Kaukana Vatikaanista – Katolinen kirkko Suomessa 1989–1998

Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan katolista kirkkoa Suomessa vuosina 1989-1998. Tutkimus alkaa paavi Johannes Paavali II:n Pohjoismaiden-vierailusta kesällä 1989 ja päättyy Suomen katolisen kirkon pitkäaikaisen piispan Paul Verschurenin eroon tehtävästään vuonna 1998. Tutkimuksen kolme pääkysymystä ovat kirkon hallinnon ja rakenteen muutokset, katolisen kirkon identiteetti Suomessa ja ekumeeniset suhteet erityisesti Suomen evankelis-luterilaiseen kirkkoon. Lähteinä olen käyttänyt Helsingin katolisen hiippakunnan lehteä Fidesiä, muuta lehdistömateriaalia ja haastatteluja. Paavin-vierailulla oli merkittävät seuraukset niin Suomen katoliselle paikalliskirkolle kuin luterilaiselle kirkollekin. Vierailun myötä pieni katolinen vähemmistö tuli tunnetummaksi Suomessa. Vierailu muutti Vatikaanin käsityksiä Suomesta, millä oli kauaskantoiset vaikutukset kirkkojen ekumeenisiin suhteisiin. Pyhän Birgitan 600-vuotismuistojuhlien yhteydessä Suomen ja Ruotsin luterilaisten ja katolisten piispojen yhdessä paavin kanssa toimittama jumalanpalvelus, paavin ekumeniaa käsitellyt kiertokirje Ut unum sint ja Pohjoismaiden luterilaisten ja katolisten kirkkojen aloittamat neuvottelut kirkko- ja virkakäsityksistä olivat 1990-luvun merkittäviä ekumeenisia hetkiä, joihin paavin vierailulla oli vaikutusta. Kirkon hallinto ja rakenne olivat monelta osin jo vakiintuneet 1990-luvulle tultaessa, mutta muutamia merkittäviä muutoksia tapahtui. Kirkon jäsenmäärä kasvoi lähinnä maahanmuuton johdosta koko tutkitun ajanjakson ajan. Jäsenmäärän kasvu synnytti uusia seurakuntia ja kappeleita hiippakuntaan. Halu kappelin rakentamiseen ei aina kuitenkaan lähtenyt hiippakunnan tarpeesta vaan yksittäisten ihmisten tai liikkeiden. Esimerkiksi neokatekumenaalinen maallikkoliike rakennutti 1990-luvun alussa Ouluun kappelin, mutta hiippakunta ei ollut täysin hankkeen takana. Ongelmat kappeleiden rakentamisessa ja monet muutkin haasteet, johtuivat pitkälti kirkon taloudellisesta tilanteesta. Kirkolla ei ollut verotusoikeutta eikä jäsenten maksamat avustukset riittäneet kattamaan kuluja. Katolinen kirkko yritti 1990-luvun alkupuolella miettiä keinoja taloudellisen tilanteen parantamiseksi. Piispa Verschuren piti monessa yhteydessä myös esillä vähemmistöjen juridista asemaa koskevia ongelmia ja uskontolainsäädännön epäkohtia. Kolmas merkittävä rakenteellinen muutos kirkossa oli papiston puolalaistuminen. Katolisen kirkon identiteettiä Suomessa on vaikea erottaa omaksi kokonaisuudekseen koskien vain 1990-lukua. Olenkin pyrkinyt tarkastelemaan identiteettiä niistä haasteista käsin, joita kirkko 1990-luvulla kohtasi. Suomessa käytiin keskustelua muun muassa eronneiden tilanteesta ja naisen asemasta. Kirkko kannusti jäseniään keskusteluun ja myös piispa ja papisto olivat usein toivottujen uudistusten kannalla. Suomessa katolinen kirkko eli pienenä vähemmistönä, joten monet kirkon oppiin liittyvät kysymykset olivat haasteellisia. Esimerkiksi perhe- ja seksuaalieettiset kysymykset ja naisen asema olivat vaikeita tilanteessa, jossa suurin osa katolilaisista oli naimisissa ei-katolilaisen kanssa. Vaikka Suomessakin toivottiin muutoksia, joihinkin kirkon oppiin liittyviin kysymyksiin, Keski-Euroopasta alkanut protestiliikehdintä kirkon uudistumiseksi ei näkynyt täällä voimakkaasti. Suomessa kirkon tilanne oli hyvin erilainen kuin niissä Euroopan maissa, joissa liikehdintä sai kannatusta. Suomessa arvostettiin kirkon perinteistä liturgiaa ja pyrittiin rakentamaan yhtenäistä, identiteetiltään suomalaista katolista kirkkoa.

