Call for Papers: The Future of the Euro: Is Euroland an Optimum Currency Area?

A special issue of International Journal of Monetary Economics and Finance

The objective of this special issue is to collect a number of papers that investigate the pre- and post-crisis economic conditions of Euro member countries, and to explore whether the Euro area is an optimum currency area. If it is not, what went wrong, what factors contributed to this, and what is the future of the Euro?

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Convergence
• Fiscal policies
• Shocks and business cycles
• Transmission mechanisms in monetary policy
• Role of Euro exchange rates
• Regional asymmetries
• Labour markets
• Productivity differences
• The banking sector
• Asset pricing and crisis
• Regulatory issues
• Macroeconomic costs and benefits of joining the Euro: pre- and post-crisis evidence
• EU enlargement
• Immigration issues

Important Dates
Deadline for submission: 15 October, 2011
Deadline for final submission after (any) corrections: 20 December, 2011

Call for Papers: Recent Advances in Swarm Intelligent Systems

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering

Swarm intelligence is the discipline that deals with natural and artificial systems composed of many individuals which coordinate their activities using decentralised control and self-organisation. In particular, the discipline focuses on collective behaviour resulting from local interactions of individuals with each other and with their environment.

Examples of systems studied within this discipline include colonies of ants and termites, schools of fish, flocks of birds and herds of land animals. Some human artefacts also fall into the domain of swarm intelligence, notably some multi-robot systems, and also certain computer programs which are written to tackle optimisation and data analysis problems.

The objective of this special issue is to bring researchers from academia and industry together to report and review the latest advances in this field, and to explore future directions.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Modelling of collective biological systems such as social insect colonies, flocking vertebrates and human crowds, as well as any other swarm intelligence systems
• Swarm-based optimisation for multi-objective optimisation problems
• Swarm-based optimisation for complex constrained optimisation problems
• Swarm-based optimisation for dynamic environment optimisation
• Hybrid swarm-based optimisation techniques
• Learning and search strategies in swarm-based optimisation
• Applications of swarm-based optimisation methodology, such as graph partitioning, data clustering, etc.
• Future directions of swarm-based systems

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 15 August, 2011
Acceptance notification: 20 October, 2011
Final version due: 20 December, 2011

Special issue: Contending perspectives, 20 years on: what have our students learned?

International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education 2(1) 2011

• Contending perspectives, 20 years on: what have our students learned?
• Contending economic perspectives at a liberal arts college: a 25-year retrospective
• Teaching a pluralist course in economics: the University of Sydney experience
• Teaching economics differently by comparing contesting theories
• Contending perspectives in one department
• But which theory is right? Economic pluralism, developmental epistemology and uncertainty
• The quest for better economics graduates: reviving the pluralist approach in the case of the International Islamic University, Malaysia

Special issue: ARTSIT2009

International Journal of Arts and Technology 4(2) 2011

Papers from the First International Conference on Arts & Technology (ArtsIT2009) held in Yilan, Taiwan, 24–25 September 2009

• MixPlore: a digital performance using tangible user interfaces based on cocktail mixology
• An artist's experience in using an evolutionary algorithm to produce an animated artwork
• Procedural animation for glove puppet show
• An optimisation-based robot platform for the generation of action paintings
• Wheel-throwing in digital space using number-theoretic approach
• Interactive visualisation of algebraic surfaces as a tool for shape creation

Special issue: Computational intelligence and multimedia applications

International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Soft Data Paradigms 3(1) 2011

Papers from the Fifth International Workshop on Computational Intelligence and Applications (IWCIA2009), held in Hiroshima, Japan, 10–12 November 2009.

• Borderline over-sampling for imbalanced data classification
• Behavioural analysis in network formation using agent-based simulation systems
• Creating singing vocal expressions by means of interactive evolutionary computation
• Strict and efficient solution methods for robust programming problems with ellipsoidal distributions under fuzziness
• Cluster ensemble in adaptive tree structured clustering
• Effects of state of eye movements before saccade on efficiency of response to stimulus – comparison of search efficiency between fixation and smooth pursuit states
• Basic study on effectiveness of tactile interface for warning presentation in driving environment

Special issue: Biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution: Part II

International Journal of Environment and Health 5(1/2) 2011

Papers from the 5th International Workshop on Biomonitoring of Atmospheric Pollution (BioMAP-5) held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 20 - 24 September 2009.

See also International Journal of Environment and Health 4(2/3) 2010

• Native trees for environmental quality assessment in an ecological corridor of Atlantic Forest
• Assessment of acid-base buffering properties of Flavoparmelia caperata: influence of age and pollution exposure
• Survey of lanthanoids in plants from a tropical region
• Dynamics of element accumulation and release of Flavoparmelia caperata during a long-term field transplant experiment
• Relationship between trace elemental composition in Fraxinus pennsylvanica bark and the incidence of some respiratory diseases in Cordoba, Argentina
• Using k0-UNAA for the determination of depleted uranium in the moss biomonitoring technique
• Evaluation of atmospheric particle dispersion at a contaminated mine using biomonitors
• Cysteine synthesis in Scorpiurum circinatum as a suitable biomarker in air pollution monitoring
• The scalp hair as a monitor for trace elements in biomonitoring of atmospheric pollution
• Investigation of associations between chemical element contents in native lichens and childhood leukaemia
• Airborne chemical elements: correlation between atmospheric levels and lichen content
• Atmospheric chemical element pollution in an urban water-associated environment

Special issue: Progress in networked control systems

International Journal of Systems, Control and Communications 3(2) 2011

• Design of multi-rate remote control systems with online estimation of the delay time
• Synchronisation in singular hybrid complex networks with delayed coupling
• A new approach to controller design for networked control systems with multiple-packet transmissions
• Dynamic controller for Network Control Systems with random communication delay
• Digital control of multiple discrete passive plants over networks

Special issue: E-government: past, present, and future

Electronic Government, an International Journal 8(2/3) 2011

• Strategy, competition and investment: explaining the global divide in e-government implementation with policy variables
• Development and impact of e-government: the intertwined role of e-commerce from a cross-country stakeholder's perspective
• Comparing determinants of website satisfaction and loyalty across the e-government and e-business domains
• E-government services in Oman: an employee's perspective
• E-government implementation challenges at local level: a comparative study of government and citizens' perspectives
• Barriers and impediments to transformational government: insights from literature and practice
• Service delivery in transformational government: model and scenarios
• Developing a demographic profile of scholarly community contributing to the Electronic Government, An International Journal

Special issue: Internationalisation of small firms and international entrepreneurship strategies

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management 13(3/4) 2011

• Internationalisation strategies for SMEs in the decade ahead: are our theories relevant?
• Components of supply chain practices: an empirical study and implications for new international ventures
• International market selection and growth strategies for niche firms
• A comparison of interfirm relational capabilities in internationalising small-business enterprises (SBEs) and large firms in a developing country
• An exploratory study of the motives and perceived effectiveness of international cooperative alliances among SMEs
• Innovation and internationalisation of Malaysia's education sector through e-learning: facilitators
• Exploring market orientation in new export ventures
• The internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): a multi-level integrative framework

First issue: International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Providing valuable insights into successful business techniques and strategies in the emerging field of social entrepreneurship, International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation includes theoretical perspectives, cutting-edge research, and actionable solutions to identified problems of particular interest to policy makers in government and international agencies, academics and researchers.

There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

Call for Papers: Recent Advancement in Optimisation Algorithms for Vehicle Design and Manufacturing Processes

A special issue of International Journal of Vehicle Design

As energy consumption becomes a larger concern for both industry and consumers, a significant amount of research is currently being carried out to save fuel and reduce production costs.

