48th Conference of the Middle European Cooperation in Statistical Physics

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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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Adriana Zeleňáková

One of the fundamental characteristics of the magnetic state of ferromagnetic materials is the existence of a domain structure. The university textbook "MAGNETIC DOMAINS: SPECIAL PHYSICAL PRACTICE 1" is intended primarily for students of the Master's programme in Physics of Condensed Matter FKLm and for the PhD programme in Progressive Materials PMd within the profile subject Special Practice 1 at the Institute of Physical Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.  The textbook is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the basics of domain theory, including the history of domain observation and the specification of different types of energies in ferromagnetic body. The second chapter presents the relationship between domain structure and magnetisation processes in ferromagnetic materials The third chapter describes the different types of domain-wall interactions with the defect. The fourth chapter illustrates examples of domain structure in selected ferromagnetic body such as grain oriented and non-grain oriented electrical steels, amorphous and nanocrystalline ribbons. The fifth chapter summarises an overview of the different experimental methods used to visualise the domain structure and their advantages or disadvantages with respect to the structure of ferromagnetic materials. The last two chapters, the sixth and the seventh, are devoted to specific experimental tasks for observing the domain structure of a selected polycrystalline sample using the optical microscope Bitter powder method and the MFM (magnetic force microscopy) method. During the preparation of this undergraduate text, its individual parts were developed using the foreign language literature listed in the recommended references.

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Danica Studenovská a kol. 

Táto zbierka úloh je určená poslucháčom Prírodovedeckej fakulty UPJŠ, ktorí sa v rámci predmetu Matematika I. zoznamujú s pojmami funkcie, limity, derivácie, integrálu a ich aplikáciami. Ide najmä o študentov nematematických odborov a učiteľských kombinácií, avšak táto zbierka je vhodná aj pre iných študentov a záujemcov o základy matematickej analýzy.

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Milan Žukovič

The textbook Computational Physics I covers the topics taught in the course of the same name at the bachelor's level of the Physics study program, as well as in the course Application of Numerical Methods at the bachelor's level of the Applied Informatics study program.

The text builds upon the basic course in numerical methods, focusing on explaining the fundamental principles of computer-based solutions to some typical physics problems. It includes both the area of deterministic methods for solving problems modeled by ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as the area of stochastic Monte Carlo simulations. The course Computational Physics I lays the foundation for further study of more advanced computational methods taught at the master's level in the subject Computational Physics II. Nowadays, the use of computers as a tool for solving real physics problems, and for students as a tool for preparing their final bachelor's or master's theses, is almost indispensable.

This has led to the creation of numerous user-oriented software packages in various environments for solving a wide range of problems. However, without a thorough understanding of how individual computational techniques work, these programs become black boxes with many pitfalls and risks in their use. Therefore, this text emphasizes understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of individual methods and the assumptions for their successful application.

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Natália Raschmanová - Ľubomír Kováč

The text summarizes the basic knowledge about the functioning of the soil ecosystem with a focus on soil protists and dominant groups of soil animals. Characteristics of each soil animal group include basic morphology, ecology, distribution, population dynamics and their importance in the soil ecosystem. The aim of the text is to gain a basic understanding of the diversity and interactions of soil fauna with the soil environment. It deals with the ecological classification of soil fauna on the basis of body size, presence in the soil during the life cycle, food preference and by locomotion. It highlights important morphological and ecophysiological adaptations of soil fauna to physical and chemical environmental factors. The text also gives an overview of the basic methods in the field collection of soil fauna and their extraction from soil samples under laboratory conditions. It further informs on the method of taxonomic identification and ecological evaluation of soil fauna communities. Discusses the soil fauna of different types of ecosystems. It highlights the differences in soil fauna communities that inhabit grassland and forest habitats, and agricultural soils. This teaching material is intended for students in biology degree programmes.

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Gabriel Semanišin - Emil Hutňan - Jana Oleničová

The proceedings contain contributions from participants of the UNIFOS 2014 conference, University Information Systems in Košice, which took place from October 27 to 29, 2014.

ICT centers are important element that provide functioning and development hardware and software infrastructure at Slovak Universities. There are more differences between them in real position, management, personal sources and financing. ICT centers provide a wide range of services to large number of university users and they implement the policy of information security recently.

