Growth and modification of planar and self-assembled semiconductor nanostructures

The epitaxial growth and modification of planar and self-assembled compound semiconductor nanostructures is studied. Quantum dot (QD), quantum ring (QR), and quantum well (QW) structures are grown by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. The surface morphology of the samples and nanostructure properties are studied by atomic force microscopy. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy is used to characterize the optical properties of the structures. A novel method for transforming self-assembled InAs islands on InP into QRs is developed. The fabrication of self-assembled semiconductor QRs relies typically on the partial capping of islands to induce the dot-to-ring transformation. In this work, the change in the morphology is achieved without capping, by annealing as-grown InAs/InP islands in a phosphorus-rich flow. With this method, 6–10-nm-high rings are achieved. It is also demonstrated that InGaAs(P)/InP strain-induced quantum dots (SIQDs) can be realized using InAs stressor islands. To adjust the depth of the strain-induced lateral confinement potential, the height of the islands is modified by varying the growth conditions. Furthermore, by varying the composition of the nearly-lattice-matched InGaAsP/InP QW, the SIQD ground state emission wavelength is tuned from 1.3 to 1.7 µm. Luminescence from the excited states in the SIQDs is also observed. The redshift of the SIQD ground state transition from the QW PL peak increases up to 67 meV as the distance between the SIQD and the stressor is reduced to 4 nm. Simultaneously, the luminescence intensity of the SIQD peaks reduces notably. Time-resolved PL measurements reveal that the intensity reduction is accompanied by a faster decay in the carrier populations of the SIQD states. It was concluded that this is due to electron capture to the InAs stressor or surface states associated with it. Finally, the growth of GaN layers for the surface passivation of GaAs is investigated. The passivation effect is probed by PL measurements of near-surface InGaAs/GaAs QWs. The luminescence intensity of samples passivated with GaN is clearly enhanced as compared to unpassivated samples. This shows that the growth of a thin epitaxial GaN layer is an effective means of in situ surface passivation of GaAs.reviewe

MAY A GOD BLESS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA : Critical discourse analysis of the relationship between religious beliefs and politics in Bush’s and Obama’s discourses about the fight against terrorism

The United States presents an interesting topic for the discussion about secularism in the West, as it is sometimes considered as an anomaly amongst secularising Western nations and as evidence of the failings of the secularisation theory. The influence of religion on the culture and political life of the U.S. is well known, but the relationship between religion and U.S. foreign policy has not gained much scholarly attention until the 21st century. This study participates in the discussion about the relationship between religious beliefs and U.S. foreign policy by analysing discourses that previous U.S. presidents George W. Bush (GOP) and Barack Obama (D) construct about the fight against terrorism. The analysis is conducted using a Faircloughian three-dimensional critical discourse analysis on a total of 17 speeches from Bush and Obama. The research material consists of inaugural addresses and State of the Union Addresses. The subject of this study is approached using a three-part theoretical framework. The theoretical framework consists of secularism, the concept of the post-secular, and the American civil religion. The three-part theoretical framework enables a comprehensive approach that allows versatile religious phenomena to be considered in the analysis. Thus, the analysis also includes versatile religious phenomena that are not straightforwardly connected to certain religions or religious groups. The analysis revealed that Bush constructs three distinct discourses and a total of seven sub-discourses about the fight against terrorism, whereas Obama integrates the matter in a larger security-discourse and its sub-discourses. By not constructing distinct discourses about the fight against terrorism, Obama’s addresses counter the Bush administrations high profile treatment of the conflict and the narrative of it as a distinct war. Bush’s and Obama’s addresses establish a relationship between religious beliefs and the American civil religion, although in Obama’s case, the connection to religious beliefs is established chiefly in his inaugural addresses. This study argues that the presidents’ discourses indicate a post-secular relationship between religion and politics in the context of the fight against terrorism, as they do not indicate either secularism or dominant religiousness, but a relationship that accommodates both religious and secular interpretations of politics and supports a non-traditional way of relating to religious beliefs in politics

