Biology & Ecology (e-books)

E-book

Juraj Ševc - Filip Mochnacký

Students studying biology as the single-subject or as a part of two-subject programs on various faculties of sciences are often encountered with the problem, how to limit the topics in the subject Human anatomy. This List of anatomical terms is aiming to help the non-medical students to get acquainted with the extensive anatomical nomenclature and to optimize the number of anatomical terms, which should be memorized, to preserve the sufficient capacity of the students for another knowledge of the field of systemic, comparative, developmental and functional anatomy. The emphasis on the arrangement of individual anatomical terms into the logical units supports the hierarchical view on the architecture of the human body.

Despite the common opinion, anatomical nomenclature represents a framework, which is during the further study gradually enveloped with the knowledge of more or less related disciplines concerning with the human body and its biological processes. Moreover, besides this ambition, which exceeds the area of the human anatomy, this List of anatomical terms continues the long tradition with respect to the valid Latin and Slovak anatomical terminology.

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E-book

Peter Fedoročko (ed.)

Proceedings of the 7th Annual Doctoral Spring School 2020

From November 10 to November 11, 2020, the 7th annual Spring School for Doctoral Students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice will take place in Košice in a modified mode in the on-line space. The scientific program of the spring school will comprise 2 plenary lectures by leading scientific experts of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. Doctoral students will present their research papers in two sections: 24 doctoral students of Faculty of Public Administration, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Arts, and 22 doctoral students of Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science.

The scientific programme of the spring school will also include a panel discussion with the management of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

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E-book

Lenka Mártonfiová - Pavol Mártonfi (eds.)

The Catalogue of Plant Collections contains a list of 4136 species, subspecies and cultivars of plants growing wild or grown in the Botanical Garden of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (Slovakia). Among them 652 plant species endangered according to CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) are grown in the botanical garden as well as 39 autochtonous plant species are protected by Slovak law.

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E-book

Lenka Mártonfiová - Martin Suvák - Pavol Mártonfi (eds.)

Conference 70 Years of the Botanical Garden of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University. Slovakia, Košice 3. – 4. September 2020

The book of abstracts from the conference with international participation includes 38 abstracts from a total of 76 authors from various botanical institutions from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

It presents an overview of knowledge and experience from the history and the present of botanical research and nature conservation. In addition to botany and nature conservation, the abstracts also cover the field of plant physiology, production of secondary metabolites, environmental studies, management of protected areas, bioinformatics and other topical research problems. The main paper is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the UPJŠ Botanical Garden, its history and the present and was prepared by the director of the UPJŠ Botanical Garden. It is completed by the papers from the staff of this botanical garden devoted to the current state of research and educational activities in the botanical garden.

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E-book

Erik Sedlák - Rastislav Varhač -  Patrik Danko - Helena Paulíková - Dušan Podhradský

The presented scripts were created in an effort to update and especially clarify the tasks that are solved in the basic practical exercises in biochemistry students of the 2nd and 3rd year of the bachelor's degree in chemistry, biology and their combinations with other disciplines. Most of the tasks come from the original scripts "Podhradský, Mihalovová: Praktické cvičenia z biochémie, Košice 1989".

Some of them have been modified to a greater or lesser extent and adapted to current conditions in the laboratory. New tasks were also added, such as those dedicated to nucleic acids. The scripts are thematically divided into six separate units, each of which consists of several tasks. The names of the units correspond to the nature of the biomacromolecules, which form their central theme. Theoretical introductions at the beginning of the unit are newly constructed and their main goal is to provide a brief overview of the basic biochemical methods used in the study of biomacromolecules.

These scripts are intentionally only available in electronic form. The reason is the effort to continuously update and modernize individual tasks according to the changing possibilities of our laboratory. We hope that the scripts will fulfill their role and that students will have sufficient theoretical knowledge and practical skills in the field of basic biochemical methods after completing these laboratory exercises.

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E-book

Iveta Cimboláková - Henrieta Pavolová

University textbooks focus on selected basic knowledge about the environment. They are centered on summarizing and cross-sectional characteristics, serving as a foundation for deepening knowledge within lectures or seminars on the given topic.

The textbooks are intended for first-year students of the "Sports and Recreation" study program at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, as well as for anyone interested in expanding their environmental knowledge. In the prepared educational texts, "Environmental Risks, Their Impact, and Consequences on Population Health," we address topics such as environmental risks, their influence, and possible consequences on population health, which undoubtedly belong to environmental issues and care.

The list of literature in the textbooks provides more detailed information for those with a deeper interest in environmental issues.

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E-book

Katarína Cechlárová (ed.)

In 2018, the Student Scientific Conference was held on April 18, 2018, in 16 sections covering biology and ecology, chemistry, physics, geography, mathematics, computer science, and their subject didactics. There were 110 registered contributions from bachelor's and master's students. Additionally, eight high school students participated outside of the competition; these students already visit our alma mater at a young age, work in our laboratories, and prepare for further studies under the guidance of our enthusiastic teachers. The day also included a programming competition and the IHRA competition in three categories, where students from PF UPJŠ competed alongside pupils from elementary and secondary schools.

