The Kinta Valley is an area of karst in the north-western part of Peninsular Malaysia. Over 30 years of uncontrolled land use and development has led to significant changes in topography and geomorphology, such as the appearance of sinkholes. In this paper, geospatial techniques were utilized to the task of evaluating sinkholes susceptibility map using a spatial multi criteria evaluation approach (SMCE). Sinkhole location and a spatial database were applied to calculate eight inherent causative factors for limestone instability namely: lithology, structure (lineament), soil cover, slope, land use mining, urban area features, ponds and rivers. The preparation of the sinkhole geohazard map involved summing the weighted values for each hazard element, which permits the construction of geohazard model; the results of the analysis were validated using the previous actual sinkholes locations in the study area. The spatial distribution of sinkholes occurrence, urban development, faults distribution and ex-mining ponds are factors that are directly responsible for all sinkholes subsidence hazards. Further, the resulting geo-hazard map shows that 93% of recent sinkholes occur in areas where the model flags as "high" and "very high" potential hazard, located in the urbanized part of the valley, while less-developed areas to the west and southwest suffered less sinkhole development. The results can be used for hazard prevention and land-use planning.

Tinnitus is a well-known pathological entity in clinical practice. However, the pathophysiological mechanisms behind tinnitus seem to be elusive and cannot provide a comprehensive understanding of its pathogenesis and clinical manifestations. Hence, in the present study, we explore the mathematical model of ions’ quantum tunneling to propose an original pathophysiological mechanism for the sensation of tinnitus. The present model focuses on two major aspects: The first aspect is the ability of ions, including sodium, potassium, and calcium, to depolarize the membrane potential of inner hair cells and the neurons of the auditory pathway. This membrane depolarization is induced via the quantum tunneling of ions through closed voltage-gated channels. The state of membrane depolarization can be a state of hyper-excitability or hypo-excitability, depending on the degree of depolarization. Both of these states aid in understanding the pathophysiology of tinnitus. The second aspect is the quantum tunneling signals between the demyelinated neurons of the auditory pathway. These signals are mediated via the quantum tunneling of potassium ions, which exit to the extracellular fluid during an action potential event. These quantum signals can be viewed as a “quantum synapse” between neurons. The formation of quantum synapses results in hyper-excitability among the demyelinated neurons of the auditory pathway. Both of these aspects augment and amplify the electrical signals in the auditory pathway and result in a loss of the spatiotemporal fidelity of sound signals going to the brain centers. The brain interprets this hyper-excitability and loss of spatiotemporal fidelity as tinnitus. Herein, we show mathematically that the quantum tunneling of ions can depolarize the membrane potential of the inner hair cells and neurons of the auditory pathway. Moreover, we calculate the probability of action potential induction in the neurons of the auditory pathway generated by the quantum tunneling signals of potassium ions.

No abstract

Police department's (PD's) performance has become more and more important due to the increase in crimes and their fast spreading. In order to allow improved police services, modern technologies need to be utilized to serve this goal. In this work we are employing a Geographic Information System (GIS) to permit efficient planning, informed decision making and optimal performance, especially in emergencies. GIS creates an efficient database system that is easy to manage, manipulate, analyze, present and update for in action policeman as well as for a planner. All information is provided accurately and it is organized and located geographically in a timely manner. GIS provides a number of specialized tools to help dispatchers collect and relay all kind of information to the officers on the scene of crime, or in a natural disaster when help is needed desperately. The locations of schools, hospitals, gas stations or neighborhoods with different socioeconomic status influences the patterns and rate of incidents (road accident, fire, crime, burglar…etc). Hence, using GIS technology is a must if we need to save time and life. Maps and analysis results provided by GIS can play a major role in reducing crime and improving the effectiveness of the Police activities. In this work, we built a GIS Model for the police stations in the city of Amman, Jordan, as an application to improve their efficiency, especially in emergencies. GIS allows informed decision making and better planning in different ways: relocation, redistribution, initiation of PD's etc. Multiple data sources were used to enrich the built GIS including available and field collected data (remotely sensed data with medium and high resolutions, LandSat ETM+ IKONOS images, and ground control points measured using global positioning systems etc.). A transportation network model was included to help in promoting the efficiency and to employ the state of the arts technologies and local based services in the PD's work. We analyzed the current locations of PD stations (we call them here PDs) and proposed better locations as well as proposed new ones (

No abstract