Asunnoton yhteiskunnan jäsenenä : Sosiaalisesti syrjäytyneen osallistumismahdollisuudet ja deliberatiivinen demokratia

Tutkielmassani selvitän, millä tavalla sosiaalisesti syrjäytyneen, kuten asunnottoman, on mahdollista osallistua yhteiskunnan toimintaan ja itseään koskevaan päätöksentekoon. Tutkimuskysymykseni ovat: Toteutuvatko perustuslain 14 § ja 19 §:ssä säädetyt oikeudet, ja ovatko viranomaisten toimet riittäviä edistämään syrjäytyneiden asunnottomien itsenäistä asumista sekä lisäämään vaikutusmahdollisuuksia itseään koskevassa päätöksenteossa. Voisiko deliberatiivisen demokratiamallin avulla vahvistaa syrjäytyneiden yhteiskunnallista osallistumista, ja siten helpottaa asunnottomuusongelmaa. Asunnottomia oli vuonna 2006 noin 7 400 henkilöä. Syitä joutua asunnottomaksi on useita. Valtaosalla ongelmat ovat kasautuneet, minkä jälkeen itsenäinen selviäminen on hankaloitunut. Asunnottomilla on usein monia eri ongelmia kuten pitkäaikaissairauksia, työttömyyttä ja päihteiden väärinkäyttöä. Avioero on yksi keskeisistä yksittäisistä syistä etenkin miehille päätyä asunnottomaksi. Maahanmuuttajien asunnottomuus voi olla seurausta pyrkimyksestä integroitua yhteiskuntaan: Muuttaessa sijoituspaikkakunnalta esimerkiksi ystävien, työn tai opiskelun vuoksi kasvukeskukseen, maahanmuuttajan voi olla vaikeaa saada asuntoa. Näin työn tai koulutuspaikan vastaanottaminen voi pakottaa maahanmuuttajan ottamaan riskin menettää asunto. Sosiaalisesti syrjäytyneeksi voidaan määritellä ihminen, joka ei kykene tai halua sopeutua normaalina pidettyyn elämään yhteiskunnassa. Tämä tutkimuksissa käytetty normaalin elämän määritelmä muotoutuu yhteiskunnan arvojen ja käytäntöjen pohjalta. Syrjäytyminen voi tarkoittaa myös sitä, että ihminen kokee itsensä ulkopuoliseksi yhteiskunnasta. Syrjäytymistä aiheuttavatkin siten toistuvat syrjinnän ja voimattomuuden kokemukset sekä hankaluus vaikuttaa itseään koskevaan päätöksentekoon. Asunnottomien yö –tapahtumassa syksyllä 2007 vapaaehtoiset haastattelivat asunnottomuutta kokeneita. Haastattelut on julkaistu internetissä ja ne ovat vapaasti tutkijoiden, toimittajien ja poliitikkojen käytettävissä. Useissa haastatteluissa asunnottomat kertovat, että he eivät koe olevansa täysivaltaisia yhteiskunnan jäseniä. Haastatteluissa kritisoidaan sitä, että poliitikot ja sosiaalityöntekijät päättävät asunnottomuuden hoidosta sekä asunnottomia koskevista asioista ilman, että asunnottomilla on mahdollisuutta vaikuttaa päätöksentekoon. Turhautumisen tunne paistoi läpi useissa haastatteluissa. Useissa vastauksissa asunnottomat vaativat poliitikkoja ja sosiaalityöntekijöitä perehtymään asunnottomien arjen elämään. Deliberatiivisessa demokratiassa yksi keskeisistä ajatuksista on, että vain sellaiset päätökset, jotka on tehty kaikille avoimen keskustelun ja vapaan tahdonmuodostuksen pohjalta voivat saada hyväksynnän ja luottamuksen kansalta sekä muodostua sitoviksi. Deliberatiivisessa demokratiakäsityksessä on kyse siitä, että asioista päätetään yhdessä, julkisen ja tasa-arvoisen keskustelun sekä harkinnan pohjalta. Keskeistä on myös, että kaikkien, joita päätökset koskettavat, täytyy voida osallistua päätöksiä edeltävään keskusteluun. Erityisesti Young ja Bohman korostavat, että myös sosiaalisesti syrjäytyneellä tulee olla mahdollisuus osallistua poliittiseen keskusteluun ja itseään koskevaan päätöksentekoon. Muun muassa koulutuksen kautta opitaan rauhallinen, asiallinen ja kielellisesti oikea argumentaatiotapa. Ihmisten erilaisuus ja kouluttamattomuus eivät Youngin mukaan saa estää mahdollisuutta osallistua yhteiskunnassa käytävään poliittiseen keskusteluun. Tutkimuskysymykseeni, lisäävätkö viranomaiset toiminnallaan yksilön mahdollisuutta vaikuttaa itseään koskevaan päätöksentekoon ja edistävätkö he yksilön mahdollisuuksia osallistua yhteiskunnalliseen toimintaan, vastaan eivät. Kuitenkin viranomaisten mahdollisuudet edistää perustuslaissa säädettyjä velvollisuuksia ovat poliittisten päättäjien budjetoinnin vuoksi rajoitettuja. Helsingin sosiaaliasiamiehet pitivät huolestuttavana sitä, että sosiaalityöntekijät pakotetaan toimimaan sekä lainsäädännön että ammattietiikkansa vastaisesti. Sosiaaliasiamiesten raportin perusteella voisi päätellä, että ainakin Helsingissä viranomaisilla olisi tahtoa toimia lain velvoittamalla tavalla. Asunnottomista suurin osa asuu Helsingissä ja Pääkaupunkiseudulla, joten tämän perusteella tutkimuskysymykseeni voi vastata yleistäen Helsingin esimerkin pohjalta. Syrjäytymistutkijoiden tulkinnan mukaan syrjäytyminen ja siitä pahimmillaan seuraava asunnottomuus johtuvat osittain ihmisten kokemien vaikutusmahdollisuuksien puutteesta. Deliberatiivisen demokratian tavoitteena on luoda sellainen demokraattinen malli, jossa poliittinen keskustelu ja vaikutusmahdollisuudet olisivat kaikkien yhteiskunnan jäsenten saavutettavissa. Syrjäytymistutkimuksen valossa deliberatiivinen demokratia voisi olla malli, jonka avulla vahvistettaisiin sosiaalisesti syrjäytyneiden kuten asunnottomien vaikutusmahdollisuuksia. Myös asunnottomien haastatteluissa nousi esille toive tulla kuulluksi. Moni kommentoi, että asunnottomuuden hoidosta ja heidän asioistaan päättävät sellaiset ihmiset, joilla ei ole todellista tietoa asunnottomien arjesta ja toiveista. Deliberatiivisen demokratian malli voisi näiden tutkimusten valossa olla keino lisätä osallistumismahdollisuuksia ja vähentää sitä kautta myös syrjäytymistä ja asunnottomuutta.