Developing new and/or optimising the use of lightweight materials, such as polymers, without compromising safety standards and performance criteria is one method of cutting fuel use, particularly in industries associated with transportation. Along with cutting energy costs, designers also see the need to reduce the amount of expensive mechanical testing, e.g. crash tests, as well as time-consuming material testing encompassing a wide variety of environmental and loading conditions. Computational methods offer an excellent opportunity to cut costs and predict material response over a much larger range of conditions than could ever be examined through experiments.

This special issue features new discoveries and advances in the fields of multi-objective design, manufacturing, crashworthiness, and shape and topology optimisation of automobile components with evolutionary approaches. It brings together research scientists and design engineers from across the globe to explore current issues regarding optimisation algorithms, uncertainty, identification of weak links with regard to optimisation algorithms (sample techniques), etc.

This issue provides a platform intended to foster emerging ideas regarding development of advanced optimisation algorithms for vehicle design and manufacturing processes.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Multi-objective design optimisation of vehicle components with advanced optimisation algorithms
• Multi-objective optimisation of vehicle component manufacturing processes with advanced optimisation algorithms
• Multi-objective topology optimisation of vehicle components with advanced optimisation algorithms
• Optimisation under uncertainty
• Crashworthiness and vehicle safety design using advanced optimisation algorithms
• Sizing, shape and topology design optimisation with advanced optimisation algorithms

Important Dates
Submissions deadline: 1 April, 2016

Call for Papers: Multiphysics Problems in Computational Engineering

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering

In October 2011 the 2nd International Conference on Computational Engineering will take place in Darmstadt, Germany.

The conference is organised by the Graduate School of Computational Engineering at TU Darmstadt, together with the International Graduate School of Science and Engineering at TU München and the Aachen Institute for Advanced Study in Computational Engineering Science at RWTH Aachen. The conference focuses on the modelling and simulation of coupled multiphysics problems.

This issue will carry revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers presented at the conference, but we also strongly encourage researchers who did not participate in the conference to submit papers to this special issue.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Applications in science and engineering: fluid-structure interaction, thermo-mechanical problems, electromagnetic dynamics, etc
• Mathematical formulation of multidisciplinary problems
• Numerical methods for coupled problems: finite elements, finite volume, finite difference, particle methods, meshless methods, etc
• Coupled solution strategies, loose and strong coupling schemes
• Optimum design in multidisciplinary problems
• High performance computing, parallelisation, real time computational techniques
• Hybrid methods, meshing advances and tools
• Visualisation techniques, software engineering approaches

Important Date
Deadline for paper submission: 15 December, 2011

Special issue: RFID-enhanced technology intelligence and management

International Journal of Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications 3(1/2) 2011

• An RFID-based object localisation framework
• Anomaly detection in RFID systems
• A tagged-product ownership transfer mechanism used in retailer and second-hand transaction
• Coordinated message delivery in partially connected local association networks for the 'Internet of Things'
• A heterogeneous data exchange approach for RFID-based logistics-customs clearance public service platform
• Improving the accuracy of an RFID real-time location system with Taguchi parameter design
• Performance characterisation for two radio frequency identification inventory readers within a university library environment
• Consumers' ethical perceptions of RFID in retail
• RFID-based indoor positioning system

Special issue: African accounting studies

International Journal of Critical Accounting 3(2/3) 2011

• Corporate governance practices as a reflection of the socio-political environment in Nigeria
• The role of multinational companies in corrupt practices: the case of Nigeria
• The impotence of auditing practices in a corrupt environment: some evidence from Zimbabwe
• Corruption and the environment of accounting and auditing in Africa
• African public sector financial managers – heroes or villains? – the origins and future prospects for public financial management reform in Sub-Saharan Africa
• Religious core values and ethical sensitivity: an empirical investigation of university undergraduates in Nigeria
• Resource allocation challenges in South African universities: a management accounting perspective
• Intellectual capital reporting in knowledge economy of Egypt

Special issue: Soft computing, simulation, and web-centric computing

International Journal of Advanced Intelligence Paradigms 3(2) 2011

Papers from the 2009 North-American Simulation Technology Conference (NASTEC '2009), held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 26–28 August 2009.

• System testing using use cases for simulation model of an emergency room
• Prediction of wireless network connectivity using a Taylor Kriging approach
• A unified granular fuzzy-neuro min-max relational framework for medical diagnosis
• Secondary steam models of a combined cycle power plant simulator
• Enhancing and measuring patient safety with an innovative web-based systems approach
• Simulation of longitudinal geometric yarn structure

Special issue: Advanced methods for virtual machine design and production

International Journal of Design Engineering 3(3) 2010

• Study on virtual environment-based simulation, control and teleoperation in the application of robotic machining and manipulation
• Process simulation for five-axis machining for generalised milling tools
• Reliability-based design optimisation of an aircraft wing structure with high-fidelity modelling
• Development of a novel 6DOF multi-contact material cutting model for visio-haptic rendering applications
• Virtual prototyping for robot controllers
• Advanced software tool for modelling and simulation of new gearings

Special issue: Sustainability innovations in newly industrialising countries

International Journal of Technology and Globalisation 5(3/4) 2011

• Sustainable innovation through leapfrogging: a review of the evidence
• Assessment of the social capabilities for catching-up through sustainability innovations
• Technology-specific absorptive capacities for green technologies in Newly Industrialising Countries
• The role of absorptive capacity in technological learning in CDM projects: evidences from survey in Brazil, China, India and Mexico
• Drivers of integrated environmental innovation and impact on company competitiveness: evidence from 18 Chinese firms
• Building a national wind turbine industry: experiences from China, India and South Korea
• The emergence of fuel cell technology and challenges for catching-up by latecomers: Insights from Malaysia and Singapore
• The evolution of the knowledge accumulation function in the formation of the Brazilian biofuels innovation system
• The Brazilian system of innovation for bioethanol: a case study on the strategic role of the standardisation process

First issue: International Journal of Satellite Communications Policy and Management

Covering worldwide research in the areas of satellite systems, networks, components, policy, management and services, International Journal of Satellite Communications Policy and Management will expose readers to the various methodologies, tools, techniques, algorithms, results, applications involved.

There is a free download of the papers from this first issue.

Special issue: Bio-inspired wireless networks

International Journal of Autonomous and Adaptive Communications Systems 4(2) 2011

• From biological and social network metaphors to coupled bio-social wireless networks
• Automatic management of forums via artificial immune systems
• Bio-inspired energy-aware protocol design for cooperative wireless networks
• La Nina: framework in self-adaptive publish/subscribe middleware for wireless sensor networks
• Comparison of robustness of time synchronisation in sensor networks

Call for Papers: Developing Advanced Solutions in Industry and Supply Chains: Modelling and Simulation for Building 21st Century Enterprises

A special issue of International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling

The main goal of this special issue is to investigate new solutions to challenges based on modelling and simulation (M&S) in the areas of industry and supply chains. Over the last twenty years many crises (e.g. terrorist attacks, natural disasters, financial crises) have continuously undermined the capabilities of human enterprises to survive and evolve in global markets. Crises have always introduced many risks and vulnerabilities, particularly for companies unable to react properly and adapt themselves to new competitive scenarios.

However, companies that have invested in research and development of advanced solutions and tools have always quickly adapted their structures to smooth the effects of crises, achieving control of business efficiency and reducing risks and vulnerabilities.

In such a context, M&S must be regarded as a critical technology; the United States has recently recognised M&S as one of the technologies “most essential to develop in order to ensure long-tem security and economic prosperity”. This issue therefore focuses on M&S as critical technology for building 21st century enterprises. The application of simulation to new fields, theoretical solutions based on M&S, and multidisciplinary approaches involving simulation as trait d’union may be profitably used for facing new 21st research challenges and developing advanced solutions in industry and supply chains.

