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Through the lens of race, otherness, and belonging this research investigates how Muslim Americans are represented in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal between January 2016 and January 2017. By employing content analysis, this research analyzes and compares different tones, frames, messages, and topics used by these two newspapers to create a better understanding of the representation Muslim Americans receive. Through these methods, my research found that there is little difference in the representation of Muslim Americans between two publications with differing political tendencies. Further, the representations given to Muslim Americans in both publications are highly negative with a focus on terrorism and U.S. politics.

Suomesta tavataan kaksi majavalajia: alkuperäinen euroopanmajava (Castor fiber) ja vieraslaji amerikanmajava (Castor canadensis). Euroopanmajava metsästettiin sukupuuttoon 1800–luvulla ja viimeinen euroopanmajava ammuttiin tiettävästi Sallan Eniönjoesta vuonna 1868. Vuonna 1935 aloitettiin majavien uudelleenistutukset 17 Norjasta tuodulla euroopanmajavalla. Vuonna 1937 Suomen majavakantaa vahvistettiin seitsemällä Amerikasta tuodulla amerikanmajavalla. Tahallisesta vieraslajin tuomisesta ei kuitenkaan ollut kyse, vaan vasta vuonna 1973 todettiin Castor-suvun koostuvan kahdesta eri lajista. Alueilla, joille istutettiin molempia lajeja, on jäljellä ainoastaan amerikanmajava. Syyt ovat edelleen epäselviä. Molempien lajien kannat ovat edelleen keskittyneet alkuperäisten istutusalueiden läheisyyteen, ja amerikanmajavakanta on muutamia poikkeuksia lukuun ottamatta saanut kasvaa ilman euroopanmajavan kilpailun vaikutusta. Jos lajien elinympäristövaatimukset ovat samat, eivät lajit voi esiintyä rinnakkain. Näin ollen on tärkeää tuntea molempien lajien elinympäristön käyttö mahdollisemman tarkkaan aluekohtaisesti ja ennakoida, johtaako majavalajien kohtaaminen kahden lajin rauhaisaan yhteiseloon vai mahdollisesti euroopanmajavan häviämiseen läntisestä Suomesta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli vertailla lajien elinympäristön vaatimuksia ja sitä kautta tuoda lisätietoa euroopanmajavan suojeluun. Tutkimusalueeksi valikoitui keskinen Pirkanmaan alue, missä lajien välinen etäisyys on ainoastaan 11 kilometriä linnuntietä. Aineisto koostuu vuoden 2013 Luonnonvarakeskuksen koordinoimista valtakunnallisten majavalaskentojen pesätiedoista sekä erilaisista paikkatietoaineistoista. Elinympäristönkäytön mallin muuttujat on tuotettu CORINE Land Cover 2012 (CLC2012), vuoden 2011 Valtakunnallisen Metsien Inventoinnin (VMI) ja Maanmittauslaitoksen maastotietokannan digitaalisiin paikkatietoaineistojen avulla. Alueelle luotiin 60 satunnaispistettä, jotka kuvaavat tarjolla olevaa elinympäristöä. Lajien elinympäristöjen käyttöä analysoitiin kahden logistisen regressioanalyysimallin avulla, joista ensimmäisessä tarkastellaan ydinaluetta (50m) ja toisessa elinpiiriä (1km). Analyyseissä verrattiin lajeja keskenään sekä satunnaispisteisiin. Ennen regressioanalyysejä tarkasteltiin muuttujien kolineaarisuutta Variance Inflation Factor:in (VIF) avulla, jonka jälkeen tarkasteltiin aineiston yhteensopivuuttaa mallin kanssa Akaiken informaatiokriteerin (AIC) avulla. Pienin AIC ilmaisee parhaan mallin korkeimman selitysasteen ja mallin yksinkertaisuuden (parsimonisuuden) kompromissina. Ydinalueella ei havaittu merkitseviä eroja elinympäristön vaatimuksissa lajien välillä. Majavien elinympäristönkäyttö ei kuitenkaan ollut satunnaista. Kuusen tilavuudella oli positiivinen vaikutus euroopanmajavan esiintymiseen ja lehtipuiden tilavuudella oli positiivinen vaikutus amerikanmajavan esiintymiseen verrattuna tarjolla olevaan ympäristöön. Elinpiirianalyyseissä lajien välillä havaittiin merkitseviä eroja, joissa euroopanmajava esiintyi alueilla, missä kuusen tilavuus ja sekametsän osuus oli suurempi verrattuna amerikanmajavan elinpiiriin. Kasvavalla kuusen tilavuudella, sekametsän osuudella sekä vesistöjen määrällä oli positiivinen vaikutus euroopanmajavan esiintymiseen ja rakennetuilla alueilla negatiivinen vaikutus euroopanmajavan esiintymiseen verrattaessa tarjolla olevaan ympäristöön. Amerikanmajavan elinympäristön käyttö ei poikennut satunnaisesta. Tulokset saattavat heijastaa rantavyöhykkeen metsäsukkession eri vaiheita, mutta on huomattava, että lajien välillä oli merkittäviä eroja. Elinympäristön muuttujat selittivät huomattavasti enemmän euroopanmajavan esiintymistä alueella verrattuna amerikanmajavaan. Toisin sanoen euroopanmajavan elinympäristön vaatimukset ovat spesifimmät/tarkemmat/ominaisemmat. Tulosten avulla on mahdollista ennustaa niin amerikanmajavan leviämistä alueella kuin hyödyntää tietoja euroopanmajavalle tärkeiden elinympäristöjen suojelussa.

