The research used a convenience sample recruited at İzmir Kâtip Çelebi University. Participants were 17 to 55 years old, with a mean age of 23.22 years, and 65.5% were women. The sample was strongly concentrated in theology, with 223 students, followed by social and human sciences, health sciences and engineering; medicine included only one participant. Nine people did not answer the future-anxiety scale, leaving 391 complete cases for analyses involving that outcome. Because the design measured all variables at one point, it can identify statistical associations but cannot establish temporal order, causation or the direction of influence among wellbeing, moral orientation and anxiety.

Mental wellbeing was assessed with the 14-item Warwick–Edinburgh Mental WellBeing Scale, which ranges from 14 to 70, with higher scores representing greater wellbeing. Future anxiety was measured with the five-item Dark Future Scale, ranging from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. The scales showed strong internal consistency: Cronbach’s alpha values ranged from 0.88 to 0.92 and McDonald’s omega values from 0.92 to 0.94. Across the complete cases, mental wellbeing had a moderate inverse correlation with future anxiety, r = −0.30, p < 0.001. Religious moral orientation was essentially unrelated to future anxiety, r = 0.001, p = 0.977, whereas secular moral orientation had a small positive correlation with it, r = 0.16, p < 0.01.

Moral orientation was measured with a 14-item instrument containing two separately scored dimensions rather than one combined total. Religious moral orientation, comprising eight items, captures reliance on religious beliefs and transcendent sources when making moral judgments. Secular moral orientation, comprising six items, captures reliance on reason, human experience and ethical principles not necessarily grounded in religious authority. Importantly, the two scores are not opposite ends of a single scale: a person can draw on both religious and secular reference systems. The measures describe which systems people tend to use in moral judgments, not the quality of their moral conduct, and the study did not treat secular orientation as a direct measure of religiosity.

In the primary religious-orientation model, the coefficient for mental wellbeing was negative, b = −0.250, 95% confidence interval [−0.321, −0.178], p < 0.001, indicating that higher wellbeing scores accompanied lower future-anxiety scores. The interaction between mental wellbeing and religious moral orientation was also negative under standard normal-theory inference, b = −0.007, 95% confidence interval [−0.012, −0.002], p = 0.003. Adding this interaction explained an additional 2.0% of outcome variance, ΔR² = 0.020, corresponding to a small effect size of f² = 0.023. Descriptive slope estimates showed an inverse relationship at every examined level of religious orientation, but it appeared stronger at high orientation than at low orientation.

Those apparent differences did not survive every check. When the researchers used 10,000 percentile-bootstrap resamples, the 95% confidence interval for the mental wellbeing by religious-orientation interaction widened to [−0.0136, 0.0002], narrowly including zero. An analysis using HC3 heteroscedasticity-consistent standard errors produced a similar borderline result: b = −0.0072, p = 0.0503, with a confidence interval of [−0.0145, 0.0000]. The authors say the reason for the divergence between standard and robust inference could not be determined from the interval comparison alone. They consequently characterize the religious interaction as estimation-sensitive and provisional, not robustly confirmed.

The exploratory secular-orientation model also showed the central inverse association between mental wellbeing and future anxiety, b = −0.225, p < 0.001. However, its interaction term did not reach the conventional threshold, b = −0.006, 95% confidence interval [−0.012, 0.001], p = 0.078, and accounted for only 0.7% additional variance, ΔR² = 0.007, f² = 0.008. The secular interaction was also non-significant with bootstrap inference and with HC3 standard errors, p = 0.224. A joint model containing both interactions produced similar results: the religious term was significant with conventional and HC3 inference, while the secular term was not. Crucially, neither the contrast between the unstandardized coefficients, p = 0.877, nor the contrast between fully standardized coefficients, p = 0.553, showed that religious and secular orientations moderated the wellbeing–anxiety relationship differently.