The issue will include extended versions (including latest results and advances) of the best papers submitted and presented at the International Mediterranean and Latin American Modeling Multiconference 2011 (including EMSS 2011, MAS 2011, HMS 2011 and IMAACA 2011). However, we also strongly encourage researchers who did not participate in the conference to submit papers.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Industrial processes modelling and simulation
• Advanced models and applications in logistics and manufacturing
• Modelling and simulation in logistics, traffic and transportation
• Supply chain management
• Supply chain risk and vulnerability
• Economic, social, business and environmental challenges in sustainable supply chains
• Emergency planning and management in supply chains
• Inventory management and logistics simulation
• Reverse logistics and forecast methods
• Multimodal transports
• Transport system design and management based on modelling and simulation
• Decision support systems applications based on modelling and simulation
• Modelling and simulation in business management
• Industry automation
• Greening the supply chain and environmental sustainability
• Greening industrial operations
• Training in industry based on modelling and simulation
• Training in logistics based on modelling and simulation
• Simulation optimisation approaches in industry, services and logistics processes
• Production systems design
• New production strategies and just-in-time paradigms
• Enterprises' interoperability based on modelling and simulation
• Modelling and simulation in food, beverage and perishable goods industries

For further information about topics, please refer to the Tracks and Topics web page of each conference (EMSS 2011, HMS 2011, MAS 2011, and IMAACA 2011).

Important Dates
Submission of article for review: 1 November, 2011
Acceptance/rejection notification: 15 January, 2012
Final camera-ready version: 15 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Multidisciplinary Approach to Complex Systems Design and Management: Modelling and Simulation-based Methodologies and Tools

A special issue of International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling

In recent years, modelling and simulation (M&S) has been extensively applied in different areas and domains; thanks to M&S, researchers and practitioners have been provided with the opportunity to investigate real-world complex systems behaviour considering all interacting phenomena, evolving variables and interoperable components.

Simulation models-based experimentations can recreate the intrinsic complexity of many real-world systems in which the use of other approaches (e.g. analytic approaches) usually require restrictive assumptions, limit the solutions space that can be profitably investigated, and rarely succeed in identifying proper solutions. This becomes truer when the complexity of the real world systems requires multidisciplinary approaches and cross-methodological research.

The integration of multiple approaches requires flexible modelling environments; the evaluation of multiple performance indicators needs ad-hoc models, plus input and output data analysis based on advanced statistical techniques. M&S is therefore continuously evolving towards innovative frameworks (which can be used for real-world complex systems design and management) able to incorporate advanced methodologies and tools. In such frameworks it is becoming common to adopt different simulation types (e.g. distributed, parallel, continuous, discrete), to combine simulation with intelligent agents or with artificial intelligence techniques, to use advanced tools for virtual/augmented reality and visualisation, to include human behavior, and so on.

The special issue is an opportunity to explore the potentialities of M&S in different fields, presenting both theoretical and applied case studies, multidisciplinary research and applications. Selected authors from the International Mediterranean and Latin American Modeling Multiconference 2011 (including EMSS 2011, MAS 2011, HMS 2011 and IMAACA 2011) will be invited to extend their papers by including their latest advances and results. However, we also strongly encourage researchers who did not participate in the conference to submit papers.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Agent-directed simulation
• Distributed and parallel simulation
• Continuous and hybrid systems
• Simulation and artificial intelligence
• Human-centred and human-focused modelling and simulation
• Verification, validation and accreditation
• Petri nets and DEVS modelling and simulation
• Simulation software and optimisation tools
• Soft computing and modelling and simulation
• Discrete and combined simulation
• Agent and Service-based modelling and simulation
• Virtual/augmented reality and visualisation
• Real-time modelling and simulation
• Simulation-based optimisation
• Simulation-based design for complex systems
• Decision support systems applications
• Large-scale systems modelling and simulation
• Applied control and automation
• Simulation in healthcare
• Simulation for emergency planning and management

Important Dates
Submission of the article for review: 1 November, 2011
Acceptance/rejection notification: 15 January, 2012
Final camera-ready version: 15 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Open Innovation and Transitions: Redefining the Boundaries

A special issue of International Journal of Transitions and Innovation Systems

In increasingly dynamic and demanding environments, firms need to develop innovative behaviour in order to successfully compete and create value both for themselves and for the economy as a whole. Technology and innovation management plays a vital role in the development of both for large firms as well as for small ones.

Although much has been written on the importance of innovation, new ideas and points of view open the mind to new ways of being innovative. The objective of this special issue is to provide theoretical and empirical evidence on the effect of open innovation on the boundaries of organisations.

The open innovation paradigm emphasises the importance of a wide range of external actors and sources to achieving and sustaining innovation. Rather than relying on internal R&D, organisations are increasingly engaging in open innovation. This means that they have exchanged the do-it-yourself option in the innovation process with a rich dialogue of different partners working together.

Thus the open innovation model redefines the boundaries between firms and their environments. These boundaries become ambiguous, emerging networks of different actors who act individually and together to achieve their goals. Innovation can be regarded as resulting from distributed interorganisational networks, rather than from single firms.

In this scenario and in order to promote the open innovation process, organisations need to strengthen the link between institutions that generate new knowledge, and search for new possibilities to share and distribute knowledge. As they cannot support their research and development purely through their internal capabilities, they interact with other firms in order to access new products, processes, patents and licenses. They should therefore improve their relationships with suppliers, clients and other organisations providing resources, such as universities and government authorities.

The open innovation paradigm emphasises the importance of new articles and literature in areas such as innovation policies, entrepreneurship, knowledge management, networks, technology transfer, interorganisational relationships and advantages of location.

Empirical research that uses multiple methods; conceptual papers that cover different theoretical perspectives; any original research with multiple levels of analysis; case studies, strategies, tools and techniques in open innovation are especially welcome. Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Open innovation policies
• Open innovation as a model of innovative practices and creation of knowledge
• Entrepreneurship and open innovation
• Technology transfer and open innovation
• Open innovation in transition economies
• Value creation, performance and open innovation
• Advantages of location: science and technological parks, industrial clusters
• University-industry relationships
• Intermediaries in R&D cooperative agreements
• Boundaries of organisations in open innovation networking

We are open to imaginative and interesting ideas which may not fit neatly within any of the above listed areas but which do fit within the spirit of this call and the topics of IJTIS.

Important Date
Submission deadline: 30 September, 2011

Call for Papers: Security, Privacy and Trust in Cloud Systems

A special issue of International Journal of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing provides a new paradigm to enable on-demand delivery of computing resources such as infrastructure, platforms and software as utilities to customers. When moving applications and/or data in the cloud, numerous challenges exist in leveraging the full potential that cloud computing promises. Despite what cloud computing promises, it is not secure by nature.

The security challenges related to cloud computing are worthy of close attention. In terms of security, cloud-based services must be managed and operated at equivalent levels to enterprise systems. Commercial enterprises often do not want to store their data in a cloud due to lack of trust and the risk of exposing their data in an untrusted environment. Cloud users typically have no control over the cloud storage servers used, and there is an inherent risk of data exposure to third parties in the cloud or to the cloud provider itself. The data must be properly encrypted both in motion and at rest.

In addition, companies and government agencies are often bound by law to host their applications and/or data within specific geographic boundaries. This calls for hybrid cloud environments that can seamlessly work together, where part of the application/data can be hosted in a public cloud, and other parts such as commercial sensitive data are hosted on premises. In this context, a key challenge is the provision of secure and trusted applications/data that can be operated in a hybrid cloud environment.

