Ivica Aviani

• Professor
• Professor (Full) at University of Split

This work is aimed at exploring some pedagogical opportunities of using photographs in physics instruction. In our study, the photography has been used for eliciting and probing students’ ideas regarding the physics of fluids in noninertial frames of reference and under conditions of equilibrium. The study involved a heterogeneous sample of 235 sec...

We report measurements and data analysis of specific heat, susceptibility, and transport properties of Yb0.5Y0.5InCu4 in the temperature range between 2 and 300 K, and in magnetic fields of 0 and 5 T. The data can be consistently explained within the local-moment crystal-field theory with two close-lying doublets, Gamma6 and Gamma7 , in the ground...

We report the discovery of two consecutive, pressure driven magnetic instabilities in Yb2Pd2Sn. They emerge in a non-Fermi liquid environment at the initial and the final point of a dome-like, single magnetic phase at pressures pc1≈1 GPa and pc2≈4 GPa. This singular behavior of Yb compounds is supposed to result from mutually competing, pressure mo...

Ovaj rad ima za cilj uvesti primjere iz veslanja u nastavu fizike u svim ciklusima obrazovanja te na taj način, osvježiti nastavu mehanike. Kao primjer za analizu gibanja odabran je snimak uzbudljive finalne utrke samaca na Olimpijskim igrama u Riju 2016. pri čemu je za video-analizu korišten Tracker. Pokazali smo kako otkloniti utjecaj promjenjive...

Solid state physics has important applications in the development of modern technologies. Although solid state concepts, such as electric and thermal conductivity, are included in the curricula at all educational levels, even university students have many incorrect ideas about them. The incorrect ideas identified in previous studies are mainly relat...

Doniach phase diagram of heavy fermions with Ce and Eu ions is explained by the scaling solution of the Anderson model. At high temperatures, where the rear earth ions behave as nearly independent local moments (LM) the system has a large paramagnetic entropy and its properties are defined by Kondo temperature, $T_K(p)$, where $p$ is the external p...

The text contains my comments and suggestions as well as the responses of the expert working group at the public consultation on the draft Experimental Science Curriculum for Primary School, which took place in May 2023. The subject of Science will be introduced as a new subject in experimental teaching in all-day school in place of the subject of...

Increasing use of nano-enabled products provides many benefits in various industrial processes and medical applications, but it also raises concern about release of nanoparticles (NPs) into the environment and subsequent human exposure. While potential toxicity of individual NPs types has been well described in scientific literature, exposure and h...

Background Silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are one of the most commercialized types of nanomaterials, with a wide range of applications owing to their antimicrobial activity. They are particularly important in hospitals and other healthcare settings, where they are used to maintain sterility of surfaces, textiles, catheters, medical implants, and more....

This work is motivated by the possibilities of applying the bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticles to resistant bacterial strains, which represent one of the greatest scientific challenges of today. The goal of this research is to better understand the bactericidal effect of silver nanoparticles. For this research, it was necessary to synthesi...

We have studied the electrical resistivity of the YBCO superconductor sample as a function of temperature and current. For this purpose, we have built a setup that allows the measurement of the resistivity between room temperature and the boiling point of nitrogen. We adapted the appropriate LabVIEW programs to run the experiment and collect the da...

An infecting and propagating parasite relies on its innate defense system to evade the host's immune response and to survive challenges from commensal bacteria. More so for the nematode Anisakis, a marine parasite that during its life cycle encounters both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts and their highly diverse microbiotas. Although much is stil...

In this article, a model is developed for the quantitative and calibration-free determination of the diameter and concentration of colloidal metal nanoparticles synthesized by laser ablation in water. The model is valid under the assumption that all the ablated material is converted into nanoparticles. This is proved by Mie theory under dipole appr...

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are antimicrobial agents displaying a broad spectrum of activity due to their mechanism of action targeting the bacterial membrane. The emergence of bacterial resistance to QACs, especially in times of pandemics, requires the continuous search for new and potent QACs structures. Here we report the synthesis and...

