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Today it is desirable to utilise and reproductive sidestream materials from the industry. The food industry generates lot of sidestream waste which could be utilised in various products. Grain hulls are one example. The aim of this work was to study the structure and chemical features of sidestream oat and barley hulls from the industry. Furthermore, the potential to use hull fractions with pulp to produce kraft paper was examined. The grain structure and chemical features of oat and barley have been studied extensively in the food industry but hulls barely at all. The intention was to study lipids, hemicellulose sugars and lignins. From the perspective of paper production, it was important to examine hulls fibres (anatomy), fibre separation and fibre wall fibrillation. Kraft paper must possess specific mechanical properties. Sufficient fibrillation and fibre network of the plant fibres renders paper durable. The hull fibres were examined with a light microscope. The hulls were macerated before microscopy. Compounds, lipids, organic acids and sugars were extracted with hexane and acetone in the Accelerated Solvent Extraction. The samples were analysed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The hemicellulose sugars of the hulls were isolated with methanolysis and analysed with a gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. The hull lignins were defined with pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The other compounds of the samples were extracted with acetone by Accelerated Solvent Extraction before pyrolysis determination. The oat and barley hulls were milled with a disc refiner and added to the softwood (pine) pulp in a Valley hollander beater. The pulp was milled for 90 min and the pulp filtration was measured with a Schopper-Riegler freenes tester. Also, water retention value was calculated. Sheets of paper were made with a conventional sheet mould. The aim grammage of the paper sheets was 60 g/m². The mechanical, physical and optical properties of the paper sheets were measured. The properties measured were thickness, density, surface smoothness/roughness, air permeability, opacity, light scattering, light absorption, brightness, tensile strength, breaking strength, elongation, bursting strength and tearing strength. Half of the paper sheets were calandered. The chemical properties of oat and barley hulls did not differ significantly from each other. The same hemicellulose sugars were found in the hulls of both grains, however more mannose and arabinose were found in oat hulls. The hulls of both grains had almost the same total hemicellulose quantity. The quantity and quality of lignins were also similar in both grain hulls. Guaiacyl lignin was dominant in both hulls. Minor differences in hemicellulose sugars does not have an impact on paper production. The hull fibres were very similar in microscopic examination, but oat hulls were somewhat longer than barley hulls. These differences did not impact the separation of fibres, the fibrillation of fibre wall or paper making. Oat hulls were harder, which became most apparent in the calandering and appearance of the sheets. Barley hulls were darker but the mechanical and physical properties of the grain hull paper sheets were quite similar. The hull fractions amount in the pulp (10% or 20%) did not significantly impact the results. The milled hull fractions were not distributed evenly in the sheets, the fibres did not separate properly and no internal or external fibrillation occurred. As mentioned before, the sheets were not homogeneous and the standard deviation of the sheet properties were partly significant. Adding the hull fractions to the pulp was successful and the milled hull fractions did not fall off the sheets. Calandered sheets were smooth and glossy. Moreover, the sheets were visually pleasing. This study indicated that it is possible to use hull fractions for paper and kraft paper production. The paper mostly met the same quality requirements as commercial paper. More research is needed for further optimisation. More research into the chemical properties of oat and barley hulls is also needed, because of the hulls of both grains contain antioxidant components and could provide more information about advanced fibre separation and fibre wall fibrillation.

