The role of leisure activities in the wellbeing of musicians

This thesis addresses two research questions: 1a) How much leisure time do music students at conservatoires and universities, and amateur and professional musicians, have? 1b) How do they choose to spend it? and 2) To what extent do music students at conservatoires and universities, and professional musicians, find music making in their leisure time beneficial for their health and wellbeing? A review of literature pertaining to three areas was carried out. Research in the field of leisure studies demonstrates that leisure time is important and engaging in leisure activities can facilitate health and wellbeing. Research on everyday uses of music shows that music making can also have a wide range of benefits for people’s health and wellbeing when part of an intervention, or when it is engaged in as a leisure pursuit, at an amateur level. Nevertheless, research on musicians demonstrates that music making at a professional level can pose many challenges to music students and professional musicians’ physical health and psychological wellbeing. No research has yet combined these three areas to investigate music students’ and professional musicians’ experiences of leisure and wellbeing. Pilot interviews were designed and carried out with a convenience sample of seven conservatoire students and professional musicians to investigate if the topic of musicians’ leisure time was worth pursuing, to obtain some preliminary findings to inform the design of a survey. This was designed and distributed to a total of 637 university and conservatoire students, and amateur and professional musicians, to measure their wellbeing, satisfaction with life and work orientation, and to investigate how much leisure time they had, how they spent it and the extent to which their leisure activities contributed to their wellbeing. Finally, follow-up interviews were conducted with a sub-set of 16 survey respondents to investigate the second research question further. The results indicate that musicians have leisure time or make time for leisure activities because they consider leisure important for their wellbeing. Musicians engage in both musical and non-musical leisure activities and find them beneficial to a large extent. Musical leisure activities are either different from, or contribute to, their studies or their work. They also remind them of their love for music making when they are disillusioned by their work. Musicians engage in non-musical leisure activities to escape from music. In their role as musicians they undertake a range of musical activities and consider some of them as leisure even though they might be paid for doing them. It can be difficult for musicians to distinguish between work and leisure because of the enjoyment they obtained from making music when it was merely a hobby, and the passion they feel towards it. In the conclusion to the thesis it is recommended that musicians should spend more time on leisure activities and use their leisure time to engage in activities that improve their general wellbeing. The thesis ends by outlining the implications of this research and making suggestions for future research

Contextualising Teaching and Learning in Rural Primary Schools: Using Agricultural Experience - Volume 2

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

Knit One, Play One: Comparing the Effects of Amateur Knitting and Amateur Music Participation on Happiness and Wellbeing

Previous research suggests that engaging in creative and meaningful leisure activities enhances mental health, wellbeing and quality of life. However, studies often explore specific creative activities in isolation. We compared happiness and wellbeing in adults involved in knitting (835 amateur knitters) and musical activities (122 amateur musicians). Participants completed the Subjective Happiness Scale, the BBC Subjective Wellbeing scale, and open-ended questions about past and current engagement. Knitters scored significantly higher on happiness than musicians. No differences were found for subjective wellbeing. Older participants scored more highly on all wellbeing measures, with no effect of time doing the activity. Open-ended responses were grouped into four themes. Learning and teaching was oriented towards communities of practice for knitters and formal teaching for musicians. Process involved positive and negative emotions, grouped around subthemes of self-care and sensory experiences. Outcome was associated with connections to others, expressed through pride or anxiety. Purpose linked to a sense of fulfilment, identity, and obsession. Despite differences between the activities, participants experienced broadly similar physical, psychological and social benefits. Further research should explore more creative and non-creative leisure activities to establish if these effects can be generalised and what other unique features may be involved

The contributing external load factors to internal load during small-sided games in professional rugby union players

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate which external load variables were associated with internal load during three small-sided games (SSG) in professional rugby union players. Methods: Forty professional rugby union players (22 forwards, 18 backs) competing in the English Gallagher Premiership were recruited. Three different SSGs were designed: one for backs, one for forwards, and one for both backs and forwards. General linear mixed-effects models were implemented with internal load as dependent variable quantified using Stagno's training impulse, and external load as independent variables quantified using total distance, high-speed (&gt;61% top speed) running distance, average acceleration-deceleration, PlayerLoad™, PlayerLoad™ slow (&lt;2 m·s −1), number of get-ups, number of first-man-to-ruck. Results: Internal load was associated with different external load variables dependent on SSG design. When backs and forwards were included in the same SSG, internal load differed between positional groups (MLE = −121.94, SE = 29.03, t = −4.20). Discussion: Based on the SSGs investigated, practitioners should manipulate different constraints to elicit a certain internal load in their players based on the specific SSG design. Furthermore, the potential effect of playing position on internal load should be taken into account in the process of SSG design when both backs and forwards are included.</p