Post hoc analyses adjusted the separate models for gender, age, perceived economic status and faculty. With conventional standard errors, both interaction terms crossed the conventional significance threshold, but neither remained significant with HC3 inference: religious orientation had p = 0.084 and secular orientation p = 0.155. These models were supplementary rather than preregistered, and sparse faculty and grade categories reduced their stability. A post hoc power analysis indicated that the complete-case sample provided approximately 80% power to detect an interaction of f² = 0.02 at α = 0.05, but this was not an a priori sample-size calculation and does not rule out smaller effects. The cross-sectional design, single-university convenience sample, self-reports and lack of preregistration further limit generalizability and causal interpretation.

The results do not establish that religious moral frameworks reduce anxiety or make wellbeing more effective against it. One possible explanation is that a stable religious framework supplies meaning, values and interpretive guidance when people face uncertainty, but the study did not measure meaning in life, worldview coherence, identity clarity, coping or social support as mechanisms. Such explanations therefore remain hypotheses for longitudinal or experimental research. The findings also do not show that secular frameworks are irrelevant: the analysis lacked evidence for a distinct secular moderating effect, not proof that secular meaning systems lack psychological relevance. Replication with preregistered hypotheses, larger and more diverse samples, multiple institutions and cultures, robust intervals and longitudinal data is needed to determine whether the small interaction is reliable and what, if any, mechanism explains it.

Subject of Research: Whether religious and secular moral orientations moderate the association between mental wellbeing and future anxiety in university students.

Article Title: Religious and secular moral orientations as potential moderators of the association between mental wellbeing and future anxiety

Article References: Akbolat, A. (2026). Religious and secular moral orientations as potential moderators of the association between mental wellbeing and future anxiety. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, Article 1952527. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1952527

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DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1952527

Keywords: mental wellbeing, future anxiety, religious moral orientation, secular moral orientation, moderation analysis, university students, Türkiye, psychological uncertainty, cross-sectional study, Religious, secular, moral

The researchers used a randomized controlled pre-test–post-test design to examine the effects of the program among people affected by the February 6, 2023 earthquakes in Türkiye. They assessed 203 earthquake survivors for eligibility and randomly assigned 90 participants in equal numbers to the intervention and control groups. A total of 84 people completed the study and were included in the final analysis. Participants were recruited from temporary shelters in Malatya, one of the provinces severely affected by the earthquakes. Data collection used a sociodemographic form, the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Short Scale, abbreviated PTSD-SS, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, abbreviated PSQI.

The intervention was delivered through six group training sessions that combined breathing and relaxation exercises with psychoeducation. The control group received no intervention from the researchers during the study period. The reported post-test results indicated reduced post-traumatic stress symptoms and improved sleep quality in the intervention group compared with the control group. The 5.45-point reduction in the mean PTSD-SS score and the 3.88-point reduction in the mean PSQI score were the study’s two principal quantitative findings. The investigators concluded that breathing and relaxation exercises supported by psychoeducation appear to be a low-cost and effective approach for reducing post-traumatic stress symptoms and improving sleep quality among disaster-affected people.

The trial’s evidence is strongest for the specific population and program it examined: earthquake survivors living in temporary shelters in Malatya who completed all parts of the study. The final analysis was based on 42 participants per group rather than all 90 people randomized, which limits how the results can be interpreted independently of study completion. The control condition also tested the complete package against no researcher-provided intervention, so the results do not separate the contribution of psychoeducation from that of the breathing and relaxation exercises. As a single-location study with a modest final sample, the findings offer direct evidence for survivors in that shelter setting but do not by themselves establish the same effect size in other locations, disaster populations or delivery environments.

The report describes the intervention as a structured, low-cost group format intended for post-disaster psychosocial support, but the supplied findings do not establish that the program replaced other psychological or sleep services. The article was published as open-access research in BMC Psychology on September 2, 2026, in an early accepted version that the publisher states may undergo further editorial changes before replacement by the final version of record. The trial was retrospectively registered on August 21, 2026, under ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT07781904. Taken together, the reported measurements support the conclusion that six psychoeducation-supported breathing and relaxation sessions were followed by better PTSD-SS and PSQI outcomes than no intervention among the earthquake survivors who completed the trial.