Elinympäristön vaikutusta eliölajien esiintymiseen voidaan tutkia habitaattimallinnuksen keinoin. Havainnot lajin esiintymisestä ja puuttumisesta eri kohdissa maisemaa suhteutetaan tilastollisen mallin avulla ympäristötekijöihin, jolloin saadaan kuva lajin elinympäristövaatimuksista. Tällöin oletetaan, että laji esiintyy kaikkialla siellä, missä sen elinympäristövaatimukset täyttyvät. Metapopulaatioteorian valossa näin ei kuitenkaan aina ole: maisemassa voi olla runsaasti lajille soveltuvia mutta asuttamattomia kasvupaikkoja, koska uusien yksilöiden leviäminen ja vanhojen häviäminen eivät välttämättä ole yksittäisten kasvupaikkojen tasolla tasapainossa. Siten myös lajin leviämiskyky vaikuttaa siihen, millaiseksi sen levinneisyyskuvio maisematasolla muodostuu. Tässä työssä keskityn tammen (Quercus robur) alueellisen levinneisyyden mallintamiseen. Tammen suhteellinen harvinaisuus Suomessa sekä sen rooli luonnon monimuotoisuuden merkittävänä tukipilarina tekevät siitä mielenkiintoisen kohdelajin ekologiselle tutkimukselle. Tutkimuskohteekseni valitsin Wattkastin saaren, n. 5 km2:n alueen Länsi-Turunmaalta. Wattkastissa on tutkittu kahdeksan vuoden ajan tammella elävien hyönteisyhteisöjen rakennetta ja kannanvaihteluita, ja saaressa kasvaa yli 1800 luonnonvaraista tammea, joiden tarkat sijainnit tiedetään. Tässä ympäristössä tutkin, rajoittaako tammen alueellista levinneisyyttä ensisijaisesti sopivien elinympäristöjen tilajakauma vai pikemminkin sen leviämiskyky. Yhdistin tammen esiintymiskuviota kuvaavaan habitaattimalliin kokeellisen aineiston, jonka avulla arvioin tammen paikallisen esiintymiskuvion ja tammelle soveltuvien elinympäristöjen tilajakauman vastaavuutta. Kokeellisen aineiston muodostivat 104 Wattkastiin vuonna 2004 istutettua pikkutammea, joiden selviytymisen ja kasvupaikkaolot kartoitin syksyllä 2009. Tutkin yleistetyillä lineaarisilla malleilla puiden menestymiseen - siis selviytymiseen ja kuntoon - vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Etsin potentiaalisia selittäjiä tammen menestymiselle kasvupaikan ympäristötekijöistä sekä istutetun puun sijainnista suhteessa luontaisiin tammikasvustoihin. Lisäksi tutkin habitaattimallin avulla, selittävätkö ympäristötekijät tammen nykyisen esiintymiskuvion Wattkastissa. Havaitsin, että istutetut puut olivat selviytyneet keskimäärin hyvin ja ettei niiden menestyminen riippunut sijainnista suhteessa luontaisiin tammikasvustoihin. Habitaattimallin selitysaste oli vain 19 %, eli kasvupaikkatekijät selittivät heikosti tammen nykyisen esiintymiskuvion Wattkastissa. Tulosten perusteella tammen paikallinen esiintymiskuvio ei vastaa sille soveltuvien elinympäristöjen jakaumaa maisemassa, joten tammen levinneisyyttä Wattkastissa rajoittaa ilmeisesti sen leviämiskyky. Tulokseni viittaavat siihen, ettei tammen elinympäristön laadussa ole suuria vaihteluita Wattkastin sisällä, koska sopivia kasvupaikkoja on tarjolla tammen nykyesiintymiseen nähden runsaasti. Tämä on tammihyönteistutkimusten kannalta kiinnostava tulos, koska se tarkoittaa, että aiemmat havainnot isäntäpuun sijainnin ja hyönteisten kannanvaihteluiden välisestä yhteydestä edustavat todellisia, tilaan sidottuja populaatioprosesseja eivätkä isäntäpuun välittämiä eroja elinympäristön laadussa. Lisäksi tutkimukseni osoittaa, että yhdistämällä habitaattimallinnukseen kokeellinen lähestymistapa saadaan realistisempi kuva lajin levinneisyyttä rajoittavista tekijöistä kuin tutkimalla pelkästään ympäristötekijöiden vaikutusta lajin esiintymiseen. Jos lajin rajoittunut leviämiskyky on vaikuttanut sen esiintymiskuvion syntyyn, pelkästään ympäristötekijöihin perustuva levinneisyysmalli liioittelee levinneisyyttä. Kokeellisen tutkimuksen avulla on tällaisessa tapauksessa mahdollista paljastaa myös leviämiskyvyn rooli esiintymiskuvion taustalla.