The use of virtual reality learning environments is rapidly expanding in various disciplines. However, there are only a few comparative studies in education. This thesis explores the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) and a physical learning environment on students’ learning outcomes and motivation by comparing the virtual reality and the physical learning environment during one day of studies. The participants were fourth-year mechanical engineering bachelor students (N = 14) at a university of applied sciences in Finland. The intervention was implemented as part of the course module, where students learned the structure and the functioning of the harvester head engine, which was part of a logging machine. A quasi-experimental design was set up, and in the morning, one-half of the students started their studies in virtual reality and the other half in the physical learning environment. In the afternoon, student groups switched learning environments. Motivation and learning outcomes were measured by pre-test and post-test questionnaires. Additionally, students’ learning outcomes were measured by completed study tasks during the interventions and by observing. The teacher assessed the data related to learning as grades. The one-way repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted to analyse the effectiveness of the learning environments on motivation and learning outcomes. The development of learning outcomes was statistically significant (p < .00) in both learning environments during the morning and the afternoon. No difference was observed between the learning outcomes gained in the two learning environments. There was an interaction (p < .01) between intrinsic motivation and learning environments in the morning. While in the afternoon, intrinsic motivation developed positively (p < .01) in both environments. The results suggest that studying in two different learning environments maintains interest and helps to achieve significant learning outcomes during the one-day studies. When studying began in a physical learning environment, intrinsic motivation developed positively throughout the day.

While the effects of agricultural land use on biodiversity are beginning to unravel in Europe and North America, Africa remains poorly studied. Biodiversity in a broad sense provides ecosystem functioning and services, whose importance has become obvious to humankind in the quickly changing modern world. In Ghana, the practice of mango farming continues to grow in popularity due to suitable climate and potential source of livelihood. With increased demand and production of mango, natural habitats, namely savannahs, are being converted to plantations. The effects of such habitat conversion on local biodiversity are unknown for most taxa, thus providing an interesting study system for biodiversity research. Given the direct relation between functional diversity and ecosystem services, in this work I compare the taxonomic and functional diversity of ground-living spiders between mango orchards and savannah. I chose spiders (Arthropoda; Araneae) as model organisms as they critically contribute to several ecosystem services, such as biological pest control and nitrogen cycling, while being ubiquitous and abundant, thus easy to collect in the field. Spiders were captured with pitfall traps from six mango and four savannah areas in the Northern region of Ghana. A total of 424 individuals and 53 (morpho)species were identified and counted. Additionally, six morphological and four ecological traits were quantified for each (morpho)species. With these data, I calculated taxonomic richness and evenness, functional richness, dispersion, and evenness, and beta diversity of the different assemblages in the R environment. These metrics were then compared between spiders collected from mango orchards and savannah. Mango orchards showed lower taxonomic and functional evenness than savannah, contrary to all other alpha diversity measures. The two habitat types share many of the same diversity of ground-living spiders, but species and traits are distributed less evenly in mango orchards due to incomplete niche differentiation between species. Both taxonomic and functional beta diversity were significantly different between habitat types indicating that mango orchards sustain a similar richness of species as savannah, but the species composition is different. In conclusion, mango orchards have the potential to conserve some aspects of the original diversity, but species composition and the way species interact are substantially different. We should strive to find the best practices to produce mango without radically changing the natural biodiversity patterns.