Bivalve mollusks are continuously exposed to potentially pathogenic microorganisms living in the marine environment. Not surprisingly, these filter-feeders developed a robust innate immunity to protect themselves, which includes a broad panel of antimicrobial peptides. Among these, myticalins represent a recently discovered family of linear cationi...

We present an example of inquiry-based online teaching created in a virtual lab from the GoLab website and a Google Form that allows easy transaction of content and statistical insight into student feedback. The paper presents a method for independent learning of high school students on the topic Elastic Potential Energy. The learning consists of t...

We present an example of a research-based online lesson for second-grade high-school students on the work and power of the electric current. The lesson was prepared using virtual labs on the portal Go-Lab and the Google form, which, in addition to transferring the content, gave us insight into the statistics of the success of the lesson. A correspo...

We present an example of a lesson on the Stefan-Boltzmann law, which we begin with motivating questions: What would the average temperature on Earth be if there was no atmosphere? What is the role of the atmosphere? How does global warming occur? The answers to these questions lead us to the Stefan-Boltzmann law and its application. In a laboratory...

Teaching the concepts of electrical and thermal transport in solids begins in elementary school through simple macroscopic models and progressively develops to microscopic quantum models within specialized university courses. Educational research has pointed to a number of misconceptions in this field, especially when it comes to understanding rela...

Razumijevanje koncepata vezanih uz električnu vodljivost čvrstih tvari započinje već u osnovnoj školi putem makroskopskih modela te se razvija sve do kvantnomehaničkih modela u okviru specijaliziranih kolegija, poput Fizike čvrstog stanja. Unatoč tome, edukacijska istraživanja ukazuju na brojne konceptualne poteškoće o spomenutom fenomenu, posebice...

Item banks are generally considered the basis of a new generation of educational measurement. In combination with specialized software, they can facilitate the computerized assembling of multiple pre-equated test forms. However, for advantages of item banks to become fully realized it is important that the item banks store a relatively large number...

We aim to elucidate the mode of antibacterial action of the laser-synthesized silver colloid against Escherichia coli. Membrane integrity was studied by flow cytometry, while the strain viability of the treated culture was determined by plating. The spectrofluorometry was used to obtain the time development of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) insi...

We recorded diffraction patterns using a commercially available slit and sensor over a wide range of experimental circumstances, including near- and far-field regimes and oblique incidence at large angles. We then compared the measured patterns with theoretical intensity curves calculated via the numerical integration of formulas derived within the...

This study is aimed to better understand the bactericidal mode of action of silver nanoparticles. Here we present the production and characterization of laser-synthesized silver nanoparticles along with growth curves of bacteria treated at sub-minimal and minimal inhibitory concentrations, obtained by optical density measurements. The main effect o...

We present a simple growth model which was developed to explain Escherichia coli growth in batch culture. Optical density measurements are used to obtain E. coli growth curves for different inoculum sizes and nutrients concentrations. The model is described by two nonlinear mutually dependent differential equations that describe time evolution of b...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are plausible candidates for the development of novel classes of antibiotics with a low tendency to elicit resistance. They often form lesions in the bacterial membrane making it hard for bacteria to develop permanent resistance. However, a potent antibacterial activity is often accompanied by excessive cytotoxicity to...

Even graduate physics students have many misconceptions about basic wave optics phenomena. This suggests that there is much room for improvement of the traditional wave optics curriculum. An effective way for initiating a curriculum change is to reconsider and revise the expected learning outcomes and corresponding assessment instruments. By system...

In this work we describe the development of the kinetic molecular theory of liquids (KMTL) concept inventory, as well as its use in investigating students' conceptual understanding of the KMTL within the contexts of aggregate states, evaporation, boiling, condensation, conduction, convection, diffusion, and surface tension. We implemented think-alo...

Quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs) are amphiphilic molecules displaying a broad-spectrum of antibacterial activity. QACs are commonly used antiseptics in industrial, home and hospital settings. Given the emergence of the QAC-resistant bacteria, there is an urgent need to design new QACs with good antimicrobial activity, able to escape the host re...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are naturally produced, gene encoded molecules with a direct antimicrobial activity against pathogens, often also showing other immune-related properties. Anuran skin secretions are rich in bioactive peptides, including AMPs, and we have reported a novel targeted sequencing approach to identify novel AMPs simultaneousl...

