Distribution and role of macrophytes in coastal lagoons : implications of critical shifts

Crossroads, crucibles and refuges are three words that may describe natural coastal lagoon environments. The words refer to the complex mix of marine and terrestrial influences, prolonged dilution due to the semi-enclosed nature and the function of a habitat for highly diverse plant and animal communities, some of which are endangered. To attain a realistic picture of the present situation, high vulnerability to anthropogenic impact should be added to the description. As the sea floor in coastal lagoons is usually entirely photic, macrophyte primary production is accentuated compared with open sea environments. There is, however, a lack of proper knowledge on the importance of vegetation for the general functioning of coastal lagoon ecosystems. The aim of this thesis is to assess the role of macrophyte diversity, cover and species identity over temporal and spatial scales for lagoon functions, and to determine which steering factors primarily restrict the qualitative and quantitative composition of vegetation in coastal lagoons. The results are linked to patterns of related trophic levels and the indicative potential of vegetation for assessment of general conditions in coastal lagoons is evaluated. This thesis includes five field studies conducted in flads and glo-flads in the brackish water northern Baltic Sea. Flads and glo-flads are defined as a Baltic variety of coastal lagoons, which due to an inlet threshold and post-glacial landuplift slowly will be isolated from the open sea. This process shrinks inlet size, increases exposure and water retention, and is called habitat isolation. The studied coastal lagoons are situated in the archipelago areas of the eastern coast of Sweden, the Åland Islands and the south-west mainland of Finland, where land-uplift amounts to ca. 5 mm/ per year. Out of 400 evaluated sites, a total of 70 lagoons varying in inlet size, archipelago position and anthropogenic influence to cover for essential environmental variation were chosen for further inventory. Vegetation composition, cover and richness were measured together with several hydrographic and morphometric variables in the lagoons both seasonally and inter-annually to cover for general regional, local and temporal patterns influencing lagoon and vegetation development. On smaller species-level scale, the effects of macrophyte species identity and richness for the fish habitat function were studied by examining the influence of plant interaction on juvenile fish diversity. Thus, the active election of plant monoand polycultures by fish and the diversity of fish in the respective culture were examined and related to plant height and water depth. The lagoons and vegetation composition were found to experience a regime shift initiated by increased habitat isolation along with land-uplift. Vegetation composition altered, richness decreased and cover increased forming a less isolated and more isolated regime, named the vascular plant regime and charophyte regime, respectively according to the dominant vegetation. As total phosphorus in the water, turbidity and the impact of regional influences decreased in parallel, the dominance of charophytes and increasing cover seemed to buffer and stabilize conditions in the charophyte regime and indicated an increased functional role of vegetation for the lagoon ecosystem. The regime pattern was unaffected by geographical differences, while strong anthropogenic impact seemed to distort the pattern due to loss of especially Chara tomentosa L. in the charophyte regime. The regimes were further found unperturbed by short-time temporal fluctuations. In fact the seasonal and inter-annual dynamics reinforced the functional difference between the regimes by the increasing role of vegetation along habitat isolation and the resemblance to lake environments for the charophyte regime. For instance, greater total phosphorus and chlorophyll a concentrations in the water in the beginning of the season in the charophyte regime compared with the vascular plant regime presented a steeper reduction to even lower values than in the vascular plant regime along the season. Despite a regional importance and positive relationship of macrophyte diversity in relation to trophic diversity, species identity was underlined in the results of this thesis, especially with decreasing spatial scale. This result was supported partly by the increased role of charophytes in the functioning of the charophyte regime, but even more explicitly by the species-specific preference of juvenile fish for tall macrophyte monocultures. On a smaller species-level scale, tall plant species in monoculture seemed to be able to increase their length, indicating that negative selection forms preferred habitat structures, which increase fish diversity. This negative relationship between plant and fish diversity suggest a shift in diversity patterns among trohic levels on smaller scale. Thus, as diversity patterns seem complex and diverge among spatial scales, it might be ambiguous to extend the understanding of diversity relationships from one trophic level to the other. All together, the regime shift described here presents similarities to the regime development in marine lagoon environments and shallow lakes subjected to nutrient enrichment. However, due to nutrient buffering by vegetation with increased isolation and water retention as a consequence of the inlet threshold, the development seems opposite to the course along an eutrophication gradient described in marine lagoons lacking an inlet threshold, where the role of vegetation decreases. Thus, the results imply devastating consequences of inlet dredging (decreasing isolation) in terms of vegetation loss and nutrient release, and call for increased conservational supervision. Especially the red listed charophytes would suffer negatively from such interference and the consequences are likely to also deteriorate juvenile fish production. The fact that a new species to Finland, Chara connivens Salzm. Ex. Braun 1835 was discovered during this study further indicates a potential of the lagoons serving as refuges for rare species.