Viral promoters are an essential part of a normally functioning virus. Their main task is to drive the transcription of genes which govern hijacking of cell function and replication of viral particles. In addition to supporting normal function of a virus, they can be used to drive the transcription of transgenes which can be used in different therapies. In oncolytic therapies, transgenes can be used to prime the host system against neoplasms which has been shown to generate long term anti-tumour immunity. Human adenoviruses (Ad) are commonly used as a platform for oncolytic virotherapies. Human Ad’s replicate poorly in mouse tumour cell lines, yet some promoters, which are included in the viral constructs to drive the transcription of beneficial transgenes, are able to function. Currently it is unknown whether E3, the native promoter of adenovirus 5 of the E3 region, is capable of functioning in murine cell lines. In this thesis we study whether human cytomegalovirus promoter (CMV) and E3 differ in their efficacy to drive the transcription of the mOX40L and mCD40L transgenes. In the experimental part of this thesis, we compared the efficacies of two viral promoters, AdE3 and AdCVM, in transcribing mOX40Land mCD40L in vitro. Efficacy of transcription was assessed through immunofluorescence and flow cytometry in human and murine cell lines. Furthermore, the effects of promoters on viral infection, killing and replication were evaluated in burst assay and the colorimetric MTS proliferation assay. MTS and burst assay were conducted to confirm if viral infection, killing and replication occurs in human and murine cell lines. Both AdE3 and AdCMV were able to infect and kill human cell lines and cell viability decreased in correlation to the number of viral particles used. In murine cell lines, no decrease in cell viability was detected in the 4T1 cell line. In burst assay, viral replication was observed for both AdE3 and AdCMV in the human MDA-MB-436 cell line. In murine CT26 cell line, no replication was observed for AdE3 or AdCMV constructs. Immunofluorescence assay was performed to visualize transgene expression and localization. Results indicated that mOX40L was localized on cell surface while mCD40L was detected both outside and inside of the cytosolic compartment. Flow cytometry results revealed that both AdE3 and AdCMV constructs are capable of efficiently transcribing mOX40L in human cell lines. In the flow cytometry results for AdE3, two large cell populations with different fluorescence intensities were detected. AdCMV lacked this feature which is postulated to be due to higher lytic activity of the viral construct. In murine cell lines, HCMV could produce mOX40L, but production in murine cell lines was severely attenuated compared to human cell lines. mOX40L produced by the AdE3 construct did not differ from the baseline and was deemed incapable of producing mOX40L in murine cell lines. For the purpose of studying novel virotherapeutics the results of this thesis would indicate that human CMV can be used to drive expression of transgenes in murine cell lines. Despite this, it is preferable to use host specific viruses and promoter sequences for a better translation between mice and