Browsing by Title
Now showing items 27377-27396 of 32623
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(2022)The EU is proactively marketing itself as a global leader on the environment and climate. Whilst championing for better protection of the environment at a time of a climate crisis is commendable, a problematic phenomenon is taking place. The EU is increasingly relying on unilateral measures aimed at shaping both process and legal standards outside of EU territory, hence challenging the sovereignty of other states. These internal measures of an outward-looking nature include the EU Timber Regulation, the inclusion of aviation to the EU Emissions Trading System, and importantly, more proposals have been heard, such as a proposal for an EU legal framework to halt and reverse EU-driven global deforestation. This enthusiasm towards unilateral action on the environment and climate welcomes critical analysis of these measures as tools for global environmental and climate governance. This thesis argues that regulation needs to be characterized as a form of power, exercised by the EU in the shape of unilateral regulation. In this context, unilateralism is utilized as a strategy of a global hegemon looking to compel others into its dominant worldview, accomplished here by establishing European standards as global standards. Hence, whilst the EU’s unilateral measures can secure better protection of the environment and climate, and are merited with success in creating transnational environmental law, they remain highly problematic. This thesis focuses on the international legal order and how it accommodates unilateralism in the field of environmental and climate law. It is argued that the EU’s unilateral measures should be regarded as an extraterritorial exercise of jurisdiction. Due to this conclusion, it will be considered whether multilateralism as the basis of international environmental law is a thing of the past and whether unilateral measures could be justified on a reconceptualized legal order, which accommodates unilateralism. Such discussion is relevant due to the current climate crisis and calls for a reconceptualization of the legal order into one which sees the environment and climate as a global concern facing all of humanity and knowing no territorial borders. It will be argued that the EU’s unilateral measures aimed at producing environmental standards outside its territory are not a reflection of a shift in the international legal order or the end of multilateralism but reflect the EU’s ambitions of global regulatory dominance.
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(2015)This thesis examines the European Union’s involvement in the Security Sector Reform (SSR) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It focuses on the implementation of the EU’s normative human security approach in the context of the Congo. In particular, the thesis asks, to what extent the EU security sector reform support action in the DRC has succeeded in understanding and adopting an approach that focuses on security system thinking and the concept of broad security, and that seeks to promote human security. The study has adopted a qualitative research approach that aims to look at the implementation of the EU SSR policies from a case-specific point of view. Firstly, it examines the EU SSR policy documents and other sources outlines the normative aspects of the EU SSR approach. This is followed by an analysis of the primary data, obtained through key stakeholder interviews with the identified EU officials in the DRC. Finally, it presents the findings by answering the above-presented research question. The most important conclusion that can be drawn from the findings of this study is that the practical implementation of the EU SSR appporach in the DRC does not correspond to the normative aspirations spelled out in the policy.
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(2023)This thesis explores the possibility of analysing political speeches through a structuralist literary theoretical approach. The analysis focuses on Eurosceptic rhetoric in the United Kingdom (UK) and whether this rhetoric shares codified similarities with the way monsters are constructed in cultural narratives. This hypothesis is based on the us versus them cleavage and the process of Othering present in both Eurosceptic rhetoric and monster narratives. The reluctant role of the UK in the history of European integration has developed into an us versus them cleavage, with UK politicians repeatedly applying the process of Othering to the European Union (EU). In monster narratives, the monster represents the ultimate Other, embodying the fear of difference. The purpose of this analysis is to show that the potency of populist rhetoric goes deep into the level of fundamental human anxieties that manifest through narrative monsters. The thesis aims to identify the mechanics of monster-making in Eurosceptic political speeches by analysing three speeches from conservative British prime ministers through the structuralist literary theoretical approach: Margaret Thatcher’s Bruges Speech, David Cameron’s Bloomberg Speech, and a speech by Boris Johnson. The structuralist approach takes an underlying universal narrative structure as a frame of reference, codifies it, and then identifies occurrences of these codes in a text. The underlying universal narrative selected for this analysis is Jeffrey Cohen’s monster theory that he presents in seven theses, which represent the building blocks of narrative monsters observed in monster stories throughout human history. Four theses were selected for codification suitable for analysing political speeches, and the resulting codes are: Liminality, Otherness, Warning and Perception. The occurrences of these four codes in the three speeches is termed as the mechanics of monster-making. The results of the analysis show a clear presence of the mechanics of monster-making in the three selected speeches, proving that Eurosceptic rhetoric does share similarities with monster narratives. All three speeches contain occurrences of all four codes, and while the number of occurrences varies, the overall number of occurrences increases notably over time. This not only shows that the conservative politicians paint a picture of the EU as an escalating threat that is becoming more and more separate from the UK, but it also shows that in Thatcher’s time this monstrous threat is indicated to be in the future, whereas in Cameron and Johnson’s times the threat is conveyed as imminent. The results support the idea that applying an approach from cultural theory can contribute to the research of political narratives. Since humans are cultural beings and political speeches do not exist in a political vacuum, applying codes from an underlying universal narrative to political speeches can reveal depths of interpretation the more common discourse analytical approaches cannot reach.
