The elephant in the room: is misuse of Eau de Cologne the missing link in the death of Napoleon ?

The elephant in the room: is misuse of Eau de Cologne the missing link in the death of Napoleon ? Parvez I. Haris Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, E-Mail: [email protected] Conspiracy theories about Napoleon Bonaparte’s death started immediately after his death on the 5th of May 1821. A publication in Nature suggested he was murdered by arsenic poisoning due to detection of high arsenic levels in his hair [1] although this was refuted by later research. The ‘elephant in the room’ is Napoleon’s misuse of Eau de Cologne that has not been discussed in terms of its toxic effects. He consumed 2-3 bottles daily. It was rubbed on his body, poured on his head, and he drank and inhaled it as medication. After his death, Napoleon’s body was washed with Eau de Cologne [2] which contains 2-5% essential oils from citrus fruits and other plants dissolved in alcohol. Essential oils can act as endocrine disruptors [3] and many of the symptoms displayed by Napoleon can be attributed to this, including him developing breasts and having a hairless body. His suffering from seizures and feeling cold all the time can also be attributed to endocrine disrupting effects of the essential oils. Many years of exposure to excessively high concentrations of essential oil may have led him to develop gastric cancer. There are studies linking essential oil and endocrine disrupting chemicals to gastrointestinal cancer. Eau de Cologne was a double-edged sword for Napoleon. Due to its high alcohol content, its antiseptic property protected him from bacterial and viral infections during his military campaigns but the endocrine disrupting property of essential oils caused changes in his physical appearance, leading to illness and eventually death. References: [1] Forshufvud, S., Smith, H. and Wassén, A., 1961. Arsenic content of Napoleon I's hair probably taken immediately after his death. Nature, 192(4798), pp.103-105. [2] Weider, B. and Hapgood, D., 1998. The murder of Napoleon. iUniverse., pp. 4 [3] Henley, D.V., Lipson, N., Korach, K.S. and Bloch, C.A., 2007. Prepubertal gynecomastia linked to lavender and tea tree oils. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(5), pp.479-485

Occupational exposure explains the higher COVID-19 deaths amongst the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups in the United Kingdom

Occupational exposure explains the higher COVID-19 deaths amongst the Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups in the United Kingdom Parvez I. Haris Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, E-Mail: [email protected] COVID-19 mortality data from the UK office of National Statistics (ONS) reveals that the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities were not only adversely affected during the first and second waves but also showed the largest increase in mortality in the second wave. In the second wave, there was a 60% reduction for black Africans (men and women) but a dramatic increase by 124% and 97% for men and women from Pakistani ethnicity, respectively. As yet, this alarming increase in deaths during the second wave has not been explained although multiple factors are likely to have been responsible. The Bangladeshi and Pakistani ethnic groups suffered economically due to the lockdown as a large proportion of the people from these communities’ own restaurants and takeaways and also work in this sector. To support this badly affected sector, a “eat out to help out” scheme was introduced by the government with the price of meals discounted by 50%. This was a great incentive for the businesses and the community to generate income and also for the public to enjoy meals at discounted prices during the summer of 2020. During the period of the scheme, long queues were seen outside restaurants throughout the country, especially in areas with a high concentration of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. People from these ethnicities have the highest percentage of people working in the sector that was most directly connected to the “eat out to help out” scheme. According to the ONS data, over 30% of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis work in the distribution, hotels and restaurants sector. This is two-fold higher compared to the Black ethnic group and it is also higher than any other ethnic groups. Furthermore, the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis have the highest percentage of people (17.8%) working in the transport and communication sector compared to the Black ethnic group (11.1%). This category of workers, especially taxi and mini-cab drivers, would have been more active during the “eat out to help out” scheme taking customers to and from restaurants. Small kitchens in restaurants and fast-food outlets were packed with staff serving unusually high number customers taking advantage of heavily discounted meals. Wearing masks, at least properly with the nose and mouth fully covered, in a hot kitchen environment, during busy periods and over several hours of continuous work, is unlikely to have been easy. Social distancing in a kitchen environment is virtually impossible due to space limitation and the need to move around. Furthermore, the ventilation systems in kitchens vary widely and may not have been adequate enough to eliminate virus-laden water droplets exhaled by the restaurant workers. Exposure of virus between workers and customers is likely to have been higher during the “eat out to help out scheme” compared to other periods. All of this may have created an ideal environment for the transmission of the virus between restaurant workers and customers and thereafter being transmitted to family members and others in the community. In the UK, 43.9% of the Black ethnic group work in the public administration, education and health sectors. In contrast, 25.2% of Bangladeshis and Pakistanis work in this sector. The decrease in COVID-19 deaths amongst the Black ethnic groups (both Black African and Black Caribbean) during the second wave is probably due to the fact that a greater percentage of them work in the more well-regulated and financially well supported sectors such as the NHS and education sectors, where risk assessment and adherence to COVID-19 health and safety measures were strongly implemented, especially after the first wave. In contrast, small businesses such as restaurants, which many Bangladeshi and Pakistanis either own and/or work in, may not have sufficient resources for implementing strict health and safety measures such as social distancing, for example in a small kitchen with 5-6 people working in close contact to each other for many hours for 6-7 days a week. This difference in employment environment of Blacks, compared to Bangladeshis and Pakistanis, may explain why the COVID-19 mortality decreased for the Blacks in the second wave but increased for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis. Taxi and mini-cab drivers were badly affected by COVID-19. During the “eat out to help out” this sector will have been very busy taking passengers to and from restaurants. Thus a combination of working in restaurants and driving taxis may explain the higher mortality from COVID-19 in Bangladeshi and Pakistanis and this increased substantially in the second wave due to higher activity in these sectors caused by the “eat out to help out” incentive. To conclude, the key factor responsible for the higher COVID-19 deaths in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities is due to higher risk of exposure to the virus as they have higher percentage of people working in restaurants, takeaways and driving taxis and mini-cabs. The frequency and dose of exposure to the virus is likely to be high due to duration of time spent in overcrowded kitchens, taxis and mini-cabs. The well intentioned “eat out to help out” scheme turned out to be an opportunity for making more money for businesses and their staff as well as greater enjoyment for the customers but it created an ideal environment for exposure to COVID-19. Adequate risk assessment and necessary support is needed to protect the health and safety of workers and customers in restaurants, fast-food outlets and those working as taxi and mini-cab drivers. This is particularly urgent as prevention strategies, such as wearing of masks and social distancing, are lifted from 19 July 2021

