The field of image synthesis has seen significant progress recently, including great strides with generative models like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Diffusion Models, and Transformers. These models have shown they can create high-quality images from a variety of text prompts. However, a comprehensive analysis that examines both their performance and possible biases is often missing from existing research. In this thesis, I undertake a thorough examination of several leading text-to-image models, namely Stable Diffusion, DALL-E Mini, Lafite, and Ernie-ViLG. I assess their performance in generating accurate images of human faces, groups, and specified numbers of objects, using both Frechet Inception Distance (FID) scores and R-precision as my evaluation metrics. Moreover, I uncover inherent gender or social biases these models may possess. My research reveals a noticeable bias in these models, which show a tendency towards generating images of white males, thus under-representing minorities in their output of human faces. This finding contributes to the broader dialogue on ethics in AI and sets the stage for further research aimed at developing more equitable AI systems. Furthermore, based on the metrics I used for evaluation, the Stable Diffusion model outperforms the others in generating images from text prompts. This information could be particularly useful for researchers and practitioners trying to choose the most effective model for their future projects. To facilitate further research in this field, I have made my findings, the related data, and the source code publicly available. / Master of Science / In my research, I explored how cutting-edge computer models, namely Stable Diffusion, DALL-E Mini, Lafite, and Ernie-ViLG, can create images from text descriptions, a process that holds exciting possibilities for the future. However, these technologies aren't without their challenges. An important finding from my study is that these models exhibit bias, e.g., they often generate images of white males more than they do of other races and genders. This suggests they're not representing our diverse society fairly. Among these models, Stable Diffusion outperforms the others at creating images from text prompts, which is valuable information for anyone choosing a model for their projects. To help others learn from my work and build upon it, I've made all my data, findings, and the code I used in this study publicly available. By sharing this work, I hope to contribute to improving this technology, making it even better and fairer for everyone in the future.

The aim of this essay is to describe and problematize students' experiences and perspectives on teaching a locally rooted controversial social issue in social studies from a process perspective. A starting point for the study is that teaching controversial social issues can contribute to students' democratic education by allowing students to practice participating in political conversations, increasing their political self-confidence and learning perspective-taking. Students' perspectives on teaching is investigated by collecting log books in a class during a period of teaching about a locally rooted controversial social issue in a social studies course at the upper secondary school. The logbooks were collected on five occasions and consist of the students’ reflections of the lessons.  The result of the study can be related to the students' development of thoughts on the current question, the students' experiences of the teaching and their own reporting of what skills they have acquired. Firstly, the students developed their thoughts around the issue and showed evidence of perspective-taking. Particularly important for this is contextualization and the students' participation in a seminar where the issue was discussed. Secondly, the students felt that the teaching gave space to show feelings and opinions, but during the process also experienced obstacles to express feelings and opinions. These obstacles were linked to the relationships in the class, to the fact that the issue was perceived as complex and complicated and to a lack of knowledge on the issue to be able to take a stand. Factors that enabled the students to show feelings and opinions were, on the other hand, the seminar where the students shared the experience of being listened to and respected, that there were norms that enabled equal participation in the discussion and that they felt well prepared for the task. Finally, the results shows that the students' reflections on their knowledge went from being connected to the issue itself to being more connected to abilities such as arguing and speaking in front of others and perspective-taking. These abilities can also be said to have a strong connection to the school's democratic educational mission. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och problematisera elevers upplevelser och perspektiv på undervisning i en lokalt förankrad kontroversiell samhällsfråga i samhällskunskap ur ett processperspektiv. En utgångspunkt för studien är att undervisning i kontroversiella samhällsfrågor kan bidra till elevers demokratiska fostran genom att eleverna får träna sig i att delta i politiska samtal, att de ökar sin politiska självtilltro samt lär sig perspektivtagande. Elevers perspektiv på undervisningen undersöks genom insamling av loggböcker i en klass under ett arbetsområde i kursen samhällskunskap 2 på gymnasiet. Loggböckerna samlades in under fem tillfällen och består av elevernas reflektioner från lektionerna. Resultatet av studien kan relateras till elevernas utveckling av tankar i den aktuella frågan, elevernas upplevelser av undervisningen och deras egen rapportering av vilka kunskaper de fått med sig. För det första utvecklade eleverna sina tankar kring frågan och visade prov på perspektivtagande. Särskilt betydelsefullt för detta var kontexutalisering och elevernas deltagande i ett seminarium där frågan diskuterades. För det andra upplevde eleverna att undervisningen gav utrymme för att visa känslor och åsikter men upplevde under processens gång också hinder för att uttrycka känslor och åsikter. Dessa hinder var kopplade till relationerna i klassen, till att frågan upplevdes som komplex och komplicerad och till avsaknad av kunskap i frågan för att kunna ta ställning. Faktorer som möjliggjorde för eleverna att visa känslor och åsikter var å andra sidan seminariet där eleverna delade upplevelsen av att bli lyssnade på och respekterad, att det fanns normer som möjliggjorde likvärdigt deltagande i diskussionen samt att de kände sig väl förberedda för uppgiften. Slutligen visade resultatet att elevernas reflektioner kring sina kunskaper gick från att vara kopplade till själva sakfrågan till att i högre grad vara kopplade till förmågor så som att argumentera och prata inför andra och perspektivtagande. Dessa förmågor kan också sägas ha en stark koppling till skolans demokratiska fostransuppdrag.