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibilities of using a smartphone in physical education classes in elementary and secondary schools. In this work, we have explained the basic principles of the main smartphone sensors, explored the free apps that use them, and found out from the available literature what experiments can be done in sch...

We have investigated the magnetic properties of the CexY1-xPt Kondo ferromagnetic alloy system in the temperature range from 1.8 K to 320 K. The results of these investigations can be summarized as follows: dc-susceptibility can be described by the Curie-Weiss law at higher temperatures down to about 100 K, but also at low temperatures above the fe...

Dorađeni prijedlog Nacionalnog kurikuluma nastavnog predmeta Fizika nakon stručne rasprave održane tijekom 2016. godine i javnog savjetovanja održanog tijekom 2016. i 2017. godine. Dijelovi ovog dokumenta (Ishodi i razrada ishoda na razini usvojenosti Dobar) za osnovnu školu i gimnazije preuzeti su u Nacionalnom kurikulumu iz 2019. godine, a cjelok...

Stručna radna skupina (SRS) za izradu Prijedloga nacionalnog kurikuluma nastavnog predmeta Fizika zaprimila je na javnom savjetovanju osam priloga (vidjeti https://esavjetovanja.gov.hr/ECon/EconReport?entityId=3801). SRS Fizika iz 2017. godine, u sastavu: Ivica Aviani, Ines Dukić, Natasa Erceg, Vlado Halusek, Anica Hrlec, Damir Kliček, dala je opši...

The aim of this master thesis is to find learning and teaching methods that enable students to develop their creative and scientific thinking. We explore the possibilities offered by the dynamic mathematics software Geogebra for inquiry-based teaching in physics. We have created GeoGebra files that we use to demonstrate the possibilities of using G...

Dorađeni Prijedlog kurikuluma prirodoslovnog područja nakon stručne rasprave održane tijekom 2016. godine i javnog savjetovanja održanog tijekom 2016. i 2017. godine. Dokument razrađuje na odgojno-obrazovna očekivanja pri poučavanju predmeta iz prirodoslovlja u svim odgojno-obrazovnim ciklusima, od predškolske dobi do završetka srednjoškolskog obra...

The book contains abstracts from research workshop on Spin, Charge and Energy Transport in Novel Materials, which was held in Hvar, Croatia, in 2017. The workshop addresses the properties of materials that are currently at the forefront of materials science. It includes materials for spintronic, spincaloritronic, magneto- and electrocaloric devices...

In this thesis, we analyze the possibilities of Algodoo, a free simulation software, as a teaching and learning tool for physics. Algodoo allows you to create interactive simulations without requiring knowledge of any programming language. Because of its simplicity and visually appealing graphical interface, Algodoo has great potential to make phys...

The book contains the papers of the participants of XIII. Croatian Symposium on Physics Teaching with the thematic title Modern Curriculum and Physics Teaching, held in Hotel Donat in Zadar from 19 to 21 April 2017, organized by the Croatian Physical Society and the Education and Teacher Training Agency. This symposium is dedicated to the importanc...

In this study, we investigated students’ understanding of concepts related to the microscopic model of gas. We thoroughly reviewed the relevant literature and conducted think alouds with students by asking them to answer open-ended questions about the kinetic molecular theory of gases. Thereafter, we transformed the open-ended questions into multip...

In order to study Kondo ferromagnetism of CePt, we have investigated the transport properties, resistivity and thermopower, of the CexY1-xPt alloy system from 2 K to 320 K. The extracted magnetic contribution to the total resistivity cannot be scaled to the concentration and is much higher than in the CexLa1-xPt alloy system. The maximum of the mag...

In order to study Kondo ferromagnetism, particularly of the CePt compound, we investigate the magnetic properties of the CexLa1−xPt alloy system in the temperature range from 1.8 K to 320 K. The results of these investigations can be summarized as follows: dc-susceptibility can be described by the Curie-Weiss law at higher temperatures down to abou...