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(2024)Organized crime is a concept that elicits powerful conceptions of particularly serious, methodical and large-scale criminality. Such conceptions of organized crime have directed societal discourse on the matter and influenced public decision makers, yet the particular gravity associated with organized crime is not reflected in the legal definitions that have been adopted at the European level, and as an extension stemming from harmonization, in national orders of criminal law. The definition of a ‘criminal organization’ adopted by the Union in the Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA remains exceedingly vague and overinclusive and does little to reflect the aspects that are traditionally associated with organized crime. This discrepancy is problematic, for the aforementioned conceptions of organized crime have been used to justify increased repression for those that have been deemed to fall under the broad ambit of organized crime as defined in the framework decision. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the history and background of the European Union’s organized crime related instruments and to subject them to the scrutiny of normative criminalization theory to ascertain whether the EU’s measures in the field are acceptable under a normative conception of legitimate criminal law. As such, aspects of legal theory and philosophy are heavily present in the methodology of this thesis. To determine the normative legitimacy of criminal law measures in the field of organized crime, this thesis relies on a traditional, restrictive conception of criminal law which is juxtaposed with the expansive, prevention-oriented approach to criminal law which the EU’s measures in the field of organized crime embody. To achieve this objective, the EU’s organized crime related harmonization measures are subjected to scrutiny imposed by certain relevant restrictive criminalization principles. As it becomes evident that the Union’s measures largely fail to live up to the standards that are required of legitimate criminalization, a natural follow up question becomes relevant: can or should we maintain the current harmonization efforts in the field of organized crime? To answer this question, the latter portion of this focuses on conceptualizing potential alternative normative justifications for harmonization in the field of EU criminal law and on how harmonizing organized crime-related legislation in a legitimate manner could serve a worthwhile function considering these alternative justifications.
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(2013)Illegal logging has become one of the most prominent issues in the last few decades. It causes environmental damage, lost in government revenue from timber production as well as promotes negative social issues such as corruption, conflict, etc. Various efforts such as enhance forest law enforcement, logs banned, public procurement policies, etc., have been propose by both consuming and producing countries. FLEGT Action Plan introduced by European Union in 2003 is the Union attempts to minimise illegal logging by exclude illegal timber product from EU’s market together with enhance and support the law enforcement as well as governance in producing countries. The purpose of this study is to provide useful information concerning operators’ perception of FLEGT issues. The main question of the study is: “What are the EU timber operators’ perceptions concerning FLEGT and EUTR?” Quantitative method is applied to the study. Data for the study is obtain through various channels, including online survey, distribution of questionnaire in conference and calling session. The result shows that operators are aware of negative effects of illegal logging and they believe that company needs to have good environmental image. Operators also support strict policy measure to be implemented in order to prevent illegal timber trade. However, they are reluctant to cope with the constraints cause by these policies. Operators acknowledge the benefit FLEGT Action Plan and EUTR create such as improve forest governance for producing countries, preventing illegal timber entering EU market. However, they still have doubt on the ability to prevent illegal logging of FLEGT Action Plan as well as the benefit EUTR able to offer both operators and the supplying countries. Furthermore, the result of this study also shows that the operators might have negative attitude toward EUTR since their perceived sacrifice on EUTR is dominated over the perceived benefits. This negative attitude can be caused by the incomprehension on FLEGT issues. The operators might gain positive attitude toward FLEGT issues once they truly understand the long term goal of FLEGT Action Plan. Finally, it is important to have an effective communication strategy which would help operators comprehend FLEGT issues so they would be able to have appropriate perception toward FLEGT Action Plan in general and EUTR in particular.
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(2018)Narcissus also called daffodil is a popular ornamental plant from Europe. It is known in Finnish gardens since 17th century, but there is no complete study on its genetic diversity. Over hundred years’ cultivation, it could happen the name of some accessions have been lost, localized or incorrectly assigned for a long time. In order to clarify the duplicates and support further genetic resource conservation, breeding program and other potential applications, the genetic diversity analysis of a set of N. poeticus and N. pseudonarcissus accessions was conducted by molecular markers. Genetic distance matrices between accessions were calculated by Dice dissimilarity coefficient and Gower’s dissimilarity coefficient, which was used to do cluster analysis and construct the dendrogram. Dendrograms of microsatellite data and ISSR data were draw by R program and based on unweighted pair group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) to visualize genetic distance between accessions. We investigated genetic polymorphism of 3 microsatellite loci and 6 inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) loci in 164 accessions of N. poeticus, N. pesudonarcissus, their hybrids and unknown species. Despite 3 microsatellite markers were not specifically developed from N. poeticus or N. pesudonarcissus, they were detected reasonable informativeness with average genetic diversity value (GD) of 0.22 and 36 polymorphic alleles were amplified in this study. As for 6 ISSR markers, we observed more informativeness with higher average GD of 0.3 and 224 polymorphic alleles. According to pairwise similarity of accessions and microsatellite dendrogram, we found 18 groups of samples might be duplicates, 14 pairs of samples might be siblings and 4 pairs of samples could belong to same family. From the analysis of ISSR dendrogram, 51 pairs of samples were considered with close genetic relationship, but only 6 pairs might be duplicates, 44 pairs could be siblings and 1 pair could belong to the same family. Two core collections constructed by CoreFinder software consist of 24 accessions and 18 accessions respectively regarding to microsatellite data and ISSR data.
