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The current study is an exploration of native Finnish-speaking Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students’ attitudes toward English as a lingua franca (henceforth ELF). The author of this thesis, like many ELF scholars, harbors serious concerns about the issues of language attitudes and prestige vis-à-vis ELF. The aims of this study are to shed some light on the current situation of language attitudes toward ELF among Finnish degree students, raise awareness of ELF and its implications, and make a contribution to ELF research. A total of 116 native Finnish-speaking Bachelor’s and Master’s degree students at Finnish universities participated in an online survey. The survey was designed to investigate attitudes toward ELF with Likert-scale questions and the Verbal-guise Technique. In addition to the quantitative measurements, qualitative data on the participants’ understandings of ELF and their open-answer comments on the ELF speakers in the selected audio samples were collected in the survey. The findings of this study show that Finnish degree students indicated a good awareness of ELF in general. Overall, the participants had neutral preconceptions of ELF speakers. Furthermore, their attitudes after listening to the ELF speakers in the selected audio samples showed that nativeness is not the superior key to successful ELF communications. In addition, accentedness did not hamper intelligibility. Thus, success in meaning-making and mutual intelligibility should be of higher importance than sounding like a native speaker. Familiarity with the ELF speakers’ accents had a positive influence on the participants’ attitudes toward the ELF speakers themselves. To avoid the opposite scenario, it is important for educators to accommodate students with authentic learning materials that help increase exposure to English speakers with different first languages. This study provides empirical evidence showing that there is some success in raising awareness of ELF in Finland, yet there remains some room for improvement. Importantly, there should be a rethinking of English learning goals and teaching approaches. As increasingly more people participate in ELF interactions, more emphasis should be placed on how to build mutual intelligibility, how to utilize communication strategies to succeed in meaning-making, and how to empower English speakers regardless of their first languages.

This thesis delves into the identity of Somali women and its intricate connections with their sense of belonging and overall well-being. The central theme revolves around intersectional theory, weaving together the intersecting identities of Somali women. Utilizing focus interviews, pair and group interviews, and ethnography, the aim was to explore individual and communal perspectives on identity, specifically examining how the multicultural environment, belonging, and perceptions of well-being shape the lives of young Somali women. Within the realm of immigration and diaspora studies, the second generation often confronts complex and ambiguous notions of home, identity, and a sense of belonging. Additionally, the concept and phenomenon of identity can exhibit either a static or entirely variable nature, emphasizing the importance of studying this intricate subject. The theoretical foundation of this research rests on the theory of intersectionality. By employing this theory, the study aims to understand the complexities of individuals' identities. This framework acknowledges the dynamic interplay among diverse social identities, recognizing the intricate mechanisms through which systems of power and privilege shape their lived experiences. Besides intersectionality theories, the thesis utilizes anthropological theories of belonging as by comprehending the notion of belonging, we can gain understanding into the elements that foster or impede a sense of belonging. The theories of wellbeing used in this thesis helps us understand well-being, encompassing its pursuit and moral assessment, within diverse cultural contexts. The analysis and ethnographic evidence presented in this thesis indicate a complex experience for Somali women in Finland. They often perceive themselves as not aligning with the prevailing collective identity presented in society, leading to a sense of being "othered." Despite this, Somali women consistently rely on their intersectional identities for peer support and embrace the evolution of their identities as a natural part of growing up and living in Finland. Through ethnographic descriptions of a trip abroad and attending a wedding, the thesis explores how belonging manifests in physical spaces. In the well-being chapter, factors that enhance or impede well-being are examined from both communal and individual perspectives. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan somalinaisten identiteettiä ja sen yhteyksiä heidän yhteenkuuluvuuden tunteeseen sekä hyvinvointiin. Tutkimuksen keskeinen teema pyörii intersektionaalisuuden teorioiden ympärillä ja kutoo yhteen somalinaisten risteäviä identiteettejä. Fokushaastatteluja, pari- ja ryhmähaastatteluja sekä etnografiaa hyödyntäen tavoitteena oli tutkia yksilöllisiä ja yhteisöllisiä näkökulmia identiteettiin, erityisesti kuinka monikulttuurinen ympäristö, kuuluminen ja hyvinvoinnin käsitykset muovaavat nuorten somalinaisten elämää. Maahanmuutto- ja diasporatutkimuksen alalla toinen sukupolvi kohtaa usein monimutkaisia ja moniselitteisiä käsityksiä kodista, identiteetistä ja yhteenkuuluvuuden tunteesta. Lisäksi identiteetin käsite ja ilmiö voivat olla joko staattisia tai täysin muuttuvia, mikä korostaa tämän monimutkaisen aiheen tutkimisen tärkeyttä. Tämän tutkimuksen teoreettinen perusta nojaa intersektionaalisuusteorioihin. Näitä teorioita hyödyntäen tutkimuksessa pyritään ymmärtämään yksilöiden identiteetin monimutkaisuutta. Tämä viitekehys tunnustaa erilaisten sosiaalisten identiteettien dynaamisen vuorovaikutuksen ja tunnistaa monimutkaiset mekanismit, joiden kautta valta- ja etuoikeusjärjestelmät muokkaavat heidän elämiään kokemuksiaan. Intersektionaalisuus teorioiden lisäksi opinnäytetyössä hyödynnetään antropologisia kuulumisen tunteen teorioita, sillä kuulumisen tunteen ymmärtämisellä voidaan saada ymmärrystä niihin elementteihin, jotka edistävät tai estävät kuulumisen tunnetta. Tässä opinnäytetyössä käytetyt hyvinvoinnin teoriat auttavat ymmärtämään hyvinvointia, mukaan lukien sen tavoittelua sekä moraalista arviointia erilaisissa kulttuurisissa konteksteissa. Tässä opinnäytetyössä esitetyt analyysit ja etnografiset todisteet osoittavat kuinka somalinaisilla on monimutkaisia kokemuksia Suomessa. He kokevat usein itsensä olevan epä sopusoinnussa yhteiskunnassa vallitsevan kollektiivisen identiteetin kanssa, mikä johtaa "toiseuden" tunteeseen. Tästä huolimatta somalinaiset luottavat johdonmukaisesti risteäviin identiteettiinsä vertaistukeen ja omaksuvat identiteettinsä kehittymisen luonnollisena osana Suomessa kasvamista ja asumista. Opinnäytetyössä tutkitaan etnografisten kuvausten kautta ulkomaanmatkaa ja sekä tapahtumsisa kuten häissä käymistä ja miten kuuluminen ilmenee fyysisessä tilassa. Hyvinvointiluvussa tarkastellaan hyvinvointia edistäviä ja estäviä tekijöitä sekä yhteisöllisestä että yksilöllisestä näkökulmasta.

