Sleep Deprivation from the Perspective of a Patient Hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit-Qualitative Study.

(1) Introduction: Sleep architecture of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients is altered, with over 60% of them reporting sleep disorders or even sleep deprivation during their stay. The aim of the study was to describe the experiences related to sleep and nighttime rest of patients hospitalized in the ICU. (2) Method: the study used a qualitative project based on phenomenology as a research method. A semi-structured interview was used as the method to achieve the goal. The patients' answers were recorded and transcribed. The data were coded and cross-processed. (3) Results: twenty-three patients were surveyed, fifteen men and eight women. The average age was 49.7 years. The average time of hospitalization was 34.3 days. During the ICU stay, patients required mechanical ventilation through the tracheostomy tube. Five themes were identified from the interview as factors disturbing sleep: fear, noise, light, medical staff, and at home best. (4) Conclusions: chronic anxiety appears to contribute to sleep disturbances in the ICUs, psychological support, and individualized approach to the hospitalized patient seem necessary. By raising the awareness of the essence of sleep among medical staff, environmental factors can be reduced as disturbing sleep. Based on the participants' comments, it is possible that repeated actions could also increase the patients' sense of security.

Paleodiet characterisation of an Etrurian population of Pontecagnano (Italy) by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)(#).

Human bones recovered from the archaeological site of Pontecagnano (Salerno, Italy) have been studied to reconstruct the diet of an Etrurian population. Two different areas were investigated, named Library and Sant' Antonio, with a total of 44 tombs containing human skeletal remains, ranging in age from the 8th to the 3rd century B.C. This time span was confirmed by 14C dating obtained using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) on one bone sample from each site. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) was used to extract information about the concentration of Sr, Zn, Ca elements in the bone inorganic fraction, whilst stable isotope ratio measurements (IRMS) were carried out on bone collagen to obtain the delta13C and delta15N. A reliable technique has been used to extract and separate the inorganic and organic fractions of the bone remains. Both IRMS and AAS results suggest a mixed diet including C3 plant food and herbivore animals, consistent with archaeological indications.