Lung cancer, the current leading cause of death by cancer, can be categorized into small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), lung adenocarcinoma of NSCLC being the most common. Advances have been made in lung adenocarcinoma treatment based on the tumor genetic profile, especially with epidermal growth receptor (EGFR) gene mutated lung cancers. The initial responses of targeted therapy have promising outcomes, but the patients acquire drug resistance against the selective EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as osimertinib. To find a way to prevent, revert, or bypass various EGFR TKI resistance mechanisms, they are studied in hopes of discovering new ways to inhibit or degrade EGFR, to target the bypass mechanisms, or tumor heterogeneity. This study aims to target intratumor heterogeneity of EGFR expression to prevent Osimertinib resistance/enhance Osimertinib efficacy in PC9 cells. It was detected that PC9 cells were a heterogeneous population, that could be separated into EGFR-low expressing and EGFR-high expressing cells. Based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) screening, EGFR-low cells had enriched expression of Ariadne RBR E3 Ubiquitin Protein Ligase 2 (ARIH2) and RING finger protein 7 (RNF7) genes compared to EGFR-high cells. These genes encode proteins that are part of a ubiquitylation complex E3-E3 ligase, possibly mediating proteasomal degradation of EGFR. To verify this, the genes are first knocked out (KO) in PC9 EGFR-low cells with CRISPR-Cas9 method. Second, parental cells are treated with pevonedistat, which is an E3-E3 ligase activator inhibitor. The effects of ARIH2/RNF7 KO cells, and pevonedistat-treated cells are analyzed with flow cytometry. Lastly, an in vitro drug experiment to see, if the combination of osimertinib and pevonedistat would have a synergistic effect in killing PC9 EGFR-low cells. RNF7 KO cells and pevonedistat-treated cells appeared to have elevated levels of EGFR, insinuating EGFR is proteasomally degraded by E3-E3 ligase. The results of in vitro drug experiment looked promising as the combination drug treatment seemed to be the most effective. The E3-E3 ligase is an appealing target for cancer therapy but it has not been researched much in lung cancer context. Also, pevonedistat is still on clinical trials and has cytotoxic effects, therefore, the proteasomal degradation pathway of EGFR requires to be more studied.

Talousmetsissä on huomattavasti vähemmän lahopuuta kuin luonnontilaisissa metsissä. Noin 25 % metsälajeista on riippuvaisia lahopuusta, ja lahopuun väheneminen on syynä monen lajin uhanalaisuuteen. Talousmetsiin on luotu lisää lahopuuta tekopökkelöiden avulla. Tekopökkelöitä tehdään harvennus- tai päätehakkuissa katkaisemalla puu noin 1–5 m korkeudelta. Tekopökkelöiden teko on yleistynyt 1990-luvulta lähtien, mutta niitä hyödyntävää lajistoa, etenkin lintuja, on tutkittu Suomessa vasta vähän. Tutkin, mitkä lintulajit käyttävät teko- ja luonnonpökkelöitä ja eroavatko niiden lajistot toisistaan. Lisäksi tutkin, millaisia pökkelöitä linnut käyttävät. Keräsin tutkimusaineistoni Viitasaarelta Keski-Suomesta tuoreilta päätehakkuilta, vanhoilta päätehakkuilta ja harvennushakkuilta. Laskin yhteensä 78 tekopökkelöstä ja 69 luonnonpökkelöstä (puulajeina kuusi ja koivu) lintujen syönnösjälkien ja pesäkolojen määrän sekä määritin ne tehneet lajit. Mittasin myös pökkelöistä ja tutkimuskuvioista ympäristömuuttujia selvittääkseni, millaisia pökkelöitä linnut käyttävät. Tutkimuskuvioilla ja niiden lähistöllä suoritettiin lisäksi lintujen linjalaskennat, jotta pystyin vertaamaan, eroavatko tutkimuskuvioiden lintulajiston laji- tai parimäärät lähialueen lintulajistosta. Vertasin tutkimusalueen linjalaskenta-aineistoa myös pohjoisen Keski-Suomen lintujen vakiolinjalaskenta-aineistoon saadakseni tietää, eroaako tutkimusalue yleisesti pohjoisen Keski-Suomen lintulajistosta laji- tai parimäärän suhteen. Käytin tilastollisissa analyyseissä lineaarisia sekamalleja ja yleistettyjä lineaarisia sekamalleja. Tutkimukseni perusteella linnut käyttävät tekopökkelöitä pesintään ja ruokailuun. Suurin osa syönnösjäljistä ja koloista oli tikkojen tekemiä, todennäköisesti käpytikan. Pökkelötyypillä (teko- tai luonnonpökkelö) ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää yhteyttä pökkelön syönnösjälkien tai pesäkolojen määrään. Pökkelöllä oli tilastollisesti merkitsevästi enemmän syönnösjälkiä, kun pökkelö oli korkeampi, paksumpi, pidemmälle lahonnut, kaarnan peittävyys