NOVEL TRENDS IN CHEMISTRY, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice 2023

E-publication

Beáta Valkay ed.
Ivana Slepáková-Lenka Maliničová a kol.

EFFUSE - A Guide for Students is an interactive educational resource for primary and secondary school students to help them better understand how their daily activities affect the environment. The handbook was developed within the EFFUSE project (‘Environment for the future by science education’) and motivates young people to take a greater interest in the nature around them. It focuses on practical field activities during which they will explore the ecosystem of the Laborec and Uh rivers, observe and document organisms and work with real samples from nature. At the same time, they will learn about the work of scientists - botanists, zoologists and microbiologists - and learn basic biomonitoring methods. The manual will also guide them through the process of creating a virtual laboratory to display the results of their investigations of an aquatic ecosystem. It will help them understand the importance of sustainable development and encourage them to behave responsibly towards nature. It is their opportunity to learn about their surroundings in a new way, to learn to think scientifically and to become active creators of positive change for their community and future generations.

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E-book

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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E-book

Jozef Strečka

Over the past fifteen years, the course on ’Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ has become an indispensable ground of the study programme ’Theoretical Physics’ at Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafarik University in Košice. At first, the course based on the first edition of this textbook was intended for undergraduate students only, however, I have later prepared follow-up course taught at a postgraduate level on demand of several ambitious students who wished to continue in studying this exciting research field.

It is already more than decade when our students enrolled in the study programme ’Theoretical Physics’ graduate from ’Introduction to Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ at a master level and ’Exactly Solvable Models in Statistical Physics’ at a postgraduate level. Of course, it was necessary somehow to rearrange topics for the courses of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

More specifically, a few more challenging topics concerned with exact solutions of 2D Ising model (chapter 3) were moved to a more advanced course intended for the postgraduate students, while an introductory course intended for the undergraduate students was contrarily supplemented with a few new topics requiring the second edition of this textbook.

The second edition of this textbook thus contains a completely new chapter 4 devoted to the exact solution of the Ising model on the Bethe lattice using the method of exact recursion relations, while the chapter 5 was supplemented by exact results for ground state of a few frustrated Heisenberg spin models using the variational method. It is my hope that the next edition of this textbook will come soon and it will involve all topics specifically taught within the postgraduate course as well. 

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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.

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Ján Kleban a kolektív

Predkladaný pracovný zošit na praktické cvičenia z cytológie je určený poslucháčom 1. ročníka bakalárskeho štúdia biológie a 1. ročníka bakalárskeho medziodborového štúdia v kombinácii s biológiou na Prírodovedeckej fakulte Univerzity Pavla Jozefa Šafárika v Košiciach. Slúži ako návod, ktorý má študentom uľahčiť prácu a umožniť rýchlejšiu orientáciu v zadanej úlohe. Úprava pracovného zošita do formy protokolov umožňuje študentom zakresliť vlastné pozorovanie a tým stimuluje študentov k presnejšiemu a trvalejšiemu zapamätaniu si precvičovanej úlohy a zároveň umožňuje spätnú kontrolu pedagógom. Počas cvičení sa študenti postupne oboznámia so základnými pojmami optiky, s aplikáciami využívajúcimi mikroskopickú techniku, ale aj so základnými rozdielmi medzi štruktúrou rastlinnej a živočíšnej bunky a ich organelami.

E-book

Jana Shepa - Ivana Šišoláková (eds.)

Abstracts of the 4th International Conference Nanomaterials: Fundamentals and Applications (NFA) 2020 is the contributions summary of the conference participants. The conference will feature three invited lectures and eight registered lectures. This conference is a tool for creating a dialogue between experts in the field of nanomaterials, their use and overall application in various fields. Papers in the proceedings are thematically divided into 6 areas. All contributions are highly professional and interesting and can contribute to further creative scientific work.

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E-book

Rastislav Varga

The movement of domain walls in ferromagnetic materials is utilized in various magnetic devices for storing, processing, or transmitting signals and information. This mainly includes transformer cores, various sensors, memory devices (e.g., HDDs in PCs), as well as modern spintronic devices such as Racetrack memories, domain wall motion-based electronics, and so on.