Eksplorasi Pengunjung Taman Merdeka Kota Metro dalam Pengidentifikasian Fungsi Sosial di Ruang Terbuka Publik

Keberadaan taman kota sebagai ruang terbuka hijau di kawasan perkotaan dapat menjadi salah satu sarana dalam membentuk interaksi sosial masyarakat perkotaan. Pemanfaatan taman kota umumnya dilakukan masyarakat dalam ragam alasan, ragam latar belakang, dan ragam waktunya. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi fungsi Taman Merdeka bagi masyarakat di Kota Metro. Metode kualitatif (grounded theory) digunakan sebagai eksplorasi pendahuluan dalam pengidentifikasi fungsi taman. Pengumpulan data dilakukan secara terbuka melalui kuesioner luring terhadap responden yang mengunjungi Taman Merdeka Kota Metro. Content Analysis dilakukan untuk menemukan kata kunci yang berkaitan dengan ativitas sosial masyarakat. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa alasan masyarakat dalam pemanfaatan taman yaitu karena tujuan aktivitas, suasanan, dan kenyamanan. Aktivitas dominan yang dilakukan masyarakat meliputi aktivitas liburan (refreshing), nongkrong, dan istirahat. Sedangkan, alasan suasana dan kenyamanan yang dominan meliputi alasan keindahan (asri) dan nyaman

The Education on Emergency Response and Disaster for Junior High School Students of Surakarta

Emergency is abnormal and dangerous situations that threaten or require quick action to control, fixed and restored it to the safety condition. Most parts of Indonesia territory are vulnerable to disasters, whether natural and non-natural disasters or social disaster. Catastrophic incident may cause an emergency situation that must be carried out prevention and control into a safe condition, especially in the city of Surakarta that have strong possibilities to have floods, fires, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Geographically Surakarta located in watersheds of Bengawan Solo that potentially to face emergencies situation and disasters. Floods is possible to occur due to Surakarta is surrounded by more than three large reservoirs i.e. Waduk Gajah Mungkur, Waduk Cengklik, Waduk Delingan, Waduk Lalung and Waduk Kedungombo. Surakarta is also located near to Mount Merapi, which its eruption in 2013 had covered Yogyakarta and Surakarta .Junior High School (SMP) students are aged between 13-15 years who psychologically are able to receive information properly and to follow an appropriate education and training. Education on emergency response and disasters has not been implemented adequately in Indonesia, especially in Surakarta. Through this kind education and training, junior high school students are able to well cope with the emergency response procedures including fire emergency response, evacuation of flood disasters, first aid to victims of disasters, and determine the line of communication and make a proper coordination during the disaster situation with Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana, Police, Hospitals and Fire Fighter