Computers are accessible to almost every teacher and student today and are used in various forms of teaching. However, we rarely use computers as precise measuring devices, which would give us a new and improved approach to teaching physics. The computer as a measuring device has great potential for design and research in interactive teaching. It i...

In this study we investigated how two different approaches to drawing free body diagrams influence the development of students’ understanding of Newton’s laws, including their ability to identify real forces. For this purpose we developed a 12-item two-tier multiple choice survey and conducted a quasiexperiment. This experiment included two groups...

Using the experience gained from working with teachers and students and the latest achievements in magnetism, we have developed a series of simple experiments using neodymium magnets. Some of the experiments are directly oriented to the curricula of primary and secondary schools, the others serve as a basis for additional teaching and project tasks...

We investigated the students’ ability to translate the velocity-time graph into a real physical situation and the possible sources of conceptual difficulties. The study involved the sample of n=324 high-school/university students, and physics teachers in Croatia. The students were presented the original non-traditional open-ended graph problem. The...

We investigated the students' ability to translate the velocity-time graph into a real physical situation and the possible sources of conceptual difficulties. The study involved the sample of n=324 high-school/university students, and physics teachers in Croatia. The students were presented the original non-traditional open-ended graph problem. The...

We investigated students' understanding of satellite motion around the Earth. For that purpose, we surveyed high-school and university students from Croatia. With the objective of gaining insight into teachers' understanding of students' abilities, physics teachers were asked to predict students' answers. The results of the study suggest that most...

Students’ reflections on the meaningfulness of physics problem statements and solutions were investigated. The sample consisted of 276 Croatian high school/university students. The students, being at the different learning levels, were all familiar with the physical conceptsconcerned. Students’ critical thinking processes were explored based on thei...

With the aim to find effective methods for teaching physics, we investigated students’ abilities to solve the non-traditional problem in kinematics. The study involved 276 high-school and university students. To gain insight into the students’ learning conditions we analyzed 16 physics textbooks and questioned 48 secondary school teachers. The stud...

The intermetallic compound CeGe exhibits unusual magnetic behavior owing to the interplay between Kondo and antiferromagnetic coupling. This system is interesting because the Kondo temperature is close to the Néel temperature, so there is a close competition between the low-temperature interactions, which can be tuned by varying external parameters...

We report on the resistivity and thermopower measurements together with the microstructural investigations of two highly concentrated alloys of the UxY1−xRu2Si2 alloy system, for x = 0.5 and x = 0.67, nominally. Microstructural analysis shows the existence of two different crystalline phases at the room temperature: the solid solution UcY1−cRu2Si2...

The topic of this work aims to develop methods and models to facilitate the understanding and analysis of periodic motion in the classroom. In the paper, we have detailed the procedures for recording and video analysis of the experiment. We designed and recorded eight experiments and analyzed them using the free video analysis application Tracker....

Describing motion is challenging and abstract for students because it requires mastery of measurement skills and connections between physical quantities and mathematical representations. The open-source Tracker program for video analysis of bodies in motion offers a whole new, creative approach to teaching motion. By selecting a coordinate system,...

The book contains abstracts from the NATO Advanced Researche Workshop on New Materials for Thermoelectric Applications: theory and experiment, Hvar 2011, Croatia. The workshop brings together experts from the various fields to share the latest findings and ideas and discuss directions for future work. Several strategies for improving the performanc...

We report thermopower and resistivity measurements of an YbAl3 single crystal obtained by the “self-flux” method. Our data reveal Fermi liquid behavior up to TFL=35K. The Kondo temperature, TK≈450K, was determined from the high temperature thermopower data. The characteristic temperature, T0, extracted from the temperature slope of the thermopower...

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The antiferromagnetic state of TbB6 has been investigated by means of magnetic susceptibility, magnetostriction, and x-ray diffraction measurements on a single crystal. The anisotropy of the magnetic susceptibility and the magnetostriction data point to a tetragonal symmetry in the antiferromagnetic state. Below TN, the x-ray diffraction investigat...