Psykoottisen mielenterveyspotilaan uskonnonvapaus

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää psykoottisen mielenterveyspotilaan uskonnonvapautta. Tutkimuskysymyksiä on kolme: Millä perusteilla psykoottisen potilaan uskonnonvapaus on turvattu ja millä perusteilla sitä rajoitetaan? Miten psykoottinen ja uskonnollinen todellisuudentulkinta eroavat toisistaan? Vaarantaako psykiatriseen todellisuudentulkintaan perustuva hoito potilaan negatiivisen uskonnonvapauden eli oikeuden elää ilman uskontoa? Tutkimusmetodina on systemaattinen analyysi. Lähteet ovat perustusoikeudet, mielenterveyslaki, potilaslaki, YK:n Principles for the protection of persons with mental illness and the improvement of mental health care, Maailman psykiatriyhdistyksen Madridin julistus ja Suomen mielenterveysseuran Mielenterveyspotilaan oikeudet. Uskonnonvapautta tarkastellaan tässä tutkimuksessa kahden eri vapauskäsityksen näkökulmasta: ulkoisena vapautena, joka edellyttää kompetenssia ja autenttisuutta, sekä ulkoisen ja sisäisen vapauden summana, johon kompetenssi ja autenttisuus sisältyvät. Psykoottisella potilaalla on ihmisyytensä ja kansalaisuutensa perusteella lähtökohtaisesti täysi uskonnonvapaus, mutta sitä voidaan rajoittaa. Jos uskonnonvapaus ymmärretään ulkoiseksi vapaudeksi, rajoittaa psykoottisen potilaan uskonnonvapautta tahdosta riippumattomassa hoidossa hänen terveytensä ja turvallisuutensa suojaaminen. Uskonnonvapauden rajoittaminen voidaan perustella sillä, ettei psykoottinen potilas täytä uskonnonvapauden edellytyksiä eli kompetenssia ja autenttisuutta, sillä, että potilaan terveyteen ja turvallisuuteen liittyvät oikeudet priorisoidaan uskonnonvapauden yläpuolelle sekä sillä, että pyritään terveyshyötyyn. Jos uskonnonvapaus ymmärretään ulkoisen ja sisäisen vapauden summaksi, on psykoosi uskonnonvapautta rajoittava tekijä, koska se tekee yksilöstä epäautenttisen ja puuttuu hänen kompetenssiinsa. Psykoosin (myös tahdosta riippumaton) hoito voidaan ymmärtää tällöin yritykseksi palauttaa uskonnonvapaus. Rajoittamalla ulkoista uskonnonvapautta pyritään maksimoimaan ulkoisen ja sisäisen uskonnonvapauden summa. Vaikka psykoottisella ja uskonnollisella todellisuudentulkinnalla on yhtäläisyyksiä, niiden toisistaan erottaminen on tärkeää, koska yksilöllä, jonka todellisuudentulkinta määritellään psykoottiseksi, on oikeus saada hoitoa, kun taas yksilön uskonnollista todellisuudentulkintaa suojaa uskonnonvapaus eikä sitä saa hoitaa sairautena. Lähteiden mukaan psykoottisen ja uskonnollisen todellisuudentulkinnan toisistaan erottaminen diagnostisten kriteerien ja lääketieteellisen tiedon avulla on lääkärin tehtävä. Tutkimuksessani esitän kaksi periaatetta, joiden avulla todellisuudentulkinnat voidaan erottaa toisistaan. Yksinäinen puu ei pala -periaatteen mukaan yksilön todellisuudentulkinta on uskonnollinen, mikäli se jaetaan jossain yhteisössä. Hedelmistään puu tunnetaan -periaatteen mukaan yksilön todellisuudentulkinta on uskonnollinen, mikäli sen terveydelliset ja sosiaaliset seuraukset ovat hyvät. Antipsykiatrinen kritiikki väittää psykiatrian olevan uskonto. Jos väite on tosi, puututaan tahdosta riippumattomassa hoidossa yksilön oikeuteen elää ilman uskontoa, sillä ko. hoidossa olevan psykoottisen potilaan on pakko suostua siihen, että häntä hoidetaan psykiatrian arvojen ja todellisuudentulkinnan mukaan. Vaikuttaa kuitenkin siltä, että jos psykiatria määritellään uskonnoksi, uskonnon käsite kärsii inflaation. Koska psykoottisen potilaan uskonnonvapaus on pohjimmiltaan eettinen kysymys, on tärkeää myöntää psykiatrian arvosidonnaisuus. Tällöin voidaan tehdä tietoisesti moraalisia päätöksiä ja kantaa moraalinen vastuu esimerkiksi diagnoosin määrittelyssä. Psykiatrian voidaan katsoa perustuvan universaaleihin arvoihin samalla tavalla kuin ihmisoikeuksienkin.