Subject of Research: Randomized trial of group breathing and relaxation exercises for PTSD symptoms and sleep quality among earthquake survivors

Article Title: The effects of psychoeducation-supported breathing and relaxation exercises on Post-Traumatic stress symptoms and sleep quality in earthquake survivors

Article References: KAYAOĞLU, K., & CEVİZ, R. (2026). The effects of psychoeducation-supported breathing and relaxation exercises on Post-Traumatic stress symptoms and sleep quality in earthquake survivors. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05487-1

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DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05487-1

Keywords: earthquake survivors, PTSD symptoms, sleep quality, breathing exercises, relaxation training, psychoeducation, randomized controlled trial, disaster mental health, Türkiye, group intervention, effects, psychoeducation-supported

It used a split-plot arrangement within a randomized complete block design, with three replications, and covered the 2022 and 2023 growing seasons. The main plots received one of five organic fertilizers: leonardite, vermicompost, solid humus, chicken manure or sheep manure. The subplots received 0, 1,500, 3,000 or 6,000 kilograms per hectare of the assigned fertilizer.

This was an agronomic field study of chemical composition, not a clinical investigation of black cumin oil or its effects on people. Linoleic acid was the predominant fatty acid in all treatments, accounting for 56.64% to 58.23% of the measured profile. Palmitic, oleic and stearic acids were also present, with linoleic acid retaining the leading position throughout the experiment.

Among the fertilizer treatments, sheep manure at 6,000 kilograms per hectare produced the most favorable reported response, significantly increasing the contents of both linoleic and oleic acids. The essential oil showed a consistent major constituent as well. Thymoquinone ranged from 36.82% to 41.75% of the essential-oil profile and was the most abundant component under the experimental conditions.

The highest-rate sheep-manure treatment also enhanced thymoquinone concentration. The reported response therefore linked the sheep-manure treatment with higher measured concentrations of two individual fatty acids and the oil’s leading essential-oil constituent. No further analytical method is specified in the supplied abstract, and the findings do not demonstrate that the chemical changes produce measurable human health benefits.

Within the boundaries of the experiment, sheep manure at 6,000 kilograms per hectare was the most favorable fertilizer-and-dose combination tested for improving the selected components of black cumin seed and essential oil. The study examined one cultivar at one site in Türkiye over two growing seasons, using three replications, so the result cannot automatically be generalized to other cultivars, soils, climates or fertilizer-management systems. The work provides a bounded field observation: under the tested semi-arid conditions, the highest tested sheep-manure rate significantly increased linoleic acid, oleic acid and thymoquinone relative to the study’s comparison treatments, while leaving linoleic acid as the dominant fatty acid and thymoquinone as the principal essential-oil component.

Subject of Research: Organic fertilizer effects on the fatty acid and essential oil composition of the black cumin cultivar Çameli

Article Title: Effects of organic fertilization on fatty acid composition and essential oil profile of Nigella sativa L.

Article References: Acar, A., & Karan, Y. B. (2026). Effects of organic fertilization on fatty acid composition and essential oil profile of Nigella sativa L.. BMC Plant Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-09828-5

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DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-09828-5

Keywords: black cumin, Nigella sativa, sheep manure, organic fertilization, linoleic acid, oleic acid, thymoquinone, essential oils, field experiment, Türkiye, Effects, organic

The study documented what the authors described as a “double burden of malnutrition,” with 13.0% of the hospitalized children classified as acutely malnourished and 11.0% as chronically malnourished, or stunted. At the other end of the nutritional spectrum, among children aged 5 to 18 years, 34.5% were overweight and 21.8% were obese. These percentages characterize the study sample rather than the prevalence of malnutrition among all children in Türkiye.