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(2023)The evolution of number systems, demonstrating the remarkable cognitive abilities of early humans, exemplifies the progress of civilization. Rooted in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the origins of number systems and basic arithmetic trace back to tally marks, symbolic systems, and position-based representations. The development of these systems in ancient societies, driven by the needs of trade, administration, and science, showcases the sophistication of early mathematical thinking. While the Roman and Greek numeral systems emerged, they were not as sophisticated or efficient as their Mesopotamian and Egyptian counterparts. Greek or Hellenic culture, which preceded the Romans, played a crucial role in mathematics, but Europe's true impact emerged during the Middle Ages when it played a pivotal role in the development of algorithmic arithmetic. The adoption of Hindu-Arabic numerals, featuring a placeholder zero, marked a paradigm shift in arithmetic during the Middle Ages. This innovative system, with its simplicity and efficiency, revolutionized arithmetic and paved the way for advanced mathematical developments. European mathematicians, despite not being the primary innovators of number systems, contributed significantly to the development of algorithmic methods. Techniques such as division per galea, solutions for quadratic equations, and proportional reduction emerged, setting the foundation for revolutionary inventions like Pascal's mechanical calculator. Ancient mathematical constants such as zero, infinity, and pi played deeply influential roles in ancient arithmetic. Zero, initially perceived as nothing, became a crucial element in positional systems, enabling the representation of larger numbers and facilitating complex calculations. Infinity, a limitless concept, fascinated ancient mathematicians, leading to the exploration of methods to measure infinite sets. Pi, the mysterious ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, sparked fascination, resulting in ingenious methods to compute its value. The development of ancient computational devices further highlights the remarkable ingenuity of early mathematicians, laying the groundwork for future mathematical advancements. The abacus, with its ability to facilitate quick calculations, became essential in trade and administration. The Antikythera mechanism, a 2nd-century astronomical analog computer, showcased the engineering skill of ancient Greeks. Mechanical calculators like the slide rule and Pascaline, emerging during the Renaissance, represented significant developments in computational technology. These tools, driven by practical needs in commerce, astronomy, and mathematical computations, paved the way for future mathematical breakthroughs. In conclusion, the evolution of number systems and arithmetic is a fascinating narrative of human ingenuity and innovation. From ancient Mesopotamia to the Renaissance, this journey reflects the intertwined nature of mathematics, culture, and civilization.
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The evolution of the adverse selection problem : a review of theoretical and empirical developments (2014)Adverse selection is a core part of our understanding of market failure, and that understanding has changed significantly since Akerlofs seminal paper. The impact of adverse selection on a market represents a large loss of efficiency, and thus there are two questions economists should seek to answer - the question of empirical existence, and the question of rectification. I review some theoretical models of adverse selection, which suggest certain kinds of intervention to recover market surplus lost due to adverse selection issues. I also review empirical literature to do with the existence of adverse selection in practice, and a randomized experiment which confirms the existence of adverse selection and the viability of a potential intervention. I find that the empirical evidence, while not unanimous, suggests that adverse selection is a real problem that causes lost market surplus in a number of markets, including a broad spectrum of insurance markets and some financial markets. I find that there is little reason to believe a single kind of intervention will work - rather, I conclude that interventions should be tailored to specific instances of adverse selection, making use of the empirical and theoretical research directed at similarly specific markets or models. More research is needed to improve the empirical methodology and to further refine theoretical models of adverse selection before the economics profession can produce reliable policy advice for dealing with adverse selection.
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(2023)In my thesis, I study the evolving role of the European Union in facilitating the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue. Since 2011, the EU has acted as a facilitator in the dialogue that aims to normalize the relations between Kosovo and Serbia. I focus especially on the development of the EU’s negotiating approach in the dialogue. In my thesis, I present three research questions: 1) What kind of a negotiating approach does the EU adopt in mediating the dialogue? 2) How does the EU incentivize Kosovo’s and Serbia’s participation in the dialogue? 3) How actively does the EU engage in the facilitation of dialogue? The theoretical framework of my thesis is twofold. Regarding the EU’s negotiating approach and engagement in the dialogue, I follow the categorization presented in Zartman and Touval’s (1985) mediation theory, where mediators working in conflict resolution are divided into communicators, formulators, and manipulators. Concerning the incentives offered by the EU, I rely on Schimmelfennig ja Sedelmeier’s (2004) classification within Europeanization theory, where Europeanization is presented as following from external incentives or social learning. As my research data, I use the European Commission’s yearly reports on Kosovo and Serbia, as well as the EU’s General Affairs Council conclusions on the Enlargement and Stabilisation and Association Process, which describe the dialogue’s progression and the EU’s positions on the dialogue. I analyze the data through the use of Qualitative Content Analysis by assigning coding categories to the documents, which enable me to examine the EU’s mood in various phases of the dialogue, the development of the input the EU exerts on the dialogue, and the use of incentives the EU offers Kosovo and Serbia. As the result of my thesis, I show that the dialogue can be divided into a progress phase (2011-2016) and a stagnation phase (2017-2022). I find that in the progress phase, the EU acts as a neutral arbiter, but as the dialogue progresses into the stagnation phase, the EU attempts to create progress by increasing its engagement in the dialogue and by strengthening the incentives it uses, introducing sticks in addition to carrots. This transforms the EU’s mediator role in the dialogue from an arbiter to a mediation participant protecting its own interests.
