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Development of endemic freshwater ichthyofauna of Greece
Kyralová, Eva ; Vukićová, Jasna (advisor) ; Švátora, Miroslav (referee)
The Balkans is one of the hot spots of biodiversity, and is known for a high diversity and endemism of freshwater fishes. The development of Greece was significantly affected by the climatic, geologic and orogenetic events resulting in high concentration of freshwater fish endemism. Some of the important historical events were the emergence of land bridges during the early Oligocene and Miocene, through which freshwater fishes dispersed to the Balkans from Asia and subsequently to Africa, the freshwater phase of the Paratethys sea or Alpine orogeny, which began 65 million years ago, and which gradually formed the Greek mountain systems, leading to a long-term isolation of local freshwater ichthyofauna and subsequent speciation. Other major events include Messinian salinity crisis and Pleistocene climate oscillations. Most of the freshwater fish families occurring in Greece most probably originated in the Southeast Asia, from where they colonized the Balkans by several routes. These colonizations took place repeatedly at different times and by different routes. The dispersion of freshwater fishes from Asia to Europe through Siberia started before the uplift of the Ural Mountains about 33 million years ago and continued until Pliocene. Another important colonization route from Asia was via the...
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Sketching Trauma: the Disintegration of Yugoslavia in Comics
Korytářová, Anna ; Žíla, Ondřej (advisor) ; Šístek, František (referee)
Master thesis examines comics that reflect the break-up of Yugoslavia. The theoretical part describes the main discourses that aim to explain the dissolution of Yugoslavia as well as the essential theoretical background of comics studies. The analytical part examines the ways in which comics mediate the break-up of Yugoslavia and, in particular the trauma associated with it. Authors of the comics most often work with a discourse that argues ethnic hatred, but they view it critically and point out its falsity. The analysis further revealed that comics provide a vast space for empathizing with victims of war trauma. Getting to know the survivors of traumatic events closely, as well as the concept of false memories that develop during reading of comics, facilitates empathetic reading. All the authors refuse to glorify war, focusing instead on the fatal effects that war has on the lives of ordinary people.
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The impact of the war in Kosovo on the relationship of Russian and the USA
Hromas, Adam ; Tejchman, Miroslav (advisor) ; Litera, Bohuslav (referee)
The task of the bachelor work "The impact of the war in Kosovo on the relationship of Russia amd the USA" is to answer through comparative analysis the issue of what impact the war in Kosovo had on the American-Russian relationship or possibly to eradicate this impact. The text deals with the policies of the USA and Russia in the context of the Kosovo war, not as a historic event. It is divided into three chapters: The first chapter describes the attitude of NATO, especially of the USA toward Serbia mainly regarding policies toward Serbia prior to, and during the war, and political activities ending the war. In the second chapter there are the same topics seen from the view of Russia toward Serbia. In the third and last chapter there is comparing of these two approaches going on, and based on it the final position to the main issue of the research is worked out.
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Phylogeny and phylogeography of the cyprinid fish genus Pelasgus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae)
Viñuela Rodríguez, Nuria ; Vukićová, Jasna (advisor) ; Rovatsos, Michail (referee)
The genus Pelasgus (Cyprinidae) is endemic to the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula and includes seven species. In this work, a multilocus approach has been applied to study phylogenetic relationships between the species and their populations and to revise their distribution areas. 180 specimens from 47 localities from 30 river drainages were analyzed, comprehensively covering the distribution range of the genus. Moreover, samples from type localities of all species were included in the analyses. Mitochondrial (cytochrome b) and nuclear markers (the first intron of ribosomal protein S7, recombination activating gene RAG1 and rhodopsin) were used. Existence of seven well supported lineages was revealed based on cytochrome b, which is the most variable marker. These lineages correspond to P. laconicus, P. marathonicus, P. minutus, P. stymphalicus, P. thesproticus, P. prespensis and Pelasgus sp. The most variable nuclear marker was first intron of S7, which provides almost the same results as cytochrome b, revealing six well supported lineages, whereas RAG1 and rhodopsin appear to be less informative, revealing only four well supported clades. These markers did not separate several species (P. marathonicus, P. stymphalicus, P. thesproticus, and Pelasgus sp.) due to low variability of the markers...
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Development of endemic freshwater ichthyofauna of Greece
Kyralová, Eva ; Vukićová, Jasna (advisor) ; Švátora, Miroslav (referee)
The Balkans is one of the hot spots of biodiversity, and is known for a high diversity and endemism of freshwater fishes. The development of Greece was significantly affected by the climatic, geologic and orogenetic events resulting in high concentration of freshwater fish endemism. Some of the important historical events were the emergence of land bridges during the early Oligocene and Miocene, through which freshwater fishes dispersed to the Balkans from Asia and subsequently to Africa, the freshwater phase of the Paratethys sea or Alpine orogeny, which began 65 million years ago, and which gradually formed the Greek mountain systems, leading to a long-term isolation of local freshwater ichthyofauna and subsequent speciation. Other major events include Messinian salinity crisis and Pleistocene climate oscillations. Most of the freshwater fish families occurring in Greece most probably originated in the Southeast Asia, from where they colonized the Balkans by several routes. These colonizations took place repeatedly at different times and by different routes. The dispersion of freshwater fishes from Asia to Europe through Siberia started before the uplift of the Ural Mountains about 33 million years ago and continued until Pliocene. Another important colonization route from Asia was via the...