The pilot was conducted in one hospital, included only 100 participants and was intended to provide information for a later large-scale, school-based screening effort. Among children older than five years, MUAC Z-scores were significantly correlated with body mass index Z-scores (p < 0.05). Length of stay differed significantly between several groups classified by the screening tools.

Children in the PYMS high-risk group had longer hospital stays than those in the low-risk group (p = 0.001). Children classified as moderately malnourished by MUAC also had significantly longer stays (p < 0.05). These results show an association between nutritional-risk classifications and hospitalization duration; they do not establish that malnutrition or the act of screening caused the longer admissions.

The researchers also developed a socioeconomic malnutrition-risk classification based on household income, family size and maternal employment status. Children classified as high risk by this model had significantly lower height-for-age Z-scores than other children (p < 0.05). The observation connects household circumstances measured by the classification with poorer linear growth in this sample, but it does not demonstrate that those circumstances directly caused the difference.

Overall, the pilot provides preliminary evidence for PYMS and MUAC as practical screening measures associated with nutritional risk and prolonged hospitalization, while the sample size, single-center setting and limited sensitivity of PYMS for stunting constrain broader conclusions.

Subject of Research: Pilot evaluation of PYMS and MUAC nutritional screening in 100 hospitalized children in Türkiye

Article Title: Combined use of the pediatric Yorkhill malnutrition score and mid-upper arm circumference for identifying nutritional risk and predicting length of hospital stay in hospitalized children: a pilot study

Article References: Çelik, E., Korkmaz, M. F., Özkaya, Y., Yüce, S., Soyubelli, T. D., & Tutanç, M. (2026). Combined use of the pediatric Yorkhill malnutrition score and mid-upper arm circumference for identifying nutritional risk and predicting length of hospital stay in hospitalized children: a pilot study. BMC Pediatrics, 26(1), Article 905. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-026-07609-5

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DOI: 10.1186/s12887-026-07609-5

Keywords: pediatric malnutrition, hospitalized children, PYMS, mid-upper arm circumference, anthropometric Z-scores, childhood stunting, acute malnutrition, hospital length of stay, socioeconomic risk, Türkiye, Combined, pediatric

Researchers recruited athletes through non-probability convenience sampling and used the Low Energy Availability in Females Questionnaire (LEAF-Q) to assess LEA risk and the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) to assess DE risk. The proportion classified as being at risk of LEA did not differ significantly across competition levels (p = 0.825). By contrast, DE risk varied by level, with the highest proportion recorded among athletes in the Turkish Women’s Volleyball Second League (p = 0.034).

Disordered-eating risk was associated with substantially higher odds of low-energy-availability risk: the unadjusted odds ratio was 3.80, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.82–7.92. The overlap was therefore substantial but incomplete, showing why screening results for one risk should not be treated as proof of the other. EAT-26 total scores were positively correlated with LEAF-Q total scores and gastrointestinal-function scores (both p < 0.001), as well as injury-history scores (p = 0.004). There was no statistically significant correlation with menstrual-function scores (p = 0.133).

The findings identify LEA risk as the more common classification in this sample, with disordered-eating risk occurring less often. They also support assessing both risks rather than assuming that one implies the other. However, the online survey, convenience sample, and cross-sectional design restrict conclusions about prevalence and relationships in the wider female-athlete population. Because the data were not collected prospectively, the study cannot establish whether the observed associations reflect an underlying relationship, shared influences, or another pattern. The results instead provide a snapshot of screening outcomes and their co-occurrence among the participating volleyball players.