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Ondrej Hutník

The concept of the integral is one of the most significant concepts in mathematics as a whole. In its most primitive form, it was already used by the ancient Greeks in the creation of Euclidean geometry. However, it was only after Descartes' work on analytical geometry in 1637 that mathematicians could begin to consider the integral as a subject of analysis. Descartes' work laid the groundwork for the discovery of infinitesimal calculus by Leibniz and Newton around 1665. At that time, a great dispute arose over the priority of this discovery, dividing scholars of Germany and England into two opposing camps, each favoring their own champion. Today, we know that Newton's work on fluxions and fluents was somewhat earlier, but Leibniz's notation and approach have gained more acceptance in the mathematical world, and the symbols ∫ ∫ and d d are still used today. A brief overview of the history of the integral will be presented in Chapter 1.

Today, there is a plethora of scripts, textbooks, and books dedicated to explaining the concept of the integral. Therefore, every potential author faces the initial question of whether to write another text on this topic. Our affirmative answer to this question was driven by the students' request to find the subject matter of a part of the winter semester of the second year presented in a coherent form. The second motivation is a slightly different approach to the topic. If we consider the methods typically used in solving problems and gaining routine with a certain integral, it mainly involves the Newton-Leibniz formula, and often there is little time left to compute the definite (Riemann) integral using its definition. Therefore, we included a discussion of the Newton integral in Chapter 2, which reflects this fact and is directly related to the indefinite integral, whose various calculation methods receive relatively much attention in the previous semester. Only after that, in Chapter 3, do we build the theory of the Riemann integral, present criteria for its existence, classes of integrable functions, basic properties, and finally its relationship with the Newton integral. Questions primarily concerning geometric applications are addressed in Chapter 4, and in the final chapter, we focus on extending the Riemann integral to unbounded functions and unbounded intervals.

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Vladimír Sedlák

In the presented university textbooks, so-called satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS, from the English Satellite Based Augmentation Systems, in Slovak Systémy rozširujúce základné satelitné systémy) are also discussed. These systems enhance, expand, or refine the basic satellite navigation systems. They are supportive satellite systems for GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems). Currently, the long-operational American GPS and Russian GLONASS systems, as well as the partially operational European Galileo system (since December 2016), have and will continue to have broad applications in various fields of human activity, both professional and personal.

The university textbook Globálne navigačné satelitné systémy (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) reflects the current progressive development in the technological and instrumental principles and components of such satellite navigation systems. It presents the state of these satellite technologies from their historical origins and development to the present. The rapid advancements, particularly in the instrumental base of satellite navigation systems, will require updates on their current state in future editions of these university textbooks.

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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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Gabriela Andrejková - Ľubomír Antoni

Machine learning addresses the issues of how computer programs recognize complex patterns and make decisions based on data. In these university textbooks, we focus on theoretical knowledge in the field of machine learning in which we present the creation of concepts for objects, the preparation of concepts, hypotheses and the process of learning from examples. We describe Boolean formulas and their representations, probabilistic learning, linear and logistic regression, linear modeling and classification. Clustering and the Bayesian approach to machine learning conclude this publication.

University textbooks are intended for students of master's degree programs in computer science.

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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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Andrej Mock

The structure of the animal body is extremely varied. Each species has its distinctive morphological features, which bears as a testimony to long-term development and belonging to the developmental lineage. At the same time, the body has been tested for a long time by natural conditions, resulting in unique adaptations to the environment and life strategy. Despite this admirable variety - which includes both recent and fossil animals and which we have far from mapped – a comparison of body parts brings knowledge we can generalize: the main building principles, and boundaries within which phenotypic diversity is realized.

Comparative animal morphology today uses the latest methodological material and knowledge from other disciplines, from genetics, molecular biology and experimental embryology, through progressive imaging methods (e.g. electron microscopy, computer micro-tomography) and the possibilities of subsequent software processing of image material (measurement, staining, etc.) to the view of physics, chemistry, statics and geometry on the structures (to nanostructures) of the living body. Detailed knowledge of historical and contemporary conditions on Earth is an important interpretative context in the study of animal morphology. Surprisingly, the knowledge accumulated after centuries of research is now rapidly supplemented by new knowledge, and often the traditional knowledge is subsequently reinterpreted. Finally, and no less important, in studying animal (and human) morphology, we learn surprising knowledge about ourselves.

The author of the presented textbook had the ambition in a simplified form to introduce the reader, especially the student of biological studies, into a dynamic and fascinating scientific discipline, as the current comparative animal morphology is.

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Tomáš Samuely

Today, scanning probe microscopes are standard tools in materials science, physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering. Thousands of these microscopes are in operation worldwide and are at least as common and popular as scanning electron microscopes.

Despite the vast number of newer scanning probe microscopy techniques, classical STM remains a significant and irreplaceable method, widely used, for example, in solid-state research. In this text, we will focus on both traditional and innovative STM techniques that are available and utilized in the laboratories of the Center for Low Temperature Physics in Košice.