Living Poetically in the Modern Age : The Situational Aspects of Kierkegaard's Thought

How did Søren Kierkegaard (1813 1855) situate the human subject into historical and social actuality? How did he take into consideration his own situatedness? As key for understanding these questions the research takes the ideal of living poetically that Kierkegaard outlined in his dissertation. In The Concept of Irony (1841) Kierkegaard took up this ideal of the Romantic ironists and made it into an ethical-religious ideal. For him the ideal of living poetically came to mean 1) becoming brought up by God, while 2) assuming ethical-religiously one s role and place in the historical actuality. Through an exegesis of Kierkegaard s texts from 1843 to 1851 it is shown how this ideal governed Kierkegaard s thought and action throughout his work. The analysis of Kierkegaard s ideal of living poetically not only a) shows how the Kierkegaardian subject is situated in its historical context. It also b) sheds light on Kierkegaard s social and political thought, c) helps to understand Kierkegaard s character as a religious thinker, and d) pits his ethical-religious orientation in life against its scientific and commonsense alternatives. The research evaluates the rationality of the way of life championed by Kierkegaard by comparing it with ways of life dominated by reflection and reasoning. It uses Kierkegaard s ideal of living poetically in trying to understand the tensions between religious and unreligious ways of life.

Halvennettu työ : Pätkätyö ja sukupuoli sopimusyhteiskuntaa edeltävissä työmarkkinakäytännöissä

Unvalued Work. Gender and fragmented labour before national collective bargaining Systematically irregular work creates economic and social insecurity. A novelty? To think that globalisation results in unprecedented labour conditions turns out to be questionable when the idea is put in perspective. In the light of history there is nothing new in the frequency of today s short-term employment, for instance, ranking genders in labour relations in an old custom. Unvalued Work (Halvennettu työ) examines the regulation and management of labour before the time of collective bargaining. In the study present trends engage in a dialogue with empirical findings from the past. Preventing trade unions to take the initiative has been and remains an employer interest. The analysis focuses on female employment in the 1920s and 1930s. The inferences challenge to ask on what conditions the history of Finnish labour relations warrants on the whole speaking of contractual security, stable earnings and regular waged work that provides livelihood. Success in selling one s labour is not synonymous with good employment that yields decent income. Juxtaposing labour relations between the world wars and the 21st century helps us to understand the currently transforming labour market. Present policies are informed by past choices and patterns of thought. Unvalued Work (Halvennettu työ) offers instruments for making sense of today s labour relations.

Towards a Critique of the Concept of the Right to Self-Determination in Africa : A Conceptual Examination and the Cases of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea

This thesis examines the right to self-determination which is a norm used for numerous purposes by multiple actors in the field of international relations, with relatively little clarity or agreement on the actual and potential meaning of the right. In international practice, however, the main focus in applying the right has been in the context of decolonization as set by the United Nations in its early decades. Thus, in Africa the right to self-determination has traditionally implied that the colonial territories, and particularly the populations within these territories, were to constitute the people who were entitled to the right. That is, self-determination by decolonization provided a framework for the construction of independent nation-states in Africa whilst other dimensions of the right remained largely or totally neglected. With the objective of assessing the scope, content, developments and interpretations of the right to self-determination in Africa, particularly with regard to the relevance of the right today, the thesis proceeds on two fundamental hypotheses. The first is that Mervyn Frost s theory of settled norms, among which he lists the right to self-determination, assumes too much. Even if the right to self-determination is a human right belonging to all peoples stipulated, inter alia, in the first Article of the 1966 International Human Rights Covenants, it is a highly politicized and context-bound right instead of being settled and observed in a way that its denial would need special justification. Still, the suggested inconsistency or non-compliance with the norm of self-determination is not intended to prove the uselessness or inappropriateness of the norm, but, on the contrary, to invite and encourage debate on the potential use and coverage of the right to self-determination. The second hypothesis is that within the concept of self-determination there are two normative dimensions. One is to do with the idea and practice of statehood, the nation and collectivity that may decide to conduct itself as an independent state. The other one is to do with self-determination as a human right, as a normative condition, to be enjoyed by people and peoples within states that supersedes state authority. These external and internal dimensions need to be seen as complementary and co-terminous, not as mutually exclusive alternatives. The thesis proceeds on the assumption that the internal dimension of the right, with human rights and democracy at its core, has not been considered as important as the external. In turn, this unbalanced and selective interpretation has managed to put the true normative purpose of the right making the world better and bringing more just polity models into a somewhat peculiar light. The right to self-determination in the African context is assessed through case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea. The study asks what these cases say about the right to self-determination in Africa and what their lessons learnt could contribute to the understanding and relevance of the right in today s Africa. The study demonstrates that even in the context of decolonization, the application of the right to self-determination has been far from the consistent approach supposedly followed by the international community: in many respects similar colonial histories have easily led to rather different destinies. While Eritrea secured internationally recognized right to self-determination in the form of retroactive independence in 1993, international recognition of distinct Western Sahara and Southern Sudan entities is contingent on complex and problematic conditions being satisfied. Overall, it is a considerable challenge for international legality to meet empirical political reality in a meaningful way, so that the universal values attached to the norm of self-determination are not overlooked or compromised but rather reinforced in the process of implementing the right. Consequently, this thesis seeks a more comprehensive understanding of the right to self-determination with particular reference to post-colonial Africa and with an emphasis on the internal, human rights and democracy dimensions of the norm. It is considered that the right to self-determination cannot be perceived only as an inter-state issue as it is also very much an intra-state issue, including the possibility of different sub-state arrangements exercised under the right, for example, in the form of autonomy. At the same time, the option of independent statehood achieved through secession remains a mode of exercising and part of the right to self-determination. But in whatever form or way applied, the right to self-determination, as a normative instrument, should constitute and work as a norm that comprehensively brings more added value in terms of the objectives of human rights and democracy. From a normative perspective, a peoples right should not be allowed to transform and convert itself into a right of states. Finally, in light of the case studies of Western Sahara, Southern Sudan and Eritrea, the thesis suggests that our understanding of the right to self-determination should now reach beyond the post-colonial context in Africa. It appears that both the questions and answers to the most pertinent issues of self-determination in the cases studied must be increasingly sought within the postcolonial African state rather than solely in colonial history. In this vein, the right to self-determination can be seen not only as a tool for creating states but also as a way to transform the state itself from within. Any such genuinely post-colonial approach may imply a judicious reconsideration, adaptation or up-dating of the right and our understanding of it in order to render it meaningful in Africa today.

