A Feasibility Study of a Program Integrating Mindfulness, Yoga, Positive Psychology, and Emotional Intelligence in Tertiary‑Level Student Musicians

Objectives Higher education student musicians face high physical, psychological, and emotional demands affecting their well-being and academic experience. This study examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of the so-called CRAFT program, based on mindfulness, yoga, positive psychology, and emotional intelligence, to improve psychological well-being, psychological distress, emotional regulation, and physical flexibility amongst tertiary education student musicians. Methods Using a single-arm pre-post study design, student musicians (n = 25) at a royal conservatory of music in Spain followed a 25-week CRAFT program that was curricularly implemented during the academic year 2018/2019, once a week for 50 min. The outcome measures included were the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), the Subjective Psychological Well-Being Subscale (SPWS), the Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), and the Sit and Reach Test (SRT). Results Paired samples t-test and practical significance analyses revealed significant improvements for the total scale of the FFMQ (g = 0.28), the Observe (g = 0.44) and Describe (g = 0.38) subscales of the FFMQ, the SPWS (g = 0.32), the Reappraisal subscale of the ERQ (g = 0.43), and the SRT (g = 0.39). A similar pattern of results was observed in a filtered sample (n = 15) when excluding participants simultaneously engaged in yoga/meditation activities other than the CRAFT program. Conclusions These results indicated that the CRAFT program is a promising intervention for improving mindfulness skills and health and well-being states and abilities amongst higher education student musicians. Further research is needed to substantiate these findings and extend them to similar settings and populations with complex psychophysical concerns.Junta de Andalucia PIV-052/1

New insight into structure-property relationships of natural rubber and styrene-butadiene rubber nanocomposites filled with MWCNT

The outstanding properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT) have generated a lot of interest at a scientist and industrial level. CNT have attracted great attention due to their exceptional mechanical, electrical and thermal properties and also for their large aspect ratio, that is, small size and higher surface area. On this regard, CNT-rubber composites have been prepared, using natural rubber (NR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) as matrices, and varying the amount of filler from 0 to 20 phr. In order to understand and optimize the properties of these materials, a fundamental and systematic study has been done with the aim of quantifying the relative contribution of the different factors that determine the reinforcing effect of these nanoparticles. The results obtained from the different characterizations of the composites (study of the electrical and mechanical properties, Payne effect, dynamical mechanical analysis, low field NMR and swelling experiments) reveal a good filler-rubber interaction, a high reinforcement effect, and an increase on the electrical conductivity of the compounds. However, all these improvements are limited by the detrimental effect of the CNT on the vulcanization process.The authors thank Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad by the financial support of this work (project references MAT2014- 52644-R and MAT2017-87204-R). Pilar Bernal-Ortega thanks the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) for his FPI contract (ref. BES- 2015-071516). Authors JLV, PP and RN are members of the SusPlast platform from the Spanish National Research Council

Improvement of Thermal Protection in Recycled Polyolefins through Hybrid Mesoporous Silica–Antioxidant Particles

The deficient management of plastic waste has caused a serious worldwide environmental problem. Thus, one of the main challenges for the industry in the plastics sector in contributing to sustainability and a circular economy consists of providing a subsequent service life to this waste. For that purpose, the appropriate incorporation of antioxidants will play a key role in preventing or postponing the degradation of plastic waste, where the formation of radicals is initiated during its previous lifetime by the action of degrading agents. Functionalized particles, based on mesoporous MCM-41 silica with Irganox 1076, were prepared with two different protocols and were further incorporated into a material containing virgin PP and 30 wt.% of recycled PP, with the purpose of guaranteeing thermal stability during its next service life. A very significant increase in the thermal stability of the resulting composites was found, attributable to the synergistic action between the Irganox 1076 antioxidant and the MCM-41 particles. In addition, the presence of hybrid particles leads to an important nucleating effect for the crystallization of PP. Moreover, a reinforcing role was also played by these modified mesoporous silicas in the resultant systems. The presented methodology constitutes, therefore, a promising strategy for contributing to the circular economy—since the synergy between the Irganox 1076 antioxidant and MCM-41 particles was found to play an important role in the ultimate performance of recycled polyolefins

The shape-memory effect in ionic elastomers: fixation through ionic interactions

Shape-memory elastomers based on a commercial rubber cross-linked by both ionic and covalent bonds have been developed. The elastomeric matrix was a carboxylated nitrile rubber (XNBR) vulcanized with magnesium oxide (MgO) providing ionic interactions that form hierarchical structures. The so-named ionic transition is used as the unique thermal transition responsible for the shape-memory effect (SME) in these elastomers. These ionic interactions fix the temporary shape due to their behavior as dynamic cross-links with temperature changes. Covalent cross-links were incorporated with the addition of different proportions of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) to the ionic elastomer to establish and recover the permanent shape. In this article, the SME was modulated by modifying the degree of covalent cross-linking, while keeping the ionic contribution constant. In addition, different programming parameters, such as deformation temperature, heating/cooling rate, loading/unloading rate and percentage of tensile strain, were evaluated for their effects on shape-memory behavior.The authors thank CICYT (MAT2011-23476 and MAT2014-52644-R projects) and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientifı´cas, CSIC (201660E088 project) for the financial support of this work. MAM would also like to express her gratitude to CSIC for her fellowships Jae-Pre-088. AGJ would also like to express his gratitude to CSIC and MECD (Spain) for his Jae-Pre-CP and FPU fellowships, respectively. JLV thanks Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´n (Spain) for his Ramo´n y Cajal contract. PTM thanks Syracuse University and the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute for facilities provided for MAM’s extended visit, as well as support from the National Science Foundation, NSF CMMI-1334658.Peer Reviewe