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(2021)With the rise of globalisation, international trade has increased. As a consequence, cross-border contracts have become more frequent which has led international commercial actors to use a common style when drafting contracts. The world has many different legal cultures and traditions, as a result of which legal concepts are tied to different assumptions, presuppositions, legal procedures, languages, ideas and social and cultural contexts. Further, the values and norms of these cultures have long historical ties. These different cultures have influenced national contract drafting style and contract law and, in the context of international contracts, they have influenced contractual interpretation. If we are solely looking at the practice of contracting parties, it does appear that international contract practice exists, as international agreements are drafted in accordance with the common law drafting style. They are often drafted without considering the applicable law which results in the parties aiming for self-sufficient contracts that minimise the effects of national laws. The parties often include boilerplate terms in the contract, draft in a detailed manner, and aim to exclude external influences. A common tool used by international commercial actors is choosing arbitration as the dispute resolution mechanism, as this removes the case from the national litigation procedure and offers flexibility. The problem is that perfect contracts are nearly impossible to achieve due to market failures and cost efficiency. Contractual negotiations are seldom exhaustive and do not consider all possible outcomes, as negotiations often focus only on a few contractual terms. Therefore, jurisdictions have developed rules to correct and address possible imperfections and shortcomings. Default rules, adjustments and contractual interpretation supplement economic life and complement these incomplete contracts. The problem that can be identified to the existence of international contract practice is that contract laws and interpretation have evolved within national contexts. This means that the interpretation does not necessarily take into account the international character of cross-border contracts. The interpretation of contracts is attached to certain assumptions, and these assumptions are not the same throughout the world. The assumptions can also affect the behaviour and understanding of the contracting parties, lawyers and arbitrators. The fact that national systems have different mechanisms for addressing specific legal problems and social needs does not preclude the existence of international contract practice, provided that the solutions adopted are compatible. However, at present there are still many differences in interpretation which has the possibility of leading to different outcomes in different legal systems, even if a contractual clause is worded similarly. Utilising arbitration is not enough to correct this divergence, as the contracting parties almost always choose national law as the applicable law, the arbitrators must still apply law correctly, and the arbitrators might have internalised a jurisdiction’s approach to law and interpretation. Transnational sources of law are also not adequate to overcome the issue of interpretation. Transnational sources of law may provide neutral language and a compromise between legal traditions. They are not tied to specific national systems so they can have regard towards the international character of cross-border contracts. However, they do not provide sufficiently precise guidance or a complete system that could correct the impact of national jurisdictions. These sources cannot be said to provide adequate guidance on the interpretation of contracts. This master’s thesis does not seek to claim that international contract practice cannot emerge outside the confines of national legal systems, but rather it presents that if similarly worded contracts do not have uniform effect, the result is a mixture of national and international practices. Without uniform effect, international contract practice cannot be said to exist. It is therefore necessary to examine the interpretation of contractual clauses in domestic courts and arbitration and consider whether similarly worded clauses and different rules lead to different outcomes depending on the applicable law. The possibility of divergent interpretation can explain why international commercial parties prefer detailed contracts and wish to detach the contract from the governing law. However, in the current framework, it is not possible to completely eliminate the effects of the applicable law. Autonomous and standard contracts continue to be governed by national laws, they are subject to mandatory rules, and they are interpreted with ways established in the different legal systems and traditions.
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(2019)Biodiversity is declining across the globe. The IUCN Red List, which is often used to measure species’ risk to go extinct, is showing alarming biodiversity declines both globally and within Finland. The most commonly used tool for biodiversity conservation is the establishment of protected areas. The Conference of Parties (COP) of the international treaty for biodiversity conservation (The Convention on Biological Diversity), has set a target to expand the international protected area network to cover 17% of the terrestrial area of the world. However, the designation of protected areas carries costs in terms of both land-use and money. Relatively little is known about what protected areas can achieve at the species level, and only limited evidence exists that links the establishment of protected areas to an improved conservation status of species. The lack of knowledge is because protected area establishment and its effects are often hard to study due to inadequate data. In this thesis, I created a framework to study the link between the increase in protected areas and protected area investment in relation to the conservation status change of one taxonomic group, the breeding birds in Finland. I first investigated the general trend in conservation status of Finnish birds using the Red List Index 2015. I then studied the effect of increasing the protected area on Finnish bird species’ range and the monetary investment on protected areas on bird species’ range in comparison to change in their IUCN Red List assessments. The timeframe of the study was 1996-2010 for protected area establishment and 2010-2015 for bird species’ conservation status change. My results show that the conservation status of birds in Finland is considerably worse than before, with Red List Index being 0.779. This is approximately 9.2% decline from the Red List Index in 2010. The species that gained more protected area on their range during 1996-2010 did not fare better in terms of conservation status than the birds that gained less protected area on their range on the same period. This is possibly because the threshold where the protected areas would cover the species’ range sufficiently to enable the conservation of the whole population is still not reached even for species with the higher protection levels. Also, the species that had higher estimated monetary investment on the protected areas on their range did not acquire better conservation status development than the species on whose range there was less estimated monetary investment. The expansion of the Finnish protected area network in 1996-2010 did not help to change the negative trend of Finnish birds in 2010-2015. The species that gained more protection in terms of land or monetary investment during this period, were not showing better results than the species that gained less protection. These results hint that the protected areas in Finland are not effective in terms of bird conservation. This does not mean, however, that we can claim that they are ineffective in all aspects, as we don’t know what would have been the situation if there were no protected areas established at all. There are also several other factors that affect the conservation status development of birds in Finland. These include degradation of matrix habitats, hunting and climate change, which might all overrun the possible positive effects of the protected areas and protected area investment.
