijaan harrastuksekseen bloggaavilta ei voida vaatia moraalista harkintaa. Vaikka suuri osa muotibloggaajista tavoittaa viikoittain suuria lukijakuntia ja suosionsa vuoksi ansaitsee bloggaamisella, ei edes ammattimaisesti bloggaavilla ole journalistien tapaan edunvalvojaa tai yhteisiä, koko muotibloggaajakuntaa koskevia itsesääntelyohjeita. Tutkimuksen teoreettisen viitekehyksen muodostaa Potterin laatikko, jossa eettinen päätöksenteko jaetaan neljään osa-alueeseen: sidosryhmiin, tilanteeseen, arvoihin ja periaatteisiin. Tutkimusongelma operationalisoitiin Potterin laatikon osa-alueiden perusteella neljäksi tutkimuskysymykseksi: 1) Miten muotibloggaajien tärkeimmät sidosryhmät vaikuttavat bloggaamiseen? 2) Millaiset tilanteet vaikuttavat bloggaamiseen? 3) Millaisia arvoja muotibloggaajat pitävät tärkeinä? 4) Millaisia yhteisiä periaatteita muotibloggaajilla on? Tutkimuksessa hyödynnettiin monimenetelmällistä lähestymistapaa, menetelmätriangulaatiota, ja tutkimuskysymykseen vastattiin neljän eri aineiston perusteella. Aineistot ovat: a) kymmenen Suomen luetuimman muotiblogin sidosryhmämaininnat (n=447) kahden kuukauden ajalta, b) verkkokysely muotibloggaajille (n=21), c) yksilöhaastattelut muotibloggaajien kanssa (n=6) , sekä d) Asiakkuusmarkkinointiliiton ja Kilpailu- ja kuluttajaviraston blogimainontalinjauksia käsittelevät blogitekstit (n=4). Kaikki neljä aineistoa sisältyvät tutkimuksen perusjoukkoon, jonka muodostavat 50 Suomen luetuinta muotiblogia. Tutkimuksen perusteella Suomen luetuimpien muotibloggaajien tärkeimmät sidosryhmät ovat bloggaaja itse, lukijat, toiset bloggaajat, blogiportaali ja yhteistyöyritykset. Muotibloggaamiseen vaikuttavat tilanteet syntyvät puolestaan kohtaamisissa tärkeiden sidosryhmien kanssa. Merkittävimmät, eettisiä ongelmia aiheuttavat tilanteet liittyvät bloggaamisen lisääntyneeseen suosioon ja toiminnan ammattimaistumiseen sekä muotibloggaajien tärkeänä pitämään vapauteen. Muotibloggaajien henkilökohtaisiksi arvoiksi muodostuivat tutkimuksen perusteella itsensä ilmaiseminen ja ilmaisunvapaus, vuorovaikutus lukijoiden kanssa, rehellisyys ja läpinäkyvyys, positiivisuus, asioiden rajaaminen blogin ulkopuolelle sekä blogilla ansaitseminen. Muotibloggaajien yhteisiä periaatteita ovat puolestaan solidaarisuus, oman arvon tunteminen, muiden yksityisyyden kunnioittaminen sekä provosoitumisen välttäminen. Tutkimuksen johtopäätöksenä esitetään, että muotibloggaamisen ytimessä on kolme käsitettä: vapaus, vuorovaikutus ja vastuu. Vapaus on muotibloggaamisen ydin. Itseilmaisu ja ilmaisunvapaus ovat syitä sille, miksi bloggaaminen on ylipäätään aloitettu. Tutkimuksessa muotibloggaamisen vapaus näyttäytyy erityisesti siinä, ettei bloggaamiselle saa asettaa sääntöjä tai rajoituksia bloggaajien itsensä lisäksi kukaan muu. Toinen muotibloggaajien etiikkaa kiteyttävä käsite on vuorovaikutus. Tutkimuksen perusteella erityisesti vuorovaikutus lukijoiden kanssa on muotibloggaajille todella tärkeää: blogien kommenttiosioissa lukijoiden kanssa käymä keskustelu on muotibloggaajille merkki siitä, että blogia luetaan. Muotibloggaaminen on yksinäistä ja siksi vuorovaikutus myös blogikollegoiden ja blogiportaalin kanssa on keskeistä. Vuorovaikutus yhteistyöyritysten kanssa on puolestaan muotibloggaajien mielestä sekä antoisaa että ongelmallista. Tutkimuksen perusteella myös vastuu korostuu Suomen luetuimpien muotibloggaajien etiikassa. Muotibloggaajien kohdalla vapauden tuoma vastuu ei kuitenkaan liity blogin lukijoihin, toisiin bloggaajiin tai yhteistyökumppaneihin, vaan muotibloggaajat kokevat olevansa vastuussa ennen kaikkea itselleen. Oman itsen lisäksi muotibloggaajat kantavat vastuuta myös läheisistään: omaa bloggaamista punnitaan sen mukaan, mikä tuntuu itsestä hyvältä ja mitä perhe ja ystävät ajattelevat.