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The Witch character in Albanian culture in comparison with other Balkan States
Nushiová, Suzana ; Otčenášek, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Vinš, Přemysl (referee)
The thesis looks into Albanian folklore. It familiarizes the reader with the character of a witch in Albanian environment throughout fairytales, stories and other genres of folk literature. The main focus is on the role of a witch in the stories and its general description. The main goal of my theses is to compare this perception with other Balkan states and find out, how much the imaginations about a witch in Balkan states differ or contrariwise correspond. Simultaneously I will try to analyze in which kinds of folklore the character of a witch occurs. Finally the focus will lead to the reception of the character of a witch in neighbouring areas and also in Albanian artistic literature and modern life.
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Non-indigenous freshwater fish species of the Mediterranean basin of the Balkans
Balog, Štefan ; Vukićová, Jasna (advisor) ; Švátora, Miroslav (referee)
Mediterranean basin of the Balkan Peninsula is one of the hot-spots of biodiversity, with a high diversity of freshwater fishes and high degree of endemism. Introduction of non-native species greatly affects ecosystems and native species of fish. There were many reasons for introductions in the past. Aquaculture, sport fishing and ornamental fish belong to the most important reasons for introduction of non-native fish species. Altogether, 39 species belonging to 12 families were introduced in the Mediterranean basin of the Balkan Peninsula. Most of them belong to the families Cyprinidae and Salmonidae. Introduction of fishes was known since the Roman era. Although the first recorded introduction in this area was in the 13th century, most species were introduced in 20th century. The fishes were introduced from North America, Europe and Asia. Many translocations occurred in this area, too. Translocation is a relocation of particular species within one area. The most widespread introduced species in the Mediterranean basin of the Balkans are common carp (Cyprinus carpio), stone moroko (Pseudorasbora parva), rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), goldfish (Carassius auratus) and sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus). Hybridization, competition, pathogen transmission and predation...
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Institutional Determinants of Investment Inflows into Transitional Economies
Donu, Victoria ; Mertlík, Pavel (advisor) ; Benáček, Vladimír (referee)
This thesis investigates the relationship between institutional quality and the level of investment inflows into post-communist countries. I attempt to empirically verify the argument that institutional determinants are essential in explaining the variation in investment inflows into transition economies after the demise of socialism in the early 1990s. The role of institutions is assessed using Economic Freedom indices provided by the Heritage Foundation. Consequently, to investigate the progress of institutional quality in transition economies, I further employ indicators developed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Using a panel data set for 11 transition countries from 1993 to 2013, I conclude that the impact of institutional quality on investment inflows is not negligible, yet much weaker than suggested by the existing theoretical literature. Using a fixed-effects model framework in both regression benchmarks with metrics from the Heritage Foundation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, respectively, I observe that the impact of institutional variables on the level of investment was less significant than expected. Moreover, macroeconomic fundamentals appear to always play a more substantial role than institutional factors. KEYWORDS: foreign direct...
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Normative power as a Source of EU Peacebuilding: Diffusion of Normative Power Europe in the Western Balkans
Petrlová, Eva ; Střítecký, Vít (advisor) ; Ditrych, Ondřej (referee)
This thesis aims to interconnect a theory of normative power Europe with the activities of the EU and its affect on the Western Balkans. The theoretical concept of normative power is based on the assumption of the EU as a normative actor who is able through its norms, values and principles to become a major civilian actor in international relations, especially in the area of conflict management. The theoretical part of the paper therefore focuses on the concept of normative power EU (NPE) as it is presented by Ian Manners, and how its normative character is reflected in the common security and defense policy. It is analysed how the NPE is diffused in selected countries of the Western Balkans through four chosen transfer mechanisms by Manners that comprise the operationalization of the thesis at the same time. Therefore the aim of this work is to contribute to the further broadening the debate over the EU's role in the international system, but also to find out how the norms and values are transmitted in selected countries of the near neighborhood - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. All of this with regard to democracy, human and minority rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, good governance etc., which encompass the basic values of the EU. The selected operationalization has allowed...
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Between Liberal Policies and Conservative Values: The Role of the EU in Improving Sexual Minority Rights in Albania
Vinther, Christian Kjaelder ; Šístek, František (advisor) ; Žíla, Ondřej (referee)
Master Thesis by Christian K. Vinther, Charles University, Prague (77110981) 21/05/2015 Between Liberal Policies and Conservative Values: The Role of the EU in Improving Sexual Minority Rights in Albania Abstract In 2009 the People's Advocate in Albania announced their suggestion that Albania should become the first Balkan country to legalize gay marriage, a suggestion backed by the country's Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The odd thing is that this suggestion was presented in the same country voted the "most homophobic in Europe" according to a recent study, and simultaneously the suggestion came at a time when Albania did not even have an anti-discrimination law, and, assumingly, at a time when LGBT activist groups seemed more or less nonexistent. Since 2009, Albania has progressed severely in relation to LGBT matters, and the small Balkan country has adopted noteworthy liberal sexual minority policies. Yet, as stated above, this appears as a rather paradoxical fact, since homophobia in Albania appears widespread, and since it could be questioned why a country would even need to legalize gay marriage, since the gay population are unlikely to benefit from this kind of legislation, due to the harassment and marginalization of this particular minority group. The mismatch between the conservative values in...
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