Finding and exploring relevant information from a huge amount of available information is crucial in today’s world. The information need can be a specific and precise search or a broad exploratory search, or even something between the two. Therefore, an entity-based search engine could provide a solution for combining these two search goals. The focus in this study is to 1) study previous research articles on different approaches for entity-based information retrieval and 2) implement a system which tries to provide a solution for both information need and exploratory information search, regardless of whether the search was made by using basic free form query or query with multiple entities. It is essential to improve search engines to support different types of information need in the incessantly expanding information space.

This thesis investigates the linguistic landscape at a multilingual Finnish university. It explores which languages are used in the signs at the university's city centre campus, how the languages are arranged, how language choices in the linguistic landscape in the studied setting align with the university's language policy, and how international students and staff members perceive the language environment and language policy of the university. In order to provide more thorough answers to the research questions, two types of data were included: linguistic landscape signs and semi-structured interviews. The linguistic landscape data was collected from seven locations around the city centre campus in November 2021 and focused on the signs displayed in public spaces. Seven international MA students and four international teachers were interviewed for their experiences and perceptions of the linguistic landscape of the university. All the interviews were conducted via Zoom between January and February 2022. Content analysis was used as the principal method for data analysis. The linguistic landscape and interview data analysis revealed that multilingualism is a norm in the city centre campus surroundings. The language choice and the order of languages in the signs reflect the disparity in the role and hierarchy of languages. Finnish is the prominent language and the preferred code in the signs, while Swedish and English show less important status. It can be seen that these three languages are displayed in the majority of the signs, which corresponds to the guidance of the trilingual language policy. Although the linguistic environment of the University of Helsinki is considered more multilingual and international than that of other academic institutions with which the interviewees were familiar, it was suggested that the implementation of the trilingual language policy and multilingualism should be taken into account in a broader sense, not only in public signs, but also in everyday communication.