Materials with periodic internal structure: Computation based on homogenization and comparison with experiment

The combination of thermal and mechanical loading expected in practice means that constitutive equations of metal matrix composites must be developed which deal with time-independent and time-dependent irreversible deformation. Also, the internal state of composites is extremely complicated which underlines the need to formulate macroscopic constitutive equations with a limited number of state variables which represent the internal state at the micro level. One available method for calculating the macro properties of composites in terms of the distribution and properties of the constituent materials is the method of homogenization whose formulation is based on the periodicity of the substructure of the composite. A homogenization procedure was developed which lends itself to the use of the finite element procedure. The efficiency of these procedures, to determine the macroscopic properties of a composite system from its constituent properties, was demonstrated utilizing an aluminum plate perforated by directionally oriented slits. The selection of this problem is based on the fact that, extensive experimental results exist, the macroscopic response is highly anisotropic, and that the slits provide very high stress gradients which severely test the effectiveness of the computational procedures. Furthermore, both elastic and plastic properties were investigated so that the application to practical systems with inelastic deformation should be able to proceed without difficulty. The effectiveness of the procedures was rigorously checked against experimental results and with the predictions of approximate calculations. Using the computational results it is illustrated how macroscopic constitutive equations can be expressed in forms of the elastic and limit load behavior

Investigation of Daily Macronutrient intakes by Sri Lankan Managerial Level Employees working in the Private Sector

With changes of lifestyles and social values in the food culture, many individuals working as managerial level employees in the as private sector are seemingly selecting more improper daily meal combinations. This study was designed to determine whether this occurrence can have a severe impact to imbalance the daily nutrient intakes by the individuals in the mentioned social segment, which increase the tendency of having nutrition related chronic diseases. In a hierarchy range from junior executives to CEOs of private sector organizations, 800 individuals were selected by disproportionate stratified random sampling. Selected individuals are interviewed using a structured questionnaire to assess their daily food combinations and their consumed portion sizes. Frequently consumed meal combinations were then analyzed for their macronutrient composition, to compare with world Health organizations&rsquo; (WHO) Reference Dietary Intake (RDI) levels of nutrients. The results reveal of significantly (p&lt;0.05) higher daily fat (45.3 &plusmn;1.7 g/day) and protein (65.2 &plusmn;1.4 g/day) intakes than the WHO recommendation levels and significantly (p&lt;0.05) lower in dietary fibre (22.3 &plusmn;1.1 g/day) contents by selected participants. Carbohydrate intake (133.1 &plusmn;2.2 g/day) was higher than reference levels but was not significant (p&gt;0.05). This indicates of a considerable risk for many individuals in the concerned social segment, of having non-communicable diseases, if observed dietary patterns are continued

Preliminary Study of Mineral Constituents in Selected Cultivars of Root and Tuber Crops in Sri Lanka

A study was done to determine the levels of minerals (Calcium, Magnesium, Iron,Potassium and Zinc) in three different cultivars of yams (D. alata and D. esculenta),Xanthosoma sp and four different cultivars of sweet potatoes (Ipomea batatas Lam) fromdifferent regions in Sri Lanka. Yams (Rajala, Hingurala and Kukulala), Xanthosoma sp(Kiriala) and sweet potatoes (Swp3, Swp4, Swp5 and Swp7) were prepared for analysis 2– 3 days after harvesting. Flour samples were subjected to ashing using AOAC (1980)method and mineral constituents were analysed using Atomic AbsorptionSpectrophotometer (AAS). Variation in mineral constituents on dry weight basis wereanalysed using ANOVA, Tukey‟s HSD test (p&lt; 0.05) Minitab. All three cultivars ofyams had significant levels (p&lt; 0.05) of Calcium and Iron and high level of Magnesiumwas observed in Kiriala (45.27± 0.31 mg 100g-1). A significantly high level of Iron andPotassium (p&lt;0.05) was observed in Rajala and Sweet potatoes respectively. Swp5cultivar contained a comparatively high amount of Calcium and Magnesium while Swp3and Swp7 contained a high level of iron (p&lt;0.05). Comparatively high level of Zinc waspresent in Hingurala, Swp3 and Swp7 cultivars.Key words: Dioscorea , Ipomea batatas, minerals, Xanthosoma s