oli alhaisempi tai pökkelö sijaitsi lähellä metsän reunaa. Kolojen määrä oli tilastollisesti merkitsevästi suurempi, kun pökkelö oli korkeampi, paksumpi tai kun metsäkuviolla oli vähemmän maalahopuuta. Kolojen tai syönnösjälkien määrään ei vaikuttanut tilastollisesti merkitsevästi se, sijaitsiko pökkelö harvennushakkuulla vai päätehakkuulla säästöpuuryhmässä, keskellä päätehakkuuta tai päätehakkuun reunassa. Linjalaskennoissa tutkimuskuvioiden lintulajisto ei eronnut laji- tai parimäärältään lähialueen linnustosta. Tutkimusalueen lintulajisto ei myöskään poikennut pohjoisen Keski-Suomen linnustosta lajimäärältään, joten tuloksiani voi pitää yleistettävissä laajemminkin. Parimäärät olivat tutkimusalueen laskentalinjoilla alhaisempia, koska linjat olivat lyhyempiä kuin vakiolinjat. Tulosteni perusteella linnut hyötyvät eniten korkeammista ja paksummista tekopökkelöistä, jotka sijaitsevat lähellä metsän reunaa. Ajan myötä pökkelön lahotessa siitä tulee paremmin lintujen käyttöön soveltuva.

Stories matter for climate change, as they help us make sense of the complexity, uncertainty and abstract nature of the phenomenon as well as imagine alternative, potentially better futures and process our emotions. In this thesis I look at how the most culturally relevant stories about climate change relate to those of climate activists. To study the culturally relevant climate change stories, a literary review is conducted. Based on the review, an analytical framework is created. In the framework, the different cultural perspectives on climate change are grouped under six categories called climate change tropes. The tropes are i) Climate Change Apocalypse, ii) Techno-optimism, iii) Business-as-usual, iv) Romantic Ecotopia v) Sustainable Growth and vi) Systemic Change. The stories in each trope share a similar plot and/or setting, a guiding emotion and an approach to solutions. To gather empirical data, two climate change storytelling workshops are hosted for climate activists. The participants are Finnish climate activists predominately from the group Elokapina (Extinction Rebellion of Finland). The workshops consist of two creative writing exercises and a semi-structured focus-group interview. In the first exercise, the participants are asked to write a story about climate change and in the second to write an ideal ending to this story. The interview is divided into three sections conducted before, in-between and after the writing. The stories written and the data from the interviews are analysed using a qualitive content analysis. The previously created analytical framework is used to look for similarities as well as differences in the stories the activists tell to those present in literature. In addition to the storylines, the emotions and the sense of authorship these activists experience in relation to the story of climate change are analysed. The stories of the activists are diverse and multifaceted. Most stories written in the first exercise relate to the trope of Climate Change Apocalypse. The activists’ emotions correspond the trope, being dominantly fear, sadness and guilt. The ideal endings relate most to the trope of Systemic Change. The emotion of radical hope associated with the trope, while not exclusively worded by the participants comes out in the action of being an activist and hoping for better futures even in the face of well-justified despair. All other tropes are also mentioned in discussion. In addition, three novel storylines emerge: misanthropy, individual change and climate changed living. In turn, a novel emotion emerging from the data is love. These storylines’ and emotions’ relationship to the six tropes is explored in analysis. In terms of authorship, the participants express a sense of collective authorship and shared responsibility. Lastly, risks about storytelling climate change are identified. As a complex phenomenon climate change does not necessarily comply to narrative format. This may lead to over-simplification of the issue. To counter this risk, I suggest building awareness around telling stories of climate change, as well as advocating for a multitude of stories rather than a single one – as there are as many stories about climate change as there are people telling them. There is also a risk of a story lock-in, where viewing one story of climate change as truth and thus the only possible future may hinder action. Yet, community-based and creative approaches can be useful in escaping these lock-ins and imagining alternatives.