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(2021)Migration to Finland has increased considerably in the last decade. As Finnish society becomes increasingly multicultural and multilingual, new measures and services are needed to promote integration. For integration to be successful, it needs ongoing processes and interaction that require both immigrants themselves and the host society to be active, and to provide the tools that are needed for integration. This master’s thesis investigates the Swedish-language integration path in the capital region of Finland. As Finland’s bilingualism enables integration to happen in both the Finnish and Swedish languages, the purpose of this thesis is to enable immigrants who have chosen to integrate with the Swedish language the chance to be heard and to listen to their personal integration experiences. As the research focuses on immigrants learning Swedish, five interviews with Swedish-speaking immigrants have been conducted as part of this thesis. The qualitative method used in this research has the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of what is considered to be successful integration by the immigrants themselves. The reference framework for this thesis is based on Friedrich Heckmann’s definition of social integration, alongside the Finnish Act on the Promotion of Integration (1386/2010) and the Language Act (423/2003). In addition, a range of previous research is used in order to compare the results that were found in this study. The results demonstrate that although Finnish legislation does make it possible to choose between the Finnish and Swedish languages when intergrating, it is hard to execute this duality in practice. From authorities’ reluctance to it being difficult to find Swedish-speaking connections outside the classroom, the results show that it is difficult for immigrants to practice Swedish in everyday life and they suffer from a lack of interaction with Finnish society. Integration processes are challenging for these immigrants for various reasons, which also illustrates how different the stories and experiences of immigrants are.
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(2015)Tutkielman aineistona on kahdeksan novellia, jotka kirjailija Kostantínos Hatzópoulos kirjoitti 1900-luvun alussa. Aikakautta värittää Ateenan kaupungistumisen alku, ja tutkielman tavoitteena on selvittää, miten kaupungistuminen näkyy kreikkalaisessa kirjallisuudessa ja miten se vaikuttaa kirjallisuuteen. Tutkielma esittelee, millainen kreikkalainen kokemus kaupungistuvasta ympäristöstä välittyy lukijalle. Tutkielman teoriataustassa yhdistyvät antropologia, ihmismaantiede ja kirjallisuustiede. Toisaalta se painottaa kulttuurin ja yhteiskunnan kehitystä ja korostaa kyseisen aikakauden näkökulmaa, toisaalta se keskittyy ajattomiin sosiologisiin teorioihin yhteisön ja yksilön muutoksesta kaupungistuvassa ympäristössä. Tyylilajeista naturalismi on selvin vastaus kaupungistuvan ympäristön paineeseen, mutta myös modernin taiteiijan ilmestyminen Hatzó- pulosin teoksiin kertoo aikakauden muista vaikutteista ja individualismista. Kaikkien henkilöhahmojen tausta on maaseudulla, ja novelleissa yleinen hahmo on "The Young Man from the Provinces" -tyyppinen uusi kaupunkilainen tai konservatiivisemmassa asemassa elävä nainen, jonka elämäntapaa kaupungistuminen ei muuta yhtä radikaalisti. Novelleissa selvästi esiintyvä teema on maaseudusta vieraantuminen, sillä paluu sinne on seurausta epäonnistumisis- ta tai tarpeesta paeta. Monet henkilöhahmoista ovat taiteilijoita, joko perinteisiä romanttisen koulukunnan edustajia, jotka on esitetty vahvemmassa asemassa, tai eksyneitä taiteilijoita, joiden unelma on kirjoittaa, mutta jotka toimivat muissa ammateissa tullakseen toimeen. Selvä uusi käänne taiteissa juontaa kaupungistumisesta: roolien eriytyminen ja yhteiskuntarakenteen hajautuminen luovat tilan boheemille taiteilijalle, flãneurille. Tärkeä osa tutkielmaa on tilan ja paikan analysointi. Teatterimainen kerronta ja miljöö luovat Foucaultin heterotopian, joka kuvaa hahmojen rajoitettua tilaa mullistuvassa paikassa. Erityisesti naiset ovat suljettuja näihin heterotopioihin. Tila on staattinen ja rajallinen, kun paikka puolestaan käy läpi suuria muutoksia, joihin hahmot eivät voi vaikuttaa. Kirjailijan oma suuntautuminen sosialismiin johtaa myös novellien analysoimiseen sosialismin näkökulmasta. Novellien käsitteleminen Marxin vieraantumisen käsitteen kautta päätyy lopputulokseen, että Hatzópulosin teokset ovat marxilainen kommentaari kaupungistumisen vaikutuksista. Novellien teemoihin sisältyvät sekä taloudellinen, poliittinen, humaani että ideologinen vieraantuminen. Hatzópulosin avainnovelli "Übermensch" osoittaa avainromaanien historiallisen arvon, sillä se tuo Ateenan kirjailijapiirit, niiden puheenaiheet ja kohtauspaikat elävästi nykylukijan koettavaksi. Avaimet löytyvät henkilöhahmojen piirteistä, murteista ja kirjallisesta mausta. Kirjallisuuskafenioiden merkitys vuosisadanvaihteen kirjailijoiden kohtauspaikkana korostuu avainnovellissa.