This special issue aims at compiling technologies for enhancing and provisioning security, privacy and trust in cloud computing environments based on QoS requirements.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Cloud security architecture and protocol
• Secured cloud management services
• Secured information sharing and data protection in the cloud
• QoS-based trust models and QoS monitoring mechanisms
• Cryptography and crypto-protocols for cloud computing systems
• Security and virtualisation
• Risk management in cloud computing environments
• Privacy protection in cloud platforms and operations
• Autonomic security in cloud computing
• Intra- and inter-cloud security issues and considerations
• Privacy policy framework for clouds
• Access control mechanisms
• Mechanisms to enforce privacy and trust
• Energy/cost/efficiency of security in clouds
• Trust models for cloud services

Important Dates
Submission due: 15 August, 2011
Acceptance notification: 15 October, 2011
Final submission: 15 November, 2011

Call for Papers: Science, Engineering and Management in Solid Waste and Wastewater

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management

At present, our unique planet Earth is facing immense environmental problems due to ignorance, over-exploitation and excessive waste generation. All three basic components of the environment, i.e. air, water and land, are in a disturbed state. The quality of the air we inhale, the water we drink and the land we live in is deteriorating daily.

In this situation, it is of utmost importance and necessity to improve the understanding of environmental risk, and to learn how to minimize waste generation and utilise the same for useful products. Globally, many environmental technologies have been developed towards better management of solid waste and wastewater. In recent years, varieties of tools and techniques have been applied with the aid of science and engineering concepts to solve the problem of solid waste and wastewater. Hence a special issue is proposed to cover recent advances in science, engineering and management regarding solid waste and wastewater.

Integrated waste management using life cycle analysis (LCA) attempts to offer the most benign options for waste management. For mixed municipal solid waste (MSW), a number of broad studies have indicated that the favored path is waste administration, then source separation and collection followed by reuse and recycling of the non-organic fraction, and energy/compost/fertilizer production via anaerobic digestion from the organic waste fraction. Non-metallic waste resources are not destroyed by incineration, and can be reused/recycled in a resource-depleted society.

There are numerous wastewater treatment technologies. A wastewater treatment train can consist of a primary clarifier system to remove solid and floating materials; a secondary treatment system consisting of an aeration basin, followed by flocculation and sedimentation or an activated sludge system and a secondary clarifier; a tertiary biological nitrogen removal system; and a final disinfection process. The aeration basin/activated sludge system removes organic material by growing bacteria (activated sludge). The secondary clarifier removes the activated sludge from the water. The tertiary system, although not always included due to costs, is becoming more prevalent to remove nitrogen and phosphorus, and to disinfect the water before discharge to a surface water stream or ocean outfall.

This special issue invites research papers and reviews addressing global innovative research on solid waste and wastewater adopting science, engineering and management skills which will have a great impact on policy makers, technologists and academicians.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Basic and applied R&D on different aspects of solid waste and wastewater engineering and management
• Case studies including critical reviews on different aspects of solid waste and wastewater
• Modelling studies in solid waste and wastewater management
• Climate change issues related to solid waste and wastewater treatment options
• Economic analysis of technologies

Important Dates
Deadline for paper submission: 31 July, 2011
First round of paper reviews: 30 November, 2011
Second round of paper reviews: 30 March, 2012
Final paper submission: 30 April, 2012

Call for Papers: Affective, Emotional and Pleasurable Design

A special issue of International Journal of Human Factors and Ergonomics

Affective design attempts to incorporate a user’s feelings and emotions (particularly, but not only, their positive feelings) towards a product or system into the design process. Affective design is an extension of Patrick W. Jordan’s work on designing pleasurable products.

Jordan defined three levels of design for “pleasure”. At the first level the emphasis was on design for functionality. At the second level the emphasis was on design for usability; in particular, products that were designed to be easy and efficient to use. The third level involves designing products that embody aspirational qualities; specifically products that produce positive emotional experiences.

In this special issue we invite research, review and conceptual papers which inform the evaluation and promotion of applied research related to the design of pleasurable products, as well as discussion of affect in relation to both human factors design and to the design of ergonomic quality.

This call extends to identification of related concepts besides emotional, affective and pleasurable design which may contribute to improving existing approaches to designing human factors and ergonomic quality into consumer products. Hence the call is extended to affective design that takes into account environmental sustainability, and may consider, but is not necessarily restricted to, “green ergonomics”.

Original contributions, including conceptual, empirical and case studies, as well as technical reports and reviews addressing and/or relating to any of the subject coverage areas, are welcome from authors.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Affective user experience
• Affective sustainable design
• Design of human factors quality
• Designing ergonomics quality
• Emotional product design
• Pleasure with products
• Product personalities

Important Dates
Manuscript submission: 15 October, 2011
Notification of acceptance: 1 January, 2012
Final submission: 15 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Electric Discharge-based Multi-scale Machining Processes and Systems

A special issue of International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems

The objective of this special issue is to inform readers of recent trends and advances in the modelling of multi-scale electric discharge machining (EDM) processes. In addition, the issue aims to inform readers of research and technological advances in newer EDM systems design and development.

EDM is recognised as one of the most vital manufacturing processes, with the widest possible reach in terms of applications. The process has been successfully developed across all scales including meso-, micro- and nano-scales. On the meso-scale, superior EDM process control strategies are being evolved to obtain better correlation between processing parameters and the accuracy and quality of features fabricated using the process.

Micro-scale applications of the EDM process are pioneered by the evolution of ‘micromachining’ processes which aim to fabricate products or features of a size of around a few hundredths of a micrometer or smaller. Among the various micromachining processes, micro-EDM is known to have many applications. In the recent past, several variants of the micro-scale EDM process have evolved; these include EDM drilling, EDM milling, reverse EDM, etc.

The focus of the research and development activities relating to these processes include in-depth analysis of the process, quality, accuracy and integrity of newly developed surfaces/features, and innovative measures to improve their productivity.

Needless to say, EDM process variants at all scales have provided impetus for the development of specific machining systems. Numerous ED machining systems have been developed for performing micro- and nano-scale EDM. These systems use newer control strategies and optimisation methodologies to perform the EDM processes.

We invite the submission of high quality articles focusing on in-depth research and innovative applications of the EDM process on various scales. The scope of the issue also encompasses the design and development of multi-scale EDM systems for various applications.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Modelling of removal phenomena in EDM at various scales
• Modelling of quality, accuracy and integrity of surfaces/features fabricated using EDM at various scales
• Parametric analysis of EDM processes elucidating process physics and/or scaling effects
• Productivity, tool wear, control strategies and optimisation of EDM processes
• Applications of the EDM process to machine 'difficult-to-machine' and new generation materials
• Innovative applications of the EDM process to fabricate micro-/nano-structures and precision components
• Design and development of novel EDM systems for applications at various scales

Important Date
Submission due date: 31 July, 2011

Special issue: Optimisation applications in supply chain management

International Journal of Operational Research 10(4) 2011

Papers from the 6th Annual International Symposium on Supply Chain Management held in Calgary, Canada, 15- 17 October 2008.