This book is intended to serve as a textbook for advanced courses in the field of magnetic materials. It is primarily aimed at students interested in studying magnetic materials, as well as professionals from various fields who wish to understand the basics of domain structure and its changes. It is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter deals with a brief history of the study of domain structure in magnetic materials. The second chapter provides an introduction to the causes and manifestations of magnetic anisotropies. The third and fourth chapters are devoted to the causes of domain structure formation and domain walls. The fifth chapter discusses the structure of domain walls, their potential, and the critical field required for domain wall movement. The sixth chapter is dedicated to magnetization processes, one of which - domain wall movement - is discussed in detail in chapter 7. The eighth chapter contains a theoretical solution for domain wall movement. The final ninth chapter presents a modern method of domain wall movement induced by electric current.

The presented work assumes that the reader has at least basic knowledge in the field of magnetism. Otherwise, the author refers the reader to basic literature (e.g., [2.1 - 2.6]).

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E-book

Ján Guniš - Ľubomír Šnajder

Prílohy

College scripts Programming in Python 1 are intended for future teachers of computer science. The content of the course is related to the teaching of programming in Scratch and is an introduction to text-based programming in Python.

Programming is introduced as a means of developing problem-solving skills. The first chapter is devoted to problem solving. The next 12 chapters sequentially introduce basic language constructions, data structures, and selected types of algorithms. Each of these chapters begins with an introduction to the problem. This section is primarily intended for self-study, to prepare students for the exercises. The following subchapter summarizes and completes the knowledge, and additional insights and approaches related to the chapter topic are presented. The chapters include a collection of exercises designed to practice and deepen knowledge and skills on the topic.

The final part of the chapter presents the solved problems. This section serves as a guide to solving the problems in the collection.

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E-book

Ján Füzer

Auxiliary teaching material for the course General Physics III – Oscillations, Waves, and Optics is intended for students of single-subject and interdisciplinary studies of physics.

The content provides a basic outline of the material covered, without detailed explanations, with an emphasis on the physical method of thinking using the simplest elements of higher mathematics. The presented text does not aim to replace the recommended textbooks, but rather to help students navigate the subject matter. Recommended literature can be found at the end of the text.

The teaching material contains the basic framework of the lectures and is supplemented and revised each year, with lectures enriched by supporting demonstration experiments.

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E-book

Katarína Štrofeková

Cell Biophysics II is the one semester comprehensive course textbook for PhD students. It encompasses basic principles and mechanisms underlying cell physiology and biophysics with aims:

• General knowledge of the principles of cellular function, including membrane, cytoplasmic and nuclear roles in normal and abnormal conditions.
• In-depth understanding of the mechanisms underlying the cell functions at the molecular and subcellular level.
• Awareness of cell pathologies that lead to specific disease symptoms and phenotypes.
• The ability to apply learned principles to solve new problems (analysis & synthesis).

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E-book

Janetta Nestorová Dická

The university handbook Elementals of Population Geography and Demography - Part I, as an introduction to population studies, is primary study material for students of the geography study program, as well as for students of the Information Systems in Public Administration study program at the Pavel Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, but also for the wider public interested in about population phenomena and their spatiality. Among other things, the handbook offers the latest population reports in the world and its regions.

The aim of the handbook is to introduce young geographers to the basics of population research, which includes the most frequently used tools and methods in geographic analysis. The first part of the handbook contains an introduction to the scientific disciplines of population geography and demography with an overview of basic sources of demographic data.

The next part discusses the issue of anthropogenesis, i.e. the development of humans from our ancestors and the spatial spread of humans across our Earth. Part of this part is the recent development of the world population and changes in the size and distribution of the global population over time. The last part analyses how the population is distributed in the world and in relation to the geographical components of the space.

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E-book

Vasyl Cherlinka - Michal Gallay - Yuryi Dmytruk

The textbook is a practical guide to predictive mapping of soil types and properties in R. It bridges digital soil mapping theory with hands-on practice, covering the full workflow from data acquisition and preprocessing to validation and uncertainty quantification. Early chapters introduce the tidyverse ecosystem and the sf and terra packages for spatial data handling. Subsequent parts address modelling of categorical variables (soil types/WRB) and continuous variables (soil organic carbon) using Random Forest, Cubist, and Quantile Regression Forests. Step-by-step code examples show training/testing, feature selection, accuracy metrics, and model interpretation. Reproducibility and cartographic best practice are emphasised. A Slovakia case study demonstrates real-world application while outlining limits and generalisability. The book targets bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD students in geography, geoinformatics, environmental and agricultural sciences, as well as practitioners. Written in English, it fits international courses and mobility programmes.