Analisis Percepatan Getaran Tanah Maksimum Wilayah YOGYAKARTA Dengan Metode Atenuasi Patwardhan

Gempabumi merupakan peristiwa alam yang sangat merusak dalam hitunggan waktu yang sangat singkat. Sebagai contoh gempabumi Yogyakarta yang terjadi pada tanggal 27 Mei 2006 dengan kekuatan 6,4 SR. Gempa tersebut banyak sekali memakan harta dan korban jiwa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisa dan mengetahui sebaran nilai percepatan getaran tanah daerah Yogyakarta dan untuk mengetahui tingkat risiko kerusakan yang diakibatkan gempa di daerah tersebut periode 1980-2010. Data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini bersumbert dari USGS dengan skala magnitudo ≥ 4 SR, pada batasan 110°04 BT - 110°08 BT dan 7°5 LS - 8°2 LS. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode atenuasi Patwardhan. Metode ini dipilih karena lebih sesuai dengan hasil verifikasi riil di lapangan sebagaimana telah dilaporkan oleh Sucipto, 2010 bahwa gempa merusak yang terjadi di Yogyakarta tercatat rata -rata memiliki intensitas antara V-VII MMI. Metode ini digunakan untuk menganalisis nilai percepatan getaran tanah dan nilai intensitas gempabumi sebagai acuan untuk mengetahui daerah yang rawan mengalami kerusakan akibat gempa. Berdasarkan hasil penelusuran data USGS diketahui bahwa sebagian besar wilayah Yogyakarta didominasi gempa berskala 5 SR dengan tingkat seismisitas yang tinggi, dimana gempa-gempa berskala menengah ke atas sering terjadi di wilayah ini. Selanjutnya, setelah dilakukan analisa data dengan menghitung nilai percepatan getaran tanah diketahui bahwa nilai percepatan getaran tanah maksimum di daerah ini berkisar antara 50-60 gal. Sebaran daerah yang rawan mengalami kerusakan akibat gempa berkonsentrasi di kabupaten Bantul serta beberapa daerah Kulon Progo dan Gunung Kidul

PERBANDINGAN PEMBELAJARAN METODE DRILL DAN KOMANDO DALAM SERVICE PENDEK BULU TANGKIS SISWA DI SEKOLAH DASAR

This study was an experimental study that aims to determine the application method and the method of command drill results in short service badminton game. The subjects were fifth grade students of State Elementary School. Data collection techniques using the "Skills Test Badminton derived from the writings of Frank. M. Verducci. "Data analysis techniques using T-Test, after going through the prerequisite test that is test of normality and homogeneity test. The results showed a very significant improvement. Methods drill an increase of 72.78%, an average increase of 7.28%. Methods of command increased by 48.75%, with an average increase of 4.88%. Based on these descriptions can be concluded that an increase in drill method is greater than the methods of command. Differences increase was 24.03% with an average of 2.40

Aplikasi ILokasi Berbasis Android

Perkembangan Teknologi Informasi berkembang pesat yang diiringi dengan meningkatnya aktivitas dalam kehidupan manusia, smartphone dan tablet PC mampu menjawab kebutuhan manusia dengan mobilitas yang tinggi sekaligus alat komunikasi berteknologi tinggi, praktis dibawa, dan mudah digunakan. Seiring dengan perkembangan teknologi informasi tersebut, dampaknya mulai merambah pada kebutuhan transportasi online yang berkembang pesat di masyarakat, sehingga bermunculan aplikasi mobile yang memenuhi kebutuhan tersebut seperti aplikasi Uber dan GrabCar. Untuk mendapatkan layanan antar jemput dengan mobil, konsumen cukup memesan melalui aplikasi tersebut, dan secara otomatis server aplikasi akan mencarikan driver terdekat. Setelah mendapat driver, maka driver tersebut menjemput calon konsumennya dengan petunjuk navigasi dari aplikasi berbasis Google Maps. Aplikasi iLokasi didesain untuk bisa menerima data kontribusi dari masyarakat sebagai data lokasi, dengan tidak hanya mengandalkan Google Maps seperti yang diterapkan kebanyakan aplikasi serupa. Selain itu iLokasi bisa memberikan informasi lokasi sampai ke tempat yang lebih detail dibandingkan dengan Google Maps