Relapse prevention after pain management is a neglected area and Internet-based interventions have the potential to partly fill this gap. A challenge in designing effective relapse prevention program is how to motivate patients to persist throughout the full length of treatment. Following a regular pain management program, 29 participants underwent a 20 week long Internet–based relapse prevention program based on acceptance-oriented CBT. Qualitative analyses showed changes in attitudes towards their pain and body during the course of treatment. Degree of personal commitment in treatment goals seemed to affect gains relating to new perspective on self and future. Therapeutic strategies of defusion and mindfulness seemed to ease perspective changes and persistence to comply. Values interventions are hypothesized to be a plausible therapeutic strategy to engage participants in continuous behavior change. Further studies on non-compliers and drop-outs could enhance understanding of interventions necessary to maintaining motivation. When and how to give therapist support during Internet-based treatment for chronic pain is another area in need of further studies.

Cette étude a pour objectif d’évaluer la stratégie d’utilisation de critères de base, d’un point de vue éthique, dans l’allocation d’une quantité limitée d’antiviraux pour une utilisation préventive, lors d’une pandémie. Il est entendu qu’une réserve publique pour la prévention n’est pas présentement en vue. Ainsi un des objectifs de cette recherche est de servir de guide aux personnes ressources en positions décisionnelles, à savoir si l’acquisition d’une telle réserve est justifiée, et dans l’affirmatif, à qui elle serait destinée. La perspective spécifique de deux groupes de professionnels de la santé œuvrant en première ligne est considérée. Le premier groupe est constitué de professionnels provenant des hôpitaux de la région de Toronto qui ont vécu l’expérience du SRAS en 2003. Le second groupe est composé de travailleurs en santé de la région de Montréal qui n’auront pas vécu cette crise sanitaire. Les deux groupes sont analysés ensemble sur leur discours verbal et sur leurs réponses à un questionnaire bâti afin d’évaluer quel poids les participants donnent aux critères proposés. / The goal of this study is to assess the use of criteria as a means of deciding who might be priority recipients of an antiviral stockpile, aimed specifically at prevention, during an influenza pandemic. It is understood that a public antiviral stockpile for prevention is not available at this time. Thus one of the objectives of this research is to provide guidance to decision-makers in terms of feedback from healthcare workers on the issue of whether it is necessary to acquire such a stockpile and, if so, for whom. The specific perspectives of two groups of front-line healthcare workers are considered. One group consists of healthcare workers from Toronto hospitals who have experienced the 2003 SARS outbreak. The other group consists of healthcare workers from hospitals in Montreal who did not experience the SARS outbreak. The two groups analyses are based on verbal comments and their responses to a questionnaire designed to evaluate how participants with different background experiences will view and rank the proposed criteria.

The diploma thesis "Media Image of Lobbying" focuses on the issue of the media image of lobbying and lobbyists in the newspapers Mladá fronta Dnes and Právo in the year 2008. Lobbying is an activity which the majority of population experiences through the media only. The media may thus greatly influence the way the public perceives and evaluates lobbying. In the first part of the diploma thesis the question of the media presentation of reality are introduced and the factors which influence the form of the media content are outlined. The paper further deals briefly with the effect the media have on the population and with the agenda-setting concept. Then the definition of lobbying is given, as well as the reasons and conditions for its positive and negative reputation. Positive and negative functions of lobbying are pointed out and various types and forms of lobbying are presented including indirect lobbying, which is associated with PR activities. In the research part of the paper the results of the quantitative research are presented. The aim of this research was to discover the most frequent types of lobbying and lobbyists in the newspapers studied. The qualitative frame analysis then shows the ways in which lobbying and lobbyists are presented in the media. The appendix to the paper contains a codebook...

