Biology & Ecology (e-books)

E-book

Ľubomír Šnajder a kol.

The publication is dedicated to teachers and future teachers of informatics, mathematics and science subjects. The publication presents activities that move students from the role of passive users of digital technologies to that of curious researchers, creative creators and critical thinkers. In the first chapter, we introduce educational strategies and practices to actively engage students in learning. In the second chapter, we briefly describe selected digital technologies that can be an aid to exploring the world around us and creating useful products. In the third chapter, we provide specific ideas for STEAM exploration and projects in which students search answers to real-world questions and solutions to real-world problems. Subject didacticians, experts from different fields and teachers worked closely together to develop ideas for the methodologies.

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Juraj Ševc - Anna Alexovič Matiašová

Among students of single-discipline and interdisciplinary biology studies at faculties with a natural science focus, there often arises a problem in defining the scope of the curriculum when studying the subject of Human Anatomy. The presented study material aims to help students of non-medical scientific fields navigate the extensive anatomical terminology and to limit the amount of required anatomical terms to an optimum, so that alongside mastering Latin nomenclature, students still have sufficient capacity to memorize additional knowledge in the areas of systemic, comparative, developmental, and functional anatomy.

Emphasis on organizing individual anatomical terms into logical units simultaneously supports a hierarchical view of the architecture of the human body. Despite its seemingly self-serving nature, anatomical terminology thus becomes the framework upon which students build knowledge from more or less related scientific disciplines studying the human body and the processes occurring within it throughout their further studies. At the same time, alongside this ambition that goes beyond the scope of the anatomy discipline, the Anatomical Terms follow a long tradition of anatomical handbooks while respecting the valid Latin and Slovak anatomical nomenclature.

This script represents a practical supplement to university textbooks of Anatomy or Neuroanatomy and especially to anatomical atlases, but it certainly does not aim to replace them. Here you will find all the necessary terms gathered in one place, which you can always have at hand on your phone, e-reader, or laptop. The emphasis on organizing individual anatomical terms into logical units supports a hierarchical view of the architecture of the human body, and the inclusion of a brief introduction to each system is intended to encourage you to seek further, more detailed information about the structure and function of the given organ system.

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E-book

Lucia Bakošová (ed.)

Proceedings from the XVII Annual Student Symposium on International and European Law held on October 27, 2023.

The presented proceedings from the student symposium are part of a long-standing tradition of student symposia organized by the Institute of International Law and European Law of the Faculty of Law at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. This seventeenth edition of the symposium, entitled "The Environmental Dimension of International Territorial Regimes," took place on October 27, 2023.

The symposium was thematically dedicated to the current and dynamically developing issue of the environmental dimension of international territorial regimes.

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E-book

Alena Gessert

Caves have always been very specific places throughout history. In some cultures, they served as sites for sacrifices or remembrance, while in others, they were seen as places where one could cross to the "other side of life." People used caves for shelter, as places to leave messages, to wait out bad weather, and in some cases, even lived in them. During wars in our region, entire families or villages would hide from enemies in caves, or they would use them to conceal weapons.

Today, in most countries, caves are destinations for tourists who want to experience something new and unknown: darkness, high humidity, and the fascinating beauty of underground formations. They are also sought after by cavers who long to explore caves, enter worlds where no human has set foot before, find evidence of previous habitation, or conduct research that continually advances our knowledge.

In the publication you are holding, we present both traditional and less conventional topics about the formation of karst and caves, selected ecological aspects, maps and their creation, significant caves of the world, and the life of people in such areas. We also offer an overview of important karst locations that are definitely worth learning more about or visiting in person. This publication is intended for readers among pupils, students, teachers, and the general public, and we believe it will draw you into this mysterious world.

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E-book

Peter Fedoročko (ed.)

From June 13 to June 16, 2023, the 9th annual Spring School for Doctoral Students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice will take place in Stará Lesná. The scientific program of the spring school will comprise 3 plenary lectures by leading scientific experts and 1 workshop.

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 24 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

Marián Kireš  (ed.)

Proceedings of Abstracts from the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice

The Student Scientific Conference (SSC) represents the culmination of long-term and intensive work on a selected topic, collaboration with a supervisor, or a broader team at the workplace. In practice, however, it often marks the beginning of scientific research, focusing on a chosen subject, field, or close cooperation with a future supervisor of a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral thesis.