Curriculum innovation in teacher education : exploring conceptions among Tanzanian teacher educators

The focus of the study is to understand curriculum innovation from the perspective of Tanzanian teacher educators. It is argued that the deterioration of quality of education in schools is partly to be attributed to the way in which teachers are educated. Curriculum innovation is considered as an essential strategy for bringing about improvement in teacher education. Therefore, in 2000 a new curriculum was introduced; however, right from the inception the curriculum was criticised by teacher educators. The overall aim of the study is to investigate teacher educators’ conceptions of curriculum innovation. In the theoretical framework the main focus is on discussion about different curriculum approaches for teacher education and innovation. In order to achieve the aim of the study, a phenomenographic approach is employed. This approach is used in order to identify similarities and variation in educators’ conceptions of curriculum innovation. The empirical basis of the study consists of interviews with thirty teacher educators working in eight teachers’ colleges situated in various parts of Tanzania. The findings, in brief, reveal variation in teacher educators’ conceptions of the dominant domains of innovation. Two broad conceptions of teaching with six aspects are identified. Conceptions of educational studies are presented in four broad categories of description with four aspects. Similarly, in methodology subjects two conceptions are described with four aspects. On the integration of subject matter studies and subject methods, two broad conceptions are presented with six aspects. Conceptions of textbook prescription policy are characterised in two broad categories of description with four aspects. With the use of modules two broad conceptions are identified with six aspects. In addition, the study identifies four broad conceptions of future curriculum approaches with eight aspects. Looking across the categories of description, the results indicate that educators cope with innovation individually. Three character types of teacher educators are presented: loyal, creative and critical. Furthermore, four types of phenomena suggesting critical areas about teacher educators’ conceptions of innovation are described: educators’ prior educational background, technical factors, student teachers’ factors and shifting from teaching to learning. On the whole, educators express a number of frame factors in the process of change towards the aim of curriculum innovation. This indicates that the new curriculum (2000) is not implemented as intended by curriculum developers. Constraints to the implementation are presented and discussed in detail. From these findings, two models of educators’ stance towards curriculum innovation are presented and can be used as a framework for planning successful curriculum innovations and analysing practice in teachers’ colleges.