The abstracts of the Student Scientific Conference contributions convincingly demonstrate that PF UPJŠ students study their field not only theoretically but also actively engage in solving partial scientific problems that are part of the research goals at PF UPJŠ institutes. This collection provides an overview of scientific activity at the faculty, which we believe will be interesting for the broader public as well.

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E-book

Katarína Cechlárová - Eva Pitoňáková (eds.)

Proceedings of Abstracts from Contributions by Participants of the Student Scientific Conference at the Faculty of Science, UPJŠ in Košice, Held on April 26, 2017

This is the fifth edition of the proceedings from the Student Scientific Conference (ŠVK) at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. We are pleased that ŠVK has become an integral part of faculty life and a showcase for the quality of education provided. In 2017, ŠVK took place as part of the traditional Science Days on April 26, 2017. 105 students from the Faculty of Science presented their work. Contributions were organized into 15 sections, supplemented by an open programming competition involving 17 students and the final round of the IHRA competition, which included 27 teams from across Slovakia.

The abstracts in this proceedings demonstrate that students at the Faculty of Science, UPJŠ, acquire knowledge and skills in their field not only through theoretical study of disciplines but also through active engagement in solving partial scientific problems aligned with research goals at the faculty’s institutes. These abstracts also provide an overview of the faculty’s scientific activity, which we believe will be of interest to the broader public.

doc. RNDr. Gabriel Semanišin, PhD.

Dean of the Faculty

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E-book

Martin Bačkor - Miriam Bačkorová

The proposed text focuses on the history of studying biology, medicine, and pharmacy as scientific disciplines from prehistoric times through antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern era. The text chronologically organizes the most significant figures in the history of biological scientific disciplines, outlines key characteristics of major historical discoveries, and reevaluates their significance from the perspective of 21st-century science.

The educational text is chronologically divided into the most significant periods of civilization development. The last two completed centuries—the 19th and 20th—are subdivided into major life science fields due to the unprecedented growth of biological disciplines and the resulting volume of acquired information.

Since it can sometimes be challenging in science to define what constitutes the past versus the present of a particular discipline, we have excluded significant biological discoveries from the early 21st century, which are typically regarded as the “present” of biology.

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E-book

Daniela Kladeková

This university text is intended for students of chemical and ecological sciences at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the P. J. Šafárik University in Košice and is intended to serve as a tool for experimental exercises in colloid chemistry. Colloid chemistry is an important part of the theoretical basis of the chemical sciences and belongs to the newer interdisciplinary fields of natural sciences.

It combines knowledge from physical chemistry, physics and biology, while also drawing on a solid knowledge of mathematics and other scientific disciplines. Experiments are often essential in understanding the problems of colloid chemistry, modelling ideas about the phenomena and laws involved in the discipline. This is why active participation in experimental exercises is so important and essential to mastering the material in colloid chemistry.

In selecting the tasks for these scripts, it was also necessary to respect the considerable limitations imposed by the possibilities of the laboratory instrumentation and material equipment of our department. Despite this limitation, however, they can illustrate to students the basic theoretical physicochemical principles of colloid dispersion systems and, importantly, their understanding can contribute to the understanding of some of the more important peculiarities of colloidal phenomena.

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E-book

Božena Mihalíková - Ján Ohriska

This text is intended for first-year students in 76-12-8 ‘General Education Teaching’ in combinations with mathematics. It is based on the authors' lectures and their more than ten years of experience in teaching this subject at the Faculty of Education of the University of Applied Sciences. When writing it, the authors tried to take into account the specificity of mathematics teaching studies.

The present teaching text was not written due to the lack of textbooks on mathematical analysis. The reason for writing it was the authors' findings that the students do not have sufficient experience in working with specialized literature from secondary school, the difficulties for many of them (especially in the first semesters) are caused by even a slightly different interpretation, not rarely also by a change in labeling, which makes them miss the essence of the studied problem. The authors of the text did not set out to be original. Their aim was to make such a selection of topics as is necessary for a future teacher of mathematics and to choose such a method of interpretation which, in their opinion, is suitable for first-year students.

A good mastery of the curriculum (expansion of the mathematical apparatus and the related possibilities of applying other methods of proof as well as the acquisition of the necessary numerical skills) presupposes the use of other literary sources (textbooks, collections of problems) according to the teacher's recommendation.

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E-book

Peter Paľove-Balang

The text ‘Uptake and transport of mineral substances in plants’ in Slovak language provides a general overview of the uptake and distribution of substances in an easy-to-understand form.

The individual chapters introduce students to the properties of the soil environment, which have a significant influence on the availability of substances, as well as the transport of substances across membranes and over medium and long distances. The text contains the latest findings from the English literature, supplemented by diagrams and graphs created by the author on the basis of his own research or by compiling several sources.

The text is intended primarily for students of a master's degree in biology or ecology and assumes at least a basic knowledge of plant physiology.