Graafisen käyttöliittymän suunnittelu Android-pohjaiseen laitteeseen

Työn tavoitteena oli suunnitella käyttöliittymä uuteen mobiilisovellukseen, joka on vanhuksille suunnattu media- ja viestintäpalvelu. Kriteerinä työlle oli saada mahdollisimman selkeä ja helposti ymmärrettävä käyttöliittymä, jotta myös ikäihmisten olisi helppo oppia käyttämään sovellusta ja hyödyntämään sitä arjessa. Sovelluksen toteutus alkoi sisällön ja vaatimusten kartoittamisesta. Sisältö tuli saada rajattua mahdollisimman tarkasti, ettei käyttöliittymään tulisi yhtään ylimääräistä komponenttia. Myös kaikki käyttöliittymässä käytetyt ikonit suunniteltiin täysin itse tätä sovellusta varten. Sovelluksen toiminnallisuuden toteuttaminen on vielä tätä opinnäytetyötä kirjoitettaessa kesken, joten sovelluksen testausta ei ole vielä toteutettu kokonaan. Työn toimeksiantajana toimi MPY Palvelut Oyj:n Digitaaliset Palvelut -yksikkö, joka tuottaa muun muassa IoT-pohjaisia ratkaisuja palvelutaloissa sekä kotona asuville vanhuksille

Communication, coping and social networking regarding infertility

Infertility is a worldwide problem and is experienced as psychologically stressful. Communication about infertility varies depending on clinical aspects, personal relationships, and culture. The aim of this thesis was to explore and describe communication, coping and social networking among infertile women from a lifeworld perspective. Study I explored infertility-related communication and coping strategies among women affected by primary or secondary fertility problems. Structured self-administered questionnaires, administered between January and May 2012, yielded 199 responses. The questionnaire consisted of Likert scale items which were analysed with descriptive statistics and by using the Chi-square test for independence. Twice as many women with secondary infertility acknowledged that they never talked about the causes or results of tests and examinations with other persons, compared to women with primary infertility. In Study II the aim was to gain insight into which infertility-related issues are discussed on Swedish infertility blogs. A total of 4,508 postings from 25 infertility blogs were retrieved, from May to September 2017. An interactive quantitative-qualitative content analysis was performed using the automated text analysis tool, Gavagai Explorer, developed for analysis of large sets of textual data. A sentiment analysis was performed as the tool provides sentiment scores of the data indicating whether the bloggers were writing positively or negatively about a topic. All blogs were written by women and the analysis crystallized into the following topics: Emotions, Relations, Time and waiting, Body, Care and treatment, Food and diet and Exercise. The Body topic stood out by having more negative than positive sentiment. Study III explored infertile individuals’ experiences regarding the use and role of online social media, experiences from participating in online social media and experiences of infertility. A web-based questionnaire, linked to the bulletin boards of six closed online social media groups, during the fall of 2017, yielded 132 responses. A majority of the participants were female, and the questionnaire was answered mostly through Facebook. Of the participants, 60 percent participated in online social media focussed on infertility once a day or more, and 50 percent devoted from one to three hours weekly to these forums, with 40 percent making no postings. Study IV was a qualitative study based on seven telephone interviews describing women’s experiences of using social media focusing on infertility. The interviews were conducted between June 2020 and November 2020 and were analysed with thematic analysis. Two themes were devolved: Invaluable venue and Opportunity of choice. Different forums were used depending where in the treatment process the women were. Further, decisions about the choices of groups were also based on the targeted age groups and geographical locations of the participants

Recent dissertations – From inclusive practices to personal strategies : Teachers and students designing digitally supported science learning

Non peer reviewe

A comparison of child protection and immigration jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights : what role for the best interests of the child?

The obligation to consider the best interests of the child in all cases concerning children has a central status in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989. This article provides a systematic comparison of how the best interests concept is understood and used in child protection and immigration jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. The article compares all child protection and immigration judgments where the court has referred to the best interests of the child until the end of 2017. It shows that the court assesses the best interests of the child differently in the two case groups. First, in child protection cases, the court assumes that it is in the child’s best interests to live with her parents, whereas in immigration cases, family unity is not the starting point of the court. Secondly, in immigration cases, the child’s young age is understood as adaptability, whereas in child protection cases, young age is associated with care needs. Thirdly, the court has considered children’s views in several child protection cases but rarely in immigration cases. This article argues that, from the perspective of children’s rights, the court’s approach in immigration cases is problematic.Peer reviewe

Understanding the Best Interests of the Child as a Procedural Obligation : The Example of the European Court of Human Rights

According to Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the best interests of the child have to be a primary consideration in all cases concerning children. The Committee on the Rights of the Child understands Article 3(1) as a ‘threefold concept’: a substantive right, an interpretive principle and a rule of procedure. This article argues that the provision is best understood as a procedural obligation. Understanding Article 3(1) as a procedural obligation remedies key problems that originate from interpreting the provision as a substantive right. A significant strength of the procedural approach is that it can be consistently applied in different case groups. This article illustrates the argument with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights related to children, in which the article detects three layers of a procedural approach to the best interests of the child.Peer reviewe