Beyond the obvious : three acts in educational drama

Researching research is not a common theme in educational drama. Nor is the educational drama process from a participant perspective a typical focus of research, at least not if the participants are disabled. Yet this is the theme of this thesis, a drama in three acts. The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyse, and discuss both the ways in which research within educational drama can be carried out and represented, and the experiences of the participants of the educational drama process. The theoretical framework that steers the research process is built up of two pairs of frames, each of them, like Russian nesting dolls, containing further frames. The first frame, relating to the outcomes of conducting research in educational drama, comprises philosophical, representational, and personal theories. As the second question asks what educational drama is, the subject related frame is built up of pedagogical, drama educational, and aesthetic theories. The study in its entirety follows the structure of the researcher’s hermeneutical learning process and takes the form of a journey starting from what is familiar, stretching towards what is new and different, and finally returning back to the beginning with a new view on what was there at the start. The thesis consists of two separate but related studies. The first, a familiar study conducted earlier, Alpha in Act I, was carried out among upper secondary school pupils. In the second, the new and therefore unfamiliar study, Omega in Act III, the participants are adult individuals who are physically and communicatively disabled. In between these two Acts an element of “Verfremdung” where the Alpha study is systematically scrutinized as the purpose is to teach and to manage the reader to think. Meta-discussions on the philosophical issues of the study are conducted throughout the text, parallel to the empirical parts. The outcomes of the first research question show that philosophical, methodical, and representational consistency is crucial for research. While this may sound like stating the obvious, this has nevertheless not always been considered fact, especially not within qualitative research. The outcomes further stress that representational issues are also to be recognized when presenting non-rational aspects of educational drama. By wording the world, through the use of visualising language, the surplus of meanings of educational drama can be, as they are within this study, made visible, sensible, and almost tangible, not only cognitively understandable. The outcomes of the second question point to the different foci of the studies, with Alpha focusing on the rationally retold experiences and Omega focusing on nonrational experiences. The outcomes expose educational drama as a learning process comprising doing, reflecting, and being. The doing aspect communicates the concrete efforts in creating a piece of theatre, while the being aspect relates experiences of being as situated, embodied and sensuous, reciprocal, empowering, aesthetic and artistic, and existential. Reflection is the twine that runs throughout the process and connects both doing and being. In summary, the outcomes could be formulated as “learning from learning how to make theatre”.

Ja vet int va de heter på svenska : interaktion mellan tvåspråkiga elever och deras lärare i en enspråkig klassrumsdiskurs

This is a study about language and learning aspects in the interaction between pupils and teachers in classrooms, where the majority of the pupils are bilingual. The aim of the dissertation is to develop the understanding of interactional learning possibilities and constraints in relation to a bilingual context. Language related learning is used as an overall conception which covers learning related to classroom discourse, language and subject. The empirical study has been made in a Swedish speaking school in a strongly Finnish dominated environment in the south of Finland. In the material, mainly consisting of video recorded lessons in forms one to three, the interaction between the pupils and the teachers is analysed. Building on a social constructionist perspective, where learning is regarded as a social phenomenon, situated and visible in changing participation, sequences where pupils or teachers make the language relevant are emphasised. The sequences are analysed in line with the conversation analytic (CA) approach. A fundamental result is an understanding of a monolingual classroom discourse, jointly constructed by teachers and pupils and visible in the pupils' interactionally problematized code-switching. This means that the pupils are not victims of a top-driven language policy; they are active co-constructors of the monolingual discourse. Through different repair initiations the pupils are doing interactional work in positioning themselves correctly in the monolingual discourse, which they simultaneously maintain. This work has a price in relation to time, knowledge and exactness. The pupils' problematized code-switching is often directly and shortly repaired by the teachers. This kind of repair promotes the pupils' participation and is not, as opposed to the results of research in everyday talk, dispreferred in pupil-teacher talk. When the pupils use the possibility to, in a comparatively easy way, participate and thus express their knowledge through codeswitching, and simultaneously talk a monolingual discourse into being, the teacher can, through direct repair, show an understanding in regard to the content, facilitate language learning and simultaneously confirm the pupils as competent speakers and bilingual individuals. Furthermore, significant results show that the monolingual norm has a function of a contrasting background which gives the pupils and the teachers a possibility to use language alternation as a functional and meaningful activity. The pupils use codeswitching as a way of protesting or expressing non-participation in the classroom talk. By making the pupils' bilingualism relevant, the teachers express understanding and empathy and encourage the pupils' participation in the classroom talk. Bilingualism is a nonpreferred, but functioning, resource in the interaction between pupils and teachers.

Resa i röstens landskap : en narrativ studie av hur lärare blir professionella röstanvändare