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(2012)The aim of this master’s thesis was to investigate the effect of audience on shame and guilt in Finland and Colombia. Finland is a rapidly developing country where multiculturalism is already part of everyday life. Therefore, it is very important to gather evidence on how people in different cultures understand and interpret emotions. More specifically, it will be investigated how possible cultural variations can be explained with individual, situational and cultural differences. My thesis is a by-product of a larger cross-cultural investigation into how different cultures perceive emotions and what kind of dissimilarities people have when experiencing emotions. This is conducted by postdoctoral researcher Mia Silfver-Kuhalampi from University of Helsinki and Professor Johnny Fontaine from Ghent University, Belgium. The questionnaire used in this thesis is based on the componential emotion theory. This cognitive model of emotions takes into account the concurrent relationship between many cognitive and physiological components. The participants in both countries filled in the questionnaire online. The Finnish sample consisted of 149 students from University of Helsinki from which 120 participants were female and 29 male. The Colombian sample consisted of 137 students from Universidad el Bosque, Bogota, Colombia from which 101 participants were female and 36 male. Factor analysis was used to identify how shame and guilt are factored in Finland and Colombia. Additionally, analysis of variance was used to identify how cultural differences and the effect of audience affect feelings of shame and guilt. The results of the study suggested that feelings of guilt and shame are factored in a similar manner in Finland and Colombia. Moreover, in both countries shame was split into two different types of shame: shame/self-disgust and shame/embarrassment. The Finnish sample experienced more shame/self-disgust than Colombian sample, while Colombian students experienced more shame/embarrassment than Finnish students did. Culture did not have an effect on guilt. Audience presence affected shame/self-disgust and shame/embarrassment in both countries. When it came to guilt the situation was not as clear. When there was no audience present, feeling of guilt was similar in both countries. However, when audience was present Colombian sample experienced significantly more guilt. Some of the results support results from previous research but significant is the fact that two different types of shame were found: shame/self-disgust and shame/embarrassment. This could partly explain why researchers have previously had difficulties in distinguishing shame and guilt.
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(2022)Legumes and grains are grown worldwide, with the rise of consumption the importance of identification of metabolites like phenolic compounds within them are just as essential. Phenolic compounds are secondary metabolites with multiple beneficial properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Using Py-GC/MS (pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry) as a faster method of identification of phenolic compounds are the basis of this investigation. A total phenolic analysis using Folin-Ciocalteu analysis has taken place to determine the presence of phenolic compounds with the eight samples – wheat, barley, oats, pigeon pea, chickpea, fava beans, green peas, and potato peels. UPLC coupled with a PDA and FLR detector will be another instrument used to determine the types of phenolic compounds present in the eight samples. Py-GC/MS was able to identify compounds with the phenol moiety but not phenolic compounds of interest. The total phenolic content analysis was able to establish that phenolic compounds were present in all eight samples. Ferulic acid, gallic acid, vanillic acid and 3,4- dihydroxyphenylacetic acid were some of the phenolic compounds identified within the eight samples, using the UPLC chromatograms and measured standards.