Democratic Legitimacy and the Politics of Rights : A comparative analysis of the conceptual relationship between democracy and rights in contemporary political theories

Democratic Legitimacy and the Politics of Rights is a research in normative political theory, based on comparative analysis of contemporary democratic theories, classified roughly as conventional liberal, deliberative democratic and radical democratic. Its focus is on the conceptual relationship between alternative sources of democratic legitimacy: democratic inclusion and liberal rights. The relationship between rights and democracy is studied through the following questions: are rights to be seen as external constraints to democracy or as objects of democratic decision making processes? Are individual rights threatened by public participation in politics; do constitutionally protected rights limit the inclusiveness of democratic processes? Are liberal values such as individuality, autonomy and liberty; and democratic values such as equality, inclusion and popular sovereignty mutually conflictual or supportive? Analyzing feminist critique of liberal discourse, the dissertation also raises the question about Enlightenment ideals in current political debates: are the universal norms of liberal democracy inherently dependent on the rationalist grand narratives of modernity and incompatible with the ideal of diversity? Part I of the thesis introduces the sources of democratic legitimacy as presented in the alternative democratic models. Part II analyses how the relationship between rights and democracy is theorized in them. Part III contains arguments by feminists and radical democrats against the tenets of universalist liberal democratic models and responds to that critique by partly endorsing, partly rejecting it. The central argument promoted in the thesis is that while the deconstruction of modern rationalism indicates that rights are political constructions as opposed to externally given moral constraints to politics, this insight does not delegitimize the politics of universal rights as an inherent part of democratic institutions. The research indicates that democracy and universal individual rights are mutually interdependent rather than oppositional; and that democracy is more dependent on an unconditional protection of universal individual rights when it is conceived as inclusive, participatory and plural; as opposed to robust majoritarian rule. The central concepts are: liberalism, democracy, legitimacy, deliberation, inclusion, equality, diversity, conflict, public sphere, rights, individualism, universalism and contextuality. The authors discussed are e.g. John Rawls, Jürgen Habermas, Seyla Benhabib, Iris Young, Chantal Mouffe and Stephen Holmes. The research focuses on contemporary political theory, but the more classical work of John S. Mill, Benjamin Constant, Isaiah Berlin and Hannah Arendt is also included.

Strategic Information Acquisition: Applications to Herding and Auctions

The information that the economic agents have and regard relevant to their decision making is often assumed to be exogenous in economics. It is assumed that the agents either poses or can observe the payoff relevant information without having to exert any effort to acquire it. In this thesis we relax the assumption of ex-ante fixed information structure and study what happens to the equilibrium behavior when the agents must also decide what information to acquire and when to acquire it. This thesis addresses this question in the two essays on herding and two essays on auction theory. In the first two essays, that are joint work with Klaus Kultti, we study herding models where it is costly to acquire information on the actions that the preceding agents have taken. In our model the agents have to decide both the action that they take and additionally the information that they want to acquire by observing their predecessors. We characterize the equilibrium behavior when the decision to observe preceding agents' actions is endogenous and show how the equilibrium outcome may differ from the standard model, where all preceding agents actions are assumed to be observable. In the latter part of this thesis we study two dynamic auctions: the English and the Dutch auction. We consider a situation where bidder(s) are uninformed about their valuations for the object that is put up for sale and they may acquire this information for a small cost at any point during the auction. We study the case of independent private valuations. In the third essay of the thesis we characterize the equilibrium behavior in an English auction when there are informed and uninformed bidders. We show that the informed bidder may jump bid and signal to the uninformed that he has a high valuation, thus deterring the uninformed from acquiring information and staying in the auction. The uninformed optimally acquires information once the price has passed a particular threshold and the informed has not signalled that his valuation is high. In addition, we provide an example of an information structure where the informed bidder initially waits and then makes multiple jumps. In the fourth essay of this thesis we study the Dutch auction. We consider two cases where all bidders are all initially uninformed. In the first case the information acquisition cost is the same across all bidders and in the second also the cost of information acquisition is independently distributed and private information to the bidders. We characterize a mixed strategy equilibrium in the first and a pure strategy equilibrium in the second case. In addition we provide a conjecture of an equilibrium in an asymmetric situation where there is one informed and one uninformed bidder. We compare the revenues that the first price auction and the Dutch auction generate and we find that under some circumstances the Dutch auction outperforms the first price sealed bid auction. The usual first price sealed bid auction and the Dutch auction are strategically equivalent. However, this equivalence breaks down in case information is acquired during the auction.