Subject of Research: Co-occurrence of screening-based low energy availability and disordered eating risks among female volleyball players in Türkiye

Article Title: Screening-based low energy availability risk, disordered eating risk, and their co-occurrence among female volleyball players: a cross-sectional study

Article References: André, H., Sarışık, D. Ç., & Özçelik, A. (2026). Screening-based low energy availability risk, disordered eating risk, and their co-occurrence among female volleyball players: a cross-sectional study. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360395. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360395

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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360395

Keywords: female athletes, volleyball, low energy availability, disordered eating, athlete screening, nutrition, cross-sectional survey, Türkiye, Screening-based, energy, availability, risk

All 100 participants completed the scale and a structured questionnaire assessing sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, etiological beliefs, contact with lesbian, gay and bisexual people, and comfort working with LGB patients and colleagues. The researchers divided homophobia scores into two categories using a median split and then performed binary logistic regression. As a result, the reported odds ratios represent statistical associations with a dichotomized measure of homophobia, not changes in prejudice over time or causal effects of the factors examined.

Multivariable analysis identified four factors independently associated with the odds of higher or lower homophobia scores. Nurses who endorsed biological explanations for homosexuality had lower odds of homophobia than those who did not, with an odds ratio of 0.22. Having a homosexual acquaintance was also associated with lower odds, with an odds ratio of 0.19, as was greater comfort working with LGB colleagues, with an odds ratio of 0.41. In the opposite direction, nurses holding a bachelor’s degree had higher odds of homophobia than those without one, with an odds ratio of 4.24.

The findings show that, within this hospital sample, homophobia scores were statistically related to several educational, cognitive, interpersonal and affective factors. The survey did not test an intervention, so it cannot establish that endorsing a particular explanation, knowing a homosexual person or completing a degree program causes a reduction or increase in prejudice. The bachelor’s-degree association likewise does not identify the mechanism underlying the observed difference.

Results were limited to practicing nurses at one tertiary university hospital, and the cross-sectional design prevents conclusions about causation or trends over time. The findings therefore provide a snapshot of factors associated with higher and lower odds of homophobia among the surveyed clinical nurses. The authors said the results underscore the need for structured, evidence-based and inclusive nursing education and institutional reform intended to promote equitable and ethical care for sexual-minority patients, while the observational evidence does not demonstrate the effects of any particular program.

Subject of Research: Factors associated with homophobia among clinical nurses at a tertiary university hospital in Türkiye.

Article Title: Sexual prejudice and associated factors among clinical nurses in Türkiye: A cross-sectional study

Article References: Şişman, E., Güngör, M., Günay, U., Gareayaghi, A., Yılmaz, H., Dalkıran, İ., Kocaayan, F. S., & Polat, A. (2026). Sexual prejudice and associated factors among clinical nurses in Türkiye: A cross-sectional study. PLOS One, 21(10), e0360301. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360301

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DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0360301

Keywords: nurses, homophobia, sexual minorities, LGB health, Türkiye, cross-sectional survey, workplace prejudice, nursing education, patient care, Sexual, prejudice, associated

At the micro level, the clearest reported associations involved education, income, health, physical activity, and housing. Higher education and income, better self-reported health, greater physical activity, and more suitable housing were each associated with lower levels of social exclusion among the participants. These relationships emerged from the statistical analysis and do not demonstrate that changing any one of these factors would directly reduce exclusion.

The cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal order or causality, so the results are best understood as characteristics associated with lower scores in this sample of 400 older adults. The analysis also examined meso-level characteristics within the immediate community, including consumption patterns, digital connectivity, and age-friendly environments. These features were identified as correlates of social exclusion, although the reported findings did not specify a direction for their associations with exclusion scores.

The same distinction applies to several exo-level factors: satisfaction with local services, awareness of socioeconomic rights, utilization of social assistance, and active participation in community life were included among the correlates, but the abstract does not state which direction each association took. Their presence in the model nevertheless indicates that social exclusion scores varied in relation to factors extending beyond an individual’s personal characteristics. At the macro level, the absence of ageism, equitable resource access, and fewer employment barriers were associated with lower levels of exclusion.