The theme of this thesis is the learning process that occurs when teachers become professional voice users. The aim is to explore what it (really) means to become a professional voice user in a teaching profession; thereby developing an understanding of how future education in this field can be arranged so as to both effectively prevent vocal problems and to develop oral didactical competence among teachers. The ambition is to describe, interpret, and understand the learning process through a combination of emic and ethic research perspectives. The theoretical frame of reference reflects the cross disciplinary character of the thesis. Voice problems are common among both student teachers and inservice teachers and adversely affect professional competence, identity and quality of life. Additionally, vocal problems are proven to have a negative impact on pupils´ learning. The individual elements of learning are explored in the light of experiential learning theory and transformative learning theory. The social elements of learning are explored in relation to the theory of situated learning. In addition, theories of teacher professionalisation in terms of competence and identity are outlined. The empirical study has a longitudinal and multi method character. It is anchored in a phenomenological hermeneutical tradition, more specifically in narrative inquiry. The point of departure is the learning experiences of ten student teachers, who attended a ten week long course on voice production as part of their teacher training at Åbo Akademi University, in the autumn of 2002 and the spring of 2003. Four interviews in the form of conversations were conducted with each participant. These were crystallised with a process diary, a Swedish Voice Handicap Index, a voice observation, and a video observation. A fifth interview was conducted with each participant five years post teacher training, in the spring of 2008. Participant observation was also conducted throughout the course. The research materials have been analysed and interpreted narratively using a phenomenological hermeneutical method. The results are presented descriptively as individual narratives, which are reflected in logopedic research materials. Learning is here understood as emergent awareness. This is followed by a meta narrative concerning learning as experiences in the four dimensions body, thought, feeling, and relation. Finally, interpretation is expressed with respect to the theory of relational education. Learning is here understood as a movement in the field between the actual and the possible voice. It is also viewed as fundamentally rooted in inter-human relationships, in moments of presence and coexistence. As a tentative answer to the call for an existential space for learning in order to be a professional voice user, I suggest the concept of a learning refuge as a locus for a learning process built on trust, mutuality and openness.

Suomen ja Viron tehtaiden välisen uistinliiketoiminnan suorituskyvyn ja kannattavuuden kasvattaminen

Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää Päijät-Hämeessä toimivan uistimia valmistavan tehdasyksikön sekä saman konsernin Virossa toimivan tehdasyksikön välisen uistinliiketoiminnan kannattavuuden ja suorituskyvyn mahdollinen kasvattaminen. Konsernilla on käytössään kannattavan kasvun strategia, johon tämäkin yksi liiketoiminnan kehittämishankekin omalta osaltaan myös tähtää. Kannattavuutta tarkasteltiin tehtaiden välisen päätoimialan ja sen tuottavuuden ja suorituskyvyn näkökulmasta. Työssä on lähdetty rakentamaan tehtaiden väliselle uistinliiketoiminnalle uudenlaista mittaristoa operationaalisen johdon käyttöön. Suorituskykymittaristossa otetaan huomioon suunnittelutiimin avulla määritellyt avainmittarien osa-alueet ja niiden kehittäminen tulevaisuudessa. Työ käsittelee myös hieman toimipisteissä tapahtuvan muutosten hallitsemista sekä kehittävän ilmapiirin kasvattamista. Tässä tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että suorituskyvyn mittaamisesta oli hyötyä niin operationaaliselle toimipaikkakohtaiselle johdolle kuin tuotannon työntekijällekin. Tehtaiden välisestä suorituskyvystä saatiin vertailevaa tietoa, jota voidaan käyttää hyödyksi tulevaisuudessa. Tulevaisuudessa tästä järjestelmästä saatava tieto helpottaa tuotantolaitoksissa tapahtuvaa työvaiheiden kokonaisvaltaista prosessointia josta kuitenkin pitkällä tähtäimellä suurimmat kustannussäästöt tulevat yritykselle.