Cellular Membranes as a Playground for Semliki Forest Virus Replication Complex

All positive-strand RNA viruses utilize cellular membranes for the assembly of their replication complexes, which results in extensive membrane modification in infected host cells. These alterations act as structural and functional scaffolds for RNA replication, providing protection for the viral double-stranded RNA against host defences. It is known that different positive-strand RNA viruses alter different cellular membranes. However, the origin of the targeted membranes, the mechanisms that direct replication proteins to specific membranes and the steps in the formation of the membrane bound replication complex are not completely understood. Alphaviruses (including Semliki Forest virus, SFV), members of family Togaviridae, replicate their RNA in association with membranes derived from the endosomal and lysosomal compartment, inducing membrane invaginations called spherules. Spherule structures have been shown to be the specific sites for RNA synthesis. Four replication proteins, nsP1-nsP4, are translated as a polyprotein (P1234) which is processed autocatalytically and gives rise to a membrane-bound replication complex. Membrane binding is mediated via nsP1 which possesses an amphipathic α-helix (binding peptide) in the central region of the protein. The aim of this thesis was to characterize the association of the SFV replication complex with cellular membranes and the modification of the membranes during virus infection. Therefore, it was necessary to set up the system for determining which viral components are needed for inducing the spherules. In addition, the targeting of the replication complex, the formation site of the spherules and their intracellular trafficking were studied in detail. The results of current work demonstrate that mutations in the binding peptide region of nsP1 are lethal for virus replication and change the localization of the polyprotein precursor P123. The replication complex is first targeted to the plasma membrane where membrane invaginations, spherules, are induced. Using a specific regulated endocytosis event the spherules are internalized from the plasma membrane in neutral carrier vesicles and transported via an actin-and microtubule-dependent manner to the pericentriolar area. Homotypic fusions and fusions with pre-existing acidic organelles lead to the maturation of previously described cytopathic vacuoles with hundreds of spherules on their limiting membranes. This work provides new insights into the membrane binding mechanism of SFV replication complex and its role in the virus life cycle. Development of plasmid-driven system for studying the formation of the replication complex described in this thesis allows various applications to address different steps in SFV life cycle and virus-host interactions in the future. This trans-replication system could be applied for many different viruses. In addition, the current work brings up new aspects of membranes and cellular components involved in SFV replication leading to further understanding in the formation and dynamics of the membrane-associated replication complex.

Communities of wood-inhabiting fungi : Ecological requirements and responses to forest management and fragmentation

Despite much research on forest biodiversity in Fennoscandia, the exact mechanisms of species declines in dead-wood dependent fungi are still poorly understood. In particular, there is only limited information on why certain fungal species have responded negatively to habitat loss and fragmentation, while others have not. Understanding the mechanisms behind species declines would be essential for the design and development of ecologically effective and scientifically informed conservation measures, and management practices that would promote biodiversity in production forests. In this thesis I study the ecology of polypores and their responses to forest management, with a particular focus on why some species have declined more than others. The data considered in the thesis comprise altogether 98,318 dead-wood objects, with 43,085 observations of 174 fungal species. Out of these, 1,964 observations represent 58 red-listed species. The data were collected from 496 sites, including woodland key habitats, clear-cuts with retention trees, mature managed forests, and natural or natural-like forests in southern Finland and Russian Karelia. I show that the most relevant way of measuring resource availability can differ to a great extent between species seemingly sharing the same resources. It is thus critical to measure the availability of resources in a way that takes into account the ecological requirements of the species. The results show that connectivity at the local, landscape and regional scales is important especially for the highly specialized species, many of which are also red-listed. Habitat loss and fragmentation affect not only species diversity but also the relative abundances of the species and, consequently, species interactions and fungal successional pathways. Changes in species distributions and abundances are likely to affect the food chains in which wood-inhabiting fungi are involved, and thus the functioning of the whole forest ecosystem. The findings of my thesis highlight the importance of protecting well-connected, large and high-quality forest areas to maintain forest biodiversity. Small habitat patches distributed across the landscape are likely to contribute only marginally to protection of red-listed species, especially if habitat quality is not substantially higher than in ordinary managed forest, as is the case with woodland key habitats. Key habitats might supplement the forest protection network if they were delineated larger and if harvesting of individual trees was prohibited in them. Taking the landscape perspective into account in the design and development of conservation measures is critical while striving to halt the decline of forest biodiversity in an ecologically effective manner.