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

This book contains the abstracts of the Advanced Research Workshop on New Materials for Thermoelectric Applications, held in Hvar, Croatia, in 2010. The workshop focuses on new materials and explores mechanisms that could lead to new thermoelectric devices with an enhanced figure- of-merit. The main topic is heat, charge and spin transport in stron...

This book contains abstracts of the NATO ARW Workshop on Properties and Applications of Thermoelectric Materials and Conference on Concepts of Electron Correlation held in Hvar, Croatia, in 2008. The workshop addresses new materials and mechanisms that could lead to new thermoelectric and magnetocaloric devices with an enhanced figure-of-merit. The...

The antiferromagnetic state of TbB6 has been investigated by way of magnetostriction and X-ray scattering measurements on a single crystal. The magnetostriction data reveal a well defined tetragonal symmetry lowering and a weak volume increase below TN . The X-ray scattering investigation shows charge satellites, related to the 00 and 0 wave vector...

Recent achievements in condensed matter physics and chemistry have brought us to a point where the properties of materials can be tuned at the quantum mechanical level. This book contains summaries of the Workshop on Correlated Thermoelectric Materials and the Conference on Concepts in Electron Correlation held in Hvar, Croatia, in 2005. The thermo...

We report Vickers microhardness measurements on flux grown single crystals of the YbAgx In1 − x Cu4 alloy system. Although sample dependent, the microhardness exhibits a clear concentration dependence: in general, it decreases with x. The lattice parameter as a function of x exhibits a similar behavior. For x < 0.5, where the lattice parameter is a...

We show that the Vickers microhardness, measured on flux grown single crystals of the YbxY1−xInCu4 alloy system, although sample dependent, exhibits clear concentration dependence; it increases with decreasing x. Such a dependence is not expected because the cubic lattice parameter increases with decreasing x and one expects then a decrease of hard...

We report on lattice parameter, dc and ac susceptibility, thermopower, and resistivity measurements of the YbxY1-xInCu4 alloy system. With increasing x the system evolves from semimetallic towards more metallic character. Some anomalous properties, such as the concentration dependence of the lattice parameter can be explained as an admixture of Yb+...

We report on lattice parameter, dc and ac susceptibility, thermopower, and resistivity measurements of the YbxY1-xInCu4 alloy system. With increasing x the system evolves from semimetallic towards more metallic character. Some anomalous properties, such as the concentration dependence of the lattice parameter can be explained as an admixture of Yb+...

Due to orbital degeneracy, a /4f electronic shell has the ability to distort when influenced by an electrostatic, magnetic or collective intersite field. In case of collective phenomena, the /4f asphericity which develops may result in a strain mode and/or introduce a new charge periodicity. The first is accessible via dilatometric techniques where...

The magnetic susceptibility and susceptibility anisotropy of the quasibinary alloy system CexLa1-xCu2.05Si2 have been studied for low concentration of Ce ions. The single-ion description is found to be valid for x ≤0.09. The experimental results are discussed in terms of the degenerate Coqblin-Schrieffer model with a crystalline electric field spli...

We present dilatometric measurements of spontaneous magnetostriction in NdMg cubic antiferromagnet. This compound displays two spontaneous antiferromagnetic phases, both of which reduce the point symmetry to tetragonal, dividing the sample into three types of magnetostriction domains. However, applying a magnetic field along the appropriate directi...

The magnetic properties of Ce-based heavy fermions are discussed. It is shown that the data can be qualitatively explained by the scaling theory of the degenerate Anderson model split by the crystalline electrical field. The magnetic susceptibility is calculated by combining the multiple scaling approach, which identifies the sequence of the fixed...

We report a detailed characterization of the magnetism and AC transport in single crystals of the organic conductor -(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Cl by means of magnetic anisotropy measurements and low-frequency dielectric spectroscopy. Magnetic anisotropy obeys Curie-Weiss law with negative Curie-Weiss temperature in the temperature range 300 K-70 K. An a...

We report electrical resistivity and thermopower measurements of two alloy of the (UxY1−x)Ru2Si2 alloy system (x=0.08 and 0.30). For x=0.08, we have found evidences for impurity Kondo scattering from the lowest lying CEF levels with TK=10K. The sample with x=0.3 shows an antiferromagnetic transition at 15.3K. Thereby we conclude that the two energy...