Objectives. This study sought to investigate factors related to the elicitation of music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs) in healthy aging to improve overall understanding of the phenomenon and to enhance the selection of optimal musical stimuli to be used for the neurological rehabilitation and care of elderly individuals. The characteristic contents of MEAMs of healthy older individuals were also explored. Methods. 113 healthy senior subjects (aged 60 – 86 years) listened to 70 preselected song excerpts and rated each on a 5-point Likert scale in five domains: valence, emotional intensity, arousal, familiarity and autobiographical salience. Correlational and linear mixed model analyses were conducted to discover the relationship between the rated variables. Eighty-one participants additionally chose to verbally describe their MEAMs in further detail. These submitted inserts (n = 2790) were manually categorized and labelled into non-mutually exclusive groups and sub-groups. Results and conclusions. The analyses revealed that all rating variables had statistically significant positive relationships with one another. Valence, emotional intensity, arousal and familiarity all had significant positive effects on the dependent variable autobiographical salience. Thus, in order to maximally evoke MEAMs in healthy elderly individuals, the chosen musical stimuli should be regarded by the listener as being pleasant, emotionally intense, physiologically arousing and familiar. The contents of elderly individuals’ MEAMs often involved music-related activity, such as singing, dancing or listening to music. They also frequently contained details of specific people or locations. Lastly, they often weren’t very temporally specific and memories from adolescence were more common than other life periods.

There are many studies concerning the supply of labor. However, although overtime work is a common phenomenon, it is rarely the topic of these studies. This thesis studies remuneration policy and the prevalence of overtime work for professional engineers in Finland. The data used in this study are annually collected survey data, for the period 2002-2011. The data represent union members of the Union of Professional Engineers in Finland (UIL ry). The data mainly consist of senior salaried employees. Remuneration policy and the incidence of overtime work are studied by descriptive methods and by regression models. A multinominal logit model is used for the overtime remuneration policy estimation. The method is used to impute missing data for those who do not work overtime. The Tobit regression model is applied as the overtime model. The findings of this thesis are that an individual’s position affects both the incidence of overtime work and remuneration policy. Individuals in a managerial position more often work overtime and bonus payment systems are the main incentive for this. This overtime model is reasonable for those senior salaried employees who are covered by the Working Hour Act. According to the Working Hour Act, those who work, for instance, as a specialist or in an expert position should be compensated for overtime work. In the overtime function for middle management, experts, and salaried employees the income effect initially dominates as remuneration for overtime increases, but finally, as overtime remuneration further increases, more individuals actually tend to work more overtime. As work experience increases, individuals work less overtime at first, but the relationship turns out to be U-shaped. Overtime work is less common for women and those in the public sector. The overtime model provides only a weak positive indication of the incidence of overtime for those who have recently been promoted to a new position or duties. The findings are only partly in accordance with empirical studies. The differences are explained by the characteristics of senior salaried employees. The results of this thesis might stem from the nature of their duties, the working environment and also from individual characteristics. That is why I assume here that long-run career objectives affect the incidence of overtime. In conclusion, there still remains the question of whether short-run or long-run factors have more explanatory power. For example is overtime work motivated by overtime rates or wage levels in the long run.

Design embraces several disciplines dedicated to the production of artifacts and services. These disciplines are quite independent and only recently has psychological interest focused on them. Nowadays, the psychological theories of design, also called design cognition literature, describe the design process from the information processing viewpoint. These models co-exist with the normative standards of how designs should be crafted. In many places there are concrete discrepancies between these two in a way that resembles the differences between the actual and ideal decision-making. This study aimed to explore the possible difference related to problem decomposition. Decomposition is a standard component of human problem-solving models and is also included in the normative models of design. The idea of decomposition is to focus on a single aspect of the problem at a time. Despite its significance, the nature of decomposition in conceptual design is poorly understood and has only been preliminary investigated. This study addressed the status of decomposition in conceptual design of products using protocol analysis. Previous empirical investigations have argued that there are implicit and explicit decomposition, but have not provided a theoretical basis for these two. Therefore, the current research began by reviewing the problem solving and design literature and then composing a cognitive model of the solution search of conceptual design. The result is a synthetic view which describes recognition and decomposition as the basic schemata for conceptual design. A psychological experiment was conducted to explore decomposition. In the test, sixteen (N=16) senior students of mechanical engineering created concepts for two alternative tasks. The concurrent think-aloud method and protocol analysis were used to study decomposition. The results showed that despite the emphasis on decomposition in the formal education, only few designers (N=3) used decomposition explicitly and spontaneously in the presented tasks, although the designers in general applied a top-down control strategy. Instead, inferring from the use of structured strategies, the designers always relied on implicit decomposition. These results confirm the initial observations found in the literature, but they also suggest that decomposition should be investigated further. In the future, the benefits and possibilities of explicit decomposition should be considered along with the cognitive mechanisms behind decomposition. After that, the current results could be reinterpreted.

