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Russia's Syria policy: geopolitical interests or defense of great power identity?
Hirling, Marcel ; Kazharski, Aliaksei (advisor) ; Ananyeva, Ekaterina (referee)
of Master thesis Russia's Syria policy: geopolitical interests or defense of great power identity? Marcel Hirling Abstract: Russia has been the dominating actor in Syria since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Researchers disagree what Russia motivates to block UN resolutions, support Assad, and intervene militarily in 2015. Academics have mainly focused on neorealist explanations. Constructivist arguments have been shortcoming so far as they miss a detailed theoretical justification and empirical evidence. This thesis aims to fill this gap by arguing that the objective utility of Syria is marginal. Instead, Syria provided Russia the opportunity to present itself as a global power, able to shape world affairs on eye level with the US. Therefore, this paper conducts a congruence analysis, which evaluates each theory's explanatory power. The analytical section is split into three parts. The first shows that events before Syria did not make a Russian intervention in Syria necessary, but that recognition of Russia's global power identity has been denied. That Russia's actions in Syria are not entirely congruent with neorealist expectations is shown by the second part. Finally, by conducting a content-analysis, several Russian narratives are evaluated that support the argument that Russia seeks...
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Seeing the ship from outside - representations of attention in Iris Wolff's The blur of the world
Kozár, Daniel-Erik ; Charvát, Filip (advisor) ; Zbytovský, Štěpán (referee)
Attention, though it is an important part of the human psyche, is a topic that is only relatively rarely thematized within fictional literature, especially when compared to related topics such as memory or emotion. This bachelor thesis aims to examine the depiction of attention in the 2020 book Die Unschärfe der Welt by Iris Wolff and what role it plays in it. For this purpose, a basic interdisciplinary definition of attention is established, followed by an analysis of the characters, the plot, and the style of the book and the role that attention plays in each of these aspects, with special emphasis being put on the various polarities that are present within the book.
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QUANTUM-COMPUTING STUDY OF THE ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE OF CRYSTALS: THE CASE STUDY OF SI
Ďuriška, Michal ; Miháliková, Ivana ; Friák, Martin
Quantum computing is newly emerging information-processing technology which is foreseen to be exponentially faster than classical supercomputers. Current quantum processors are nevertheless very limited in their availability and performance and many important software tools for them do not exist yet. Therefore, various systems are studied by simulating the run of quantum computers. Building upon our previous experience with quantum computing of small molecular systems (see I. Mihalikova et al., Molecules 27 (2022) 597, and I. Mihalikova et al., Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 243), we have recently focused on computing electronic structure of periodic crystalline materials. Being inspired by the work of Cerasoli et al. (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2020, 22, 21816), we have used hybrid variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm, which combined classical and quantum information processing. Employing tight-binding type of crystal description, we present our results for crystalline diamond-structure silicon. In particular, we focus on the states along the lowest occupied band within the electronic structure of Si and compare the results with values obtained by classical means. While we demonstrate an excellence agreement between classical and quantum-computed results in most of our calculations, we further critically check the sensitivity of our results with respect to computational set-up in our quantum-computing study. A few results were obtained also using quantum processors provided by the IBM.
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Information as a public policy tool with a focus on informing czech families about state social support and social assistance.
Stárková, Andrea ; Dobiášová, Karolína (advisor) ; Potůček, Martin (referee)
This final bachelor thesis deals with the topic of information as a tool of public policy in the context of informing families with dependent children about selected state social assistance benefits and assistance in material need. The issue was examined in the context of the extraordinary economic situation in the Czech Republic from 2020 to 2023, which had negative impacts on the financial situation of families with dependent children. First of all, the thesis focuses on the implemented information tools that were used by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic in the context of raising awareness about selected social benefits from 2020 to 2023. Based on the analysis of press releases of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, the main motivations for the use of information tools were defined and then the information tools used were classified into the Christopher Hood typology of information tools. Furthermore, through a questionnaire survey, the thesis aimed to determine the intended effects of the information tools used, based on the level of awareness and satisfaction with the provision of information among families with dependent children. The main objective of the study was to find out the unintended effects of information tools, through the...
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Reflections on the Nuclear Taboo in Selected Foreign Affairs Articles Published between 2009-2020 in the US
Konrád, Ondřej ; Pondělíček, Jiří (advisor) ; Smetana, Michal (referee)
This bachelor thesis examines the reflection of the nuclear taboo in selected Foreign Affairs articles from 2009 to 2020 in the US. The aim is to determine whether there has been a weakening of the taboo during this period or a change in the atmosphere in which the taboo exists. The articles were analyzed using a content analysis method, particularly to determine whether elements of the nuclear taboo were challenged. At the same time, the change in atmosphere in these texts was examined to see whether there was fear or pessimism about the future. Identifying these phenomena is essential, as both may signal a change in attitude towards the nuclear taboo. The main finding of the analysis is that the nuclear taboo is not weakening in the period under review, or rather, the thesis concludes that the nuclear taboo is under pressure and facing significant challenges but is not weakening overall. On the contrary, the change in the atmosphere has been confirmed, as there has been an apparent increase in the fear of nuclear weapons during the period under review, whether due to new proliferation, the arms race, or the threat of nuclear war. The conclusion of this thesis confirms that the nuclear taboo remains an essential factor in international relations, and its maintenance is crucial for the preservation...
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Psychological and electrophysiological aspects of sleep paralysis
Kliková, Monika ; Bušková, Jitka (advisor) ; Šonka, Karel (referee) ; Ptáček, Radek (referee)
The thesis deals with the sleep paralysis phenomenon characterized by transient inability to move or to speak at sleep onset or on waking from sleep. It is accompanied by unpleasant, often multisensory hallucinations with intense fear and anxiety. The empirical part of this study is divided into four parts, which cover the topics of psychological and electrophysiological aspects of sleep paralysis. The aim is to describe psychological factors affecting the occurrence of sleep paralysis episodes and accompanying phenomena such as hallucination contents and emotional experiences. In the subsequent part we focus on comparisons of macrostructural and microstructural characteristics of sleep between participants with recurrent sleep paralysis episodes and healthy control group, including spectral analysis of EEG brain activity during REM sleep. We found out that personality characteristics such as personality boundaries and absorption may influence sleep paralysis episodes. We confirm the connection between sleep paralysis occurrence and nightmares - nightmares are a significant predictive factor of sleep paralysis frequency. According to emotional experience, sleep paralysis episodes are mostly connected to fear, although we found that in spite of fear presence, the episodes could be experienced as...
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Studying Changes in Mental Health among University Students Throughout an Academic Year in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Skácelíková, Eva ; Chytilová, Julie (advisor) ; Votápková, Jana (referee)
This thesis studies changes in mental health among university students throughout an academic year. Understanding mental health fluctuations and identifying periods of higher prevalence of mental health problems is essential for providing support and implementing prevention programs. The topic of the thesis is also motivated by a great burden mental problems pose both for the individual and society as a whole. We analyzed longitudinal data collected online during the COVID-19 pandemic, covering the period from March 2020 to October 2022 and containing 45 waves of data collection. The dataset is representative of the Czech population. We worked with a sample of 162 students and 200 non-students aged 19 to 26. To estimate mental health, we focused on depression and anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and happiness. Random effect models were used for the analysis. Findings showed that students report poorer mental health than non-students and women experience poorer mental health than men. Our results imply that mental health fluctuates throughout an academic year and that we may observe different effects for women and men. Baseline period for comparing the results is an academic semester. For students, depression and anxiety symptoms increase for women and decrease for men during the exam period....
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