• Supply planning for a closed-loop system with uncertain demand and return
• Optimising the design of a supply chain network with economies of scale using mixed integer programming
• Trade-off model for carbon market sensitive green supply chain network design
• Optimal inventory cycle in a two-stage supply chain incorporating imperfect items from suppliers
• A genetic algorithm for one-job m-machine flowshop lot streaming with variable sublots
• Bi-level threshold policy of MX/(G1,G2)/1 queue with early setup and single vacation

Special issue: Academic entrepreneurship

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business 12(4) 2011

• Growth of university-based start-ups and acquisition as an exit strategy in academic entrepreneurship: evidence from software-based ventures
• The influence of team heterogeneity on team processes of multi-person ventures: an empirical analysis of highly innovative academic start-ups
• The entrepreneurial university's influence on commercialisation of academic research – the illustrative case of Chalmers University of Technology
• Academic entrepreneurship – the structure of incubator management and best practice reported on Swedish business incubators' websites
• The diffusion of Bayh-Dole to Germany: did new public policy facilitate university patenting and commercialisation?
• Soft starters, research boutiques and product-oriented firms: different business models for spin-off companies
• Academic spin-offs – a hybrid research culture as factor of success
• Fostering entrepreneurship in academic spin-offs

Special issue: Use of ICT for knowledge creation

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning 21(1) 2011

• Towards a new era of knowledge creation: a brief discussion of the epistemology for knowledge creation
• Two exploratory studies of the relationships between teachers' epistemic beliefs and their online interactions
• Exploring knowledge sharing discussion behavioural patterns in e-learning communities: a comparison of peer-assessment and problem solving strategy
• 'Many to one' mode of CSCL and further discussion
• O3D-based personal museum designing system in virtual learning environment
• Using Facebook for teaching and learning: a review of the literature
• Co-occurrence analysis of domain knowledge in e-learning enabled workforce development
• Improve the detection of improperly used Chinese characters in students' essays with error model

Special issue: Modelling of machining processes

International Journal of Machining and Machinability of Materials 9(3/4) 2011

Papers from the 6th Journées Scientifiques en Mécanique et Matériaux (JSTMM) international conference held in Monastir, Tunisia, 14-15 November 2008

• High-efficiency grinding of cold-work die steel with ultrafine-crystalline cBN abrasive grains
• Numerical simulation of temperature distribution in a 3D ball end milling model
• Residual stresses and metallurgic transformations induced by grinding
• Experimental study of coated carbide tools behaviour: application for Ti-5-5-5-3 turning
• On the near-dry machining of SAE 300M steel: experimental and numerical investigations
• 2D high speed machining simulations using a new explicit formulation with linear triangular elements
• State of the art in cutting modelling with ball end mill
• Prediction of serrated chip formation in orthogonal metal cutting by advanced adaptive 2D numerical methodology
• Improvement of the numerical modelling in orthogonal dry cutting of an AISI1045 steel by the introduction of a new friction model

Inderscience Highlights newsletter Spring 2011

The just published Spring newsletter includes:

• highlighting... aviation management journal
• highlighting... Communications and mobile technology collection
• recent calls for papers arranged into broad subjects
• details of forthcoming conferences for which Inderscience is a media partner
• articles from Inderscience journals that have recently featured in the scientific and business, or national press.

40,000 papers now online

The just published paper, The risks and opportunities in starting a carbon trading firm within the carbon marketplace, (International Journal of Sustainable Development, 14(1/2), 2011, 141-153) became paper number 40,000 in the Inderscience Online Collection.
The Collection is fully searchable and represents a significant body of research covering the past 30 years. Given the expansion of our journal portfolio (323 titles to date, with more to come), the Collection will continue to grow apace. Details of prices for the full Collection or subsets of it may be obtained by contacting subs@inderscience.com

Special issue: Security and privacy in smart grid

International Journal of Security and Networks 6(1) 2011

• Towards modelling the impact of cyber attacks on a smart grid
• Privacy protection system and metrics for hiding electrical events
• Secure and privacy-preserving information aggregation for smart grids
• Application-aware secure multicast for power grid communications
• Subjective audio quality over a secure IEEE 802.11n network

Special issue: Aspects of technology use in biomedical engineering

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management 12(2) 2011

• Human positioning and tracking in smart environments using colour pattern matching
• A novel system for haemodialysis efficiency monitoring
• In vitro study of bone condition using acousto-ultrasonic technique
• In-silico dissection of tumours and its application in the identification of the tissue of origin of cancers of unknown primary site

Special issue: Building urban resilience to climate change

International Journal of Sustainable Development 14(1/2) 2011

Papers from the international conference The Mediterranean city facing climate change: innovation, investment, governance for a low-carbon city held in Athens, Greece, 10-12 January 2008.

• The Mediterranean urban development: a lesson of sustainability for the world
• Exploring the direct and indirect effects of urban form on travel choices. The case of Athens, Greece
• The study of summer-time heat island, built form and fabric in a densely built urban environment in compact Chinese cities: Hong Kong, Guangzhou
• Environmental design in domestic ancient Greek architecture
• Directives towards a sustainable urban rehabilitation process in old cities
• Exploring a South-European eco-neighbourhood model: planning forms, constraints of implementation and emerging resilience practices
• Perspectives of local public-private partnerships towards urban sustainability in Greece
• Towards sustainable planning in the era of climate change: spatial policies for built-up areas in Greece
• Environmental impacts typology: a methodological proposal
• The risks and opportunities in starting a carbon trading firm within the carbon marketplace
• Sustainable energy: the importance of consumer awareness, acceptance, and action

Call for Papers: Advanced Challenges and Research Trends in Cloud and Grid Interoperability

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering

"Cloud" is a common metaphor for an internet accessible infrastructure, which hides most of the implementation and deployment details in the field of ICT. Cloud computing is becoming a scalable services delivery and consumption platform. Its backbone includes Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) and the virtualisation of hardware and software. The goal of cloud computing is to share resources amongst cloud service consumers, cloud partners and cloud vendors in the cloud value chain. Cloud computing has been envisaged to be one of the mainstream powering technologies of future ICT and next generation networks.

This special issue will be focussed on the interoperability issues of grid and computing domains. It will mainly focus on designing interoperable components, and experiences and lessons learnt from developing interoperable services in the cloud and grid environment. The issue aims to provide a forum for researchers to share and exchange cloud and grid computing-related research, technologies, experience, and lessons for building clouds of interoperability and coordination capabilities and services.

We believe this issue will be a place for the research community to define their novel ideas in the current state of grid-cloud interoperability issues. In addition, it will help to define the future goals and services that cloud computing needs to support in various intensive commercial and enterprise applications.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Cloud architectures
• Software, platform, hardware and infrastructure as a service
• Novel architectural models for cloud computing and grid-cloud interoperability
• Scalable resource management solutions
• Cloud resource provisioning with QoS
• High availability with failure detection, prediction and recovery
• Identity, metering and privacy in clouds
• Management of virtualised resources
• Workload and resource scheduling
• New parallel/concurrent programming models for cloud computing
• Content delivery networks using storage clouds
• Interoperability/portability of applications and data between different cloud providers
• Virtualisation technologies
• Service-oriented computing
• Management of clouds
• Security issues in cloud and grid computing
• Fault tolerance, reliability of applications and services running on the cloud
• Case studies of the cloud and grid computing

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 30 September, 2011
Acceptance notification: 30 December, 2011
Final papers due: 30 January, 2012

Call for Papers: Social Networks and Interdisciplinary Approaches

A special issue of International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering

Social networks have played an important role in various domains for around a decade, and have been particularly involved in a broad range of social activities such as user interactions, establishing friendships and relationships, sharing and recommending resources, suggesting friends, creating groups and communities, commenting on friends’ activities and opinions, and so on.

In recent years, rapid progress has been made in the study of social networks for diverse applications, such as user profiling in Facebook and group recommendations via Flickr. Today, smart handheld devices are very popular; many applications were developed for Google Android platforms and for the iPhone system.