Musikalisk lärandemiljö : planerade musikaktiviteter med småbarn i daghem

A musically stimulating nvironment is of great significance when considering the opportunities for development and learning that are offered to children in day nurseries. Moreover, the quality of musical activities also has great significance for the musical development of growing children. Young children are always striving to create meaning and understanding; they influence and are influenced by the context in which they are situated. The purpose of this study is to investigate the planned music activities in the musical learning environment of seven toddler’s groups in day nurseries, based on four different aspects: the texts of children’s songs, the melodies of children’s songs, the basic elements of music and the use of instrumentation. The data has been gathered by video observation of the planned music activities. The age of the children studied ranged from 11 months to 3 years and 11 months, and on average there were 13 children in each group. The study involved a total of just over 90 children and nine educators. The methodological approaches are hermeneutic as well as videographic, and they are applied to the analysis as required. The approaches are well suited to an understanding of the planned music activities where the individual’s communications and actions are studied. The results of the study show that educators impart a cultural heritage to the children in the form of old traditional songs, but they also act as intermediaries for newer children's songs. They focus on actively on the text content of the children’s songs in their interaction with the children, but do not address the meaning of the text. Furthermore, while the educators use music sessions for the children to develop, among other things, an understanding of language and social skills, they do not use the sessions to develop the children’s musical skills. The educators could, to a much greater extent than they now do, direct the children's attention to the basic elements of music, and conduct meta-cognitive dialogues with the children. They use a large repertoire of children's songs, which are, however, often too demanding for the children’s voices to cope with. In addition, the educators do not plan, in any significant way, activities for the toddlers in order to help them develop the accuracy of their vocal tones. With regard to the use of instruments, the educators focus, in their interaction with the children, is placed on both the usage of the instruments and knowledge about the instruments. Regarding the use of instruments the study shows that the children’s musical expression takes place in an environment that includes both melody and rhythm instruments. It is clear that children are actively interested in the constructed instrument environment, because for long periods of time they independently play and experiment with instruments.

Kaarihitsauksen suojakaasun tunnistus ja virtauksen mittaus ultraäänellä

Kaasukaarihitsauksessa suojakaasuna käytetään yleensä argonin ja hiilidioksidin tai argonin ja heliumin seoksia. Suojakaasu vaikuttaa useisiin hitsausominaisuuksiin, jotka puolestaan vaikuttavat hitsauksen laatuun ja tuottavuuteen. Automaattisella suojakaasun tunnistuksella ja virtausmäärän mittauksella voitaisiin tehdä hitsauksesta paitsi käyttäjän kannalta yksinkertaisempaa, myös laadukkaampaa. Työn tavoite on löytää mahdollisimman edullinen ja kuitenkin mahdollisimman tarkasti kaasuseoksia tunnistava menetelmä, jota voitaisiin hyödyntää MIG/MAG-hitsauskoneeseen sisäänrakennettuna. Selvä etu on, jos menetelmällä voidaan mitata myös kaasun virtausmäärä. Äänennopeus kaasumaisessa väliaineessa on aineen atomi- ja molekyylirakenteesta ja lämpötilasta riippuva ominaisuus, joka voidaan mitata melko edullisesti. Äänennopeuden määritys perustuu ääniaallon kulkuajan mittaamiseen tunnetun pituisella matkalla. Kaasun virtausnopeus on laskettavissa myötä- ja vastavirtaan mitattujen kulkuaikojen erotuksen avulla. Rakennettu mittauslaitteisto koostuu kahdesta ultraäänimuuntimesta, joiden halkaisija on 10 mm ja jotka toimivat sekä lähettimenä että vastaanottimena. Muuntimet ovat 140 mm:n etäisyydellä toisistaan virtauskanavassa, jossa suojakaasu virtaa yhdensuuntaisesti äänen kanssa. Virtauskanava on putki, jossa on käytetty elastisia materiaaleja, jotta ääniaaltojen eteneminen kanavan runkoa pitkin minimoituisi. Kehitetty algoritmi etsii kahden lähetetyn 40 kHz:n taajuisen kanttiaaltopulssin aiheuttaman vasteen perusteella ääniaallon saapumisajanhetken. Useiden mittausten, tulosten lajittelun ja suodatuksen jälkeen tuntemattomalle kaasulle lasketaan lämpötilakompensoitu vertailuluku. Tuntematon kaasu tunnistetaan vertailemalla lukua tunnettujen kaasuseosten mitattuihin vertailulukuihin. Laitteisto tunnistaa seokset, joissa heliumin osuus argonissa on enintään 50 %. Hiilidioksidia sisältävät argonin seokset puolestaan tunnistetaan puhtaaseen hiilidioksidiin asti jopa kahden prosenttiyksikön tarkkuudella. Kaasun tilavuusvirtausmittauksen tarkkuus on noin 1,0 l/min.