humans. Viruksen promoottorit ovat keskeisessä osassa toimintakykyisessä viruksessa. Virus promoottorin päätarkoituksena on geenien transkriptio, mitkä vastaavat solun keskeisten toimintojen kaappaamisesta ja virus partikkeleiden replikaatiosta. Näiden toimintojen lisäksi promoottoreita voidaan käyttää transgeenien transkriptiossa, mitä voidaan hyödyntää sairauksien hoidossa. Onkolyyttisissä terapioissa transgeenejä voidaan käyttää virittämään kehon immuunipuolustus taistelemaan kasvainkudosta vastaan. Ihmisen adenovirusta käytetään usein onkolyyttisten viroterapioiden alustana. Ihmisen adenovirus (Ad) replikoituu hyvin heikosti hiiren syöpäsoluissa, mutta osa adenovirukseen sisälletyistä eksogeenisistä promoottoreista, joita käytetään terapeuttisten transgeenien transkription ajamiseen, kykenee toimimaan ja tuottamaan haluttua proteiinia. Tällä hetkellä ei tiedetä, kykeneekö E3, joka on adenoviruksen E3 lokuksen promoottori, toimimaan hiiren solulinjoissa. Tässä tutkielmassa selvitämme ihmisen sytomegalovirus promoottorin (CMV) ja E3 eroa niiden tehossa ajaa mOX40L ja mCD40L transgeenien transkriptiota. Kokeellisessa osuudessa vertailimme kahden virus promoottorin, E3 ja CMV, eroa niiden tehossa ajaa mCD40L ja mOX40L transkriptiota in vitro. Transkription tehoa tutkittiin immunofluoresenssin ja virtaussytometrian avulla ihmisen ja hiiren syöpäsolulinjoissa. Tämän lisäksi promoottorien vaikutusta virus infektioon, replikaatioon ja kykyyn tappaa soluja arvioitiin burst kokeella ja kolorimetrisellä MTS menetelmällä. MTS ja burst kokeiden avulla varmistettiin AdE3 ja AdCMV virusten kyky infektoida, tappaa ja replikoitua ihmisen ja hiiren syöpäsolulinjoissa. Sekä Ad3 ja AdCMV todettiin kykenevän infektoimaan ja tappamaan ihmissyöpäsoluja ja solujen viabiliteetin lasku korreloi virus partikkeleiden määrän kanssa. Hiiren 4T1 syöpäsoluissa ei todettu solujen viabiliteetin laskevan. Burst kokeessa havaitsimme sekä AdE3 että AdCMV kykenevän replikoitumaan ihmisen MDA-MB-436 solulinjassa. Hiiren CT26 solulinjassa kummankaan viruksen ei havaittu kykenevän replikoitumaan. Immunofluoresenssi kokeessa visualisoimme transgeenien ilmentymisen ja paikantumisen. Tulokset osoittivat, että mOX40L paikantui solun pinnalle. mCD40L havaittiin puolestaan sekä solun ulkopuolella että sytosolissa. Virtaussytometria kokeen tulokset osoittivat, että sekä AdE3 ja AdCMV pystyivät tehokkaasti ilmentämään mOX40L ihmisen solulinjoissa. AdE3 virtausytometria tuloksissa löydettiin kaksi solupopulaatiota, joilla oli toisistaan poikkeavat fluoresenssi intensiteetit. Tätä ilmiötä ei havaittu AdCMV:lla infektoiduilla soluilla, mikä saattoi johtua korkeammasta lyyttisestä aktiivisuudesta. Hiirisolulinjoissa CMV kykeni ilmentämään mOX40L, mutta transkription teho oli selvästi alhaisempi verrattuna ihmissolulinjoihin. E3 promoottorin ilmentämä mOX40L ei eronnut kontrollista ja sen todettiin olevan kykenemätön tuottamaan mOX40L hiirisolulinjoissa. Tuloksemme osoittavat, että ihmisen CMV promoottori kykenee ilmentämään transgeenejä hiiren 4T1 ja CT26 solulinjoissa. On kuitenkin huomattava, että isäntälajille natiivien virusten ja promoottorien käyttö olisi tarkoituksenmukaisempaa tulosten käännettävyyden kannalta hiiristä ihmisiin.