Coastal habitats contribute significantly to global carbon cycling. These ecosystems store carbon into the sediment and provide a crucial ecosystem service of sequestering carbon from atmosphere. In situ carbon degradation assessment methods in coastal sediments have not been widely developed. A novel, cost-effective method for assessing degradation rates, ROMA (rapid organic matter assessment), has been developed recently, but it has not been tested yet in cool, shallow subtidal coastal areas. In this Master’s thesis, the aim is to test the ROMA methodology in shallow coastal habitats in Northern Baltic Sea. To investigate the method, following research questions were studied: (1) can carbon degradation be assessed by using the ROMA- method in the shallow coastal habitats, (2) whether carbon degradation rates differ between two sites with varying sediment characteristics, (3) how various diversity metrics and environmental context can be linked to carbon degradation rates. Results of this study show that ROMA method is feasible to assess carbon degradation rates in shallow coastal areas. There was a difference in the degradation rates between the study sites with different environmental characteristics, but the driver for the carbon degradation still seemed somewhat unclear. The methodology should be developed and trialled further, as it is promising cost-effective way to measure carbon degradation in situ.

Cladocerans play a key role in the aquatic ecosystem. They are abundant in lakes and are an essential part in the carbon and energy transfer of the food webs. These species are, however, prone to various environmental changes. Estimates have shown that dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in northern lakes are likely to increase in the future. This increase of DOC in lakes has multiple impacts ranging from nutrient levels to shading impacts reducing primary productions. Investigating changes in cladocerans along a DOC gradient could help us understand how these species might develop in the future in our changing climate. In this Master’s Thesis, I studied how the cladoceran body length and community structure varied between 9 lakes with dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration ranging from 2.4-33.5 mg l-1. For the analyses, these lakes where divided into two groups with a threshold of 12 mg l-1 or into groups of three based on their DOC concentrations. Then, the results were compared with cladoceran length data from an earlier study. Additionally, the changes in phytoplankton abundances and communities as well as the relation between DOC concentration and other environmental variables were analysed. The results showed an increase in the cladoceran body length above the DOC threshold. Moreover, the changes in body length varied between the studied genera. Both Ceriodaphnia sp. and Diaphanosoma sp. body length decreased in groups with higher DOC concentrations while Bosmina sp. were larger at high DOC concentrations. DOC concentration did not have any significant effect on the community structure of zooplankton. The studied lakes varied from their environmental condition making comparisons and general statements challenging. The results indicated that DOC concentration regulates the planktonic communities, but it is solely an imprecise predictor for changes in zooplankton communities. However, cladoceran densities seemed to benefit from increased DOC concentrations as nutrient levels also increased. Changes in cladoceran body lengths were challenging to interpret, because there are multiple factors that can have an impact both alone and combined with others.