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Marek Bombara

The collection of exercises summarises and supplements the exercises realised at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice within the lecture course Elementary Particle Physics. The collection is intended for the master students of the Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics subject, but it could be beneficial also for other physics subjects or even for interdisciplinary study. 

The division of chapters roughly copies the order of lectures. At the beginning, students will briefly familiarize themselves with the basics of special relativity and its practical use in particle physics.

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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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Martin Orendáč

The textbook is designed to prepare students who will engage in the experimental study of the properties of condensed matter. It demonstrates that a contemporary experimental physicist must not only possess sufficiently detailed knowledge of the physical processes occurring within the object under study but also understand the methods for creating the experimental conditions in which the experiment is conducted. Active knowledge of the functioning of the entire experimental setup can be of fundamental importance in the implementation or potential modification of the measurement methodology used.

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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.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Adriana Zeleňáková

One of the fundamental characteristics of the magnetic state of ferromagnetic materials is the existence of a domain structure. The university textbook "MAGNETIC DOMAINS: SPECIAL PHYSICAL PRACTICE 1" is intended primarily for students of the Master's programme in Physics of Condensed Matter FKLm and for the PhD programme in Progressive Materials PMd within the profile subject Special Practice 1 at the Institute of Physical Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.  The textbook is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the basics of domain theory, including the history of domain observation and the specification of different types of energies in ferromagnetic body. The second chapter presents the relationship between domain structure and magnetisation processes in ferromagnetic materials The third chapter describes the different types of domain-wall interactions with the defect. The fourth chapter illustrates examples of domain structure in selected ferromagnetic body such as grain oriented and non-grain oriented electrical steels, amorphous and nanocrystalline ribbons. The fifth chapter summarises an overview of the different experimental methods used to visualise the domain structure and their advantages or disadvantages with respect to the structure of ferromagnetic materials. The last two chapters, the sixth and the seventh, are devoted to specific experimental tasks for observing the domain structure of a selected polycrystalline sample using the optical microscope Bitter powder method and the MFM (magnetic force microscopy) method. During the preparation of this undergraduate text, its individual parts were developed using the foreign language literature listed in the recommended references.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

Danica Studenovská a kol. 

Táto zbierka úloh je určená poslucháčom Prírodovedeckej fakulty UPJŠ, ktorí sa v rámci predmetu Matematika I. zoznamujú s pojmami funkcie, limity, derivácie, integrálu a ich aplikáciami. Ide najmä o študentov nematematických odborov a učiteľských kombinácií, avšak táto zbierka je vhodná aj pre iných študentov a záujemcov o základy matematickej analýzy.

Autori

E-book

Milan Žukovič

The textbook Computational Physics I covers the topics taught in the course of the same name at the bachelor's level of the Physics study program, as well as in the course Application of Numerical Methods at the bachelor's level of the Applied Informatics study program.

The text builds upon the basic course in numerical methods, focusing on explaining the fundamental principles of computer-based solutions to some typical physics problems. It includes both the area of deterministic methods for solving problems modeled by ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as the area of stochastic Monte Carlo simulations. The course Computational Physics I lays the foundation for further study of more advanced computational methods taught at the master's level in the subject Computational Physics II. Nowadays, the use of computers as a tool for solving real physics problems, and for students as a tool for preparing their final bachelor's or master's theses, is almost indispensable.

This has led to the creation of numerous user-oriented software packages in various environments for solving a wide range of problems. However, without a thorough understanding of how individual computational techniques work, these programs become black boxes with many pitfalls and risks in their use. Therefore, this text emphasizes understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of individual methods and the assumptions for their successful application.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)

E-book

Natália Raschmanová - Ľubomír Kováč

The text summarizes the basic knowledge about the functioning of the soil ecosystem with a focus on soil protists and dominant groups of soil animals. Characteristics of each soil animal group include basic morphology, ecology, distribution, population dynamics and their importance in the soil ecosystem. The aim of the text is to gain a basic understanding of the diversity and interactions of soil fauna with the soil environment. It deals with the ecological classification of soil fauna on the basis of body size, presence in the soil during the life cycle, food preference and by locomotion. It highlights important morphological and ecophysiological adaptations of soil fauna to physical and chemical environmental factors. The text also gives an overview of the basic methods in the field collection of soil fauna and their extraction from soil samples under laboratory conditions. It further informs on the method of taxonomic identification and ecological evaluation of soil fauna communities. Discusses the soil fauna of different types of ecosystems. It highlights the differences in soil fauna communities that inhabit grassland and forest habitats, and agricultural soils. This teaching material is intended for students in biology degree programmes.

Download the e-book for free (pdf)