Research objectives: As the use of social media has increased, writing a blog has become more and more popular in the recent years. For the writer, a blog is a means of communication, a diary, or enabler of writing as a hobby. One blogger group consists of Finnish expatriates. Emigrating means a life change, that according to previous research causes a process of culture shock that can last for years. Integration of expatriates has been studied quite a lot. Blogs and blogging as a relatively new phenomenon has already been the object of an amount of research, but blogging while living abroad has not received much attention, yet. The purpose of this study was to find out, how blog-writing Finnish expatriates experience the significance of blogging in their current situation in life. The meanings given to the blog were viewed in relation to the writers' background. The starting point for the study was an assumption, that blog-writing Finnish expatriates possibly use the blog as an aid in adaptation. Methods: The study involved 39 blog-writing Finnish expatriates, who wrote a free-form text about their blogging, guided by some general questions around the focus of this study. In addition, they answered some questions concerning their background. The texts were analyzed using content analysis. The results of the content analysis and the background information were quantified and cross tabulated to find out factors that might be connected to the significances given. Results and conclusions: The majority of significances given to blogging were connected to living abroad, especially when taking into account the subjects of blog posts and the target audience. The reasons for starting a blog were pragmatic, like communication and writing a diary, whereas the current significances also included deeper level functions. The latter were e.g. receiving peer support, pondering issues and using the Finnish language. The significances given to the blog change as time passes and integration proceeds, but it does not become less important to the writer. Many respondents indicated that communication with friends and family in Finland through the blog is often unidirectional. Communication with new connections acquired through the blog, however, was told to be bidirectional. Therefore, writing a blog may in a way close the writer outside of her former social network, but instead it helps to build a totally new network, including members in a similar situation in life. The results suggest that Finnish expatriates use the blog as an aid in integration process. The blog has instrumental value even when integration has come to an advanced stage and the difficult phases of culture shock have been passed.

Since the term blue carbon was first coined in 2009, the interest in the carbon stocks and annual carbon sequestration of mangrove forests, salt marshes and seagrass meadows has increased noticeably. However, in the past couple of years, the carbon capabilities of kelp forests have also started to garner more attention, leading to multiple published studies arguing for their inclusion as a blue carbon ecosystem. However, so far, few studies have actually compared the amount of carbon stored and sequestered by kelp forests to the three traditional blue carbon ecosystems. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to estimate and compare the amount of carbon currently stored and annually sequestered by the different blue carbon ecosystems. Furthermore, the effects and costs of blue carbon ecosystem degradation were also estimated. Based on the results of a thorough literature review regarding the global distribution and degradation rates of the ecosystems as well as the amount of carbon sequestered and stored per unit area, the total amount of carbon stored in blue carbon ecosystems is estimated to be between 5 and 25 Pg, with mangrove forests storing roughly half of that. Yet, whilst kelp forests are estimated to have a far larger global distribution than all of the other blue carbon ecosystems combined, they only store around 0.1–1.4 Pg of carbon, since all of the carbon is stored in their biomass, unlike the other blue carbon ecosystems, in which the vast majority of carbon is located in the soils. However, the total amount of carbon sequestered annually by all blue carbon ecosystems is estimated to be between 40 and 331 Tg, out of which 8–231 Tg is sequestered by kelp forests. Yet, due to the degradation of the ecosystems during 2022, a combined 30–294 Tg of the previously stored carbon is estimated to be released into the atmosphere, whilst the amount sequestered during the year is reduced by roughly 0.4–6 Tg. Out of the carbon released, the majority is from the carbon stocks of seagrass meadows, whilst the carbon sequestration of kelp forests is reduced the most. The total combined cost of the degradation equals €9–174 billion, when the costs of the previously stored carbon released is combined with the NPV of the reduced carbon sequestration. Out of this, the total cost for kelp forests is estimated at €1–59 billion. However, whilst the number of studies published on blue carbon has increased, the data available regarding the ecosystems is still limited. As such, there are considerable uncertainties regarding the values presented and the results of the thesis should thus be considered rough estimates. That being said, the results still underline the importance of blue carbon ecosystems as carbon sinks as well as the considerable costs caused by environmental degradation. Furthermore, the thesis provides further support for the notion that kelp forests should indeed be considered a blue carbon ecosystem.

