Balıkesir Üniversitesi Kurumsal Akademik Arşivi
DSpace@Balıkesir, Balıkesir Üniversitesi tarafından doğrudan ve dolaylı olarak yayınlanan; kitap, makale, tez, bildiri, rapor, araştırma verisi gibi tüm akademik kaynakları uluslararası standartlarda dijital ortamda depolar, Üniversitenin akademik performansını izlemeye aracılık eder, kaynakları uzun süreli saklar ve yayınların etkisini artırmak için telif haklarına uygun olarak Açık Erişime sunar.
Güncel Gönderiler
Psychometric evaluation of the Turkish version of a breastfeeding support self-efficacy scale for midwifery students
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2026) Özçoban, Filiz Aslantekin; Özkan, Hava; Çevik, Esra; Mekonnen, Alemayehu; Muller, Amanda; Sweet, Linda
Background: To ensure the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, health systems need qualified professionals who can advise and support women. There was previously no validated tool to assess midwifery students' confidence in providing breastfeeding support in T & uuml;rkiye.Aim: To adapt the Australian self-efficacy scale for breastfeeding support for midwifery students into Turkish and to psychometrically test its validity among Turkish midwifery students.Methods: A scale adaptation approach was used to translate and validate the 34-item scale. The tool was then sent to third- and fourth-year Turkish midwifery students. Psychometric properties were examined using both classical test theory and the Rasch measurement analysis.Results: A total of 382 participants completed the survey. The Turkish version demonstrated excellent internal consistency, strong item functioning, and a largely unidimensional structure, confirming its robustness in the Turkish educational context. The findings indicate that Turkish midwifery students generally reported high self-efficacy for foundational breastfeeding support tasks, while more complex, practice-based skills, such as managing infant behavior during breastfeeding, required higher levels of confidence.Conclusion: This study provides strong evidence for the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Self-Efficacy Scale for Breastfeeding Support. Consistent with prior development and validation works, the scale demonstrated strong psychometric properties. These findings extend the scale's applicability to a new cultural and educational context. Overall, this Turkish version is a psychometrically sound tool for self-assessing breastfeeding self-efficacy and may be used to inform curriculum evaluation, guide targeted educational interventions and enable cross-cultural comparison.
Novel asymmetric liquid crystalline ZnPc thin films for optical surface plasmon resonance sensor applications to dichloromethane vapor: Design, synthesis, preparation, characterization, and the influence of the substituent group on the sensor response
(Elsevier, 2026) Özer, Zeynep; Çelik, Gizem Gümüşgöz; Çapan, İnci; Çapan, Rıfat; Gürek, Ayşe Gül
This study aims to synthesize two newly designed, soluble asymmetrically substituted Zn(II) phthalocyanines
(ZnPc1-A3B and ZnPc2-AB3) exhibiting liquid crystalline behavior, aimed at improving their chemiresistive
sensing performance towards dichloromethane vapor. They were characterized using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Ultraviolet-visible, and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopies, together with mass spectrometry.
Polarizing Optical Microscopy, X-ray Diffraction, and Differential Scanning Calorimetry techniques were
employed to determine phase transition temperatures. The formation of a columnar hexagonal (Colh) mesophase
for ZnPc1-A3B and a rectangular columnar (Colr) mesophase for ZnPc2-AB3 was confirmed over a wide temperature range by complementary methods. The observed phase transition temperatures were found to be
strongly dependent on the nature of the substituents.
Spin coating and Surface Plasmon Resonance techniques were employed to fabricate thin film sensors and to
investigate the influence of phthalocyanine molecular architecture and the controlled incorporation of polyoxyethylene and alkylthio substituents on sensor behavior. For the detection of dichloromethane vapor, the
ZnPc1-A3B thin film sensor produced the highest sensitivity, the lowest limit of detection, and limit of quantification values compared with the ZnPc2-AB3 thin film sensor. It is shown that the polyoxoethylene side chains
having oxygen atoms play an important role in enhancing sensor performance before and after heating processes.
The Elovich model was employed to determine the adsorption rate constants. This study improved gas sensor
performance using Zn(II) phthalocyanine derivatives, optimizing the number of the substituents on the sensor
response, and showed that the ZnPc1-A3B thin film sensor is a good candidate for an optical-based sensor in the
field of environmental monitoring or dichloromethane vapor detection.
Dose-concentration relationship and clinical outcomes of duloxetine in generalized anxiety disorder
(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2026) Baykan, Özgür; Altunöz, Sinan; Uyanık, Dicle Yılmaz; Baykan, Hayriye
Background/Objectives: This study aimed to investigate plasma duloxetine concentrations, factors influencing these concentrations, and the relationship between plasma levels
and clinical response in patients diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder who were
treated with duloxetine. Additionally, the study evaluated whether dose escalation resulted in proportional increases in plasma concentration and assessed the clinical utility
of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for duloxetine. Methods: In this study, plasma
duloxetine levels were analyzed in 68 patients with generalized anxiety disorder who
had been receiving duloxetine treatment for at least three months. A review of digital
medical files revealed that duloxetine was initiated at 30 mg/day in all patients, and doses
were increased to 60 or 90 mg/day in those with insufficient symptom improvement. Digital medical files indicated that participants had been on the final prescribed duloxetine
dose for at least four weeks at the time of plasma level measurement. Baseline Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scores
were compared with scores obtained on the day of blood sampling. Plasma duloxetine
concentrations were quantified using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry
(LC-MS/MS). Associations between dose, plasma concentration, and clinical response were
statistically analyzed. Results: Plasma duloxetine concentrations increased significantly
following dose escalation. However, no significant correlation was observed between
plasma concentrations and percentage change in HAM-A scores. Although patients receiving 60 or 90 mg/day had higher plasma levels than those maintained on 30 mg/day,
clinical improvement did not differ significantly between dose groups. In addition to dose,
increasing age and non-smoking status were associated with higher plasma duloxetine
concentrations. Conclusions: Duloxetine demonstrates a predictable dose–concentration
relationship; however, in this response-guided titration setting, plasma concentrations were
not consistently associated with clinical improvement. Accordingly, these findings suggest
that routine therapeutic drug monitoring may not consistently predict clinical response to
duloxetine in generalized anxiety disorder; nevertheless, considering the study’s limitations, it could still offer clinically relevant insights in selected pharmacokinetically sensitive
or treatment-resistant cases.