This Master’s Thesis deals with stellar magnetic activity, both as it is seen in the Sun, our closest star, and in other, more extreme examples of stellar activity. For the Sun, much higher quality data is available, and for a much longer time, so it remains by far the best studied star, although stars, that are much more magnetically active, have been discovered. This thesis will review the most common forms of magnetic activity, as observed both in the Sun and in other stars. A special focus is given to BY Draconis -type stars. These are young stars, whose photometric brightness variations are caused by large, cool starspots, similar to the sunspots seen on the Sun. A particular BY Draconis -star, V889 Herculis, is analysed in detail, using spectroscopic and photometric methods. From spectroscopy, by the Doppler imaging method, a surface temperature map can be constructed for the star. From photometry, both short-term and long-term variations of the star can be studied. During the 20 years time span of the photometric data, the star seems to have gone through similar activity cycles as the well known 11 year solar cycle. The aim of this thesis is to compare solar and stellar activity in general, and specifically V889 Her to the Sun. Based on the analysis, the basic properties of V889 Her, seen in previous studies, are confirmed: a large polar spot is present on its surface, and there are clear changes in its activity. As the stellar parameters, like mass and surface temperature, of V889 Her are very similar to the Sun, and it is also a single star, the main difference is age. As a young star, V889 Her is still magnetically much more active than the Sun today, but probably it will continue to become more and more similar to the present Sun, losing its high activity with increasing age. Similarly, V889 Her shows us what the Sun most likely was like billions of years ago.

Light is crucial for aquatic ecosystems, as photosynthesis supports the higher trophic levels. Light attenuates in water due to absorption and scattering by optically active substances (OAS), the main ones in coastal environments being chlorophyll-a (chl-a), particulate matter and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM). Light attenuation measurements are also important indicators of many environmental changes. Traditionally, Secchi depth has been used to monitor changes in light attenuation. However, Secchi depth (ZS) is a not an accurate estimate of light attenuation, and conversion to light attenuation coefficient (Kd) is needed to study light conditions as aquatic organisms observe them. Therefore, calibration between methods is important. In this study, light attenuation was estimated with Secchi disc, a light meter and light loggers to scrutinize the possibilities of autonomous measurements in this context. The aims of the study were 1) to compare three methods for estimating light attenuation and 2) to identify the environmental drivers affecting the relationships and accuracy of these methods, and 3) to assess the possibility of using conductivity as a proxy for light attenuation. The main hypotheses were that the differences in conversion between ZS and the two sensor-based methods in different concentrations of optically active substances can be explained by contribution of scattering to light attenuation, and that variation in different Kd-estimates is due to the different measurement spectra. The effect of three OASs (chl-a, particulate matter, CDOM) on differences among light attenuation estimates were quantified in Pohjanpitäjänlahti bay. Light attenuation was mainly controlled by CDOM, followed by particulate matter and chl-a. Conductivity was found to be a good proxy for light attenuation. However, there was a mixed signal if the differences among methods could be explained by OAS concentrations or conductivity, as the hypotheses were supported with one device pair but not with the other. Therefore, the differences among light measurement methods might stem from the characteristics of the devices or measurement errors. However, all the methods were found suitable for tracking changes in light attenuation and a summary table of the advantages and disadvantages of each method is presented to help choose a suitable method to estimate light attenuation e.g., in future studies or environmental monitoring.

Goals Length of human lifespan is an important measure of societal welfare. Mortality is largely linked to physical health, but psychological well-being has also been shown to predict mortality, happier people living longer lives. Psychological well-being can be construed as both subjective well-being (SWB) and eudaimonic well-being (EWB), and measures belonging to both of these constructs have been shown to individually predict mortality. No study to date has, however, compared these differing measures of psychological well-being as predictors of mortality. This study compares measures of life satisfaction (a part of SWB) and purpose in life (a part of EWB) as predictors of mortality. Methods The data used in this study comes from the Midlife in the US (MIDUS) survey, a large-scale longitudinal study spanning almost 20 years. MIDUS includes measures for life satisfaction and purpose in life, as well as data on mortality and many health behaviors with a sample of N=3768. Effects of life satisfaction and purpose in life on mortality were analysed with multiple Cox proportional hazards models. Results Life satisfaction predicts mortality when modeled alone, as does purpose in life. When modeled together, only purpose in life predicts mortality. This finding stands when additional health behavior variables are controlled, but when the sample is stratified by sex, the relation between life satisfaction and mortality also reaches marginal significance for women but not men. Conclusions This study shows that purpose in life might be a better predictor of mortality compared to life satisfaction. The results also give preliminary support for a hypothesis that purpose, and by proxy EWB, is closer to the evolutionary and physiological core of psychological well-being.

