Publications by authors named "Lingam M"

The emergence of life from nonlife, or abiogenesis, remains a fundamental question in scientific inquiry. In this article, we investigate the probability of the origin of life (per conducive site) by leveraging insights from Earth's environments. If life originated endogenously on Earth, its existence is indeed endowed with informative value, although the interpretation of the attendant significance hinges critically upon prior assumptions.

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  • - The "Picking up the PACE" study aimed to investigate the impact of physical activity and diet on smoking cessation, but the results showed no significant changes in these areas among participants.
  • - A qualitative study involving interviews with 25 healthcare providers revealed that while many believed exercise and diet could help with quitting smoking, they faced challenges like social determinants of health and lack of time.
  • - Healthcare providers emphasized the importance of training and collaboration with allied health professionals to effectively implement the intervention, but also noted the need for a personalized approach for patients.
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The ubiquity of information transmission via molecular communication between cells is comprehensively documented on Earth; this phenomenon might even have played a vital role in the origin(s) and early evolution of life. Motivated by these considerations, a simple model for molecular communication entailing the diffusion of signaling molecules from transmitter to receiver is elucidated. The channel capacity (maximal rate of information transmission) and an optimistic heuristic estimate of the actual information transmission rate are derived for this communication system; the two quantities, especially the latter, are demonstrated to be broadly consistent with laboratory experiments and more sophisticated theoretical models.

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Information transmission via communication between agents is ubiquitous on Earth, and is a vital facet of living systems. In this paper, we aim to quantify this rate of information transmission associated with Earth's biosphere and technosphere (i.e.

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  • A study was conducted to examine whether integrating a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for physical activity and diet with smoking cessation programs could improve smoking quit rates among individuals who smoke.
  • The trial involved over 5,300 participants from primary care practices in Ontario, and results showed only a slight difference in quit rates between the intervention group using the CDSS and the control group, with 29.7% and 27.3% reporting abstinence, respectively.
  • Additionally, changes in physical activity levels and diet were minimal in both groups, indicating that the implementation of the CDSS did not significantly impact these health behaviors or smoking cessation outcomes.
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Many models have posited that the concomitant evolution of large brains and body sizes in hominins was constrained by metabolic costs. In such studies, the impact of body temperature has arguably not been sufficiently addressed despite the well-established fact that the rates of most physiological processes are manifestly temperature-dependent. Hence, the potential role of body temperature in regulating the number of neurons and body size is investigated by means of a heuristic quantitative model.

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The capacity to sense gradients efficiently and acquire information about the ambient environment confers many advantages such as facilitating movement toward nutrient sources or away from toxic chemicals. The amplified dispersal evinced by organisms endowed with motility is possibly beneficial in related contexts. Hence, the connections between information acquisition, motility, and microbial size are explored from an explicitly astrobiological standpoint.

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  • Primary care organizations can effectively support patients in changing unhealthy behaviors through risk communication and self-monitoring strategies.
  • The study aimed to create tailored resources for behavior change by involving patients with lived experiences, specifically those in smoking cessation programs.
  • Participants expressed a preference for positive affirmation messages from practitioners and a unified self-report tracking sheet to monitor their health behaviors, which could guide healthcare providers in promoting healthier habits.
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Background: Randomized trials of complex interventions are increasingly including qualitative components to further understand factors that contribute to their success. In this paper, we explore the experiences of health care practitioners in a province wide smoking cessation program (the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients program) who participated in the COMBAT trial. This trial examined if the addition of an electronic prompt embedded in a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS)-designed to prompt practitioners to Screen, provide a Brief intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to patients who drank alcohol above the amounts recommended by the Canadian Cancer Society guidelines-influenced the proportion of practitioners delivering a brief intervention to their eligible patients.

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Background: Modifiable risk factors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor diet account for a significant proportion of the preventable deaths in Canada. These factors are also known to cluster together, thereby compounding the risks of morbidity and mortality. Given this association, smoking cessation programs appear to be well-suited for integration of health promotion activities for other modifiable risk factors.

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  • Smoking is a major factor in preventable diseases, healthcare costs, and lost productivity, often linked with other unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking and poor diet.
  • A rapid realist review was conducted to find effective contexts and mechanisms in interventions that target smoking and other risk behaviors, with 138 relevant studies included from a screening of over 20,000 articles.
  • The review found that increasing external opportunities for healthy behaviors consistently aided in smoking cessation success, while enhancing individual capability or motivation was context-dependent, suggesting a need for broader public health strategies.
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We estimate the relative likelihood of success in the searches for primitive versus intelligent life on other planets. Taking into account the larger search volume for detectable artificial electromagnetic signals, we conclude that both searches should be performed concurrently, albeit with significantly more funding dedicated to primitive life. Based on the current federal funding allocated to the search for biosignatures, our analysis suggests that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) may merit a federal funding level of at least $10 million per year, assuming that the average lifetime of technological species exceeds a millennium.