Name of the thesis: Pedagogical evaluation of the annual training program 800m runner in 2010 and 2011. Author: Bc. Michal Novák Tutor: odb. as. Aleš Kaplan Aims of the thesis: A descriptive analysis of a two years-long training cycles from the perspective of the different training means, load characteristics and the relations between the sport performance and its efficiency. Methodology: In this thesis the method of pedagogical evaluation using the qualitative analysis of the training documents was applied. Results: Using tempo and special endurance throughout the racing season was achieved maximum efficiency in both monitored zones. Despite his health problems, the racer achieved his personal bests during the second season (2011), which was reached by improving the section of his speed and very through rehabilitation, which facilitated his quick comeback after the injury Key words: pedagogical evaluation, qualitative analysis, 800m run, general training index, special training index

The thesis examines the topic of sustainable development and its media interpretation when talking about privately owned companies, especially multinationals. The theoretical part creates a framework to understand the topic of sustainability and its development related to companies and it aims to uncover the reasons why the companies incorporate sustainability into their strategies. At the same time, up to date media research in the field of sustainable development, theory of agenda setting, company marketing and a relationship of PR workers with journalists is examined. The research was conducted on the Czech newspapers MF DNES, Právo, Hospodářské noviny, Lidové noviny and E15 within one calendar year. The practical part uses quantitative analysis to describe the basic features of selected articles and answers questions of which companies use sustainability for promotion or which companies are connected to it, what the main subject of articles is or who the main actors are. Qualitative analysis using the method of grounded theory helps us to create the overall media image.

The theoretical section of the thesis Comparison of the misanthropic Show Jana Krause and the philanthropic Mark Eben's show Na plovárně aims to characterize the talk show genre both abroad and in the Czech Republic. It briefly outlines the development of the genre and its arrival in the Czech television stations. It also gives a definition of a presenter, describes the ways of communication, construction of the interviews with the guests, their selection, introduces Jan Kraus and Marek Eben and characterises both talk shows - Na Plovárně and Show Jana Krause. The practical section deals with an analysis of production in which interviews with representatives of both production teams are analysed. A qualitative analysis aims to answer the question: "How do the philanthropic and misanthropic concepts of the talk show differ, from the perspective of content and production intentions?" The conclusion contains a summary of the collected data.

The French President Nicolas Sarkozy is presented in the long term as the head of state with a strong media influence and strong media manipulation ability. This tendency is moreover not rare in the field of politics, and it can have a strong impact on society. That is why it seems appropriate to devote attention to this topic within media studies. The aim of this thesis is to find out, based on the content-study of three Czech national newspapers, how Czech journalists deal with the topic of the French presidency - do they have their specific sources, how do they cope with information from the Élysée Palace, do they use the same sources, do they create stereotypes about Nicolas Sarkozy etc. Qualitative analysis of the articles is supplemented by findings from interviews with the journalists themselves. The thesis has two main parts. In the first one, the overview of the available research in the field of agenda-setting and news coverage sociology is offered, literature is also presented, which deals with the influence of President Sarkozy and the issues affecting French journalists' work. The second part presents the analysis of the daily newspapers' material, which makes it possible to see the current trends in journalists' work with sources. The findings are supplemented by information from the...

The thesis propounded below is based upon a presumption that one of the significant means of socialization is mass media. It represents a source of information since an early age of a child, constitute the models of a socially acceptable behaviour and depict the values and norms that are applicable to the society. In continuation to the ambiguous character of socialization, on one hand allowing an individual to integrate fully into the society, on the other hand, however, producing the present inequalities, the author enquires into the way how villains are portrayed in television cartoons, that is, those who violate these commonly accepted norms. In the theoretical part of the thesis the author builds predominantly on the sociological reflections of the character of the modern society, the character of socialization and social norms. In the chapters dealing with the socialization potential of media she employs primarily the modelling theory that stems from the more universal social learning theory. In the empirical part the author, using qualitative research, tries to describe how villains are portrayed in television cartoons and besides other statements, she proves that their world has a strictly dichotomic and exclude character. One of the outcomes of the thesis is a typology of villains who can...