Cornea is transparent layer of cells lying in front of lens. The corneal epithelium, a squamous epithelium, covers the ocular surface and ensures proper vision by preserving the integrity of the eye. Corneal epithelium is renewed continuously throughout life from a pool of stem cells (SC). There are still conflicting theories about the localization of stem cells required for the growth, renewal and maintenance of the corneal epithelium. Previous studies demonstrated that the limbus, located in the periphery of the cornea, serves as the stem cell niche (SCN) in adults. However, contrasting evidence from clonal analysis proposes that, in early postnatal life, renewal is fuelled by SCs located in the basal layer of the central cornea. There are alternate patterns of renewal in young and adult mouse cornea and that there is an important, transitional time frame called cornea maturation, when the adult patterns of gene expression, cell dynamics and tissue renewal are established. In the cornea, solid SC markers are still missing, yet studies on human limbal cells have suggested Bmi1 and C/EBPδ as limbal SC markers. There are, indeed, long-lived SCs in the central cornea and that the gene Bmi1 plays a role in these central corneal SCs. However, the physiological importance of these Bmi1+ cells remains obscure. The main aim of this project is to understand the fate and dynamics of these Bmi1+ cells and study the chronology of maturation of the cornea. In this study, I have also tried to correlate the growth of eye size with proliferation of corneal epithelial cells This study was conducted using few different kinds of transgenic mice (Mus musculus). To study the fate of Bmi1+ cells, two different mouse lines were crossed: Bmi1-CreER and ROSA26-LacZ. Mice carrying both alleles were used for lineage tracing experiments. Moreover, Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to follow the eye morphology. Immunohistochemistry was performed to follow the chronology of maturation of the cornea, proliferation of corneal epithelial cells and the location of Bmi1+ cells in corneal epithelium. From this study, we can propose that cornea maturation is completed by the time of eyelid opening, which take place two weeks after birth. Krt19 is perfect for studying the chronology of the corneal epithelium, immunostaining of Krt19 separates the territory of limbus from central cornea enabling to distinguish limbus distinctly. Proliferating cells reside in basal layer of cornea. Bmi1+ cells found throughout the basal layer of the cornea that locally renews the corneal epithelium concluding Bmi1+ cells as the progenitor cells.

Tiivistelmä/Referat – Abstract Tämän kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat Suomen Bocuse d’Or -edustajien asiakaskokemuksen muodostumiseen. Viitekehys muodostuu kokonaisvaltaisista asiakaskokemuksen malleista, joissa asiakaskokemuksen nähdään syntyvän kaikista asiakkaan ja yrityksen välisistä kohtaamisista, mielikuvista ja tunteista. Tutkimuksen viitekehyksen kannalta tärkeimmiksi nousivat aiemmat tutkimukset, joissa asiakaskokemuksen syntyyn vaikuttavat tekijät ja asiakaskokemuksen eri ulottuvuudet oli määritelty niin, että ne auttoivat tämän tutkimuksen johtopäätösten selvittämisessä. Aineiston analyysi tehtiin aineistolähtöisesti. Tutkimus suoritettiin teemahaastatteluina kvalitatiivista lähestymistapaa hyödyntäen. Yksilöhaastatteluihin osallistui neljä Suomea Bocuse d’Or -kilpailussa edustanutta henkilöä. Kaikkien Suomen Bocuse d’Or -edustajien asiakaskokemusta kuvasti pettymys, jonka voidaan suurelta osin katsoa johtuvan pettymyksestä omaa kilpailussa sijoittumista kohtaan. Asiakaskokemus syntyi seuraavista tekijöistä: ihmiset, brändi, valikoima, aiemmat kokemukset, tilat ja laitteet ja sosiaalinen ympäristö. Lisäksi kokemuksen syntyyn ja siihen millainen asiakaskokemuksesta muodostui vaikuttivat asiakasmuuttujina: tavoite, elämäntilanne, asenne, mieliala ja persoona sekä tilannemuuttujana aika. Tutkimuksessa huomioitiin myös aineistosta esiin nousevat kuusi asiakaskokemuksen ulottuvuutta: aistillinen, emotionaalinen, kognitiivinen, pragmaattinen, elämäntapa ja sosiaalinen ulottuvuus.

This thesis discusses the links between consumer capitalism and the body in literature. The primary material for this thesis is Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel American Psycho, which details the daily life of its main character and narrator Patrick Bateman, which mostly consists of him sitting in his office, going to restaurants and clubs, shopping, and getting various beauty treatments. What break the monotonous routine of Patrick’s daily life are at first the very detailed sex scenes between him and various women, including sex workers, and later in the novel, the equally detailed gruesome murders committed by Patrick. Set in the 1980s, the novel criticizes the consumerist lifestyle of yuppies (“young upwardly mobile professionals”) and the intense need to conform that causes it. The theoretical background of this thesis consists of a brief cultural-historical background of the setting of the novel, an introduction into the field of body studies, and how bodies are viewed within consumer culture. Additionally, I also discuss objectification. Through the close reading of American Psycho and with the help of the theoretical background and other secondary material, this thesis argues that Ellis is criticizing the objectification of people prevalent in our consumer culture by creating a satirized character who takes this objectification to the extremes as he murders women and creates objects out of his victims in an attempt to find satisfaction. It is the combination of the unsatisfactory nature of consumer capitalism, as well as the misrepresentation of women in the media that Patrick consumes, which lead him to torture and murder women.