Liikennebiokaasun tuotannon ja käytön ulkoiset kustannukset Pohjois-Karjalassa

Työn tavoitteena oli selvittää liikennebiokaasuntuotannon ja käytön vaikutus liikenteen ulkoi-siin kustannuksiin Pohjois-Karjalassa. Biokaasua tuotetaan Joensuussa Kuhasalon jäteveden-puhdistamolla sekä Kontiosuon jäteasemalla, Kiteellä biokaasua tuotetaan BioKympin yh-teismädätyslaitoksessa. Lisäksi laskennassa huomioitiin yhden maatilakokoluokan biokaasun-tuotanto. Työssä selvitettiin kaksi skenaariota liikennebiokaasun tuotantomääräksi vuodelle 2015. Liikennebiokaasua voitaisiin tuottaa optimiskenaarion mukaan 3 426 MWh ja maksimi-tuotantoskenaarion mukaan 21 532 MWh. Liikennebiokaasun käytön vaikutukset liikenteen päästöihin laskettiin vuodelle 2015 ja vuo-delle 2020, jolloin liikennebiokaasua käytettäisiin 10 % liikenteen energiantarpeesta Pohjois-Karjalassa. Hiilidioksidipäästöt vähenevät vuoden 2020 tilanteessa samassa suhteessa kuin liikennebiokaasu korvaa fossiilisia polttoaineita. Muista päästöistä merkittävimmät päästövä-hennykset saatiin kun vuoden 2010 dieselautot muutettaisiin biokaasuautoiksi, tällöin hiuk-kaspäästöt alenisivat jopa 18 % vuoden 2010 päästöistä. Lisäksi selvitettiin liikenteen päästöjen pienenemisen vaikutus liikenteen aiheuttamiin ulkoisiin kustannuksiin. Laskettavat ulkoiset kustannukset olivat ilmastonmuutos, pakokaasupäästöt sekä energiariippuvuus. Pakokaasupäästöjen aiheuttamat ulkoiset kustannukset olivat vuonna 2010 noin 7 miljoonaa euroa. Liikennebiokaasua käyttävästä ajoneuvotyypistä riippuen ulkoiset kustannukset laskevat vuoden 2020 tilanteessa 10–16 % vuoden 2010 kustannuksista. Ilmastonmuutoksen ulkoiset kustannukset vuodelle 2010 olivat 9,5 miljoonaa euroa. Biokaasun käytön avulla kustannuksissa voitaisiin säästää 910 000 euroa vuonna 2020. Ener-giariippuvuuden hinta öljynkäytöstä oli vuonna 2010 noin 4,2 miljoonaa euroa ja vuonna 2020 kustannukset voisivat laskea 450 000 euroa.

Professional development among educators pursuing a B.Ed. program in special education in Tanzania : a study of motives and perceived outcomes

Implementation of different policies and plans aiming at providing education for all is a challenge in Tanzania. The need for educators and professionals with relevant knowledge and qualifications in special education is substantial. Teacher education does not equip educators with sufficient knowledge and skills in special education and professional development programs in special education are few in number. Up to 2005 no degree programs in special education at university level were available in Tanzania. The B.Ed. Special Education program offered by the Open University of Tanzania in collaboration with Åbo Akademi University in Finland was one of the efforts aimed at addressing the big national need for teachers and other professionals with degree qualifications in special education. This pilot program offered unique possibilities to study professional development in Tanzania. The research group in this study consisted of the group of students who participated in the degree program 2005-2007. The study is guided by three theoretical perspectives: individual, social and societal. The individual perspective emphasizes psychological factors as motives, motivation, achievement, self-directed behavior and personal growth. Within social perspective, professional development is viewed as situated within the social and cultural context. The third perspective, the societal, focuses on change, reforms, innovations and transformation of school systems and societies. Accordingly, professional development is viewed as an individual, social and societal phenomenon. The overall aim of the study is to explore the participants’ motives for participating in a B.Ed. Special Education program and the perceived outcomes of the program in terms of professional development. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a case study approach was adopted. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were administered in three waves between January 2007 and February 2009 to the 35 educators participating in the B.Ed. Special Education program. The findings of the study reveal that the participants expressed motives which were related to job performance, knowledge, skills, academic degree and career. Also altruistic motives were expressed by the participants in terms of helping and supporting students with special needs and their communities. The perceived outcomes of the program were in line with the expressed motives. However, the results indicate that the participants also learned new skills, as interaction skills and guidance and counseling skills. Increased self-confidence was also mentioned as an outcome. The participants also got deepened understanding of disability issues. In addition, they learned strategies for creating awareness of persons with disability in the communities. Thus the findings of the study indicate positive outcomes of the program in terms of professional development. The conclusion of the study is that individual, social and societal factors interact when it comes to explaining why Tanzanian educators in special education choose to pursue a degree program in special education. The individual motives, as increased knowledge and better prospects of career development interact with the social and societal motives to help and support vulnerable student groups. The study contributes to increased understanding of the complexity of professional development and of the realities educators meet when educational reforms are implemented in a developing country.