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As evident from the nearby examples of Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1, Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of low-mass stars are common. Here, we focus on such planetary systems and argue that their (oceanic) tides could be more prominent due to stronger tidal forces. We identify the conditions under which tides may exert a significant positive influence on biotic processes including abiogenesis, biological rhythms, nutrient upwelling, and stimulating photosynthesis.

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  • Health behaviors significantly affect individual and population health, leading to community interventions targeting multiple unhealthy habits like smoking and poor diet together.* -
  • The study utilizes a rapid realist review to identify factors that successfully lead to changes in tobacco use and other unhealthy behaviors, involving a thorough literature search and evaluation of selected studies.* -
  • Findings from this review aim to inform a government-funded project in Canada, focusing on enhancing smoking cessation efforts by integrating strategies to address multiple health behaviors.*
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The presence of an atmosphere over sufficiently long timescales is widely perceived as one of the most prominent criteria associated with planetary surface habitability. We address the crucial question of whether the seven Earth-sized planets transiting the recently discovered ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 are capable of retaining their atmospheres. To this effect, we carry out numerical simulations to characterize the stellar wind of TRAPPIST-1 and the atmospheric ion escape rates for all of the seven planets.

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We present a simple model for estimating the probability of interplanetary panspermia in the recently discovered system of seven planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 and find that panspermia is potentially orders of magnitude more likely to occur in the TRAPPIST-1 system compared with the Earth-to-Mars case. As a consequence, we argue that the probability of abiogenesis is enhanced on the TRAPPIST-1 planets compared with the solar system. By adopting models from theoretical ecology, we show that the number of species transferred and the number of life-bearing planets are also likely to be higher because of the increased rates of immigration.

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Unlabelled: In this paper, percolation theory is employed to place tentative bounds on the probability p of interstellar travel and the emergence of a civilization (or panspermia) that colonizes the entire Galaxy. The ensuing ramifications with regard to the Fermi paradox are also explored. In particular, it is suggested that the correlation function of inhabited exoplanets can be used to observationally constrain p in the near future.

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A biphasic gastroretentive floating drug delivery system with multiple-unit mini-tablets based on gas formation technique was developed to maintain constant plasma level of a drug concentration within the therapeutic window. The system consists of loading dose as uncoated core units, and prolonged-release core units are prepared by direct compression process; the latter were coated with three successive layers, one of which is seal coat, an effervescent (sodium bicarbonate) layer, and an outer polymeric layer of polymethacrylates. The formulations were evaluated for quality control tests, and all the parameters evaluated were within the acceptable limits.

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The purpose of this research was to investigate novel particulate carrier systems such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) for transdermal delivery of nitrendipine (NDP). For this investigation, four different gel-forming agents were selected for hydrogel preparation. Aqueous dispersions of lipid nanoparticles made from trimyristin (TM) were prepared by hot homogenization technique followed by sonication and then incorporated into the freshly prepared hydrogels.

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The aim of the investigation is to develop solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nano-structured lipid carrier (NLC) as carriers for topical delivery of nitrendipine (NDP). NDP-loaded SLN and NLC were prepared by hot homogenization technique followed by sonication, and they were characterized for particle size, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, stability, and in vitro release profiles. Also the percutaneous permeation of NDPSLN A, NDPSLN B, and NDPNLC were investigated in abdominal rat skin using modified Franz diffusion cells.

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Objectives: the tissue renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which plays an important role in vascular structure and function, is regulated in part by an insertion-deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) gene. We hypothesised that ACE genotype might affect rate of AAA expansion via modulating long-term structural changes associated with RAS activation.

Methods: fifty-eight patients (50 M, mean age 70 years, mean initial aneurysm size 4.

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Background: Acquired abnormalities of the biliary tract from chronic gallstone disease are rare. The aim of this study was to examine the frequency with which these abnormalities occur and to assess the probability of encountering such an abnormality at laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective study of all patients undergoing elective and emergency cholecystectomy under the care of one surgeon between January 1991 and December 1997.

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We report our experience with the technique of lymphatic mapping using patent blue V dye in patients with limb malignant melanoma. The technique is based on the hypothesis that embolic metastases occur along lymphatic channels to a 'sentinel' lymph node: the draining lymph node nearest the site of the primary malignant melanoma. Patent blue V dye (0.

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