Publications by authors named "Miguel Alves"

Chronotype and Time of Day (ToD) can modulate several aspects of cognitive performance. However, there is limited evidence about the effect of these variables on face recognition performance, so the aim of the present study is to investigate this influence. For this, 274 participants (82.

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Emotion regulation strategies affect the experience and processing of emotions and emotional stimuli. Chronotype has also been shown to influence the processing of emotional stimuli, with late chronotypes showing a bias towards better processing of negative stimuli. Additionally, greater eveningness has been associated with increased difficulties in emotion regulation and preferential use of expressive suppression strategies.

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Sleep has a major impact on a variety of human biological and cognitive functions. In particular, its impact on memory has attracted extensive research and has been amply demonstrated. However, it is still unclear whether sleep, or lack thereof, affects the ability to recognize faces.

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Cardiac papillary fibroelastoma is a rare, benign cardiac tumor. It often arises from the valvular endocardium and is usually solitary. Nonvalvular location is rare and even more rare is the presentation as multiple masses.

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Primary cardiac lymphoma is defined as non-Hodgkin lymphoma involving the heart and/or pericardium. It is a rare cancer that primarily affects the right heart and in particular the right atrium. By contrast, renal cell carcinoma is a relatively common cancer, which in rare circumstances can metastasize to the heart.

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Constrictive pericarditis is a clinical condition characterized by the appearance of signs and symptoms of right heart failure due to loss of pericardial compliance. Cardiac surgery is now one of the most frequent causes in developed countries, while tuberculosis remains the most prevalent cause in developing countries. Malignancy is a rare cause but usually has a poor prognosis.

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Factor VIII is a clotting factor that plays a crucial role in the coagulation cascade. Above-normal levels are found in 11% of the general adult population. Various studies have established a causal association between elevated factor VIII and venous thrombosis; some studies also suggest a relation with arterial thrombosis, particularly myocardial infarction and stroke.

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Myxomas are the most common type of benign cardiac tumor. The most frequent clinical presentations are symptoms resulting from atrioventricular valve obstruction or systemic embolization. Coronary embolization is a rare, although real and potentially fatal, complication of cardiac myxomas.

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The authors present the case of a 56-year-old man, admitted to the hospital twice in ten days for acute coronary syndrome with normal coronary angiograms. In the second hospitalization, the patient had anginal crises that did not respond to anti-ischemic therapy, associated with cough and wheezing. The echocardiogram revealed worsening left ventricular systolic dysfunction.

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Calcification of the mitral annulus is a common echocardiographic finding during routine evaluation of patients. Caseous calcification of the mitral annulus (CCMA) on the other hand is a rare variant, occurring in about 0.06-0.

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This study aimed to determine the prevalence of alexithymic characteristics in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), comparing them with a population of healthy subjects. Fifty-three SLE patients [American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria] and 31 healthy volunteer subjects were administered validated scales for alexithymia (Toronto alexythimia scale-20), psychopathology (brief symptom inventory; hospital anxiety and depression scale), personality dimensions (NEO five-factor inventory), and quality of life (short form-36 health survey). The SLE patient's clinical and laboratory evaluations were performed by computerized indicators of activity (SLE disease activity index), of accumulated damage (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology damage index), length of disease, and therapy.

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Background: CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells play an essential role in maintaining immune homeostasis and preventing autoimmunity. Therefore, defects in Treg development, maintenance or function have been associated with several human autoimmune diseases including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by loss of tolerance to nuclear components and significantly more frequent in females.

Results: To investigate the involvement of Treg in SLE pathogenesis, we determined the frequency of CD4+CD25+CD45RO+ T cells, which encompass the majority of Treg activity, in the PBMC of 148 SLE patients (76 patients were part of 54 families), 166 relatives and 117 controls.

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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystemic autoimmune disease characterized by the loss of self-tolerance revealing defective immune regulatory mechanisms. ACP1 is a highly polymorphic erythrocyte LMW-PTP isozyme encoded by a gene presenting three alleles (A B C). These alleles determine different fast slow isozyme proportions having distinct cellular localization and biological functions.

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