Secure Bluetooth Audio Transmission System

The growing spread of small but powerful mobile devices (such as PDAs, mobile phone, Internet Tablet, etc.) opens up new scenarios in which users can interact with such devices in many environments in order to access the information at different locations. In this thesis, a ubiquitous computing based system called Secure Bluetooth Audio Transmission System is introduced. This system is situated in a large public place (like airport, festival venues, etc.), where voice messages are conveyed from the system to users' Bluetooth headsets in order to inform users the latest flight schedule and other public information. The reliability of the message is secured by adopting an authorization strategy and ECDSA. In order to assess and evaluate the risks and potential weaknesses of the system, an easy-to-use prototype implementation was written and tested. Other possible uses and further research were also considered.

City meadows : Vitality from a living heritage

In the middle of the hustle and bustle of a city, you may find a city meadow. A city meadow refers to a green area situated in an urban setting, the management of which aims at maintaining meadow species and facilitating outdoor recreation for city residents. Some of these green areas situated in cities are managed in a detailed and planned manner, while others have been left untended and are now wild, overgrown and in some cases impenetrable. However, all these meadows share one similarity: they play an important role in producing ecosystem services. What, then, is meant by ecosystem services? The multitude of flowers that bloom during summer, recreational opportunities, maintaining nature’s diversity, as well as filtering urban runoff are some of the everyday “services” that city meadows provide for the urban environment and its residents. This publication covers several different points of view by numerous experts on the importance of green areas in cities. The message is clear: management of city meadows improves both natural and cultural environments in a cost-effective manner. City meadows also help improve the health and enjoyment of city residents. When a green area is well-managed, the reputation and image of the surrounding properties and neighbourhood will also improve, as will their financial value!

Hakkeen kuivaus ennen varastointia ja biopolttoaineterminaalin suunnittelu

Lempäälään aiotaan rakentaa uusi kaukolämpölaitos, jossa polttoaineena käytettäisiin haketta. Nykyään Lempäälässä tuotetaan kaukolämpöä maakaasulla, jonka käyttämisestä halutaan siirtyä käyttämään lähialueilta saatavaa biopolttoainetta. Tässä työssä halutaan selvittää, mitä hyötyjä saataisiin hakkeen koneellisesta kuivauksesta. Työn toisena tavoitteena on suunnitella ja pohtia biopolttoaineterminaalin rakentamista sekä käsitellä hakkeen varastointia yleensä. Työssä tutustutaan hakkeeseen aiheesta kertovan kirjallisuuden avulla. Työssä on myös laskettu hakkeen kuivauksesta saatavia hyötyjä hakkeen lämpöarvoon sekä energiatiheyteen. Erityisesti perehdytään metsätähdehakkeeseen, rankahakkeeseen, kuorihakkeeseen sekä sahanpuruun. Laskelmien tuloksista on havaittu, että suurin hyöty hakkeen energiatiheyden parantumisessa saadaan kun hake kuivataan 35 % kosteuspitoisuuteen. Tämän jälkeen energiatiheyden paraneminen tapahtuu hitaammin. Hakkeen kuivauksesta saadaan myös muita hyötyjä kuin energiatiheyden paraneminen. Kuivan hakkeen käsittelyn ja varastoinnin on havaittu olevan vaivattomampaa kuin märän hakkeen. Biopolttoaineterminaalin ja voimalaitoksen tulisi sijaita rinnakkain, jotta hakkeen kuivauksesta saadaan mahdollisimman kustannustehokasta. Näin ollen syntyisi myös säästöjä hakkeen kuljetuksen suhteen. Biopolttoaineterminaalin rakentamista varten tarvittaisiin tilaa alustavien laskelmien perusteella noin yksi hehtaari. Työssä on myös laskettu biopolttoaineterminaalin rakentamisesta aiheutuvia kustannuksia sekä hakkeen kuljetuksesta koituvia logistiikka kustannuksia. Haketerminaalin ja voimalaitoksen sijaintia Lempäälässä on myös kartoitettu.