Future research trends will be focussed on combining handheld devices, social networks, web services and sensors applications.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to:

• Computational models for social media
• Graph and matrix methods for computational social science
• Probabilistic models for computational social science
• Information acquisition and establishment of social relations
• Data management in collaborative open applications
• Collaborative filtering and content ranking using social media
• Group interaction, collaboration and recommendation
• Web 2.0 and collaborative tagging
• RFID and sensor applications
• Search in social networks and social media
• Interoperability among social applications and social media
• Blog search and retrieval
• User behavior modelling
• Social media analysis
• Social commerce
• Social aspects of blogosphere
• Web mining algorithms and web communities
• Semantic web
• Web of things
• Contextual advertising
• Social learning
• Opinion mining
• Internet of things
• Ubiquitous computing
• Application of social web mining
• Applications of social network analysis

Important Dates
Submission deadline: 20 January, 2012
Acceptance notification: 20 March, 2012
Final paper due: 31 May, 2012

Special issue: New trends on intelligent systems design

International Journal of Innovative Computing and Applications 3(2) 2011

• A novel constraint multi-objective artificial physics optimisation algorithm and its convergence
• Combining strategy of genetic algorithm and particle swarm algorithm for optimum problem of RFID reader
• A density oriented fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm for recognising original cluster shapes from noisy data
• An evolutionary Lagrange method for batch process optimal design
• Particle swarm optimisation with simple and efficient neighbourhood search strategies
• Design of an intelligent novelty detection application

Special issue: Multicriteria decision making for energy policy and planning

International Journal of Multicriteria Decision Making 1(2) 2011

• A fuzzy multicriteria generation expansion planning model
• Decision support for assessing demand side management programmes
• A multicriteria approach for evaluating high temperature hydrogen production processes
• Rationalising photovoltaic energy investments with multicriteria decision analysis: a Greek case study
• A multi-criteria evaluation framework for alternative light-duty vehicles technologies

Special issue: FDI and management in Southeast Europe

International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 4(2) 2011

• The market for corporate control in Greece: a critical assessment of the wealth effects to bidder-companies' shareholders
• Trade relations and potential of the Western Balkans
• What kind of theory for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Bulgaria?
• Rethinking the interaction between FDI and competitiveness in West Balkans: an institutionalist approach
• International business spillovers in South Eastern Europe: members of the stability pact

Special issue: Higher education teaching and learning strategies in developing countries

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies 3(2-4) 2011

• Industrial research-based approach for promoting higher education in developing countries
• Teaching software engineering to undergraduate computing students
• Plagiarism and its implications on higher education in developing countries
• Teachers' attitudes and perceptions for alternative assessment techniques: a case study of Pakistani universities
• Educational media for promoting lifelong learning in India
• Users of e-learning in higher education institutions (HEIs): perceptions, styles and attitudes

Additional Papers

• Some new learning methodologies on doubt in the framework of Bologna
• An undergraduate primary education teaching practicum design and undergraduate primary teachers' satisfaction on developing technological, pedagogical and mathematical knowledge
• Teaching digital signal processing through modular-based project oriented learning in electrical engineering
• The workgroup applied for a mathematics subject
• Primary teachers' embedding educational software of mathematics in their teaching practices
• Collaboration tools in higher education students everyday life and learning
• Implementation and evaluation of a queuing systems modelling course using Unified Modelling Language (UML)

Special issue: Selected research topics at the Netherlands Defence Academy

International Journal of Intelligent Defence Support Systems 4(2) 2011

• Command and control in the Afghan desert: a field study at a NATO headquarters
• A robust approach to the missile defence location problem
• Automatic stress detection in emergency (telephone) calls
• Towards a better, science-based, evaluation of kinetic non-lethal weapons
• Sensor selection for optimal target tracking in sensor networks

Special issue: Economic policy: in search of an alternative paradigm

International Journal of Public Policy 7(1-3) 2011

Papers from the conference: Economic policy: in search of an alternative paradigm, held at Middlesex University, London, UK, 3 December 2010.

• The failure of the new macroeconomic consensus: from non-ergodicity to the efficient markets hypothesis and back again
• A new paradigm for macroeconomic policy
• Deficit reduction policies, market credibility and market failure
• From wage suppression to sovereign debt crisis in Western Europe: who pays for the costs of the crisis?
• The institutional dimension of new economic policy
• Peripheral Europe's debt and German wages: the role of wage policy in the Euro area
• A critical assessment of the financialisation process and its impact on the US labour force during the great recession
• Countercyclical policy for Africa: institutional and economic feasibility
• Modelling the flow of knowledge and human capital: a framework of innovative capital
• On the institutional safeguarding of monetary policy – a post-Keynesian perspective
• The continuity of 'autocratic presidency' in Africa's democratisation project
• Asset price bubbles, monetary policy and financial crisis

Special issue: Network virtualisation: concepts and performance aspects

International Journal of Communication Networks and Distributed Systems 6(3) 2011

• On resource sharing and careful overbooking for network virtualisation
• The design, performance evaluation and use cases of a virtualised programmable edge node for network innovations
• Evaluating Xen-based virtual routers performance
• High-performance network virtualisation for multilayer GMPLS networks
• AiroLAB: a framework toward effective virtualisation of multi-hop wireless networks
• Performance evaluation of packet reordering on concurrent multipath transmissions for transport virtualisation

Special issue: New perspectives on global auto shifts and development and policy responses: Part One

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 11(2) 2011

• Development and trends of China's automobile market: evidence from urban household ownership of cars, bicycles, motorcycles and motorbikes
• Globalisation, crisis and industrial relations in the Indian auto industry
• The political economics of industrial development in the Korean automotive sector
• Automotive industry in Malaysia: an assessment of its development
• Becoming an endangered species? The future viability of Australian automotive manufacturing
• What role did regional policy play in addressing the US auto industry crisis?

Special issue: Solid waste management (Part 4)

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management 7(3/4) 2011

Previous parts were in:
International Journal of Environment and Waste Management 3(1/2) 2009
International Journal of Environment and Waste Management 2(6) 2008
International Journal of Environment and Waste Management 2(1/2) 2008

• Urban Food Waste generation: challenges and opportunities
• Urban Solid Wastes in Mexico: progress and perspectives
• Potential of hydrogen production from organic Urban Solid Waste fermentation in Mexico
• Vermicomposting of garbage: a new technology for solid waste management in Hindu temples
• Solid waste characterisation and the assessment of the effect of dumping site leachate on groundwater quality: a case study
• Application of partially submerged bioreactor landfill for leachate management in the tropics
• Use of sewage sludge as fertiliser supplement for Abelmoschus esculentus plants: physiological, biochemical and growth responses
• Electrical and electronic waste inventory and management strategies in Bangkok, Thailand
• Electronic waste: an emerging issue in solid waste management in Australia
• Evaluation of trade-offs between cost, perceived and environmental risk associated with the management of computer waste
• Strategies to improve waste management in Portuguese construction industry: the deconstruction process
• Construction and demolition waste processing in Athens, Greece: a pilot demonstration

Special issue: Building community in virtual worlds

International Journal of Web Based Communities 7(2) 2011

• Binding the pair: making a historical case for avicentric self-expression within 3D virtual communities
• Experience design for communities in virtual worlds: come for the attraction, stay for the interaction
• Virtual worlds: an environment for cultural sensitivity education in the health sciences
• Building community in 21st century graduate classes through synchronous online research presentations: a case for three-dimensional learning environments
• Skipping Pong and moving straight to World of Warcraft: the challenge of research with complex games used for learning
• Interaction in web-based communities: a case study of Last.fm

Special issue: Precision metrology

International Journal of Precision Technology 2(2/3) 2011

• Dimensional metrology for process and part quality control in micro manufacturing
• Large scale atomic force microscopy for characterisation of optical surfaces and coatings
• Metrological performance verification of coordinate measuring systems with optical distance sensors
• Identification and classification of defects on highly reflective textile machinery ring components
• Influence of feature form deviations on CMM measurement uncertainties
• Precision measurement of micro-lens profile by using a force-controlled diamond cutting tool on an ultra-precision lathe
• Task specific uncertainty estimation in dimensional metrology
• Phase feedback fibre interferometer for surface profiling
• Application of modern high resolution tactile sensors for micro-objects
• Control of AFM tip wear

Special issue: Light-weight armour for defence and security

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation 2(2) 2011

Papers from the 2009 LWAG ( Light-Weight Armour for Defence & Security) Conference held in Aveiro, Portugal, 18-19 May 2009.