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E-book

Adela Kravčáková - Stanislav Vokál - Janka Vrláková 

The presented “General Physics IV, Part 1: Atomic Physics” is intended as a basic study material for lectures from General Physics IV in the second year of bachelor-level study of physics and interdisciplinary study in combination with physics at the Faculty of Science, P. J. Šafárik University in Košice. The content covers the first part of the given course of physics, devoted to atomic physics.

The aim of the course is to obtain basic information about the structure of the atom and the electron shell of the atom.

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E-publication
Mária Vilková-Zuzana Kudličková-Ján Elečko
This study material is intended for students of chemistry and related disciplines interested in applied nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and physical chemistry. It offers practice-oriented tasks designed to develop skills in NMR spectroscopy, quantitative analysis, and data interpretation. Students learn modern approaches to determining physicochemical parameters (e.g., partition coefficients, pKa values, keto–enol equilibria, or enantiomeric excess) and gain experience with software tools for spectrum processing.
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E-book

Mária Ganajová - Jozef Hanč - Ivana Sotáková - Petra Letošníková (eds.)

The International Conference on Research in Didactics of the Science – DidSci+ 2022, continues in the educational legacy of the successful series of the previous DidSci conferences held from 2004 in Krakow, Prague, Brno, or Trnava. The DidSci+ conferences present a platform for enduring international cooperation, focusing on the frontiers and current challenges in science education research. This special edition of DidSci conferences, celebrating its 10th anniversary, was held in Košice, at the Faculty of Science of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, from June 26 to 29, 2022. The careful double-blind review process has led to two major publications offering a comprehensive look at the latest advances in STEM and science subjects education. The first volume of selected papers is published as the IOP Conference Series proceedings, Vol. 3037 with open access at https://iopscience.iop.org/issue/1742-6596/3037/1, and is primarily devoted to STEM education, assessment, evaluation, feedback strategies, and teacher development. The second volume of selected papers, published by ŠafárikPress, focuses more on curriculum development, educational innovation, and digital technologies, primarily in chemistry and biology. Both publications are intended for a wide audience, including in-service and pre-service teachers of science subjects, university students in scientific disciplines, researchers in science education, professionals in pedagogical and methodological centers, curriculum developers, and textbook authors.

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Adriana Zeleňáková

Magnetic nanoparticles are extremely interesting magnetic objects that still hide much that is undiscovered, both because of their physical properties and because of their diverse applications. Iron nanoparticles, or iron oxides, are used in medical diagnostics for magnetic resonance imaging, in the treatment of hyperthermia, and an important application is the use of magnetic particles for targeted drug delivery.

The textbook "Magnetic Nanoparticles: Nanomagnetism, Preparation and Advanced Applications" is intended primarily for students of the Master's programme in Physics and students of related disciplines at universities and faculties with a physical, chemical, metallurgical and biophysical focus. The motivation for writing this textbook was to develop study material that would contribute to improving the quality of teaching in the profile subject Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology at the Institute of Physical, Faculty of Sciences, UPJŠ, in the Master's programme Condensed Matter Physics, as well as in the profile subject in the PhD programme Advanced Materials.

The university textbook is divided into eight chapters. The first and second chapters are devoted to basic information about magnetism, the origin of nanomagnetism in nanoparticles and surface phenomena. The third and fourth chapters are devoted to nanomagnetism in nanoparticle systems. The fifth chapter describes in detail individual protocols for investigating the phenomenon of superparamagnetism and the phenomenon of superspin glass using the SQUID device. The sixth chapter describes individual procedures for the preparation of magnetic nanoparticles and the seventh chapter describes individual experimental techniques for the study of magnetic nanoparticles. The final eighth chapter describes the applications of nanoparticles in biomedicine.

During the writing of this textbook, the chapters were prepared using the foreign-language specialist literature listed in the recommended reading list.

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