”Du sköna sång, vårt bästa arv” - kanonisering av en sångskatt ur ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv

Songs have the power to get through to people. When lyrics are combined with a tune, the result is an entity where the first few notes of a melody can evoke emotions of recognition and belonging. A song treasury consists of such songs that are part of a canonized song tradition. The process where certain songs become part of an established song treasury is long, and many other aspects than the tune itself influence the forming of a song treasury. By examining the characteristics of a song tradition, the history of an ethnic group can be illuminated. In this study, music, pedagogy, and the sociocultural context are merged into a whole where a common song tradition, the song treasury, is in focus. The main aim of this study is to deepen the understanding of a song treasury, its development and contents. This understanding is accomplished by analyzing the musical and lyrical characteristics of 60 songs, which have been sung in schools, homes, and communities, thereby becoming popular among the Swedish-speaking Finns during the 20th century. The songs have been chosen by combining three song lists, of which two lists are closely related to school curricula. The third song list is a result of a survey on favourite songs, according to the situation around year 2000. The songs are examined in their notated versions, a number of song books and text books (n = 29) forming the empirical material. In this study, a hermeneutical approach is applied, content analysis being the method. The analysis is based on three perspectives: the sociocultural perspective, the music-pedagogical perspective, and the musico-analytical perspective. Within each perspective, two aspects are studied. This results in a hexagonal model which forms the structure of the study as a whole. The first two perspectives form the background; a historical context where nation, education, home country, and homestead are regarded as highly important. A common song repertoire is considered to be an effective means of building collective identity within ethnic groups, the common language and the cultural heritage being used as rhetorical arguments. During the early 1900s, choir festivals become an educational platform where conceptions of a common belonging are developed and strengthened through religious, patriotic, and poetical expressions. National school curricula in singing and music have similar characteristics, cultural heritage and values education being in focus. The song lyrics often describe nature and emotions, and they also appear to be personal and situated in a given time and place. Patriotic expressions and songs about music are also fairly common. The songs generally express positive attitudes, which are intensified by major tonality, rich and varied melodies with stable rhythms, and a strong tonal base. The analyzed details of the studied aspects are merged into a thick description, which results in an interpretation pattern with three dimensions: a song treasury can be considered an expression of collective identity, cultural heritage, and values education.

Older Consumers’ Adoption of Online Shopping

The thesis is concerned with the online shopping behavior of older adults, who in this study are at least 60 years old. At the moment, the population is ageing and consumers are buying more and more via the Internet. The objective of the thesis is to understand the large group of older adults in Finland as online customers.The study explores older consumers’ adoption of online shopping with a qualitative research, and it is situated in the research tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology. Phenomenology focuses on the life-world of people. The empirical data was collected by three focus groups with 13 participants altogether. The focus group conversations brought forth that there is not tremendous difference in the motives of older consumers to shop online compared to other age groups. The study strengthened the previous conception of a change toward more ageless market. However, online stores should be designed to accommodate some special needs of older consumers as they occasionally struggle with the logic of websites. Finnish older consumers have adopted online shopping because of perceived convenience and because of tolerable perceived risk during first online shopping experience. Positive experiences strengthen positive attitude toward electronic channel.