This year, the Student Scientific Conference took place on April 19, 2023, featuring 14 sections, a programming competition, and the IHRA contest. Bachelor’s and master’s students presented 101 contributions. Additionally, 8 high school students participated non-competitively, presenting their SOČ projects; 14 students took part in the programming competition, and 3 students competed in the IHRA contest.

We believe that the proceedings of abstracts and related documents serve not only as an archive but also as a dignified presentation of scientific activities at our faculty for the wider public.

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E-book

Lenka Mártonfiová (ed.)

The Index Seminum 2023 of the Botanical Garden of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University contains a list of 291 seed samples offered for the international exchange among botanical gardens on the world.

It includes seeds collected from the wild plants in natural localities of Slovakia with a detailed description of the localities with coordinates and date of collection (92 samples) and seeds of plants grown in the Botanical Garden (25 samples) and seeds from Exposition of the Tatra Mountain Nature of the State Forests of Tatra National Park, Tatranská Lomnica (69 samples) as well as 105 seed samples from Hrádocké Arboretum of the Secondary Forestry School of Jozef Dekret Matejovie in Liptovský Hrádok.

The index includes a desiderata table that can be used when ordering seeds..

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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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Vladimír Zeleňák (ed.)

The proceedings contain contributions from participants of the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Science at UPJŠ in Košice, which took place on April 24, 2014.

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E-book

Vladimír Zeleňák(ed.)

The proceedings contain abstracts of contributions from participants of the Student Scientific Conference of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, which took place on April 22, 2015.

The Student Scientific Conference (SSC) enjoys long-term popularity among the faculty's students and teachers, and we are pleased that this was no different this year, with 128 contributions submitted to the SSC.

The contributions were organized into 19 sections, additionally complemented by an open programming competition and the final of the IHRA contest. For many students, presenting at the SSC is one of the first opportunities to gain experience in presenting their results before a professional audience. Considering the number of submitted contributions, along with the members of the expert juries from the faculty's teaching staff and the audience who came to support their classmates' presentations, the SSC is an event where a large part of the student and academic community of the faculty meets at one place and time. Many abstracts presented in this proceedings were developed as part of students' work on partial tasks that are components of research projects at the departments of the Faculty of Science, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University.

The abstracts represent, in a way, an overview of research topics at the individual workplaces of the faculty. The SSC proceedings thus serve as a useful tool that students and faculty teachers can use to present the faculty externally to partners, employers, and potential collaborators. Partners from practice have shown interest in cooperating in organizing the SSC for a long time. Since 2005, the association of IT companies has awarded a Prize for the Most Original Work and a Prize for the Work with the Best Prospects for Practical Application.

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Miroslav Repčák - Martin Bačkor - Peter Paľove-Balang - Silvia Gajdošová

The establishment of the Plant Physiology Laboratory at the Department of Botany, Faculty of Arts, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice in 1969 was associated with the name of Ing. Štefan Kocúrik, CSc. (1923–2006), who also prepared the first "Instructions for Exercises in Plant Physiology" (Košice 1972, 1976).

Since 1980, the manual by Associate Professor RNDr. Karol Erdelský, CSc., and Ing. Fridrich Frič, DrSc., titled "Practicum and Analytical Methods in Plant Physiology" (Bratislava 1980) has been used. With the increase in the number of students, it became relevant in 1991 to publish the "Instructions for Exercises in Plant Physiology" again to improve preparation and the efficient organization of practical work. Associate Professor RNDr. A. Košturiak, CSc., contributed significantly to the expansion of the introductory part of the instructions with his valuable advice, for which the authors are grateful. For the fourth edition, some tasks were updated and modernized, taking into account the possibilities of the renovated laboratory. The selection of tasks was adapted to the current scope of exercises for individual plant physiology subjects within the bachelor's and master's study programs in biology and ecology. These subjects include: Plant Physiology, Plant Metabolism, Mineral Nutrition of Plants, Plant Growth and Development, and Plant Ecology. Some tasks are also suitable for high school experiments.

The choice of topics was influenced by the research focus of our workplace on secondary metabolism, ecophysiology, and medicinal plants. The instructions generally adhere to the SI unit system, occasionally including other commonly used units.

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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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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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