Corporations’ desire to act in a responsible way as well as the amount of sustainability guidelines has increased during the past decades. Responsible Care (RC) program is an international sustainable development guideline practiced in chemical industry. The program focuses on sustainable use of natural resources, safety and sustainability of production and products, well-being of work community and reduction of waste and emissions. This study seeks to examine the correspondence of contents between national Responsible Care (RC) program in Finland and sustainability framework guidelines known worldwide. The aim of the study is to examine how corporations in chemical industry who follow the national RC program can meet the goals of sustainability framework guidelines, what are the main differences between the national RC program and other sustainability guidelines, and how the national RC program should be improved. The research methods include the content analysis and in-depth interview for corporations. In this research, the sustainability framework is built and the involved guidelines are specified. The national RC program is reflected on the sustainability framework guidelines through content analysis. A model for comparative content analysis is developed to compare the contents of sustainability guidelines by the means of qualitative data visualization through radar charts. The corporate in-depth interviews are applied with a view to obtain complete and comprehensive responses. This study demonstrates that the national RC program highly corresponds to sustainability framework guidelines in terms of environmental responsibility and safety, while the RC program less highlights the dimensions of social and economic responsibility. Based on the main differences, the possible targets for improvement in the national RC program are suggested to enhance consideration of economic and social aspects in the program. From the in-depth interviews, corporations recognize the national RC program to be a useful tool to implement and develop corporation’s sustainability work, yet there is a need to better correspondence with sustainability framework guidelines and to be more user-friendly in practice.

The way environmental issues are discursively constructed matters for how they are understood and what possibilities there are to solve them. This makes it relevant to investigate discourses around environmental issues and their proposed solutions. One such solution is ecological compensation, which has been widely implemented as a way to avoid environmental degradation and achieve no net loss of biodiversity. Compensation is also a contested mechanism, however, which has been shaped by the interplay of various discourses with diverging understandings of nature conservation. In this study, I investigate how ecological compensation is constructed by experts in Finland. Using the concept of storylines (Hajer 1995) I analyse 9 interviews conducted with experts involved in the discussion around ecological compensation, which is currently being implemented into Finnish legislation. Three storylines are identified which construct ecological compensation either as 1) a way to enable private actors to take environmental responsibility, 2) additional legislation to fill a “gap” in current conservation practices, or 3) a possibility to modify the relationship with nature by fostering local deliberations. This shows diverging understandings of ecological compensation among the experts and contestation over the way it should be implemented. What is at stake in the discussion are questions of how nature conservation should be understood, which makes ecological compensation pivotal for reconfiguring the field of nature conservation by shifting understandings of the roles and responsibilities involved. At the same time, consensus exists about the need to implement ecological compensation, which the experts all agree is the only possibility to stop biodiversity loss in Finland. This is traced to the interpretative flexibility of the ecological compensation concept which accommodates conflicting understandings and enables the experts to agree about the need for ecological compensation while contesting the “details” of how the implementation should take place. In that way, the implementation is supported despite contestation, and the discussion is focused on how – rather than whether – ecological compensation should be implemented.

This thesis explores the drivers and barrier to greening in the Finnish music festival scene. The term greening originates in literature on sustainable business and refers to the process of a company achieving greater sustainability through investments, managerial and organisational decisions and implementing policies and processes. The concept of greening is applied to music festivals, a type of event, that cause significant negative environmental impacts. Sustainable event management attempts to mitigate negative environmental impacts and to cause positive impacts for instance through environmental education and inspiring behaviour change. As a theoretical framework, this thesis uses drivers and barriers impacting the greening of music festivals identified in literature. The drivers (organisational and personal values, competitive advantage, consumer demand and the desire to educate) and barriers (lack of finance or support from stakeholders, lack of control over venues, lack of control over patron behaviour, lack of time, lack of sustainable supplies and suppliers), networking in the festival scene and the use of external environmental audits form the basis for a qualitative content analysis. The findings based on interview data from five Finnish music festival managers and a representative from an environmental auditing service suggests that the most significant drivers are value-based and the motivation for greening stems from personal pro-environmental values and the desire to inform and educate audiences. The barriers to overcome are external, related to stakeholders, infrastructure and the supply chain as well as unsustainable attendee behaviour. Additionally, there is among festival managers some uncertainty regarding best practices. A need for increased support from stakeholders and for accessible information highlights the importance of networking. External auditing services should offer flexible and contextual tools and a more inspirational tone. In conclusion, sustainability is seen by the Finnish music festival scene as a key issue and one of increasing priority in the future.