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(University of HelsinkiHelsingin yliopistoHelsingfors universitet, 2015)The aim of this licentiate thesis is to assess by literature the potential exposure of humans to Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) through food and drinking water in Finland and Minnesota, USA and to represent the prevalence (the total number of cases of a disease at a specific time) of Johne's disease and the prevalence and incidence (the number of new cases of a disease during a certain period of time) Crohn's disease in the United States, Minnesota and Finland. Johne's disease (JD), also known as paratuberculosis, is a globally important chronic intestinal disease of cattle and other ruminants such as goats and sheep caused by MAP. Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic intestinal disease of humans. The etiology of CD is unknown but in addition to genetic susceptibility, environmental factors have been found to have an impact on the onset of the disease. It has been suggested that MAP could be one of the etiologic agents of CD. In the United States, JD is more common in dairy cattle than in beef cattle. The apparent cow-level prevalence is 6% and apparent herd-level prevalence is 68 % in dairy cattle. In Minnesota the apparent prevalence of JD in dairy cattle at the cow-level is 3% and at the herd-level 46%. In beef cattle the prevalence at the cow-level is only 0.3 % in Minnesota. The prevalence of CD in the United States is 241/100,000 and the annual incidence 20/100,000. The prevalence of CD in Minnesota is 222/100,000 and the annual incidence 13/100,000. In Finland, JD has been diagnosed in five beef cattle herds since 1992. The disease has not been diagnosed in dairy cattle or sheep or goats in Finland. The prevalence of CD in Finland is 124/100,000 and the annual incidence 9/100,000. The prevalence of MAP in food and drinking water in Finland has not been studied. Despite this, it is unlikely that people are exposed to MAP through drinking water or by eating foods of Finnish origin because the prevalence of JD in Finland is very low. However, exposure to the bacterium is possible by eating imported beef and dairy products such as cheese and yogurt. The share of imported foods within these food groups is relatively large in Finland. Dairy products and beef are imported for example from Germany and Denmark where the prevalence of JD at the herd-level is about 50–80 %. In the United States the occurrence of MAP in foods and drinking water has been studied quite much. It appears that the bacterium is found in foods and drinking water of U.S. origin. Because JD is so common in the United States and Minnesota, it is likely that people are exposed to the bacterium in Minnesota even though not all the food eaten is produced in the state. It is likely that people in areas of high prevalence of JD are exposed more to MAP than people in areas of low prevalence of JD. Comparing subsets of CD patients with high exposure to MAP to healthy controls with and without exposure to MAP could reveal the possible role of MAP in the complex etiology of CD. Based on this literature review it can be assumed that in Finland CD is caused by some other environmental agent than MAP. This licentiate thesis sets up further research needs to estimate the true human exposure to MAP.
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(2019)Krooninen rinosinuiitti on yleinen vaiva, jonka prevalenssi on 7-11 %. Astmaan liittyy erillinen alatyyppi ”Aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease” (AERD), jossa potilas kärsii astman lisäksi kroonisesta nenän sivuonteloiden tulehduksesta, nenäpolyypeista sekä aspiriini- tai NSAID-yliherkkyydestä. AERD liittyy yleensä vaikeampaan kroonisen rinosinuiitin taudinkuvaan, ja usein nämä potilaat vaativat toistuvia nenään tai poskionteloon liittyviä leikkauksia. AERD-potilailla on havaittu madaltuneet prostaglandiini E sekä c-Myc-pitoisuudet. Tutkimuksen tarkoitus on selvittää c-Myc-modulaattori CIP2A:n osuutta näiden sairauksien synnyssä. Retrospektiivisessä tutkimuksessa pyrimme myös selvittämään tekijöitä, jotka vaikuttavat uusintakirurgian tarpeeseen kroonisen rinosinuiitin hoidossa. Tutkimme vasta-ainevälitteistä immuniteettia kroonista nenän sivuontelon tulehdusta sairastavien potilaiden ja terveiden verrokkien välillä. Nenäpolyyppinäyte kerättiin 80:ltä kroonista rinosinuiittia sairastavalta potilaalta, joista 21 sairasti lisäksi AERD-tyyppistä astmaa. Verrokkinäytteeksi kerättiin nenäpolyyppinäyte kymmeneltä potilaalta, joilta oli todettu benignejä antrokoanaalipolyyppejä. Lisäksi nenän limakalvolta kerättiin harjanäyte 19:ta terveeltä verrokilta. Näytteet värjättiin polyklonaalisella anti-CIP2A vasta-aineella. CIP2A:n immunohistologista värjäytymisvoimakkuutta ja kudoksen eosinofiilien määrää arvioi kaksi toisistaan riippumatonta tutkijaa valomikroskoopin avulla. Tutkimukseen osallistujat täyttivät kyselylomakkeen ja heistä kerättiin tietoja potilasasiakirjoista. Seurantatutkimustietoa oli saatavilla 84 potilaasta ja 16 kontrollista. Epiteliaalinen CIP2A ilmeni sekä terveiden verrokkien nenän limakalvonäytteessä että kroonista rinosinuiittia sairastavien potilaiden nenäpolyyppinäytteessä. Esiintyvyys oli merkitsevästi matalampi AERD-potilaiden ryhmässä (p<0,01). Kroonista rinosinuiittia sairastavillla potilailla oli tilastollisesti merkittävästi korkeampi eosinofiilipitoisuus (p<0,01). Eosinofilia tai CIP2A:n esiintyminen eivät ennustaneet uusintakirurgian tarvetta. Aiemmat kirurgiset toimenpiteet, allerginen nuha, sekä kortikosteroidien käyttö olivat yhteydessä uusintakirurgian tarpeeseen.