By organizing variables across the micro, meso, exo, and macro levels, the study examined social exclusion as a multidimensional outcome embedded in interconnected personal, community, institutional, and societal conditions. The approach avoids treating age, income, health, or housing in isolation and instead considers how exclusion can be statistically related to conditions at several scales. Its scope also limits conclusions about how widely the observed associations apply beyond the surveyed population.

The authors’ overall implication is that addressing exclusion in later life may require multilevel interventions and policies directed at multiple ecological systems, rather than action confined to one setting or factor.

Subject of Research: Ecological correlates of social exclusion among adults aged 65 and over in Türkiye

Article Title: Social Exclusion Among Older Adults in Türkiye: A Cross-Sectional Assessment from an Ecological Social Work Perspective

Article References: Karakaya, C., & Çağlar, T. (2026). Social Exclusion Among Older Adults in Türkiye: A Cross-Sectional Assessment from an Ecological Social Work Perspective. Ageing International, 51(4), Article 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-026-09688-2

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DOI: 10.1007/s12126-026-09688-2

Keywords: social exclusion, older adults, Türkiye, cross-sectional study, ecological systems, ageism, social assistance, digital connectivity, age-friendly environments, housing, Social, Exclusion

Data were collected through a web-based questionnaire containing sociodemographic information, the Turkish IES–3 and the IES–2. The research team adapted the questionnaire using a standardized forward–backward translation protocol and an expert-panel evaluation. Its statistical analyses were designed for the questionnaire’s ordinal data and the observed violation of multivariate normality. Exploratory factor analysis was performed through minimum rank factor analysis, while confirmatory factor analysis used robust maximum likelihood estimation with the Yuan–Bentler correction. The work assessed measurement properties rather than whether intuitive eating affects health or clinical outcomes.

The exploratory analysis supported a four-factor structure consistent with the original instrument, with the factors jointly explaining 92.05% of the common variance. Confirmatory factor analysis provided further support for this structure. The model’s chi-square ratio was 2.310, its comparative fit index was 0.959 and its Tucker–Lewis index was 0.944. The root mean square error of approximation and standardized root mean square residual were both 0.053. The researchers described these results as indicating a satisfactory model fit, providing evidence that the adapted questionnaire broadly reproduced the four-factor organization of the original scale in the sample studied.

Reliability results were also favorable. Cronbach’s alpha values for the component scales ranged from 0.63 to 0.85, while McDonald’s omega values ranged from 0.69 to 0.85, corresponding to acceptable-to-high internal consistency. Test–retest intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.85 to 0.94, which the study characterized as excellent repeatability. These findings show that scores were internally consistent and stable when participants completed the instrument again, although the results do not establish that the questionnaire is equally reliable outside the population and recruitment setting examined.

Concurrent and construct-related validity were examined by comparing IES–3 scores with the IES–2. The two instruments were positively correlated at Spearman’s rho of 0.716, with p less than 0.001. In multiple regression analysis, IES–2 subscales explained 62.1% of the variance in IES–3 scores. These are observed associations between the measures, not evidence that either scale causes changes in eating behavior. Overall, the authors found that the Turkish IES–3 had acceptable validity and reliability within the studied adult sample and described it as a brief practical tool for researchers and clinicians assessing intuitive eating behaviors. They also emphasized that the evidence came from adults recruited online in Ankara, meaning that validation in more diverse national populations remains necessary.