Ecological communities in variable environments : dynamics and diversity under coloured environmental stochasticity

While environmental variation is an ubiquitous phenomenon in the natural world which has for long been appreciated by the scientific community recent changes in global climatic conditions have begun to raise consciousness about the economical, political and sociological ramifications of global climate change. Climate warming has already resulted in documented changes in ecosystem functioning, with direct repercussions on ecosystem services. While predicting the influence of ecosystem changes on vital ecosystem services can be extremely difficult, knowledge of the organisation of ecological interactions within natural communities can help us better understand climate driven changes in ecosystems. The role of environmental variation as an agent mediating population extinctions is likely to become increasingly important in the future. In previous studies population extinction risk in stochastic environmental conditions has been tied to an interaction between population density dependence and the temporal autocorrelation of environmental fluctuations. When populations interact with each other, forming ecological communities, the response of such species assemblages to environmental stochasticity can depend, e.g., on trophic structure in the food web and the similarity in species-specific responses to environmental conditions. The results presented in this thesis indicate that variation in the correlation structure between species-specific environmental responses (environmental correlation) can have important qualitative and quantitative effects on community persistence and biomass stability in autocorrelated (coloured) environments. In addition, reddened environmental stochasticity and ecological drift processes (such as demographic stochasticity and dispersal limitation) have important implications for patterns in species relative abundances and community dynamics over time and space. Our understanding of patterns in biodiversity at local and global scale can be enhanced by considering the relevance of different drift processes for community organisation and dynamics. Although the results laid out in this thesis are based on mathematical simulation models, they can be valuable in planning effective empirical studies as well as in interpreting existing empirical results. Most of the metrics considered here are directly applicable to empirical data.

Spectral Tuning and Adaptation to Different Light Environments of Mysid Visual Pigments

In the present thesis, questions of spectral tuning, the relation of spectral and thermal properties of visual pigments, and evolutionary adaptation to different light environments were addressed using a group of small crustaceans of the genus Mysis as a model. The study was based on microspectrophotometric measurements of visual pigment absorbance spectra, electrophysiological measurements of spectral sensitivities of dark-adapted eyes, and sequencing of the opsin gene retrieved through PCR. The spectral properties were related to the spectral transmission of the respective light environments, as well as to the phylogentic histories of the species. The photoactivation energy (Ea) was estimated from temperature effects on spectral sensitivity in the long-wavelength range, and calculations were made for optimal quantum catch and optimal signal-to-noise ratio in the different light environments. The opsin amino acid sequences of spectrally characterized individuals were compared to find candidate residues for spectral tuning. The general purpose was to clarify to what extent and on what time scale adaptive evolution has driven the functional properties of (mysid) visual pigments towards optimal performance in different light environments. An ultimate goal was to find the molecular mechanisms underlying the spectral tuning and to understand the balance between evolutionary adaptation and molecular constraints. The totally consistent segregation of absorption maxima (λmax) into (shorter-wavelength) marine and (longer-wavelength) freshwater populations suggests that truly adaptive evolution is involved in tuning the visual pigment for optimal performance, driven by selection for high absolute visual sensitivity. On the other hand, the similarity in λmax and opsin sequence between several populations of freshwater M. relicta in spectrally different lakes highlights the limits to adaptation set by evolutionary history and time. A strong inverse correlation between Ea and λmax was found among all visual pigments studied in these respects, including those of M. relicta and 10 species of vertebrate pigments, and this was used to infer thermal noise. The conceptual signal-to-noise ratios thus calculated for pigments with different λmax in the Baltic Sea and Lake Pääjärvi light environments supported the notion that spectral adaptation works towards maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio rather than quantum catch as such. Judged by the shape of absorbance spectra, the visual pigments of all populations of M. relicta and M. salemaai used exclusively the A2 chromophore (3, 4-dehydroretinal). A comparison of amino acid substitutions between M. relicta and M. salemaai indicated that mysid shrimps have a small number of readily available tuning sites to shift between a shorter - and a longer -wavelength opsin. However, phylogenetic history seems to have prevented marine M. relicta from converting back to the (presumably) ancestral opsin form, and thus the more recent reinvention of marine spectral sensitivity has been accomplished by some other novel mechanism, yet to be found

Transforming growth factor -beta signaling through Smad3 in allergy : Studies in the mechanisms of asthma, atopic dermatitis and allergic contact reactions

Transforming growth factor β signalling through Smad3 in allergy Allergic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, asthma, and contact dermatitis are complex diseases influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. It is still unclear why allergy and subsequent allergic disease occur in some individuals but not in others. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is an important immunomodulatory and fibrogenic factor that regulates cellular processes in injured and inflamed skin. TGF-β has a significant role in the regulation of the allergen-induced immune response participating in the development of allergic and asthmatic inflammation. TGF-β is known to be an immunomodulatory factor in the progression of delayed type hypersensitivity reactions and allergic contact dermatitis. TGF-β is crucial in regulating the cellular responses involved in allergy, such as differentiation, proliferation and migration. TGF-β signals are delivered from the cytoplasm to the nucleus by TGF-β signal transducers called Smads. Smad3 is a major signal transducer in TGF-β -signalling that controls the expression of target genes in the nucleus in a cell-type specific manner. The role of TGF-β-Smad3 -signalling in the immunoregulation and pathophysiology of allergic disorders is still poorly understood. In this thesis, the role of TGF-β-Smad -signalling pathway using Smad3 -deficient knock out mice in the murine models of allergic diseases; atopic dermatitis, asthma and allergic contact reactions, was examined. Smad3-pathway regulates allergen induced skin inflammation and systemic IgE antibody production in a murine model atopic dermatitis. The defect in Smad3 -signalling decreased Th2 cytokine (IL-13 and IL-5) mRNA expression in the lung, modulated allergen induced specific IgG1 response, and affected mucus production in the lung in a murine model of asthma. TGF-β / Smad3 -signalling contributed to inflammatory hypersensitivity reactions and disease progression via modulation of chemokine and cytokine expression and inflammatory cell recruitment, cell proliferation and regulation of the specific antibody response in a murine model of contact hypersensitivity. TGF-β modulates inflammatory responses - at least partly through the Smad3 pathway - but also through other compensatory, non-Smad-dependent pathways. Understanding the effects of the TGF-β signalling pathway in the immune system and in disease models can help in elucidating the multilevel effects of TGF-β. Unravelling the mechanisms of Smad3 may open new possibilities for treating and preventing allergic responses, which may lead to severe illness and loss of work ability. In the future the Smad3 signalling pathway might be a potential target in the therapy of allergic diseases.

