The abstract on the file is incorrect, use the the one in the system as it summerizes the full text. / This attempted to describe factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A quantitative, descriptive research design was adopted and structured interviews were conducted with 34 adult patients. Most factors contributing to these patients' sleep deprivation are basic physiological needs. Much can be done to enhance patients' abilities to sleep if noise (from alarms, monitors, televisions, telephones and footsteps) could be controlled, patients' pain would be managed effectively, doctors would visit the patients regularly, doctors and nurses use lay terms when talking to patients. Visible clocks and windows will help patients to maintain time orientation. Friendly, approachable and respectful nurses who introduce themselves to the patients help' to reduce patients' stress levels and improve their abilities to sleep. / Health Sciences / M.A. (Health Studies)

The abstract on the file is incorrect, use the the one in the system as it summerizes the full text. / This attempted to describe factors contributing to sleep deprivation in the a multidisciplinary intensive care unit in KwaZulu-Natal Province. A quantitative, descriptive research design was adopted and structured interviews were conducted with 34 adult patients. Most factors contributing to these patients' sleep deprivation are basic physiological needs. Much can be done to enhance patients' abilities to sleep if noise (from alarms, monitors, televisions, telephones and footsteps) could be controlled, patients' pain would be managed effectively, doctors would visit the patients regularly, doctors and nurses use lay terms when talking to patients. Visible clocks and windows will help patients to maintain time orientation. Friendly, approachable and respectful nurses who introduce themselves to the patients help' to reduce patients' stress levels and improve their abilities to sleep. / Health Sciences / M.A. (Health Studies)

Aims: The main aim of this research was to add depth of understanding and a human voice to existing research on the maternal experience of having a child with night-time sleep difficulties. It was hoped that this increased understanding could be used by counselling psychologists, not only in their own clinical practice but also when supporting physical health practitioners who have direct contact with this client group. Method: Five semi-structured interviews were conducted with mothers who had children over the age of one who were experiencing night-time sleep difficulties. The interviews were transcribed and analysed in accordance with grounded theory methods. A constructivist version of grounded theory was utilised as outlined by Charmaz (2006). Analysis: A central story line of ‘no choice but to function’ emerged. This refers to the place where these mothers found themselves after attempts to solve their child’s sleep problem had proved ineffective, and describes a state of both ‘coping’ and immense struggle. A number of categories were identified which contribute to this central storyline. A process was identified that outlined the stages that all participants moved through as they encountered and adapted to this experience. Personal Conflicts were also identified which described the experience and impact of fatigue, uncertainty and conflicting emotions. Categories of Responsibility and Isolation also emerged and were found to potentially lead to many personal needs not being met iii and a lack of engagement with support (including that of health professionals). Furthermore, a category of Coping highlighted not only the participants’ reflections on how they coped but also potential future avenues of support. Conclusion: The aims of this research were met with a deeper understanding of this population being obtained and a human voice being added to the existing research on this subject. Findings from this research offer a theoretical model which highlights not only the physical, emotional and systemic struggles encountered by the participants that were interviewed, but also provides suggestions based on these findings for future research and clinical practice.

No description available.

This study provides the baseline and initial assessment of the napping habits of the United States Military Academy Class of 2007. This portion of a four-year longitudinal study examines data collected on 62 Cadets over 32 days from 4 October 2004 to 4 November 2004 using actigraphy data and sleep logs. Data were stratified and cleaned in accordance with nap infrastructure. A total of 607 naps were reported for a total of 73.3 hours of additional sleep. Naps ranged from 15 minutes to six hours and occurred most frequently on weekdays. This finding contrasts with research of other samples of adolescent college students. Weekend naps were shorter in duration than weekday naps. This finding was also a departure from current scientific nap research findings. Consistent with other research, most naps were between 30 minutes to one and one half hours in length. Frequency and duration of naps were greatest on Wednesdays. The primary type of nap taken was restorative, as opposed to appetitive or prophylactic in nature. Afternoon naps were more prevalent than morning naps, possibly reflecting Cadet class schedule rather than sleep need. Suggestions for additional research are proposed.

Human Systems Integration Report / Detailed research conducted over the past forty years has conclusively determined that varying degrees of sleep loss, shifts in sleep cycle, increased stress and even changes in time zone with respect to daylight transition result in a myriad of physiological and psychological degradations (Helmreich, 2000). Fatigue affects human performance, resulting in predictable changes not only on the individual level but also on the system as a whole. This descriptive study investigates the amount and quality of sleep received by aviation personnel assigned to an operational squadron conducting mine hunting operations. Wrist activity monitors (actigraphs) were used to determine objective assessments of sleep quantity and quantity. Demographic variables and additional measures such as reported sleepiness, fatigue ratings, caffeine and alcohol use, were also collected. Despite a number of factors which altered the original study design, significant differences in amount of sleep, sleep quality and predicted effectiveness of personnel by officer-enlisted status were identified.