A Criminological Analysis on Burglary Related Environmental Factors in Sri Lanka

With the birth and growth of criminology related sub discipline, ‘environmental criminology’ or in other words, crime designated ecological perspective has gained a wide acceptance among the criminology academia. As a consequent, the immediate surrounding of an individual has been identified as a criminogenic factor. Criminology has been specifically focusing on the characteristics of offenders as well as offences and has been somewhat disregarding the criminogenic spatial factors of crime. Focusing and identifying the designated burglary related ecological factors have been the prime intention of this criminological research study. Thus, a purposive sample of 57 crime scenes under burglary has been observed during a period of two years (2017-2019) within the Western Province of Sri Lanka. Data were retrieved by using qualitative methodology. The research revealed three types of environmental factors linked with the burglary crime scenes namely, natural, built, and social. The built and social eco factors have been main criminogenic features in urban and semi-urban spaces. Specifically, weather, land usage and location could be identified as burglary related environmental factors. Apart from natural environmental factors, architectural and landscape features were recognized as associated-built environmental factors with housebreak. As this is a pioneering research study connected to the environmental aspect of crimes, the study has filled the existing research gap from the Sri Lankan perspective. Measures in controlling and preventing crime can be achieved through the management of environmental elements and using environmental designing with the advanced technology.DOI: http://doi.org/10.31357/fhss/vjhss.v06i01.0

Application of fluorescence spectroscopy with multivariate analysis for authentication of Shiraz wines from different regions

Aim: To investigate the possibility of utilising simultaneous measurements of absorbance-transmittance and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (A-TEEM) combined with chemometrics, as a robust method that gives rapid results for classification of wines from different regions of South Australia according to their Geographical Indication (GI), and to gain insight into the effect of terroir on inter regional variation. Methods and Results: Additionally, to obtaining various colour parameters, the A-TEEM technique enables the “fingerprint” of wine samples to be attained in response to the presence of fluorophoric compounds. This is accomplished by recording a three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix (EEM) over multiple excitation and emission wavelengths, which can then be analysed using multivariate statistical modelling to classify wines. Shiraz wine samples (n = 134) from six different GIs of South Australia (Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, and Riverland) were analysed and absorbance spectra, hue, intensity, CIE L*a*b, CIE 1931, and EEMs were recorded for each sample. EEM data were evaluated according to the cross-validation model built with extreme gradient boost discriminant analysis (XGBDA) using score probability to assess the accuracy of classification according to the region of origin. Preliminary results have shown a high prediction ability and the data extracted from A-TEEM could be used to investigate phenolics as potential chemical markers that may provide effective regional discrimination. Conclusions: The molecular fingerprinting capability and sensitivity of EEM in conjunction with multivariate statistical analysis of the fluorescence data using the XGBDA algorithm provided sufficient chemical/spectral information to facilitate accurate classification of Shiraz wines according to the region of origin. A-TEEM coupled with XGBDA modelling appears to be a promising tool for wine authentication according to its geographical origin. Significance and Impact of the Study: Having tangible evidence that Australian fine wines may be discriminated on the basis of geographical origin, will help to improve the international reputation of Australian wines and increase global competitiveness. Understanding of the important regional chemical parameters would allow grape growers and winemakers to optimise their viticultural and winemaking practices to preserve these characteristics of their terroir. Moreover, verifying the content in the bottle according to the label descriptions with a rapid method, has the potential to verify product provenance and counteract fraud in cases where wine of inferior/questionable quality or contaminated wine is presented as originating from Australia.R.K.R. Ranaweera, A. M. Gilmore, D.L. Capone, c, S.E.P. Bastian, D.W Jeffer