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(2022)Background: Birch hemicellulose, mainly composed of glucuronoxylan (GX), is emerging as a sustainable food hydrocolloid. However, studies on health impacts of GX are limited. Aim(s): To study the effects of birch-derived GX on the expression of tight junction proteins in the colonic mucosa of healthy rats. Methods: An animal intervention study was conducted on 42 rats, stratified into three groups that received different diets for 28 days: 1) AIN-93 + 10% of cellulose (control), 2) AIN-93 + 10% of highly purified GX (GXpure), and 3) AIN-93 + 10% polyphenol-and-GX-rich extract (GXpoly). Protein expressions in the proximal and distal colon were analysed with western blot and examined with ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc tests. Results: In the proximal colon, no statistically significant differences in occludin, claudin-1 and claudin-7 expression were observed between the control and GX-diet groups. Similarly, no statistically significant differences in all tight junction proteins expressions were observed between the three groups. There were no differences in the results when adjusted for sex. Conclusion: The findings suggest that birch-derived GX consumption did not significantly alter the expression of TJ proteins, which is a positive sign for its usage as food hydrocolloids. As this is one of the first studies on this topic, further research, especially on a diseased model, is needed before determining the safety of birch-derived GX for human consumption.
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(2020)Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman päätarkoitus on selvittää, miten Kersti Juva kääntää suomeksi englannin morfosyntaktisen progressiivisen aspektin, eli be V+ing -rakenteen, käännöksessään Washingtonin aukio Henry Jamesin teoksesta Washington Square. Tutkimuskysymykseni on, mitä keinoja Kersti Juva käyttää progressiivisen merkityksen ilmaisemiseen, ja säilyvätkö progressiiviset merkitykset ylipäätään käännöksessä. Suomen kielessä tai laajemmin suomalais-ugrilaisissa kielissä ilmenevää aspektia ovat tutkineet Kangasmaa-Minn (1985, 1993), Heinämäki (1980, 1984, 1994), Sulkala (1996), Yli-Vakkuri (1987). Nurminen (2015) on tarkastellut suomen aspektia keskittyen muutaman verbin aspektuaalisiin ominaisuuksiin. Suomen objektin sijavaihtelua ja sen yhteyttä aspektiin ovat tarkastellet Leino (1991) ja Larjavaara (2019). On myös olemassa aiempaa kontrastiivista tutkimusta suomen ja slaavilaisten kielten, lähinnä venäjän aspektista (Tommola 1984, 1987, 1990 2000), mutta tietääkseni suomen ja englannin aspekteja ei olla aiemmassa tutkimuksessa verrattu syvällisesti Tutkielmani aineisto on paraleelikorpus, joka sisältää Henry Jamesin Washington Squaren ja sen käännöksen Washingtonin aukio. Tein englanninkielisestä korpuksen osasta haun, joka palautti rakenteet, jotka alkavat be-verbin jollain muodolla ja päättyvät verbiin, joka päättyy ing-morfeemiin. Sen jälkeen tarkastelin suomennoksesta, millaisia keinoja Juva käyttää englanninkielisen progressiivisen aspektin kääntämiseen. Tärkein tulos on, että Juva ilmaisee progressiivista aspektia monin eri keinoin, esimerkiksi käyttämällä partitiiviobjektia ja erilaisia adverbiaaleja, mutta käyttää morfosyntaktista progressiivia, eli rakennetta olla V+mAssA vain kerran. Tästä seuraa päätelmä, että progressiivista merkitystä täytyy voida ilmaista muuten kuin käyttämällä morfosyntaktista progressiivia. Tärkein tällainen muu keino on käyttää predikaattia, jolla on tietynlainen leksikaalinen aspekti. Asiasanat: progressiivinen aspekti, aspekti, suomen kieli, Kersti Juva, käännös
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(2018)Merkelcellskarcinom (MCC) är en ovanlig och agressiv neuroendokrin hudcancer vars cellulära ursprung är okänt. Genomet av Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) är integrerat i genomet av tumörcellerna i cirka 80% av MCC-tumörer. Baserat på proteinexpressionsmönster anses cellerna i MCC vara närmast besläktade med Merkelceller (mekanoreceptiva celler i huden). Av denna orsak har Merkelceller antagits vara ursprungscellen för MCC men detta har aldrig bevisats. Höga grader av PAX5- och TdT-expression har observerats i MCC, detta tyder på möjligheten att ursprungscellen för MCC inte är den postmitotiska Merkelcellen utan snarare en pro/pre- eller pre-B cell eftersom co-expression av PAX5 och TdT är begränsat till dessa celler under fysiologiska omständigheter. I denna studie undersöktes expressionen av PAX5 och TdT i 117 MCC-tumörer med immunohistikemi. Utav de 117 tumörerna som undersöktes expresserade 31.6% TdT, 22.2% expresserade PAX5 och graden av co-expression var 11.1%. Dessa expressionsgrader är betydligt lägre än vad som observerats i tidigare studier. Vidare observerades ett statistiskt signifikant samband mellan expressionen av TdT och närvaro av MCPyV DNA samt mellan expressionen av TdT och antalet kopior av MCPyV-genomet i tumörvävnaden. Inget statistiskt signifikant samband observerades mellan expressionen av PAX5 och/eller TdT och prognos vilket underminerar användningen av dessa markörer i kliniskt syfte.
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