Comments on the entropic gravity proposal

Explicit tests are presented of the conjectured entropic origin of the gravitational force. The gravitational force on a test particle in the vicinity of the horizon of a large Schwarzschild black hole in arbitrary spacetime dimensions is obtained as entropic force. The same conclusion can be reached for the cases of a large electrically charged black hole and a large slowly rotating Kerr black hole. The generalization along the same lines to a test mass in the field of an arbitrary spherical star is also studied and found not to be possible. Our results thus reinforce the argument that the entropic gravity proposal cannot account for the gravitational force in generic situations.Comment: v2, 20pp, 1fig; added references and discussions; improved presentation; accepted in EPJ

Scalar Love numbers and Love symmetries of 5-dimensional Myers-Perry black hole

The near-zone ``Love'' symmetry resolves the naturalness issue of black hole Love number vanishing with $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ representation theory. Here, we generalize this proposal to $5$-dimensional asymptotically flat and doubly spinning (Myers-Perry) black holes. We consider the scalar response of Myers-Perry black holes and extract its static scalar Love numbers. In agreement with the naturalness arguments, these Love numbers are, in general, non-zero and exhibit logarithmic running unless certain resonant conditions are met; these conditions include new cases with no previously known analogs. We show that there exist two near-zone truncations of the equations of motion that exhibit enhanced $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ Love symmetries that explain the vanishing of the static scalar Love numbers in the resonant cases. These Love symmetries can be interpreted as local $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\times\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ near-zone symmetries spontaneously broken down to global $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\times U\left(1\right)$ symmetries by the periodic identification of the azimuthal angles. We also discover an infinite-dimensional extension of the Love symmetry into $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)\ltimes\hat{U}\left(1\right)_{\mathcal{V}}^2$ that contains both Love symmetries as particular subalgebras, along with a family of $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ subalgebras that reduce to the exact near-horizon Myers-Perry black hole isometries in the extremal limit. Finally, we show that the Love symmetries acquire a geometric interpretation as isometries of subtracted (effective) black hole geometries that preserve the internal structure of the black hole and interpret these non-extremal $\text{SL}\left(2,\mathbb{R}\right)$ structures as remnants of the enhanced isometry of the near-horizon extremal geometries.Comment: 45+16 pages, 3 Figure

Knowledge and attitudes of hospice and palliative care professionals toward diversity and religious literacy in Cyprus: A cross-sectional study

Background: This study is the first to document knowledge-base and knowledge attitudes about cultural competence and religious literacy in hospice and palliative care in Cyprus. Objective: The aim of this article is to investigate and document the knowledge-base and attitudes toward advancing knowledge and expertise of hospice and palliative care professionals in Cyprus. Measurements: A cross-sectional self-administered online survey, which reached 80 hospice and palliative care professionals employed in the sector, was used. The response rate was 64%, which increases the generalizability of the results. Forty-one surveys were completed fully and included in the study. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Frederick University in Cyprus (EEBK EP 2019.01.28). Results: This study shows that self-awareness, reflexivity, and respect toward the other and other people's culture and religion are associated with the current knowledge-base of the professionals, as well as attitudes toward future learning opportunities, lifelong learning, and initiating learning between professionals and agencies. The results present three themes: knowledge development, knowledge empowerment, and knowledge exchange. Conclusions: Professionals and organizations need to nurture and promote lifelong learning, supervision, and enable individual practitioners to engage with activities that will enhance their self-awareness, reflexivity, and attitude toward the unique identities of others

The impact of immediate breast reconstruction on the time to delivery of adjuvant therapy: the iBRA-2 study

Background: Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) is routinely offered to improve quality-of-life for women requiring mastectomy, but there are concerns that more complex surgery may delay adjuvant oncological treatments and compromise long-term outcomes. High-quality evidence is lacking. The iBRA-2 study aimed to investigate the impact of IBR on time to adjuvant therapy. Methods: Consecutive women undergoing mastectomy ± IBR for breast cancer July–December, 2016 were included. Patient demographics, operative, oncological and complication data were collected. Time from last definitive cancer surgery to first adjuvant treatment for patients undergoing mastectomy ± IBR were compared and risk factors associated with delays explored. Results: A total of 2540 patients were recruited from 76 centres; 1008 (39.7%) underwent IBR (implant-only [n = 675, 26.6%]; pedicled flaps [n = 105,4.1%] and free-flaps [n = 228, 8.9%]). Complications requiring re-admission or re-operation were significantly more common in patients undergoing IBR than those receiving mastectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy was required by 1235 (48.6%) patients. No clinically significant differences were seen in time to adjuvant therapy between patient groups but major complications irrespective of surgery received were significantly associated with treatment delays. Conclusions: IBR does not result in clinically significant delays to adjuvant therapy, but post-operative complications are associated with treatment delays. Strategies to minimise complications, including careful patient selection, are required to improve outcomes for patients

Methods of treatment of urban waste water and the possibility of using treated water

Nowadays, wastewater treatment is becoming increasingly necessary due to the reduction of water resources, the increasing price of drinking water, as well as the shrinking underground water reserves. The treatment of wastewater for reuse and disposal is particularly important for countries and regions which suffer from drinking water shortage. Thus, it is vital to find sustainable solutions for the better protection of the environment and also to improve the water's quality by adapting new and more efficient technologies. This bachelor thesis contains a comprehensive study of different methods and technologies that are used today for the wastewater treatment, with a specific emphasis on urban wastewaters. Furthermore, it examines the post-treated wastewater management, including possible ways of reusing them in many aspects. Keywords: urban wastewater, activation process, biofilter

Methods of treatment of urban waste water and the possibility of using treated water

Nowadays, wastewater treatment is becoming increasingly necessary due to the reduction of water resources, the increasing price of drinking water, as well as the shrinking underground water reserves. The treatment of wastewater for reuse and disposal is particularly important for countries and regions which suffer from drinking water shortage. Thus, it is vital to find sustainable solutions for the better protection of the environment and also to improve the water's quality by adapting new and more efficient technologies. This bachelor thesis contains a comprehensive study of different methods and technologies that are used today for the wastewater treatment, with a specific emphasis on urban wastewaters. Furthermore, it examines the post-treated wastewater management, including possible ways of reusing them in many aspects. Keywords: urban wastewater, activation process, biofilter