Sleep is a complex process: the timing of sleep is regulated by two systems (the sleep homeostat and the circadian clock) and there are many potential functions of sleep. The aim of this thesis was to investigate: the impact of light on the regulation of sleep timing (study 1) and the role of sleep in emotional processing (study 2). Study 1 used natural variations in environmental light levels at different geographical locations, to examine the influence of daily light irradiance on sleep timing and chronotype using the Munich chronotype questionnaire (MCTQ). 6443 students were included in this study from six universities from the northern and southern hemispheres. Students in southern hemisphere cities had earlier sleep timings than those in the northern cities. Daily irradiance was higher in the southern hemisphere cities. The amount of time spent outside, age and sex, but not daily irradiance, influenced sleep timings. Study 2 explored the impact of an analogue traumatic event (trauma film) in students who were either sleep deprived or not sleep deprived on intrusive memories ("flashbacks"), sleep physiology and the impact of an increased risk of a mood disorder on this relationship. In this study the sleep deprived participants (n=19) reported fewer intrusive memories to the trauma film than those not sleep deprived (n=22). A change in sleep physiology was observed in the first sleep period following the trauma film, which was more pronounced in the sleep deprived group: increased levels of arousal, REM density and activity in the occipital region. Only three participants at-risk of a mood disorder completed study 2: their data are presented as case studies. In conclusion this research has demonstrated that differences in sleep timings exist between cities in the southern and northern hemispheres and has confirmed that many factors can influence sleep timing. It has also been demonstrated that following a highly emotional event not sleeping may have a beneficial effect, which has implications for the treatment of people after trauma.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

An oft overlooked population in research, firefighters of volunteer and paid-on-call fire departments respond to nighttime calls as a supplement to their normal working hours, making the duties taxing on the autonomic system leading to cardiovascular and endocrine disruptions. These duties also come with a tax burden on the volume and distribution of sleep. The current study was executed in order to gain valuable insight into the impact of nighttime call response in this population and the magnitude and duration of any perturbations. Eight firefighters from Greater Victoria Volunteer and Paid-on-call departments were recruited to wear Equivital EQ02 heart monitors and FitBit Charge 2 devices to record autonomic cardiovascular responses and track sleep between 1900 and 0700. HR MAX was found to significantly increase with a large effect size (p<0.0005) from 97 +/- 20 to 157 +/- 18 beats per minute in the 15 minutes preceding versus following a call within the time period. LF/HF ratios increased during the first 15-minutes following a call to 4.055 +/- 1.316 from 1.911 +/- 0.599 pre-call. HF power, RMSSD, and pNN50 all decreased significantly compared to pre-call values (796.176 +/- 414.296 ms2 vs 244.119 +/- 153.880 ms2, 51.940 +/- 7.119 ms vs 35.072 +/- 2.624 ms, 25.017 +/- 7.034% vs 7.403 +/- 2.411%). Further, all HRV measures with the exception of normalized LF and HF were found to be significantly different when waking for and attending a call versus waking on a normal day despite there being no significant differences among any variables when going to bed on nights with and without a call. Total and REM sleep were the most significantly impacted measurables of sleep. Total sleep fell to 261.11 +/- 61.11 minutes from 417.13 +/- 52.04 minutes while REM absolute and percentage of total sleep dropped from 109.88 +/- 28.47 minutes to 51.44 +/- 17.92 minutes, and 22.25 +/- 3.73% to 16.33 +/- 3.17% respectively. In response to a call, mean salivary cortisol levels increased from pre-call values by 0.426 +/- 0.202 ug/dL (p<.001). Salivary c-reactive protein levels also showed significant increases with a small effect size, though due to secretion kinetics, call response is not the likely cause. The results of this study demonstrate the presence of a significant shift in autonomic control from parasympathetic (PSNS) dominance to sympathetic control and PSNS withdrawal which evokes a cortisol-mediated stress response of comparable magnitude to literature standards for normal waking fluxes. Sleep volume, and arguably the most critical stage of sleep, rapid eye movement, are significantly impacted and the links between cognitive performance and both total and overall REM sleep indicate that call response does not just impact the cardiovascular system but may in fact be reducing mental acuity of firefighters. This is important as it has the potential to impact both self and team health and safety, not only during night time call response, but at the firefighters’ day jobs which they regularly proceed to the very same morning following a call, evidently with significant deprivation in sleep. / Graduate