In diagnosis of many viral and some other microbial infections, measurement of IgG avidity is a globally emerging approach for identifying primary infections and estimating the time of clinical onset. While many calculation methods have been introduced for conversion of the raw data into a numerical avidity value, little information exists on their comparison and whether the complex and laborious ones show superior performance. We here compare diverse approaches for avidity calculation, and introduce for clinical use a new, highly sensitive and specific one. Enzyme immune assay (EIA) absorbance data from 135 parvovirus B19 IgG-positive sera were analyzed in parallel with the new and two reference methods (Avidity1.2 software representing gold standard methodology; avidity index (AI) widely used due to its simplicity). When sample dilutions were selected on the basis of optimal EIA absorbances, all three approaches performed equally (receiver operating characteristic area-under-curve, AUC, discriminating primary infection from past immunity 0.969-0.971). When the samples were reanalyzed at either lower or higher absorbance levels, avidity status (low, borderline or high) was altered, on the average, in 3.7 % of the samples with the new method, in 5.6 % with Avidity1.2 and in 28 % with AI. The new approach was further validated with extensive serum panels for cytomegalovirus, Toxoplasma gondii, rubella and Epstein–Barr virus (AUC 0.990-1.000). It allows for accurate measurement of antimicrobial IgG avidity even from samples with low IgG level, while the globally popular AI approach provides an alternative for samples with sufficiently high IgG level.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder in which the disease process may take decades until the symptoms become evident. To date, no ideal biomarker has emerged that would enable early detection of AD. Environmental and lifestyle factors are thought to affect the risk of developing AD, possibly through epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation (DNAm). DNAm has been shown to differ in the blood and brain of subjects with AD compared with subjects without AD, suggesting that DNAm may be involved in the pathogenic process of AD. This study aims to detect the difference in blood DNAm at baseline between cases who later developed AD and controls who remained AD diagnosis-free during follow-up in a sample selected from a Finnish population-based cohort. Leucocyte genome-wide DNAm was profiled on approximately 850,000 CpG sites by using Infinium MethylationEPIC assay. Each CpG was regressed on the outcome of AD diagnosis during follow-up, controlling for subjects’ age at sampling, sex, smoking status, blood cell counts, working stress level, slide, and array. Specific differentially methylated positions (DMPs) were further explored using pathway analysis. Finally, the methylation level of the candidate gene (APOE) selected from the literature was compared with the sample of this study. After correction for multiple testing, the later diagnosis of AD was not significantly (adjusted p-value < 0.05) associated with methylation level at the baseline at any DNAm site. There was, however, a robust hypomethylation of DMPs among the cases, as 90.9% of the DMPs (p-value < 0.05) were hypomethylated in the case group. The 200 genes annotated by DMPs with the smallest p-values were involved in two neuronal pathways: “Axon guidance associated with semaphorins Homo sapiens” (p-value = 0.0058, adjusted p-value = 0.065) in Panther 2016 and “Semaphorin interactions Homo sapiens” (p-value = 0.00005, adjusted p-value = 0.078) in Reactome 2016. No significant difference existed in DNAm of the candidate gene (APOE) between cases and controls, while cg26190885 at the promoter region of APOE showed nominal significance (p-value = 0.04). In conclusion, no strong evidence was found to support the hypothesis that systemic changes in DNAm are involved in the pathogenesis of AD or that DNAm marks could be detected in blood before the symptoms become evident. A genome-wide pattern of hypomethylation measured by the Infinium MethylationEPIC assay was observed in the case group, serving as a venue for further investigations.