Subject of Research: Psychometric validation of the Turkish Intuitive Eating Scale–3 in Ankara adults

Article Title: Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Turkish intuitive eating scale-3: a methodological study

Article References: Mengi Çelik, Ö., Akçakaya, S. D., Güler, Ü., Türkmen, V., Kaya, S., & Akansel, E. İ. (2026). Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Turkish intuitive eating scale-3: a methodological study. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05792-9

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DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05792-9

Keywords: intuitive eating, psychometric validation, Turkish adaptation, scale reliability, factor analysis, concurrent validity, test–retest reliability, adults, Türkiye, questionnaire, Cross-cultural, adaptation

The overall length–weight model produced an allometric exponent of b = 1.458, significantly below the isometric reference of 3 (P < 0.001). This indicates that length increased faster than wet weight across the sampled population. The pooled model had a coefficient of determination of R² = 0.565, while separate estimates were 1.208 for males and 1.584 for females, both significantly different from 3. The researchers reported no differences in growth dynamics among the sex- and month-specific models. Monthly coefficients of determination ranged from 0.012 in October to 0.734 in August, showing that the explanatory power of length varied substantially among sampling months.

Researchers sampled shallow-sublittoral waters around islands near Ayvalık from October 2018 through September 2019. Divers hand-picked the animals at depths generally between 2 and 10 metres and transported them to the laboratory in seawater tanks. Total length was measured from the mouth to the anus to the nearest 0.1 cm. Wet weight was recorded to 0.01 g after surface moisture was removed. Ventral dissection allowed researchers to weigh the body wall, viscera and gonads separately, and sex was assigned macroscopically from gonad colour: pale white indicated males, while pink to orange indicated females. The sample comprised 109 males, 142 females and 76 individuals classified as indeterminate.

Mean wet weight was 144.94 ± 60.99 g, and mean total length was 18.55 ± 3.98 cm. Mean gutted body-wall weight was 69.31 ± 21.06 g. Viscera weight was recorded for 301 individuals and averaged 31.69 ± 15.64 g, while gonad weight was available for 274 animals and averaged 5.01 ± 6.79 g. The measurements document broad variation in body size and composition, although the authors noted that dissection caused excessive contraction from mouth to anus, so total length measured before dissection was used in the subsequent calculations.

Fulton’s condition factor, calculated from wet weight and cubed total length, averaged 2.42 ± 1.04 and ranged from 0.51 to 6.66. Mean values were 2.32 ± 0.91 for females, 2.42 ± 1.06 for males and 2.62 ± 1.21 for indeterminate animals, with no statistically significant differences among the three groups. Condition factor did differ among months: one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey’s HSD post-hoc test identified February and October as the high-value months, with means of 3.26 ± 1.17 and 3.31 ± 1.26, respectively. May, June, July, August and September formed a lower-value group, with means from 1.91 ± 1.09 to 2.28 ± 0.89. Five other months occupied an intermediate statistical group. The measurements establish a seasonal pattern but do not identify the mechanisms behind it.

Condition factor also varied with wet-weight class, although the pattern was not uniform across the full size range. Animals below 100 g had a mean condition factor of 2.89 ± 1.06, significantly higher than the values for the 100–150 g, 150–200 g and 200–250 g classes in post-hoc comparisons at P < 0.05. The class above 300 g also differed significantly from the 100–150 g, 150–200 g and 200–250 g classes. By contrast, the intermediate and heavier classes from 100 to 300 g did not differ significantly from one another. The study therefore measured higher condition-factor values in some smaller and largest individuals rather than a consistent decline across every successive size class.

Wet and gutted weight were positively associated in a linear model expressed as BW = 32.23 + 0.26 × WW, with R² = 0.549 and P < 0.001. Gutted weight represented 57.08% ± 8.30 of wet weight among animals below 100 g, compared with 54.88% ± 9.02 in the 100–150 g class, 47.07% ± 7.71 in the 150–200 g class, 39.80% ± 8.30 in the 200–250 g class and 28.42% ± 5.82 among the six animals above 300 g. Residual analysis suggested mild heteroscedasticity at higher wet weights, although the overall residual pattern supported the linear model across the observed range.