Sustainability of revenue models and monetization of video games

The digitalization of the video game industry has facilitated the shift in paradigm in how video games are monetized. While video games in the past have been distributed as physical copies by retailers, the emergence of digital distribution platforms has laid the groundwork for various alternatives to have been introduced. These revenue models have proven to be vastly profitable for major video game publishers and have significantly contributed to the growth of the industry. Despite their financial success, these revenue models have been widely criticized for partaking in ethically questionable and addictive practices and impairing the customer experience of video games. This thesis aims to critically evaluate the sustainability of these revenue models from both a customer and an ethical point of view through a literature review and to analyze whether these revenue models can be expected to prevail in the foreseeable future despite their impressive capability of creating monetary value and for video game companies and their shareholders. While this thesis confirms the financial success of these revenue models, it also finds that many popular ones used by major video game companies are extremely close to the definition of gambling, yet regulatory action is still to be taken in a widespread manner to protect adolescents and people with e.g. addictive tendencies or other traits that could be exploited. Other adversary effects include a noticeable negative effect on working culture within the video game industry, as well as a detrimental effect on employees’ career longevity and mental health. Further action and research is recommended for both academia and video game companies to innovate more ethical revenue models to reduce the negative societal impact and to better cater to employee well-being in the industry

Questing ticks, hidden causes : tracking changes in Ixodes ricinus populations and associated pathogens in southwestern Finland

Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and tick-borne diseases, especially Lyme borreliosis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. spirochetes and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) caused by the TBE-virus (TBEV), are a growing problem in northern Europe and Russia. Surveys conducted in Russia, Sweden, and Norway have revealed an increase in tick abundance and a northwards shift in their distribution over the past few decades. In the southern parts of Finland, Ixodes ricinus is the primary vector for Borrelia, TBEV, and several other tick-borne pathogens (TBP). Despite their central role in the zoonotic transmission of severe diseases, ecological data of I. ricinus populations in Finland are almost non-existent. Less than 20 research papers focusing on I. ricinus have been published from Finland between 1961 and 2017, with only a few of them touching upon any ecological aspects of the ticks themselves. As such, no scientific data regarding changes in tick and TBP occurrence has been available prior to recent years. However, citizen science surveys mapping the distribution of I. ricinus in 2014 and 2015, as well as the numbers of Lyme borreliosis cases that have been increasing since the mid-90’s, suggest that changes similar to those observed in neighboring countries are likewise taking place in Finland. In this thesis, I have focused on several of the neglected aspects of tick-related research in Finland, in an effort to determine the current status of tick populations in southwestern Finland and whether changes similar to those observed elsewhere in the northern parts of Europe can be observed there. Among others, study themes included changes in the abundance and distribution of I. ricinus, changes in the prevalence rates and occurrence of several TBPs, as well as long-term monitoring of spatial changes in the diversity and occurrence of TBPs. I found that I. ricinus numbers in southwestern Finland have increased over the past few decades in all study sites with reference data available, with the highest densities being observed in 2017, the last year of studies for this thesis. Ticks were commonly found from all coastal areas in southwestern Finland, with particularly high densities being observed on islands in the Archipelago Sea. Similarly, in 2017 ticks were detected from several urban and suburban study sites in the city of Turku, some of which were surveyed but found lacking ticks in 2013. Regarding pathogens, higher prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l was observed than in reference studies from 2000, and its geographical range had also expanded. Disconcertingly, particularly high Borrelia prevalence rates were observed in tick populations in urbanized areas around Turku. Altogether seven different pathogen groups were detected from southwestern Finland, including several species that had not been reported from Finland before. Furthermore, the probable emergence of two pathogens was observed on Seili Island during the study, highlighting that ticks are not proliferating alone: tick-borne pathogens are as well. To conclude, the results of this thesis confirm that tick densities are increasing, tick-borne pathogens are becoming more common, and both ticks and TBPs are spreading in southwestern Finland. Particularly alarming is the detection of high numbers of ticks and TBPs in the sphere of influence for hundreds of thousands of people annually, in urban and suburban areas within and around Turku. Vigilance is required from both citizens and medical professionals, in order to prevent and detect harmful tick-borne infections. Action should be taken to inform citizens of noticeable tick risk also in urbanized areas. Unfortunately, no decrease in the number of ticks is likely to occur in the southern parts of Finland in the foreseeable future, so further increasing tick awareness is the best course of action for minimizing their negative impact.Puutiaiset (Acari: Ixodidae) ja niiden levittämät taudit, erityisesti Borrelia -bakteerien aiheuttama borrelioosi ja puutiaisaivokuumeviruksen aiheuttama puutiaisaivotulehdus, ovat kasvava ongelma pohjoisessa Euroopassa ja Venäjällä. Ruotsissa, Norjassa ja Venäjällä tehdyt tutkimukset ovat osoittaneet, että puutiaisten määrät ovat lisääntyneet ja niiden levinneisyysalue siirtynyt pohjoisemmaksi viime vuosikymmenten aikana. Eteläisessä Suomessa puutiainen (Ixodes ricinus) on puutiaisvälitteisten taudinaiheuttajien pääasiallinen kantaja. Vaikka puutiaiset toimivat lukuisten vakavien tautien levittäjinä, ei niiden ekologiaa ole Suomessa aiemmin juuri tutkittu: vuosien 1961–2017 välillä Suomesta on julkaistu alle kaksikymmentä puutiaista käsittelevää tieteellistä tutkimusta. Näistä valtaosa keskittyy niiden kantamien taudinaiheuttajien esiintymiseen, ja vain muutama käsittelee millään tapaa itse puutiaisen ekologiaa. Näin ollen tieteellistä näyttöä puutiaisten ja niiden kantamien taudinaiheuttajien määrien muutoksista ei ole ollut saatavilla. Vuosina 2014 ja 2015 toteutettujen, puutiaisten levinneisyyttä kartoittaneiden kansalaiskeräysten tulokset sekä vuosittain raportoitujen borrelioositapausten lisääntyminen 90-luvun puolivälistä saakka viittaavat kuitenkin siihen, että naapurimaissa havaitut muutokset koskevat myös Suomea. Väitöskirjatyössäni keskityin selvittämään Lounais-Suomen puutiaispopulaation nykyistä tilaa, sekä arvioimaan, onko puutiais- ja taudinaiheuttajapopulaatioissa havaittavissa samansuuntaisia muutoksia kuin muissa Pohjoismaissa ja Venäjällä. Tutkittuihin teemoihin lukeutuivat mm. muutokset puutiaisten määrissä ja esiintymisessä, muutokset puutiaisten kantamien taudinaiheuttajien määrissä ja esiintymisessä, sekä pitkän aikavälin muutokset taudinaiheuttajien paikallisessa esiintymisessä. Tutkimuksissani havaitsin, että puutiaismäärät ovat viime vuosikymmenten aikana kasvaneet kaikilla niillä tutkimusalueilla, joilta vertailuaineistoa on olemassa. Alueilla, joilla tutkimuksia tehtiin useamman vuoden ajan, puutiaismäärät olivat korkeimmillaan viimeisimpänä tutkimusvuotena, 2017. Löysin puutiaisia kaikilta saarilla ja merenrannan tuntumassa sijainneilta tutkimusalueilta, ja korkeimmat puutiaismäärät havaitsin Saaristomeren saarilta. Puutiaisia havaittiin runsaasti myös Turun kaupunki- ja esikaupunkialueilta. Löysin Borrelia -bakteereita kantavia puutiaisia niin ikään yleisemmin ja useammalta eri paikalta kuin 2000-luvun alkuun sijoittuvissa vertailututkimuksissa. Hieman huolestuttavasti näitä bakteereita tavattiin erityisen yleisinä Turun kaupunkialueen puutiaisilta. Kaiken kaikkiaan tutkimuksissa löydettiin seitsemää eri taudinaiheuttajaa, joista osa oli Suomelle uusia lajeja. Seilin saaren seurantatutkimuksissa havaitsin lisäksi kahden taudinaiheuttajan ilmaantumisen saarelle tutkimukseni kuluessa, mikä osaltaan tukee havaintoa, että taudinaiheuttajien esiintymisessä Suomessa on tapahtumassa samanlaisia muutoksia kuin naapurimaissa. Väitöskirjani tulokset osoittavat, että puutiaisten ja niiden välittämien taudinaiheuttajien määrät sekä levinneisyysalueet ovat kasvaneet Lounais-Suomessa 2000-luvulla. Erityisen huolestuttavia ovat havainnot korkeista puutiais- ja taudinaiheuttajamääristä myös Turun kaupunkialueella, jossa asuu ja vierailee satoja tuhansia ihmisiä vuosittain. Tämän väitöskirjan tulokset korostavat, että tietoisuutta puutiaisista ja taudinaiheuttajista tulisi yhä lisätä kansalaisten ja terveydenhuollon ammattilaisten parissa – erityisesti kaupunkialueilla, joissa ihmiset eivät välttämättä ajattele olevansa alttiina tartunnoille. Puutiaisten määrät ovat tuskin vähenemässä lähitulevaisuudessa, joten puutiaistietoisuuden lisääminen tulee jatkossakin olemaan tärkeässä asemassa niiden aiheuttaman haitan minimoimisessa