The brain serotonin transporter binding in young adults; methodological considerations and association with Bulimia Nervosa and acquired obesity

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-HT) modulates many functions important for life, e.g., appetite and body temperature, and controls development of the neural system. Disturbed 5-HT function has been implicated in mood, anxiety and eating disorders. The serotonin transporter (SERT) controls the amount of effective 5-HT by removing it from the extracellular space. Radionuclide imaging methods single photon emission tomography (SPET) and positron emission tomography (PET) enable studies on the brain SERTs. This thesis concentrated on both methodological and clinical aspects of the brain SERT imaging using SPET. The first study compared the repeatability of automated and manual methods for definition of volumes of interest (VOIs) in SERT images. The second study investigated within-subject seasonal variation of SERT binding in healthy young adults in two brain regions, the midbrain and thalamus. The third study investigated the association of the midbrain and thalamic SERT binding with Bulimia Nervosa (BN) in female twins. The fourth study investigated the association of the midbrain and hypothalamic/thalamic SERT binding and body mass index (BMI) in monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs. Two radioligands for SERT imaging were used: [123I]ADAM (studies I-III) and [123I]nor-beta-CIT (study IV). Study subjects included young adult MZ and dizygotic (DZ) twins screened from the FinnTwin16 twin cohort (studies I-IV) and healthy young adult men recruited for study II. The first study validated the use of an automated brain template in the analyses of [123I]ADAM images and proved automated VOI definition more reproducible than manual VOI definition. The second study found no systematic within-subject variation in SERT binding between scans done in summer and winter in either of the investigated brain regions. The third study found similar SERT binding between BN women (including purging and non-purging probands), their unaffected female co-twins and other healthy women in both brain regions; in post hoc analyses, a subgroup of purging BN women had significantly higher SERT binding in the midbrain as compared to all healthy women. In the fourth study, MZ twin pairs were divided into twins with higher BMI and co-twins with lower BMI; twins with higher BMI were found to have higher SERT binding in the hypothalamus/thalamus than their leaner co-twins. Our results allow the following conclusions: 1) No systematic seasonal variation exists in the midbrain and thalamus between SERT binding in summer and winter. 2) In a population-based sample, BN does not associate with altered SERT status, but alterations are possible in purging BN women. 3) The higher SERT binding in MZ twins with higher BMIs as compared to their leaner co-twins suggests non-genetic association between acquired obesity and the brain 5-HT system, which may have implications on feeding behavior and satiety.

Electromagnetic signatures of lightning near the HF frequency band

The dissertation deals with remote narrowband measurements of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by lightning flashes. A lightning flash consists of a number of sub-processes. The return stroke, which transfers electrical charge from the thundercloud to to the ground, is electromagnetically an impulsive wideband process; that is, it emits radiation at most frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum, but its duration is only some tens of microseconds. Before and after the return stroke, multiple sub-processes redistribute electrical charges within the thundercloud. These sub-processes can last for tens to hundreds of milliseconds, many orders of magnitude longer than the return stroke. Each sub-process causes radiation with specific time-domain characteristics, having maxima at different frequencies. Thus, if the radiation is measured at a single narrow frequency band, it is difficult to identify the sub-processes, and some sub-processes can be missed altogether. However, narrowband detectors are simple to design and miniaturize. In particular, near the High Frequency band (High Frequency, 3 MHz to 30 MHz), ordinary shortwave radios can, in principle, be used as detectors. This dissertation utilizes a prototype detector which is essentially a handheld AM radio receiver. Measurements were made in Scandinavia, and several independent data sources were used to identify lightning sub-processes, as well as the distance to each individual flash. It is shown that multiple sub-processes radiate strongly near the HF band. The return stroke usually radiates intensely, but it cannot be reliably identified from the time-domain signal alone. This means that a narrowband measurement is best used to characterize the energy of the radiation integrated over the whole flash, without attempting to identify individual processes. The dissertation analyzes the conditions under which this integrated energy can be used to estimate the distance to the flash. It is shown that flash-by-flash variations are large, but the integrated energy is very sensitive to changes in the distance, dropping as approximately the inverse cube root of the distance. Flashes can, in principle, be detected at distances of more than 100 km, but since the ground conductivity can vary, ranging accuracy drops dramatically at distances larger than 20 km. These limitations mean that individual flashes cannot be ranged accurately using a single narrowband detector, and the useful range is limited to 30 kilometers at the most. Nevertheless, simple statistical corrections are developed, which enable an accurate estimate of the distance to the closest edge of an active storm cell, as well as the approach speed. The results of the dissertation could therefore have practical applications in real-time short-range lightning detection and warning systems.