Body composition shifted with size. Total water content increased from 21% in the smallest class to 48% in the largest, while mean gonad weight percentage rose from 1.53% ± 3.15 to 5.63% ± 3.35. Internal-organ weights also varied through the year: mean viscera weight began increasing in March and reached higher levels from April through June, while mean gonad weight increased from March and peaked in June. Gonad weights were lowest from September through February. These observations are consistent with seasonal gonadal development, but the field study did not directly measure the physiological or environmental processes that produced the changes.

The study provides locally calibrated relationships for converting between sea cucumber length and weight and characterizes monthly and size-related variation in condition and body composition. Its scope is bounded: it covered one location and one annual sampling cycle, monthly samples were relatively small, some biometric measurements were unavailable for subsets of animals, and the 2020 quota system for sea cucumber harvesting in Türkiye postdated the fieldwork. The results therefore characterize the sampled population and cannot by themselves establish long-term trends, effects of exploitation or changes under the quota system.

Subject of Research: Biometric growth, condition and body-composition patterns in Mediterranean sea cucumber from Türkiye’s northeastern Aegean coast

Article Title: Length–weight relationship, condition factor, and biometric characteristics in the Mediterranean temperate sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa ( Echinodermata , Holothuroidea , Holothuriidae ) from the northeastern Aegean Sea, Türkiye

Article References: Tolon, M. T., Engin, S., & Tokaç, A. (2025). Length–weight relationship, condition factor, and biometric characteristics in the Mediterranean temperate sea cucumber Holothuria tubulosa (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea, Holothuriidae) from the northeastern Aegean Sea, Türkiye. Acta Ichthyologica et Piscatoria, 55, 247-257. https://doi.org/10.3897/aiep.55.167883

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DOI: 10.3897/aiep.55.167883

Keywords: Holothuria tubulosa, sea cucumber, length–weight relationship, allometric growth, condition factor, body composition, Aegean Sea, fisheries biology, Türkiye, Length, weight, relationship

Researchers used an online survey and convenience sampling to recruit participants from a population of 2,097 nursing students, producing a response rate of 42.4%. Data were collected with a Student Information Form, the Free Time Management Scale and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. The investigators described the work as a cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational multicenter study. They used descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation and hierarchical multiple regression to examine relationships in the sample.

According to the abstract, the mean Free Time Management Scale score was 3.56 ± 0.60, while the mean Oxford Happiness Questionnaire score was 3.68 ± 0.69. Students who participated in leisure activities and those who reported allocating sufficient time for leisure activities had significantly higher scores on both measures, with p-values below 0.05 for the reported comparisons. In the hierarchical regression, leisure time management remained positively associated with happiness after adjustment for control variables, with a standardized coefficient of β = 0.337 and p < 0.001. The final model accounted for 23.6% of the variance in happiness, and adding leisure time management increased the explained variance by 10.8 percentage points, ΔR² = 0.108, p < 0.001.

The study’s design limits the conclusions that can be drawn. Cross-sectional data cannot establish the temporal sequence between leisure time management and happiness or determine whether changes in one produce changes in the other. Convenience sampling, a 42.4% response rate and recruitment from only four universities also constrain how broadly the sample results may apply. The article’s authors characterized leisure time management as a potentially modifiable psychosocial resource, but causal effects and the effectiveness of any educational intervention cannot be established from these observational findings. They recommend longitudinal and experimental studies to clarify causal pathways. This report summarizes the supplied published abstract and does not independently assess the full study.

Subject of Research: Association between nursing students’ leisure time management and happiness in a four-university cross-sectional study

Article Title: Happiness levels of nursing students in relation to leisure time management: a multicenter study

Article References: Palloş, A., Özdemir Aydın, G., Yılmaz Coşkun, E., Özsaban, A., & Turan, N. (2026). Happiness levels of nursing students in relation to leisure time management: a multicenter study. BMC Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-026-05329-w

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DOI: 10.1186/s12912-026-05329-w

Keywords: nursing students, leisure time management, happiness, psychological well-being, cross-sectional study, multicenter study, Türkiye, hierarchical regression, levels, nursing, students, relation