An experiment-driven approach to software product and service development is getting increasing attention as a way to channel limited resources to the efficient creation of customer value. In this approach, software functionalities are developed incrementally and validated in continuous experiments with stakeholders such as customers and users. The experiments provide factual feedback for guiding subsequent development. Although case studies on experimentation conventions in the industry exist, an understanding of the state of the practice is incomplete. Furthermore, the obstacles and success factors of continuous experimentation have been little discussed. To these ends, an interview-based qualitative survey was conducted, exploring the experimentation experiences of ten software development companies. The study found that although the principles of continuous experimentation resonated with industry practitioners, the state of the practice was not mature. In particular, experimentation was rarely systematic and continuous. Key challenges related to changing organizational culture, accelerating development cycle speed, measuring customer value and product success, and securing resources. Success factors included an empowered organizational culture and deep customer and domain knowledge. There was also a good availability of technical tools and competence to support experimentation.

While the role of IT and computer science in the society is on the rise, interest in computer science education is also on the rise. Research covering study success and study paths is important for understanding both student needs and developing the educational programmes further. Using a data set covering student records from 2010 to 2020, this thesis aims to find key insights and base research in the topic of computer science study success and study paths in the University of Helsinki. Using novel visualizations and descriptive statistics this thesis builds a picture of the evolution of study paths and student success during a 10-year timeframe, providing much needed contextual information to be used as inspiration for future focused research into the phenomena discovered. The visualizations combined with statistical results show that certain student groups seem to have better study success and that there are differences in the study paths chosen by the student groups. It is also shown that the graduation rates from the Bachelor’s Programme in Computer Science are generally low, with some student groups showing higher than average graduation rates. Time from admission to graduation is longer than suggested and the sample study paths provided by the university are not generally followed, leading to the conclusion that the programme structure would need some assessment to better incorporate students with diverse academic backgrounds and differing personal study plans.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignancy of antibody-secreting plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM). MM is the second most common hematological malignancy, accounting for about 14% of blood cancers. Despite the improvements in the treatment of MM, the disease remains incurable, and essentially all patients end up relapsing. Deletion of chromosome 16q, the location of tumor suppressor CYLD, occurs in 35% of MM patients. CYLD is a deubiquitinase, most recognized for its function as a negative regulator of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. The loss of CYLD is associated with disease progression and worse survival in MM, but its significance in drug response is unknown. As the loss of CYLD is common in MM, determining its effect on drug response is essential. Analysis of data gained from MM patient samples were used to study the effect of CYLD copy number status on drug response. The treatments were selected based on previous research performed by our group. The effect of homozygous deletion was most significant in inducing resistance to BMS-754807, an inhibitor of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor. To investigate the role of loss of CYLD on drug response in vitro, cell lines with CYLD knockout (KO) were created using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) – CRISPR associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology. An established CYLD-KO cell line was treated with carfilzomib, bortezomib, dexamethasone and BMS-754807 to assess the effect of CYLD-KO. The CYLD-KO slightly increased the sensitivity to BMS-754807, but essentially no differences were detected in response to the drugs. The effect of CYLD-KO was additionally explored to NF-κB - and Wnt-pathway activation by Western blot analysis, but due to technical difficulties, the results were inconclusive. The loss of CYLD is a common genetic aberration in MM, giving a survival benefit for the malignant cells. Based on the results from patient data analysis, the loss of CYLD could promote drug resistance to BMS-754807, and the effect should be further studied with more cell lines with CYLD-KO. As the population ages, and as the median age of newly diagnosed patients is 70, the need for efficient MM therapies increases. Studying the mechanisms behind drug resistance and sensitivity is essential in the aim of improving the efficacy of MM therapy and, in the end, the overall survival of the patients.