A privação do sono é um problema sério nos tempos atuais e pode ter graves conseqüências para a fisiologia humana. De fato, a redução no tempo de sono tem sido associada a um notável aumento na incidência de hipertensão arterial, diabetes mellitus, infarto do miocárdio, acidente vascular cerebral e estresse, porém os mecanismos envolvidos são pobremente compreendidos. Objetivos: Avaliar o impacto da privação parcial do sono na função endotelial venosa e no controle autonômico cardiovascular em homens saudáveis. Métodos: Treze voluntários do sexo masculino, saudáveis e com idade média de 31±2 anos, tiveram o sono monitorado por diário de sono e actigrafia de pulso durante 12 noites consecutivas, nas quais foram divididas em 2 dois períodos. Um período de 5 noites denominado de privação parcial do sono (dormir<5h por noite) e outro de 5 noites denominado de sono controle (dormir>7h por noite). Entre estes períodos, foi interposto por 2 noites de sono irrestrito (com pelo menos de 7 horas de sono por noite). A escolha do período inicial de sono foi randomizada. Ao término de cada período de 5 dias, foi analisada a reatividade vascular venosa (com a técnica da veia do dorso da mão, Dorsal Hand Vein), a sonolência diurna excessiva (através da Escala de Sonolência de Epworth), realizada avaliação hemodinâmica e autonômica (no momento em repouso e mediante o teste de inclinação postural tilt test), exames de sangue e dosagem de norepinefrina plasmática. A freqüência cardíaca e pressão arterial de batimento a batimento na posição supina e com a manobra de \"tilt test\" foi monitorado com intervalo (RR) e variabilidade de pressão arterial. Resultados: Os indivíduos dormiram em média 8.0 h durante o período de sono controle e 4.5 h no período de privação parcial do sono, sendo a diferença significativa entre os mesmos (p<0.01). O período privação de sono não mudou a frequência cardíaca e a pressão arterial basal significativamente, mas promoveu um aumento significante em baixas freqüências cardíacas e variabilidade da pressão arterial, como também na norepinefrina plasmática. O \"tilt test\" promoveu uma queda em PA sistólica depois da privação parcial do sono, que foi significativamente maior depois do período de sono controle (p<0.05). A privação parcial do sono causou uma redução significantiva na venodilatação endotélio-dependente e não mudou venodilatação endotélio-independente. Conclusão: Privação parcial do sono durante só 5 noites já é o suficiente para causar disfunção endotelial venosa, um aumento significantivo na atividade simpática e no prejuízo do controle da pressão arterial / Background: Sleep curtailment is a serious and common problem in western societies and can have significant consequences in the human physiology. In fact epidemiological studies showed that sleep deprivation (reduction in sleeping time) is associated with increased blood pressure, higher incidence of diabetes mellitus, myocardial heart attack, strokes in the brain, and stress, however the mechanisms are poorly understood. Objectives: Evaluate the impact of partial sleep deprivation in the venous endothelial function and the autonomic cardiovascular autonomic control in healthy men. Methods: Thirteen healthy male volunteers (average age: 31±2 years) had their sleep monitored by sleep diary and wrist actigraphy during 12 consecutive nights, these were divided into two periods. The subjects were randomized and crossed over to 5 nights of control sleep (> 7hs) and 5 nights of partial sleep deprivation (<5hs), interposed by 2 nights of unrestricted sleep (at least 7 hours sleep per night). The choice of the initial sleeping period was randomized. At the end of each period of 5 days heart rate and beat-to-beat blood pressure in the supine position and head up tilt test maneuver were monitored with off line determination of RR-interval and blood pressure variability. In addition, serum norepinephrine and venous endothelial functions were measured by dorsal hand vein technique; also we performed the evaluation of excessive day sleepiness (evaluated through the Epworth Sleepiness Scale), hemodynamic and autonomous evaluation (during sleep and through the tilt test). Results: The subjects slept 8.0 and 4.5 hs during control and partial sleep deprivation periods, respectively (p<0.01). Sleep deprivation did not change significantly the resting heart rate and blood pressure but promoted a significant increase in the low frequency bands of heart rate and blood pressure variability as well as serum norepinephrine. Tilt test promoted a significantly greater drop in systolic BP after partial sleep deprivation than after control sleep (p<0.05). Partial sleep deprivation caused a considerable reduction of acetylcholine induced venodilatation (endothelium dependent) and did not change sodium nitroprusside venodilatation (independent from the endothelium). Conclusion: Partial sleep deprivation for only 5 nights is sufficient to cause significant increase in sympathetic activity, impairment of blood pressure control and endothelial dysfunction