• Risk analysis about explosions in train carriages
• Impact of soft missiles – evaluation of load-time functions
• Impact studies of shear thickening fluids incorporated within composite structures
• The conch shell as a model for tougher composites
• Using natural cellular materials to improve blast-wave protection

Special issue: The never-ending quest for a competitive edge in higher education

International Journal of Management in Education 5(2/3) 2011

• Historical perspectives on US business organisations, strategy, and higher education institutions
• Creating a competitive advantage in Higher Education Institutions: proposal and test of a conceptual model
• Do research and education matter to business school rankings?
• The financial viability of exporting graduate business education in a developing economy
• Strategic success in international education: a multiple case study analysis of educational partnerships between Canada and China
• An academic college in the front lines of war: a study of organisational coping
• Realisation of a vision: a case study of the focus-differentiation strategy implemented by the University of Puget Sound
• Role of brand related factors in influencing students' choice in Higher Education (HE) market
• Telecommuting in higher education: faculty perceptions of strategic implications for traditional postsecondary institutions
• Strategic direction for high demand degrees: an analysis of the US pharmacy degree competitive market
• Impact of class selection reasons on online student performance: an Operations Management case study

Special issue: Sustainable public finances in a turbulent global economy

International Journal of Sustainable Economy 3(2) 2011

Papers from an INFER (International Network for Economic Research) workshop held in Klagenfurt, Austria, 29- 30 September 2009.

• What is sustainability?
• Fiscal implications of the crisis and the future of the EU fiscal framework
• Constricted, lame and pro-cyclical? Fiscal policy in the euro area revisited
• Fiscal sustainability and the accuracy of macroeconomic forecasts: Do supranational forecasts rather than government forecasts make a difference?
• Fiscal sustainability and policy implications: a post-crisis analysis for the euro area
• Debt sustainability in Germany: empirical evidence for federal states

Special issue: Global service supply chain management

International Journal of Services, Economics and Management 3(2) 2011

• Performance measurement in the healthcare supply chain
• Competitive excellence in the global supply chain
• Multi-model for planning high-complexity spectrum
• A hybrid algorithm for uncapacitated facility location problems
• Quality service: estimating software reliability for global system for mobile communications (GSM) Funtone
• Socioeconomics in supply chain management: a case study analysis of facility location decisions with GIS
• The risks and benefits associated with global outsourcing

Special issue: Intellectual capital management and learning innovation in the new era

International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 8(2) 2011

• India and China as partner of choice for the Western multinational companies in the era of globalisation
• R&D transfer of MNCs: the perspective of China
• Towards innovation: a paradigm shift in the school leadership preparation programme in Singapore
• Semantic web technologies anchored in learning styles as catalysts towards personalising the learning process
• Enhancing lean training for the office environment through simulation and gaming

Additional Paper

• Organisational learning, climate change and the tragedy of the commons in China

Special issue: Computational optimisation, modelling and simulation

International Journal of Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimisation 2(2) 2011

Papers from the workshop Computational Optimisation, Modelling and Simulation (COMS 2010), held during the International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2010), held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 31 May - 2 June 2010.

• The effectiveness of derivative-free hybrid methods for black-box optimisation
• Application of derivative-free methodologies to generally constrained oil production optimisation problems
• The game-theoretical approach to Markov decision problems and determining Nash equilibria for stochastic positional games
• Adjoint-based control of model and discretisation errors for gas flow in networks
• Variable-fidelity aerodynamic shape optimisation of single-element airfoils at high-lift conditions
• The recent developments in microwave design

Special issue: Authentication and non-repudiation in biometrics and cryptography

International Journal of Biometrics 3(2) 2011

• Biometric cards with advanced signing system
• Security and privacy in electronic passports
• Biometrics for non-repudiation: security and legal aspect
• Handwritten signatures recognition using Liquid State Machine
• A robust biometric dual watermarking technique with hand vein patterns for digital images

Call for Papers: RFID Security: Advances and Challenges

A special issue of International Journal of Radio Frequency Identification Technology and Applications

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is rapidly becoming pervasive within society as the Internet of Things (IoT) evolves. As RFID moves beyond the traditional supply chain applications and becomes integrated into everyday life, new security challenges must be addressed. These include the blending of RFID with sensors and the subsequent integration into the IoT.

Ultimately, the IoT will encompass critical infrastructure and control systems, e.g. SCADA systems. The effect of blending or adding RFID capability to such systems must be understood to prevent the introduction of new vulnerabilities into them. Making RFID systems secure requires new approaches to security because of the low cost and power requirements of RFID tags, coupled with their wide deployment.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• Authentication of RFID interrogators (readers) and tags
• Access control policy and enforcement models for RFID systems
• Public key infrastructures for RFID networks
• Monitoring and surveillance in RFID systems
• Trust in RFID-enabled environments (e.g. supply chain)
• Secure message routing
• Privacy issues
• Novel low power and low resource encryption methods
• Physical layer security
• Digital forensics in RFID environments
• Logging and event correlation
• Threat and vulnerability modelling and analysis
• Sensor security
• Security of RFID tag data
• Secure integration of RFID with SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) systems

Important Dates
Manuscripts due: 30 June, 2011
Reviewer reports expected: 31 August, 2011
Revised manuscripts due: 15 October, 2011

Call for Papers: Carbon Markets: An International Perspective

A special issue of International Journal of Global Energy Issues

Recently, carbon markets have been spreading both regionally and internationally. While there is increasing public interest in so-called emissions markets to regulate the environment, there is an even greater need for researchers to analyse the sphere of carbon markets in its globality and to encompass its complexity. This special issue of IJGEI aims at developing various applications incorporating energy- and environmentally-related issues of carbon markets.

We encourage submissions of original theoretical and empirical research papers, meta-analytic reviews, and narrative literature reviews on new developments in the sphere of carbon markets, its relationship to other energy markets and regulations, and the consequent new uses of carbon markets that may be proposed at an international and/or regional scale.

We aim to report the latest advancements in the highly interdisciplinary research and development area of carbon markets, with applications in the fields of economics, econometrics, statistics, finance, engineering, management, geography, environmental policy, climate policy and political science.

In view of this, this issue expects to enhance the state-of-the-art in instrumentation and the political insight required for managing the various problems and challenges in designing efficient and effective carbon market regulation.

Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Energy modelling, trading, carbon finance
• Economic modelling, engineering
• Statistical analysis, econometrics
• The geography of carbon markets
• How to manage an international/regional carbon market
• The political science theories behind the development of carbon markets
• Specific risks related to design features of carbon markets
• Carbon markets risk assessment
• Data quality issues for modelling and policy evaluation
• Design options in climate policy
• Governance of carbon markets risks
• Other issues related to the international/regional development of carbon markets

Important Dates
Submission deadline (early submissions encouraged): 1 September, 2011
First-round reviews: 30 October, 2011
Camera-ready version: 15 December, 2011

Special issue: The future of Eurasian logistics

International Journal of Shipping and Transport Logistics 3(2) 2011

• Advantages and disadvantages of managing own ships by a third party ship management company: an empirical investigation
• The role of logistics service providers in the implementation of a differentiated supply chain
• Finland-Russia rail transport deregulation: future scenarios of market development
• An entropy-based approach to simultaneous analysis of supply chain structural complexity and adaptation potential
• In-transit distribution as a strategy in a global distribution system
• Utilising e-learning in Russian transport logistics sector
• Potential of connecting Eurasia through Trans-Siberian Railway

Special issue: Emerging markets – Part II

International Journal of Business Environment 4(1) 2011

Part I appeared in International Journal of Business Environment 3(4) 2010

• Crisis in the D&E markets: invest, lay dormant or run for cover
• Modern corporate sector and corporate governance experience in Sri Lanka
• Understanding customers' service experience: review and research propositions
• Consumers' perspectives on the selection of air ticket purchasing channel
• Exploitation versus exploration: the influence of manufacturing flexibility and the environment

Call for Papers: Intelligent Transportation Systems

A special issue of World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is an emerging discipline that is well-recognised in both the academic world and the industrial world. ITS endeavours to incorporate computation, information and communications technology into vehicles and transportation infrastructures. These endeavours are carried out with the aims of improving transportation times, enhancing vehicle safety, reducing vehicle wear, decreasing fuel consumption and upgrading navigation systems.

An additional and important advantage of many recent intelligent transportation systems developed around the world is the assistance and support provided for drivers. These systems can help drivers and alert them to obstacles and unsafe situations.

Furthermore, these systems can also (partially or even completely) substitute the driver. Today, "automatic pilot" is not a term used only to refer to aircraft, but is also used to refer to a wider range of transportation, including trains, etc. The human driver steps in only in emergency conditions or in other exceptional circumstances. These systems do not only make driving easier, but also help to prevent many potential accidents.

This special issue intends to cover a variety of models of intelligent transportation systems. We welcome papers dealing with any aspect of ITS, including but not limited to:

• Telematics
• Drive-by-wire
• Intelligent traffic management
• Transportation planning tools
• Computational transportation systems
• Automatic travel behaviour detection
• Sustainable transportation
• Collision alert technology
• Tyre pressure monitoring systems
• Global position systems (GPS)
• Sensor networks
• Inter-vehicular networks
• Automatic vehicle testing
• Vehicular collision detection
• Embedded vehicular systems
• Vehicular sensors
• Vehicle hardware /software systems
• Vehicular signal processing
• Driver assistance systems

Important Dates
Submission of full paper before: 15 September, 2011
Notification of acceptance before: 15 December, 2011
Submission of final, revised manuscripts before: 15 March, 2012

Call for Papers: Business Case for Sustainability: Rhetoric or Reality?

A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development

Accounting for the environmental, economic and social (or sustainability) impacts of organisational strategies and actions has been a growing area of practice and research in recent years. Sustainability requires a balanced approach along the triple bottom line – environmental, economic, and social performance. Business practices in this area encompass provision of information within organisations to help managers at different levels to appreciate the potential corporate sustainability impacts of their decision.

For many years, companies have integrated social and environmental concerns into business strategies. Yet there is still a lack of empirical evidence to examine the “business case for sustainability”. Without a better understanding of how to make decisions about sustainability, managers can’t make timely and appropriately ‘right’ decisions in practice.

The focus of this special issue is the manner in which business practices can help to instil, encourage and embed among decision-makers an awareness and appreciation of the importance of environmental and social sustainability in strategic and operational decision-making, and the importance of stakeholder management and communications about such sustainability issues. In particular, papers are sought that provide novel empirical insights, ideally through case studies, into these practices.

Case studies, conceptual papers, review papers, methodological papers, and quantified analyses of sustainability management and business cases are most welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• An investigation of the complex and multifaceted nature of the business case for sustainability
• The role of top management commitment and scope for operational-level innovation in sustainability management
• The impact of social and environmental sustainability in fostering organisational and corporate change at different levels
• Stakeholder management and communication in sustainability management
• Identification and connected actions of potential sustainability impacts flowing from decisions: risks and opportunities; reputation.

Important Date
Submission deadline: 1 August, 2011

Special issue: Management of security technology and policy

International Journal of Technology Management 54(2/3) 2011

• Linking information engineering and security engineering with a problem solving perspective
• Exploring the relationships between IT capabilities and information security management
• Securing intellectual assets: integrating the knowledge and innovation dimensions
• Security model applied to electronic records management: experiences and results in the nuclear sector
• An integrated approach to the optimal selection of security tools using analytic hierarchy process and goal programming
• IS practitioners' views on core factors of effective IT governance for Taiwan SMEs
• Auditing methodology on legal compliance of enterprise information systems
• Ethical issues for internet use policy: balancing employer and employee perspectives
• Investigating effects of security incident awareness on information risk perception
• Technology-push and need-pull roles in information system security diffusion

Special issue: International financial risk modelling and management

International Journal of Banking, Accounting and Finance 3(1) 2011

Papers from the 44th Euro Working Group on Financial Modelling meeting held in San Josè, Costa Rica, 7-9 December, 2009.

• Capital structure choices
• Entrepreneurship insolvency risk management: a case of Latvia
• Assessing securitisation and hedging strategies for management of longevity risk
• International cross-listings on CEE-stock exchanges
• Local bias dynamics and the risk adjusted portfolio return

Special issue: Innovation and learning: timeless challenges in education

International Journal of Innovation and Learning 9(3) 2011

Papers from TL2009, the IASK (International Association for Scientific Knowledge) Teaching and Learning Conference, held in Porto, Portugal, 7-9 December 2009.

See also
International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education 3(3) 2010
International Journal of Information and Operations Management Education 3(4) 2010
International Journal of Intercultural Information Management 2(2) 2010
International Journal of Learning and Change 5(3) 2010

• Learning together: designing effective e-classrooms
• Assessment of the online forum
• Innovation in teaching microeconomics and macroeconomics in university
• A three-tier model of reading instruction supported by technology
• 'Do U txt?' – Using 'txting' to learn maternal languages: a Portuguese case study
• Rehearsing for an audience: students learning science through video production
• Learning in a virtual laboratory: educational applications of three-dimensional animations

Special issue: Contemporary issues in global economy and policy analysis

International Journal of Trade and Global Markets 4(2) 2011

Papers from the conference track Quantitative Approaches to Public Policy - in honour of Professor T. Krishna Kumar - at the Fourth Annual International Conference on Public Policy and Management, held in Bangalore, India, 9-12 August 2009.

For other papers see International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies 3(3) 2010

• Sustainable debt and deficits in Emerging Markets
• Securitisation, ratings and regulatory practices
• Export intensity and financial leverage of Indian firms
• Rain, rain, go away? The investment climate, state–business relations and firm performance in India
• Macroeconomic effects of public investment in infrastructure in India
• Econometric and stochastic general equilibrium models for evaluation of economic policies

Special issue: Legal aspects of mobile commerce and pervasive computing: privacy, marketing, contracting and liability Issues

International Journal of Private Law 4(2) 2011

• Why privacy discussions about pervasive online customer profiling should focus on the expanding roles of third-parties
• Should geographic location data be regarded as sensitive? – some thoughts
• A comparative analysis of legal aspects of electronic contracts in Brazil
• What we know and what we do not know – the legal challenges for international commercial contract formation in a pervasive computing environment
• Payments made by means of mobile phones
• Allocating liability in the event of fraudulent use of electronic payment instruments and the Belgian mobile payment instrument PingPing
• The liability of mobile operators for the content of independent content providers to mobile commerce networks in the European Union: does self-regulation pave the way for new EU rules?
• From legal code to digital code: making software services rights-aware
• Cross-border litigation and ADR mechanisms in disputes concerning mobile computing in the EU