Heat flux and energy analysis of thermal bridge behaviour at wall and floor panel junctions in prefabricated cold storage systems: Experimental and numerical study
(Elsevier Ltd, 2026) Kılıç, Gülenay Alevay; Yalçın, Enver
Thermal bridges at panel junctions constitute a critical weakness in prefabricated cold storage systems, where localized heat transfer adversely affects energy efficiency, condensation control, and operational reliability. Although modular polyurethane sandwich panels are widely adopted, the thermal behaviour of junction geometries in cold storage environments remains insufficiently addressed in current standards. This study investigates thermal bridge formation and mitigation in prefabricated cold room panels, with particular emphasis on wall–wall, wall–ceiling, and wall–floor junctions. A combined experimental–numerical methodology is employed. Infrared thermography measurements performed on a cold storage test unit at an internal temperature of 273 K are used to validate high-resolution finite element models, achieving a numerical–experimental agreement of approximately 98%. The validated model is subsequently applied to six different joint configurations with identical material properties and boundary conditions, analysed under internal temperatures of 273 K and 255 K. Thermal performance is evaluated using temperature distributions, heat flux vector fields, and dimensionless parameters including normalised temperature and relative heat flux ratio (q∗[jls-end-space/]). While average surface temperatures across different joint geometries are found to vary within a narrow range around 285 K at 273 K internal conditions, the corresponding heat flux values exhibit pronounced differences. Reference flat and Z-type joints show the highest heat flux levels, reaching ∼[jls-end-space/]10 W/m2 at 273 K and ∼[jls-end-space/]13 W/m2 at 255 K, indicating strong thermal short-circuit behaviour. In contrast, stepped and interlocking joint configurations reduce the effective heat flux to below 8 W/m2 at 273 K and approximately 12 W/m2 at 255 K, accompanied by more homogeneous thermal fields. The results demonstrate that surface temperature alone is insufficient to characterize thermal bridge severity, whereas heat flux intensity and relative heat flux provide more sensitive and geometry-dependent performance indicators. The results indicate that thermal bridge mitigation in cold storage envelopes can be effectively enhanced through geometric optimization of panel joints, while maintaining identical panel thickness and material properties. Furthermore, the proposed heat-flux-based, dimensionless evaluation framework provides a physically grounded tool for comparative assessment of joint designs and may support future improvements in cold storage design practices.
Enhanced hydrogen storage in lithium-doped defective fullerenes: Experimental optimization, adsorption mechanisms, and kinetic-isotherm modeling
(Elsevier Ltd, 2026) Turhan, Yasemin; Duman, Betül; Doğan, Mehmet; Yanmaz, Ersin; Bicil, Zeynep; Kızılduman, Berna Koçer
This study investigates the enhancement of hydrogen storage capacity in fullerene (C60) through lithium doping and defect formation. Defective fullerenes (DC60) were synthesized via high-energy ball milling, and Li-doped variants were prepared using hydrothermal methods. FTIR revealed the disappearance of C60's characteristic bands and the emergence of new bands in doped and defective samples. Thermal analysis showed reduced stability and altered degradation mechanisms due to defect formation and lithium incorporation. SEM indicated significant morphological changes, with increased agglomeration in Li-doped particles. Particle size variations and symmetry loss were also observed post-milling.Hydrogen storage performance depended on lithium concentration, temperature, and doping time. Among tested samples, the sample doped with 0.1 M LiNO₃ at 200 °C for 12 h (Li-D-C60–01 M-200C-12 h) showed the highest hydrogen uptake, attributed to its large surface area and micropore volume under high-pressure adsorption conditions and cryogenic temperatures, where excess adsorption behavior was observed.Isotherm models fitted well with Freundlich and Langmuir equations, while kinetic data followed the pseudo-second-order model, indicating intra-particle diffusion as the rate-limiting step. EIS analysis demonstrated improved conductivity and reduced impedance in Li-doped samples due to enhanced diffusion-based charge transport. Pearson correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships between hydrogen storage capacity and both BET surface area (r = 0.9033) and micropore volume (r = 0.8867), with the dominant influence arising from BET surface area; this indicates that Li doping affects performance primarily through modifications in pore accessibility and surface electronic structure.Moreover, Li centers act as controllable hydrogen release valves, enabling safer and more reversible hydrogen desorption compared to pristine fullerene systems. These results demonstrate the promising potential of Li-doped defective fullerenes in hydrogen storage applications.