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E-book

Jozef Kováčik

These "Exercise Manuals" present a concise overview of commonly used methodologies as well as progressive techniques, such as the use of liquid chromatography and fluorescence microscopy. Individual tasks were selected based on the research focus of the Department of Botany at the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, particularly in the context of "stress physiology."

Some tasks can also be utilized within the subject "Plant Ecology." Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) is typically used as a model plant for individual tasks due to its long-standing history of research at the Department of Botany and its ease of cultivation under laboratory conditions. The chapters also briefly discuss the significance of monitored parameters, principles of their determination, and metabolism (formation or degradation), aiming to indicate their mutual context.

This approach highlights that determining an individual parameter cannot provide a general explanation for the overall causes and impacts of observed changes; however, it can serve as a basis for testing hypotheses at the level of other parameters.

For deeper study of specific issues, there is an abundance of high-quality international monographs and review articles available.

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E-book

Martin Bačkor - Silvia Mihaličová (eds.)

Proceedings of the 11th Conference of Doctoral Students in Experimental Plant Biology and the 13th Conference on Experimental Plant Biology, Košice, September 9–13, 2013

13th Conference of Experimental Plant Biology (Sections)

1. Cell Biology and Cytology: Michal Martinka
2. Developmental Biology and Morphogenesis: Alexander Lux
3. “Omics” – Genomics, Transcriptomics, and Proteomics: Boris Vyskot
4. Hormonal Regulation of Plant Growth and Development: Jana Albrechtová
5. Photosynthesis, Assimilate Production, and Transport: Jiří Šantrůček
6. GMOs and Plant Biotechnology: Eva Čellárová
7. Biophysical Signals and Optical Properties of Plants: Jan Nauš Stress
8. Physiology: Ľudmila Slováková
9. Plant Interactions with Organisms: Martin Bačkor
10. Water and Mineral Nutrition of Plants: Miroslav Repčák
11. Productive Biology of Plants and Agriculture: Václav Hejnák
12. Ecological Plant Biology and Global Climate Change: Michal Marek

11th Days of Doctoral Students in Experimental Plant Biology (Sections)

1. Molecular & Cell Genetics: Viktor Žárský
2. Developmental Biology: Alexander Lux
3. Biochemistry & Physiology: Jiří Šantrůček
4. Systematics & Evolution: Jana Albrechtová
5. Ecophysiology: Jana Albrechtová

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E-book

Vladimír Zeleňák (ed.)

The publication contains abstracts of contributions presented at the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UPJŠ in Košice, held on April 25, 2013. The event was marked by the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at UPJŠ and was part of a series of events called ScienceFest.

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E-book

Dušan Barabas - Alena Labunová

These study materials aim to provide basic information about biogeographical issues from a geographical perspective, i.e., a perspective focused primarily on the aspect of spatial differentiation of the biosphere. The basis for the division of the biosphere is its historical development, during which individual taxa and communities were formed.

The historical development of the biosphere did not occur under stable, constant conditions, but rather in ever-changing conditions caused by the position of our planet within the solar system, the position of the Earth's axis relative to the ecliptic, and also the position of the solar system within the galaxy. All changes in the Earth's position, together with the movement of continents (drift) and climate changes, created the prerequisites for the spatial expansion of the biosphere. The historical development of the biosphere, various perspectives, the hierarchical level of differentiation, and the causes of differentiation are incorporated in this study material, whose aim is to outline the basic principles of this division.

The goal is also to highlight certain differences in the understanding of terminology, as well as to point out some fundamental relationships operating within the landscape system in the broadest sense of the word. The section devoted to the ecological principles of the functioning and formation of the landscape system, according to MIČIAN and ZATKALÍK (1984), outlines the issues of understanding the terms ecosystem and geosystem. For this reason, the presented text includes chapters that attempt to explain the understanding and approach to some basic concepts.

These study materials are intended for students of single-subject, interdisciplinary, and supplementary studies as basic teaching material. By expanding the knowledge from this study material with further information, which is elaborated in more detail in the literature listed in the bibliography of this text, graduates will gain a comprehensive view of biogeographical issues.

Authors

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E-book

Božena Velebná

The following material has been created during the two years of teaching English for Chemists at the Faculty of Science of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University and is therefore designed to meet the needs of this course. The main motivation was the lack of appropriate materials, especially as the groups generally comprise students with a very diverse level of English. This diversity therefore became the main criterion determining both the form and the content of this text.

In the ten units that provide material for a one semester course, the emphasis is put on teaching the students vocabulary and terminology, which is introduced via authentic texts, depending on the topic of each unit. Students are encouraged to learn the meaning of new words in context. Grammar is included too, with the aim of demonstrating and explaining grammatical rules by means of examples taken directly from the texts. For the more advanced students, grammatical exercises in this material can serve for revision while the beginners might need more supplementary materials.

I hope that this material, the preparation of which has been a challenging as well as enjoyable experience will be useful for future teachers and the students of this course.

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