And what if gravity is intrinsically quantic ?

Since the early days of search for a quantum theory of gravity the attempts have been mostly concentrated on the quantization of an otherwise classical system. The two most contentious candidate theories of gravity, sting theory and quantum loop gravity are based on a quantum field theory - the latter is a quantum field theory of connections on a SU(2) group manifold and former a quantum field theory in two dimensional spaces. Here we argue that there is a very close relation between quantum mechanics and gravity. Without gravity quantum mechanics becomes ambiguous. We consider this observation as the evidence for an intrinsic relation between these fundamental laws of nature. We suggest a quantum role and definition for gravity in the context of a quantum universe, and present a preliminary formulation for gravity in a system with a finite number of particles.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of the DICE2008 conference, Castiglioncello, Tuscany, Italy, 22-26 Sep. 2008. V2: some typos remove

Comparison of quinolone and β-lactam resistance among Escherichia coli strains isolated from urinary tract infections

The growing frequency of antibiotic resistances is now a universal problem. Increasing resistance to new generations of β-lactam and quinolone antibiotics in multidrug- resistant Enterobacteriaceae isolates is considered an emergency health issue worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolated from urinary tract infections (UTIs). In our study ESBL- producing isolates were assessed by screening methods. After determination of antimicrobial susceptibility, detection of ESBLs and quinolone resistance genes was performed. A total of 97 ESBL-producing E. coli were determined. The blaTEM, blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes were detected in 90 isolates. The blaTEM was the most frequent- ly detected gene (46.4), followed by blaSHV (31.9) and blaCTX-M (14.4). The most prevalent quinolone resistance gene among ESBL-producing isolates was oqxAB which found in 67 isolates (69.1). The frequencies of the aac(6�)-Ib-cr, qnr and qepA were 65 (67), 8 (8.2) and 6 (6.2), respectively. Our data indicate that the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance genes in ESBL-positive isolates is increasing. The co-dissemination of PMQR and ESBL genes among E. coli isolates can be considered a threat to public health. Therefore, prescription of antibiotics against infectious disease should be managed carefully. © 2016, International Society of Musculoskeletal and Neuronal Interactions. All rights reserved

Color Glass Condensate in Brane Models or Don't Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays Probe 1015eV10^{15}eV Scale ?

In a previous work hep-ph/0203165 we have studied propagation of relativistic particles in the bulk for some of most popular brane models. Constraints have been put on the parameter space of these models by calculating the time delay due to propagation in the bulk of particles created during the interaction of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays with protons in the terrestrial atmosphere. The question was however raised that probability of hard processes in which bulk modes can be produced is small and consequently, the tiny flux of UHECRs can not constrain brane models. Here we use Color Glass Condensate (CGC) model to show that effects of extra dimensions are visible not only in hard processes when the incoming particle hits a massive Kaluza-Klein mode but also through the modification of soft/semi-hard parton distribution. At classical level, for an observer in the CM frame of UHECR and atmospheric hadrons, color charge sources are contracted to a thin sheet with a width inversely proportional to the energy of the ultra energetic cosmic ray hadron and consequently they can see an extra dimension with comparable size. Due to QCD interaction a short life swarm of partons is produced in front of the sheet and its partons can penetrate to the extra-dimension bulk. This reduces the effective density of partons on the brane or in a classical view creates a delay in the arrival of the most energetic particles if they are reflected back due to the warping of the bulk. In CGC approximation the density of swarm at different distance from the classical sheet can be related and therefore it is possible (at least formally) to determine the relative fraction of partons in the bulk and on the brane at different scales. Results of this work are also relevant to the test of brane models in hadron colliders like LHC.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Text is modified to highlight the relation between the distribution gluons at high and low rapidity scales. v3: published versio

Ecological Interactions of the Sexually Deceptive Orchid Orchis Galilaea

Plant species dependent on highly specific interactions with pollinators are vulnerable to environmental change. Conservation strategies therefore require a detailed understanding of pollination ecology. This two-year study examined the interactions between the sexually deceptive orchid, Orchis galilaea, and its pollinator Lasioglossum marginatum. Relationships were investigated across three different habitats known to support O. galilaea (garrigue, oak woodland, and mixed oak/pine woodland) in Lebanon. Visitation rates to flowers were extremely low and restricted to male bees. The reproductive success of O. galilaea under ambient conditions was 29.3% (±2.4), compared to 89.0% (±2.1) in plants receiving cross-pollination by hand. No difference in reproductive success was found between habitat types, but values of reproductive success were positively correlated to the abundance of male bees. Pollination limitation can have negative impacts on the population growth of orchids, and this study provides clear evidence for more holistic approaches to habitat conservation to support specific interactions

Characterization of antimicrobial resistance pattern and molecular analysis among extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli

Background: Infection is a serious problem in medicine and appropriate antibiotic therapy is very important. Because of broad spectrum activity and low toxicity of β-lactam antibiotics, they are the most commonly used drugs. But, bacterial resistance to β-lactam antibiotics, has been considered as the global healthcare concern. The aim of study was to evaluate the antimicrobial resistance pattern and molecular characterization among ESBL-producing Escherichia coli isolated from patients with diarrhea admitted to a hospital in Ilam, Iran. Methods: Totally, fifty E. coli isolates were investigated. Confirmatory tests for phenotypic detection of ESBLs were performed. Molecular identification of the blaTEM and blaSHV genes was carried out by PCR method. To identify genetic relatedness among isolates, Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis was performed. Results: The antibiotic susceptibility results showed that the most effective antibiotic was imipenem and minimum effect was related to gentamicin. Thirty-one isolates (62) were ESBL-producing organisms according to phenotypic method. The distribution of blaTEM and blaSHV genes among ESBL-producing isolates were 20 (64.5) and 6 (19.3), respectively. RAPD-PCR typing among isolates gave us eight different types. Twelve isolates were clustered in genotype A and all of them were ESBL-producer. Conclusion: The present study showed noticeable incidence of ESBL-producing E. coli isolated from outpatients and hospitalized patients with diarrhea. Therefore, it seems that constant supervision is crucial to monitor the ESBL-producing microorganisms in hospitals and community. © 2016 The Authors

Kerr-NUT-de Sitter Curvature in All Dimensions

We explicitly calculate the Riemannian curvature of D-dimensional metrics recently discussed by Chen, Lu and Pope. We find that they can be concisely written by using a single function. The Einstein condition which corresponds to the Kerr-NUT-de Sitter metric is clarified for all dimensions. It is shown that the metrics are of type D.Comment: 10 page

Closed conformal Killing-Yano tensor and uniqueness of generalized Kerr-NUT-de Sitter spacetime

The higher-dimensional Kerr-NUT-de Sitter spacetime describes the general rotating asymptotically de Sitter black hole with NUT parameters. It is known that such a spacetime possesses a rank-2 closed conformal Killing-Yano (CKY) tensor as a ``hidden'' symmetry which provides the separation of variables for the geodesic equations and Klein-Gordon equations. We present a classification of higher-dimensional spacetimes admitting a rank-2 closed CKY tensor. This provides a generalization of the Kerr-NUT-de Sitter spacetime. In particular, we show that the Kerr-NUT-de Sitter spacetime is the only spacetime with a non-degenerate CKY tensor.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX; v2: references added, published versio