We investigated magnetic properties of CexLa1-xCu2.05Si2 for 0.01 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 1, between 2 and 340 K, using the Faraday and the torque method. For x < 0.1, magnetic response is found to be given by the single-ion contribution chi(ion)(T), which relates to the Kondo susceptibility of the 4f(1) multiplet split by the...

The nature of the magnetically ordered state in calcium cuprate Ca0.85CuO2 has been studied by electron-spin resonance and magnetic-susceptibility measurements. A gap of 83 K in the spin excitation spectrum has been detected arising from the ordering of Cu2+ spins in the CuO2 chains. The magnetic structure can be considered as one dimensional and c...

A method for the preparation of new solvated clusters of the composition [M6Br12(H2O)6][HgBr2X2] · 12H2O (M[DOUBLE BOND]Nb, Ta; X[DOUBLE BOND]Cl, Br, I) is given. The cubic crystals of [Nb6Br12(H2O)6][HgBr4] · 12H2O 1 and [Ta6Br12(H2O)6][HgBr4] · 12H2O 2 were characterized by the X-ray structure analysis: 1: cubic, space group Fd3m, a = 21.0072(6)...

The torque and the Faraday method has been used to study the magnetic anisotropy and the susceptibility of YbInCu4 single crystals, as a function of temperature and the field. The magnetic response is a sum of two (different) contributions corresponding to hybridized (majority of Yb ions) and unhybridized (small fraction of Yb ions) sates.

Ordering in the (Ba/Sr/Nd)O bi-layers (of "Rock-Salt" type structure) of the RE2(Ba0.65Sr0.20 Nd0.15)2GaCu2O9 high-Tc superconducting cuprate was investigated by electron microscopy and diffraction. Besides the average layered structure based on the tetragonal perovskite cell ap ´ap ´ cp and the meandering chain superstructure based on the orthorho...

The magnetic anisotropy measurements of metallic Y-Ba-Cu-O compounds in the normal phase reveal a temperature-dependent diamagnetic component of the susceptibility that increases with decreasing temperature. The temperature variation of the susceptibility anisotropy and its total change do not seem to be much affected by the presence of the superco...

dc ionic conductivity (σi) of the mixed superionic conductor Cu2−xSe, with 0.01 ≤ x ≤ 0.26, is measured in the temperature range from 160 to 250 °C. The new two-point measuring method is presented; the experimental set-up is simplified and very small samples can be treated, which strongly increases the speed of the measurements. The temperature dep...

The electromotive force (EMF) of the Cu/solid electrolyte/Cu2−xSe/Pt cell has been measured for compositions from Cu2Se to Cu1.75Se and temperatures from 140 to 240°C. The improved experimental arrangement increased the precision of measurements. The EMF temperature dependence, which is found to be linear and composition-independent, is attributed...

Thermal expansion coefficient β of the Cu2−xSe sample with 1.975 ⩾ 2 − x ⩾ 1.801 is measured in the temperature interval from 300 to 570 K. In the high-temperature phase the data are well fitted by the expression where P1 is weakly and P2 strongly dependent on x. In a simple configurational model the lattice parameter is increased only by those con...

A multitasking extension has been developed for computers based on the Z80A CPU; it enables the Sinclair ZX Spectrum 48 K to be used for data acquisition and analysis simultaneously.

Current-voltage characteristic of the two phase sample of silver sulphide placed between indium contacts is measured and described within the frame of Wagner's theory of mixed (ionic and electronic) conduction (1956). Electrical field applied in the forward direction causes the formation of weak concentration gradients of moving particles, which at...

Uvod Kroz većinu ljudske povijesti ljudi su prenosili svoje znanje i vještine s potomstva na potomstvo, poboljšavajući svoje proizvode postupno, najčešće iskustvom. Prvu bitnu promjenu načina proizvodnje, industrijsku revoluciju, prouzročio je parni stroj koji je dominirao ekonomijom devetnaestog stoljeća. U dvadesetom stoljeću dominira motor s unu...